Top Eleven Fire Emblem Characters (8)

[mark_asphodel]

What makes a "favorite" character?  In my case, it's kind of a visceral appreciation and not purely an abstract "what-if" meta obsession.  Put simply, I often know if a character (or pairing) is truly a favorite by how I respond to artwork.  If seeing a little fan-doodle or icon provokes a reaction in me, that's a beloved character.  If I see the picture, think "meh," and skip on by, I don't really like them all that much-- not for what they are in-game, or in-media.

I'm also skewing this list toward the characters who have a substantial amount of material upon which I can base my opinions.  I love Norne to bits, but she has, what, three lines of translated dialogue?  That's not enough to hang anything on.  

So, if this entry feels like a bit of a cheat, it's not.

I don't write 'fic about him.  I don't have complex meta posts about him.  I haven't played the second of the two games he's in, cause I rather dislike the first game.

But if you mentally give a power salute to virtually everything that character says on-screen, I think that makes them a favorite character.

Therefore, at #8... Soren.

Squee.  I don't find him as, er, attractive as I did when FE9 first came out, because I'm past thirty and he's stuck in the body of a tween or something close to it.  Nope.  But I do love his character designs-- all of them.  And while I kind of found the "Ashnard's secret kid!" backstory to be a little cheap (oh, what an amazing coinkydink), I've gotten used to it... and it helps immensely that Soren never learns the truth.  That scene with Almedha was well-played.

I could detail his, er, smashing personality, or his charming attitude, or his social graces, but I think you guys know the score on all that already.  It's all good, man (okay, not the racism, but the fact that a sympathetic character is allowed to have such opinions is a nice bit of moral nuance).  Soren is one of those characters that I "relate" to, and I cringe inside when fanfiction makes him into a complete little squishmuffin or a flirt.  Come on, now.  

He's great.  I'm glad he exists.  And I absolutely squee a little when people post chunks of his dialogue for the purpose of pointing out how awesome Soren is.

Because it's true.

Comments

[amielleon]

Hi I'm Ammie and I approve of this post.

Incidentally, that thing with Ashnard strikes me as something that would be really cool if it were a fan theory, but a bit tenuous as canon.

The part with his black dragon ancestry and tying it into Rajaion's presence in the capital was cool. But it could've been better integrated in FE9.

The epilogue is perfect and I kind of make :\ faces when people insist on having him and Almedha sort things out.

hi, look at Soren, look at how he feels about himself and his life, look at the fact that he spent the last three years getting over it, do you really think he would feel positively about this development

[samuraiter]

Soren is my nuker in FE9. His stats make me forgive him for the (OOC) things the fandom frequently makes him do.

[mark_asphodel]

Very true, but I'm not weighing the characters through their value as units. Otherwise we'd be seeing a lot of Abel and Barst from FE11.

[raphiael]

Going just off fandom-Soren, I really wasn't inclined to like him. I'm really glad that isn't in line with the actual game. (Though of course it would be better if fandom were more like canon, but haha wishful thinking.)

Agreed about the scene with Almedha, definitely. I'm with Ammie, there - having Soren know just doesn't work for me. I think I've seen at least once a thing where Soren pieces it together himself within the games' timelines, and that's even more WTF.

[mark_asphodel]

I think I've seen at least once a thing where Soren pieces it together himself within the games' timelines, and that's even more WTF.

That might be a case of making the boy too clever for his own good. :/

[kyusil]

If seeing a little fan-doodle or icon provokes a reaction in me, that's a beloved character.

This is a good way of thinking about it, without overthinking it. :)

[mark_asphodel]

I hit on that as a barometer while trying to sort out what pairings I liked because I appreciated an author's interpretation, and which ones I actually liked. If the fanart left me cold, it was probably the author's influence more than love of the characters or their relationship.