Fridge / Fire Emblem Fates

Fridge Logic for Fire Emblem Fates.

Fridge Brilliance

• The reveal that you and your Hoshidan siblings are Not Blood Siblings. It's easy to argue that it invalidates the idea of choosing between your bloodline and the people who raised you, but it does reinforce the idea that the Hoshidan and Nohrian siblings are not so different. After all, Ryoma knew all along that you weren't related to him by blood, but he still fights to bring you back home.
  • Not only that, but Mikoto is still your birth mother, and she still raised the Hoshido siblings as though they were her own children. Her Heroic Sacrifice is what kick-starts the plot. The Hoshido path is called "Birthright" and not "Bloodline", after all.
  • Adding to the Birthright point, adopting non-related children (and even adults) into a family for influence or one without a capable heir had been a practice in Japan for centuries.
• Most of the siblings in Nohr are already in promoted classes while the Hoshido siblings aren't. It makes sense; since Nohr is a militaristic and glory-seeking kingdom, it's more likely the Nohr siblings would have been in more battles and thus have the chance to go into stronger classes. The one Nohr sibling who isn't promoted is not only the youngest sibling, but is also a healer, which are among the most difficult units to level up in Fire Emblem games.
  • Additionally, the Nohrian Royal Family was stuck in the middle of a horribly bloody Decadent Court where Garon's concubines were total bastards to each other and each other's kids, with more than one casualty among the children and probably among the concubines. It makes sense to have the eldest son and legitimate heir, as well as at least two of said half-siblings, be extremely skilled in combat as a way to survive this sort-of "civil war" among the nobles; the Hoshidan siblings had their own problems, yes, but they still had somewhat of an advantage in such regards. And even more: since the in-fighting died out after Elise's birth, the other surviving royal children probably did their best to keep her outside of battle as much as they could. Which explains why she's a healer instead of a combatant: Xander, Camilla, and Leo wanted her to not have to spill blood, and instead give her the chance to heal wounds... probably to keep her safe and to make her a sort-of symbol of the innocence they could never truly have.
  • Further Fridge Brilliance on Elise: it's actually commented on a few times throughout the game (mainly by Camilla and Corrin) that she's a light amid all the other darkness that the Nohrian siblings had to deal with. Despite Leo's supposed annoyance with her at the beginning of the game, the Nohrian siblings probably encouraged her Genki Girl personality as well as her class choice. Thus, it makes it all the more tragic that her death in Birthright triggers Xander's Despair Event Horizon and eventual Suicide By Hoshidan Army.
  • Another contrast Elise has in comparison to her older siblings are their retainers of choice: Xander, Camilla, and Leo each have one retainer with shady backgrounds and personalities (Peri, Beruka, Niles) and another with mysterious origins (Laslow, Selena, Odin). Elise, on the other hand, recruits Effie and Arthur from the capital’s underground streets, and both start as commoners beforehand. Also, Arthur is one of the few "traditionally" heroic Nohrians, while Effie specifically mentions a few times that she and Elise came to be good friends during Elise's trips to the underground. It makes sense that Elise would be the one to pick out a classical hero archetype and her best friend to be her retainers.
  • Yet another contrast — Elise is the only Nohrian sibling (or royal sibling in general) who you never fight on any route. This again ties into how Elise differs from her other siblings. Whereas Xander, Leo, and Camilla are willing to put their loyalties to Nohr above their feelings for the Avatar, Elise puts her loyalty towards the Avatar above Nohr (which actually adds a very interesting contrast between her and Sakura — while Elise avoids fighting the Avatar because her morals for how she loves the Avatar outweigh her loyalty to Nohr, Sakura insists on fighting the Avatar because her loyalty to Hoshido outweighs her morals of how she feels about the Avatar).
• The change to the Weapon Triangle with pairs of weapons countering other weapons may seem weird (swords and magic > bow and axes > lances and shurikens/throwing knives > swords and magic), but some of this makes sense for those who played the previous Fire Emblem games. Many of the lance users were traditionally flying units like Wyvern Riders and Pegasus Knights, and since flying units have an innate weakness against bows and arrows, it would actually make sense to have bows effective against lances, since the player would have to fight a lot of flying units using a lance as their main weapons. Lance countering magic would make sense, since most lance users have a tendency to have built-in high magic resistance (especially pegasus knights), and the fact that most Magic Knight classes use both swords and magic as their primary weapons in the previous Fire Emblem games. Magic countering axes would make some sort of sense since many of the ax users in the previous games (particularly the Berserker, Fighter, Warrior, and Wvyern rider classes) have a tendency to have low magic resistance. Also, Truth in Television, shuriken and throwing knives' range tend to be very short in comparison to using a bow and arrow.
  • Now what about Swords versus Bows?
    • Swordsmen in Fire Emblem tend to have very high speed and good accuracy, making them good options for taking down a bow user in one round. Sword fighters also tend to have the most close-range options (most games only having magic swords to give them range, making long-range less than optimal), while bows tend towards 2-range combat only, so a swordsman who got in close was an archer's worst nightmare.
• If you scan Lucina's amiibo, you meet a Lucina who is optimistic, contrary to her appearance in Awakening. Remember defeating Grima at the end of Awakening? Thanks to that, this version of Lucina, who was a baby at the time, did not have to succumb to facing a Bad Future caused by Grima!
  • Actually, that Lucina is established to be the Lucina from Super Smash Bros. It's never said whether she's also the Lucina from Awakening, but if she is, then she saw Grima defeated and the Bad Future averted at last, so why wouldn't she be happier?
• This one's more a case of inverted Fridge Horror, but here goes. Revelation is the only route that ends with an actual confrontation with the Big Bad, Anankos, and the only one that can potentially end with both royal families surviving (not to mention Azura). But Anankos is not a Karma Houdini in the other two routes, nor do things go the way he wanted them to. Anankos wanted to ruin both Hoshido and Nohr, or at least weaken them enough that he and his Invisible Kingdom could curbstomp whatever was left. Thanks to the Avatar, however, the winning side, whichever it may be, suffered few enough casualties that at the very least, they'd be able to give Valla one hell of a fight, if not repel its invasion entirely. Furthermore, Anankos's primary agent in all this was the impostor Garon, who dies in all three routes, killed off by the Avatar's party. Regardless of how many people knew about the real Garon's death beforehand, pretty much everyone knows that "Garon" is dead. We do know that Anankos can resurrect and brainwash the dead to be his servants, but we only know for sure that he can do this with humans. He may or may not be able to do this with monsters, and false Garon's true identity was a slime creature. Even if Anankos did bring false Garon back, people would think it strange that the king suddenly returned, and he probably wouldn't have as much influence as Anankos would like, especially not if the Avatar and their party had anything to say about it (this goes double for Conquest, where Garon's true nature as a monster was flat-out exposed by the throne of Hoshido). Basically, no matter what, things go Off the Rails for Anankos, and it's going to take him a long, long time to get his plans rolling again. Sure, a lot of people died, including many the Avatar cared deeply about, but rest assured that The Bad Guy Did Not Win.
  • Plus there's the fact that in the final battle in Revelation, Anankos mentions he pumped a ton of his power into Slime Garon, which probably would be lost to him when Corrin kills him in Birthright and Conquest. And even better in Conquest, Anankos would probably have had to have invested even more power in Takumi, which would again be destroyed along with him. Birthright Anankos is probably permanently weakened, while Conquest Anankos is outright crippled.
• The amiibo characters are shown to be their Smash incarnations. If they fall in battle, you can presumably bring them back by re-scanning the amiibo, like in Codename Steam — you're reviving the character from their trophy form, just like in The Subspace Emissary.
• If one understands Japanese enough, one can actually see a bit of foreshadowing with the Nohr version of Azura's dance. As translated here. "An empty white throne" signs that Garon was long dead, which wasn't very obvious until late-game. "One will deceive them all by spinning a false tale" is about Garon's true nature that it was an imposter that took his place — similarly, something that was not noticed until late-game.
  • A similar thing happens with the English version, with "A legacy of lies, a familiar disguise" hinting towards Garon's possession.
• If you scan Robin's amiibo and have him talk to Selena, Laslow, or Odin, they all recognize him, since they're Severa, Inigo, and Owain. However, they recognize him by his clothes, not his face: a neat Call-Back to how you could customize Robin's face in Awakening. Presumably, it also means that, just like with Lucina, while the Awakening characters recognize Robin as an Avatar from their world, they don't recognize him as their (i.e. your) Avatar.
  • In addition, the original Japanese text uses gender-neutral language.
  • Carried over in the English version. They each find Robin familiar, but also recognize that he/she's not quite the Avatar they know. Selena/Severa even outright calls him an "imposter."
• One of the biggest divisive aspects of Conquest is the blatant, almost cartoonish evilness of Garon, the King of Nohr. It's very easy to chalk up Garon's one-dimensional personality as bad writing — but then you realize that this Garon is a puppet of Anankos, who has no comprehension of human kindness. Remember, Anankos hates humans with a passion and is insane and evil, so of course Possessed!Garon would act like a Card-Carrying Villain!
  • Once you consider that Anankos is the reason for Garon's insanity, suddenly his hiring of Hans and Iago makes much more sense. After all, a king possessed by a God of Evil needs equally-evil henchmen to help him!
    • It also explains in Birthright how Iago was able to manipulate Takumi for the entire game and make him his spy. Who gave him that power? Anankos through Garon!
• Why does Anankos only possess Gunter on the Revelation route and not the others? Because Takumi doesn't fall into the Invisible Kingdom on that route. In both Conquest and Birthright, he falls in there and is possessed, with Azura's song preventing its influence from taking control on Birthright (though Iago can still use it to control him at a certain point) and takes complete control on Conquest by the end. Gunter, meanwhile, is a seasoned Old Master with much more experience and a stronger will, so he is able to resist Anankos's influence and even stab himself despite having been under his control for as long as Takumi had been on Conquest.
• Takumi's considered one of the most ridiculously overpowered/broken units due to his skillset, his stats, and the Fujin Yumi being one of the best weapons in the game. Is it any wonder, then, that in Conquest he serves as the Final Boss?
  • Adding to this, Takumi is the only final boss in Fates, and one of the few in the franchise period, who's not some larger-than-life monster.^note Medeus, Idoun, the Fire Dragon, and Grima are all full-blooded dragons (Medeus ascending from being just another Manakete to being a dragon full-time in FE3 and its remake); Duma and Fomortiis are deity-level monstrous beings (with Doma being revealed as also a dragon in Shadows of Valentia); and Ashera, while human-sized, is a deity. Even the other human final bosses from prior games (including fake-out Final Boss Zephiel from The Binding Blade) have unique classes, with the exception of Veld, and they had some monstrous aspects to them — Julius was possessed by Loptyr (not unlike Takumi with Anankos), and Ashnard managed to reduce a dragon Laguz into a mountable wyvern-like form and ride him, as well as empowering himself with Lehran's Medallion in order to self-resurrect when defeated on the highest difficulty. However, Takumi's brokenness as a playable character, plus his ability to use Dragon Veins, helps make him every bit as worthy of the title of Final Boss (and credible in the position) as Garon and Anankos.
• It may seem strange that the Ninja can share one of its promoted classes, Mechanist, with an Apothecary of all things, but it makes sense considering how real-life ninjas were infamous for disguising themselves as simple farmers and merchants while on missions.
• The story claims that as they were growing up, Felicia proved to be a natural prodigy when it came to handling weapons while Flora was more mediocre, causing Parental Favoritism on their father's part. In-game, however, Felicia's growths lean more toward her being a Fragile Speedster and Squishy Wizard, while Flora is more physically oriented and thus better suited to handling weapons. It could be a sign that Flora could have been just as good as Felicia at handling weapons as a child, but because she didn't immediately grasp it while Felicia did, it hurt her self-esteem. Alternatively, Flora still wants to uphold her duties to the Ice Tribe while Felicia follows her heart, which makes it difficult for her to uphold her duties.
  • Or maybe it's just that, as her supports seem to indicate, Felicia HATES fighting, thus opening the possibility that she skips out on combat training so she can try to overcome her clumsiness in domestic activities in order to become a proper Meido (her real ambition plus a way to ensure a peaceful life with the Avatar). During the training sessions she can't avoid, she probably focuses more on practicing with her staff (which runs off her much-higher Magic stat) rather than self-defense. In other words, she's a deconstruction of Brilliant, but Lazy: She's highly talented in fighting, but never gets any better at it because she doesn't want to work to develop that talent.
    • Also, a sort of inversion of this point that adds to the brilliance: Flora's growths being better-suited towards weapons shows that, while Felicia may have started out better, Flora is / could be better now. However, Flora had to work harder at first, but since she didn't get it immediately like Felicia did, it explains a lot of Flora's insecurity.
  • Another indicator is that their father is a Sorcerer, both times you fight the Ice Tribe they use Dark Mages, and if one sees Felicia's magic growths compared to Flora's, one can also see their father's Parental Favoritism since Felicia has a better magic growth than Flora.
• The advertising before the release played up the angle that Birthright centered around bloodline, while Conquest centered around loyalty, but when you get down to it, both routes deal with both bloodline and loyalty, particularly with your older brothers. Ryoma is fighting for his homeland, but he's also fighting partially because the war resulted in the death of his step-mother, who raised him and his siblings like her own. There's also his promise to his father not to reveal the truth of your heritage. Xander, meanwhile, is torn between his love for his father and homeland and his love for you and loyalty to his convictions.
  • Relating to the above, bloodlines and loyalty can also refer to a number of the retainers that serve each family in both games. A number of retainers in Birthright were born into families that serve the royals, so their servitude is based on their birthright. Conquest has all the retainers be exceptionally skilled people who interested the siblings regardless of origins, leading to the siblings recruiting them. All of them have Undying Loyalty to the royal sibling they serve.
  • Flora and Felicia are both daughters of the chief of the Ice Tribe. When circumstances end up pitting Corrin's group against the Ice tribe, the twin sisters are forced to fight against one another. Felicia, who chooses to defend the Avatar, has a personal skill called "Devoted Partner," a passive skill that can increase damage dealt or decrease damage taken when she is paired with the Avatar, reflecting her loyalty to them. Flora, who chooses to side with her tribe, instead has a skill called "Icy Blood," a counter skill that activates if Flora is attacked from a distance when her health isn't full, reflecting back damage and also debuffing the enemy. This skill not only reflects her stronger ties to her clan, but also her self-sacrificial nature.
