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{{Unreferencedsect|date=February 2007}}
[[Image:Fire_emblem_noken.jpg|thumb|250px|Eliwood, Hector and Lyn from ''Fire Emblem (Game Boy Advance)'', the first ''Fire Emblem'' to be released internationally.]]
{{nihongo|'''''Fire Emblem'''''|ファイアーエムブレム|Faiā Emuburemu}} is a popular [[strategy game|strategy]]/[[computer role-playing games|role-playing]] [[video game]] franchise developed by [[Intelligent Systems|Intelligent Systems Co., Ltd.]] (specifically [[Shouzou Kaga]]), the makers of [[Nintendo Wars#Advance Wars|Advance Wars]], and published by [[Nintendo Co., Ltd.]]. The ''Fire Emblem'' games are known to be the first of their genre, the [[strategic role-playing game]], with a very strong emphasis on western forms of medieval folklore.
The series currently spans ten games, and has graced the [[Famicom]], [[Super Famicom]], [[Game Boy Advance]], [[GameCube]] and [[Wii]]. [[Fire Emblem: The Goddess of Dawn|The most recent title in the series]] was first released in Japan on February 22, 2007. A North American release is expected to follow at an undisclosed date in 2007.
==International release==
Since its inception in 1990, the ''Fire Emblem'' series was formerly confined to Japan. In 2001, Nintendo released ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'', a fighting game starring characters from games produced throughout the company's history. The Japanese release of the game contained two characters from the ''Fire Emblem'' series; Marth, the original protagonist in the series, starred in ''Fire Emblem: Ankoku no Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi'', and ''Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo'', and Roy starred in the then-unreleased sixth game, ''Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi''. According to Nintendo's official Japanese website, Marth was put in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' upon the request of Japanese gamers. Marth's design and playability earned him extra attention while the game underwent debug testing in North America, and it was by the decision of Nintendo of America that he was included in the North American version. Roy had been included in Japan to promote the upcoming release of ''Fūin no Tsurugi'', and was likewise included in the North American version. It was due in part to Marth and Roy's popularity from their appearance in ''SSBM'' that Nintendo eventually decided to localize and market ''Fire Emblem'' games for North American and European release.
''[[Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken]]'', the seventh title in the series, became the first to see an international release in 2003. Released outside of Japan simply as ''Fire Emblem'', the game was designed specifically with newcomers to the series in mind, and the first ten chapters were structured in a manner that eased newcomers into the gameplay. All ''Fire Emblem'' titles produced since have also seen international release.
==Gameplay==
===Basics===
[[Image:Thracia776Screencap.png|thumb|right|Game-play map screen from ''Fire Emblem: Thracia 776''.]]
''Fire Emblem'' is a series of [[turn-based]] strategy games that involve moving units through a map grid in order to defeat the opposition and eventually complete a mission objective, such as seizing a base, surviving for a number of turns, or defeating a boss. The combat system bases itself on a [[rock-paper-scissors]] method of fighting, as each weapon type has both an advantage and a disadvantage against other types. From ''Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu'' to the most recent game ''[[Fire Emblem: Akatsuki no Megami]]'', the weapon triangle has been [[lance]] beats [[sword]], sword beats [[axe]], and axe beats lance. Bows are unaffected by the triangle and can do higher amounts of damage against flying units, but this is offset by the bow-wielder's inability to counter-attack direct melee strikes.
A similar [[Magic in the Fire Emblem series|triangle for magic]], that varies from game to game, has also existed. The basic triangles of magic are light beats dark, dark beats anima, and anima beats light. In other games, fire beats wind, wind beats thunder and thunder beats fire. Magic is also unique in that magical attacks can be used from either a distance or in melee range.
===Units and relationships===
Unlike ''Advance Wars'' and other tactical RPGs such as ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics]]'', player-generated units are absent. Instead, ''Fire Emblem'' utilizes a distinct cast of characters, each belonging to one of many [[character classes]]. Unlike most strategy games, each unit has a personality and past of its own. Money is used to buy better weapons and various items, and using units in battle will allow them to gain [[experience points]]; a character's level will increase upon gaining one hundred experience points. Leveling party members up can be a challenge, as many newly recruited units arrive with inferior levels and statistics, but because the amount of experience earned from defeating an enemy is determined by the level discrepancy between the battling units, a characters at lower levels earn more experience than more experienced characters when defeating enemies of comparable level.
