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Tactician (The Blazing Blade)

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Revision as of 00:37, 10 June 2021 by Thecornerman (talk | contribs) (Changed displayed title)
Tactician

Cg fe07 01.png
Lyn introduces herself to the tactician (bottom-right).

Gender

Chosen by the player.

Race

Human

Birthday

Chosen by the player.

Starting class

"Tactician"

Appearance(s)

Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade features a customizable tactician (Japanese: 軍師 tactician) that acts as the player's persona within the game. The player can change the tactician's gender, name, birth month, and, in the Japanese version, blood type, to suit their tastes; the default settings have the tactician as a man named Mark (Japanese: マーク Mark) who was born in January. Acting as the first player-customizable character in the series, the concept of the tactician later evolved into the avatar system used in every game since Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem.

Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade

Role

Ma gba tactician other.gif

The tactician's purpose in-game is to act as a way for the player to link with the playable characters; many characters in-game will speak with the tactician prior to at least one battle, and the lords in particular speak with the tactician quite often, primarily to ask for their advice. Despite this, the tactician has no direct effect on gameplay; while the tactician does have an overworld sprite, it is not seen in actual battles, and the tactician also cannot be placed on the map, preventing it from getting into battles. Of note is that this sprite features thick yellow and green garments, and the tactician's sprite also does not change between genders.

While the tactician can be barely seen in two CG images in Lyn's tale, these shots make careful note to not show their face; in the first, only the back of the tactician's head is visible, while in the second, the tactician's face is obscured with a hood.

Biography

As the player is supposed to be the tactician, intentionally little information is given about the tactician; both Eliwood and Hector note that they know very little about the tactician despite having spent many days traveling with them, though the supposed resulting conversation is not actually seen by the player. Regardless, it can be assumed that the tactician is a well-worn wanderer; the game starts because Lyn finds the tactician unconscious in the plains of Sacae, and notes that their name sounds foreign. In addition, one year later, the tactician is found in Pherae, where they volunteer to assist Eliwood on his journey.

In the end of the game, the tactician chooses to continue their travels of Elibe; just before leaving, however, Eliwood or Hector will designate the tactician as the godparent of either Roy or Lilina. Additionally, depending on the player's ranking, different endings involving the tactician are featured in the Epilogue.

The tactician appears to have provided service for a different army prior to the game.[1]

Endings

Lyn's Tale

Mark, the Tactician
Mark leaves Lyn to continue his/her training. He plans on traveling throughout Lycia. Lyn refuses to say good-bye, believing in her heart that she will see him again.

Eliwood's and Hector's Tales

Mark - Superb Mind
A tactician whose brilliance changed the course of history. Bern and Etruria so desired this skilled mind that they went to war.

Mark - Famed Genius
The tactician vanished after the battle. Bern, Lycia, and Etruria all sought those famed skills, but none ever found the tactician.

Mark - Suspect Mind
To this day, historians look back and question how these incomprehensible strategies ever led to victory.

Tactician's bonus

Creating a tactician.

The tactician is assigned an affinity based on the month of birth they are assigned when created. This influences the tactician's bonus, where units who share the same affinity as the tactician gain small statistical boosts to their hit rate and avoid, which grow stronger as the tactician's ranking increases throughout the game; additionally, every unit also receives a boost to dodge regardless of affinity. For every star displayed in the tactician's Rank menu in preparations, units receive +1 to each calculation they qualify, for a maximum +10 boost per calculation.

The Japanese versions of the game also feature the ability to choose the tactician's blood type, which further altered their affinity. As blood types hold a considerably lesser significance in Western culture, this option was removed in localization.

Affinities are assigned to the tactician based on birth month as follows:

Tactician affinities by month

International versions Japanese version

Month Affinity
January Is gba lightaffin.png Light
February Is gba iceaffin.png Ice
March Is gba windaffin.png Wind
April Is gba thunderaffin.png Thunder
May Is gba windaffin.png Wind
June Is gba animaaffin.png Anima
July Is gba fireaffin.png Fire
August Is gba darkaffin.png Dark
September Is gba fireaffin.png Fire
October Is gba animaaffin.png Anima
November Is gba iceaffin.png Ice
December Is gba thunderaffin.png Thunder

Originally, the significance of the tactician's affinity was poorly documented and heavily debated. For a time it was popularly believed that the tactician's affinity increases growth rates by 5% for any character that shares their affinity; this was proven false by setting growths of some characters to 95, then demonstrating that even with this supposed addition, some stats would fail to increase with the onset of a level-up. It is now known that the affinity affects the tactician's bonus as documented above.