• The final boss in the third path is designed to be taken down by three groups; two to take out Anankos' arms, and a third to take out his head/core. It just so happens the third path is the only time you can use Xander, Ryoma, and Corrin all together. Thematically, it would be best to send Xander and his entourage after one arm, Ryoma and his after the other, and keep Corrin in the center to deliver the coup de grace, and the arena is designed to facilitate that exact strategy.
  • The final boss of the Heirs of Fate DLC map is similar: in fact, it's almost necessary, since both Kanas are the only ones who can do some good damage against Anankos. Male Kana and the Nohrians would go up the right (fighting their fellow lost Nohrian fathers) while female Kana and the Hoshidans would go up the left (likewise, but with the Hoshidan fathers). It even reaches the point where activating the Dragon Veins embeds a big symbol of both nations in the middle as a true testament to both nations banding together against this common enemy.
• Takumi is the only Hoshido sibling who doesn't have access to Sky Knight without having to marry someone who does. It makes sense; he is an archer, after all.
  • This gives him another similarity to his Nohrian counterpart, Leo, as he is the only one in the Nohr siblings to not have the Wyvern Rider class in his class set without having to marry someone who does.
  • It would also give him overlapping promotions, which no one has with their base classes presumably, so every parent character has the same amount of available skills.
• When it comes to the secondary class lines of the games' characters, some are obvious as to why the characters have that class line. Effie and Hana, for instance, have the same class lines their bosses belong to. However, some take some thinking to make sense.
  • Kaze and Saizo, despite being Ninjas, have Samurai as their secondary class line. Both of them have Undying Loyalty to their Lords (or Lady, in the case of the Female Avatar), which is a major trait of real-life samurai. And ninjas were usually samurai themselves operating covertly.
  • Oboro, unlike a majority of the Hoshido characters, is not a noble or somebody who comes from a legacy of service to the Hoshido royal family. She comes from more humble beginnings; to be specific, she is the daughter of two kimono makers, a type of merchant if you will. Thus her secondary class is Apothecary, which can be promoted to Merchant. The class also has access to yumis (Takumi's main weapon type), so some admiration of Takumi on Oboro's part is also a likely explanation.
  • Laslow, during his time as Inigo, admits that he has no scruples killing humans, unlike the undead Risen, so his secondary class line is the Ninja class, some of which in real life served as remorseless killers, as well as giving him Master Ninja, the closest thing in Fates to the Assassin class that he naturally had in Awakening, as a reclass option.
  • Odin's secondary class line is the Samurai, the closest this game has to Myrmidons — which was his original class as Owain in Awakening.
  • Selena's is the Sky Knight line, because she could naturally reclass to Pegasus Knight in Awakening and because she's gotten over the mommy issues she had as Severa, so now she can honor her mother Cordelia.
  • Arthur's dream is to be a Hero of Justice. What does anyone think of when thinking of a hero in a medieval setting? A knight on horseback, hence the Cavalier class line. Hero, fittingly, is what his "canon" promotion is instead of Berserker, as shown when he's encountered in Birthright and in the DLC maps.
  • Charlotte's secondary class line is the Troubadour line, which may seem strange, especially since it's a magic-based class on a physical-based character. However, Charlotte pretends to be a demure and feminine young lady, which fits more with this class line. Additionally, one of the class line's promotions is Maid, which is a real-life common fetish and could be used to get close to a rich guy. It could also be a symbol of her attempts at a Gold Digger: She tries to be dainty and fails at it.
  • Azura's is Sky Knight, through which she can promote to Kinshi Knight. Since she was raised as part of the Hoshidan Royal Family, and all of the Hoshidan siblings have access to Kinshi Knight, it could be considered the family's signature class.
  • Elise's secondary class is Wyvern Rider, which makes sense, since she idolizes Camilla, whose starting class is Malig Knight, one of the Wyvern Rider's promotions. This also gives her a parallel to her Hoshidan counterpart Sakura, whom has access to the Sky Knight class, Hinoka's starting class.
  • Niles' reclassing option is to a Dark Mage, fitting his shady history and sadistic personality, but it's also the class of his fellow retainer Odin and can promote to Dark Knight, like his lord Leo.
  • Mozu trembles while she is fighting as a villager. Mozu was a good hunter, and most of her alternate classes use bows (Merchant, one of her default promotions, and her secondary class tree, Archer). She doesn't tremble as other classes. The girl's probably more comfortable fighting from a distance.
  • Kagero's secondary reclassing option is Diviner, the default class of her best friend, Orochi.
  • Reina has both the Diviner and Ninja reclass. While her relationship with Kagero is unknown, it is confirmed by the latter that she was originally Mikoto's retainer, just like Orochi was. All three of them used to serve Mikoto, so it makes sense Reina has both Orochi and Kagero's default class options.
  • Takumi has always been in the shadow of his older brother Ryoma, whom uses mainly katanas aka swords. His reclass option? Spear Fighter, which use mainly lances/naginatas, that have an advantage over katanas/swords.
  • Setsuna, whom often is a victim of traps in her supports, is also shown in a few of them to be able to sneak up on people without realizing it, one of these individuals being Kaze. She's able to access the Ninja class, which revolves around stealth.
  • Shigure, Azura's son, gains the Troubadour line from his mother (even though she can't access the class by default). It does seem a little unexplained, but as you discover in Revelation, Arete, Azura's mother and thus Shigure's grandmother, is a Strategist, a promotion of the Troubadour line.
    • Additionally, if you look at the parallel class options coded into the game, you see that Azura passes the Troubadour line to characters who have Sky Knight as their default class. Since Shigure is already a Sky Knight, and he can't inherit Songstress, that leaves Troubadour for Azura to pass down to him.
    • As a plus, when Azura marries Jakob, there's a little inconvenience: Jakob also passes down Troubadour to any children of his that aren't Dwyer, so it'd mean Shigure cannot inherit any classes. This is easily fixed by him giving Shigure Troubadour... while she passes down Wyvern Knight, alias the Nohrian equivalent of Sky Knight.
  • The mere fact that the reclass options for Odin, Selena, and Laslow are Hoshidan classes matches with a detail in the Hidden Truths DLC: Initially, Anankos thought the Avatar was still in Hoshido and planned to send the three there. But, with Lilith revealing that they were taken to Nohr, he had to change plans in a pinch.
  • Anna's secondary class is Apothecary, which promotes into either Merchant (reflecting what is she doing in most of her appearances) or Mechanist (the Replicate skill is the closest thing to represent that she has many identical sisters running around).
  • Even the Avatar's reclass options makes sense. They can have any secondary class because they've been a part of both nations, and has had enough exposure to either nation's fighting styles and classes.
  • Hayato's secondary class is Oni Savage. Considering he constantly tells others that he is a man, it makes sense he would reclass into a "manlier" class.
  • Jakob's secondary class follows the Cavalier line. It makes sense since his mentor is Gunter, who is a Great Knight.
  • Unlike most, Shura has two secondary classes. The Ninja and Fighter lines. The Ninja is obvious since Shura is in fact a ninja. The Fighter seems a bit strange until it comes to mind that before being recruited Shura was a bandit, and in several Fire Emblem games it's very common that bandit leaders are axe-wielders.
    • And even more to it, Shura was originally a ninja from Hoshido. What if Adventurer is Shura's actual secondary class while Ninja is his primary class? It would make sense. Considering he found refuge in Nohr, he would be easily targeted if he showed up in an Hoshidan class (perhaps some would even consider him a spy), so he had to reclass to a Nohrian class. And the counterpart of the Ninja class is the Outlaw class.
  • Izana has two secondary classes as well. One of the two is the Apothecary class line. All of its classes make several eccentric movements, which fits Izana's personality like a glove. The other is the Samurai line, which seems completely random...but it would still make a strange sort of sense. Izana truly looks like the guy who would just choose a completely random class and try it out.
  • Subaki's secondary class is Samurai and one of its promotions is the Master of Arms. Considering his desire to be perfect, it would make sense he would choose a class that would allow him to master all three main weapons.
  • Hana's secondary class is Shrine Maiden, the starting class of her best friend and lady, Sakura.
  • Flora has two secondary classes, which are the Dark Mage line and the Mercenary line. The Dark Mage is most likely because if she were to follow her father's footsteps as a mage, perhaps she will obtain his favor like her sister. The Mercenary class seems rather random, but in truth it makes sense. Because Mercenary is also Felicia's secondary class. Flora is still trying to match her sister.
  • Gunter can be reclassed into the Wyvern Rider line or Mercenary line. Gunter is an old veteran of war so perhaps he had experience with all kinds of weapon. In fact among all of his possible classes, Gunter can use every weapon, except for daggers/shurikens which can be easily be corrected through Jakob, who can give him access to the Butler class.
• During Birthright, Ryoma is more than happy to share Hoshido's resources with the poorer Nohr. In Conquest, however, he refuses to hand over the antidote to Elise's sickness until you defeat him. This may seem like unbalanced, inconsistent writing... until you remember how poorly he takes the Avatar's choice if they side with Nohr. It's only natural he's not going to be very charitable to the kingdom that swayed his sibling into turning traitor, or the sibling who turned traitor.
  • Also, Ryoma is in an incredibly hard position. Elise is an innocent young girl, yes, but she's also a very important member of the opposite army (and their healer, on top of that). So if he did agree to give the antidote so easily, he'd be seen as a very poor leader willing to put the army under his command at risk. The guy's simply being pragmatic and choosing the option that will suck less for his side.
  • Furthermore, at that point in the game, Ryoma still thinks that Corrin could be convinced to come back to Hoshido, though they are still enemies. He wasn't completely unwilling to hand over the antidote, but he was still somewhat wary of Corrin nonetheless. Thus, Ryoma isn't trying to come across as harsh; he really does think that's a fair deal.
  • Also, the conversation in Birthright takes place while Silas is present. In other words, Ryoma is talking to a Nohrian that he knows is actually a nice guy. (Similar to Takumi's case, who can support with Jakob in Birthright.) By that point, Ryoma's had time to actually realize that not all Nohrians are bad, as opposed to on Conquest where he feels like Corrin betrayed him.
• Why aren't Corrin's and Kana's dragon form as tough as dragons seen in previous games? Because Azura uses the song Lost In Thoughts All Alone in conjunction with her pendant to calm them. Hidden Truths reveals the song was meant to Nerf dragons and weaken them so that their power wouldn't consume them. Corrin and Kana's dragon form being weaker is specifically why they were able to stay in control and return to human form.
  • It also helps that Corrin is only half-dragon while Kana is at most quarter-dragon. Because they each only have a fraction of dragon's blood running through their veins, it would make sense that they wouldn't be as powerful as someone like Tiki or Nowi, who are full Manaketes. (But this doesn't explain Nah.) However, this is balanced out by Corrin and Kana being the main character and the child of the main character, respectively, so they both have access to a multitude of job classes and skills, potentially making them powerful units in their own right.
  • It also makes sense considering that they just recently learned that they can transform into a dragon; unlike previous Manaketes, who had learned their entire life to fight as a dragon, Corrin spent their entire life learning swordplay, and Kana, even in respect to the other kids, is still extremely young. This also reflects in their Dragonstones, the normal one giving them more toughness but they aren't very nimble, and Dragonstone+ gives them slightly more power, but get tired because of it, hence the debuff. It comes down to experience, which is why they have the Dragon Fang ability, letting them use part of their power as a dragon to supplement their swordplay.
• The Japanese popularity contest for Awakening (the one that had the four most popular adult and child characters get their own cutscene in the Summer and Hot Spring Scrambles) was more than just a contest; it was also a way to see which character archetypes were loved well enough to make an appearance in a future game. In Fates, Gaius, Cordelia, and Tharja received expies in the form of Asugi, Caeldori, and Rhajat, while Owain, Inigo, and Severa make actual appearances as Odin, Laslow, and Selena. However, because Chrom and Lucina (the most popular male and female character, respectively) were also main characters, they were given special treatment. Chrom got his own DLC SpotPass, similar to the previous Lords featured in Awakening, and Lucina (courtesy of being in Smash) could be fought and recruited via scanning an Amiibo, just like the rest of the Lords that are featured in Smash.
  • It's also worth noting that Gaius, Cordelia, and Tharja are anagrams of Asugi, Caeldori, and Rhajat... just like Gurei, Matoi, and Syalla are anagrams of Guire, Tiamo, and Sallya. The anagram rule works for both the localized English names and the original Japanese ones!
• On Casual Mode, the Avatar reaching 0 HP doesn't give you an immediate Game Over, like in earlier games... except in Chapter 5. The main reason for this is probably since the boss there would likely be unbeatable without the Avatar, but from a story perspective, it makes sense: the Avatar has completely lost control of their dragon form and is essentially mindless (as seen by their lack of voice clips in battle). It takes intelligence to know when to retreat in battle and survive: with their mind completely feral, they're unable to make judgements like this and so succumb to their wounds and die.
  • Reinforcing this idea is the fact that Kana will also lack voice clips if you let them get attacked during their paralogue, and their first transformation happened in similar circumstances to Corrin's. Corrin and Kana may have been able to make their first transformation without their Dragonstone, but they have no control over themselves (or their mental processes) without one.
• On the Conquest route, it's a bit harder to get Dragon Vein Points, therefore a little harder to get ore to forge weapons and food for Lilith and the mess hall. On Birthright, there's plenty of opportunity to get as many Dragon Vein Points and the resources in My Castle as desired. This perfectly reflects the agricultural states in both kingdoms. Nohr has poor weather conditions, so they suffer bad crops and food shortages, while Hoshido has lush lands and these needs are bountiful.
  • This can also be reflected in the aspects that make each game unique. Hoshido has access to many resources, so Birthright allows one to grind freely, while Nohr has very little, so Conquest players will have to make do with what they can get or 'make a deal' with another land (buying DLC).
• Mechanists are essentially a mounted class, but they don't take bonus damage from weapons effective against beasts. Because they actually aren't riding animals into battle — they're riding atop a giant puppet!
