I think roy is an interesting case because while he's less of the focus on his game, this makes the world stand out more. It also reinforces the idea of roy being less experienced compared to other lords
The best fighting game characterization of Roy is his Project M counterpart, where fire effects are more emphasized on stronger hits to show that the Binding blade is doing the heavy lifting when it comes to raw power. Heck, you'll notice that in Melee, his cape was purple. We gave him back his blue cape in one of his alts. But the way I see Roy is a person who is an idealist with a pessimistic outlook. Someone who wants to do what is right but worries over whether he is in fact doing said right thing properly. He is intelligent beyond his years, and so he worries a lot about what is ahead, sometimes losing track of the present. Roy isn't the most out there protagonist, but I never saw him as bland. I can think of a good half dozen plus FE protagonists with far less interesting character arcs.
@geno_xi Yeah, I'd say Roy doesn't have a flamboyant personality, but I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. Shulk from Xenoblade 1 was very similar in personality, and the idea works well of well executed.
To avoid using the memes, he is supposed to be the antonym of a Mary Sue. He's a character whose flaws make him special; not particularly strong, but well determined. Not an experienced leader, but he tries anyway and has good mentors to guide him. And having mediocre stats across the block aside from Luck is very in character for him. But then the Binding Blade changes everything. It is a sword so strong, even the Divine Weapons bow down to it, but the one chosen to use it is not some prodigy chosen by destiny, but some humble boy who just wants to do the right thing. Aside from Smash Bros needing to balance out stats for it to be a good fighting game, his heavy hitter status comes from his sword and not the character. And when he first appears in Heroes, it was pretty faithful, but the alt versions are more or less fan service. And Engage openly does surface level to his personality, with his own Xenologue really being the only standout. But the director of Echoes has hinted wanting to remake Binding Blade. There is acknowledgement that Roy is kind of a one-note character despite being such a fan favorite Smash Bros character. And there are plans to fix that, much like how Alm went from being the most one-note protagonist in the series to being one of the deepest. There is hope a Binding Blade remake could fix his character, but I sure do hope it stays faithful to Binding Blade the game. It may be a flawed game, but it's a game where its flaws made it special. I still want to see rescue/drop chains encouraged and what not. And I hope they don't buff him to modern FE lord tier, where he would solo the game; at least prior to Binding Blade retrieval. But we shall see eventually.
The fact that he isn't a strong warrior but led strong warriors is also reflected by the fact that he grants great support bonuses. Giving the option to make Ninian his mother in the prequel was a mistake because it make him too special, like if he always had a special destiny wich is the antithesis of what he was meant to like.
@@eleonorepb4565 Actually, Ninian being the mother would explain a fragile side; though the part about him being half Ice Dragon would sort of make him "Not normal" anymore. In fact, most support conversations did make references to what Roy's mother was like; A kind an beautiful woman, but a fragile woman who wasn't suited for a long life.
I'm pretty sure that the original intention was that Roy's mother was a simple noblewoman not an half dragon with special powers who is special even amoung other dragons and who could led to the end of the world if controles by bad people. Honestly she is only mentionned in Lilina and Marcus' support, because they wanted to hit at Lilina taking her place, because being Roy's waifu is Lilina's principal character trait.
@eleonorepb4565 It doesn't add specialness points to him at all. It's never even a major plot point, unlike with Corrin. And I highly doubt that being a noblewoman was the intention.
There's a great interview with Smash Bros director Masahiro Sakurai about Roy. Because Melee was made before Binding Blade was out, he had to guess some of Roy's traits and envisioned him as a "headstrong" and "energetic" character. When he finally played Binding Blade he admitted that he got the characterization wrong. Despite this, he double-downed on it with Smash 4 and Ultimate. The Smash Roy and Fire Emblem Roy are basically two different characters. What the hell is with Roy's redesign in Smash 4 anyway? Not only did he not need it, but it looks pretty ugly. He has window curtains on his boots.
I don't agree; his characterizations make sense. The developers stated they wanted the story to have Roy go on this journey and to return a man. In the beginning, he was more unsure of himself, and in the end, he became strong-willed and confident. He was always determined, and this is what allowed him to grow. Just one small example, but the Roy in Smash has the Binding Blade, which he only gets near the end of the game, so I just see this "iteration" of him as taking place after the story of FE6 (the Roy in later Smash games even is taller and more muscular than how he is normally portrayed as)
Roy is our Boy! And that's why he is perfect the way he is (or not). For Smash I consider it as a different version, like future Gohan, it's Roy, but not that Roy. Because you know, Sakurai without any source for his character. I see it in Binding Blade like if it would be the "intended" version of him, calm and bland, mid all around and his personality of idealistic but realistic and always asking. But people start knowing Roy for Smash more than his original game, so I think they change it with his inclusion in other games, they keep his personality, calm, bland and always interested on everything, and they show him as a strong guy in the mainlines for the Smash games. I think Hold out and advance are references from the supports, where he says that he must 'advance' with his army and fight, and how much stress he feels and needs to 'hold out' to be a good leader. Rise Above because why not. (I can't find something ) For Feh, I don't know much about it, I will say they are the "same" just in another point of the history or just another version. These are my thoughts and they are not the real answers, I can always miss something or overthink in others.
