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Ship To Ship Combat / Fire Emblem

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Fire Emblem fandom is stuffed with this, especially the 4th and 7th installments. Then the 13th came in and blew them outta the water.

  • Word of advice to forum newbies? Do not, under any circumstances, bring up the subject of Roy and Lilina's mothers. Or Wolt's father. Heck, don't question or mention the parentage of any kid whose name isn't Klein, Clarine, Hugh, Igrene, Raigh, Lugh, or Fir. You'll be sucked into a neverending stream of arguments and namecalling.
    • The FE6 discussion is insane. Rebecca is Wolt's canon mother, but the father has to be either Wil (Guy Next Door, Nice Guy), Lowen (fellow cook, Nice Guy too, saved Rebecca from bandits so she adores him ever since then), or Sain (Chivalrous Pervert) — and the kid resembles all three of them! note  Lyn is the prime core of the battles, due to her four romantic options (or five, if you're a Les Yay fan for Lyn/Florina): Kent (Bodyguard Crush), Eliwood (the protagonist, admits to finding her "striking" during the campaign and is teased for it by Hector), Hector (the bickering they have every other chapter in Hector Mode, along with their conversations in 29x/31x and the Hector's story endgame if they have an A support, in addition to Lilina having both Lyn's frontal bangs and the name "Lyn" in her name, albeit with a different spelling), and Rath (due to the existence of Sue in FE6). Hector is also madness, with three wives: Florina (Shrinking Violet, really wants to thank him for saving her and might have a crush on him), Lyn (explained earlier), and Farina (Florina's middle sister, exclusive to Hector Mode, recruitable in chapter 25). Eliwood has three wives as well: Ninian (according to the Marcus/Lilina supports in FE6, a few slight hints in FE7's main story, and him saving her at one point in Lyn's story), Lyn (STILL explained earlier), and Fiora (several lords of Fire Emblem can be paired with Pegasus Knights or have Ship Tease with them, possible canon from the Marcus/Lilina supports in FE6 since they involve her homeland Ilia).
    • It gets especially heated if you ship Eliwood/Fiora and Hector with either Florina or Farina, specifically because it makes trying to ship Roy/Lilina a case of Kissing Cousins, despite being possible to canonically pair Roy and Lilina with other charaters. Not that the Japanese fandom are as upset as the Western one, but it certainly makes things more viable for those who want Roy and/or Lilina with a different prospective Love Interest.
    • Plus, even Raigh and Lugh could be argued, since their mother Nino has two potential husbands. There's enough in-game evidence to support Jaffar as Nino's canon love interest, but she can marry Erk if you get them to A support. And their supports are just as meaningful and sweet as the Nino/Jaffar ones, even without outside interaction. Oddly enough, though, this doesn't create as big of an argument as discussing the Lords' pairings does.
      • That might be because the wank fuel goes to the Erk/Priscilla vs. Erk/Serra ship wars instead. Priscilla? Stupid, bland, idiotic, pure and flawless lady! Serra? Bitchy, mean, shallow Jerkass! You could go on for YEARS in regards to that one.
      • Actually, Jaffar and Nino is often bashed and falsely accused of being a paedophile and creepy. Thing is: Jaffar's age has NEVER been brought up in-game, yet he looks to not be past his early twenties... and Nino is fourteen, not eleven or twelve. Pedophilia it ain't, people. Not to mention that anyone who bothers to do the math should know that Nino was twenty when she gave birth to the twins. Unsurprisingly, the major part of the Jaffar/Nino bashing comes from Erk/Nino rabidshippers who think fifteen-year-old Erk is inherently better than the older Jaffar due to his and Nino's similar ages, ignoring that Erk has his own issues as well.
  • Given that Genealogy of Holy War made shipping a game mechanic, we probably shouldn't be all that surprised. Never ever mention names like "Lewyn", "Lachesis", "Ayra", "Sylvia", or "Tailityu" unless you want to be thrown into a burning fire about who should go with who, the advantages of pairing one and another, etc.
  • Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones isn't without its share of pairing-based wank, especially in regards to Eirika. The Seth/Eirika and Innes/Eirika factions love to accuse each other's boys of being sexist and possessive of Eirika and wanting her only to Stay in the Kitchen, conveniently "overlooking" how protecting people is a very important part of Seth's WHOLE character and/or that Innes has his heart in the right place but his brain-to-mouth filter needs work. (Some Seth/Eirika fans are quite harsh towards Lyon as well, hating him for his weaknesses and flaws and declaring him "unfit" as a love interest for Eirika.) In the meantime: Saleh/Eirika supporters tend to be nice but some are passive-aggressive about how their ship is the superior one due to Eirika showing an interest in the spiritual in their supports, Lyon/Eirika fans are quite defensive since lotsa people use their interactions to bash Eirika and call her "weak", "stupid", and "anti-feminist", and Forde/Eirika fans... barely exist.