  • Additionally, weapons and attacks effective against beasts will also be effective against Kaden and Keaton — who are also beasts.
• Oboro's portrait and My Castle model tend to make her look kind of drunk with her eyes almost unfocused. Of course she'd look a little out of it: she has a habit of keeping herself up late at night cleaning, so she's not getting enough sleep.
• If one takes a look at the Hoshidan siblings' designs, you'll notice unlike his siblings, whom share mainly a red and white color scheme with their clothing, Takumi wears mainly blue and white clothing with only some splashes of red. He's also the sibling that takes a while before he accepts the Avatar as family in Birthright and descends into almost homicidal hatred in Conquest for their betrayal, partly thanks to Demonic Possession. Even better, Takumi's outfit as a Sniper (his promoted class in Conquest) is mainly blue, white, and black, with no clearly visible traces of red save his hair ribbons.
  • The color blue itself is often associated with traits such as trust, loyalty, faith, and confidence. Which is almost tragically ironic considering Takumi's own issues involve exactly those traits.
  • Alternately, the colors of blue and white often make one think of water... wait, isn't Anankos connected to water motifs?
  • To drive the connection of Takumi with Anankos further, his name itself can have various different, but still very relevant meanings. While Takumi can be spelled with kanji that can mean 'skillful' or 'eminent' (matching his own desire to prove himself), some alternate spellings can include the kanji for 'ocean' or 'serpent'. The latter meaning can mean both a literal serpent or dragon in this case and a metaphorical one involving Takumi's own views on the Avatar.
• Despite Takumi initially being distrusting of the Avatar, like the rest of his siblings (plus the Nohr siblings, Jakob, Felicia, Gunter, and Azura), he has a fast support rate with the Avatar. This would seem like Gameplay and Story Segregation, but it can be explained in Conquest where the spirit of the deceased Takumi admits to the Avatar during their near-death experience that despite everything that happened, he still wanted to accept the Avatar as family. So, in the routes where Takumi is on the same side as the Avatar, it would make sense for him to warm up quickly to his lost sibling, initial hostilities aside (even if he wouldn't outright admit that). It also may even imply that Takumi was being purposefully more harsh than he normally would be as a Secret Test of Character, to see if the Avatar would disprove all the mistrust he levels at them and show they are every bit the caring sibling their family remembers.
• Notably, in Conquest’s Chapter 10, initiating combat with Hinata and Oboro as the Avatar will result in unique dialogue. What's interesting is how each one reacts to the Avatar: Hinata, whom never shows any sign of clear hatred to Nohr in Birthright, is outright hostile and isn't afraid to say to their face he wants to kill them, while Oboro, whom is openly known to hate Nohr, admits she's saddened that she has to kill and wishes they weren't on opposing sides. On closer inspection, both in fact reflect Takumi in Conquest and even hint of his eventual fate. Hinata represents the hatred and desire to kill his former sibling that eventually consumes him completely, and Oboro that Takumi secretly did want to accept the Avatar as family and part of his hatred likely stems from his disappointment in them betraying Hoshido.
• So, according to Hinoka's supports with the Avatar, Mikoto showed up one day with "a newborn baby" — the Avatar — and married Sumeragi. Problem is, Takumi and Sakura are younger than the Avatar — they couldn't have been born yet, meaning their real mother, Queen Ikona, was still alive at the time, therefore technically speaking, Sumeragi was cheating on Ikona with Mikoto. But why isn't this seen as an outrage or as at least a little reprehensible, never mind Mikoto becoming The High Queen and how Garon's penchant for keeping lovers ruined Nohr's court? The cause might be that, aside from Mikoto's own talents and kindness, Hoshido is modeled after Medieval Japan, where noblemen were allowed to have a wife plus concubines and some smart-enough court ladies (especially in the Heian era, the time where the famous court ladies and writers Murasaki Shikibu and Sei Shonagon lived) made whole careers out of being lovers and sometimes advisors to powerful men... and Sumeragi happens to be the most powerful man in the whole of Hoshido. Since Sumeragi isn't said to have had other romantic liasons aside from Ikona and Mikoto, unlike Garon, who married twice and went the Marry Them All path, it probably wasn't hard for Mikoto to start as Sumeragi's official mistress, become his legal wife when he's widowed, and then reinvent herself as the Noble Queen of the Hoshido and the kindly Parental Substitute to the Hoshidan princes and princesses, despite her unclear origins.
  • Plus, in these days a concubine to The Emperor of Japan could perfectly be the mother of said Emperor's children and maybe even his successor, the last example being Emperor Taisho's mother Lady Naruko Yanagihara. Under that logic, Sumeragi (whose name in kanji does mean "Emperor") could perfectly bring Mikoto and the Avatar into the Hoshidan court under the excuse that the Avatar is his Heroic Bastard and he means to Give the Baby a Father...
• On Revelation, Gunter can’t support with the Avatar or Jakob, even though he could in Conquest. He’s been possessed by Anankos for most of the game, and Valla is the land ruled by Anankos. Leaving him alone with the Avatar (who is, basically, Gunter's adoptive child) would be dangerous (and has been), and Jakob (who trained under Gunter and is highly protective of the Avatar) might realize something's wrong with him. So Anankos made sure that his "host" wouldn't be able to interact with the people who could notice what's going on...
  • It also offers a neat contrast with one of Gunter's foils, Yukimura. Yukimura doesn't join the Revelation group out of his own will, refusing to join a cause led by a person who he views as a traitor. Gunter turns against the group, but not out of his actual will, "becoming" a traitor (sorta) towards the same guy/girl Yukimura cannot trust any longer.
  • As for why he still can't support the Avatar and Jakob after being freed? Gunter's full of guilt and shame, not wanting to speak to either of them after being revealed as the mole. This is evident when he simply walks away from the former's coronation as the king/queen of Valla.
• Azura refusing to explain things to Shigure in his paralogue might not make much sense at first, especially if you're on the Birthright route. However, in Conquest, you find out about the Invisible Kingdom, which is filled with invisible soldiers. Azura must have assumed that they went after Shigure because she's been to the Invisible Kingdom, and this is also why she immediately understood what he was talking about when he was trying to explain his attackers. Also, she literally can't explain too much about it to him without invoking the curse. The last bit might also edge into Fridge Horror territory, though...
• Azama has a noticeably low Magic stat despite the fact that he's a healer. Why? Because he's a priest (or rather, Monk) without faith!
  • Such a deduction could have been intentional, as there existed some monks that were called Sohei, some of which really really weren't very religious at all.
  • Going on from that, Azama, also unlike other healers, is both sturdy and speedy with good defense and speed growths, making him a viable physical offensive user. It's established when he was younger, his ill behavior resulted in him being forced to climb various mountains as penance. Naturally, that would mean he has much better stamina as a result from all that mountain climbing.
  • Also, many players tend to accidentally get their unpromoted healers killed by exposing them too much to danger despite them not only being unable to fight, but having low defenses. Azama is basically "baby's first healer": he can't hit back (unless one considers his personal skill, which deals half the damage he's given if he's unarmed), but he can take more damage than the average White Mage. And in-story, this is justified since the above-mentioned penance he went through as a youngster made him physically tougher than one would think...
• Every retainer to the royal they serve share a critical hit quote with their master. When you spend almost literally all your time with someone, it makes sense you would pick up some of their speech.
  • Similarly, Kana's critical quotes, as well as some of their other battle lines, are almost word for word the same as the Avatar's. Compared to Morgan before them, they had one that was the exact same as the Avatar's ("Checkmate!") and one that was clearly modified after the Avatar's but still had the same meaning ("Time to tip the scales!/Time to even the odds!"). Kana's clearly meant to be a bit younger than Morgan; Morgan is, at the very least, at the age where they're beginning to leave the nest and define themselves as an individual. Kana's not quite there yet.
• When you're storming Hoshido in Conquest, the chapter names are named after the Hoshidan royal siblings. Takumi is the only exception, as his chapter is simply named "Possessed". His battle theme is also the very same one used against the invisible Swordmaster back in Chapter 5, who hails from Valla. In other words, the chapter's title and Takumi's battle theme is subtle Foreshadowing to Anankos's possession of Takumi.
  • The chapter title also means that Takumi is the only fightable royal who never gets a chapter named after them, which fits with his Inferiority Superiority Complex very well.
  • If you check Takumi's skills for the chapter, you realize he has the Vengeance skill. Vengeance is defined as punishment inflicted or retribution exacted for an injury or wrong. The skill itself adds damage equal to the amount of health the user has lost into their attack. It's not only a perfect description of Takumi's hatred of the Avatar for what they've done to Hoshido, it also hints at his full possession at the end of the chapter. Ironically enough, for Takumi to actually be able to access the skill as a playable character, he'll have to marry a Female Avatar with a Dark Mage reclass or through a Friendship Support with Leo.
  • Also, you might notice that Takumi uses a different battle theme from his siblings in Chapter 13 as well... which, incidentally, is the same chapter where Azura hints that there's something wrong with him. The player could probably start piecing things together then, only to have it confirmed in Chapter 23.
• If Takumi is a Swordmaster, he has a unique model design based on Sumeragi's outfit. Yet Takumi doesn't have access to the class normally without Friendship or Partner Seals, despite it being established that Takumi is talented with swords. Knowing Takumi has always felt inferior to his brother, it's very likely he purposely doesn't have the samurai class as his default reclass option to not be stuck in Ryoma's shadow.
  • Going on from this point, if you look at Takumi's Friendship Supports, you'd realize he has two characters that will give him the Samurai class set. To be more exact, his brother Ryoma and his retainer Hinata. It's more meaningful if you look into it. Trying to distinguish himself from Ryoma is implied to be the reason why Takumi doesn't have the Samurai class by default. Meanwhile, Hinata in his A-Support with the Avatar reveals Takumi and his talent with swordplay, and thus he knows his skills firsthand. In other words, getting Takumi an A+ support with either Ryoma or Hinata seems to have encouraged him to take up the sword again, hence why he's able to access the Samurai class.
• A meta one because of the localization changing Sophie's personal skill's name. In the Child Scramble DLC, should her mother be Oboro, Sophie lets slip that she's actually stripping the enemy on purpose. Her personal skill was renamed from Clumsy to Mischievous.
• The younger brothers in both royal families live in the shadow of their older brothers, and this is even shown in their weapon types and classes.
  • Leo uses Tomes, which is red in the triangle, the same as Swords that Xander uses. He chose fighting with Magic rather than Swords because he felt like he couldn't match Xander in that regard. However, his Dark Knight class still has access to Swords, showing that he still gave it a try at least, but ultimately chose Magic.
    • The fact that he can use swords by default might make Leo look like a Hypocrite for telling Corrin and Xander that there's more to strength than just using physical weapons. However, that and the above point both make sense when you notice that Leo starts off with a higher weapon rank in tomes than swords.
  • Takumi uses a Yumi, which is green in the triangle, beaten by Katanas in the triangle, which are red. Ryoma uses katanas. In this case, it's as if Takumi needs to try even harder despite his weapon's disadvantage against Ryoma. On top of that, despite the fact that he has a unique Swordmaster model, some Supports mentioning his swordplay, and the fact that he has a katana named after him, Takumi does not have natural access to the Swordmaster class set. This could be due to his steadfast determination on wanting to hone his proficiency with the Yumi above all and not wanting to be in Ryoma's shadow, who is already a Swordmaster.
    • This is even shown in Takumi's default reclass option: the Spear Fighter class set. Lances are strong against swords in the weapon triangle, so it's possible he chose the class on purpose. Coincidentally, the only class he shares with all his siblings (including Azura) is the Kinshi Knight class, which uses yumis/bows and lances.
    • Additionally, Ryoma's son Shiro specifically says in their supports that he became a Spear Fighter because naginatas beat katanas. This makes it even more likely that Takumi has the exact same reasoning for having that as his reclass option.
  • And just to throw a cherry on top: the weapons named after the characters, mentioned below, are usually of the type they normally wield (for example, Hinata's is a katana, Peri's is a lance, etc). The exception to this is the brothers, who all have different types of weapon named for them than what they'd normally use (heck, Ryoma and Takumi can't use theirs unless they reclass): namely, Ryoma's Club, Xander's Lance, and Takumi's Shinai and Leo's Iceblade (which are both swords). They all seem like odd choices (particularly given Leo's opinion on swords), but if you look at where they fit in the weapon triangle, it makes perfect sense: Takumi's sword has the advantage over Ryoma's club, which represents Ryoma's hope that Takumi will eventually come into his own and stop feeling inferior to him. Leo, on the other hand, would be at a disadvantage against Xander's lance, which is possibly a reference to the fact that every possible ending for Leo sees him supporting either Xander or the Avatar from the background, sometimes at the expense of his own reputation or place in history.
    • Some additional Fridge Brilliance: Leo's Iceblade is a magic weapon, so while he's giving swords more of a chance, it still shows his preference towards magic. Also, while Xander seems to prefer swords, he still can use lances in his default class. Finally, Master of Arms is the alternate promotion of Samurai, Ryoma's base class; it's not too unusual for him to have a unique club when you take that in mind. Takumi's is the only one that is "out of place," but it still fits in well with the fact that he has a unique Swordmaster model.
    • Come to think of it, it's possible that their weapons are actually meant for their sons to use, rather than them: Siegbert already has access to lances in his base class, and Shiro and Forrest both inherit secondary classes from their fathers that allow them to use clubs and swords respectively. Neither of Kiragi's normal classes enables him to use swords, but he gets access to the Samurai classes by A+ supporting Hisame, so it still fits.
• Ever wondered why some enemy Snipers randomly had Swordbreaker in the previous game? Perhaps they were preparing for this one, since Swords now beat Bows in the weapon triangle.
• All of the Hoshido siblings have special weapons/staves named after them, that reflect their personalities. Ryoma's Club has a might score of 16, but a hit score of only 55, and is described as an "awkward but powerful" weapon; Hinoka's Spear is a "nimble" weapon and lowers the defense and resistance of the holder by one, Sakura's Rod heals a fixed 7 HP to an ally, and Takumi's Shinai lowers the user's defense and resistance by three points and, most importantly, will not kill an enemy with more than 1 HP.
