GameFaqs is good for something.

[mark_asphodel]

So, I popped in on the SSB4 board to LOL at the silliness (Guys?  Pent will not be playable in this game.  I promise.), and somebody suggested Caeda as a playable character, and the inevitable sparring over Shiida vs Sheeda vs Caeda came up.

And then someone claimed that her name was an adaptation of the Irish name Sioda... which apparently is a genuine Irish name that is also rendered as "Sheeda."  It means "silken-haired" and there once was some hero called Sheeda MacNamara who was 'excellent with the spear.' This particular Sheeda was a guy, btw-- Sioda/Sheeda is a boy's name.

So, yes, she's faux-Irish.  But her father's still faux-Welsh, so Talys is just all pan-Celticy... which is pretty much what I thought.

No, I never did look it up before, because 'Sheeda' always struck me as a silly-ass name.  Still sounds like a genie in a bottle to me.

-x-

Someone else suggested Camus as a playable character in the new game.  That's an idea I can actually get behind.  He's got a lance.  A BIG lance.  And he's hot.  And he's in a lot of FE games.  So, yes.  Camus for SSB4!  I should make a little banner or something...

-x-

I still want a female FE rep, and I'd rather have her not use a sword, kthx.

Comments

[kyusil.livejournal.com]

I kind of have the feeling that they're going to be moving away from sword-users from FE because we're going to have plenty of new sword-users from other games. Isaac (or Matthew now, I guess) is a very likely candidate, there's that anti-hero(?) guy from the new Kid Icarus game, and maybe Ganondorf will use his sword in battle this time around?

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

I hope they move away from sword-users. Yes, it's a versatile weapon with different styles available, but Brawl had enough. Or too many.

Well, many (but not all) of those speculating are assuming Ike is in for sure, and the question is who the third FE rep will be/ought to be. IMO, Ike is not a done deal, and the second rep is what's in question. And I just hope it's not default male MyUnit with his big sword. If that's what we're going to get, I'd much rather keep Ike.

[kyusil.livejournal.com]

I think Ike and all the other Lords (at least the sword-users) are all in the same pool for consideration at this point. It also depends on how many characters per series there's going to be. The cap for Brawl was 4, but I have a feeling they'll be expanding on that, at least for series like Mario with a ton of core characters.

[samuraiter.livejournal.com]

*ponders*

This might seem random, but do you think Caeda plays a musical instrument? (Celtic music and all that.)

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

Actually, yes. I think she plays some sort of stringed instrument, though I haven't decided on precisely what (maybe the Irish harp, ha ha). I also think she sings beautifully, the same way I imagine Cellica as a breathtaking dancer.

[amielleon]

To my understanding, Caeda is the spelling of Sheeda in ... damn, what was it, Welsh? Gaelic? Probably the latter.

I would really like Micaiah in a smash game. Unfortunately I don't think her chances are that great. Among other things, the fact that she elicits distaste from a large portion of the US RD fanbase (where the game did comparatively well, I understand?) probably hurts her case.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

Do they really take the US fanbase into account that much?

I'd think the disappointing sales of RD in its home market hurt her chances more than the opinions of the Stateside fans. Certainly the worldwide sales of RD didn't erase the sting of its Japanese numbers enough to convince IS that console games were worth the effort. Which is also why I think Ike is not guaranteed a return visit to the SSB arena.

My personal guess is, FE keeps its two-rep status, and we get a remodeled FE12!Marth plus whoever the star of FE13 will be.

Gaelic. Interesting. The name always looked like some sort of Romanized Celtic to me.

[amielleon]

Celtic is an entire family of languages, of which Welsh and Gaelic are two members.

Well, the first problem is as you said: it doesn't have a lot of resonance with Japanese players. But the addition of her lack of popularity with the US market probably sealed her fate.

I think Ike might still have a chance based on a few factors: 1) the silence regarding a new Fire Emblem with a new hero, 2) the fact that (Marth aside) he's the only one who's been the hero for two games.

The closest anyone else comes to (2) is Leaf, and most US players have no idea who he is, and I don't think he's quite the darling of Japan like Marth was when Melee was made.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

Celtic is an entire family of languages, of which Welsh and Gaelic are two members.

What I meant was that the spelling looked offhand to me like some Romanized Celtic name and I'm surprised but pleased to find it's authentic to either the Brythonic or Gaelic side. I prefer the Welsh myself because I have a rather irrational affection for them.

I don't think he's quite the darling of Japan like Marth was when Melee was made.

His game tanked, so I think Leaf is out of the question. If there is an FE13 character in SSB4, I'd expect them to be a pimp promotion in the manner of Roy, and SSB4 itself might be the first we hear of them.

[amielleon]

Oh! Sorry, misinterpreted what you said. Forgive my conceit.

This is true. Leaf's game was the tankiest of all FE games... though to be fair they didn't try very hard with the distribution.

If SSB4 is seriously the first time we hear of a new FE game I'm going to be a mix of excited and irritated.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

NP. I'm not a language geek by any means, but I do like etymology and such. Plus I fell briefly in love with Welsh while attempting to write an OC modeled on John Cale.

though to be fair they didn't try very hard with the distribution.

Man, with an installbase of 17 million units, you'd almost have to try hard to fail to get sales that poor.

[amielleon]

I'm pretty sure Thracia was, aside from being the last game ever made for the SNES, mail-order only. Not exactly great visibility or accessibility right there.

I have to wonder if Nintendo basically didn't give a damn about its success.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

Mail-order only? Wow, that would explain it.

I have to wonder if Nintendo basically didn't give a damn about its success

The tendency of Nintendo to pull stuff like that does make me wonder if FE12 isn't going to be the swan-song first-party release for the DS worldwide.