    • The Ephraim/Lyon fans tend to be quiet yet friendly in general. However, some of them seem to be very jumpy whenever they feel threatened. In particular, some of them seem to either deny or minimize Lyon's feelings for Eirika and Ephaim's Ship Tease with Tana, claiming that "Ephraim and Lyon are much more tender with each other than with women so they're inherently better".
  • There have been more than a few terse words over who Ike might possibly end up with, though it tends to be divided between people who ship Ike/Soren, and those who shipped Ike with Elincia before the sequel took sides. It's usually not TOO bad, unless someone argues that Ike shows zero romantic/sexual interest in women and that Ike/Soren is very strongly hinted canon. Then things can get ugly. Oddly enough, Ike/Ranulf gets a pass, probably because it's not nearly as popular and neither side has as much "evidence" for their case.
    • As of now, the biggest fight leaves Ike/Soren aside and gets behind Ike/Elincia and Elincia/Geoffrey shippers. Some Ike/Elincia shippers are simply brutal to Geoffrey, since unlike Ike he can marry her in Radiant Dawn.
  • Awakening marks the return of the Lover/Inheritance System from Genealogy... and the cannons immediately started firing. Tip: Don't mention "Nowi", "Tharja", "Olivia", "Cordelia", or "Sumia" in regards to pairings — unless you want to have your brain melted... violently. (Furthermore, don't mention Sumia's daughter Cynthia, The Avatar's child Morgan, or Chrom's daughter Lucina in any given situation.)
    • One of the fiercest wars is between the fans who ship Chrom with the Female Avatar and the fans who ship him with Sumia, the two characters being the possible love interests for Chrom that are Ship Teased the most by the game. Chrom/F!Avatar fans criticize Sumia's clumsiness and insecurity and complain that her supports with Chrom revolve too much around her cooking for him and doing his laundry; Chrom/Sumia fans dismiss the Female Avatar as a flawless protagonist and accuse her fans of self-projection, pointing to the extreme behavior of a small Vocal Minority in the fandom as justification. Both camps feel that the opposing pairing is "forced" by the game due to things like Sumia's appearance in the opening FMV as Chrom's (implied) wife and her having one of the fastest love growths with Chrom, or the plot as a whole apparently favoring the Chrom/Female Avatar ship even if she's married to someone else.note 
    • Chrom/Male Avatar fans can be pretty nasty about the Female Avatar, bashing her because they feel her and Chrom's supports fall flat compared to the Male Avatar's. Or sometimes they'll insist Chrom/Male Avatar is the real canon and that Chrom's wife, whoever she is, is just The Beard.
    • Some Henry/Olivia fans tend to get very defensive against Henry's other prospect love interests and claim Olivia is the only one who truly loves and accepts him, completely handwaving possible problems coming from Henry's weird view of the world and Olivia's lack of social skills united to her shyness. Any reminders that Henry/Olivia isn't fixed canon and/or that she isn't the only love interest he's mentioned his Dark and Troubled Past to will be met by these rabidshippers with accusations of statwhoring, catty "you're just jealous of our ship's popularity" remarks, etc.
    • The Lon'qu/Lissa fans are starting to fit in here, especially due to their rabid insistence that it's the intended canon pairing for them despite how either can hook up with others if the player so desires. Some non-fans have even been bullied for merely saying they don't ship it. This created enough backlash that the non-shippers started to bash the pairing as "out of character" to make other pairings with the two characters look better. (Mainly Lon'qu/Maribelle.)
    • The view of Cordelia in fandom can be easily integrated into this. Some fans accuse her of being a Chrom-obsessed slut who would jump at the chance of being Chrom's "other woman" and, if married to another guy, cheat on her husband with him. Or, in the view of some Chrom/Sumia fans, capable of breaking off her years-long friendship with Sumia out of spite over not being the one favored by Chrom. Some parts of the fandom seems to be hellbent over creating a fanon Love Triangle between Sumia and Cordelia over Chrom: either Sumia is a heartless and selfish bitch who totally steps over poor victim Cordelia's feelings and "steals" Chrom from her "stronger and thus more deserving" best friend, or Cordelia is a Chrom-obsessed slut who (as said above) would cruelly dump her sweet and devoted best friend if she ever dared attract Chrom's attention. And this despite the game going outta its way to avert the "Love Triangle" trope and remarking on how Cordelia and Sumia's friendship is pretty much unbreakable.
    • There's also the in-game possibility to have the Avatar marry any of the second generation characters. Some will say it's a valid option since the gameplay doesn't forbid it and the Avatar's son/daughter Morgan can benefit from it in stats and abilities, others insist that it's really squicky since the Avatar starts as a friend of the parent characters and thus becomes a Creepy Uncle / Aunt if s/he romances one of the kids of his/her True Companions. Both sides engage in massive online wars whenever they meet, especially vicious between Male!Avatar/Lucina and Gerome/Lucina shippers.
