The comic draws on knowledge of a number of in-jokes, characters, and mechanics that aren't properly elaborated upon in Heroes itself, and so seems to be aimed at long time series fans rather than casual players.
The comic initially had no official translation, but it eventually received an official English translation starting with Chapter 100. The home page for the English version can be found here
, and the Japanese version can be found here.
A Day in the Life provides examples of:
- All Are Equal in Death: In "The Strongest Refutation", Sonia believes there are two types of people: those who lead, and those who serve. She is refuted by Hel, who believes all mortals are the same as they are all powerless before death.
- Amazingly Embarrassing Parents: Chapter 59 has Leif charging out to the front lines while Quan and Ethlyn give him support, much to Leif's embarrassment. The Summoner likens the situation to parents watching their child go off on their first day of school, while Finn is moved to tears at the sight.
- Angst Dissonance:
- In-Universe Example. In Chapter 8, Masked Lucina solemnly reflects on her duty to find a way to fight the despair and ruin of her homeworld. She is then immediately passed by an alternate Lucina and Chrom, happily celebrating in their Easter costumes. The sight moves her to tears.
- Happens again with Masked Lucina in "The Tempest" where she vows to travel between worlds to stop the Tempest at all costs when it appears. When her adventures in the Tempest shows several characters happily celebrating seasonal festivities together and the Order of Heroes being delighted at the rewards, Lucina goes into a moral dilemma on whether she should actually stop the Tempest since everyone seems to be having so much fun when it occurs.
- Autobots, Rock Out!: In Chapter 42, Azura gets tired of singing the same song the same way repeatedly, so she gets together a band and performs a rock version of her song.
- Bait-and-Switch: In "The Gathering", the Summoner gets concerned about Peri, Henry and Kronya when they discuss actions that can kill people...then the last panel revealed that Peri was actually preparing vegetable stew.
- Battle Strip: In Chapter 28, Bruno, after being called looking weak by Hawkeye, tears off his top, cape and armor... by flexing his muscles, showing off his muscular figure. They then proceed to beat each other with their fists, instead of with their magic.
- Big Brother Instinct:
- In Chapter 98, Anna offers Gunnthrá a free swimsuit (a bikini naturally) if she'll pose for some pictures, which Anna intends to sell for a fortune. Not willing to let his sister be exploited, Hríd shows up completely out of nowhere with a bag of gold to buy the swimsuit instead.
- In Chapter 209, several fathers express horror at the thought of their daughters participating in the Bridal festival, and even Michalis admits that he wouldn't be able to handle his sisters getting married either, even if they're currently enemies.Michalis: My sisters and I may be foes, but even I agree this would cross a line. I would have no choice but to... break down, like a child.
- Brainwashing for the Greater Good: In "Adapting to a New Realm", the Summoner summons Hel, and Eir is worried that her mother is still hostile to the heroes that she was trying to kill before. However, the Magically-Binding Contract from the summoning apparently did this to Hel, and Eir gets unnerved by how submissive she now is.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall: Sometimes, the characters in the comic are aware of game mechanics and UI elements.
- Chapter 14 has Shanna and Clair fool Setsuna into thinking she's weak to them, when it's actually the other way around, by covering their effectiveness symbols with paper-mache weakness symbols.
- In Chapter 19, the Summoner commands their team to take advantage of mechanics that have appeared throughout the series, only for the team to quip that they can't as the mechanics they mention aren't in Heroes. The Summoner then throws the Breidablik in frustration, angrily shouting "What CAN I do in this game?"
- In Chapter 27, Leo mentions that Odin excels at being skill inheritance fodder.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: The Summoner is portrayed here as a bumbling oaf. Even then, they're still the one who calls forth the heroes and commands the battlefield.
- Call-Back: "Favor Battles" sees the return of DJ Sum-Sum from "Delusory Dungeon: Let's Get Things Pumping!" participating in a Summoner Duel, having apparently recovered their headphones after they were confiscated.
