Beloved One: Why I Love Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War (Part 1)

NOTE: This article essay will contain spoilers for the video game Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War. If you are planning to play this game in the future then I HIGHLY recommend going in blind.

Also, for you weirdo cornball hardcore Genealogy of the Holy War fans: For the most part, I’ll be using the modern fan translation names for characters, items, and locations. For in-game quotes, however, I will be using the Reparation 0.78d translation patch script from Serenes Forest. Why? Well because I’m old enough to remember when that patch first came into the community. I’m also old enough to have some fun with both your young aunt and mom while they’re dressed up as Deidre and Tailtiu while I’m recording everything and I got some Marvin Gaye music playing in the background so don’t try me. Plus, I don’t feel like replaying the Project Naga patch for quotes.

Anyway, let’s get to it!

A few months ago, I was watching Projared’s retrospective on Final Fantasy VI. In the introduction, he mentioned that most gamers have that one special game that had made the biggest impact on their life. It is that one single game that shaped us into becoming the person we are today.

A game that we will never forget.

For me, that game is Intelligent System’s Fire Emblem 4: Genealogy of the Holy War, released on May 14^th, 1996 for the Super Famicom (the Super Nintendo in the West). Genealogy of the Holy War or FE4 for short is a strategy role-playing game, serving as the fourth installment of the famed Fire Emblem series that is often hated on by ~~pedophiles~~ Super Smash Bros. fans. Directed, designed, and written by series creator Shouzou Kaga and produced by the late Gunpei Yokoi, the game take place on the continent of Jugdral (which is based on some Norse myths of something, idunno I’m not that much of a nerd).

Jugdral is divided into eight countries. They are The Kingdom of Grannvale, The Kingdom of Verdane, The Kingdom of Agustra, the Munster District, The Kingdom of Thracia, The Republic of Miletos, the Kingdom of Silesse, and the Kingdom of Issach.

Mentioned in Kaga’s designer notes, Judgral exists in the same world as Archanea; the continent in which the events of Fire Emblem: Dark Dragon and Sword of Light (FE1, i.e. the irrelevant Marth’s game)take place. Historically, FE4’s events predate FE1’s by thousands of years.

In the Grann Year 757, barbaric warriors from Issach raise an army to attack the city of Darna: southwest of the Aed Desert. Upon hearing the news, Prince Kurth of Grannvale and his confidant Lord Byran of Chaply set out to investigate.

Taking advantage of the brewing conflict, Verdane builds an army to invade Grannvale. Leading the invasion (on orders of his otherwise pacifist father, King Batu) is Prince Gandolf (and no, not the Gandolf portrayed by legendary fruit booty actor Sir Ian Mckellen, mind you). Gandolf successfully captures Junby Castle; slaughtering most of its knights and civilians. Following that, he proceeds to kidnap Junby’s princess, Aideen to take her as his bride.

Hearing news of his childhood friend’s kidnapping, the main character Sigurd; scion of Chaply and son of Lord Byron, vows to deliver justice to Verdane. Joining up with Sigurd are his loyal knights: Noish; a proper and diligent man, Alec; a playful flirty guy, and Arden; the slow one.

This is Sigurd. He almost got the world destroyed because he nutted in and married an one-night stand.

FE4 starts simple. Aideen’s kidnapping can be akin to her fellow yet mainstream Nintendo princess contemporaries Zelda or Peach’s kidnapping in their games and it’s up to the hero to save her.

But that’s where the comparison ends in terms of princesses getting kidnapped and such.

Aideen’s kidnapping and the invasions were two smaller steps of a much larger and insidious plan for one cult – the Lopty Cult – to not only rule the world, but plunge it back into the darkness it once suffered under centuries prior.

It doesn’t just end there.

While the invasions were orchestrated by the Lopty Cult, it must be mentioned that the cult had “help” from an ambitious leader who desired to end bigotry and discrimination by any means. Even if those means include pretending to be an ally for multiple leaders only to set them up for death – and personally murdering Sigurd himself so he can rule Granvelle alone as emperor.

Not so simple, huh?

If you’re like me, you didn’t expect things in FE4 to play out the way they did. Neither you nor I could have predicted that something as innocent as Sigurd marrying Deidre would lead the world to near ruin. Furthermore, Sigurd would face his own personal tragedies in his short life.