• Most of the other weapons named after playable characters reflect their personalities, as well. For example, Jakob and Felicia have unique "daggers" that are actually trays/plates. Also, Niles's Bow, much like Takumi's Shinai, will not kill an enemy with over 1 HP... though probably for different reasons. While Takumi's probably holding back due to not actually being that bad of a guy, Niles is stated to be a Sadist, so he's probably enjoying getting to attack the enemy more times. Also, being Nohr's jailer, wouldn't a bow that leaves its foe nearing death make for an easier capture?
• In Revelation, Izana basically threatened to haunt Takumi, the one guy who has the worst nightmares/dreams, into helping out the Avatar. Clearly, his odd behavior must have been worth having him as archduke, right?
• When watching Azura's Nohr dances, whether in Japanese or in English, one will probably notice that both Renka and Rena Strober use voices a little deeper/huskier than normal. That's because, in story, Azura doesn't want to be recognized — in addition to putting on a veil to hide her face, she's trying to disguise her voice by singing below her normal range! So both singers follow this plot point by lowering their pitches a bit as well...
  • Plus, Birthright!Azura has a little help from the Master of Illusion Zola in her performance... but in Conquest, Zola doesn't appear until much later. She probably decided to take a step further in her disguise, since she's performing without external support.
• Sumeragi explains that he met and fell in love with Mikoto when he found her by the lake. Where did Azura and Corrin first meet?
• Throughout the entire game, Garon is pretty much as Obviously Evil as one could possibly get. However, if one takes into account the fact that Anankos is actually controlling his corpse, it can also explain why he acts so obviously cruel. For one thing, Garon is already mentioned as turning bitter due to the horrific infighting between his concubines, so there are already some explainable reasons for his shift in personality. Furthermore, Anankos is a dragon that has gone totally insane, due to the mental degeneration that dragons experience when they live for too long, and it's also strongly implied that the familiar possessing Garon's corpse was created around the time his insanity really started taking over. Due to this, and his extreme hatred for humanity due to his experience with humans turning on him, it can be safe to say that the reason he acts so clearly villainous is because the being controlling him doesn't think about being subtle, because he literally can't.
  • Another justification comes from how the Puppet-Garon acts in general. Puppet-Garon has all of Garon's memories, and during the last few years of his life, Garon became paranoid and much more bitter as a result of his wives killing each other and his kids. Puppet-Garon seems to genuinely think he's the real Garon, until anything forces him to reveal his true form, as hinted by Revelation when Puppet-Garon thinks he'll be a vessel for Anankos. Puppet-Garon in all likelihood viewed those memories of Garon's life and acted on it, but since it was not there to feel the emotions he had, it likely assumed Garon was a terrible person or was evil for what he did. After all, if Anankos is insane, then he'd be unable to discern happiness from anger.
  • Also remember, Anankos hates humans. In addition to sparking more hatred towards Nohr (escalating the war and its destruction), it's likely the puppet Garon's personality represents what Anankos thinks of all humans. Even the slime form could show how he believes humans are scum and rotten to the core.
• Nyx is the only playable character in Conquest (not counting the child characters) who does not appear in Birthright. Given that she appears to be a child, fighting her without knowing that she's Older Than She Looks would be a sure way to get a Player Punch.
  • Either that, or Nyx simply retreated to a different location. Given that she's a shaman who prefers to live a sheltered life, it makes sense that she would want to be as far away from the conflict as possible. She probably foresaw that a Hoshidan army was headed her way and left on short notice.
  • The Avatar's forces in Birthright would also have caused a higher alert to go around given that they were coming to Nohr from the rival country, rather than in Conquest where they were a domestic force assigned only to stop local rebellions. Nyx could have gotten the alert and fled the area before the Avatar arrived along with some of the Nohrian civilians.
• Besides both being magic users, Odin and Leo also share the fact that both are princes who had to deal with being overshadowed by their relatives. Leo has Xander, the crown prince, and Owain has Lucina, the one who inherited the Falchion. Odin doesn't let it show nearly as much, however.
  • Additionally, Odin will frequently go on about having "sacred blood." While him being of the Exalted bloodline doesn't mean as much in the Fates world, here Owain isn't under Lucina's shadow. Of course he'd want to mention it more now that he's not as overshadowed!
  • It might be possible to extend the similarities to Laslow and Xander. Laslow mentions that in his future of Awakening, he had to smile all the time and pretend everything was all right so that the people who depended on him wouldn't despair. Xander, as Crown Prince, is under similar pressure in that he needs to be a strong leader at all times, even though unlike Laslow, this results in him never smiling instead of always smiling.
• The end of Birthright Chapter 15 if the Avatar has an A Support with Kaze. The scene proceeds as normal with both hanging over a collapsing cliff... then Kaze notices a crystal on the other side of the canyon, declares he's "going to try something", and throws a shuriken at it... which just happens to cause an explosion that blows him and the Avatar back onto solid ground without harming either of them. If Kaze knew that crystal had those properties before, it might have made sense, but he admits afterwards he had no idea and was just winging it. His survival MIGHT feel like a giant Deus ex Machina — until you notice that his dialogue was very similar to his A-Support. Therefore, if an A-Support has been achieved, Kaze will not feel obligated to tell his story a second time. This made him more aware to his surroundings, thus able to spot the crystal. If the A-Support is not reached, Kaze will be too distracted with telling his story to the Avatar, and failed to spot the diamond in time. It makes a lot of sense considering the Guilt Complex Kaze carried.
  • Also, Geo Effects are hardly a new thing in Fire Emblem as a whole. Granted, most of the "big" things in this one are limited to Dragon Veins... However, with that in mind, it makes sense that Kaze hoped that the crystal would do something, especially since he was desperate and had few other options at the time.
• During the very first chapter, in the dream sequence, the track "Woleb Tsap" plays, which is a reversal of another track, "Past Below." The latter track plays when you're in a Valla map, while the former plays while you're having a dream sequence of having to choose which family to side with. You originally hail from Valla, so neither side there is your family. Perhaps the track was a musical indicator of your true origin?
• Garon had many concubines and sired many children because of it. It probably wasn't that hard to convince the court, castle staff, his children, and anyone who wasn't in the know that this seemingly random kid he brought home was his.
• Somewhat related to the above point: Xander is the only Nohrian sibling who directly says that he knew Corrin wasn't related to him all along. It's likely the others found out eventually, maybe even before the in-universe reveal, but Xander was probably the first one who knew about it. This offers a neat parallel with his Foil, Ryoma, who was the first Hoshidan sibling to realize that Corrin wasn't their blood relative, either.
• On that note, why is Ryoma the only Hoshidan sibling to know from the start that Corrin isn't actually related to them either? Simple: He's the eldest sibling. Judging by appearances, he may even be old enough that he could conceivably remember their arrival in Hoshido.
• Why does Laslow have an unexplained British accent? When he, Severa, and Owain came to this new world, they had to reinvent themselves. They gave themselves new names, and in Odin's case, a new default class. Why not a new way of speaking, in Laslow's case?
  • He had the accent previously — it's just far more subtle. The fridge brilliance is that Awakening's Inigo is hiding behind a flirtatious personality and happy mask; by Fates, this Inigo/Laslow is actually being more honest personality-wise while just hiding his name and past.
• Similar to the above point, Selena canonically promotes to Bow Knight (and even gets a unique palette swap), evidenced by Birthright Ch 23 as well as the Royals' DLC maps. It seems a bit random, but it makes sense for a few reasons. First, they want to avoid class overlap since her fellow Mercenary Laslow shares the same class line, so he promotes into Hero. Since as Severa, her canon promotion seemed to be Hero, since that was her class in the Future Past DLC, she decided to change things up a bit. And on top of that, the Bow Knight uses... well, Bows, which beat fliers. Her mother Cordelia starts out as a flying class, so in a way, this could be seen as her wanting to surpass or distance herself from her mother, right down to using a weapon type that she would be weak to. In any case, the Nohrian retainer Awakening trio all have something different about them as part of their disguise!
• In Revelation, the potential Nohrian choices of mothers for Asugi, Rhajat, and Caeldori are, in order, Charlotte and Beruka (Asugi), Nyx and Effie (Rhajat), and Nyx and Selena (Caeldori). If the players look more carefully, they actually are further references to their Awakening counterparts:
  • Caeldori: Her potential mothers are Selena and Nyx. As known already, Selena's obvious because she's Cordelia's daughter, but why Nyx? Cordelia was able to access the Dark Mage class naturally, so both choices are actually based on Cordelia's other reclass options.
  • Rhajat: Her potential mothers are Nyx and Effie. Nyx is also pretty obvious as it gives Rhajat access to the same class of her Expy or Reincarnation plus dark hair similar to Tharja's. Nyx's aloof personality and (former) penchant for cursing others is taken from her as well. Effie does seem a little out of place... until one realizes Tharja's other reclass options were Archer^note which her own daughter ends up being... and Knight, which is Effie's main class.
  • Asugi: His potential mothers are Beruka and Charlotte. While Beruka doesn't match the theme of the other mothers, Charlotte will give Asugi the Axe Fighter class... one of Gaius' reclass options. The other option was the Myrmirdon class (aka the Samurai class), which Asugi will already have natural access to from Saizo. Hence he's the only one of the three that can have the exact same class sets Gaius had in Awakening. Even with Beruka, he'll still have access to a class using mainly axes, which still would make it very similar.
• In the 'Anna on the Run' DLC, Subaki remembers the bright red camellia flowers lying in the snow back in Castle Shirasagi, and grimly ponders if he would look as spectacular fallen in the snow. Tsubaki means "camellia flower" in Japanese, and in the hanakotoba aka Japanese flower language, a red camellia can mean "to perish with grace".
• Generic enemy models are red as enemies, blue when recruited. This is hardly a new concept, but as maids, Felicia and Flora's brooches are blue and red respectively. Flora becomes an enemy on all three routes.
• The fact that you can still support with Scarlet in Revelation, despite the Plotline Death. They already gave an Interface Spoiler with Gunter by disabling their supports... So it's likely that the writers were trying to avoid another spoiler and make Scarlet's death more of a surprise.
• Unlike Awakening, you can only recruit Anna if you pay real money and buy her DLC map. It's only fitting, given Anna's obsession with money.
• Gender restrictions on classes like Pegasus Knights and Fighter/Barbarian have been removed in Fates; Fates also added homosexual relationships, meaning both mechanics involve removing restrictions on gender.
• In Revelation, each character has one additional friendship support with another that wasn't a party member in their game. A lot of these supports shows a lot of comparison between the two characters:
  • Ryoma and Xander: Both are the first in line to their respective countries, both own a legendary sword, and both have a code of honor that defines them. The difference being that Ryoma's code of honor allows him to trust the Avatar by proving themselves to him while Xander's own code made him more hesitant to join the Avatar until he found absolute proof.
  • Hinoka and Camilla: Both of them are the oldest females of each families, both have a flying steed, and both are very protective of the Avatar. However, Hinoka is a tomboy while Camilla is more feminine and while Camilla would be next in line but turned it down because she didn't want to rule Nohr in Birthright, Hinoka became the Queen of Hoshido by default because both the heir and the spare were killed off in Conquest.
  • Takumi and Leo: Their supports show that both enjoy history as well as strategy games and both enjoy soup. They also have a serious case of middle child syndrome and seem cold and distant but are really good people. When the Avatar has to face them in their respective routes, Leo tries his hardest to hate them but couldn't in the end while Takumi's own jealousy of everyone turns him into a vessel of Anankos.
  • Sakura and Elise: Both are healers, the youngest child, and both bonded over their love for music instantly. They are also the first in their respective route to join the Avatar. Their temperaments couldn't be more different as Sakura is shy and stutters while Elise is very energetic. Also, Elise dies in Birthright while Sakura survives in Conquest.
  • Hana and Effie: Both are childhood friends to their lords, Sakura for Hana and Elise for Effie. Both of them are also Lady of War who are very skilled fighters. While Hana is more of a faster swordswoman and is more aggressive, Effie is more of a guardian to protect people. Also, Hana was born to a samurai family, Effie had to work her way up from the slums to become a knight.
  • Subaki and Niles: Both do a very good job of annoying people, though while Niles does it to troll people in general, Subaki doesn't realize that his comments about being perfect annoy people. Also, Niles has no issues to reveal any flaws he has while Subaki strives to show that he has no flaws despite evidence to the contrary. However, both are very good at observing, they just show it in different ways.
  • Saizo and Laslow: Both are very shy people and they are also very emotional. They are also both very loyal to their respective missions and have a deep connection with family. They're both also retainers to the oldest prince of their countries. Saizo is more cold and efficient while Laslow is much more relaxed and emphatic.
  • Orochi and Nyx: Both are very mystical and would count as the token female mage of each side. That is where the similarities end, however, as Orochi is very playful and mischievous while Nyx is very wise and cautious.
  • Rinkah and Charlotte: The powerhouse females of each side, they are also both blunt and have a strong sense of loyalty, Rinkah to her clan and Charlotte to her family. They also both have a hidden side that they are reluctant to admit.
  • Kagero and Peri: Both of them have a hint of madness and are subordinates to the crown prince of their kingdoms. While Peri's madness is quite obvious with her behavior, Kagero's is more subtle with her expression of art. Also, Peri's style is very wild while Kagero is more in control.
  • Oboro and Beruka: Both are not very good socially although in Oboro's case, it only applies to Nohrians. Both also have a tragic past that defines them to this day. However, Oboro clearly has a life outside of being a retainer while Beruka doesn't do much in between missions. It probably helps that Beruka's master, who was essentially her caretaker, was the one who assassinated Oboro's parents giving both of them a bit of history with each other.
  • Hinata and Odin: Both are Large Ham retainers that are much more deadly than they appear at fight glance and both love weapons above all else. However, Hinata is The Ditz while Odin is merely a Bunny-Ears Lawyer.
  • Hayato and Benny: Both of them are not retainers at all and both of them have a lot of fears. Hayato tries to put up a brave face even though he is clearly the youngest out of both groups and Benny does not hide any discomfort despite his scary appearance.
  • Setsuna and Selena: The other retainers are very wary of them, Setsuna for being absolutely clueless and Selena for her hot temper. They are also big spenders although Selena doesn't realize it slightly as much as Setsuna ironically enough. However, Setsuna is lazy while Selena is a workaholic.