- Clothing Damage: The subject of Chapter 38, where the Summoner's team has all fallen and their clothing looking worse for wear. In anguish, the Summoner begins tearing their own clothes off.
- Coconut Meets Cranium: Summer Selena uses her Exotic Fruit Juice weapon to defeat a Sword Fighter...by bonking him on the head with the coconut itself rather than using a magic spell.
- The Comically Serious: Hel, big time. In every strip she's featured in, she's completely serious, yet is thrown into or involved in whatever joke the comic is making at the time.
- Comical Overreacting: In Chapter 96, the Robins and Corrins are overly shocked that the Three Houses player characters don't have the same default names (in Japanese, anyway).
- The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard: In "Emblian Orbs", the Summoner wonders how Veronica is able to summon lots of heroes, and figures she's tapping into the Emblian treasury to afford all those orbs. Alfonse thinks she's not using orbs. (Canonically, Veronica does not summon or use orbs at all. She physically travels to other worlds to press-gang heroes into service. Apparently, it's been so long since this was explained that the Summoner has forgotten about that.)
- Cross Counter: How the fight between Bruno and Hawkeye turns out in Chapter 28.
- Cuteness Proximity: Exploited by Halloween Hector, who has Lilina act so cute that everyone passes out.
- Damned by Faint Praise: In Chapter 26, Robin accompanies the Summoner on a mission. While the Summoner is directing the team, Robin looks as if he's about to say something about their commands, but says it's fine and to carry on. The Summoner then remarks that Robin should just say if he has an issue with their directions.
- Doppelgänger Gets Same Sentiment: Deconstructed in "Better Together"; Bantu cares for Tiki's child self. The problem is that he was seen doting on her Legendary, Summer, and Fallen alts, and the original version yells at him for neglecting her.
- Drink-Based Characterization: "Heating Up" reveals coffee preferences for the gods of Valentia: the harsh Duma prefers his coffee black, while the motherly Mila prefers hers with milk.
- For Halloween, I Am Going as Myself: The Summoner does this accidentally in the comic "One Possibility", where they slept in and almost missed a costume party, and stumbles in forgetting to wear the hood that normally covers their face. The Summoner wins the best costume contest as a purple-haired girl.
- Furry Reminder: "Blind as a Bird" points out that much like real birds, bird Laguz have poor night vision, as shown when Tibarn accidentally hits Elincia standing behind him with his folded wing.
- Gender Reveal: "One Possibility" reveals what the Summoner really looks like under their face obscuring hood: a purple-haired girl. Although, considering the title of the comic and the fact that multiple Summoners appear in Summoner Duels, plus various instances of unreveals later on, this might only apply to the Summoner in that particular comic.
- General Failure: While the Summoner supposedly serves purpose among the Order of Heroes as The Strategist, it's a Running Gag in the comic that they're actually a really terrible tactician.
- In Chapter 3, despite Soren pointing out his clear fatigue, the Summoner keeps abusing Ike because he's currently a score-bonus character.
- In Chapter 19, the Summoner completely forgets which mechanics are present in the game, and gives their units multiple orders they can't follow. When Gray points out that evasion doesn't exist in Heroes, the Summoner even goes so far as to say that they "only managed to clear the previous game thanks to luck and evasion!"
- In Chapter 25, Alfonse points out that the Summoner hasn't given any of their units support skills, and accuses them of not knowing how to use them. The Summoner can only raise one counter-example in their defense: using shove to force Draug forward through a cramped hallway (which, to be fair, isn't actually a terrible strategy, but the comic treats it like it is).
- In Chapter 26, the Summoner summons Robin, Chrom's legendary tactician, who spends the entire rest of the chapter silently judging the Summoner's bad tactical decisions.
- This comes to a head in Chapter 41, where the series' best strategists — Saias, Soren, and (female) Robin — are gathered together for a planning meeting (even Katarina's there, in the back taking notes). the Summoner finds themself completely irrelevant in the face of these legendary tacticians, and is told in no uncertain terms to shut up and let them do the planning.
