History VideoGame / FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar

* PermanentlyMissableContent: There are several items that can only be acquired in Generation 1, like the Knight Ring and the Barrier Sword. Miss them or don't pass them down, and you won't have them for the rest of Generation 2. The Forseti tome is also the only obtainable Holy Weapon in the first generation that is missable and can only be obtained by Lewyn. If he does not visit Castle Silesse before chapter 4 is complete, you will have missed out on a powerful DiscOneNuke for the rest of the game.

* RandomNumberGod: Thanks to 1 RN, you can always count on her to screw you or your enemies over ''whenever she feels like it''. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg5Qj4yUdpM Just look at this video]].

* ReligiousAndMythologicalThemeNaming: While a lot of it is obfuscated by SpellMyNameWithAnS from both fan and official translators alike, most of the heroes are named after figures from Myth/CelticMythology, with the remainder from Myth/NorseMythology as well. The exception is Southern Thracia and the neighboring Miletos district--Thracian names are taken from figures in Mediterranean and Near-East history (such as Hannibal) and Miletos' place names sound Greek, highlighting their separation from the rest of the continent.

* AnAesop: While not exactly touched upon in the main game, the Mitsuki Oosawa manga has a moral that pops up quite often: ''Don't cling into prejudice. Everyone is equal.'' Seliph ''really'' struggles with this issue when he sees his men doing atrocities towards his enemies based on prejudice:
** When Iuchar and Iucharba were being held prisoner by the rebels, they were treated horribly by the rebels because they were servants of the Grannvalian Empire, and because Grannvale (especially the brothers' noble house) has done a number to the Isaachians, they felt justified. Seliph eventually called out their actions and reminded them that he, the hero that Isaach depended on all this while, is also from Grannvale.
** The reason why the Loptr faith, Manfroy included, became mad terror-spreaders was because of the persecutions done by the Crusaders just because they thought [[AlwaysChaoticEvil any Loptr faithful would always repeat Galle's reign of terror]], when in truth some of them were more like Maera, wanting to co-exist together and move on from the past, yet normal people kept rejecting them violently because of those thoughts. In Chapter 65, Seliph covered a Loptr child from being stoned and stated that they're also humans, there was no difference except the situation they grew up with. Had Seliph not covered for him and he survived, that child might have become another Manfroy in the future.

** ''Genealogy'' is considered the darkest ''Fire Emblem'' game. The hero's home country is actually TheEmpire who conspires against him, which he doesn't realize. Even nobles descended from legendary heroes are capable of being very petty, evil, and corrupt, [[spoiler:and for all his efforts, Sigurd is branded a traitor and executed along with most of his friends]]. In the second half, the evil cult [[spoiler:abducts children to sacrifice them to their god]].

* DeathOfAChild: In a "protect the Civilians for free levels" event, the civilians are little children of the "child" class (which is Civilian, except, justifiably, weaker). The enemy also explicitly kills children in the plot.

** It's unclear exactly how many members of [[spoiler:your army die in the Battle of Belhalla]]; in fact, it’s quite possible that the vast majority of them somehow survived even when the cutscene says otherwise. Yet, with [[spoiler:Sigurd]] dead, they scatter to the four winds rather than try to renew the fight, claim their inheritances, or clear their names.

** The game takes apart a lot of tropes from previous games. The BigBad is ''very'' bad and the heroes are good people, but a lot of the in-between bosses are just trying to defend their sovereignty after Grannvale, Sigurd's home country, invades Isaach and makes the other countries edgy. Sigurd's personal mission to rescue Edain snowballs into fighting every ''other'' country on the continent, while the not-so-noble nobles back home take full advantage of the chaos he leaves to lay groundwork for TheEmpire. Viewed in an independent light their actions aren't any different from those of their enemies. No matter how peaceful or well-intentioned Seliph might be, [[spoiler:he (once victorious) parcels up sections of the now-conquered empire amongst his supporters, which is exactly the same thing Arvis did when he took the throne.]] And if any of the heirs to the various thrones have died in battle, that country remains annexed to Grannvale--albeit under better management, but still not under their own rule. Theoretically, it is possible to make Seliph just another Emperor.
** "Dark dragon" {{Big Bad}}s in ''Fire Emblem'' somehow always have their share of supporters in trying to crush humanity beneath their claw. ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' shows what kind of background you'd need to think that was a good idea. Anyone who is a "Loptr", whether a descendant carrying his blood or a worshipper, have to live in hiding in the Aed Desert or the Spirit Forest. Exposure means certain death, even if you are a high-ranking and highly respected nobleman, and if you are ''suspected'' of being Loptous descendant you'll probably be killed whether you are one or not. With the enmity of the entire continent for something one has no control over, it's less difficult to understand why they might prefer the evil dragon.

** [[spoiler:Finn]] is essentially a GuestStarPartyMember who is missing in Chapters 4 through 6,

* DragonAncestry: Dragon Blood is synonymous with RoyalBlood, with [[http://fireemblemwiki.org/wiki/Holy_Blood the twelve main noble bloodlines]] of the setting being descended from a group of heroes who were each infused with the blood of a different dragon. Those in whom the blood flows strong bear a distinctive Brand on their bodies, granting them increased combat prowess and the ability to wield the holy weapons that contain some of that dragon's power. The same goes for those descended from the line of Galle, who blood bonded with the evil Earth Dragon Loptous.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: This game is its own beast with its unique take on the series' gameplay.

* ChildrenForcedToKill: The [[spoiler:"child hunts"]]. A horrifying project in which boys and girls from all over the Jugdral continent are [[spoiler:kidnapped, brought to different cities, and then are forced to fight until they die. The few who survive will end up as nobles of the empire. This "privilege" means they are little more than puppets for the Loptr Church.]] The parents are more often than not killed when they try to oppose this. The heroes, several of them being very young teenagers not much older than these kids, have to fight themselves to save these poor kids (and in ''Thracia 776'', more than one character who joins the troupe actually does so ''specifically'' either to thank them for saving the children, or to make up for having been in the side of the Empire). Meanwhile, more than one villain in the game is [[EvenEvilHasStandards troubled by the existence of such deals]], and those who aren't are very cruel.

* BossRush: An optional one, comprised of optional "bosses", but the arena enemies in the game's final chapter are a selection of "final enemies" from previous chapters' arenas, culminating in a battle against an all-new opponent; an Emperor named Zeus, who shares the personal class of major antagonist Arvis.