Other effects

In the Japanese version, the five "emblem items" - Emblem Blade, Emblem Lance, Emblem Axe, Emblem Bow and Emblem Seal - are instead named directly after the save file's tactician (e.g. Mark's Sword, Mark's Lance, etc). The four weapons are described as "a tactician's [weapon]" in their description in all regions, and the Emblem Seal's description also cites it as belonging to the tactician. This effect is purely cosmetic and otherwise has no impact on gameplay.

Playing without a tactician

If the player elects to start the game without a tactician by directly starting with either Eliwood's or Hector's stories, the character simply does not appear, and in many scenes, the role of the army's tactician instead falls to either Marcus or Oswin, as well as sometimes other characters. The usefulness of this, however, is questionable; in addition to not receiving Afa's Drops from Athos, the player also loses access to the tactician's bonus and the Emblem Seal will lose its effects.

Additionally, in the Japanese version, the five "emblem items" will fill the tactician's empty name space in both the weapon names and their descriptions with ♡♡.

Other appearances

Fire Emblem Awakening

While the tactician does not appear in Awakening, he or she is referenced in a conversation between Lyn and Robin upon completing the downloadable chapter Smash Brethren 3. In this conversation, Lyn is convinced that the person in front of her is the same tactician from her adventures; when she learns the character has amnesia, she asks if they have any memories of their previous adventures. If the player says no, Lyn will be disappointed, but stays with Robin to see if they will remember their time together. If the player says yes, then Lyn will be happy that she has been reunited with her master strategist.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U

The tactician appears as an alternate color scheme for Robin in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, based off of their sprite on the map screen.

Trivia

Etymology and other languages

Names, etymology, and in other regions
Language Name Definition, etymology, and notes
English

Tactician

--

French

Tacticien

Tactician

German

Taktiker

Tactician

Gallery

Prototype

Images from the Fire Emblem 0206 and 0219 prototypes.