  • Azama and Arthur: Both exhibit the stereotype of an idea, Azama as a philosopher and and Arthur as a hero. They also show the duoism of optimistic versus pessimistic. Azama is very sarcastic and many people find it hard to tell if what he's saying is sincere while Arthur is very open about how he feels.
  • Kaden and Keaton: Both are human-beast hybrids that live in the outskirts of civilization and generally kind-hearted as long as one doesn't invade their territory, which they are violently protective of. While Kaden is a friendly narcissist, Keaton does not care about appearance at all and can be rather crude due to his lack of knowledge about human civilization. If both are paired, they have somewhat of a Boke and Tsukkomi Routine.
  • Shiro and Siegbert: Both are afraid that they won't be able to live up to their father's expectations and both have hidden depths they hide from everyone. They also fit the Red Oni, Blue Oni archetype, with Shiro as the Red Oni and Siegbert as blue. Not only that, but their fathers’ potential Revelations pairings would make them cousins.
  • Kiragi and Forrest: Both are the exact opposite of their fathers: Kiragi is more excitable and Forrest is very flamboyant. They both love their hobbies and are not afraid of showing it off. Kiragi is more physically active while Forrest is more of an artist who enjoys creativity.
  • Caeldori and Nina: Both are following the same paths as their fathers, though Caeldori is more unintentional while Nina is actively trying to be a thief like her father. They also have some kind of fear, Caeldori for being perceived as perfect and Nina for talking to boys.
  • Asugi and Ignatius: Both love cute things and both inherited something from their fathers, Asugi with his title and Ignatius with his looks. But Asugi is very confident about himself while Ignatius is much more shy.
  • Hisame and Percy: Like many children with father-child relationships, both characters are the opposite to their parents; Hisame is more calm than his father and Percy is extremely lucky (unlike his notoriously unlucky father). They also both try their best to become what they want to be — Hisame wants to be a retainer and Percy wants to be a hero, not to mention they both share a very serious determination.
  • Rhajat and Ophelia: Both are very interested in dark magic, but while Ophelia at least tries to be careful, Rhajat doesn't care what happens as long as it happens. Also, both characters' outfits can be on the skimpy side.
  • Mitama and Soleil: Both are easily distracted by something, Mitama with her poems and narcolepsy and Soleil with women and cute things. While Mitama is extremely lazy, Soleil just has way too much energy.
  • Selkie and Velouria: Both are perhaps the closest to their fathers relationship-wise. They are also shapechangers, which allows them to bond over their support. But Selkie has no clue about Kitsune culture while Velouria is well aware of what being a Wolfskin is like.
  • Even the two party members who will always join your side, Silas and Kaze, both have similarities and differences. Both of them were involved in the Avatar's childhood, but they do not remember either of them, and both feel that following the Avatar would lead to the greater good over their respective factions, Nohr and Hoshido respectively. Silas is very casual, generally speaking in a very relaxed manner, while Kaze's way of speaking as well as his behavior is very formal even in informal settings.
  • One can even compare the Avatar and Azura in the same manner. The Avatar is a Hoshidan that was kidnapped and raised in Nohr and Azura is a Nohrian that was kidnapped and raised in Hoshido. In addition, the Avatar is very emotional and social, while Azura is withdrawn and introverted. It also comes to how they each influence the plot: the Avatar freely chooses their decisions and directly affects what goes on in the story as the leader of the army, while Azura cannot directly affect the situation and as such must be very subtle and do small things to shift things in her favor. It also helps that both turn out not to be Nohrian or Hoshidan but rather descendants of Valla, a third, hidden faction.
  • Additionally, Selena, Odin, and Laslow's Hoshidan supports are very reminiscent of Severa, Owain, and Inigo's friendship supports with Noire, Male Morgan, and Gerome respectively. Selena's support chain with Setsuna has her coming to the former's aid despite herself, like Noire (and it is purely coincidental that both Setsuna and Noire are Archers). Odin and Hinata get along like they've known each other for quite some time, like how Owain got along swimmingly well with the male Morgan, who might not even be from the same future. And Laslow, once again, is outdone by a man in a mask, like how Gerome becomes popular with the girls over Inigo.
• In Heirs of Fate, the second-gen characters are given their default hair colors rather than their mothers. This is most likely because of the CGs when the sacred weapons react to the Yatos, and the ending CGs where the royals reunite with their parents. On the technical side of things, the children can have a vast array of hair colors, so it's just easier to give them one color for CGs — it’s the same reason why children are given hair dye in the Scramble DLCs in both Fates and Awakening. But it's also to prevent a possible Plot Hole. Each child, sans Shigure, is from a world where either Hoshido or Nohr were chosen. If you go into the DLC on a Revelation file, there's chance for the children to be of mixed blood since Hoshidans can marry Nohrians and vice versa. The Plot Hole comes into play if one of the mothers, either potentially or canonically, dies on the opposite route (for example, you can have an Elise-mothered Shiro, or an Oboro-mothered Nina). By the nature of the DLC, those mixed blooded children shouldn't exist. So, ignoring the need with the CG, giving the children their default hair colors really was the best way to go.
  • It makes sense from a gameplay perspective, as well. Considering that all of the children show up, if you're playing on either a Birthright or Conquest file, then half of the kids don't have any other hair color besides their default to pull from in the first place. And trying to bypass the issue by using a Revelation file, where all the kids can exist at the same time could lead into the story Plot Hole mentioned above.
  • And it's most likely why the mothers aren't even mentioned in the DLC. Compared to the Future Past, its overall cast isn't as large as Fates and Lucina and Cynthia have limited options for their mother and father respectively. So they would have had to write more for the children to speak with their mothers. So the Future Past children get to have moments with both parents (sans Morgan). And, once again, going into it on a Revelation file creates the aforementioned Plot Hole.
• So it seems weird that in Revelation, wherein Odin, Selena, and Laslow accomplish their mission, and where Lilith survives, that they wouldn't tell Corrin about what was happening, right? Well, not only would the truth of them being from another world be very far-fetched and hard to believe, but until Chapter 26, the party is suspecting a traitor in their midst in part due to Scarlet's death — which happens immediately upon entering Valla. Revealing that Anankos brought them there on top of that would put them under suspicion — so naturally, they aren't going to speak to the royalty and explain. The same goes for Lilith — her apparent absence after the beginning of Revelation also makes sense because Anankos would kill her if she showed her face in Valla — she doesn't leave because she's literally hiding out on the astral plane.
• In both of the Avatar's near-death experiences where they meet their deceased siblings, they're actually speaking with a third one — their sister, Lilith. The only one who actually is blood related... but Lilith can't tell because she too is bound by the curse of Valla. And in Conquest, even in death, she wouldn't know that the Avatar did go to Valla — because Corrin can't tell, and there's no way for Lilith to know! What's to say that the Valla curse doesn't transcend to the astral plane?
  • Similarly, why would Flora be present in the Birthright near-death experience, despite not being blood-related or raised as an adoptive sibling? She's been Corrin's servant since they were a child — she was probably raised alongside Corrin serving them, and essentially a family surrogate, but separated by the social class of a servant like Felicia and Jakob. Who's to say that if it was Jakob or Felicia who committed suicide in Birthright that they wouldn't show up there, either?
    • In other words, Corrin still viewed Flora (and Felicia and Jakob) as very close friends, so even if they're not siblings, it still fits.
• Azura's hair is actually a representative of how she distances herself from others. She always has one lock of hair that's right there in front of her face, it's something to separate herself from others. She's not fully hiding behind her hair (and it's long enough that she could), but she's not fully exposing herself either. Azura's willing to talk to people, but she won't let her defenses down. And it serves as a nice contrast to her son. He hides half his face, but is more sociable, and wears his hair like that to honor a friend.
• Given the knowledge of the Avatar's heritage, it seems like a shame and might even feel like an oversight that out of the 30 options for hair colors, you can't choose the exact tone of blue that their sister, Lilith, and the human form of their father, Anankos, have. But that's probably the intention, anyway. The Hidden Truths DLC shows that Anankos can change people's appearances if he needs to, like with Owain's, Inigo's, and Severa's hair colors. The Avatar's original hair color could easily have been that particular blue, but given Anankos didn't want them to know he was their father, the first thing he did to hide that fact was to change it to anything but.
  • Isn't this more WMG? Anankos will change their hair color but not their cat-like pupils or Manakete-like ears?
• There are more Hoshidan classes that can achieve S Ranks by focusing on one weapon type (Spear Masters, Swordmasters, Snipers, and Master Ninjas) than there are Nohrian classes (Berserkers and Sorcerers, while Maids can also count thanks to their Staff rank). One could see this as the Hoshidans usually sticking to one job (for the retainers, it would be being born into the role as a retainer thanks to being part of a family who served the royals, and for the royals, two of them, Ryoma and Takumi, focus only on one weapon type) and the Nohrians are a little more flexible and open (as several retainers either had a mysterious or dark past and many worked hard to get into their role, while two royals, Camilla and Leo, fight either as physical or magical attackers).
  • Also, since Nohr is supposed to be the more aggressive country, it makes sense that the majority of their classes would have access to multiple weapon types. Having multiple kinds of weapons at the ready and being able to adjust to various combat situations makes sense for the more "violent" country. Since Hoshido is more peaceful, they'd have more time to spend completely dedicating themselves to one kind of weapon in more cases.
• A bit more of a meta example, but in every path, Zola disguises himself as Izana and impersonates him. He must do a pretty spot-on impression, especially considering they share the same English VA.
• The battles against Ryoma and Xander sport a keen difference in difficulty; the former will be more than able to take multiple hits from a maxed Avatar and defeat all but the most prepared players, while the latter may die even in one hit. While it may look like a huge difference, it's pretty justified — Ryoma is livid with anger due to believing the Avatar has killed Hinoka, and is absolutely serious about killing them, which won't fade until he's defeated and commits seppuku. Meanwhile, Xander has crossed the Despair Event Horizon after accidentally killing Elise, and while at the beginning he was already willing to die fighting the Avatar, when the proper battle begins, he has given up on fighting seriously, and the Avatar even mentions that in the next scene.
• If one subscribes to the fan theory stating that Izana faked his death in Revelation, why would Fuga join with his condition filled? Easy — Izana told him to. Why wouldn't Fuga join in Birthright or Conquest in this case? Because Izana didn't have to fake his death — so nothing stopped Izana from joining you personally.
• Looking at the cast, of all the recuitable characters, the only ones who you can never fight on any route are Izana and Nyx. Izana is rather obvious — fate never places him against you. But why Nyx? She is in a self-imposed exile and happens to be around Nohr or the Sevenfold Sanctuary. If Corrin had run into her on Birthright, she might have joined them — she may be Nohrian, but she has become such a recluse that she honestly doesn't care about taking sides in the war, and joins the Avatar's side, not the war — the Avatar just happens to be fighting in the war in Conquest.
  • Mozu is never fought on any route either, for almost the exact same reasons listed above for Nyx. The Avatar's army just happens to be near her village when it's attacked on all three routes, even in Conquest, so she joins them since they saved her life.
  • Elise, Jakob, Felicia, and Azura are also never fought on any route. Jakob and Felicia are both more loyal to the avatar than they are to Nohr, so that makes sense. Azura is the only person who knows about the Avatar's origins, so she understands what is happening behind the scenes, and thus doesn't want to be directly involved in the war. Elise is the most interesting — she is the only royal sibling who is never fought. This is because Elise is meant to be the 'light' of Nohr and represent the morals of the Nohrian siblings, so she doesn't take part in something as violent as a war like her siblings do.
• To truly test the player, the Final Boss of Conquest combines some powerful concepts and mechanics from past games, as well as new ones in this game. The boss has an area of effect attack just like Ashera in Radiant Dawn. He also has the skill Bold Stance, which combines Guard Stance and Attack Stance into one, effectively giving him the Pair Up mechanic like how it functioned in Awakening (wherein the partnered character can both attack and defend), and thanks to the mechanics in this game, both attacking and defending is now at a certainty rather than chance. Finally, he fights with a Yumi (a corrupted royal Yumi at that), one of the strongest weapon types in Fates.
• The Character Customization helps support the fact that the Avatar and the Hoshidans are Not Blood Siblings. Their default appearance alone makes them look more at home with the Nohrians and they can have an array of hair colors (possibly due to Superpowerful Genetics). They can have something like Mikoto’s hair color or a color more at home with the Hoshidans, or they could have green hair.
  • The Avatar’s name can be anything the player chooses. So it may not always fit in with Hoshido. Which makes sense, they’re not Hoshidan. They were born in Valla and their names range from Japanese (Mikoto), Greek (Arete, Anankos, Cadros), maybe Norse (Valla), and various other cultures (Azura, Anthony).
• Nina, Niles's daughter, is primarily characterized as a Yaoi Fangirl. While this seems like a random choice of characterization at first, it makes sense when you remember that Niles is the Gay Option for a male Avatar.
  • Of course, this also become ironically funny — the one time her fantasies can be fulfilled in-game is the one time she won't exist to see them happen. (The Niles/Male Avatar Revelation ending says that they did adopt two children and raise them as the Avatar's heirs, but it's not specifically mentioned whether one of them was Nina or not. Nothing says she couldn't be one of them, however...)
• The full version of Lost in Thoughts All Alone contains the lyric "Even the thorn in your heart, in time it may become a rose", and the song that plays when the player fights either one of the elder brothers is named "Thorn in You". Of course, in a route that isn't Revelation, the rose is never given time to sprout.
• Setsuna is considered to be the least competent of Hinoka's retainers (of all retainers, possibly), and it shows in her in-game levels. In Birthright, she joins at level 3 compared to Azama's 7 and Hinoka's 8, and in Revelation, she joins at level 11 compared to Azama's 13 and Hinoka's 17. In Conquest, however, she always appears at the same level as Azama and shows a more serious side by refusing to leave Hinoka's side after she's defeated... perhaps the Avatar siding with Nohr and seeing Hinoka's emotional damage over that convinced her to stop dragging her feet and work harder.
