History FireEmblemAwakening / TropesAToE

* ContinuityPorn: The game is absolutely ''filled'' with {{Mythology Gag}}s to earlier games in the series, [[GeniusBonus some of them extremely subtle.]]

* CerebusRollerCoaster: The DLC episodes. They range from cheerfully silly [[BribingYourWayToVictory EXP- and gold-farming opportunities]] with blatant {{Excuse Plot}}s and {{Affectionate Parod|y}}ies of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'', with many SugarWiki/FunnyMoments to go around, to dead-serious maps like an AfterTheEnd BadFuture told over three maps and a small episode in which [[NightOfTheLivingMooks the Risen]] are recast as {{Tragic Monster}}s, full of NightmareFuel and {{Tear Jerker}}s, right back to {{Breather Episode}}s that feature easy Risen hunts as the backdrop for a bunch of CampfireCharacterExploration and more hilarity. And finally a NintendoHard map that's all about the game issuing you progressively harder fights to test your mettle on. [[MoodWhiplash Whew.]]

* BleachedUnderpants: Celica from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'' makes an appearance as a DLC character, and her new design is drawn by Masatsugu Saito, a {{Hentai}} {{doujinshi}} artist. [[{{Stripperific}} The artist's past]] definitely shows through, [[http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130506005540/fireemblem/images/4/4d/Celica_%28FE13_Artwork%29.png as can be seen here.]]

* AscendedExtra: Anna, the [[PluckyGirl plucky]] [[SeriesMascot mascot]] of ''Fire Emblem'' who has only made [[OneSceneWonder walk-on appearances]] in every game so far, is ''finally'' recruitable.

** A common tactic to level grinding is to remove the CrutchCharacter's weapons and used them as a glorified meat shield. While the enemy attacks the defenseless, but nearly invincible CrutchCharacter your weaker characters can gang up and kill them. Not so much in ''Awakening'', where the enemy will bypass an unarmed-but-powerful character if someone weak and likely to die is within their range.

* AmbidextrousSprite: Averted with Chrom, who has [[http://www.serenesforest.net/fe13/img/15022012C.jpg two different portraits]] for when he faces left or right.

* CastOfSnowflakes: As per ''Fire Emblem'' tradition, each playable character has a unique design and personality.
** {{Subverted}} for enemies and some Paralogue bosses that reuse generic portraits.

* ActionGirl: As usual in the series, all the female playable characters. Although this time they can be upgraded to {{Action Mom}}s. This game also cranks it UpToEleven with the mostly female-exclusive "Galeforce" skill, which lets the user take another full turn should they defeat an enemy.

* BattleCouple: Loads of them. In fact, it's a game mechanic. Playing matchmaker with certain couples results in their marriage, which allows them to kick more ass than usual when they fight together. [[UpToEleven Your whole army can end up being composed of these.]]

* BreatherLevel: WordOfGod says the "Other-World Resort" episodes of the second batch of DLC were [[InvokedTrope designed to be this]], focusing more on character relationships and dialogue than on combat. Contrast the [[NintendoHard Ultimate]] [[UpToEleven Training]] missions.

* BrutalBonusLevel: All chapters in the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Challenge Pack"]] DLC. And then Apotheosis takes it UpToEleven, or Twelve.

* EliteTweak: With the return of the Inheritance system and the new Modifiers system (where each character possess unique additions to their Caps across all classes) and the changes to the Reclass system, as well as how the Skills play out, the ways to maximize a character's potential now goes far beyond just leveling up -- it's [[MindScrew mind-boggling]] [[UpToEleven to the eleventh degree]].

** Donny and Olivia's Supports in the Japanese version reference [[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Naesala and Leanne]]!

** PlayedStraight with Grima's backstory. If the Knights of Iris' suggested backstory is true, then he's the same species of dragon as the villain from the first game. [[spoiler:Although if the backstory found in [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia]] is anything to go by, this may not be the case.]] Also happens to be the BigBad.

** Donny and Olivia's Supports in the Japanese version reference [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Naesala and Leanne]]!

** And Stahl and Sully's Supports reference [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAkaneia Cain and Abel]], and Sully even lampshades the fact that she and Stahl are part of the archetype.

** The last Bonus Unit, [[spoiler:Priam, claims to be a descendant of Ike. Yes, [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius THAT Ike]].]]

* ExcaliburInTheRust: One of the top-tier legacy weapons is an aged and worn-out looking [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius Ragnell]]. [[spoiler:Its owner is Ike's descendant, explaining why it has aged. Granted, the blade was still pretty worn even when Ike wielded it, as shown [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6eaEsxFEmw here.]]]]

