you know, it's an interesting coincidence, it really is. when I originally started making those villain grading posts, we were just a few months away from a long-anticipated new Fire Emblem release, and that moment gave me the idea to take on that little exercise for a number of reasons.
and then, here we are, about three months shy of three years later. for a number of different reasons, I started to think about finally making a follow-up post, seeing how I'd compare the antagonists from Three Houses to their predecessors. freshly boosted on new meds, I whip out a very long draft for a post in just a few days. and then, the day after I was done, a long-anticipated new Fire Emblem release is announced. and so, just on a whim of fate, I'm technically returning to this text post series under the same conditions as I started it! isn't it poetic?
maybe it is, but perhaps the poetry of the situation isn't all that important when it's being blasted into dust beneath the bad guy's iron boots. so let's go to war; let's see how Three Houses measures up on this front.
... at least, that's what I would be throwing us straight into, but, there's a little snag. when I started this analysis, I noticed that Three Houses has a relatively unique relationship to the archetypes of Fire Emblem, and it didn't sit right with me to just leave the classificatory endeavors at "this character is a Gharnef", "this character is a Camus", etc. so I'm going to be leading here with a foreword on that topic, a much longer foreword than the other ones I've written in this series -- one that's going to be less for getting technicalities out of the way and more an analysis in its own right.
(and of course, just like the other times, I have to note: there will be spoilers. spoilers for every route and every moment of Three Houses itself, naturally, but there's more than that; discussing where the one title fits in with the rest of the whole franchise naturally comes with spoilers for the rest of the whole franchise as well. SO, besides, that you are now adequately warned that this post spoils 100% every last inch of Three Houses, each section of the post will also have its own specific spoiler warnings for other titles (Shadow Dragon in particular will be spoiled frequently just on account of how the language that we use to talk about archetypes is brimming with Shadow Dragon spoilers). and to be adequately precise, when I say that a section "kinda" has spoilers for a given title, I'm considering them spoilers on the level of something that wouldn't be out of place in trailer -- so, information that will technically result in you not having a total clean-slate experience of the title, but also not all that spoilery.)
(plus there's the other thing I always warn about: I will criticize and/or blam some characters, possibly including the ones that you like, in this post. there will not be a small amount of that, frankly. I will have a lot of spicy opinions to share here and you'd best not be caught off guard if we disagree strongly on some point or another. but if you're now fully well aware of what you're about to trip into, well... amazon espionage device, play Paths That Will Never Cross.)
(the following section contains spoilers for: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light/Shadow Dragon)
( Fire Emblem: Three Houses and FE Archetypes )
(the following section contains spoilers for: Genealogy of the Holy War, Thracia 776 (kind of), Blazing Blade, Sacred Stones, Awakening (kind of))
( evokers of Gharneficence )
(the following section contains spoilers for: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light/Shadow Dragon, Genealogy of the Holy War)
( evokers of Camusitude )
(the following section contains spoilers for: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light/Shadow Dragon, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Awakening (kind of))
( evokers of Michalisousness )
(the following section contains spoilers for: Blazing Blade, Path of Radiance(kind of))
( evokers of Punchability )
(the following section contains spoilers for: Gaiden/Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Mystery of the Emblem/New Mystery of the Emblem, Genealogy of the Holy War, Binding Blade, Path of Radiance(kinda), Awakening(kinda))
( evokers of Conquerorism )
( conclusion )
and then, here we are, about three months shy of three years later. for a number of different reasons, I started to think about finally making a follow-up post, seeing how I'd compare the antagonists from Three Houses to their predecessors. freshly boosted on new meds, I whip out a very long draft for a post in just a few days. and then, the day after I was done, a long-anticipated new Fire Emblem release is announced. and so, just on a whim of fate, I'm technically returning to this text post series under the same conditions as I started it! isn't it poetic?
maybe it is, but perhaps the poetry of the situation isn't all that important when it's being blasted into dust beneath the bad guy's iron boots. so let's go to war; let's see how Three Houses measures up on this front.
... at least, that's what I would be throwing us straight into, but, there's a little snag. when I started this analysis, I noticed that Three Houses has a relatively unique relationship to the archetypes of Fire Emblem, and it didn't sit right with me to just leave the classificatory endeavors at "this character is a Gharnef", "this character is a Camus", etc. so I'm going to be leading here with a foreword on that topic, a much longer foreword than the other ones I've written in this series -- one that's going to be less for getting technicalities out of the way and more an analysis in its own right.
(and of course, just like the other times, I have to note: there will be spoilers. spoilers for every route and every moment of Three Houses itself, naturally, but there's more than that; discussing where the one title fits in with the rest of the whole franchise naturally comes with spoilers for the rest of the whole franchise as well. SO, besides, that you are now adequately warned that this post spoils 100% every last inch of Three Houses, each section of the post will also have its own specific spoiler warnings for other titles (Shadow Dragon in particular will be spoiled frequently just on account of how the language that we use to talk about archetypes is brimming with Shadow Dragon spoilers). and to be adequately precise, when I say that a section "kinda" has spoilers for a given title, I'm considering them spoilers on the level of something that wouldn't be out of place in trailer -- so, information that will technically result in you not having a total clean-slate experience of the title, but also not all that spoilery.)
(plus there's the other thing I always warn about: I will criticize and/or blam some characters, possibly including the ones that you like, in this post. there will not be a small amount of that, frankly. I will have a lot of spicy opinions to share here and you'd best not be caught off guard if we disagree strongly on some point or another. but if you're now fully well aware of what you're about to trip into, well... amazon espionage device, play Paths That Will Never Cross.)
(the following section contains spoilers for: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light/Shadow Dragon)
( Fire Emblem: Three Houses and FE Archetypes )
(the following section contains spoilers for: Genealogy of the Holy War, Thracia 776 (kind of), Blazing Blade, Sacred Stones, Awakening (kind of))
( evokers of Gharneficence )
(the following section contains spoilers for: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light/Shadow Dragon, Genealogy of the Holy War)
( evokers of Camusitude )
(the following section contains spoilers for: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light/Shadow Dragon, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Awakening (kind of))
( evokers of Michalisousness )
(the following section contains spoilers for: Blazing Blade, Path of Radiance(kind of))
( evokers of Punchability )
(the following section contains spoilers for: Gaiden/Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Mystery of the Emblem/New Mystery of the Emblem, Genealogy of the Holy War, Binding Blade, Path of Radiance(kinda), Awakening(kinda))
( evokers of Conquerorism )
( conclusion )