Depending on the mechanics of the particular game, characters may change classes upon reaching a certain level, or through the use of a special item that will force a unit's promotion. Characters that change class receive a one-time statistics upgrade that is higher than the average leveling upgrade and additional abilities that are standards of the higher-tier classes. For instance, a cavalier in ''Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance'' will change classes automatically after earning enough experience to advance to level 21, becoming a level 1 paladin, will become capable of moving greaters distances in a single turn, and will become able to wield two kinds of weapons.
Typically, the size of the player's character roster is very small at the beginning of each game, but as progress is made, other units may join the player's party through story events or through actions taken. The latter games in the series typically contain playable rosters between thirty and fifty characters deep.
[[Romantic love|Romance]] and friendship are prevalent themes throughout the ''Fire Emblem'' series. Starting from the sixth game, ''Fuuin no Tsurugi'', this characteristic has been further emphasized in the gameplay itself through the use of support conversations. In the GBA ''Fire Emblem'' titles, these conversations could be triggered by having specific pairs of characters end their turns standing next to each other. After a specific number of turns have accumulated, the player is given the option to view a support conversation between the two characters. ''Path of Radiance'' simplified the approach by requiring characters to be in a certain number of battles together and not necessarily adjacent to one another. Each time a pair of characters engage in a support conversation, their affinity towards each other will increase, giving them statistical bonuses that activate any time the characters are next to each other on the battlefield. If two characters with a mutual romantic attraction, strong friendship, or other form of mutual connection engage in three Supports throughout the game, the result will often affect the game's ending. Depending on the characters involved, such results could include marriage, a deepening of friendship, or a continued pursuit of their continuing relationship.
===Death===
''Fire Emblem'' characters that run out of hit points and die cannot be brought back to life in game. This also affects recruitable NPC and enemy units. If a player wishes to continue using a character or recruit a unit that has been killed, then the chapter must be restarted from the beginning. In addition, a "Game Over" occurs whenever one of the main characters (Lords) falls, or in other situations depending on a mission's requirements. Only under special circumstances, such as being significantly related to the story, will characters who have fallen in battle not actually die. In extremely rare situations, such as in ''Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu'', ''Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones'', and ''Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance'', characters that fall in battle can become playable at a later point in the game. Exceptions aside, there is normally no method for restoring a fallen character's life, such as a particular spell or scroll. When there is one, it rarely occurs and breaks with only one use.
{{Fire Emblem characters}}
==Naming of the series==
The "Fire Emblem" to which the games' title refers is a plot device or item that has taken multiple forms throughout the series, changing with the setting. The original Fire Emblem was a [[shield]] which allowed the wielder, [[Marth (Fire Emblem)|Marth]], to use the [[Falchion]] sword. In the remake of the original game in ''Monshō no Nazo'', the Fire Emblem can be used by Marth to open chests and can be upgraded with five orbs to turn it into the [[Shield of Seals]] in Book two. In ''Rekka no Ken'' and ''Fūin no Tsurugi'', the Fire Emblem is a gemstone required for a ceremony to recognize the heir to the throne of Bern. It is also used to unlock the Sword of Seals. In ''The Sacred Stones'', the Fire Emblem is the Sacred Stone of Grado, which holds the Demon King's spirit, but it is split in two (the other half forms the Dark Stone), and the Fire Emblem is crushed. In ''Path of Radiance'', it was another name for Lehran's Medallion, an artifact containing the imprisoned spirit of an evil god. In ''Seisen no Keifu'', it does not appear, but it is mentioned as the family crest of the Velthomer house by the person succeeding it. But, it was also hinted to be one of the twelve holy weapons in the game.
==Games==
The following is a list of games released in the series.
:''Games predating ''Rekka no Ken'' were released only in Japan. Due to this, there are no official English language titles for these games. An official English language title may be given if Nintendo of America elects to localize any of these games to North America.''