- One chapter has the Summoner trying to find the best synergy for their team and, after having a minor meltdown, promptly gives up and delegates all the fighting to be done by the one overpowered Lance Fighter from a certain Tactics Drills map in the group's place. Nah isn't impressed and asks the Summoner to come up with an actual strategy.
- A more minor example than those above, but in Chapters 33 and 53, the Summoner twice fails to come up with a team comp that suits Lon'qu.
- Gone Horribly Right:
- "Master of Seduction" involves Sylvain and Lorenz in their summer attire attempting to woo Echidna with the lessons they learned from Laslow in his seduction school. Said seduction worked a little too well, as the latter grabbed the two and wanted to "build houses" because of their muscular body.
- "The Harvest" has Midori and Tharja checking the crops in the Aether Resort. They try a mix of potions and curses to make the plants healthier and to fight off insects. When they come back later the plants certainly have no trouble growing, or fighting off any pests.
- Good Old Fisticuffs: In Chapter 28, after his Battle Strip and being called weak, Bruno challenges Hawkeye to a fist fight. Anna takes pictures of the resulting fight.
- Honest Axe: Parodied with Lex, who had experienced a straight example in his home game. In "Take Care of Your Things", he drops his Goddess Axe in the lake, from which the Summoner emerges with the axe stuck in their hood. The Summoner then offers a choice between a fully-upgraded gold and partially-upgraded silver sacred seal, and also mentions having found some golden weapon refinery materials, which they plan to keep even if he'd dropped them. When Lex asks for his axe back, the Summoner doesn't notice it's in their hood and warns him to take better care of his things, running off with it.
- Hope Spot: In Chapter 22, the Summoner offers Arden a speed boosting seal. Arden is a heavy knight whose only dream is to be nimble so people will stop bullying him for being slow, so naturally, he's overjoyed. He tearfully declares that finally he'll be the fast one — "faster than the horses, even!" The Summoner doesn't quite have the heart to break it to Arden that the seal only boosts his speed by +1. The worst part? The chapter itself is called "Even fully upgraded, it's only +3!"
- Horse of a Different Color: In "Call in the Cavalry!", when Seliph and Leif express a desire to ride horses like their fathers, the Summoner suggests they ride the Cat Laguz Lethe and Ranulf, since they're classified as cavalry. The next panel shows Seliph and Leif riding a livid Lethe and an embarrassed Ranulf respectively, while getting a glare from Ares, who already rides a horse by default.
- I Am One of Those, Too: In Chapter 7, Lucina is summoned while still in disguise. Just like in her original game, she introduces herself as Marth, silently vowing to never reveal her true identity. Cue the ACTUAL Hero King Marth, who says "Woah! So your name's Marth too, huh?" at which point Lucina, flustered, promptly chucks her mask to the ground and begs for his forgiveness (as well as his autograph).
- I Hate Past Me: Downplayed, but in Chapter 70, after telling her son Shigure not to be rude to other heroes and greeting Brave Lyn, Azura covers her face in embarrassment after the both of them see Young Azura clinging on Lyn's fur sling on her back and rubbing her face in it in comfort.
- I Want Grandkids: In "Family of the Future", Alfonse, Sharena, and the Summoner are thinking of the different versions of heroes from different worlds they've summoned, including parents and their children. Gustav and Henriette then start thinking about grandchildren while Alfonse and Sharena become flustered.
- The Knights Who Say "Squee!": Lucina is consistently portrayed as a complete Marth fangirl, imitating him, asking for his autograph, and in chapter 58, even going so far as to take an identity card meant for him.Sharena: Wait! Where'd [Marth's] picture card go?
Lucina: I've been keeping that one nice and warm.
Sharena: Please control yourself. - Laser-Guided Karma: In Chapter 73, Hel gets a taste of her own medicine by being cursed by Tharja with a chain letter, right after the ruler of Hel cursed Alfonse with 9 days to life.
