Fire Emblem

***Fire Emblem*** is a series of video games made by Intelligent Systems. Nintendo began publishing the series on the NES console in 1990. The first six games were only released in Japan. Fire Emblem: The Blazing Sword was the first game to be released in North America and Europe. The series is a collection of turn-based strategy role-playing games. They used many characters going on a long journey to fight a common enemy.

## Gameplay

In _Fire Emblem_, the player moves units across a grid in turns. The player must deal with a challenge with each part in the story, for example, defeating all of the enemy units. A player may choose to fight, move, heal, or visit shops each turn. The battle system is made up of two units fighting each other with their selected weapon. Some weapons are better against others. For example, swords are better against axes. When units defeat others, they gain experience. This experience is used to "level up" the units and makes them stronger. A well known feature in _Fire Emblem_ is that when a character is damaged very badly (loses all of their "hit points"), they can never be used in the game again.

## Setting

Each _Fire Emblem_ game is mainly set on a fictional continent, or a really large area. Some continents are used in more than one game. Six continents have been used in _Fire Emblem_ so far.

|Continent|Game|
| --- | --- |
|Akaneia|_Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi - Monshō no Nazo_|
|Barensia|_Gaiden_|
|Jugdral|_Seisen no Keifu - Tharacia 776_|
|Elibe|_Fūin no Tsurugi  - Blazing Sword_|
|Magvel|_Sacred Stones_|
|Tellius|_Path of Radiance - Radiant Dawn_|

## Games

The first six games were released only in Japan. Five out of the next six games were also released in the United States. A few of the games were also released for the Virtual Console on Wii.

- ***Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Ken*** - The first title in the series. It was made in 1990. The protagonist, or main character, in this game is Marth.
- ***Fire Emblem: Gaiden*** - The second title made in 1992. It is an additional story to the first game. The protagonists in this game are Alm and Celica.
- ***Fire Emblem: Monshou no Nazo*** - A remake of the first game. It was released in 1994. The protagonist of this game is Marth.
- ***Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu*** - First released in 1996, and in 2007 on the Virtual Console, this game has the largest maps in the _Fire Emblem_ series. The protagonist in this game is Sigurd for the first half, and Celice for the second half.
- ***Fire Emblem: Tharacia 776*** - An SNES game first made in 2000. Some believe it to be the hardest game in the series. Leif is the protagonist of this game.
- ***Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade*** - The first game in the series to be released for a handheld device. It was released in 2002 for the Game Boy Advance. The protagonist in this game is Roy.
- ***Fire Emblem: The Blazing Sword*** - This was the first _Fire Emblem_ game to be released in the United States. It is a prequel to _Fūin no Tsurugi_. The protagonists in this game are Hector, Lyn, and Eliwood.
- ***Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones*** - Another English released game. It was released for the Game Boy Advance in 2005. This game bears no relation (story-wise) to the other games. It is similar to _Gaiden_. The protagonist in this game are Eirika and Ephraim.
- ***Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance*** - The game was released for Nintendo GameCube in 2005. The protagonist for the game is Ike.
- ***Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn*** - The game was released for the Nintendo Wii in 2007.  A save feature from earlier games was put back into the game. The story in this game takes place directly after _Path of Radiance_. It also uses many of the same characters. The protagonists for this game are Ike and Micaiah.
- ***Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon*** - The second remake of _Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Ken_, and the first _Fire Emblem_ game on the Nintendo DS.
- ***Fire Emblem: Shin Monshō no Nazo: Hikari to Kage no Eiyū*** - A remake of _Fire Emblem: Monshou no Nazo_ that was released for the Nintendo DS in 2010.
- ***Fire Emblem: Awakening*** - The game was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2012. It is the first _Fire Emblem_ game on the Nintendo 3DS.
- ***Fire Emblem: Fates*** - Released in 2015 in Japan and 2016 in North America and Europe for the Nintendo 3DS. It features three paths: Birthright, Conquest, and Revelations.
- ***Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia*** - Released in 2017 for the Nintendo 3DS. It is a remake of _Fire Emblem Gaiden_.

## Other Appearances

Marth and Roy were special (unlockable) characters in the _Super Smash Bros. Melee_ roster. Marth returned to _Super Smash Bros. Brawl_ and Ike was added instead of Roy returning.