We all know the way it works. You play through a level in a videogame, encounter an unexpectedly hard section, and your main character plummets into a bottomless pit ... or is singed by a giant dragon ... or is blown up by a nearby oil drum. Whatever the morbid descriptor, your character dies.
As unfortunate as this is, it doesn’t really matter in the long run. If you have another life, you can just try the level all over again. And in more recent games, you don’t even have to have another life -- you can just return to a close checkpoint and tackle the foreboding obstacles one more time!
This unrealistic take on life and death is nothing more than a videogame fantasy, but one that allows the player to fully enjoy the game and learn from their mistakes.
But one game changed this traditional depiction of videogame death forever. Fire Emblem on the Game Boy Advance (and originally as a Japan-only release on the NES!) didn’t offer players such a generous option when a character died. In fact, its main gameplay twist was downright tragic.
The Set-Up
It took a long time, but the Fire Emblem series finally made it to North American store shelves on the Game Boy Advance in 2003, more than ten years (and six iterations!) after the original game hit the original NES in Japan in 1990.
But the wait was worth it.
As someone who was a little overwhelmed by grid-based strategy games, I shied away from playing Fire Emblem when it was released on the Game Boy Advance. But once I did it completely changed my life. I feel instantly in love, still ranking the series as one of my favorite of all time.
At the start of the game, you play as Lyn, one of three main characters that appears in Fire Emblem.
Lyn is a brave, green-haired girl that lives on the Sacaen Plains with her tribe, the Lorca. Right before the beginning of the game, Lyn’s parents are murdered, along with the entire rest of her tribe.
Devastated and alone, Lyn finds an injured tactician lying on the ground near her home. Wanting to avenge the death of her entire family, Lyn accompanies the tactician to train her sword skills and learn more about who killed her tribe.
This is the very start of Fire Emblem and opens the game’s first chapter.
For anyone unfamiliar with the series, Fire Emblem is a turn-based tactical role-playing game with gameplay taking place entirely on a grid (just like Final Fantasy Tactics, Advance Wars, or other games of similar type).
After moving all your characters along this grid, the enemy takes a similar turn, moving all of its characters.
This back and forth continues until one side accomplishes its goal. Either you complete the mission at hand, or the enemy prevents you from finishing this goal, usually by killing everyone in your party.
Over the course of many incredible chapters, Fire Emblem follows Lyn as she meets dozens of different characters, each one playable and possessing skills completely unique to him or her.
For example, archers are weaker than warriors, but can attack from farther away on the grid (as opposed to on the space directly next to your enemy). Magic-users possess a similar long-range skill.
While simple enough to be appealing to non-tactical role-playing fans (like I used to be!), once the game opens up it becomes a refreshingly complex and satisfyingly deep RPG.
As more and more characters are acquired in the game (some completely optional!) they are seamlessly woven into the story. And like any good tale starring a large cast, some of these characters start to become favorites. As a player, you find yourself selecting certain characters to do battle more often than others, partly because they are strong, but mainly because, well, you start to care for them.
As Lyn and friends embark on a journey that starts personal but becomes of world-saving importance, they are faced with many hard battles with increasingly tough foes.
And like in any role-playing game, one wrong move or an extra challenging foe can end in one of your characters dying.
Usually this wouldn’t be such a big deal. Just use some kind of potion or spell to bring your character back to life, try again, and move on.
But Fire Emblem isn’t like any other game.
Once one of your characters die, this week’s Memory Card moment occurs: Death is final.
The Moment
You can already tell by the name of this week’s Memory Card, but when one of your characters dies in Fire Emblem, it is over. No second chances.
Once they die they are gone for good.
As Lyn and her friends journey through the game, each move they make is of utmost importance.
The party takes extra precaution as they continue their quest to save the precious world around them.
They make sure not to leap into battle unprepared.
Their battle is a real life struggle between life and death.
In one instance, for example, a young female Pegasus Knight named Florina is called into battle. She rides a mighty winged beast and is very skilled with a lance.
What makes Florina so useful is her speed and ability to travel long distances on each turn.
By flying on her Pegasus, she is able to travel across all types of terrain and spring surprise attacks on the most unlikely of foes.