** Frederick is known as "Frederick the Wary", a title he wears with pride. On the other hand, the Avatar calling him "Fredericson" (if male) or "Freddy-bear" (if female) during their supports are very much a EmbarrassingNickname to him.

** [[spoiler:The Avatar's child is a tactician named Morgan, who, because they dress like their parent, shares the same outfit as [[PlayerCharacter Mark the Tactician]] from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemElibe Blazing Sword]]'', and even shares their name in Japanese (though Morgan's name is spelled Mar'''c'''). The best ranking in the Japanese version of ''Blazing Sword'' gives Mark the same "Grandmaster" title as a promoted Avatar, and Morgan, like their parent, also has access to the Grandmaster class.]]

** The Holy Weapons from [[VideoGame/FireEmblemJugdral the Jugdral games]] make an appearance (and anyone with the appropriate weapon rank can use them now), as do [[spoiler:the twelve Deadlords, some of whom are in possession of said Holy Weapons.]]

** The conversation with Lyn('s Einherjar) after her DLC chapter (Smash Brethren 3) makes her speculate that the Avatar is the same one of ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemElibe Blazing Sword]]'' due to their mostly similar appearances and shared habit of waking up in unfamiliar locales without any knowledge of how they got there.
*** This also doubles as FridgeBrilliance and LeaningOnTheFourthWall, since the Avatar is the player. She is essentially asking if [[BreakingtheFourthWall YOU]] played ''Blazing Sword''. You have the choice of confirming or denying her hunch: "Yes" if you were the Tactician or "No" if you weren't. It may also reference the protagonist's resemblance to [[spoiler:their child Morgan]]. See the first example.

* CerebusRollerCoaster: The DLC episodes. They range from cheerfully silly [[BribingYourWayToVictory EXP- and gold-farming opportunities]] with blatant {{Excuse Plot}}s and {{Affectionate Parod|y}}ies of VideoGame/SuperSmashBros, with many SugarWiki/FunnyMoments to go around, to dead-serious maps like an AfterTheEnd BadFuture told over three maps and a small episode in which [[NightOfTheLivingMooks the Risen]] are recast as {{Tragic Monster}}s, full of NightmareFuel and {{Tear Jerker}}s, right back to {{Breather Episode}}s that feature easy Risen hunts as the backdrop for a bunch of CampfireCharacterExploration and more hilarity. And finally a NintendoHard map that's all about the game issuing you progressively harder fights to test your mettle on. [[MoodWhiplash Whew.]]

*** Sumia: She has an obvious crush on Chrom, gets her own CGI cutscene with him titled "Lovebirds", is one of the few units to appear in a cutscene after their debut chapter (where her main role is also to interact with Chrom), and has the highest priority of his prospective wives if he's still not married by the end of Chapter 11.[[note]]The game chooses Chrom's wife based on which of his possible options he has the highest Support rank for. If there's a tie, the game chooses based on a priority system, of which Sumia ranks the highest.[[/note]] If the game forces them to pair up at that point, she also gets a unique cutscene that none of the other wives get any variation of.
*** Female Avatar: As the two main characters their bond becomes a key part of the game's story regardless of if they marry or not.[[note]] This does not change for a Male Avatar creating quite a bit of HomoeroticSubtext[[/note]] However, she is also the only one of Chrom's potential wives to remain relevant after meeting Lucina. And if they do marry, there are a lot of plot conveniences that arise with their marriage since the Female Avatar is the vessel of [[BigBad Grima]] which itself creates more emotional conflict later on with Lucina. This is even lampshaded when Lucina and Male Morgan who's not Chrom's son mention it's a little odd that Chrom and the Female Avatar never got together. While Lucina mothered by anyone but the Female Avatar accuses her of trying to seduce Chrom, then swings in the opposite direction by ''demanding'' she fall for him.

* ContemptibleCover: The cover of the Japanese manual shows nothing but a picture of [[TheVamp Aversa.]]

* DevelopersDesiredDate: Chrom is required to get married at the end of Chapter 11, and has four possible wives (five if [[PlayerCharacter the Avatar]] is a girl). Of them, the game pushes for [[CuteClumsyGirl Sumia]] the most. She has an obvious crush on Chrom, gets her own CGI cutscene with him titled "Lovebirds", is one of the few units to appear in a cutscene after their debut chapter (where her main role is also to interact with Chrom), and has the highest priority of his prospective wives if he's still not married by the end of Chapter 11.[[note]]The game chooses Chrom's wife based on which of his possible options he has the highest Support rank for. If there's a tie, the game chooses based on a priority system, of which Sumia ranks the highest.[[/note]] If the game forces them to pair up at that point, she also gets a unique cutscene that none of the other wives get any variation of.