Hm I believe within a interview for smash at least that Sakura believed Roy is more hot headed and aggressive based on design and he has more of a explosive and up close style of fighting. As of feh, he's pretty alright considering the most recent albeit brief forging bond appearance his base for is pretty neutral and expected of him (zero clue as of why binding blade for og Roy originally had no DC but it did buff defend and resistance and dragon effectiveness until refine) Legendary is something I need to reread on but he's more or less the same and that's all I know of the roys within feh as I lack the other two versions of him. Engage I believe He's fitting his role pretty well all things considered, he can chase after foes and get that little extra shove to be near using advance, 5 extra level stats when engaged (his late promotion does improve him by a lot even without binding blade being questioned) hold out can save more frail units or lets your stronger one fight on in groups of enemies (ironically pairs with Ike skills pretty well since he becomes a tank in a sense as well) His weapons in engage is unique from starting with lancewevere to reaching binding blade that lacks the dragon effectiveness (as I recall but I likely forgot) but he does have wyvernbane due to fighting off Bern's powerful wyvern force and he did it with his army before his prom so it themes well albeit strange for a first weapon but later makes sense down the line.
Smash wise, Roy is oddly inconsistent with his og self who went along with the best advice and to be honest he did follow orders well since you know the original person who was meant to lead died just a moment too late to save them, along with his instructor being a general herself and If I'd be honest I'd take their word too and follow their advice/move out and help after they save me as well.
Another thing to add on that I just realized is within feh he seems to be against a lot of the subhumans/against dragons and beasts as his own allies, it begin just as binding blade which made sense it's like Marth's falchion but used defensively but his legendary and refine seems he doesn't like beasts nor dragons on his side even though engage and og self saved iddun and lets fae join his crew, and if I recall his Valentine's is the same with his father (again i don't have that one but usually they make it a theme/same upgrade or better from og perf refine)
I haven't played his original game but Roy quite consistently comes off as someone with a low-key and deferential personality. Now Ike on the other hand acts like a completely different person in every scene
My best guess as to why roy is all over the place is that the binding blade and it's development was a really weird time for IS in general. Thracia had like, the worst release of all time and Kaga had left IS. I think they tried to be more ambitious with Roy's character given his design but as the game struggled to come together on the n64, they had to tone back the scope of what they could do. In the end, binding blade ended up with a really safe, kinda generic story and a lot of the cast is very similar to FE 1's cast. When smash released and Roy was characterized differently, getting really popular, IS probably grew to regret how bland Roy ended up being and ever since they've been trying to line Roy somewhere between his actual game, and his depiction in smash bros. Now he's all over the place and the only way to really fix him at this point is to probably just remake binding blade and almost completely rewrite Roy's character, and probably change his playstyle as well.
I would heavily disagree on this, but that's a story for another time. I think that Roy, though his characterization is not very apparent, I do think his personality shines through in his supports and the very few nuggets that exist in the main story. To say he doesn't have one I think is a bit of an understatement and does a disservice to what actually does exist, and what does exist I believe to be quite compelling
Perhaps the true Roy were the friends we made along the way... On a less joking note, I really don't understand why Roy is almost ever consistent either. Im assuming initially with smash bros, they wanted the character to feel different from Marth and changed his character as they saw fit, and then that just kinda stuck for the rest of the series. But as for IS themselves? It's anyone's guess. Maybe after seeing the Smash bros changes, they knew that wasn't the character they made, but they also didnt want to use the character they made since he doesn't really stand out? I feel like his Engage appearance was made to try to make Roy stand out more instead of everything being a reference to something, but I really dont know lol.
Wasn't Roy added to Smash before FE6? So Sakurai had his own interpretation of the character? Maybe that's why they decided to do that in other games as a running gag.
I think Leif represented it better, but if Sigurd is the Lord who was ready and couldn’t do to circumstance (Macbeth/Hamlet type), then Roy is the Lord who wasn’t ready and had to rise up anyway. He doesn’t have a solid personality for part because he has very few interactions outside of Merlinus, Gwen(I can’t spell the whole thing), and his supports, but also because he hasn’t had a chance to make his own judgements on the world. Ike was old enough to become a man and establish his own views separate from Greil (even if they probably would have agreed on a lot, it wasn’t because Greil told him to feel a certain way), but Roy isn’t there yet so he’s the most open and most molded by those he surrounds himself with. Heck, he wins the war and isn’t even crowned unlike pretty much every other FE protagonist. Even the other main one who didn’t, Ike, purposefully cast aside his nobility. Roy isn’t at the point yet to stand out by his beliefs, capabilities, or virtues. However, he does have the spirit of the hero and the will to unite others for a just enough cause.