- Lethal Chef: In "Forging Bonds: Mortal Soup", the Krises bring their extremely bad cooking skills with them. After their previous attempt almost killed Fjorm, they try to make soup, but it turns out to not even be a liquid. Hel is not amused and threatens to kill the Krises, while the Death Knight of all people actually enjoys the awful cooking, as he says the soup is "death itself".
- Loophole Abuse: In "Who Needs Iote's Shield?", the Summoner warns Petra about bows being effective against Flying units. Her solution is to climb off her pegasus and land on the ground, meaning she technically passes as an Infantry unit. Yune and Lilith, two units who are known to be flying units because they float, also partake by walking away from the battlefield. The Summoner is not pleased, saying they had to play by the rules.
- Lost in Translation:
- The basis of Chapter 21's joke centers on there being two characters named Kamui — specifically, the ones from Gaiden and Fates. However, overseas, the character from Fates (the avatar) has Corrin as their default name, so the joke is lost unless you understand the source.
- The basis of Chapter 96's joke centers on Byleth's name being written differently in Japanese depending on gender: roughly "Bereto" for the male and "Beresu" for the female. Since both are translated as "Byleth" in English, the joke falls apart. One Fan Sub tried to rectify this by changing the punchline to the fact that the Byleths have last names.
- Makeup Weapon: In "Makeup", the Summoner asks Leon and Yuri about their makeup routines. Yuri says that his makeup gives him a boost, which the Summoner assumes that the makeup provides a buff to their attacks. They then assume Hel is wearing makeup for the same reason, which Leon and Yuri shoot down as she does not wear makeup.
- Man-Eating Plant: In "The Harvest", as a result of Midori and Tharja using their talents to help their crops grow.
- Me's a Crowd: A frequent Running Gag of the comic shows the ramifications of being able to summon multiple copies of the same person. "Better Together" had Tiki upset at Bantu because Bantu kept mistaking her for other versions of Tiki present, including an evil version of her.
- Mistaken for Gay: Robin observes that the Summoner and Alfonse share an intense bond, calling Alfonse the Summoner's "other half." This leads to a couple misunderstandings:
- In Chapter 16, the Summoner shares this observation with Alfonse, and wonders which of them is the "top half" and which is the "bottom half." Alfonse is initially shocked, thinking that the Summoner interpreted Robin as thinking their relationship is sexual.
- In Chapter 17, Sharena begins the comic by complaining about how hard it is for her to make friends with the heroes. She than sees Alfonse declaring himself as "the one and only other half" to the Summoner, at which point she tearfully confronts him thusly:Sharena: Brother! How could you! You big dummy!!! I've gone through so much trouble to make friends from other worlds and you do this! Just how long have you been bending over as the lower half of all these great heroes anyway, huh!?
- In Chapter 74, Florina's shy nature has her hiding away from the other heroes until she's found by Nina and Soleil. Nina thinks Florina is spying on the guys because she's another Yaoi Fan Girl, while Soleil thinks she's avoiding the men because she's another lesbian. It ends with both fighting over who gets to hang with Florina.
- Mythology Gag: Child Marth in the Imagine Spot from Chapter 79 wears the same outfit as Marth's art from the original Shadow Dragon.
- Nerf Arm: Discussed in Chapter 103 where Flora and Jacob are amazed at the seasonal weapons being used as surprisingly effective substitutes for daggers. This gives Felicia an idea to start using the battle flags in the Voting Gauntlet as daggers, due to their effect of increasing attacking power by up to eight times when used in the Gauntlet. Cue the next panel where the trio celebrate victoriously by a massive pile of dead Mooks impaled with the battle flags while Corrin looks on in shock.
- No-Sell: In "The Summoner's Strength", Plumeria uses her Erotic Dreams against the Summoner, but he is seemingly unaffected. It's not because he's Not Distracted by the Sexy, but because he's seen worse.