References

  1. "Do you know anyone named Mark? You see, I once helped out a weary traveler... who just so happened to be a brilliant tactician! Cared for the soldiers... Won battle after battle with no casualties... Ah, I wonder if we'll meet again..." — Woman in a house in Chapter 24, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
  2. "Another staff member explains the origins of the Avatar character. I'm not familiar with the Wars series, but from what I can tell, the first Wars games didn't have COs (commanding officers) and they were only introduced later. After Wars added COs, the FE team decided to add FE7's Mark as a sort of "CO character". This, of course, evolved further into FE12/13/14's Avatar." — VincentASM, Want me to buy/ship you the FE merchandise from Comiket? Inquire within! (webpage), Serenesforest.net, Published: April 20th, 2015, Retrieved: April 27th, 2015
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
Playable characters AthosBartreCanasDartDorcasEliwoodErkFarinaFioraFlorinaGeitzGuyHarkenHawkeyeHeathHectorIsadoraJaffarKarelKarlaKentLegaultLouiseLowenLuciusLynMarcusMatthewMerlinusNilsNinianNinoOswinPentPriscillaRathRavenRebeccaRenaultSainSerraVaidaWallaceWil
Non-playable characters BramimondDesmondElbertEleanoraEphidelFaeFargusGuinivereHannahHausenHelleneHelmanIgorJahnJakeJanKishunaLeilaLilinaMarkMurdockNatalieReissmannRoySophiaUtherZephiel
Bosses AionBattaBaukerBernardBeyardBoiesBoolBrendanBugCameronCarjigaDamianDarinDenningDragonEaglerErikEubansFargusGeorgGlassGroznyiHeintzJasmineJermeKaimKennethKishunaLimstellaLinusLloydLundgrenMaximeMigalNergalOlegPascalPaulPuzonSealenSoniaTeodorUhaiUrsulaVaidaWireYogiZaganZoldamZugu
Background characters AenirAeshaAthosBariganBramimondDurbanElimineHanonHartmutHassarKellesMadelynRoland
Regalia and personal weapons ArmadsAureolaBasilikosDurandalEreshkigalExcaliburForblazeGespenstLuceMani KattiRapierRegal BladeRex HastaRienflecheSol KattiWolf Beil
Chapters Lyn's Tale P: A Girl from the Plains • 1: Footsteps of Fate • 2: Sword of Spirits • 3: Band of Mercenaries • 4: In Occupation's Shadow • 5: Beyond the Borders • 6: Blood of Pride • 7: Siblings Abroad • 7x: The Black Shadow • 8: Vortex of Strategy • 9: A Grim Reunion • 10: The Distant Plains
Eliwood's Tale 11: Taking Leave • 12: Birds of a Feather • 13: In Search of Truth • 13x: The Peddler Merlinus • 14: False Friends • 15: Noble Lady of Caelin • 16: Whereabouts Unknown • 16x: The Port of Badon • 17: Pirate Ship • 18: The Dread Isle • 18x: Imprisoner of Magic • 19: Dragon's Gate • 20: New Resolve • 21: Kinship's Bond • 22: Living Legend • 22x: Genesis • 23: Four-Fanged Offense (Lloyd, Linus) • 24: Unfulfilled Heart • 25: Pale Flower of Darkness (Kenneth, Jerme) • 26: Battle before Dawn • 26x: Night of Farewells • 27: Cog of Destiny • 28: Valorous Roland • 29: Sands of Time • 29x: Battle Preparations • 30: Victory or DeathF: Light (part 1part 2)
Hector's Tale 11: Another Journey • 12: Birds of a Feather • 13: In Search of Truth • 13x: The Peddler Merlinus • 14: False Friends • 15: Talons Alight • 16: Noble Lady of Caelin • 17: Whereabouts Unknown • 17x: The Port of Badon • 18: Pirate Ship • 19: The Dread Isle • 19x: Imprisoner of Magic • 19x pt 2: A Glimpse in Time • 20: Dragon's Gate • 21: New Resolve • 22: Kinship's Bond • 23: Living Legend • 23x: Genesis • 24: Four-Fanged Offense (Lloyd, Linus) • 25: Crazed Beast • 26: Unfulfilled Heart • 27: Pale Flower of Darkness (Kenneth, Jerme) • 28: Battle before Dawn • 28x: Night of Farewells • 29: Cog of Destiny • 30: The Berserker • 31: Sands of Time • 31x: Battle Preparations • 32: Victory or Death • 32x: The Value of LifeF: Light (part 1part 2)
Locations ElibeBern (Shrine of Seals) • EtruriaIliaLycia (AraphenCaelinCornwellKhatheletLausOstiaPheraeSantaruz) • Nabata Desert (Arcadia) • Sacae (Bulgar) • Valor (Dragon's Gate) • Western Isles
Groups, objects and concepts Black Fang (Four Fangs) • Fire EmblemGenerals of EtruriaMorphsQuintessenceThe Scouring
Lists ChaptersCharactersClasses (Class change) • Hidden treasureItemsScriptsSupportsWeapons
Related topics List of version differencesMario Kart: Double Dash!! bonus discName chart • Other games (The Binding Blade) • Pre-release information (Pre-release build 0206Pre-release build 0219Unused content) • Sound RoomTimeline
Game mechanics
Out-of-battle management Base (BarracksBase CampBase conversationEveryone's ConditionsExpeditionGarreg Mach Monastery (Abyss) • My CastleSomniel) • Bonus experienceDungeonsGameplay modes (DifficultyCreature CampaignNew Game +) • GoldLessonsMila ShrinesPeddlerPreparationsRenownShopping (ArmoryBargainsForgeItem shopMerchantOnline shopSecret shop) • Supply convoyWorld map
Battles and chapters ArenaBattle saveBossCastleChapter (Alternate routeParalogueSide quest) • ChestCombat forecastEvent tilesHidden treasureObjectivesReinforcementSkirmishTerrain (Hazards) • Turn (Turn rewind) • Weather (Fog of war) • Village
Stats Units ActionAffinityAuthorityBiorhythmCharmClass (Class masteryClass relative powerUnit type) • Constitution (Aid) • DefenseExperienceFollow-up critical multiplierGrowth rateHit pointHoly BloodInventoryLevelLuckMagicMovementProficiencyResistanceSkillSpeedStrengthWeapon levelWeight
Weapons Brave weaponCritical rateDurabilityHitKill bonusMightPersonal weaponsRangeWeapon experienceWeapon levelWeightWorth
Unit mechanics and commands AdjutantAttack (Counterattack) • Auto-BattleBattalion (Gambit) • CantoChain attackChain GuardClass change (Reclass) • Combat artCrestsDance (GaldrarPlaySing) • Death (Decoy) • DismountDragon VeinEmblem RingsFatigueInventoryLaguz transformationLove (JealousyInheritance) • Pair UpRallyRecruitmentRescue (Capture) • Skills (Offensive skill) • SmashStaggering BlowStatus effectsSupportTalkTradeUnit (AvatarBond unitsBonus unitEinherjarLoan unitPrisonerReplacement unitSubstitute character) • Visit
Calculations AttackAttack speedAvoidBonus damageCritical hit (Combination bonusDodgeTriangle Attack) • Hit rate (True hit) • Random number generatorWeapon triangle (Trinity of magic)
Connectivity amiiboData transferDouble DuelDownloadable contentLink ArenaMultiplayer battleOnline shopSpotPassStreetPass
Other BarrierBirthdayClass rollGlitchesMultiple endingsRankingsSound RoomTactician bonus