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Death

From Fire Emblem Wiki, your source on Fire Emblem information. By fans, for fans.
Revision as of 21:25, 3 April 2013 by BrandedOne (talk | contribs)
File:SueDefeated.png
Sue is killed in battle.

Permanent death is a unique aspect of gameplay in the Fire Emblem series. While other RPG games may allow the player to revive or otherwise heal fallen party members, Fire Emblem is unique that any time a unit's HP becomes zero, they can no longer fight in-game regardless external factors, and the game continues. While some characters that are either essential to the plot (such as L'Arachel and Innes in The Sacred Stones) or otherwise important to the main character (such as Marcus and Oswin in Blazing Sword) may stay alive in-game, they still can no longer be used in-battle. Playable units are not the only characters that permanent death affects; in addition, NPCs, such as Lilina of Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, and potentially recruitable enemies, such as Ilyana and Tauroneo in Path of Radiance, are affected by permanent death, and having any of these units killed prevents the player from adding them to his or her army.

While the game normally continues if a character is felled in battle, the death of any Lords will cause a Game Over instead of allowing the game to continue. In addition, the deaths of some NPCs can cause a game over, such as that of Merlinus in Blazing Sword. In a particularly unusual case, if the player manages to defeat Fargus in the chapter The Port of Badon, the player will be treated to a game over, as Fargus is the only character in-game that can help the lords continue in their quest. Character death also can impede the player's progress; killing Douglas in Fuuin no Tsurugi, for instance, does not allow the player to access an extra chapter to obtain the Aureola, and thus, prevent the player from accessing the game's true ending.

Exceptions

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon & the Blade of Light was the first game in the series to somewhat avert permanent death, and this utility was later included in the remakes Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, and Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem. Depending on the game, the player receives the Aum staff either in Chapter 24 or Chapter 19, either in a chest, or as part of Elice's inventory. The Aum Staff brings back any character in-game, with the exception of the decoy featured in Shadow Dragon. The staff, however, has limited usability amongst the healers, with only Elice having guaranteed ability to use it, though some games allow Maria, Yumina, Caeda, Minerva and Sheema to wield it, provided their class and weapon ranking are sufficient to allow for its use. In addition, the Aum Staff only has one use before it breaks.

Fire Emblem Gaiden featured the use of Lion Head statues in-game, which, along with other benefits, allowed the player can revive characters, though each statue only contains 3 uses. In addition, owing to the split paths of Alm and Celica, the player cannot combine the use of these statues.

Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War included a method similar to that of the first game; the rare Valkyrie staff allowed the player to revive any one unit felled in battle, though again, it was limited to one use before breaking; the weapon repair system, however, allows the player to repair the staff if they have 30,000 gold on hand.

Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade introduced a different way to circumvent permanent death. In Lyn's story, any characters who have their HP reduced to zero can still return in either Eliwood's or Hector's stories, albeit with reset stats. Despite this, characters will again be completely unusuable if they are at all felled in these stories, and there exists no ways to revive them.

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones featured a case similar to Blazing Sword; in the mandatory sidequest Chapter 5x: Unbroken Heart, the cavaliers Forde and Kyle can be defeated and still return three chapters later. The paladin Orson also will still appear as the boss of Chapter 16: Ruled by Madness, regardless of what happens to him in the chapter.

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn again featured a case similar to Blazing Sword and The Sacred Stones; due to the fact that the game takes place over four parts, some characters, both playable and NPC, can be defeated in combat, but still return in later chapters.

Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem itself partially removed the concept of permanent death with the new "Casual Mode"; in the mode, characters will be removed from the chapter when their HP becomes zero, but they will return as playable units in the next with no penalties. Casual Mode was later included in Fire Emblem Awakening.