{| width="100%" class="wikitable"
|-
!Cover !! Official Western title !! Japanese title !! Japanese Title Translation !!Platform !! Year !!Notes
|-
|style="align:center"|[[Image:Fe1box.jpg|100px]]
|
|ファイアーエムブレム 暗黒竜と光の剣 <p>(''[[Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi]]'')
|''The Dark Dragon and Sword of Light''
|[[Famicom]]
|[[1990]]
|The first ''Fire Emblem'' title.
|-
|style="align:center"|[[Image:Fe2box.jpg|100px]]
|
|ファイアーエムブレム外伝 <p>(''[[Fire Emblem Gaiden]]'')
|''Sidestory''
|[[Famicom]]
|[[1991]]
|Side story of the first title.
|-
|style="align:center"|[[Image:Fe3box.jpg|100px]]
|
|ファイアーエムブレム 紋章の謎 <p>(''[[Fire Emblem: Monshō no Nazo]]'')
|''Mystery of the Emblem''
|[[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|Super Famicom]]
|[[1993]]
|Enhanced remake of the ''Dark Dragon and Sword of Light'' along with sequel. It was adapted into a 2-part [[OVA]] series. In the English translated credits it says the show was based on "Fire Emblem: Secret of Crest" instead of "Mystery of the Emblem".
|-
|style="align:center"|[[Image:Seisen no Keifu.jpg|100px]]
|
|ファイアーエムブレム 聖戦の系譜 <p>(''[[Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu]]'')
|''Genealogy of <br />the Holy War''
|[[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|Super Famicom]]
|[[1996]]
|The first ''Fire Emblem'' title set in a separate universe. Deviates from standard ''Fire Emblem'' gameplay mechanisms.
|-
|style="align:center"|[[Image:Fe5box.jpg|100px]]
|
|ファイアーエムブレム トラキア776 <p>(''[[Fire Emblem: Thracia 776]]'')
|''Fire Emblem: Thracia 776''
|[[Super Nintendo Entertainment System|Super Famicom]]
|[[Nintendo Power (cartridge)|Nintendo Power]]: [[1999]] <p> Commercial release: [[2000]]
|A sidestory of ''Seisen no Keifu''. The last commercial release of the Super Famicom.
|-
|style="align:center"|[[Image:Fuuin no Tsurugi.jpg|100px]]
|
|ファイアーエムブレム 封印の剣 <p>(''[[Fire Emblem: Fūin no Tsurugi]]'')
|''Sword of Seals''
|[[Game Boy Advance]]
|[[2002]]
|The first ''Fire Emblem'' title to appear on a Nintendo [[handheld]].
|-
|style="align:center"|[[Image:GBA Fire Emblem Box.jpg|100px]]
|''[[Fire Emblem (Game Boy Advance)|Fire Emblem]]''
|ファイアーエムブレム 烈火の剣 <p>(''Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken'')
|''Sword of Fire''
|[[Game Boy Advance]]
|[[2003]]
|The first ''Fire Emblem'' title to be released in the West and the prequel to ''Sword of Seals''.
|-
|style="align:center"|[[Image:Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones.JPG|100px]]
|''[[Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones]]''
|ファイアーエムブレム 聖魔の光石 <p>(''Fire Emblem: Seima no Kōseki'')
|''The Stones of Saintly and Demonic Light''
|[[Game Boy Advance]]
|Japan: [[2004]] US: [[2005]]
|First title to incorporate several play mechanics not seen since ''Fire Emblem Gaiden''.
|-
|style="align:center"|[[Image:Fire Emblem PoR Boxart.JPG|100px]]
|''[[Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance]]''
|ファイアーエムブレム 蒼炎の軌跡<p> (''Fire Emblem: Sōen no Kiseki'')
|''Trail of the Blue Flame''
|[[Nintendo Gamecube]]
|[[2005]]
|The first title in the series to be rendered in [[3D computer graphics|three-dimensions]] and to incorporate [[full motion video]].
|-
|style="align:center"|[[Image:Fire Emblem Goddess of the Dawn Japanese Boxart.jpg|100px]]
|''(Has yet to be officially titled worldwide)
|ファイアーエムブレム 暁の女神 <p> (''Fire Emblem: Akatsuki no Megami'')
|''[[Fire Emblem: The Goddess of Dawn|Goddess of Dawn]]'' <ref>{{cite web|title=Fire Emblem: The Goddess of Dawn (Wii)|url=http://www.1up.com/do/previewPage?cId=3153633|accessdate=2007-02-26|last=Kennedy|first=Sam|date=[[2006-09-14]]|publisher=[[1UP.com]]}}</ref>
|[[Wii]]
|[[2007]]
|The sequel to ''Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance''.
|}
==Music==
The musical scores for ''Fire Emblem'' have been composed by [[Yuka Tsujiyoko]] for most of the series' history. ''Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones'' was scored by Saki Haruyama, Yoshihiko Kitamura, and Yoshito Hirano, under Tsujiyoko's supervision. The first eight games in the series all featured soundtracks composed entirely of instrumental music. However, ''[[Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance]]'' broke from this trend with the end credit theme "Life Returns", a lyrical piece sung in the language of the fictional heron laguz tribe.