    • Even worse, do NOT try to decipher what Priam said about being "a descendant of Ike". The wording is vague already, but many fans started screaming in horror assuming it had to mean that Ike/Soren was automatically jossed, while smug anti-shippers clapped their hands in glee for the same reasons. Other members of the shipping faction point out that the series has already misused the term "descendant" before (regarding the Heroic Lineage of Falchion actually being descended from Anri's brother Marcellus, since Anri himself was a Celibate Hero for very messy reasons), thereby setting a precedent that would allow for Priam to actually be descended from Ike's little sister Mist and whichever of her potential love interests you prefer and Ike/Soren to still be viable. On the other hand, Priam uses Ragnell, Ike's sword, and Ike took Ragnell with him when he left Mist behind in order to go on new adventures. So the whole issue is forever open to debate, and these debates can get messy. (And of course, some people just go with the Mister Seahorse option to explain Priam's existence.)
    • In the Ho Yay fields, Gerome/Inigo is both the most popular and the most disliked same-sex pairing in the game. Its shippers bash the popular female love interests of both characters and accuse Inigo's female support options of being abusive toward him (and not just with Nah, the one instance where that's objectively true), while the anti-shippers accuse the pairing of being out of character and forcing both characters into a fetishized seme/uke dynamic.
    • Kjelle/Severa has a similar deal, being both popular and highly despised, the main difference being that its fans are usually less Die for Our Ship than Gerome/Inigo fans. It's the detractors who engage in combat, bringing up the pairing's negative points as ammo against people who enjoy it (mainly the Harvest Scramble convo which is...questionable but also claiming Severa is "too mean to Kjelle" in their supports) and loudly, angrily denouncing it as "trash" that they'll never stop attacking.
  • Fire Emblem Fates had seeds of this trope planted before its arrival to the West. And no, it did not get better when the game was released in the West:
    • Male Avatar/Azura gets a lot of focus due to them both being the protagonist and so share a lot of scenes. While naturally their shippers wanted to push their status as "implied canon", some of them took it a bit too far and got pushy, which annoyed some of the people who shipped the Male Avatar with other characters. And that's not even getting into their Kissing Cousins nature — people against the ship use this to bash it, while those for it fire back that first-cousin marriage is perfectly acceptable in the world the game is set in, in Japan (where the game was made), and even in parts of America. Though, thankfully, Azura herself is still very well-liked.
    • Female Avatar most popular options are Xander, Leo, Jakob, and Takumi, and lately all of them have been getting dissed: Xander and Leo get bashed for straying too close to Brother–Sister Incest, Jakob gets bashed for being a Tsundere at best and a Jerkass at worst to anyone who isn't Female Avatar, and Takumi is bashed for... pretty much any reason you can think of.
    • Some Female Avatar/Xander shippers have become hostile to Charlotte, due to her being Xander's most popular option in the fanbase, and taken to bashing her as just a Gold Digger, ignoring that she does have Hidden Depths and doesn't get with Xander for his money.
    • Some Camilla/Male Avatar shippers bash Hinoka for being a relentless obsessive "harpy" who wants Corrin for herself and falsely accuse her of being willing to destroy Nohr to get him, deforming Hinoka's Chronic Hero Syndrome into simple Clingy Jealous Girl behavior. On the other hand, some Male Avatar/Hinoka fans reply by trying to frame Camilla as a whore (or an obsessive psychopath, which at least has more canon justification) and Hinoka as "purer, thus better", ignoring Camilla's Broken Bird side. Both sides miss how Camilla and Hinoka are supposed to contrast one another and how they can get along quite well in Revelation.
    • Fates was the first entry in the series to allow same sex pairings (albeit only for the Avatar and with one option per game), which only increased the intensity of shipping wars in the fandom on this front:

    • Fates also took the Brother–Sister Incest vibes already present in the other games and ran away with them, allowing the players to hook up their Avatars with their siblings in either Hoshido or Nohr if they want to. Naturally, this has sent some parts of the fandom into loud "EWWWWWW!"s whereas others have decided "meh, if the canon allows it, whatever and they're Not Blood Siblings anyway". Increasingly bloody "battles" ensue whenever both sides "meet" on the Internet.
    • And, again, the Avatar has the option to marry a second generation character and have a child, Kana, with them. Cue a retread of the arguments for and against it from when Awakening came out.