• The Hoshidan siblings (sans Sakura) repeatedly show outright hatred towards Nohr, while the Nohrian siblings usually only retaliate to their insults and overall don't seem to feel the same disdain in return. Hoshido comes off looking as the more racist and vengeful kingdom of the two, especially in the localization, but the history gives a fairly good explanation for this. Nohr started the war against Hoshido because of their need for resources, as well as Garon's desire to conquer (though it's later revealed to be because of Anankos' manipulations). Therefore, the Nohrians don't have a personal grudge against Hoshido: they feel it's something they have to do, even if they don't necessarily want war, and it's clear the siblings do it to follow Garon's lead, as they don't learn about Slime!Garon until later. For Hoshidans, though, all they saw was their until-then peaceful nation being attacked out of nowhere, further compounded by the fact that their king was murdered and one of their royal children abducted without provocation while on a peaceful, diplomatic mission. It should thus be to no one's surprise why Hoshido's hatred of Nohr is more vehement than the other way around, especially since the royal siblings were personally affected by Nohrian actions. The kicker is that the Hoshidan siblings have probably been simmering in their fury and pain over the Avatar's kidnapping for years (with Hinoka having made it her life's purpose to save them), and are thus highly unlikely to act cordially to the nation responsible. By comparison, the Nohr siblings don't seem to have been affected by Azura's kidnapping as much, to the point that Elise was shocked to learn that she was their stepsister: Camilla says they were explicitly forbidden to interact with her at all when she was brought into the Nohrian court, so it's easy to see that they didn't have the chance to emotionally bond with her, even though Xander, Leo, and Camilla did want to (as explained in Azura's supports with them and in Camilla's talk with Azura in the Halloween Scramble DLC).
• Hilarious in Hindsight: When looking up the definition of Ignatius, it says "fiery one". Now, in Revelation, which Female 1st Gen Hoshidan (other than Oboro) can S-support with Benny? For those who don't get it, the answer is Rinkah, who is from the Flame Tribe, and is also known for mentioning fire-related puns (an example being all of her English Critical Quotes).
• Not counting the servants in the castle, the Avatar is the only royal family member on both sides that does not have a retainer who fights with them. However, there are two party members who will aways side with you, Kaze and Silas. Between that, Kaze pledged to you during his A-Support and the fact that Silas's reason for becoming a knight was to try and pledge to them, instead of having two on either side, the Avatar essentially has one unofficial retainer each from both sides.
• For the Endgame of Revelation, there are 13 slots available. 10 of them are obviously meant for the Avatar, Azura, and the Royal Siblings. So who is meant for the last three slots? Laslow, Odin, and Selena, who would be there to finish their promise to Anankos.
• In Revelation, the Hoshidan and Vallite royal parents have heartfelt, beautiful death scenes where they comfort their children as they're released from being puppets of Anankos. Garon, on the other hand, arrives on the scene and is promptly eaten by the dragon without saying so much as a word to his children beforehand, much to the horror of said children. This may seem unbalanced and unfair to Nohr, but consider this: The Garon who was eaten by Anankos wasn't actually him. The real Garon died years ago and the one we see in the main game was his body being used as a puppet by Anankos, who was hellbent on having him destroy both kingdoms. Naturally, he would make sure to remove any happy memories Garon had of his children (as detailed in Leo's supports with Elise, he was quite a good father initially) to avoid any internal conflict that would get in the way of his plan. Therefore, this Garon wouldn't recognize his children or bother to say a word to them.
• The song used for the lottery, a luck-based minigame, is named Left to Heaven. Nintendo is Japanese for "Leave luck to heaven". Creator Cameo much?
• In Conquest, when Gunter rejoins your party after his Disney Death, his stats are seriously beefed up, far more than his meager growth rates would support in normal gameplay. Why? Since Anankos has Takumi to possess, he has no use for Gunter, and the old veteran has likely been fighting for his life ever since. He would have had to regain a lot of his old combat prowess and fast if he wanted a chance to survive.
• It's quite fitting that Leo is the one who executes both Iago and Zola most of the time, considering that a negative stereotype around mages is cowardice, which the former isn't, being a more positive stereotype.
• So if you name your avatar Valla, it becomes unintentionally hilarious, as the Valla curse says whoever talks about it outside its borders disappears... yet the characters talk about Valla all the time. So why don't they vanish? Easy — The curse is on the land Valla — not a person named Valla. If you name Corrin "Valla", the characters will talk about the person — not the land.
• It seemed strange that the Thief class suddenly started using bows as the Outlaws. But one of the most famous thieves, Robin Hood, is an archer.
  • And let's not forget that, of the two characters who start as Outlaws in this game, one of them actually is a play on the Robin Hood archetype.
• The Hoshidans generally are extremely anti-Nohr, and even act openly hostile towards characters like Silas and Corrin in Birthright, or Ryoma refusing to provide aid for Elise in Conquest. The Nohrians are much less anti-Hoshido, however, such as Kaze being more openly accepted in Conquest, and come across as being more willing to see what they are like as people before they make judgements. This may be a way of showing that the Hoshidans aren't so above it and have flaws like anyone else, and may be meant to go against the Story Branch Favoritism.
  • Another possibility may be to illustrate the flaws and benefits of both sides' perspectives. For instance, Hoshido's people have a far sterner adherence to principles of morality, making it easy to approve and side with their conviction but subsequently making them far harsher and less forgiving towards those who scorn those principles like they view Nohr to have. Contrasting this, Nohr's populace has a higher regard for loyalty to one another and the leaders that provide for them, making it far easier for people of all walks to be accepted by them, but likewise makes them more unwilling or unable to question the motives of the leaders they're supposed to trust.
    • This issue of loyalty also explains why Anankos chose to make Garon his direct agent rather than Sumeragi. If he had been using Sumeragi as his pawn, the Hoshidans may have been less willing to go with their king's increasingly bizarre and destructive orders.
  • Also, while in Revelation, Corrin and Azura discuss that while Nohrians may see the Hoshidans as people who think they are better than the rest, Nohr wages war against Hoshido mostly to gain resources and stop the famine their kingdom is suffering. There is nothing personal in this war, so Nohrians don't have anything against Hoshidans. On the other hand, Hoshidans are regularly attacked by the faceless sent by Nohrians and it's shown that they destroy villages. Therefore, a lot of the Hoshidan casualties are civilians. Therefore, Hoshidans may more easily develop a grudge against Nohrians.
    • Once again, this also explains why Anankos made Garon his direct agent rather than Sumeragi. As xenophobic and racist as the Hoshidans can be, they still value peace and would be hesitant to start a fight on flimsy pretenses, and they would have no need to launch an invasion or raid due to their bountiful resources. Nohr was much easier to turn into an aggressor due to its desperation.
• The Yato's final forms in all three routes has a stat boost corresponding to the other divine weapons. Raijinto and Siegfried are both obvious (Strength and Defense, respectively). Fujin Yumi and Brynhildr aren't nearly as obvious, as the owners' best stats are skill and magic, but it still makes sense. Fujin Yumi gives unresisted movement, which was the closest thing to speed, while Brynhildr has a passive that may halve incoming magic damage, similar to magic resistance.
• Considering Mikoto's relation to Arete and her daughter, Azura's kidnapping might not have been random after all. Upon hearing about her older sister's death and the severity of Nohr's Decadent Court, Mikoto takes action by hiring ninjas to "abduct" her niece from Nohr to Hoshido, thus preventing her from being harmed further by Garon's concubines, since her sole support in Nohr is gone by that point. Who's to say that Yukimura might have claimed full responsibility for those events because he doesn't want Mikoto's good image to be tarnished?
• Most of Odin's critical hit quotes are him yelling out attack names. Considering his belief that naming a weapon — or in the case of magic, attacks — will make them stronger, it may be the opposite is the case — his yelling the attack names make them strong enough to be a critical hit.
• The Revelation route has the two sets of siblings confronting the ideals of the opposite nation — loyalty and morality for Nohr and Hoshido, respectively. The Nohrian siblings are all forced to confront the fact that Garon is a clear villain, and all must make the moral choice to instead follow Corrin. Meanwhile, the Hoshidans must decide whether they want to stay with their kingdom, or follow their sibling, which leads to them ultimately choosing to follow Corrin, with their loyalty to Corrin overriding their morals of fighting for their kingdom against Nohrian aggressors.
• In chapter 13 of Birthright, one of the houses you can visit has a girl comment that she heard the resistance has a "mysterious new member", and gives you a Talisman to give to him. The Talisman is an item that permanently raises one's Resistance by 2 points, and Resistance is one of Ryoma's two (the other being Defense) lagging stats.
  • Also, in the scene at the end of the chapter, the player sees that Ryoma had disguised himself as a General, which isn't exactly a class known for its Resistance.
• Each unit comes with a unique personal skill that is exclusive only to them. While the effects of each skill differ between each unit, they usually factor into the unit's personality or character traits. Here are some examples:
  • The skills of all the royal siblings have a theme of contrasting with another sibling of the same gender in their respective families:
    • Ryoma's skill, "Bushido", gives him +10 to Critical, +2 damage dealt, and -2 damage received when he is supported by a unit whose level is less than or equal to his, while Takumi's skill, "Competitive", gives him +10 to Critical, +3 damage dealt, and -1 damage received when he is supported by a unit whose level is greater than or equal to his. Ryoma's skill is more balanced, reflecting his code of honor as a samurai and desire to protect those weaker than him as the future king of Hoshido. Takumi's skill is more offense-based, as he feels he needs to prove himself as the strongest in the family, and is thus more inclined to work harder if he's alongside someone who is stronger than he is.
    • Hinoka's skill, "Rallying Cry", increases the damage dealt by allies within a certain radius by 2 while Sakura's skill, "Quiet Strength", reduces the damage allies receive within the same radius by 2. The Hoshidan sisters' skills are more passive than their brothers', which is justified as princesses typically don't fight on the front lines as often as princes. Furthermore, Hinoka's skill grants an offensive buff as she is still the better warrior of the two while Sakura's grants a defensive buff because she is the better healer.
    • Xander's skill, Chivalry, grants +2 to damage dealt and -2 to damage taken against enemies with full HP while Leo's skill, Pragmatic, grants +3 to damage dealt and -1 to damage received against enemies that aren't at full HP. Xander's skill reflects his own code of honor and status as the crown prince of Nohr, while Leo's skill reflects his own pragmatic nature as someone who uses his brains over his brawn to win battles.
    • Camilla's skill, "Rose's Thorns", grants +3 to damage dealt and -1 to damage received to adjacent allies while Elise's skill, "Lily's Poise", grants +1 to damage dealt and -3 to damage received to adjacent allies. Like the Hoshidan sisters, Camilla's skill is more suited for offense while Elise's is more suited for support, as befitting their status as an offensive and supportive unit, respectively.
  • Izana's skill is "Peacebringer", which lowers the damage dealt by both allies and enemies. A bit of a letdown, yes, but it reinforces Izana's position as the leader of a peaceful and ultimately neutral kingdom. Izana may be fighting for you, but that doesn't mean that he's going to give you special privileges. He extends his blessings to any kingdom, regardless of which side they are fighting for.
  • Benny's skill is "Fierce Mien", which lowers the avoidance of all enemies who are within two spaces of Benny. Considering that Benny is a giant man with a Face of a Thug, you'd probably be too scared to do anything too if you saw him advancing towards you.
  • Beruka's skill is "Opportunist", which allows her to deal more damage when attacking an enemy who can't fight back. Beruka is an assassin who specializes in striking when her target least expects it, so when she has an enemy in her sights who is practically defenseless, of course her attacks are going to hurt a lot more.
  • Charlotte's skill is "Unmask", which grants her a damage and critical boost when she engages a female unit in combat. Charlotte reveals in her supports that she's very proficient in combat and her bio confirms that she is the strongest fighter in the army. However, because she wants herself to come across as ladylike to men, she has to cover herself up and act weaker than she actually is. Around women, however, she has no such limitation, and so she's free to go all-out on them and preferably defeat them so they won't be able to tell other men to stay away from her.
  • Effie's skill is "Puissance", which increases her damage dealt if her Strength is higher than an enemy's by a certain amount. Considering how strong Effie is, the only way for any enemy to stand a chance against her is for them to be of a similar strength level, thus counteracting her strength with their own. Otherwise, yeah, getting hit is going to hurt a lot.
  • Nyx's skill is "Countercurse", which deals back half of the damage she receives to an enemy if she is hit by a magic attack. Given how long she has lived, it makes sense that she's seen almost every spell known to man and developed specific countermeasures should she ever be on the receiving end of one.
  • Azama's skill is "Divine Retribution", which deals back half of the damage he receives to an enemy if he doesn't have a weapon equipped. Not only does it reflect how it is considered an offence in most religions to attack an unarmed priest, it cements Azama's status as the resident Troll. After all, what better way to troll your opponents than by deliberately placing yourself out in the open for them to attack, only for them to get hit by their own attack?
  • Hayato's skill is "Pride", which gives him a damage boost if he engages an enemy that is of a higher level than him. Hayato is keen on insisting that he is older than he actually is, and as a result is confident that he can take on people who are more powerful than he is.
  • Kaden's skill is "Reciprocity", in which any healer who heals him with a staff or a rod will also be healed by half that amount. Kaden himself is insistent on repaying whatever good deeds people did for him, and so he is doing the same here. However, since he himself isn't trained in the healing arts, it makes sense that what he gives back isn't as much as what he receives.
  • Oboro's skill is "Nohr Enmity", which gives her a damage boost whenever she attacks a Nohrian unit. Oboro holds a severe grudge against Nohrians because of what they did to her and her family in the past, and so it makes sense that she would take all that anger out on any Nohrian she lays eyes on.
  • Gunter, Felicia, Jakob, and Silas all have personal skills that revolve around giving stat boosts specifically to the Avatar. This makes sense, as the first three are the Avatar's long-time retainers, and Silas was Corrin's best friend as a kid.
  • Arthur's skill gives him a slight decrease to critical evasion. Meanwhile, his son Percy's skill boosts both his and allies' critical evasion.
• Conquest Chapter 13 "Uprising" has Takumi assisting the Cheve rebellion instead of Ryoma like in the other two routes. It seems odd at first, but do note that Ryoma is already fought in the chapter before that, and it is likely that Takumi's action is driven by his growing hatred towards the Avatar thanks to the events of the route's Chapter 10, so he thought that this is an opportunity for him to strike again after his defeat at Port Dia. As for why Ryoma is in Macarath in the first place, getting back the Avatar is a priority for him, so someone else gets to help Cheve instead. In Birthright, the Avatar sided with Hoshido, so he doesn't have to bother looking for them in the first place, while in Revelation, he (and most of the royal siblings) have hated the Avatar too much to care about them, so bringing the Avatar back is not on his mind at that point.