As a Roy fan myself, I was expecting a more negative analysis on why you thought he was like a bad character, but after watching the video, I can actually understand and even agree with you with what you are trying to say. I don't even know the answer either. They even do the exact same thing with Ike (more so in Path of Radiance). Of course, I do disagree with the fact that you say that Roy is a bland character. Roy is actually a character that tries his hardest to be as optimistic as possible while he going through the reality of war. The game doesn't show you this through the story because it isn't a character-based story like FE7's; its story focuses much more on the continent of Elibe. It displays his personality in his supports, most especially with Lance & Shanna.
I think it's largely due to Smash overshadowing FE, and especially in the West, where our first and only (unless you have a JP catridge or emulate) look at Roy WAS in Smash, not FE. I think a lot of people that met Roy through Smash would be devastated to learn of his true strength in his home game, and so since then, I think every iteration has been a war between those who prefer his FE6 incarnation vs those who see him for his Smash counterpart. This wasn't really done with Marth or Ike, who are also in Smash. They feel (mostly) consistent.
I think part of it is Roy debuted in Melee when Blinding Blade was still being developed. There could be a good chance that Sakurai doesn't have any understanding who Roy's character is and perhaps had only development footage of him (hence the fire elemental attacks.) Roy could have been over powered in previous iterations for all we know. Marth and Ike are more consistent because they are already well known characters and have a complete game before their respective Smash release.
It makes sense, Roy was literally not even planned for the game(Which is also why he is a buggy and unpolished version of Marth in melee). Sakurai originally wanted Leif from FE5 and saw Roy by complete coincidence when he was over at IS to ask for permission, after which he just decided "yeah, let's do that!"
The first "Roy personality" was made for smash because he was added in melee before fe 6 was finished. And during that time frame, IS did a complete 180 on his character. That's all I know
Maybe he's a Chameleon sort of character, he easily moulds himself into whichever social setting he finds himself in. His Rise Up skill fits his whole Promotion thing and I want to say Hold Out exists because he's probably the Protag that you have to try your hardest to keep alive. Hold Out is more of a play style for his game not necessarily a trait he embodies personally. For the Strength stuff, yeah I dunno man. Only explanation I can come up with is it's a running joke for the devs. Apparently the Emblems aren't MEANT to be exactly the same characters but more like enhanced representations of them, maybe Roy has some inner strength pushing him forward in his story that channels into actual strength in the times he gets represented in other games
There's supposed to be a narrative element of roy growing stronger over the course of the game that is obfuscated by fe6 growths being fe6 growths. Lilina makes mention upon finding durandal that Roy will need to get a lot stronger to wield the sacred weapons, and he doesn't actually find the eponymous binding blade until chapter 21, at which point roy has grown through his journey into someone strong (thematically at least) and has no issues wielding it. This happens with Ike too in a sense, as in fe9 its actually somewhat likely his strength stat doesn't pan out great, but fe10 and all future incarnations of him are really jacked.
Smash makes sense sakurai didnt know how he was when he made the chara And engage isnt really something that holds up the emblem characters (see my opinion on lyn there) really
My take on Roy is more of a kid with very good strategy and not much strength of his own. He went to strategy-school in Ostia, and he fights with his army to inspire them, but everyone is scared he will get killed, and he is compasionate as seen in the last part of the game (he is a kid). I like his supports and they also show he doesn't even like the sword, he wanted to be a mage, and Cecilia told him that Lords use swords...
The source material doesn't help at all to understand what Roy is about. Smash bros melee added even more confusion by making him a heavy hitter with a fire sword and basically "the cooler Marth" but got replaced by Ike in Brawl who fullfills that role better. It's probably the most confusing lord because he is like a chemicaly pure FE protagonist, there is nothing specific to outline, leading to many different attempts at characterization.
Roy in FE6 is a reflection of the game's entire story. He is very functional, much more functional than people give him credit for, but he is not exactly exciting so many reject him. I personally love the pure clarity of the plot and characters, it is very clear where the game requests a specific conclusion to be drawn and where we are meant to speculate, aswell as what emotion exists at what time. But I get that I am in the minority for liking something "dry, but solid" over a more loose and messy alternative. Well done basics are just rad to me sometimes.
I think the reason why Roy is so inconsistent is simply because his most popular appearance is in Smash , and Smash takes a lot of liberties when it comes down to adapting characters from other franchises. Another reason I think is because the people writing for Roy in other media don't seem to have really taken the time to study Roy's character (and I know this is a funny joke in the community, but no, Roy most certainly does have a personality and character that I think is vastly overlooked by the community and, in this case the writers) and thus characterize him in a somewhat shallow manner. I don't blame them, since Roy's character is buried in a lot of subtext and 99% of people won't find it. A lot see him as bland at the outset and thus Roy's character becomes a canvas so to speak for personalities, and I think that writers see this and immediately start painting over it, like a canvas should. But this does a disservice to Roy's actual character. Roy is a caring soul, yet he's painfully aware about how his decisions in the army affect his troops. He's shown to be smart (finding out about the trap set by Wagner in Chapter 6 and Elphin's test in Chapter 10/11), surprisingly observant (figuring out Elphin's origin just from speech and mannerisms alone), and although he does spend a lot of time listening to others, he's shown to not follow orders when he believes a course of action should be taken for the better (In short, every single time Merlinus suggests anything). Yet he's not just a good two shoes protag, he acknowledges his faults as a leader and doesn't value himself higher because of his position (Lance support), he is shown to be struggling a lot in spite of his happy exterior (Shanna support), and he is shown to be a perfectionist to a fault and also a tirelessly hard worker when he puts his mind to something (Cecilia x Lilina Support and Allen Support). Roy has a lot of cool character moments. The problem is that almost all of this is stuck behind FE6's cumbersome GBA support system, which makes it difficult for most people to find this stuff. I don't think the writers really took the time to delve in deep into the supports, and just assumed that Roy was a blank canvas when he absolutely wasn't. I think that's the biggest reason why Roy has been so inconsistent in Fire Emblem.
