FE Death Quote Meta

[mark_asphodel]

I'd been planning this for a while too, but... life.

And death!

Presenting Mark of the Asphodel's favorite Fire Emblem death quotes!

These little sound bites often say a lot about a character.  They lament unfulfilled hopes and dreams.  They call out to a comrade, a sibling... a previously secret love interest.  Now, some quotes are mighty predictable: loyal knights offer encouragement to their lords and ladies... and lords and ladies generally beg forgiveness for their failures.  But good death quote heightens the impact of permadeath and make the itch to hit that reset button even stronger, right?

FE11: 

"Prince Marth... tell them... I did not run."  (Cain)

You have to play on NM with the Prologue to get the full impact of this.  Probably my most favorite concise death quote in FE (as opposed to wordy retreat scenes and such.)  Cain's not just offering the usual encouragement to his sovereign or last patriotic hurrah. It's personal.  Deeply personal.  It's about his honor and worth as a knight and a man.  Rock on, Cain.

"Sire... I was glad... to know you." (Merric)

Argh!  MerricMerricMerric I will restart for you every time.  And I will ship you with Marth like burning.  Seriously, I was pleased he zeroed in on friendship instead of his princess-crush.

"This too... must be fate."  (Lorenz)

The poor man.  :(

FE8:

"I lost..." (Marisa)

These two words somehow made me like Marisa much more as a character.  It's hard to explain, but something in this made her quirky self more real to me.

"I... I did well, didn't I?"  (Amelia)

Cheap-shot heartstring tugging, there.  But it works, especially when accompanied by her big-eyed darling face.

"I've long been prepared for this day... too long...."  (Tana)

Whoa, Tana.  Hidden depths.  Where'd this come from?  And why couldn't we see more of this side of you in the game?

Honorable mention goes to Innes, but it had more impact when I thought he was actually dead and not kept "alive" via Plot Armor.

FE7: 

"Ooh, why me?  This is SO annoying!" (Serra)

I like it because it marks her as a Melissa expy forever.  :D

Most FE7 death quotes don't work for me, and I'm not going into the retreat dialogues here.  Props to Harken and Isadora for being messed-up to the end, though.  

FE4:

"Damn it..."  (Roddlevan)

Ayra's son's substitute keeps it short and to the point.

"Stop!  I can't take any more!" (Tiltyu)

Story of her life, isn't it?

Honestly, most of the villain/NPC death quotes in FE4 are better than the playable characters' sign-offs.  

FE5: 

"I don't want to die... a commoner..." (Eyrios)

What a tool.

"...I'm... lonely..." (Sara)

Argh.  Poor kid.

"When I'm born... next time... I..."  (Lara)

Thieving Dancer chick surprised me.

Honorable mention goes to Miranda.

FE2:

"Abel, it looks like I can't go back.  I'm sorry."  (Palla)

Kleenex time and a smack to the head to Abel for rejecting this woman.

"Heh, me of all people falling short of the rebel image..." (Jesse)

I love this guy.  All hail Sand King Jesse.

FE3, Book II:

"Prince Marth..." (Catria)

Surprise crush revealed!  Oh, the pangs of unrequited love.

"Glory to Orleans!" (Roshea)

If you remember his reasons for joining Marth in Book II, this has a real punch to it.  Poor squishy knight baby.

"Prince Marth... don't die" (Navarre)

In which Navarre turns out to have a personal stake in the conflict.  Surprised me, anyway.

FE9/10:

These get pretty complication and conditional in Tellius, but I'll put in a word for Largo here ("Hm.  This is not a bad death... Calil.")

Lord Quotes, in general:

Lord quotes are kinda dull.  It's usually just some variation on "Forgive me."  But some do stand out...

"Damn!  Just a bit more..." (Alm)
 "I'm no good after all... I'm sorry, everyone..." (Cellica)

Cellica's in particular sums up the mixture of obligation and self-doubt that I love about her.  