In addition to her skill on the battlefield, Florina is also one of the game’s most sweet and innocent characters. A Pegasus Knight-in-training, Florina is the youngest of three, highly honored sisters, both of them Pegasus Knights as well.
Florina is shy and quiet, but never hesitates to help out her friends in need.
In fact, she is so loyal and brave, that Hector, one of the game’s main characters, falls in love with her. By fighting along his side throughout the game, it is even possible to see Florina and Hector get married in one of the game’s alternate endings.
As the story progresses and the party’s journey grows more difficult, it is a wonder to watch Florina grow into a strong young woman.
Her journey (along with the journeys of all the other characters) is a treat to behold.
But this journey comes to an immediate close if Florina dies in battle.
One miscalculated move by you, the player, and Florina dies. Maybe an arrow pierces her heart. Maybe a hidden catapult takes down her precious Pegasus.
Whatever the reason, if Florina dies, she says her final words and leaves the world forever.
Her story comes to an abrupt close.
Florina is gone.
While shocking and unexpected, this very real and very tragic portrayal of death has the chance of happening with every single character you meet in Fire Emblem. If you grow connected to a lot of different characters (which is highly likely thanks to the game’s solid writing!), the moments of loss and bitter farewells happen very often.
With each death, one more character from Lyn’s party (your party) is gone forever.
You can watch what happens when a character dies in Fire Emblem right here:
The Impact
There have been many games that handle character death in a very similar way -- the aforementioned Final Fantasy Tactics is a good example, as well as the more recent (and absolutely stellar) Valkyria Chronicles for the PlayStation 3.
In those games -- both tactical RPGs as well -- when your characters die in battle, they are gone for good as well (although it is a little more complicated and flexible due to some revised rules and alternate options).
And while Final Fantasy Tactics was released before Fire Emblem for the Game Boy Advance, Fire Emblem was the first game I personally played with this devastating, yet utterly engrossing use of permanent death.
My initial reaction to it was admittedly mixed.
At first, I wasn’t a fan of this tactic, as I am a completionist at heart and would curse the screen every time one of my characters would die. Not only would I be angry that I made a dumb move and would now have to say goodbye to a character that I have been leveling up for several chapters, I started to realize that it was becoming more than that: To my surprise, I was actually starting to miss the characters and were sad and sorry to see them go.
I … actually felt a little bad about seeing them die.
And then it hit me: This gameplay mechanic was not bad. It was brilliant.
In Fire Emblem (well, the early games at least) you can only save between chapters. Because of this, if a character dies in battle, you technically can reset the game and restart the chapter, making sure to not kill your character along the way.
While this is a pretty major loophole, when you are two hours deep into a chapter, resetting the game is not really an easy (or realistic) option.
But, you know what? I would still do it. In fact, I did it multiple times.
I would be at the very end of a long, involved chapter, start to rush through my gameplay, make a dumb move and accidentally kill off one of my characters.
If it was a character I liked (which, for me, WAS ALL OF THEM!) I would stop, stare at the power button, and think to myself: “Okay, Chad, you have played this chapter for almost two hours. You are about to finish it and save. Do you really want to reset because of one, random, completely fictional character that only exists in a videogame?”
I wouldn’t even have to think about my answer for a second. I would flip off the power switch, reload the game, and try again.
Why? Why the heck would I lose hours of gameplay for something like this?
The answer was simple: I felt guilty.
I felt bad that one of these characters had to die because of a stupid move I made. Yes, of course I knew the character wasn’t real and my decision to continue on without him/her would not mean anything in the long run (with so many characters, I could have easily found a suitable replacement in battle).
But I didn’t care about being practical.
When my characters died in Fire Emblem, I wanted them back. Simple as that. It was my first honest, genuine thought and I would act on this, resetting the game and giving the chapter another try.
I didn’t say it wasn’t absolutely insane, but it is how the game made me feel (and still does!).
Because of this, Fire Emblem will always go down as one of my most cherished game memories of all time. Losing a character forever -- and the unexpected feelings of remorse that elicits -- is something I will never forget.
Chad Concelmo is Destructoid's features editor. He loves hanging out with awesome people. That's why Destructoid makes him so happy, since it is full of THE MOST AWESOME PEOPLE OF ALL TIME! Also, dolphins.