Basically roy is such a blank slate in his own game that its difficult for them to do much with him that's actually unique. It seems his smash and engage iterations are more based off the binding blade itself than him and I can't really blame them as he's just that bland
When I was young and had no knowledge f the Fire Emblem series I always thought of Roy and Marth as rivals or leaders on opposite sides of a war. In my head Marth was a bit older, more skilled, and essentially the main villain for Roy, who to me was the cool and powerful protagonist who would one day defeat Marth once and for all. This was partially influenced by their Melee designs, which always seemed a bit more strict and serious to me, especially compared to Roy’s actual FE6 design where he looks like a kid. (My perception was also influenced by me playing as Roy and getting crushed by my older brothers playing as Marth, but that’s beside the point). I don’t remember where, but I recall a video claiming that Roy was designed for Melee without any real knowledge of what his character was or how he played (because FE6 was still in development), so the team took creative liberties that lead to an effectively different character for smash brothers, which led to the topic of this video.
I just watched a video about when the original fe creator left is when fe6 (then fe 64) was being created him leaving caused a lot of problems at is to sum it up roy doesn't have a character because of the fact fe6 was kinda under done and his lack of representation in any game until engage (where really he isn't much of a character) just kinda lead to him being roy that guy from smash bros
Roy in Smash could very well be himself, just after the timeline of FE6. He uses the Binding Blade and his character design is a fair bit older looking in 4 and Ultimate. I interpret it as “Roy after he’s grown up”. Engage Roy, by contrast, is in the process of growing up to be that strong, rushdown style character. Hold Out is for his perseverence, the extra levels help units who are behind to catch up, while closing in to attack is almost a direct nod to how you’re supposed to play him in Smash
I personally don't really think Roy is that bland as a lot of people say. For a 15 year old who has to lead an army out of the blue, he pretty smart and insightful. His smash appearance was made the way it is because sakurai's impressions of Roy where that of a young man with a lot of energy. However to me, he did not came across as hotheaded. His battle screams are quite loud, but his post-battle ones are quite the opposite. This trend can be seen in his heroes quotes and sounds well. To me this comes across as someone who is driven when need be, but otherwise collected and calm. Roy's smash appearance seems to have influenced Roy's fe appearance quite a bit, as can be seen in echoes and engage. I do agree though that in his later appearances, he does not really look like a 15 year old. What I disagree on is that Roy in the later smash games in basically an echo of Marth. While they share a few moves, their playstyles and character properties are quite different. As for heroes inconsistency, an explanation can partially be found in the amount of characters the game has. There are more characters whose stats differ quite dramatically across alts. Just look at leif for example his first and third alt where quite fast while his second alt was very slow. Same can be said when you compare Reinhard's newest alt to his first. Ike's alt do differ a little bit as well, but I think you get what I mean at this point. Different stats somewhat help to differentiate the unit a bit. This at least used to be the case when heroes was a bit younger
I couldn't tell you other then he's one of the two FE protags that feels like a radically different character in every game they appear in, the other one being Corrin. But I will say that Engage getting him wrong is hardly anything new considering 1. It's Engage, 2. these aren't the real characters, just emblem versions which if i had to take a wild shot in the dark, are based more on how people view these characters in legend than the actual person themselves.
Tbh, the same would apply to Smash, almost all of those guys are imperfect replicas created from toys(Smash 64) or figurines(Smash Melee and beyond. Yes, Amiibo functionality is fairly literal in this case)
I will always say this if they ever remake binding blade they need to give roy a coming of age story. At the start roy is his young self then by midgame he grow up a little his awakening design and by endgame when you fight zephiel he's grown up more mature smash ultimate roy.
Roy Melee had a more outgoing oersonality to cou ter Marth And in 6 hes more headstrong and like Marth In Awakening he is Hero class and this eould leak to his later Smash appearances as his hero appearance was so well received. Its still so strange as Smash says hes still 15 but hes clearly based on post war Hero Roy from Awakening and hes bigger built and no longer a scrwany kid like he was in melee. I still miss that look for him as he looks like that in his actual game. In short they really dont know what to do with him. Engage gave him his classic look again but gave him his whole "being a strong man" schtik from Awakening and Smash. It seems like going forward Roy will be shown as Engage showed him. I hope so at least as if he isnt axed from the inevitable next Smash game i hope to see him like he was in Engage and less like his Hero Awakening look previous Smash games incorporated into his design.
