Characters / Fire Emblem - Heroic Archetypes - Personalities

Heroic Archetype Index | Main Characters | Availability Vs Growth | Teams | Physical Units | Magic Units | Mid-Late Game Units | Personalities | Others

Personality Archetypes

These archetypes are defined solely by personality. Their gameplay utility and class can vary, and may even overlap with other archetypes.

• The Casanova Wannabe: A (usually) male skirt chaser, who's typically unlucky in love.
• The Unrequited Lover: A (usually) female romantic, but their crush will never notice them.
• The Beautiful Priest: A pretty boy that can easily pass for a woman.
• The Malledus: An adviser for the Lord behind the scenes. May overlap with the Jagen, and was essentially replaced by The Avatar.
• The Sibling Worshipper: Someone who's a wee bit too obsessed with their siblings, most of the time their big brother.

The Casanova Wannabe

When you have so many people in your army, many of them being gorgeous women, there's bound to be at least one skirt-chaser. They try to impress as many ladies as possible, but they tend to fail in humorous fashion. Still, they're going to be a Chivalrous Pervert in one way or another; there are lines they won't cross, and they're just as dedicated to stopping evil as the rest of your army. And sometimes, with some Support conversations, they just might succeed in wooing...

Unlike most archetypes, there's no pattern at all as to which Character Class gets this type of personality. They've been everything from priests to knights to swordsmen.

Playable characters of this archetype: Alec (Genealogy of the Holy War); Saul (The Binding Blade); Sain (The Blazing Blade); Joshua (The Sacred Stones); Gatrie (Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn); Samuel^note While Samuel is present in the original Mystery of the Emblem, the only hint of him fitting this archetype is his recruitment line with Caeda, where she realizes he's not Navarre when he makes a remark on her looks. His New Mystery of the Emblem rendition plays this archetype straight through his supports. (New Mystery of the Emblem); Virion, Gregor, and Inigo (Awakening); Laslow and Soleil (Fates); Jesse^note Same case with Samuel — Jesse didn't fit this role in Gaiden, but his personality in the remake fits (Shadows of Valentia), Dorothea, Sylvain, Lorenz, and Manuela (Three Houses and Warriors: Three Hopes)

Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype: Fogado ^note Although he's a Handsome Lech and has a reputation for being a flirt, as shown in supports with Hortensia, he isn't seen doing all that much flirting in-game.(Engage)

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• Brilliant, but Lazy: When they put their heart into it, they are very competent in their area of job. Of course, most of the time they just prefer on hitting the ladies.
• Butt-Monkey: Hilarity Ensues whenever they get rejected or fail to impress.
• Casanova Wannabe: They try to be suave and impress the ladies, but almost always fail. Any success they achieve is usually very limited.
• Chivalrous Pervert: They're clearly just trying to get some tail, but they also have standards and usually know when to stop. In fact, some of them tend to be some of the more heroic figures in the army, since they want to be a Knight in Shining Armor to any potential ladies they find and so try to be as helpful as possible.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Sylvain. He sure acts like how this archetype does, but he only does so because he knows that the girls he woos are just interested in his Crest and hoping that they can have a Crest-bearing child, which has made him a lot more bitter than the normally happy-go-lucky examples of the archetype and led him to hate the girls he dates. This also lead him to develop a negative view of most woman. He only gets over this if he manages to score for real (with a girl (or Felix) that sees him for who he is, not his Crest).

The Unrequited Lover

Somebody in the army has a huge crush on someone else, oftentimes the Lord. The problem? They will never get to be with their crush, because the game purposefully makes their union impossible. The object of the unrequited lover's (sometimes known as the Catria) affections either has eyes for somebody else or, in the case of games where marriage is based on Supports, isn't even given the chance to talk to them to let a relationship develop. With some effort, they may have a Second Love, but sometimes even then they may not have wholly gotten over her first.

Playable characters of this archetype: Catria, Palla and Roger (Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light); Clair (Gaiden); Miranda (Thracia 776); Thea (The Binding Blade); Sain (The Blazing Blade); Lyon (The Sacred Stones); Cordelia (Awakening); Flora and maybe Scarlet^note Flora is openly stated to like Jakob, but it's not 100% confirmed if Scarlet is in love with Ryoma or not (Fates); Faye and Leon (Shadows of Valentia)^note Leon is present in the original Gaiden, but doesn't fit there. Shadows of Valentia gives him a clear crush on Valbar.; Dimitri and Edelgard ^note It's all but stated that Dimitri at least at some point held romantic feelings towards Edelgard, and hinted that Edelgard may have returned them. (Three Houses); Madeline (Engage)