• When you meet the Rainbow Sage in Conquest chapter 11, he calls the main character a "funny little dragon" despite the fact that he has never met them before, and shouldn't know about their draconian powers. Takes one to know one: the Rainbow Sage is a first dragon much like Anankos, the Avatar's father.
• Why doesn't Azura explain about Valla when the Avatar visits in the Conquest route? The only way they're going to defeat Anankos is with the combined strength of both Hoshido and Nohr. The Avatar has already burned their bridges with Hoshido, so that ship has sailed, and telling them the truth would only cause them to despair over an enemy they can't overcome.
• The Nohrian siblings, sans Elise, are a lot more negative about the Avatar leaving them for Hoshido or choosing neither while the Hoshidan siblings are, save Takumi, more confused and surprised. The Nohrian siblings grew up having to survive against other half-siblings and their mothers, all of which were fighting for Garons attention. It's no wonder the Nohrian siblings are so hurt if you don't join them, they've had to fight and kill just to make a relatively stable family, one that they did explicitly for Elise, and then the Avatar when they showed up. The Avatar is essentially doing a big middle-finger to all the hard work they did for them and so rationalize the same they likely did just to make it here: that you are an enemy. This is also why Elise never fights you, she's grown up with your company and thus wouldn't feel any reason to see you harshly.
• All of the Awakening Preincarnations plus Ophelia can speak with Chrom and/or Lissa... but not Asugi or Rhajat. Why? Because Chrom and Lissa hadn't met Gaius or Tharja yet.
• Both of the Avatar's promotions give a magical based new weapon: Staves for Hoshidan Noble, and Tomes for Nohrian Noble. Hinoka and Sakura both use Staves and Ryoma can if he reclasses, while all four Nohrian siblings can use Tomes (if Xander reclasses).
• If the "Before Awakening" DLC could be considered canon, then it would retroactively explain some of Frederick's behavior towards Robin/the Avatar at the start of Awakening. He just finished defending Chrom and Lissa from some very peculiar enemies. So when they find someone nearby, claiming to have no memory of who they are or how they got there, he would naturally be suspicious of them.
• Mikoto is mentioned to have had two retainers — Reina and Orochi — while no mention is made of Garon having any retainers at any point, which makes him stand out among the other royal characters^note aside from Corrin and Azura — Corrin has Kaze and Silas as unofficial retainers, as mentioned above, and… okay, I’ve got nothing for Azura. However, paying attention to his relationships, you can see that Garon does, in fact, have two retainers like the rest — Iago and Hans, who are his closest cronies and are the most active agents carrying out his will.
  • Likewise, Anankos, usurper though he may be, can be considered to have two retainers (in a loose, messed-up-as-all-hell sense of the term) in the form of Arete and Sumeragi — and Garon himself could be considered a third retainer for Anankos… and that's just who he had in his employ at the start of the story. On the Conquest and Revelation routes, Anankos eventually makes Takumi, Gunter, and Mikoto into "retainers" by his twisted standards as well.
• A lot of people have criticised the plot as having Azura say in Revelation that Anankos was controlling Garon by "Subtle manipulations". Yet another scene showcases that Garon is way out of character and this helps Leo and Xander realise "Yeah, maybe they're right". We all know that's wrong... but here's the brilliance: Azura's incorrect. She also doesn't actually know that Garon was Dead All Along.

Fridge Horror

• After Azura passes away in Conquest and Birthright, it's possible that she is already a wife and mother of two. Due to Gameplay and Story Segregation, it's never mentioned that she has left behind an entire family, but the epilogues for her (now single) spouse and children can read as pretty depressing nonetheless.
• Going on from the Fridge Brilliance in Character Customisation, the Avatar's name can be a verbal "shibboleth" (something that is impossible for someone of a certain accent to pronounce correctly) against the Hoshidans, especially if you're using a language such as English. Why is this? Well, Hoshido is based off of Medieval Japan, which means that the Hoshidans could find it impossible to pronounce certain syllables. What makes it Fridge Horror? Well think about how the Avatar could end up with a shibboleth name — King Garon could have given them such a name so that the Hoshidans would never be able to call them by name again.
  • Granted, the Hoshidans could simply address the Avatar by their original name, but would they remember it or respond to it?
  • On the other hand, Kaze seems to recognize Corrin's name when they address him at the start of Chapter 2, implying that Garon stuck with their real name. Of course, it's still possible for the player to give them a name that would be hard for the Hoshidans to pronounce (or the Nohrians, for that matter), but that's probably not the in-universe reason for it.
• Keaton's personal skill gives him a chance of finding random resources every turn in battle. This includes meat, and he mentions "fresh meat" often when he kills an enemy. Put two and two together, and, well, try not to think about what your army is eating the next time you make them steak...
  • It could have been written off as Gameplay and Story Segregation, except that Keaton specifically mentions eating enemy soldiers in his chapter in the Birthright route. It's basically less "fridge" and more all but stated that that's where the meat is coming from...
• Before the route split, Gunter falls through a bridge. If the player chooses Hoshido, they never see him again, giving the impression that he dies. If they choose Nohr, on the other hand, the Avatar and Azura go to the Invisible Kingdom, where you find him and he rejoins you. This never happens on the Birthright route, which means that if Hoshido is chosen, Gunter is trapped in the Invisible Kingdom with no way out. If he didn't effectively die in the process, that is.
  • However, Azura also states that she would go and visit him occasionally, and she even takes Corrin and Gunter to the place where they initially fell when they leave. So not only did he survive the fall regardless, Gunter could get back out... if Azura showed him that spot, anyway. Though that does raise the issue of whether or not Azura ever had the chance to tell anyone about Gunter before she died on the Hoshido route...
  • Given that in Conquest, Azura doesn't join till about Chapter 9, whereas in Birthright, she joins right away, it's likely that in Conquest, being freer until she was taken, she visited and found him, whereas in Birthright, she didn't go enough to find him, given that she's with you for the entirety of the game after Chapter 5.
    • Though that would put a gigantic question mark on why was it any different on the Revelation route, where she was absolutely free to help Gunter... Yet it is only on that route where Gunter gets dominated by Anankos. We're only left with the assumption that it's due to some sort of inactivity from Azura that this happens, but consider that it's only in the Nohr route where he's shown whole and healthy, enough to possibly have a relationship with a Female!Avatar, despite joining your ranks awfully late into the plot or being vulnerable for even longer than on Revelation.
    • It's possible that since she was spending more time with him on Conquest, she was able to realize his possession and purge it. But in Revelation, the circumstances they're in and him trying to avoid people (whereas in Conquest, he would have needed her help to survive) would mean that she's not able to discover that something is wrong with him.
    • It's also possible that Anankos didn't bother with him on Conquest, since he lucked out and found a much better vessel in Takumi.
• When the Avatar returns from Hoshido after choosing Nohr in the route split, he/she is sent by Garon on a mission to subdue the Ice Tribe's rebellion. Though it appears to be a Uriah Gambit in order to get the Avatar killed in a suicide mission, it actually doubles to put the Avatar through great suffering. The trigger for the Ice Tribe's rebellion is Flora escaping from her captivity and returning to her tribe. By sending Corrin to subdue their rebellion, he is engineering a situation where Corrin either dies against the rebels or, if they were to miraculously prevail against the odds, kills Flora to end the rebellion. Fortunately, the Avatar manages to Take a Third Option. (It doesn't work as well in Hoshido, however.)
  • The fact that the Ice Tribe's rebellion ends so horribly on the Birthright route is some additional Fridge Horror. Because Corrin didn't go there earlier and Take a Third Option to subdue them, the situation gets out of control, and Felicia, Corrin, and Jakob end up having to watch their sister/friend kill herself via self-immolation. It's a huge Player Punch to those who did Conquest first and realized just how big of an impact Corrin's actions had there, and just how easily this whole thing could have been avoided.
• Okay, this troper isn't certain whether this is Fridge Brilliance or Fridge Horror, but here we go. Some people think that Fates is Black-and-White Morality incarnate, with the peace-loving Hoshido and the war-like Nohr setting the stage of the conflict. That would be true, but then you realize the historical analogies between Conquest!Hoshido and Imperial Japan. After being bullied by numerous nations into partaking in the world scene, coupled by other factors like the Great Depression, Japan became a fascist nation that effectively became the bully to the so-called bullies. Thing is, this is the exact same set-up Hoshido has in Conquest; with a massive hatred towards Nohrians over a king who doesn't even represent the people as a whole, and the fact that Queen Mikoto (and a Birthright-aligned Avatar) are the only ones preventing Hoshido from Jumping Off the Slippery Slope really enforces the fact that with Hoshido sacking Port Dia, forcibly ousting one of their own (Azura) for execution due to wartime, and all other manners of crimes committed, if the war went on longer, Hoshido could've become just as bad as Nohr with the anti-nationalist leaders out of the way. Hoshido is definitely A Lighter Shade of Grey, but that doesn't mean that they couldn't become just as bad as the monsters they were fighting.
• In chapter 23 of Conquest, you watch Takumi jump off a cliff under the Big Bad's influence, after you defeat him for the final time. Players will simply assume it's a case of No One Could Survive That!. And sure enough, Takumi shows up again later, albeit completely under Anankos' control, and his spirit claims that his body is dead. Now, remember how Anankos mostly possesses people after they die? And that the few living victims are the only ones able to put up a resistance (Takumi in Birthright as well as before chapter 23 of Conquest, and Gunter in Revelation)? Yeah, Takumi didn't survive that fall. Anankos made him commit suicide in order to gain full control.
  • It almost makes you wonder if Gunter's stabbing himself in Revelation was entirely him...
• In Chapter 27 of Conquest, after the intro-cutscene to the final boss, Azura notes that the corrupted Takumi's jerky, unstable movements represent him having been taken over by Anankos. However, none of Anankos' other puppets seem to have this issue. Therefore, it's instead possible that the reason for Takumi's more spastic and stiff movements is because of the nature of how he died; blunt force trauma from throwing himself off the Great Wall of Suzanoh, with Azura commenting that the height alone would make walking impossible even if one managed to survive. Or rather, that Takumi's disjointed movements are because he either broke or shattered many, if not most, of his bones in the fall that killed him, with Anankos's power alone being all he's moving on.
  • When taken into context with the fact that Takumi is not only aware of what his corpse is doing, but is still actively trapped within/bonded to his dead body, the idea that said body has a shattered skeleton only adds to the Body Horror of his perspective — especially since it's never specified whether or not Takumi can or can't still feel pain in this state.
• Azura's involvement in Conquest and Birthright gain a horrifying context after playing Revelation. She reveals that she knew the real cause of the war between Hoshido and Nohr all along but was unable to tell anyone. Meaning that she knew everyone was being manipulated in Conquest and Birthright, but was forced to watch in silence as they fight and die, playing into Anankos's hands. Her only recourse being to bring the war to as swift an end as possible by helping the Avatar. Even if it means siding with Nohr and helping invade her adopted homeland. Worst of all, she dies in both those routes, knowing that no one will ever know of the silent hell she went through.
• It's shown that Anankos can mentally manipulate or even outright possess people, as shown with Takumi and Gunter on Conquest and Revelation respectively. It's also known that it's easier for him to manipulate people when they are feeling angry or hateful, and his influence can exacerbate those feelings to make taking full possession easier if need be. In addition, he has been controlling Garon's physically reanimated corpse since before the story even began, and it would be similar to how he gained full control of Takumi in Conquest, by making him commit suicide and possessing his body. If this is the case, it's possible Anankos could have had his hands on Nohr before he ever got to Garon. In the Nohrian siblings' supports, Garon was once a kind and doting father who truly loved his children and mistresses, and it's mentioned that those feelings of love make it hard for Anankos to gain a foothold in a person (see Gunter resisting Anankos in Revelation). However, his concubines were noted to be very jealous of each other, and they were constantly competing for Garon's favor — to the point where their own children were essentially just pawns to them. It would have been a simple matter for a being as powerful as Anankos to ramp up those feelings of jealousy into full-blown paranoia, and from there to get them to start murdering one another and their children. The result would leave a bitter and heartbroken Garon completely open to enough manipulation to quietly off himself... and then have a familiar possess his corpse.
• Towards the end of Revelation, it becomes apparent that Gunter has been possessed by Anankos for a while and hurls a few insults and verbal punches towards the Avatar. It's easy to assume this is just Anankos trying to kick the Avatar while they're down. But once he's been snapped out of it, Gunter shows that he has an Aristocrats Are Evil mentality. And he reveals he (initially) only befriended the Avatar to use them to get revenge on Garon. The things he said to the Avatar while under Anankos' influence must have held some truth at one point.
• Saizo and Hinoka's supports. Saizo is tasked by Ryoma to deliver some letters to Hinoka, and Hinoka asks him whether he wants to see the letter's contents. Saizo refuses several times, and he eventually learns that this was a Secret Test of Character; some snotty aristocrats had been spreading rumors that he was selling secrets to Nohr, and Ryoma devised the situation as a test and ordered Hinoka to kill Saizo if he opened the letter. The problem is, the way Hinoka went about this plan, Saizo could very easily have agreed to read the letter just to shut Hinoka up, leading to a classic case of entrapment.
  • Worse is that she basically admits that this is why she asked him whether or not he wanted to see the contents of the letters. It wasn't good enough that Saizo simply said he hadn't read them; Ryoma and Hinoka deliberately set the test up that way.
• Pair Selena, Odin, and/or Laslow up with any of the royals. Note their paired ending wherein they disappear — presumably going to Ylisse with them. Extra Fridge Horror for the political implications if you paired Xander with Selena...
  • Here's a way to make it even worse: marry them to the Avatar. In the epilogue, the Avatar leaves with them back to Ylisse — but the Avatar is the only one capable of slaying Anankos, who's still around. Oops.