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Chad enjoys punching old ladies in the face, Super Metroid, Zelda: A Link to the Past on the SNES (best system ever!), Final Fantasy VI, Day of the Tentacle, Shadow of the Colossus, Mother 3, Beyond Good & Evil, Contra III, Valkyria Chronicles, Punch-Out!!, Half-Life 2, and Super Mario Galaxy 2.
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Only time I HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATE this mechanic is when I am a few turns away after calculating my tactics for a whole hour or so because suddenly a random soldier appears from the edge of the screen and pulls out a critical.
This mechanic manages to be pretty enjoyable, but oh-OHHH SO FRUSTRATING.
Great story, Chad. That's one of the reasons why I never played the Fire Emblem series. I know my tendency to care for the characters and my desire to keep them all alive would hamper my ability to get through the game. My brothers played the Fire Emblem games and had no problem losing characters. I wish I had their detachment.
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance actually got rid of the permanent death thing I remember correctly. I think it was because the people you recruited were essentially interchangeable. While I love FFTA and FFTA-2, I would have liked to see them be a little more like Fire Emblem with its more memorable characters.
Brilliant! I should really try to find a FE game sometime.
I actually hadn't ever been affected by character deaths until I played Cave Story not long ago. After a scene where two of my favorite characters died, I was devestated to the point of physically feeling my heart wrench inside my chest. I had to stop playing for a little while, and after that, I actually hardened myself, blocking everything but anger and vengeance.
Yeah, that had little to do with this, but I still felt like sharing.
Never played Fire Emblem, but I also think permadeaths of characters in games can be brilliant, if done well.
A game that suddenly came to my mind was Unreal II: The Awakening and it's final sequence. The death of your crew really affected me and I loved the game so much because of the emotional weight that scene had. Actually, Unreal II: The Awakening is a really good shooter, though criminally underrated, in my opinion.
Anyway, amazing Memory Card Chad, really enjoyed reading it.
Don't forget the fact that Fire Emblem (at least that one, Sacred Stones did) didn't let you really grind. Meaning that you couldn't just level them up to ensure survival.
One of the other interesting things about Fire Emblem is some of the new characters you meet can be determined by what weather phase or turn you arrive at a portion of the map.
I remember in an Eliwood Chapter that I met a noble knight that pledgeed his assistence if I got there when it was raining. I failed that mission and started over, but when I later tried again, I got to part of the map where a swordsman appeared and agreed to join forces with Eliwood, but only if he battled him to the death one day.
Rekka no Ken, the first FE to hit stateside has remained my favorite, though Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn score points for moving away from nobles and putting the focus on mercenaries.
You're a better person than me Chad. I couldn't handle losing any of my characters, so even if one of them died (whether I liked them or not) I would start the whole mission over again, with my entire team intact. After a few tries I would eventually beat the mission with everyone alive, but the idea that there were alternate timelines where these characters had died made me feel even worse (hell I still feel bad thinking about). And if I had a choice, I would take the longer, safer route to keep my team alive, even if it meant ruining my overall ranking. Great piece Chad.
Reminds me of a time when my favorite character in Suikoden V Belcoot dies in a battle, you can go to the castle where his grave is :( I had to reset and made sure he never dies, the thought of that upset me so much during my game play. The weird thing there are only like handful characters that die in the game, as other characters it doesn't effect them at all.
I so adore the fire emblem series, this one in particular is my absolute favorite. I just love how the characters develop and how they're written. It does come close to the heart when you grow up and have a long journey with your companions.
This just reminds me that I played FE until the cartridge's save battery (thing, sorry if it's not the right term) ran out on my third playthrough... I sent it in to be fixed up only to be told I'd bought a counterfeit and they couldn't do anything. SOB.
Actually, I still have the Wii version unopened because I didn't finish Path of Radiance. I should get onto that, thanks Chad!
This is exactly why in Valkyria, if any of my squad members goes down the immediate course of action is to annihilate any enemy units nearby and rush a scout to his/her position.
The Splintered Horn is the only decoration I will never receive.
Amazing writeup, Chad. Favorite segment on Destructoid for reals.
you know, you didn't have to flip the power switch. nearly all GBA games hard a soft reset feature that you could perform by pressing A+B+Start+Select.