I agree with everything you said. He is pretty bland and every single time roy appears in a game they take liberties into giving him a personality but they don't make him ANYWHERE near consistent to have a established personality. In FE05 he was literally just a average guy who looked about 14-16 in his home game which they made him a marth clone for obvious reason due to melees development cycle. During Smash 4 (this is a theory with 0 proof) I believe that they used a early version of FE awakening redesign. I believe this due to them having very simular designs in their clothing. Perhaps it was a a design that more closely represented their game before scraping it and making the other version. IN FEH They used the older design as the new one was tied to FE awakening and stuck with it to pay better homage to his game as the FE awakening redesigned changed a LOT of his design to make him almost unrecognizable.
It's because every iteration of him outside his game has terrible writing - FEH and Engage. If the team behind Echoes were to characterise him, it'd be cohesive with what was in FE6. And yeah, the way SSB portrays him is a big outlier. He leans closer to characters like Ike or Cloud.
Earliest concept art (probably made before Kaga and Thracia's artist Hirota left) shows that Roy is gonna be yet another Marth/Leif clone with not much to make him distinct, but then one of the later concept arts show him as this hyperactive Ash Ketchum like kid with an even spikier hair than his final design. The side comics also show Roy more as a goofball or at least a party guy.
Hi, 3 things: 1- Good video, 2- Roy is the worst Lord in FE franchise. 3- You ok bro? Eat fruit and vegetable, sleep well. Todays video You seemed a little worried and different. Take time of if you need it. We that love your videos will wait for you to get better just like one piece fans wait for Oda to get better.
I gotta say, Roy is worst Lord in the series. Marth had an excuse to be horribly bland, it wasn’t a good one, but being first Lord is something. Roy comes directly after Leif who is in many ways a parallel to him (very young lord thrust into responsibility) but Leif is actually compelling and has an arc. Big thing to make Roy better for remake would be to make EliNini straight up canon so he’d have a connection to the plot. Because as is someone like Lillina, Guinevere or Fae would work better as a main character due to actually having emotional and personal stakes in what’s happening. Essentially Roy is inconsistent because he never really had a well defined, apparent character. Like some other Lords it’s easy Ike- 0 time for bullshit, honest and dedicated but with no graces. Leif- Impetuous and hot headed until his attitude burns him and he has to really take time to learn. Ephraim- Frat boy who wants to fight everything Eliwood- Soft hearted guy not made for fighting but dedicated genuinely to his friends and loved ones so he tries anyway. Sigurd- classic chivalric romance character. Dooms the world for love. Corrin- similar to Eliwood but dialed up to 11 and wracked with crippling self doubt (especially in CQ) Chrom- Himbo Claude- Suave, witty, clever fellow with grand plans. Lucina- Driven woman desperate to save a future at great personal cost, yet unaware of how to really live the peaceful life she craves (admittedly played for comedy). The only character to have similar inconsistency is Micaiah who in RD is a lot tougher than heroes or engage where they’ve emphasised more the selfless healer characteristics and less the revolutionary leader ones. But at least those elements are there in her main game.
I disagree, Roy is and always has been 1 consistent thing.
Our boy.
I think roy is an interesting case because while he's less of the focus on his game, this makes the world stand out more. It also reinforces the idea of roy being less experienced compared to other lords
Roy was so much our boy self insert that even IS couldn't figure out what to make of him.
Roy is our boy
He brings us joy
He defends his soil
He's not your toy
The best fighting game characterization of Roy is his Project M counterpart, where fire effects are more emphasized on stronger hits to show that the Binding blade is doing the heavy lifting when it comes to raw power. Heck, you'll notice that in Melee, his cape was purple. We gave him back his blue cape in one of his alts.
But the way I see Roy is a person who is an idealist with a pessimistic outlook. Someone who wants to do what is right but worries over whether he is in fact doing said right thing properly. He is intelligent beyond his years, and so he worries a lot about what is ahead, sometimes losing track of the present.
Roy isn't the most out there protagonist, but I never saw him as bland. I can think of a good half dozen plus FE protagonists with far less interesting character arcs.
You hit the nail on the head exactly
@geno_xi Yeah, I'd say Roy doesn't have a flamboyant personality, but I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing. Shulk from Xenoblade 1 was very similar in personality, and the idea works well of well executed.
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To avoid using the memes, he is supposed to be the antonym of a Mary Sue. He's a character whose flaws make him special; not particularly strong, but well determined. Not an experienced leader, but he tries anyway and has good mentors to guide him. And having mediocre stats across the block aside from Luck is very in character for him. But then the Binding Blade changes everything. It is a sword so strong, even the Divine Weapons bow down to it, but the one chosen to use it is not some prodigy chosen by destiny, but some humble boy who just wants to do the right thing.