* DifficultySpike:
** Beginning with Chapter 12. It's not the first time you faced promoted enemies but it is the first time you faced promoted enemies mixed in with squads of four or five enemies who move as one, mixed with large amounts of cavalry and infantry. (Whereas before, a huge number of your enemies were on foot.) Oh, even despite the game giving you a unit equipped with anti-infantry weaponry, you better keep her out of range of the bow knights. In addition, you also get confronted with bottlenecks, forcing you to either let them come to you or hope your units are strong enough to survive the onslaught of the squad on the other side of the map. The fact that Master Seals become available in the shop pretty much shows that if you haven't already promoted some of your units, you should do so soon. (And it's not like you'll be short on money if you've been fighting the optional maps that give bullion like candy.) Chapter 13 is even worse, as you're surrounded right from the start, with ranged troops hammering you from cliffs on either side. It also features more reinforcements than ever before, including one particularly nasty group of promoted reinforcements that spawn all at once and will gladly pile in on anyone weak in range. And the chapter after is the first one to feature reinforcements you're ''not'' warned of in advance. It's safe to say all bets are off in the Valm arc, which delights in handing you [[FanNickname Asshole Reinforcements]] in nearly every single chapter.
** Chapter 17 officially marks the point that NOTHING you face is unpromoted anymore, save for a select few Paralogues and the odd Thief or two.
** Some of the side missions can be this as well, forcing you to farm random Risen groups to complete several story missions before your characters are remotely strong enough.
** The transition from Hard Mode to Lunatic Mode.

* EekAMouse: The mere sight of a -apparently huge- bug flitting around sends Lucina and her sibling -two seasoned warriors who have survived a zombie apocalypse- into a panic. For example, in the case of Cynthia:

* ElCidPloy: In one sidequest, a leader of a band of thugs passes himself off as the legendary hero "Chrom". For some strange reason, the townsfolk he's terrorizing seem to mistake the real Chrom for him even though they look nothing alike.

* EekAMouse: The mere sight of a -apparently huge- bug flitting around sends Lucina and Cynthia -two seasoned warriors who have survived a zombie apocalypse- into a panic.

** Due to plot reasons, Chrom must be married to a female character by the end of Chapter 11. However, if the player doesn't manage to get an S Support level between Chrom or a female character, the game will default to the female character with the highest Support level with him. If ''none'' of the female characters have any Support points with him, Chrom then marries the one at the top of the list, excluding the ones that are dead or married. If they are all dead or married (Olivia has to be dead, because she joins in the previous chapter and can't get married in time), then Chrom marries an ordinary village lady.

** The cutscene where Lucina contemplates killing the Avatar to ensure the BadFuture doesn't come to pass shakes out differently depending on her relationship with them. If they aren't related or just friends, Chrom arrives and prevents Lucina from doing anything drastic. If they're married or mother and daughter, Lucina tries to go through with it but loses her nerve due to her love for the Avatar, and Chrom shows up afterwards.

*** One certain plot point roughly halfway through the game will have different dialogue depending on who Chrom married a few chapters ago. [[labelnote:explanation]]When it is revealed that Lucina is Chrom's daughter, Chrom's wife, who is late to the reveal, will suspect that Chrom is cheating on her with Lucina. Sumia picks flowers apart saying, "He loves me - he loves me not." Maribelle ''immediately'' confronts Chrom about it. Sully is about ready to kick Chrom and Lucina across the room. Olivia is crying and saying "IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy." Interestingly enough, if Chrom is married to a female Avatar, her reaction is unchanged until Lucina speaks to her; she simply notes that she trusts Chrom but the situation might look bad to others, exactly the same as the reaction of an Avatar with whom Chrom is just friends.[[/labelnote]]

* BrotherSisterIncest: {{Averted|Trope}} for once in the series - Chrom cannot marry Lissa, and their relationship is far more healthy and sibling-like compared to, say, [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones Ephraim and]] [[{{Twincest}} Eirika]]. Also, should Lucina have a male sibling[[note]]can be either Brady, Inigo, or a male Morgan[[/note]], she cannot marry them, nor can the other male siblings marry a female Morgan if she is their sister. However, you can still get ''some'' [[KissingCousins incestuous pairings]]. One DLC character, [[spoiler:Aversa]], tries to invoke this on a male Avatar, but neither he, nor his father, [[spoiler:Validar]] ever thought of her as family and this is after the retcon that [[spoiler:all of Aversa's memories of Validar being a ParentalSubstitute were just FakeMemories implanted into her mind]], this is more prominent in the Japanese version as it's only done once as a joke in the English version.