Nice article Chad. Coincidentally, I actually wrote my Monthly Musing article this month based on the very same feature (I used Path of Radiance for mine):
I'm replaying the GBA Fire Emblem at the moment but I normally take quite a different approach to you. On my first playthrough, I never do restarts on Fire Emblem games but on replays, I'll always restart to save characters. First time makes the consequence of death much worse but on replays, I like to explore the game to its full potential and don't worry so much. Took me about 5 restarts to finally complete Chapter 15 without any casualties.
@TriplZer0: They MOSTLY did away with perma-death in FFTA. I believe there were battlefields that did allow for perma-death (though those areas also got rid of the law system, which was nice).
I have a really strong desire to play through this game now without ever resetting or loading an earlier save to alter the plotline, no matter how upset I may be about it. I'm excited!!
Is it a good game also? Is there actual strategic depth or is just a JRPG on a board. Sometimes in Tactical RPG's I feel like the grid and mechanics are only there to look pretty and actually serve no other purpose than to make you think there is more strategic depth than there actually is. Either that, or I just suck at them ;)
Honestly, it's why I've never finished a Fire Emblem game, regardless of how much time and effort I put into them, particularly the first game (well, the first one that made it over here anyway). I just can't accept letting even one of my comrades perish, and I have to keep replaying the same mission over and over and over again until I either complete it with everyone still breathing or finally get fed up and refuse to even look at the cartridge for an extended period of time (which always ends up being the final result).
And since I've never been terribly good at turn-based strategy games, on top of my refusal to accept the loss of a single unit over the course of the campaign, I've ended up quitting dozens of times and been driven to near madness.
And yet... I inexplicably love the game so much. It's just a shame that I'm never going to see how it ends.
Just finished Valkyria Chronicles main narrative yesterday - and it sure is stellar!
I was really glad for all the positive press on that one - its not the sort of game I normally play, and the beginning bored me a bit. But after a couple of hours I was hooked, and have done my best not to leave the house since.
I did the EXACT same thing! Florina was even the first time I experienced that. I didn't even realize I couldn't get her back until after I saved. I had to restart the entire game because I refused to let her die!
This just reminds me that we really do need a new portable Fire Emblem game. Shadow Dragon was alright, but after the Gamecube/Wii entries, and the pseudo-rendered look of Shadow Dragon, I really want the stylized, over-the-top animations of the GBA games back again.
So many twirling weapons, flowing capes and all kinds of nonsense. I loved the battle scenes in them. Also, the FE7 player battle theme was awesome.
as soon as i read the title i thought about fire emblem. :)
i remember one mission where you had this bald general join you and he's surrounded by enemies right from the start...i had to restart that chapter soooo many times until he survived! :P
Valkyria Chronicles spoiled me and I can't go through Fire Emblem because I know I am a perfectionist and want to see how everything goes for each character ;(
Oh yeah I remeber, some guy died and I didn't care to much, because I was thinking "the hell, i'll use him in the next mission" but after I saved and went to check the characters.. he wasn't there, and I freak out "OMG! where are you!! what the fuck? they die for ever!! what kind of game is this!! this is no game!! this is the real shit!! what the hell Nintendo!! is too sad..."
and then turn the DS off and start all over again... yep my first fire emblem was shadow dragon
As always a great memory card. My friend intordue me to this series. Since I love FF Tactics and Shining Force. Now in FFT I know you can still bring them back during the battle. and in shining force you can bring your dead back at the church. But as you said in the memory card once the Died in fire emblem there dead for good. MInd you this led me to do the same thing you did many of times. Just because I didn't want them dea dI jsut spent 10 hours giving the that level 15 I work so hard for them and to be killed like that bay some lame ass archer bull shit. And yes I made ensure who ever killed them died first the next time. Mind you it lead to many knights of the favor joke I use for these game.
Speaking as someone who's done several Nuzlocke Runs in pokemon, it's AMAZING how attached you can get to video game character when they run the risk of permadeath. I cannot play a Fire Emblem game and let anyone in my party die. Ever.
I've never played any Fire Emblem games, partly because I've never really tried a tactics-style game before, and partly because the death mechanic is so intimidating. I'd be so cautious I don't know how much fun I'd have.