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• Cannot Spit It Out: Even if these characters is given the chance to confess, they will have trouble doing so. The reasons vary from one character to another, but in most cases, they never actually admit their feelings directly.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Madeline deconstructs this not just merely because her game does not allow romantic endings at all: Her love with Mauvier is unrequited because he dies for real at the last legs of the Fell Xenologue, and the best he saw about her is familial love. The rest of the archetype here at least have their target of unrequited love still being alive, Madeline has no such luck.
• Foil: For the Casanova Wannabe characters. While they try to hit on almost all members of the opposite sex, usually failing but with effort they can score for real, the Unrequited Lover only had one initial target but is doomed to never get that particular love answered. The best they could get (sometimes with player effort) is Second Love.
• Hopeless Suitor: The Unrequited Lover is never able to be with the one they are crushing on.
• Second Love: Games with optional marriage will often let them to settle with a different person from their initial crush. Most games usually note that they end up becoming a happy couple in the end, showing the character moved on from the event.

The Beautiful Priest

There's occasionally one guy in your army who is so pretty that he might pass as a woman, leading to some hilarious recruitment process or sometimes hilarious support conversation. The archetype started out as two separate characters, Midayle and Claud from Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War; the former was a feminine-looking male archer that was often mistaken for a woman (in the Fujimori Nuts manga), while the latter was a Long-Haired Pretty Boy priest who was a symbol of purity. Both aspects were combined in Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, creating the modern incarnation.

The characters of this archetype tend to be members of some church organization, thus giving them access to the more 'girlier' tools like healing magic or light magic, or make them look like a Non-Action Guy to reinforce their ambiguity and the surprise element once the cat is out of the bag.

The rise of LGBT Civil Rights in The New '10s affects this archetype the most. Hence, after Fates, characters of this archetype tend to lack the Unsettling Gender-Reveal factor and the humor that comes with it, therefore the characters from the games afterwards tend to stop causing gender-confusion in-universe, but still possesses their extreme prettiness (but somehow still failing the other requirements like religious background, so they tend to 'only have elements' of the archetype).

Playable characters of this archetype: Sleuf (Thracia 776); Elffin (The Binding Blade); Lucius (The Blazing Blade); Reyson (Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn); Libra (Awakening); Forrest (Fates), Yuri (Three Houses and Warriors: Three Hopes)

Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype: Xane^note The Trope Maker of the archetype: He's an androgynous person with feminine appearance but nobody ever touched or get confused on his girly appearance (not even Kris in New Mystery) and he was not part of any religious movements.(Shadow Dragon and Mystery of the Emblem), Midayle and Claud^note Midayle's feminine appearance and Claud's priesthood as the precursors to the trope, especially Claud and 'links with priesthood elements'.(Genealogy of the Holy War), Rosado^note He is extremely effeminate in appearance, to the point of actively crossdressing, though he is a Wyvern Rider and not a magic user, so he doesn't qualify. and Merrin^note Basically what happens if you reverse the gender of the archetype: Merrin is a very handsome, boyish woman and often had to play up her handsomeness like a man in supports, to the point of semi-crossdressing and mentioning this trait contrast with Rosado, and usually giving an uncomfortable sense of attraction to her female partners. Still, nobody mistakes her as a man, and she's part of the non-religious Queendom of Solm.(Engage)

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• Deconstructed Character Archetype:
  • Forrest, to a certain extent. His feminine looks are because he's a Wholesome Crossdresser, and his refusal to conform to gender norms is a source of strain on his relationship with his father Leo. Fortunately, Leo ultimately learns to accept his son for who he is.
  • Yuri holds many of the ideals of the archetype but achieves his goals through underhanded means rather than working through the Church on the straight and narrow. Especially considering how the church in the Fodlan games is more complex than usual.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: The gag of the archetype is that they look very feminine and often get mistaken for women.
• Even the Guys Want Him: The guy's beauty will often be praised by other men. Libra's solo ending straight-up says that he was courted by both women and men. Yuri can be romanced by both female and male Byleth, and he gets other male characters flustered in some supports.
• Friend to All Children: Elffin befriends Fae, Lucius and Libra both open orphanages after the war. Yuri cares deeply for kids in Abyss, and in his endings it's said that "wherever Yuri's underground business thrived, so did orphanages or almshouse."
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: They try to play the role of redeemers. Claud is a bit of a prude also.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Identifiable by their flowing blond locks. Forrest wears his in Ojou Ringlets.
• Unsettling Gender-Reveal: Can induce such, and it usually leads to hilarity, as seen in Lucius and Libra. This is said to have happened offscreen in a support between Yuri and resident skirt chaser Sylvain in Three Hopes.
• White Mage: Associated with healing abilities, or restoration in Elffin's and Reyson's case. Lucius can also wield light magic. Yuri is a Trickster combing White Mage with Thief.
• Wholesome Crossdresser: What the trope has evolved into with characters like Forrest and Rosado, moving away from Unsettling Gender-Reveal. Downplayed with Yuri who wears masculine clothes but is the only male character to visibly be wearing make up in the Fodlan games.