Aside from Smash Bros needing to balance out stats for it to be a good fighting game, his heavy hitter status comes from his sword and not the character. And when he first appears in Heroes, it was pretty faithful, but the alt versions are more or less fan service. And Engage openly does surface level to his personality, with his own Xenologue really being the only standout. But the director of Echoes has hinted wanting to remake Binding Blade. There is acknowledgement that Roy is kind of a one-note character despite being such a fan favorite Smash Bros character. And there are plans to fix that, much like how Alm went from being the most one-note protagonist in the series to being one of the deepest. There is hope a Binding Blade remake could fix his character, but I sure do hope it stays faithful to Binding Blade the game. It may be a flawed game, but it's a game where its flaws made it special. I still want to see rescue/drop chains encouraged and what not. And I hope they don't buff him to modern FE lord tier, where he would solo the game; at least prior to Binding Blade retrieval. But we shall see eventually.
The fact that he isn't a strong warrior but led strong warriors is also reflected by the fact that he grants great support bonuses.
Giving the option to make Ninian his mother in the prequel was a mistake because it make him too special, like if he always had a special destiny wich is the antithesis of what he was meant to like.
@@eleonorepb4565 Actually, Ninian being the mother would explain a fragile side; though the part about him being half Ice Dragon would sort of make him "Not normal" anymore. In fact, most support conversations did make references to what Roy's mother was like; A kind an beautiful woman, but a fragile woman who wasn't suited for a long life.
I'm pretty sure that the original intention was that Roy's mother was a simple noblewoman not an half dragon with special powers who is special even amoung other dragons and who could led to the end of the world if controles by bad people. Honestly she is only mentionned in Lilina and Marcus' support, because they wanted to hit at Lilina taking her place, because being Roy's waifu is Lilina's principal character trait.
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@eleonorepb4565 It doesn't add specialness points to him at all. It's never even a major plot point, unlike with Corrin. And I highly doubt that being a noblewoman was the intention.
Hold Out is because Roy has to hold out for his promotion. Lmao so true. 😂😂😂
There's a great interview with Smash Bros director Masahiro Sakurai about Roy. Because Melee was made before Binding Blade was out, he had to guess some of Roy's traits and envisioned him as a "headstrong" and "energetic" character. When he finally played Binding Blade he admitted that he got the characterization wrong. Despite this, he double-downed on it with Smash 4 and Ultimate. The Smash Roy and Fire Emblem Roy are basically two different characters. What the hell is with Roy's redesign in Smash 4 anyway? Not only did he not need it, but it looks pretty ugly. He has window curtains on his boots.
Ah Roy, my favorite escort missi- I mean lord! Our boy!
I don't agree; his characterizations make sense. The developers stated they wanted the story to have Roy go on this journey and to return a man. In the beginning, he was more unsure of himself, and in the end, he became strong-willed and confident. He was always determined, and this is what allowed him to grow. Just one small example, but the Roy in Smash has the Binding Blade, which he only gets near the end of the game, so I just see this "iteration" of him as taking place after the story of FE6 (the Roy in later Smash games even is taller and more muscular than how he is normally portrayed as)
Roy is our Boy! And that's why he is perfect the way he is (or not).
For Smash I consider it as a different version, like future Gohan, it's Roy, but not that Roy. Because you know, Sakurai without any source for his character.
I see it in Binding Blade like if it would be the "intended" version of him, calm and bland, mid all around and his personality of idealistic but realistic and always asking. But people start knowing Roy for Smash more than his original game, so I think they change it with his inclusion in other games, they keep his personality, calm, bland and always interested on everything, and they show him as a strong guy in the mainlines for the Smash games.
I think Hold out and advance are references from the supports, where he says that he must 'advance' with his army and fight, and how much stress he feels and needs to 'hold out' to be a good leader. Rise Above because why not. (I can't find something )
For Feh, I don't know much about it, I will say they are the "same" just in another point of the history or just another version.
These are my thoughts and they are not the real answers, I can always miss something or overthink in others.
Hm I believe within a interview for smash at least that Sakura believed Roy is more hot headed and aggressive based on design and he has more of a explosive and up close style of fighting.
As of feh, he's pretty alright considering the most recent albeit brief forging bond appearance his base for is pretty neutral and expected of him (zero clue as of why binding blade for og Roy originally had no DC but it did buff defend and resistance and dragon effectiveness until refine)
Legendary is something I need to reread on but he's more or less the same and that's all I know of the roys within feh as I lack the other two versions of him.
Engage I believe He's fitting his role pretty well all things considered, he can chase after foes and get that little extra shove to be near using advance, 5 extra level stats when engaged (his late promotion does improve him by a lot even without binding blade being questioned) hold out can save more frail units or lets your stronger one fight on in groups of enemies (ironically pairs with Ike skills pretty well since he becomes a tank in a sense as well)
His weapons in engage is unique from starting with lancewevere to reaching binding blade that lacks the dragon effectiveness (as I recall but I likely forgot) but he does have wyvernbane due to fighting off Bern's powerful wyvern force and he did it with his army before his prom so it themes well albeit strange for a first weapon but later makes sense down the line.
