Thirty(?) Days of Fire Emblem, Day "Twenty-Five"

[mark_asphodel]

Day 25: My Favorite Archetype

Ugh.

I mean, I know it wouldn't be Fire Emblem without them, but the OVERemphasis on them on both the gamer and the 'ficcer sides of fandom has made me a little sick of the whole concept.  Especially the people who try to turn every single character from FE1-4[*] into an archetype progenitor (where's the rest of the "Yumina" types, huh?), regardless of how well the later characters fit the archetypical slot.

Anyway.  I guess I like the Cain&Abel archetype the best.  Its consistent and deliberate application over the years gives it a little more resonance than That Peg Knight You Start With (And When Do I Get to Sleep With Her?) or Lousy Pre-Promote Axe Dude.  Though I am compelled to put in a word for the BFF Wind Mage, uncommon as it actually is in the games.

* Especially funny in that characters who fit one archetype in FE1/FE3 Book I/FE11 fit into a different category in FE3Book II/FE12, and same goes for some of the Jugdral gang.  When is a Lena not a Lena?  When you only get to recruit her during the final boss battle!  When is an Abel not the Abel?  When he shows up as a damn enemy mid-way through the game!  That's why I prefer a conceptual name (Red Knight & Green Knight, Gentle Staff Chick, Flaky Staff Chick, etc) to use of a character name for the archetypes.  Except for the "Jeigan," which is written in stone even if TV Tropes renamed it "Crutch Character."

-x-

I want to write Fire Emblem/Harry Potter crossovers now.  It's Manna's fault.

Comments

[lyndis]

Sure, blame it all on me. :P

[kyusil]

Lute Lovegood and Artur Weasley?

I don't mind the archetypes in and of themselves, necessarily, but it's when people demand that every character be shoehorned into an archetype, or insist that the characters are totally recycled that it begins to get annoying. The roles are often consistent in one way or another, but these aren't the same characters.

[mark_asphodel]

Ooh, that'd be interesting.

The roles are often consistent in one way or another, but these aren't the same characters.

Right. I think the essential differences in the "Generic" Rapier Lord archetype alone ought to lay that one to rest. Or even look at something more subtle, like Triangle-Attacking Peg Knights, to see how it's re-used but adapted over the years. Whether you're looking at stats or narrative purpose, they don't completely jive with one another.

Though IS is nearly as guilty as the fanbase in shoehorning characters, what with the Vanessa/Farina Middle Sister Angst crap they dumped onto Catria with no prior justification in FE12...