Please Intelligent Systems, add Lute to Fire Emblem Heroes!
My good friend (and fellow Fire Emblem fanatic) Todd Black recently published a list of characters he wants to see added to Fire Emblem Heroes, and I couldn’t agree more. Across the 14 mainline Fire Emblem games, Nintendo has only scratched the surface when it comes to playable characters for Heroes. The game doesn’t have any fighters from Sacred Stones or Path of Radiance and Intelligent Systems relegated Blazing Sword to second tier status by adding only a handful of the cast. But fear not, Nintendo has promised to add more popular characters in the weeks and months ahead. If they added any of these characters, I’d have no choice but to invest in some orbs and get back to summoning!
1. Crown Prince Xander of Nohr
So, let me get this straight. Ryoma is playable. Hinoka too. Takumi is the best unit in the game and Sakura is here as well. Leo and Elise? Check and check. Camilla is a featured summon and a dominant fighter. But Xander? The heir to the greatest kingdom in the world and the best big brother a little prince could ask for? He’s not playable… and he’s a secondary antagonist in the story! This outrage must be amended. Xander, the best character in Fire Emblem Fates, has been left out of Fire Emblem Heroes. As a fan of Conquest and Nohr, this really ruffles my feathers. Xander needs to ride into the summoning pool and claim the glory that he deserves.
2. Eirika and Ephraim
Yes, yes. They’re already confirmed. But I still can’t wait to get my hands on them! Eirika certainly isn’t my favorite Lord, but she rocks one of the coolest outfits in Fire Emblem. Ephraim however… now there’s a character I love. He was Ike before there was an Ike. Because these two popular characters have already been confirmed, I’ll put an idea out there. At the end of Sacred Stones, our leading Twins of Renais receive the sacred weapons Siegmund and Sieglinde. Their five star iterations will obviously use those, but they also get personal weapons before those that would be great 4-star weapons! Ephraim’s lance Reginleif and Eirika’s Rapier both do bonus damage to cavalry and knights. Giving them these weapons as 4-star units could make them capable of holding their own against stronger 5-star characters!
3. Lute
I love Lute because, simply put, she is a prodigy. Superior to every other character in Sacred Stones (save for maybe Princess L’Arachel of Rausten), Lute would surely rise to the top of the Fire Emblem Heroes tier list. Her incredible arrogance and socially awkward charm make her one of my all-time favorite Fire Emblem characters. I would love to see her given her Sage class rather than the standard Mage that every other magic user has been stuck in so far. Allowing her to heal others and deal out devastating magic attacks seems like an advantage this truly legendary hero deserves to have. And hey! She ranked 13th in the Choose Your Legends event! I’d say that warrants a spot in the game sooner rather than later.
4. Prince Lyon
Todd mentioned this character in his Villans list, but I feel Lyon deserves to be singled out. While recent Fire Emblem games have not been known for their amazing narratives, Sacred Stones proves that every game in the series deserves a great plot. Lyon, the childhood best friend of Eirika and Ephraim, serves as the game’s antagonist as well as my favorite villain of all-time. He’s so relatable. A kind-hearted and peace loving soul, held back by self-doubt and suppressed desires. Lyon loves Eirika, but never musters the courage to tell her how he feels. He admires Ephraim and views him as a rival, but he never truly considered himself the Prince of Renais’s equal. Ultimately, these internal struggles cause Lyon to succumb to the might of the Demon-King and serve as his vessel. I encourage every new Fire Emblem fan to download Sacred Stones on their Wii U to enjoy this character and his story. His duel with Ephraim at the end of the game is one of my all-time favorite gaming moments.
5. Sain, The Green Knight of Lycia
One last GBA character, and it’s one that really should be in the game already. Sain and Kent, two knights of Lycia and Lyn’s protectors, were the first signature Green and Red knights that North American audiences were introduced to. The “Cain and Abel” archetype has been around since the original game (and Cain and Abel are both in Fire Emblem Heroes already), but these two have a place in the hearts of many Fire Emblem fans. I’ve always love the goofy, creative side characters in Fire Emblem and Sain’s skirt chasing self stands out as one of the best. He is a powerful cavalier, quick with a smile and a joke, and has some of the best support conversations in Blazing Sword. I’d love to see both Sain and Kent added to Heroes, but if I had to choose one, it’s Sain.
6. Ylisse’s Pegapony Princess, Cynthia
I feel that Cynthia is one of the most underrated characters in all of Fire Emblem. She and Nowi were the two characters that really got me hooked on the series because of their hilarious dialogue. Cynthia, daughter of Sumia, wants to be a hero more than anything in the world. Unfortunately, she’s inherited her mother’s clumsiness and fails more often than not. But her character interactions still are my favorite in any videogame ever. Her support with Severa is gut-bustingly funny, but she’s also capable of deep sadness. Her support with Lucina, with Chrom as the father, struck such a chord with me. Seeing such a serious and emotional side to her made her one of the most tragic and heroic characters in the game. After all the crap she went through, seeing her mother die and her world destroyed, Cynthia still fights with a smile on her face. She fights to help others and bring them joy. I love Cynthia, and I need her on my Fire Emblem Heroes team.
7. Daein’s Best Wyvern Lord, Jill Fizzart
My love for Jill runs deep. Aside from Ike and maybe Soren, she is my favorite character in the Tellius series. Jill has her own sidestory that plays out within the main narrative, something I hope to see more Fire Emblem games do in the future. When we first meet her, she is an enemy unit out to kill the shape shifting laguz she grew up hating. Jill never questioned what she was being taught her whole life; Laguz were sub-humans that needed to be destroyed. She joins Ike’s army, even though he protests and demands she stop calling laguz sub-humans, and beings a deep personal journey. She fights alongside the laguz and learns to respect them, slowly but surely. Her support conversations show her slowly recognizing that everything she learned was a lie. Ultimately, she fights along side Ike against her own father, a good man who put his duty above his morals, and sees him killed. Still, she continues to grow. When we see her again in Radiant Dawn, she is a fully grown woman who carries herself with dignity and class.
Oh, and she’s an axe user and Fire Emblem Heroes could certainly use more strong green units.
Well, there’s my wish list! As a Fire Emblem fan, I could not be more pleased with how Fire Emblem Heroes turned out. To keep growing the franchise, Intelligent Systems would be wise to continue to pump out content for this phenomenal mobile experience. But that’s just one person’s opinion. I’d love to hear your thoughts on all things Fire Emblem Heroes, so let me know which characters you’d like to see in the comments below. Thanks for reading, and fight on Heroes!