The Malledus

The Malledus is an NPC advisor that either serves as a Mr. Exposition or gives advice to the hero. However, they are not at all playable, or if they are somehow controllable, they can't even fight. Their official positions are usually 'advisor'. In a way, they serve as a prototype of the Tactician/The Avatar, in that they're not playable but are considered a strategist and gives your Lord someone to talk to when there's no other NPC from another side.

Starting from The Blazing Blade, the games have been more willing to give playable characters Plot Armor to allow them to continue being story-relevant even after their demise in gameplay, and it will often be one of them who takes the role of Mr. Exposition (usually the Jagen/Oifey). Subsequently, the Malledus as a standalone archetype has mostly taken a backseat, with its few reappearances being relegated to NPC characters with less significant roles in the story.

Characters of this archetype: Malledus (Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light); Jagen (Mystery of the Emblem); Oifey^note 1st gen and Lewyn^note 2nd gen (Genealogy of the Holy War); August and Dryas (Thracia 776); Merlinus (The Binding Blade); Nasir (Path of Radiance); Lilith (Fates); Rodrigue^note Azure Moon route and Judith^note Verdant Wind route (Three Houses); Emblem Marth^note Marth is unavailable in some chapters (Engage); Maiko (Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE); Judith again (Warriors: Three Hopes)

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• Adaptational Badass: Since Three Houses, any character in the Malledus archetype is now capable of combat, but they remain unplayable. However, Emblem Marth is held back from fighting independently due to being a ring-bound spirit, and therefore can only fight alone in locations where Emblems have unrestricted movement. Otherwise, the most he can do in a fight is perform coordinated attacks alongside his ring bearer, which gameplay-wise, is purely cosmetic and does not affect the damage output of the host unit.
• The Artifact: They were conceived as a side effect of the Permadeath mechanic so that the Lord character has at least someone else to interact with in their army. Once subsequent games start to give important playable characters Plot Armor, their presence sticks out more (such as Oifey and Shannan being sidelined for Lewyn in Genealogy of the Holy War's second generation and Merlinus being essentially the only character Roy talks to in The Binding Blade) and this archetype is barely revived ever since.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Rodrigue in the Azure Moon route. He attempts to play this trope straight and provide tactical advice to Byleth and Dimitri, but while Byleth listens without issue, Dimitri is so consumed by rage and revenge that he ignores Rodrigue's advice, causing Rodrigue to become a borderline Yes-Man to Dimitri, as he is too loyal to stand up to him. As a result, when he attempts to guide Dimitri, Dimitri snaps at him for it, leading to an ill fated encounter at Gronder Field with the Empire and the Alliance, ending with Rodrigue taking a knife wound to save Dimitri and dying. It's also reconstructed in that his dying words snap Dimitri out of his rage fueled state, and his advice is heeded after.
• Mr. Exposition: Their main job is to dispense exposition of the world they're in, for both the Lord and the player.
• Non-Action Guy: They never take to the front lines of battle. Rodrigue and Judith are a bit odd in that they do fight in a paralogue and two versions of a main chapter as an NPC between them and serve as bosses on the Crimson Flower route, but they are never directly controllable and remain unplayable when travelling with you. Emblem Marth also has a similar situation, in that outside of certain locations, he can never fight independently (Outside of clones summoned by Emblem Veronica), and he gets stolen alongside five other Emblems in chapter 10 of Engage.
• Non-Player Character: They are generally not direct members of your party. Merlinus is the exception, and he's a Non-Action Guy, though Emblem Marth can also become temporarily playable if Emblem Veronica's "Summon Hero" skill is used to summon him.
• Promoted to Playable: Oifey and Rodrigue become playable in Genealogy’s 2nd Generation and Warriors: Three Hopes’s Azure Gleam route. Nasir can also be recruited late into Path of Radiance if certain conditions are met.

The Sibling Worshipper

Fire Emblem is no stranger with the trope Brother–Sister Incest. In fact, back in the days, they really like to give out such subtexts within their game, mostly represented by this archetype. The Sibling-Worshipper is a character, most likely a little sibling or sister, who adores their elder sibling, most likely big brother, way too much. They held their elder sibling in such a high pedestal that any suitors or those who interact with this character will find themselves talking about this elder sibling, or hearing the character ramble how great their sibling is, or saying to their elder siblings that they don't need anyone else, only the elder sibling is needed for them. If there are support conversations, be prepared to see them talk about their siblings more than their support partner.