Tragedies such as:

Branded as a traitor by his beloved motherland after being framed for the assassination of Prince Kurth.
Forced into fighting his best friend Elidgan to the death.
Hearing news that his little sister Ethlyn and brother-in-law Quan were murdered in an ambush by King Travant of Thracia.

And that’s not even the tip of the iceberg of FE4’s story and how dark it can get.

Genealogy of the Holy War is the darkest entry of the series (don’t listen to those Scared Stones fanboys who claim that game is the darkest; they don’t know what they’re talking about all they know is how to indulge in their necrophilia kink through Orson). The story features controversial themes and topics such as incest, rape, abuse, and children sacrifice.

It’s not a tale of happiness, glory, and triumph.

Even when our heroes are ultimately victorious, the continent of Grannvale has been torn apart by war. Royal families have been split apart due to petty differences or lust for power. The children of these once-grand and proud families are forced to repair their bloodline’s reputation. Smaller nations are either engaged in civil wars or have been completely abandoned by the empire; left at the mercy of savage bandits and thieves.

To quote a gentleman from The Godfather of Harlem: “I’ve learned one thing about war, Bump. Nobody really wins.”

***

Shouzou Kaga paints war not in black and white, but with spots of gray. While of course there are enemies that the player must defeat leading up to the ultimate big evil, Kaga likes to portray these enemies as heroes in their own right. This shines clearly with certain villains.

Examples:

Ruthless King Travant of Thracia is viewed by Grannvale as a despicable man who, through the eyes of others, thoroughly disrespects the code of knighthood. He, along with his famed Dragon Knights, is often compared to hyenas: willing to slaughter anyone for cash.

In Chapter 5 of FE4, Travant uses Quan’s 3-year-old daughter, Altena, as a human shield during an ambush attack by Thracia against Quan’s troops. Travant threaten to murder Altena if Quan didn’t surrender his holy lance, the Gae Bulg to him. After killing Quan and his wife Ethlyn, Travant raises Altena as his own daughter: not out of love or guilt, but to use her as a weapon against her own people and surviving family members in the future.

However, if one were to dig deep into Thracia’s situation, one will come to understand Travant’s actions.

Travant’s kingdom, South Thracia, is surrounded by steep mountain ranges that can barely provide resources for its people. For years, Travant requested aid from North Thracia (as North Thracia’s soil and land are heavily enriched with minerals) only to be shot down by Quan and his family. Therefore, South Thracia suffers from systematic poverty.

To combat poverty, men take up mercenary and farming jobs. Women take whatever job they can to provide for their family (they’re selling that poverty monkey on the “Me love you long time” side of the game).

South Thracia’s situation is beyond dire.

While outsiders of South Thracia see Travant as a cutthroat man, his people view him as the liberator who’ll deliver them from poverty. Travant is a patriot who is fed up with his people’s suffering.

In-game map of Thracia from Fire Emblem 4: Genealogy of the Holy War

Next, Arvis – the ambitious leader who spearheaded most of the game’s events. Arvis’s a tragic man who, as Seliph (son of Sigurd) puts it, “a victim swept by fate”.

At the age of seven, Arvis witnessed his father, Victor, committing suicide. His mother, Cigyun, ran off with another man (Prince Kurth) due to Victor’s womanizing actions (he even raped Cigyun’s favorite maid; impregnating her with Arvis’s half-brother, Azel). From these events, Arvis was forced to ascend the throne at an early age.

Through Cigyun, Arvis is the descendant of Maera: a holy man who had the moral courage to fight against his oppressive kin: The Loptrian Empire. Maera was a good man; however, he had the blood of the demonic god Loptous coursing through his veins.

Arvis: A man whose only crime was to free people (and the crime of raw-doggin’ his half-sister Deidre and making her spawn a demon child nine months later)

Now, for those unaware of FE4’s lore (why are you even here?), you may be wondering who’s Loptous and the Loptrian are. Well, let’s go back to how Judgrall is connected to Archena.

Avris (and Maera)’s ancestor, Galle I, was a simple bishop who traveled the world in search of the legendary Earth Dragon tribe. Landing in Archena, Galle would encounter the Earth Dragon, Loptous. In exchange for raw power, Galle would offer his body and soul as a vessel for Loptous.

Later, Galle returned to Judgral; using his new powers to organize a mass army to effortlessly conquer the continent. Galle and his decedents would ruthlessly rule Judgral for two centuries. The Loptrain Empire fell when Galle’s decedent, Galle the Seventeenth was killed by the Twelve Crusaders (ancestors of some of the major heroes and villains of FE4), with the help of Maera: Galle’s younger brother.