- Oh, Crap!: In Chapter 57, Grima mocks fellow dragons Myrrh and Nowi for returning beaten up, and goes off to fight the opponent. She finds herself staring down a bunch of people wielding dragon-effective weapons against her. The chapter ends with Grima having a deer-caught-in-the-headlights kind of face as she realizes she's utterly screwed.
- One-Steve Limit: There have been a couple of jokes based on this:
- In Chapter 21, Leon confuses Corrin with Kamui (whose Japanese name was also Kamui), thinking that the summoning process somehow managed to make Kamui into a Pretty Boy.
- In Chapter 56, Cherche's wyvern mount is named Minerva, who she affectionately calls "Minerva-chan" or "Minervykins". The human Minerva thinks Cherche is calling for her, and proceeds to get teased by Cherche over the cutesy nickname.
- Poke the Poodle: In "Nasty Rumors", a bunch of Emblian soldiers rebel against Princess Veronica for being an evil traitor. Alfonse and Sharena point out that the worst thing she had done to them was poke them very lightly with her crown or slip food she hates onto someone else's plate.
- Psychological Projection: Nina and Soleil do this to Florina in Chapter 74. When they see Florina avoiding the men, they each think she does it for the same reason each of them do so.
- Rainbow Puke: Draug pukes up rainbows after moving too much through his allies' support.
- Refused by the Call: Chapter 11 opens in the really heartwarming way, with Wrys explains his to Sharena his surprise at being chosen as a hero, being the "washed up old man" that he is. Sharena disagrees strongly, and Wrys, touched by her enthusiasm, claims that he feels young again, and will fight as hard as he can. They agree to be friends, at which point, the Summoner storms in, and immediately sacrifices Wrys as skill fodder. The last panel is Sharena crying. The emotional fallout of this moment is used to rather hilarious effect in the next comic. Sharena declares that she's going to make a thousand friends... and ends up making friends with a thousand copies of Wrys.
- Screw This, I'm Out of Here!: Chapter 9 has Faye being summoned. However, when she asks if Alm is with the Summoner, they answer that he hasn't been summoned yet, prompting her to leave immediately and unsummon herself.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: "Sweet for You" has Gaius insist to the Summoner to be paired up with Halloween L'Arachel, which has the Summoner assuming there's something going on between them. L'Arachel rebukes that he's not her boyfriend and that Gaius only wants to be with her so he can take the leftover candy that appears whenever she attacks. Gaius doesn't deny it.
- Shipper on Deck: In "Don't You Dare", Nina has taken her Yaoi Fan Girl tendencies to new heights, by shipping people's weapons. When Eitri sees Kiran talking with Alfonse, she thinks it's a perfect opportunity to examine Breidablik (Kiran's weapon), but Nina pulls her away, thinking Breidablik and Fólkvangr (Alfonse's weapon) are bonding.
- Skewed Priorities: In Chapter 32, Loki reveals herself and shows off her shapeshifting abilities. Anna is distraught because Loki can change into famous heroes, and then she could take pictures and make serious money off of them.
- Squee: Chapter 7 has Lucina... er, the enigmatic swordsman Marth fangirl over meeting the real Marth.
- Stuck on Band-Aid Brand: Whenever the game itself is mentioned in the speech bubbles, Fire Emblem Heroes is always depicted using the game's actual logo rather than regular text.
- Supreme Chef: "Who Could it Be?" reveals that Feh is secretly a great chef, and is seen slicing and preparing food to deliver to the Order of Heroes.
- Take That, Audience!: "Daydreams" has Mirabilis say that mortals can't resist falling into a dream and end up making dumb mistakes because of it. Said things are mistakes that many players end up making while playing Heroes, such as forgetting to equip healing skills before Tempest Trials maps, don't pay attention to how many foes they're taking on, or accidentally make a combat manual of a unit they only have one of.
- Throne Made of X: Deconstructed in Chapter 86. Hel's skeleton throne is not very comfortable, as she ponders to herself about how it hurts after sitting in it for an extended period of time. She even thought of replacing it with a throne of soft things, though she worries that would mar her image.
