Why I love Marth

  So for those that know me, know that I absolutely love me some Marth, and it actually goes all the way back to(and I'm sure where most non-Japanese fans got their love for Marth) Melee, When I first saw Marth in Melee I thought "wow is this a sneak peek at a new Zelda character?" because when you unlock Marth it is on Hyrule Castle so I just assumed hey new Zelda character? spin off? It's also funny to think about that back then because I was a huge Zelda fan and Link was essentially my Marth at the time but Marth just completely dethroned Link, Marth had blue hair, which was my favorite color, a fencing style AND HE HAD A CAPE? Nah goodbye Link. From there I pretty much was in love with Marth from his design to his Japanese quotes, my father later on informed me that Marth was in fact not a Zelda character but from a series called Fire Emblem and he gave me a magazine talking about the upcoming Fire Emblem game which the West knows it as simply "Fire Emblem" but Japanese fans would know it as Fire Emblem Blazing Sword. In the magazine I got a sneak peek at Eliwood and Hector who I foolishly thought Eliwood was Roy(which I mean they do look a like) and I thought Hector was Marth LOL. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought this cause later on every Fire Emblem protagonist was just known as "Marth" and forums for new Fire Emblem games would be titled "Does this game have Marth and Roy?".

Fast Forward to February 2009, Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon was released in America and I was finally able to play a game with Marth in it as I didn't really know about the translation patches that existed for the older games till about 2012, and I think I'm the minority on this today but I absolutely loved the game but I will definitely talk about why I love Shadow Dragon in another pastebin though some parts of it will be in this one. Seeing the Origin story and Marth's "Coming of Age" was really awesome.




                       ***From here there will be slight spoilers about Shadow Dragon if you care***




If you choose the Easy/Normal difficulty of Fire Emblem Shadow Dragon you are introduced to a Prologue which shows Marth at age 13 and the tragedy that happened in his castle, His Father Cornelius had left with the Falchion to fight against Dolhr the Earth Dragon Medeus had resurrected and rebuilt the empire. Marth had stayed behind with his Mother and Older Sister Elice most of the Altean Army was gone and Gra was left to defend Altea but it turns out Gra betrayed Cornelius and decided to attack Altea, Elice gave her Tiara to Marth and told Marth to escape and sacrificed herself to buy Marth some time, Marth met up with Malledus and on their way out he runs into Cain, Cain informs him that Cornelius died in battle. Cain, Jagen, Abel and Frey join Marth's party to help him escape. continuing on with the escape Marth runs into his friend Gordin tied up and gagged by the Gra army, Marth frees him and they continue on their way out. The King of Gra; Jiol sees Marth and calls in reinforcements to have the Prince killed, Jagen decides that one of them has to become a decoy in order to save Marth and Frey offers himself as a decoy(Though in the game you can choose any of the 5, Frey is just the canon choice). Frey dresses up as Marth and leads them away and presumably dies.

They meet up with the Armored Knight Draug and he had prepared a ship for the group's escape to Talys.

Now I do have some quotes from Marth and his conversation with Jagen about him escaping to Talys, Marth isn't too happy about it, His Father is dead, His sister decides to stay behind to buy him sometime, his Mother is missing, He has the hopes and dreams of an entire continent thrown on his shoulders, the decision to leave his country pains him and How Marth feels can best be shown in this conversation:

    Jagen: Look, sire. See how Altea shrinks on the horizon...

    Marth: ..aven...

    Jagen: I beg your pardon?

    Marth: I am a craven. Powerless to save my sister, to staunch my kingdom's wounds; to ease my people's fears...

    Jagen: This...was your only recourse, sire. But surely, one day, you will be able to set things right...

    Marth: "Surely"? Why do words of such conviction smack so much of uncertainty when spoken? Not surely, Jagen. Assuredly. Gra will pay for their acts. Today, though, allow me to wallow in this pain, to feel every awful twist of it. I never want to forget.

    Jagen: Sire...

    Marth: I will return, Altea! Your prince will return to you one day!

In this conversation Marth shows that he sorta hates himself for not being strong enough to protect his Kingdom and having to leave but he also shows his resolve with his words, He will go back and He will reclaim his Kingdom not only for himself but for his people.