  • Fire Emblem Gaiden was free of this, until it was remade as Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. It's not as bad as in the cases of Awakening and Fates (yet), but still noteworthy:
    • In both games, Clive and Mathilda are an Official Couple as long as both of them live. note  After the second came out, some parts of the fandom (namely, the Het Is Ew parts of Tumblr as well as fans that project their hate for his somewhat poor performance in gameplay on the character) have begun to bash or ignore Clive to favor pairing up Mathilda with other women, especially Clair (Clive's sister) and Sonya.
    • Fans of Celica and Faye have been spotted fighting it out both regarding their characters and whether one or another girl is the best Love Interest for Alm. One side says that Faye is a no-personality yandere who gets in the way of Alm and Celica's destined romance, whereas the other side accuses Celica of being a Relationship Sue whose love is "pushed on the narrative" to "punish" Faye.
    • Saber/Celica is starting to become a common pairing on Tumblr, especially among fans who are newer to the franchise; unsurprisingly, some of them have accused Alm and Celica of being Strangled by the Red String. Alm/Celica fans have not taken that kindly, calling the Saber/Celica fans "creepy" for shipping an older teen like Celica with an adult man like Saber.
    • Shippers of Boey/Mae often butt heads with those who ship Mae/Celica. Fans of the latter often argue that Celica is constantly shown to be as supportive of Mae as she is of her throughout the main story and their supports while Boey does nothing but argue with her. On the other side of the fight, fans of the former have pointed out that Boey and Mae have multiple conversations during the game that don't involve any bickering, as well as many instances that show that they genuinely care for each other's physical and emotional well-being; plus, they accuse the most rabid Mae/Celica fans of hating Boey/Mae solely for being a heterosexual ship.

  • Fire Emblem: Three Houses has developed its own Shipping Wars as a result of its multiple story path nature. And thanks to the three Lords of each respective route having their own ideals and ambitions, when different factions of the fandom meet online, expect things to get nasty very quickly.
    • The most intense fights tend to be between Byleth/Edelgard and Byleth/Dimitri shippers. Both sides accuse each other of being fascists and religious fanatics respectively over each other's ships. And since Edelgard/Byleth's lesbian incarnation is much, much more popular than its heterosexual counterpart, expect the most rabid portion of Black Eagle fans to accuse those who don't ship it of being misogynist homophobes, and the most rabid portion of Blue Lion fans to accuse those who do ship it of being Straw Feminists.
      • Interestingly, there hasn't been that much interaction between Male Byleth and Edelgard vs. Female Byleth and Edelgard shippers, although this is most likely due to the former being a much less active part of the general Byleth/Edelgard fandom. This causes them to get overlooked by most of the shipping community, though the large number of comments expressing positive surprise towards het Byleth/Edelgard works indiciates there might be larger demand for this ship, outweighed by the lack of supply provided by artists and fic writers. However, on the occasions when the two sides do clash with one another, it usually results in the homophobe and Straw Feminist accusations, similar to the above mentioned Byleth/Edelgard and Byleth/Dimitri arguments.
      • Sometimes this trope is played almost literally, as AU works where Female and Male Byleth are twins have Dimitri/Byleth face off against Edelgard/Byleth (usually in their het forms, especially so both sides have a male and female lead) after the timeskip.
    • On the Yaoi side, there's a tamer competition between Byleth/Dimitri and Byleth/Claude and even then they can clash with those that ship Female Byleth with Dimitri and Claude. In any case, Claude's teasing regardless of Byleth's gender allows for Byleth/Claude to have an edge in the Yaoi fandom.
      • The addition of the ironically named Yuri in the Ashen Wolves DLC, which finally added a leading male character to be a yaoi option for Byleth, adds another faction in this shipping war. Yuri/Male Byleth fans might be newer and smaller in number, but will always point out to Yuri ''actually' being able to marry Male Byleth.
    • And then there are those who ship Byleth with non-Lord characters, who get annoyed that Byleth/Lord pairings make up 99% of the shipping fanbase. Those who see Crimson Flower or Azure Moon as exclusively a love story between Byleth and Edelgard or Dimitri and those who enjoy those routes for reasons other than Byleth's interactions with the main Lords are often seen butting heads.
    • The question of whether it is okay to ship Byleth with any of the students can be controversial in some circles, with arguments that they have inappropriate age gaps and/or improper power balance relationships, which may lead to accusations of endorsing real-life teacher/student grooming. Supporters of Byleth/student ships often counter that Byleth's Vague Age can be inferred to be around the students' age group and the students mostly treat Byleth as an equal anyway, and think such real-life comparisons are inappropriate.
    • A more comedic and memetic one is the clash of the Male Byleth/Edelgard and Male Byleth/Hilda ships due to certain very popular fanworks having a setup where Hilda aims to seduce Male Byleth via her boobs, much to Edelgard's annoyance. The meme is propelled by the fact that Hilda cannot join Crimson Flower, giving Edelgard a good reason to oppose her.

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