Before his death, Maera moved to the Spirit Forest: a secluded forest hidden from the outside world to protect his descendants from harm. He’d issue both a warning and an order to his descendants. The order and warning: they are only allowed to produce one child per generation.

Why?

If a generation produced multiple children, it’s possible for the off-springs to engage in incestuous relationships to produce a child with major Lotpous Blood – therefore reviving the dark god himself and returning the world back into the darkness it was once saved from.

Guess who has Lotpous blood in his veins?
Yep. Arvis.

If that information were to be leaked, Arvis would be executed regardless if he worshiped Loptous or not. Manfroy, the current leader of the Lotpous Cult, knows this. Therefore, he seeks to take advantage of Arvis’ cursed bloodline and vision of anti-bigotry by blackmailing Arvis; forcing the duke to comply with Manfroy’s wishes (allowing the Lopty Church to operate in the open once Arvis ascends the Grannvale throne among other things).

Everything mentioned up to this point is the reason why Arvis wants to be the champion of all those who’re facing oppression just for who they are. He doesn’t want other people to live in fear because of their ethnic background like him. He wants to end bigotry by any means necessary – something that would eventually become corrupted thanks to Manfroy.

And since we’re on him, let’s talk about the man himself: Manfroy.

Note that Manfroy and the Lopty Sect’s actions are heinous and inexcusable. No amount of unjust suffering and oppression have been done unto them because of their ancestor’s actions gives them pardon for continuing the pattern of death and destruction.

Manfroy. He kinda had the right idea with liberating his people, but…

That said, we must understand the reasoning behind the Lopty Sect’s actions. Let’s refer to a scene in Chapter 7 of the game: Crossing The Desert.

Upon capturing the Lopty operated Aed Shrine, Seliph, and his advisor Lewyn, examine a temple underneath the shrine. As they walk around the ruins, Lewyn tells Seliph of how descendants of the Lopty Empire were forced to live within the depths of the Aed Desert after the defeat of Galle the 17th and the fall of the empire; as they feared execution due to their bloodline. He expresses doubts that they differed much from himself and Seliph in terms of life, but over time, the descendants succumbed to the darkness and evil within their hearts.

Seliph replies that it’s like the decedents are being punished for their forefather’s sins. Following, he discovers a prayer for the revival of Lopotusu written on the walls. He’s stunned that the prayer was written by a child.

Levin finishes the conversation by stating, quote,: “You have to be careful when placing labels on good and evil, Seliph. Never waste your anger on individuals. Always focus it on the evil within all of us.”

Personally, Levin’s statement and Seliph’s shock hits hard here. Imagine being oppressed for generations just because of your background. Often told that you deserve to be punished simply because of those who fear what you are capable of due to your genetics. Your oppressors strip you of resources to ensure your people won’t survive. Hopeless, you turn into the darkness within your heart. Maybe if you had a little bit of power, you could get back at your oppressors by any means – even if those means include doing unthinkable things to them and their children.

(You know, maybe Manfory and the Lotpy Church had the right idea with their methods).

***

Prior to me playing FE4, the villains in the games I played (excluding Final Fantasy VI) were your simply plain and honestly, cartoonish bad guys. Evil guys doing evil things simply because they were evil. Nothing else. Nothing more. The games never drove into why they chose the route of evil and darkness; they just told you that they were the baddies and that you had to defeat them. However, the thing that I love about Genealogy of the Holy War is that Kaga designed and wrote the villains in a way that makes you understand why they were “evil”.

Villains like Manfroy, Travant, and Arvis presented their reasons behind their cruel actions with depth. Reasons that some players could relate to. You might have lived in an area that was stricken by poverty. You saw how people struggled to put something on the table for their families. You know first hand the despair that comes with poverty. You could click with Arvis and Manfroy because you’ve faced systematic oppression just because of your race. If given the power and opportunity, you would do what Manfroy and his crew did to liberate your people and do unimaginable harm to your oppressors just so you can make them suffer like they made you suffer (again, maybe Manfroy and his people were in the right).

Today in gaming, it’s common to have well-written villains with depth beyond them being evil for the sake of evil. It’s almost a requirement in gaming nowadays. However, (to my knowledge), back when FE4 first came out, villains with the depth of the FE4 bad guys weren’t common in gaming. I’m not saying that it was a huge groundbreaking game-changer for the video game industry, but still, it was something different.