There are also recurring tracks in the Fire Emblem series. The most frequently used is the "Fire Emblem Main Theme" which is played at some point during each game. Its use is particularly varied, as it is sometimes used as the title screen theme, while in ''Path of Radiance'', the song isn't heard until the very end of the game, when each character's performance is ranked. Another track that is frequently remixed is a character recruitment theme entitled "Together We Ride," although it is not used in every game. Since ''[[Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu]]'', battle themes of previous Fire Emblem games have been remixed as arena battle themes. Similar rearranging appears in other circumstances, as well; for example, the musical score for the trial maps in ''Path of Radiance'' was originally the music score for Chapter 10 of ''Seisen no Keifu''.
==Other media==
*In [[1995]], an [[anime]] [[OVA]] (co-produced with [[KSS (company)|KSS]]) was produced and released; it was closely based on the first three acts of the very first game in the series or more specifically, the remake contained in ''Monshō no Nazo''. See also ''[[Fire Emblem (anime)]]''.
*Fire Emblem The Best Volume One was a video game music sound-track released on April 25, 1997 by Nintendo corporation (serial# PSCN-5058~9).
==Trivia==
*A title listed as "AKANEIA" in the debug mode of ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' suggests that an arena based upon ''Fire Emblem'' was under development, but no real map data exists and players often end up fighting against Marth and Roy in Hyrule Temple. If Marth is unlocked and all human players hold either L or R while selecting Hyrule Temple, a remixed version of Fire Emblem's main theme and the recruiting theme will play instead of its original music. The song may also play randomly if Marth is unlocked.
*In another Intelligent Systems game, ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'', there is a minor character in Petalburg that raves about his favorite video games when spoken to. The first game he talks about is ''[[Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken|Fire Emblem]]''.
*''[[Fire Emblem: Monshou no Nazo]]'' is the only Fire Emblem game to appear in [[Famitsu]]'s 2006 Top one hundred games list. Famitsu readers voted it the number sixty-eighth game of all time. It was also among the first titles released as a Virtual Console title at the launch of the Japanese region Wii Shop Channel.
*The Nintendo DS game ''[[Daigasso! Band-Brothers]]'' features the Fire Emblem theme as a song.
*Fire Emblem characters are usually [[right-handed]]. One exception is that Sothe from ''Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance'' and ''Fire Emblem: The Goddess of Dawn'' is [[left-handed]], according to the official artwork.{{Fact|date=February 2007}}
*A red-headed girl named Anna makes appearances in numerous games in the series. Although she isn't an actual member of any ''Fire Emblem'' cast, she generally appears in games when the player is about to suspend game data or serves as the tutorial narratress.
==See also==
*[[List of character classes#Fire Emblem|List of character classes]]
*[[Table of Fire Emblem characters]]
*[[Fan translation]]
*[[Nintendo Wars]]
*[[Tear Ring Saga]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
<!---Please don't add your own links without first discussion it on the talk page. Thanks.--->
{{portal|Nintendo|Wikitendo2.svg}}
{{wikiquote}}
*[http://www.fire-emblem.com Official US ''Fire Emblem'' website]
*[http://www.intsys.co.jp/game/fe/index.html Intelligent Systems' official ''Fire Emblem'' website (Japanese)]
*[http://www.nintendo.co.jp/fe/index.html Nintendo of Japan's official ''Fire Emblem'' website (Japanese)]
*[http://eg.nttpub.co.jp/fe/ Official Trading Card Game website (Japanese)]
*{{moby game|id=-group/fire-emblem-series|name=The ''Fire Emblem'' series}}
*[http://eaichu250.superbusnet.com/ English Fire Emblem Documentary]
{{Fire Emblem}}
[[Category:Fire Emblem|*]]
[[Category:Video game franchises]]
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