For 3 years Marth trained and at this point is now age 16 is thrown into action. He allies himself with what is left of Archanea, Aurelis and befriends Prince Hardin a formed a great friendship which shaped the current war. He late meets Princess Nyna who gives him the Fire Emblem, a Proof of courage with this Fire Emblem he has even more responsibility on his shoulders. The horrors of war began to take effect on Marth as he begins to hate Grust and Gra, Gra the nation that betrayed his father and had him killed, but as he meets people from both Grust and Gra, his feelings begin to change. Something I should mention about Marth is Marth is very kind hearted and likes to see the good in everyone, He also doesn't really want anyone to die. His fighting style aims for non-vitals on his opponent. Marth also has tons of charisma, him and his childhood friend Caeda created an army of people from all over Archanea. It's funny to think about it most of Marth's Army... isn't even from Altea and I thought that was really awesome. This actually gets brought up in Super Smash Bros Brawl in the Snake conversation on Shadow Moses! Continuing on as I stated before Marth's feelings begin to change and he has a conversation with Princess Nyna and she gives him some guidance.:

    Marth: Today, there was this commoner... She mentioned Grust was divided about the war. Some of its people wanted to fight with Altea, she said...Ever since I lost my father and kingdom, I've held nothing but hate in my heart for Gra and Grust...but not once did I give any thought to what must have been going on in their heads.

    Nyna: And now you find your hate for them has been lessened?

    Marth: No... the hate remains. I will never forget the pain they inflicted upon me, the rage I felt. Yet now, at least, I can tell you it's not just hate...Not anymore.

    Nyna: Not all evils are wrought of evil purposes. Perhaps this sounds naive, but...A true leader needs to look at his opponent and see more than just an enemy.

Nyna informs Marth that a leader needs to look beyond.

Marth actually takes these words to heart and learns a lesson from them which is shown in this conversation:

    Nyna: “Marth! Any word? Have you found your family? Your sister?”

    Marth: “…My sister was taken by Gharnef. She is no longer here… And my…my mother is… She is dead. Slain…by that Dolunian dragon…”

    Nyna: “….! Marth, I am truly sorry…”

    Marth: “I thought there would be something…some part of my old life I would be coming back to. I fought so hard…”

    Nyna: “You fought wonderfully, Marth.”

    Malledus: “…Sire, might I have a moment?”

    Marth: “All the moments you want, Malledus. What is it?”

    Malledus: “Your people have gathered outside the castle. They are overjoyed to be free again, sire, and would like very much to see their prince.”

    Marth: “All right, then. I’ll go at once.”

    Nyna: “Marth…perhaps you should let that wait, just until you are able to share their joy with them. We could send someone in your stead-“

    Marth: “No, that would not do. Today is a momentous day for my kingdom and my people. I must celebrate with them now, not later. Anything else would be a disservice to those who died to save Altea. I am a prince before I am a son or a brother. Come, Malledus. Let us go greet my people.”


This conversation made me fall in love with Marth as a character, He realizes that he hasn't suffered nearly as much as his people did. HE DOESN'T EVEN GIVE HIMSELF TIME TO GRIEVE, He must stand proud and confident for his people. He realizes that his job as a Prince outweighs his own feelings as a son or a brother. We can also see that even though Nyna has good intentions she doesn't really understand what it means to be a ruler, and this is shown when Camus is introduced.

Another thing I should mention again, Marth has ideals. He doesn't really want anyone to die he tries to make every general surrender, but if they don't surrender he does what needs to be done. Marth finds out that Camus and Nyna spent some time together and begs and pleads that Camus just surrenders but he doesn't so Marth unfortunately has to end his life.

Caeda a character I briefly mentioned early is Marth's childhood friend and love interest, they both have strong feelings for each other and we get to see another side of Marth through Caeda. In the end Nyna confronts Marth about Caeda and Marth's wording implies that he knows she has feelings for him, but perhaps the reconstruction of the Kingdom will leave little time for Romance, or he is aware of Nyna’s impending political marriage and his own eligibility for marriage and has resigned himself to a political marriage to Nyna for improving moral among the people. Nyna eventually persuades Marth to confess his feelings for Caeda and so he does and Marth and Caeda get married.

I should also add Marth is his own Tactician and Commander, He is the one leading his army to victory and making the plans.

Marth in FE11 is a well rounded character and I feel he hits the right spots for character development, he can be an idealist, he can be cynic and there are also a couple of scenes where he is a bit snarky(Astram conversation comes to mind, and him making fun of how FE1/FE3 told the story of Altea through him) Marth is just great. his reactions to things in the story and very real and not over the top, and really that's why he is my favorite Lord and video game character. I also just have a soft spot for "First main character in the series", but Marth just kinda exceeds that and still holds well compared to the newer protagonists.

I should also mention that Fire Emblem 1/3/12 Marth are a bit different from 11 but IS seems to use Fire Emblem 11 Marth's personality a lot so that's the one that matters the most to me!!!!

Anyways if you read all of this good lord you're crazy and I thank you from the bottom of my heart, I would love to do this in video form one day as I feel like if I don't who will.