- Toilet Humor: "Fate Unchanged" involves Kiran having feeling nauseous from eating old veggies, and Ethlyn is unable to help the Summoner because she can't cure stomachaches. Before they can get Sothis unwind time before they ate the veggies, Fallen Chrom says they cannot change their fate...and points to the bathroom, knowing the Summoner is in for a bad toilet trip.
- Too Dumb to Fool: "What a Summoner Wants" involves Riev trying to make the Summoner into his pawn by asking whatever their heart desires. It backfires when the Summoner responds by saying they want to eat tasty food and catch up on sleep, as Riev groans that he has no use for a mundane minion.
- The Unreveal:
- Exaggerated. "Unending Nightmare" reenacts the end of Book IV Chapter 12 with one major difference: when the group attempts to unhood an unconscious Summoner, another hood takes its place, repeating ad nauseam.
- In "Hot Spring", the Heroes expect the Summoner to take off their hood when getting in the hot spring, but they keep it on.
- Villains Out Shopping: In Chapter 72, Hel appears but not to attack the heroes, instead she wants to tell Eir that she set a new 100m sprint record.
- Wall Pin of Love: In Chapter 18, Gray puts his hand next to Clair while he's declaring his love for her.
- Waterfall Puke: In Chapter 6, Draug pukes up rainbows after he moves too swiftly from his allies' support.
- Weaksauce Weakness:
- In Chapter 61, Surtr is effectively invincible when blessed with the Flames of Múspell, but is beaten by Halloween candy. The Flames generate so much heat that it melts the candy, and it sticks to his face.
- Duma is knocked unconscious when he trips and hits his shin over a water bucket by the hot springs. Said water bucket he tripped on was the Splashy Bucket seasonal weapon, which is effective vs. dragons.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue: Parodied in "An Epilogue Fit for a Goddess". Seiðr, having gotten lost again, is seen crying and wondering what future generations will say about her. Cue Kiran talking about about how people love to see this stuff, complete with an ending card that wouldn't be out of place in a mainline title.Seiðr: 449 Battles, 127 Victories As a goddess of hope, she continued to valiantly lead her people (oftentimes in the wrong direction).
- Worthless Treasure Twist: In "Master Thief in Action", Cath manages to reach a chest containing Lorenz's treasure. Said chest contains nothing but roses.
- Wrong Assumption:
- In Chapter 18, Xander catches wind of the fact that a number of women in the army have been complaining about someone harassing them. Assuming that it must be his womanizing retainer Laslow, he marches off to lecture him again... only to find that it was actually Gray who was harassing the girls, and Laslow's been on his best behavior.
- In Chapter 78, Mikoto gives her granddaughter Kana a closed envelope as a gift, telling her if she's going to eat delicious food, she can use this. Kana's father, Corrin, assumes that Mikoto just gave her money and is spoiling her. When he get his hands on the gift and opens it, however, he finds out that Mikoto just gave her chopsticks. Despite this misunderstanding, he is happy about this and goes out with his daughter to eat.
- Wrong Genre Savvy:
- In chapter 20, The Summoner tried to mobilize the heroes using different mechanics in previous Fire Emblem games. But none of those mechanics work in Heroes, prompting them to just Rage Quit in frustration.
- In "In the Desert of Askr", Julian shrugs off Alfonse's concerns about slowly searching for treasure in on a desert battlefield by mentioning that other units' movement will be limited by the sand. Alfonse then points out that this mechanic isn't present in Heroes, just as they are beset by an army of cavalry.
- You Didn't See That: When Nailah overhears what she hears as the Summoner and Hilda talking about Rafiel in the desert, she begins to worry and ask what's going on. The Summoner replies that they were talking about Raphael, instead of Rafiel. After letting her softer side slip out, she squeezes the Summoner's face and demands him to forget what happened.
- You No Take Candle: In chapter 99, Petra is having trouble remembering names due to the language barrier, and is approached by Athena, thinking she has upset her. Athena reveals she has the same problem, and they work together to learn the local language.