[amielleon]

Whoops I lied. Apparently Thracia was the victim of the spiritual predecessor of the Wii shop... and then they released it in retail several months later, even later, and probably some time after they'd done whatever advertising they'd done.

http://www.derekmiller.us/fireemblem/part6.html

Doesn't look super-credible, but it fits in well with what else I can find.

Whatever the case, Nintendo definitely botched the pitch.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

God DAMN, that website is agony to read.

[amielleon]

No kidding.

Copy paste works well though.

[socraticwaffles.livejournal.com]

I know it's completely unrealistic, but I would LOVE to be able to use Eirika and Ephraim like some sort of Ice Climbers duo. >_>

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

Kender, you just made every piece of disturbing SSB Ice Climbers meta that I've ever read rise up and vomit onto my shoes.

[socraticwaffles.livejournal.com]

Uh...I don't know what meta is but that sounds horrific so...I'm sorry? Just forget I said anything I guess.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

Hahah. No, don't worry about it.

SSB fandom had a lot of perverse theories about Nana and Popo. Fire Emblem fandom has some (deservedly) perverse theories about Ephraim and Eirika. Combine the two, and it's "hide under the bed, I'm scared" time.

[socraticwaffles.livejournal.com]

Oh. Well. I never thought of that, but it seems you're right!

/Definitely hides.

[samuraiter.livejournal.com]

(One of a number of reasons why I put a healthy distance between Smash fandom and myself despite the presence of Samus.)

[sailorvfan10.livejournal.com]

And now I am picturing Ephraim and Eirika in matching parkas.

LOL.

[sarajayechan.livejournal.com]

...you just made me crave fanart of Ephraim and Eirika dressed as Sokka and Katara from ATLA. XD With Lyon as Aang...no, Lyon as Zuko and Saleh as Aang and

oh crap it's a plotbunny

[sailorvfan10.livejournal.com]

QUICK DO WE KILL IT OR CATCH IT

[rethira.livejournal.com]

Personally I don't see FE getting any really big representation in SSB4. I mean, it's just not up there with the huge contenders - I can see Nintendo diversifying into other franchises completely again, and I think there's probably a lot of people who are demanding more Sonics and Snakes. That is, characters who aren't owned by Nintendo, or primarly on Nintendo consoles. FE just doesn't have a large enough fanbase, and after the sales of SD I'm pretty sure they're just going to stick with the tried and tested two FE characters; Marth and probably another male sword user because that's what everyone is used to.

Although if they say 'screw it, we're putting in Camus' I will not be complaining.

[mark-asphodel.livejournal.com]

Actually, Ike's ticket back to the arena might be in that he was the publicly featured FE rep instead of the unlockable one. Though Marth's presence wasn't much of a secret, given he was in the trailer.

So maybe it'll just be the Brawl twosome again.

[sailorvfan10.livejournal.com]

I have a feeling we might just get Marth and Ike again. If we do, I hope they're not nerfed to hell and back.

[sailorvfan10.livejournal.com]

Considering that there are quite a few characters with opposite gendered names (Dorcas, Ninian, just to name a few), the fact that Sheeda is actually a boy's name doesn't surprise me. But it's nice to know that IS wasn't just shoving syllables together. But that's also interesting because now all the Celtic meta and everything suddenly makes sense.

It doesn't surprise me that she might be based off of a Celtic hero, either, given that IS loves their mythological references.

But yeah, Sheeda is kind of a silly name. I prefer Caeda (which I still have no real idea of how it's pronounced, but I like to think it's similar to 'Sheeda'). It sounds princessy, and refined.

(Fun fact: Though there are a few people who scream with rage because Marth is a corruption of 'Mars', it's actually the name of a place in Germany. I stumbled on this accidentally one day and I thought it was amusing.)

Still sounds like a genie in a bottle to me.
I didn't know whether I should've thought of "I Dream of Jeanie" or Christina Aguilera's "Genie in a Bottle" when I read that. I think it depends on which mental image is less frightening. (And now I am imagining Caeda singing "Genie in a Bottle" to Marth with hilarious results.)

He's got a lance. A BIG lance. And he's hot.
So in Smash Brothers fandom, if Camus were to be in SSB4, there would be lance metaphors everywhere and he'd probably be paired with Marth, Ike, Ganondorf, Mario, Metaknight, and a whole bunch of other guys. That's all you need to have slash in Smash Brothers fandom, really. (I've seen Marth/Metaknight before, and I thought they were trolling. It was actually serious. My brain still can't comprehend the ship, but hey, whatever.)

I wouldn't mind Camus in SSB4.

The only thing they need to do with Marth is make him not look like a girl. I remember when the Smash Dojo released Marth's info on the site, I took one look at him and went, "Oh dear, they dressed up Elice like Marth for this, didn't they?" Because, while Marth has lovely arms in Brawl, he looks like he's wearing a bra and he's just overtly effeminate and I was all, "And I thought Marth was a girl in Melee, he looks like Hulk Hogan in comparison." So I'm hoping they either go with FE11 or FE12's design for Marth. At least he won't look like a woman. Seriously.

(Then again I also thought Link looked kinda girly in Brawl too. Hmm...)

I wouldn't mind a magic using female, because at least it'd be different. I would just be worried that they'd make her a clone of Zelda. If I wanted Zelda, I'd play as her. I want someone with a different moveset.

(I just imagined the fanfiction for Smash Brothers fandom if fem!MyUnit was shoved into SSB4 and I LOL'd.)

You make the banners for Camus, and I'll focus on the buttons and the bumper stickers, and maybe someone else can make t-shirts...