* BrotherSisterIncest: {{Aversa|Trope}} for once in the series - Chrom cannot marry Lissa, and their relationship is far more healthy and sibling-like compared to, say, [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones Ephraim and]] [[{{Twincest}} Eirika]]. Also, should Lucina have a male sibling[[note]]can be either Brady, Inigo, or a male Morgan[[/note]], she cannot marry them, nor can the other male siblings marry a female Morgan if she is their sister. However, you can still get ''some'' [[KissingCousins incestuous pairings]]. One DLC character, [[spoiler:Aversa]], tries to invoke this on a male Avatar, but neither he, nor his father, [[spoiler:Validar]] ever thought of her as family and this is after the retcon that [[spoiler:all of Aversa's memories of Validar being a ParentalSubstitute were just FakeMemories implanted into her mind], this is more prominent in the Japanese version as its only done once as a joke in the english version.

* BrotherSisterIncest: {{Averted|Trope}} for once in the series - Chrom cannot marry Lissa, and their relationship is far more healthy and sibling-like compared to, say, [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones Ephraim and]] [[{{Twincest}} Eirika]]. Also, should Lucina have a male sibling[[note]]can be either Brady, Inigo, or a male Morgan[[/note]], she cannot marry them, nor can the other male siblings marry a female Morgan if she is their sister. However, you can still get ''some'' [[KissingCousins incestuous pairings]]. The game still missed one technical example, although the developers were clearly aware of it: [[spoiler:a male Avatar can marry his adopted sister, Aversa]].

* BrickJoke: When Tiki wakes up and sees Lucina, she mistakes her for her "Mar-Mar."

* BrokenAesop: Sacrificing one person for the sake of many, regardless of who the person is, can be worth it. [[spoiler:Except that the two people sacrificed, Emmeryn and the Avatar, don't actually die. Emmeryn survives her apparent death, and the Avatar returns from the dead because of their [[ThePowerOfFriendship bonds with the other characters]] despite even the setting's god-analogue commenting on that being vanishingly unlikely.]] Further testing of the message: [[if you have Chrom fight Aversa in Chapter 22, he will mention to her that [[WhatIsOneMansLifeInComparison the weight of one life is nothing compared to millions]], yet when the Avatar accepts [[SelfSacrificeScheme sacrificing themself]] to slay Grima three chapters later, Chrom immediately protests. The Avatar even [[IronicEcho echoes]] Chrom's words to Aversa from earlier, but Chrom doesn't listen.]]
** [[spoiler:In this case, it's a matter of one Aesop breaking another. Meanwhile, in the case of Emmeryn, given her [[TraumaInducedAmnesia mental state]] after surviving her sacrifice and the fact that she never really recovers, she didn't get off scot-free. You could even say that the Emmeryn you met earlier in the game did die.]]

* BrokenAesop: Sacrificing one person for the sake of many, regardless of who the person is, can be worth it. [[spoiler:Except that the two people sacrificed, Emmeryn and the Avatar, don't actually die. Emmeryn survives her apparent death, and the Avatar just returns from the dead despite supposedly being DeaderThanDead.]] Further odd: if you have Chrom fight Aversa in Chapter 22, he will mention to her that the weight of one life is nothing compared to millions, yet when the Avatar accepts sacrificing themself to slay Grima three chapters later, Chrom immediately protests. The Avatar even echoes Chrom's words to Aversa from earlier, but Chrom doesn't listen.]]
** [[spoiler:Meanwhile, in this case it's a matter of one Aesop breaking another. Meanwhile, in the case of Emmeryn, given her [[DamagedSoul mental state]] after surviving her sacrifice and the fact that she never really recovers, she didn't get off scot-free. You could even say that the Emmeryn you met earlier in the game did die.]]

* BackgroundMusicOverride: Used in Chapter 10, both in the preparation screen and in the actual chapter, to amazing emotional effect. The final chapter also does this once you gain control of your characters.

* BreadEggsMilkSquick: In Miriel's A Support with Frederick, she says, "I've collected flowers, fished in the river, and [[BeeAfraid been chased by bees]]."

* DubInducedPlotHole: Inverted. In the original Japanese version, when Robin calls Chrom by name at the beginning despite never meeting him, Chrom confusedly asks Robin "How do you know my name?". This eventually stops making any sense whatsoever once it's revealed in-story a chapter or two later that Chrom is the prince of Ylisse, meaning there would be several hundred plausible reasons why the Avatar would know Chrom's name. The English localization fixes this by changing his line to "Ah, then you know who I am?", which is much more in line with what a famous figure would say upon being addressed by name by a stranger.