Smash wise, Roy is oddly inconsistent with his og self who went along with the best advice and to be honest he did follow orders well since you know the original person who was meant to lead died just a moment too late to save them, along with his instructor being a general herself and If I'd be honest I'd take their word too and follow their advice/move out and help after they save me as well.
Another thing to add on that I just realized is within feh he seems to be against a lot of the subhumans/against dragons and beasts as his own allies, it begin just as binding blade which made sense it's like Marth's falchion but used defensively but his legendary and refine seems he doesn't like beasts nor dragons on his side even though engage and og self saved iddun and lets fae join his crew, and if I recall his Valentine's is the same with his father (again i don't have that one but usually they make it a theme/same upgrade or better from og perf refine)
Finally for engage I feel he's the best neutral unit especially when in battle you engage with them to be a bit more tanky and fight off foes
I haven't played his original game but Roy quite consistently comes off as someone with a low-key and deferential personality.
Now Ike on the other hand acts like a completely different person in every scene
My best guess as to why roy is all over the place is that the binding blade and it's development was a really weird time for IS in general. Thracia had like, the worst release of all time and Kaga had left IS. I think they tried to be more ambitious with Roy's character given his design but as the game struggled to come together on the n64, they had to tone back the scope of what they could do. In the end, binding blade ended up with a really safe, kinda generic story and a lot of the cast is very similar to FE 1's cast. When smash released and Roy was characterized differently, getting really popular, IS probably grew to regret how bland Roy ended up being and ever since they've been trying to line Roy somewhere between his actual game, and his depiction in smash bros. Now he's all over the place and the only way to really fix him at this point is to probably just remake binding blade and almost completely rewrite Roy's character, and probably change his playstyle as well.
He may not be a character in the main story but he definitely is in his supports, and he is 15 yrs old I believe
The reason why people can't get a pulse on Roy's personality is because he doesn't have one.
@@Mangs1337 the truth hurts
I would heavily disagree on this, but that's a story for another time. I think that Roy, though his characterization is not very apparent, I do think his personality shines through in his supports and the very few nuggets that exist in the main story. To say he doesn't have one I think is a bit of an understatement and does a disservice to what actually does exist, and what does exist I believe to be quite compelling
No
Perhaps the true Roy were the friends we made along the way...
On a less joking note, I really don't understand why Roy is almost ever consistent either. Im assuming initially with smash bros, they wanted the character to feel different from Marth and changed his character as they saw fit, and then that just kinda stuck for the rest of the series. But as for IS themselves? It's anyone's guess. Maybe after seeing the Smash bros changes, they knew that wasn't the character they made, but they also didnt want to use the character they made since he doesn't really stand out? I feel like his Engage appearance was made to try to make Roy stand out more instead of everything being a reference to something, but I really dont know lol.
Wasn't Roy added to Smash before FE6? So Sakurai had his own interpretation of the character? Maybe that's why they decided to do that in other games as a running gag.
Roy is the best.
I think Leif represented it better, but if Sigurd is the Lord who was ready and couldn’t do to circumstance (Macbeth/Hamlet type), then Roy is the Lord who wasn’t ready and had to rise up anyway. He doesn’t have a solid personality for part because he has very few interactions outside of Merlinus, Gwen(I can’t spell the whole thing), and his supports, but also because he hasn’t had a chance to make his own judgements on the world. Ike was old enough to become a man and establish his own views separate from Greil (even if they probably would have agreed on a lot, it wasn’t because Greil told him to feel a certain way), but Roy isn’t there yet so he’s the most open and most molded by those he surrounds himself with.
Heck, he wins the war and isn’t even crowned unlike pretty much every other FE protagonist. Even the other main one who didn’t, Ike, purposefully cast aside his nobility.
Roy isn’t at the point yet to stand out by his beliefs, capabilities, or virtues. However, he does have the spirit of the hero and the will to unite others for a just enough cause.
As a Roy fan myself, I was expecting a more negative analysis on why you thought he was like a bad character, but after watching the video, I can actually understand and even agree with you with what you are trying to say. I don't even know the answer either. They even do the exact same thing with Ike (more so in Path of Radiance).
Of course, I do disagree with the fact that you say that Roy is a bland character. Roy is actually a character that tries his hardest to be as optimistic as possible while he going through the reality of war. The game doesn't show you this through the story because it isn't a character-based story like FE7's; its story focuses much more on the continent of Elibe. It displays his personality in his supports, most especially with Lance & Shanna.
I think it's largely due to Smash overshadowing FE, and especially in the West, where our first and only (unless you have a JP catridge or emulate) look at Roy WAS in Smash, not FE. I think a lot of people that met Roy through Smash would be devastated to learn of his true strength in his home game, and so since then, I think every iteration has been a war between those who prefer his FE6 incarnation vs those who see him for his Smash counterpart. This wasn't really done with Marth or Ike, who are also in Smash. They feel (mostly) consistent.
I think part of it is Roy debuted in Melee when Blinding Blade was still being developed. There could be a good chance that Sakurai doesn't have any understanding who Roy's character is and perhaps had only development footage of him (hence the fire elemental attacks.) Roy could have been over powered in previous iterations for all we know. Marth and Ike are more consistent because they are already well known characters and have a complete game before their respective Smash release.