Man... This game... I got to the last lvl (pretty damn sure it was the final fight) and for some reason even though I had nearly all characters and I did well in the previous missions I just didn't seem strong enough to beat the end. Maybe I need to revisit my gamefile but I couldn't for the life of me see a way it was possible to win with my team.. and there was no alternative save to jump to and change who I buffed up more or something. ;(
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Contest:
4:00 PM on 04.14.2011 | 
This mechanic manages to be pretty enjoyable, but oh-OHHH SO FRUSTRATING.
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance actually got rid of the permanent death thing I remember correctly. I think it was because the people you recruited were essentially interchangeable. While I love FFTA and FFTA-2, I would have liked to see them be a little more like Fire Emblem with its more memorable characters.
One question, in that picture is Florina marrying Phoenix Wright?!
I actually hadn't ever been affected by character deaths until I played Cave Story not long ago. After a scene where two of my favorite characters died, I was devestated to the point of physically feeling my heart wrench inside my chest. I had to stop playing for a little while, and after that, I actually hardened myself, blocking everything but anger and vengeance.
Yeah, that had little to do with this, but I still felt like sharing.
A game that suddenly came to my mind was Unreal II: The Awakening and it's final sequence. The death of your crew really affected me and I loved the game so much because of the emotional weight that scene had. Actually, Unreal II: The Awakening is a really good shooter, though criminally underrated, in my opinion.
Anyway, amazing Memory Card Chad, really enjoyed reading it.
I remember in an Eliwood Chapter that I met a noble knight that pledgeed his assistence if I got there when it was raining. I failed that mission and started over, but when I later tried again, I got to part of the map where a swordsman appeared and agreed to join forces with Eliwood, but only if he battled him to the death one day.
Rekka no Ken, the first FE to hit stateside has remained my favorite, though Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn score points for moving away from nobles and putting the focus on mercenaries.
I so adore the fire emblem series, this one in particular is my absolute favorite. I just love how the characters develop and how they're written. It does come close to the heart when you grow up and have a long journey with your companions.
Well done, sir.
This just reminds me that I played FE until the cartridge's save battery (thing, sorry if it's not the right term) ran out on my third playthrough... I sent it in to be fixed up only to be told I'd bought a counterfeit and they couldn't do anything. SOB.
Actually, I still have the Wii version unopened because I didn't finish Path of Radiance. I should get onto that, thanks Chad!
The Splintered Horn is the only decoration I will never receive.
Amazing writeup, Chad. Favorite segment on Destructoid for reals.
http://www.destructoid.com/blogs/Gilthalas/aaamazing-don-t-you-die-on-me--198242.phtml
I'm replaying the GBA Fire Emblem at the moment but I normally take quite a different approach to you. On my first playthrough, I never do restarts on Fire Emblem games but on replays, I'll always restart to save characters. First time makes the consequence of death much worse but on replays, I like to explore the game to its full potential and don't worry so much. Took me about 5 restarts to finally complete Chapter 15 without any casualties.
The Fallout series does this...and do not forget hardcore mode in New Vegas.
Have you played Heavy Rain? :)
Is it a good game also? Is there actual strategic depth or is just a JRPG on a board. Sometimes in Tactical RPG's I feel like the grid and mechanics are only there to look pretty and actually serve no other purpose than to make you think there is more strategic depth than there actually is. Either that, or I just suck at them ;)
Seriously, though, it's a really well-designed tactical RPG -- one of the best! I think you will really like it!
And since I've never been terribly good at turn-based strategy games, on top of my refusal to accept the loss of a single unit over the course of the campaign, I've ended up quitting dozens of times and been driven to near madness.
And yet... I inexplicably love the game so much. It's just a shame that I'm never going to see how it ends.
nice writing chad <3
I was really glad for all the positive press on that one - its not the sort of game I normally play, and the beginning bored me a bit. But after a couple of hours I was hooked, and have done my best not to leave the house since.
So many twirling weapons, flowing capes and all kinds of nonsense. I loved the battle scenes in them. Also, the FE7 player battle theme was awesome.
i remember one mission where you had this bald general join you and he's surrounded by enemies right from the start...i had to restart that chapter soooo many times until he survived! :P
and then turn the DS off and start all over again... yep my first fire emblem was shadow dragon
Damn it's 4 in the morning just more round.
Stupid random archers appearing on the side of the maps and the mountain goat axe wielding bandits.