  • Additionally, here's something from the Hidden Truths DLC that makes the above even worse: Anankos specifically asked them to come back and kill him after they found the Avatar. Azura may know the truth about Valla, but she's dead by the end of both Birthright and Conquest. And since neither of those routes involve fighting Anankos, the Awakening trio are the only ones who know all this... and they're gone too at the end of Conquest. Whoops, indeed.
  • Furthermore, going off the first point, try pairing all of them with the Nohrian royals. (So, Selena with either Xander or Leo, and both Odin and Laslow with one of the sisters.) Now Nohr's left with only Corrin and Xander/Leo for its royal family.
  • But wait — we can make it even worse than that! Do a Revelation run with a Female Avatar. Have Selena marry Xander, the Avatar marry Leo (since he stays in Nohr otherwise), and Odin and Laslow marry both the princesses. Nohr is now left with literally nobody running the place.
    • How about a little more? If one takes it at face value that there really is literally nobody else that might put forth any sort of a real claim to the throne, it is entirely possible that Xander might simply leave the crown with the only remaining person that he has an official connection (and a personal bond) with, who could therefore be seen as technically the highest-ranking remaining presence at the court, and whom he also knows does at least possess noble blood. Take a moment to consider just how awful that could be.
• Much like her predecessor and/or possible incarnation Tharja, Rhajat has a bit of an obsession with her games' Avatar, regardless of gender. However in this game, the Avatar can be Rhajat's mother. If the player chooses to take the implication that Rhajat is Tharja's preincarnation/reincarnation, and that Corrin is Robin's literally (especially the possibility that Fates predates Awakening, if they're in the same universe, thus making Rhajat the preincarnation)), it might mean Tharja is lusting after someone who could have been her mother in another life.
  • The same applies if Hinoka or Sakura is Rhajat's mother, since that means Rhajat is canonically crushing on her uncle/aunt. Even though they aren't actually related, it's still pretty gross to consider, since she was likely raised thinking of them as her uncle/aunt.
    • If you were to marry either Ryoma or Takumi and then have Sakura or Hinoka be Rhajat's mom, Rhajat will actually be hitting on her aunt.
• If Anankos never killed Azura's father, the Avatar would never have been born. Think about that for a minute — for Azura to meet her best friend/possible husband/cousin, her father had to die.
• Hana tells the Avatar in her supports that her father died protecting King Sumeragi. Since the exact circumstances are never specified, it could very well be that the day Hana's father died was when Garon attacked and killed Sumeragi. If true, this means not only would his sacrifice have been in vain, but that the Avatar's criticizing the concept of Heroic Sacrifice may come across to Hana as them spitting on the life her father gave protecting them.
• In Heirs Of Fate, it's explained that Anankos lured the children's parents by attacking their Deeprealms in order to kill them from different realms where events differ in Fates. Suddenly the seemingly random Vallite soldiers in some of the children paralogues don't seem so random anymore...
  • This may also explain why the Avatar's castle is invaded throughout different parts of the story. It resides within the Astral Plane like the Deeprealms. Nowhere is safe from Anankos.
  • Also, given the setup of Heirs of Fate, it's basically stated that Anankos attacked all the children at once, thus forcing the parents to split up and ultimately get killed since they went after their kids by themselves. This is opposed to the main game, where only some of the kids have Vallite soldiers in their paralogues, and the parents were able to come with the rest of the army to save them. In other words, this makes it even more obvious that the "main" timeline kids got really lucky that they were attacked when they were.
    • Thought that this was the end of the horror? Wrong! Some of the children from Birthright/Conquest runs mention their parents telling them they'll pick them up after the war (presumably the one between Hoshido and Nohr). Some even have knowledge of the war's aftermath, like Hinoka becoming queen of Hoshido in Conquest and Leo becoming king of Nohr in Birthright. A player can choose not to recruit any of the children throughout their run for whatever reason that may be, which would only mean that the kids would be picked up by their parents after everything was said and done, which also happens to be right when Anankos struck. This means that avoiding recruiting any of the kids potentially puts that timeline as one of the many attacked by Anankos, leading straight to Heirs of Fate.
    • It may not necessarily be that bad. The player could have been deciding to act as though kids hadn't been born that run, so Anankos had nothing to lure the parents with and the world was alright. Unless the route wasn't Revelation, which leads to the same Fridge Horror and Inferred Holocaust as established earlier on this page.
    • Also, not all of the kids had Vallites in their paralogues, so this doesn't quite work for some of them.
• Corrin is half-dragon. The series has long established that dragons have incredibly long lifespans. Therefore, odds are, Corrin is going to outlive everyone they love, except Lilith (in Revelation), Kana, and any second child they might have. Adding to this, dragons are nearly extinct in the Fates world, and Corrin doesn't seem to know much about them. Corrin probably does not know they will outlive everyone, and outside of Revelation Lilith, nobody would be able to explain it.
  • However, it's also established that dragons with some human blood don't live quite as long as full-blooded dragons do (it's mentioned in Sophia and Fa's supports in FE6, iirc). Though this softens things for Kana and any other potential second gen kid more than it does for Corrin... But it's worth noting that all of the royals have some dragon blood, so even if it's faint, they'd probably at least live slightly longer than Corrin's other friends.
  • Nah's supports with Brady mention that manaketes can transfer part of their lifespan to mortals. Granted, she did learn this from Nowi, but if it is true, then Corrin could even things out, as it were, by just giving some extra years to everyone in their family (and going from Fridge Horror to CMoH in one move, to boot).
• Mozu's recruitment is even more tragic on the Conquest route. An innocent girl watches her entire village get slaughtered in front of her. She's then saved by the Avatar and joins, them hoping to find a new family, inadvertently fight for the same kingdom responsible for making her an orphan to begin with.
  • She'll be seen as a traitor after the war, since nobody outside the Avatar's forces knows why she's following them. For all her fellow Hoshidans know, she's just another turncoat.
  • Who's to say some of her countrymen don't come looking for her after the war? While the Avatar is safe in Nohr and Kaze can evade detection, there's nothing protecting her from any vengeful Hoshidans looking for revenge. Even if nobody comes after her, she'll still have to live with the guilt and stigma of having fought against her own kingdom.
  • Or worse, they might think she was a hostage that succumbed to Stockholm Syndrome, and that her kid is a Child by Rape.
• At the end of Chapter 25 in Birthright, Leo shows up to execute Iago. In the aftermath, he tries to convince Elise not to go along to the confrontation with Xander, saying that it's too dangerous for her. Elise, however, insists that she has to go, because she thinks she can make Xander and Garon listen to her and end things peacefully. After some debate, Leo decides that there is no stopping her and lets her go with his blessing. This ends up being their last conversation before she dies, accidentally killed by Xander. Just think of how Leo ends up remembering it later... He probably blames himself for not stopping her, thinking that he could have dragged her away with him if necessary. Even if she likely would have just snuck away somehow, and he really isn't at fault for any of it. This last conversation is likely going to haunt him for years to come.
  • Their last words to each other:
  Elise: See you soon, Leo!
  Leo: (smiles) Yes... Good-bye.
• Unlike in Awakening, children in Fates are actually born biologically, but are put inside a pocket dimension where time moves faster upon birth. This means that the war between Nohr and Hoshido occurs for at least 9 months before the end of the game if any units get married, meaning both kingdoms are being subject to invasions, war crimes, and pillaging from both the opposing side and the various bandit groups dotted about the land.
  • Unless you think that the mothers go into the Deeprealms after getting pregnant and until giving birth (possible, considering that this is the only way for a Scarlet-mothered Kana to even exist in Revelation). On the other hand, if this guess is not the case, and you pair up Azura and/or a female Corrin with someone, then it means that the war went on for at least 18 months (provided the pregnancies were back-to-back).
• Chapter 5 is infamous for its difficulty due to being littered with Demonic Spiders, all of which were made specifically to kill the Avatar within two hits. Revelation reveals that the mystery swordsman was none other than the possessed spirit/corpse of the late Sumeragi, which explains why Ryoma had such difficulty beating him. Said possessor was Anankos, the Avatar's true biological father. Anankos likely knew of how to take care of them, being his biological son/daughter. This begs the question, how long had he been watching over them!?
  • Considering that Anankos is also possessing Garon, it's pretty much implied that he's been watching Corrin at least since they came to Nohr. Why wouldn't he know how to handle them? Though him watching them for that long, and "only" having Garon be an abusive/neglectful parent instead of trying to kill them sooner, could raise some additional Fridge Horror depending on how you look at it.
• Kaze can possibly die saving the Avatar on Chapter 15 of Birthright. Now, what if Anankos had possessed his corpse like King Garon. Kaze had blamed himself for the Avatar's kidnapping because he was a child, and didn't understand what was happening. The Avatar will never know this because Kaze's death happens if they don't have the A support where he reveals this. That means Kaze can come back possessed by the real person behind the Avatar's kidnapping.
  • Midori's Paralogue will permanently be unavailable if Kaze does die even if he's married. He probably thought that was redemption for thinking he had gotten the Avatar kidnapped and Sumeragi killed when it wasn't even his fault. He honestly thought the life of him and his possible child was worth sacrificing for the Avatar. Keep in mind, this could make Kaze the only possession that didn't resent the Avatar like Gunter or Takumi did. Kaze was resenting himself the whole time.
  • Kaze is also a Clueless Chick-Magnet that doesn't realize how attractive he is. Is he really as oblivious as he claims? Or has he been internally thinking he's not worth loving because of his "failure" about a decade ago?
  • Though this all raises the question of how Anankos would even get to Kaze. Takumi and Gunter were both possessed because they fell into the Bottomless Canyon, which is the only place mentioned that non-Vallites can get into Valla. So unless Mt. Garou is close to the Bottomless Canyon, it's unlikely that Kaze would ever end up possessed.
• Amongst the Vallite soldiers seen in the game are Faceless and Golems, meaning that these creations of Nohr not only have souls, but that they're effectively forced to live solely as mindless weapons and even be forced to fight beyond death.
  • Except that it is stated when they are introduced, that at least in regards to the Faceless that Nohr uses, they specifically DO NOT have souls, as otherwise they would be rendered harmless by Mikoto's barrier.
  • Of course, the above is assuming that (A) the statement they don't have souls wasn't just a lie to disguise the true, damming nature of what they are and (B) that, like Sumeragi and Mikoto themselves were, the captured souls aren't Hoshidan ones that were recycled to use on their own people; after all, as Sumeragi proved when he killed Mikoto, the latter's barrier has no effect on an attacking Hoshidan.
    • Well... yeah. The reason why Garon needed Corrin to have the Ganglari in the first place is because they're originally from Hoshido, thus they'd be able to get through the barrier. It's explicitly stated that Hoshidans (or Hoshidan souls in this case) can get through it. The whole reason Nohr created the Faceless is due to the Loophole Abuse of them not having souls, so if we take the initial point as canon, that would... kind of break the entire point of the barrier in the first place. It's most likely Gameplay and Story Segregation, or perhaps the Nohrians only gave souls to a select few that they wanted to be more powerful.
• A popular tactic when playing Birthright and Conquest is to spare as many named characters as the game lets you. Generally, this is a prime example of Video Game Caring Potential, but when Conquest pits you against Ryoma and Takumi, sparing their retainers is actually the opposite: in feudal Japan, if a retainer's lord died in battle, it was generally expected that the retainer should commit seppuku (particularly if the retainer was a samurai; hi, Hinata). Granted, they could also become ronin, but considering how devoted Ryoma and Takumi's retainers are to them, the former scenario is sadly the most likely. So, far from actually saving them, we've all just condemned them to dying anyway, but with the added regret of having failed to protect their lords. Ouch.
• In Fire Emblem Warriors Azura has a conversation with Tharja. Tharja reveals that she can sense the danger in Azura's song and knows what it could do to her. Really makes one wonder if Rhajat (implied to be an incarnation of Tharja) came to a similar conclusion. Especially in a scenario when Azura is Rhajat's mother.
• At the end of Birthright chapter 23, Takumi makes comments indicating that the fact that Mokushu razed Kohga to the ground is common knowledge, at least among the higher echelons of Hoshidan nobility. At the beginning of chapter 10 of the same route, the Hoshidans indicate that they don't expect Mokushu to be hostile. The implication here is that Sumeragi sat on his behind, let Kohga get butchered to the last man, and did nothing about it.
  • The implication is softened a bit due to the fact that, according to Shura's solo ending, Hoshido helps Kohga rebuild in all three routes (even Conquest), meaning that the current Hoshidans are making up for past mistakes. One could also assume (thanks to Saizo, Kaze, and Kagero) that most of the ninja clans are still allies of Hoshido, so they'd assume that they could pass through ninja territory safely regardless. Still a bit Fridge Horrory, though...
  • Also, there's nothing in Takumi's dialogue (start around 23:10) that indicates Hoshido knew beforehand that Mokushu was up to anything. He simply states that Kohga was burned to the ground. There's not a whole lot that Sumeragi could've done about that unless Mokushu had publicly announced their intentions or something, although Shura being unable to get asylum is still somewhat unfortunate.
• Here's one related to both Conquest and Heirs of Fate. In Conquest's endgame, Takumi states that he's aware of what his now-mindless body is doing, but can't stop it. In the last part of Heirs of Fate, the children are forced to fight their reanimated fathers, whose situations are quite similar to Conquest Takumi's. Who's to say that they're not in the exact same situation as he is? Even worse in that they'd be Forced to Watch themselves fight their own children.
• The timeline tries to be vague about how old Corrin was at the time of their kidnapping, but they were at least old enough to walk and talk. That would mean Corrin was old enough to at least recognize people and environments. Imagine them as a child, possibly tearful and fearful, of everything suddenly Nohrian around them. Maybe even crying out for their Hoshidan family. There's also the possibility that they were conditioned to forget their original family because if Corrin had been old enough to have longterm memory, they would definitely be able to remember them.
• In Birthright and Revelation, just before Corrin & co. reach the Wind Tribe village, they run into an encounter with the Faceless, only for it to be an illusion and they were actually fighting Wind Tribe villagers. The equivalent scene in Conquest happens after the party conquered the Wind Tribe village and the mission involves the party escaping endless waves of Faceless. Who's to say these were also actually Wind Tribe villagers attempting to exact revenge? And the Nohrians were none the wiser of having killed more innocent people.