Overall, that’s one thing that I love about FE4. However, what other things about the game that I love about it to the point that I’m always talking about it? Find out in part two!

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By Yuki The Snowman Posted on October 27, 2021

Fire Emblem 0

How to Bring Content to the Fire Emblem Fan Creation Community Table

If you’re involved with the Fire Emblem fan community in any fashion, then you may be aware of the recent controversy that has plagued the community for a week dealing with a major Fire Emblem streamer accused of allegedly grooming minors and sexually assault a woman at an anime convention.

As such, there has been various blog/social media posts and YouTube video on the controversy from members of the F.E. community: ranging from fans within community expressing their concerns of the incident, revealing their own ill encounters with the accused, and calls to improve the community to make fans feel safe. In fact, there has been a lot of posts and videos of people talking about wanting to improve the community and welcoming new content creators into the fandom.

That is all fine and dandy. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to see your (fnadom) community better itself after such an event. However, (and this is no disrespect towards anyone who have spoken on the subject) I have yet to find anyone talking about how to use the controversy for the better of the community content creation wise. There’s talk about welcoming in new faces to this scene, but there’s nothing about how to go about it (in terms of networking with other Fire Emblem content creators, putting your work out in the community, promotion your work, etc.)

It’s not to say there not out there, but I feel that as someone who has been in this community for 15 years, and as someone who has been on this Earth for 30 years and seen his share of controversy in many nerd communities, I want to use my information and knowledge to inspire those who may want to create their own Fire Emblem content as well as be a service for the community (or for any other fan community for that matter).

So, here are my ways that you can use to make yourself known as a Fire Emblem content creator.

FULFIL/FIND A CREATIVE NICHE WITHIN THE FANDOM

Before entering the Fire Emblem’s creative community, ask yourself this question: “What do I do and bring to the table that is both unique and beneficial to this fandom that will make people want to pay attention and support me and my content?”

Do you have an (actually funny and not tryhard edgelord) dark sense of humor will make people laugh at a disturbing situation in a Fire Emblem game that they normally wouldn’t laugh at while other Fire Emblem content creators tip-toe around it? Can you use your bright, yet laid back personality to attract new viewers with no knowledge of who you are? Can you offer a service such as Fire Emblem fanart for another content creator for their YouTube channel, podcast, etc.?

How can you use your knowledge of one unrelated subject matter that nobody would have thought of to create content and make it not only interesting, but in relation to a Fire Emblem subject? Can you fulfill a niche that has yet to been targeted?

Example: Let’s say you’re into and have a passion for etymology, or the study of word origins and history. Combine that passion with Fire Emblem and create a Fire Emblem YouTube channel solely dedicated to breaking down the name origins of Fire Emblem characters, nations, weaponry, and so forth.

If you know that Sothis’s name originates from the Greek translation of the ancient Egyptian/Kemet goddess of fertility named Sopdet, then you can create a YouTube video breaking down Sothis’s name and who was Sopdet in ancient Egyptian/Kemet mythology. You can do the same for any Fire Emblem character and game that you please. And who knows? Your knowledge on etymology – a subject seemly different from Fire Emblem – could inspire a young Fire Emblem fan to get into etymology.

For my fellow musically gifted/inclined Fire Emblem fans: you can take the beaten path of covering songs from the series on your instrument of choice for people to listen. Everyone loves musical covers (for the most part). However, if you’re truly talented, you could go one step further and create a remix or new arrangement of a classic Fire Emblem song.

A classically trained jazz musician could take Divine Dragon from Mystery of the Emblem and turn into a Miles Davis inspired jazz track and post it on the fan-ran video game music arrangement website OC ReMiX. Someone versed in sampling songs could easily take a song like As Fierce as Fire from Three Houses and make it into a bass heavy trap beat. Take something already established and make it new again.

Finally, we’ve come to what is perhaps one of the largest creative circles in the Fire Emblem community: the fan visual artists. The fan visual artists have it best when it comes to creative scene of this fandom, thanks to how many artists there are in the community. People are willing to pay artists to bring their wild Fire Emblem fan-art fantasies to life.

Wild fantasies such as fanart of Edelgard as a cheating alcoholic housewife regretting her marriage to Byleth because Byleth has a cocaine addiction. We would love to see someone create a fan comic of Anna laundering drug money and running a prostitution ring with Tiki and Ceada. Someone out there in this great, big, wide world wants fan animation of Flayn having a nice, fun little visit to the abortion clinic because Flayn almost ruined her life by wanting to do more than just hug Ferdinand.