I was going to give Eliwood a mention for the poignancy of his "Mother... Father..." quote (they're all just babies, after all), then decided against it because it's so close to Leaf's "Father... Mother..." from FE4, then decided Eliwood should get a mention anyway for putting Eleanora first.  

But the most powerful thing about a Lord's uh, valedictory speech is generally the "reaction shot" from those close to them.  There's Caeda's heartbroken "No!  Don't leave me!" in FE11... or, alternately, either Jagen or Malledus imploring their prince to stand up again.  Or Titania's "Your life is just beginning!  Please open your eyes, Ike!" in FE9, or the pathetic little "Lord Leaf... you mustn't..." that a Game Over elicits from Finn in FE5.  Scenes like that at least give a sense of what these other characters have invested in the Lord character and WHY that particular mishap has resulted in Game Over, curses, and the restart button.

So, what are some of your favorites?

Comments

[raphiael]

I'm really fond of a lot of Tellius' retreat/death conversations, actually, but I think Geoffrey's stand out just because of the way all the different ones evolve throughout both games. I really like that he has moments where he pulls out his devotion to his country ("The rebirth of my homeland is almost before me, and yet... Is it possible I may not witness that glorious day? I will not die... I cannot go and leave Crimea like this... Princess!" from Path of Radiance), but also to Elincia ("Queen Elincia... I lived...as your sworn sword. And even in death, I promise you... I will protect... your honor...forever..." from Radiant Dawn's endgame, where he actually dies, unlike the rest where it's either game over or plot-armor retreat).

Also Soren, at endgame - “Ike...please live. Even if all the cities burn and the seas swallow Tellius...you mustn't die...not you...” They're both cases that really helped sell me not just on the characters and their motivations, but also the canon-blessed pairings for each of them.

But I think my favorite is Pelleas', just because in context, it's so depressing: “I should have…died then… I fear…nothing…” Ouch.

[raphiael]

Oh! I forgot - Geoffrey dying in a couple of places actually lends a really interesting side to Kieran, even:

Geoffrey: They got me... Your Majesty... Please forgive me.
Kieran: General Geoffrey! No! Open your eyes! Your orders, General! General!

Geoffrey: Men, you have to...keep fighting! Just leave me... Fight for Her Majesty!
Kieran: General Geoffrey... Get up, man! Fight! We can't go on without you!

so uh, yeah, Geoffrey. I like him :B

FE10 represent!

[amielleon]

I like the later-mentioned Part 4 Soren death quote a lot, but my favorite is definitely Heather's.

Heather: Mother... Forgive me... I...lied... I stole... And this...is my punishment...

Outside of this, Heather's image is flirtatious and totally remorseless. You get the impression that she cares for her mother, considering that she's out stealing medicine for her, but nothing like this. It does a lot for a character we don't get a lot of.

And then there is Leonardo.

Leonardo: How is it...that people are born... only to die so swiftly? ...If only I had lived a little longer...

I honestly think his death quote comprises 80% of his character.

Re: FE10 represent!

[amielleon]

hang on, I just found it, but this is amazing.

This is super-spoilery. It's from the last last chapter.

Micaiah: The goddess...was right... We didn't...stand a...chance... S... Sothe...
Ashera: It is inevitable. The start of death, as it should start. The end of life, as it should end.

[samuraiter]

"I'm sorry, General Seth..."
— Franz

The death quote I have seen most frequently. By far.

What he should have said:

"I'm sorry for making you restart the chapter. Again."

[mark_asphodel]

Word.

I have seen that quote more times than anything else in FE8.

Though death scenes for Marth in FE11 run a close second.

[queenlua]

+1 on Tana's death quote.

I also rather like Lute's: "I... I don't want to die..." Considering how uppity/haughty she is in her supports, the quote stands in rather striking contrast: she just sounds small and scared and unprepared, not at all like the peerless mage she's trying so hard to be. It especially stands out when you consider how most everyone else's quotes tend to express some regret, or a "forgive me," or whatever—but not Lute. Rather sad, I guess.