They sometimes overlap with the Maria, but they do not always take the healer role and a Maria usually did not take their adoration to their elder siblings too far. The elder sibling usually recognizes how much loved they are, but tends to focus on somewhere else, rarely did they ever fully reciprocate, and thus the incest image of the series did have some covers.

Playable characters of this archetype: Lachesis (Genealogy of the Holy War); Clarine (The Binding Blade); Priscilla (The Blazing Blade); Eirika (The Sacred Stones); Leo ^note A gender-inverted example, Leo had a lot of hots towards his big sister Camilla, he just rarely expressed it and Camilla ^note Age-inverted. Camilla dotes on her little sibling Corrin way too much, and can get away with marriage thanks to being Not Blood Siblings (Fates); Alcryst (Engage)

Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype: Olwen ^note She has a certain adoration towards her big brother Reinhardt, but she keeps it on a more level-headed rank instead of going overblown about it, and in the end, Reinhardt became a Broken Pedestal to her. (Thracia 776); Fleche ^note She has a great adoration of her brother Randolph and the extension of it is clearly shown in a certain route... except she's not playable at all on any route(Three Houses); Freyja and Ótr^note Both are basically villainous, non-playable takes of the archetype (Being in Heroes, they became summonable just like Surtr and Hel before them, but storywise, neither had a Heel–Face Turn, though Freyja had some sort of Death Equals Redemption) (Heroes)

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• Big Brother Worship: Hoo boy. They like to think that their big bro (or sis) is the best ever and nothing you say can convince them otherwise!
• Brother–Sister Incest: It's only shown in subtexts and such, but they might as well be the poster girl/boy of the franchise about this trope.
• Character Exaggeration: Believe it or not, their traits are not always about being sibling-worshippers, they can have other traits they can claim on their own. Unfortunately, sometimes they tend to be vulnerable to Poe's Law, thus their Big Brother Worship tends to get focused the most by the fandom.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: At times, if said elder sibling decided to focus their attention to another, they may admit for being jealous, but they still have enough standards to not try to Murder the Hypotenuse. With the exception of Camilla, but that is usually when she's on the opposing side of Corrin.
• Deconstructed Character Archetype:
  • Despite being an age-inversion, Camilla provides a two-part deconstruction of this kind of archetype: Being the Sole Survivor of a brutal succession feud of her own family left her horrified and overprotective towards any of her little siblings, especially one who had potential to just leave her and relive her memories about losing her siblings again. Unfortunately, Camilla herself prefers a rather... ahem, hands-on and overly forward approach that it caused many to get unnerved at her, even Corrin themselves at times.
  • Having their worshiped sibling killed usually was just treated as a Berserk Button (albeit a severe one), as shown with Lachesis (after clearing it up, they calm down). However, there are times that this character was so overly adoring of their sibling that they suffer a mental breakdown as a result of their sibling killed. This is shown in the Mitsuki Oosawa manga version of Lachesis (she doesn't take the death of Eldigan that well beyond avenging him and contemplates suicide a lot of times before being talked down by Finn) and the Azure Moon version of Fleche (she turns into an unhinged vengeance-obsessed woman against Dimitri and relishes in describing what kind of pain Dimitri will suffer for killing Randolph unfairly (as she thought); Rodrigue dies stopping her, and Byleth is forced to put her down).
  • While she's only a partial example on the basis that she's the Big Bad of her arc, Freyja deconstructs this by presenting this question: What if the one who worships their elder siblings was landed in a villainous role? The result is a destructively vicious Yandere that will cause a whole heap of chaos at the slightest hint that her sibling (Freyr) takes even a slight turn from her. Not a good thing.
  • Ótr is a villain who displays the traits of this archetype taken to their worst extremes. As Book V progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that Ótr values his own relationship with Fáfnir more than he does Fáfnir's own well-being, to the point of allowing him to be corrupted into a monster just so he never leaves him.
  • Alcryst looks up to Diamant... so much that it's also the reason of his self deprecation, as much as he believes his brother is the pinnacle of perfection, he believes he himself is on the opposite end.
    Alcryst: Brother is cut from the finest cloth.... when I'm the leftover scraps.
• Little Sister Heroine: A majority of the members of this archetype are little sisters being obsessed with their big bro.
• Redeeming Replacement: Ótr is the first attempt on the variant of 'little brother worshipping big brother', but he only fulfills partial parts of the archetype and his adoration is portrayed as a negative trait of his overall character. The next 'little brother worshipping big brother' character in the franchise history is Alcryst, and he's portrayed much more sympathetically than Ótr and is not a partial example (not to mention, being a playable character and heroic on his own).
• Relative Button: Talking crap about their elder sibling is generally not a good idea... or even to kill that sibling.