If you can use your artistic talents to bring those ideas to life, people will love you for it.

(And by “we”, “someone”, and “people”, I mean me, of course.)

alcoholic_housewife_edelgard_von_whatsherface — Alcoholic cheating housewife Edelgard. Image source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLnHpJ4LQVY

If you can fulfill a niche within this community and put yourself out there, eventually, people will come to you. Look at what the community lacks in terms of (original) content, take advantage of that lack of, and build upon it. However, the only way to achieve this is through networking with other F.E. fans and promoting yourself online.

NETWORK

Look, the internet isn’t just for you sick nerds out there that enjoy downloading a ludicrous amount of L’arachel hentai because you have a thing for holy women doing unholy things and/or having unholy things done to them. Social media isn’t just a place where you can troll all day because you think trolling others to make them feel bad about themselves will cure your crippling depression (it won’t).

Use the internet and social media to your advantage by networking with fellow Fire Emblem fans and content creators. Follow a couple of artists online and talk to them. Share and comment on their art. Chat it up with fans on Fire Emblem Facebook groups or message boards. If you’re into the cosplaying and traveling to conventions, share Fire Emblem meetup cosplay events at major conventions as a way to find people who also love to dress up as fictional characters to escape your lowly reality.

marianne_fire_emblem_heroine_addict — An average discussion in the Fire Emblem community.

Commutate! There’s no other way to find fellow Fire Emblem fans to talk to, learn game and information from, and share you creation with other than commination. Plus, if you want people to support and share your works, you got to let them know who you are. If they see you putting in work – solid work, mind you – into the F.E. community while building your brand up, then the people will grow to trust you.

Another benefit of networking with fellow F.E. fans is collaborations. As you build your brand and continue to network with others, fellow content creators will take notice. If they enjoy your content and work, they might offer to do a collab with you for their channel, podcast, or art project.

By collaborating with other F.E. content creators, you’ll create a new network of creative types whom you can bounce ideas off of, exchange news relating to the series, and capture their audience and fanbase; adding them to your own.

Never neglect the advantage of networking and commutation. They’ll always be key in doing business, forging bonds, and personal growth. Nobody will do watch and support a content creator who is unknown, which leads to my final point:

PROMOTE YOUR WORK!

You must promote yourself and your work in order to gain followers, fans, and traction. If you believe that your works should be viewed by others, then put it out there.

So, how do you promote?

It’s simple. You go wherever Fire Emblem fans hang out: may it be on Serenes Forest, GameFAQ, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, whatever. Post your works there, ask for feedback, subs if they like your work, and engagements. When somebody comment on your video, fanart, Podcast, or whatever, reply back to them.

Thank them for viewing your work and listening to your content. Keep it at and eventually people will promote and share your works for you on their page, groups, etc; organically growing your brand through word of mouth.

In order to gain what you want from this community, you must spread your name, content, brand, and products. Spread ‘em like how Manuela used to spread her legs on the casting couch for creepy, shady, corrupt stage producers for Opera roles in her prime.

Now, there is one thing you must know when you’re promoting yourself: Not everyone will rock with you and your brand. There will be those who will be turned off by what you’re offering, saying, or producing.

Let’s take me for example. I know I just lost readers and listeners with my low-brow comments on Manuela being a ho-for-a-role nature (even through it’s the truth why you think she sleep around with young men so easily and often). If Manuela is their favorite and they lack a sense of humor, or they take virtual world people seriously because nobody in the real world take them seriously, they’ve already left the blog or my channel. They’re not fans of low-brow humor and commentary.

And that’s alright because there’s going to be people who appreciate someone who can approach Fire Emblem characters with low brow commentary. You have to be like that with you works and say to yourself “I know there will always be those who will never rock with me or my style. That’s cool: there are countless others who will regardless.”

Focus on netting those who you know will like your style of showing love to Fire Emblem (or anything else you do in life). Don’t waste your time on those who will never get with you.

The Fire Emblem community needs more people to create content around this wonderful and amazing series. We need more folks to show their love and respect to Fire Emblem by the way of the arts, dialogue, romhacks, whatever! Hell, myself included, as I’m planning to create Fire Emblem content on my YouTube channel in the near future. I hope this video/blog post inspired you to do the same if you’re a fan.

Until next time, take care

-Yuki

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Check out our first impressions on Fire Emblem: Three Houses here.