It makes sense, Roy was literally not even planned for the game(Which is also why he is a buggy and unpolished version of Marth in melee). Sakurai originally wanted Leif from FE5 and saw Roy by complete coincidence when he was over at IS to ask for permission, after which he just decided "yeah, let's do that!"
i agree with your statement about roy, just so you tho, Roy's 15. Happy Thanksgiving btw!
Roy's 15 in Binding Blade btw.
Roy's my third favorite fire emblem protagonist
The first "Roy personality" was made for smash because he was added in melee before fe 6 was finished. And during that time frame, IS did a complete 180 on his character. That's all I know
Maybe he's a Chameleon sort of character, he easily moulds himself into whichever social setting he finds himself in.
His Rise Up skill fits his whole Promotion thing and I want to say Hold Out exists because he's probably the Protag that you have to try your hardest to keep alive. Hold Out is more of a play style for his game not necessarily a trait he embodies personally.
For the Strength stuff, yeah I dunno man. Only explanation I can come up with is it's a running joke for the devs. Apparently the Emblems aren't MEANT to be exactly the same characters but more like enhanced representations of them, maybe Roy has some inner strength pushing him forward in his story that channels into actual strength in the times he gets represented in other games
There's supposed to be a narrative element of roy growing stronger over the course of the game that is obfuscated by fe6 growths being fe6 growths. Lilina makes mention upon finding durandal that Roy will need to get a lot stronger to wield the sacred weapons, and he doesn't actually find the eponymous binding blade until chapter 21, at which point roy has grown through his journey into someone strong (thematically at least) and has no issues wielding it.
This happens with Ike too in a sense, as in fe9 its actually somewhat likely his strength stat doesn't pan out great, but fe10 and all future incarnations of him are really jacked.
Smash makes sense sakurai didnt know how he was when he made the chara
And engage isnt really something that holds up the emblem characters (see my opinion on lyn there) really
@@nohrianguy Lyn in Engage is pretty much how She is on FE7.
My take on Roy is more of a kid with very good strategy and not much strength of his own. He went to strategy-school in Ostia, and he fights with his army to inspire them, but everyone is scared he will get killed, and he is compasionate as seen in the last part of the game (he is a kid).
I like his supports and they also show he doesn't even like the sword, he wanted to be a mage, and Cecilia told him that Lords use swords...
Roy has it rough, but if you save your money and visit secret shop he can be a cereal killer like the best of em
The source material doesn't help at all to understand what Roy is about. Smash bros melee added even more confusion by making him a heavy hitter with a fire sword and basically "the cooler Marth" but got replaced by Ike in Brawl who fullfills that role better. It's probably the most confusing lord because he is like a chemicaly pure FE protagonist, there is nothing specific to outline, leading to many different attempts at characterization.
Roy in FE6 is a reflection of the game's entire story. He is very functional, much more functional than people give him credit for, but he is not exactly exciting so many reject him. I personally love the pure clarity of the plot and characters, it is very clear where the game requests a specific conclusion to be drawn and where we are meant to speculate, aswell as what emotion exists at what time. But I get that I am in the minority for liking something "dry, but solid" over a more loose and messy alternative. Well done basics are just rad to me sometimes.
I think the reason why Roy is so inconsistent is simply because his most popular appearance is in Smash , and Smash takes a lot of liberties when it comes down to adapting characters from other franchises. Another reason I think is because the people writing for Roy in other media don't seem to have really taken the time to study Roy's character (and I know this is a funny joke in the community, but no, Roy most certainly does have a personality and character that I think is vastly overlooked by the community and, in this case the writers) and thus characterize him in a somewhat shallow manner.
I don't blame them, since Roy's character is buried in a lot of subtext and 99% of people won't find it. A lot see him as bland at the outset and thus Roy's character becomes a canvas so to speak for personalities, and I think that writers see this and immediately start painting over it, like a canvas should. But this does a disservice to Roy's actual character. Roy is a caring soul, yet he's painfully aware about how his decisions in the army affect his troops. He's shown to be smart (finding out about the trap set by Wagner in Chapter 6 and Elphin's test in Chapter 10/11), surprisingly observant (figuring out Elphin's origin just from speech and mannerisms alone), and although he does spend a lot of time listening to others, he's shown to not follow orders when he believes a course of action should be taken for the better (In short, every single time Merlinus suggests anything). Yet he's not just a good two shoes protag, he acknowledges his faults as a leader and doesn't value himself higher because of his position (Lance support), he is shown to be struggling a lot in spite of his happy exterior (Shanna support), and he is shown to be a perfectionist to a fault and also a tirelessly hard worker when he puts his mind to something (Cecilia x Lilina Support and Allen Support).
Roy has a lot of cool character moments. The problem is that almost all of this is stuck behind FE6's cumbersome GBA support system, which makes it difficult for most people to find this stuff. I don't think the writers really took the time to delve in deep into the supports, and just assumed that Roy was a blank canvas when he absolutely wasn't. I think that's the biggest reason why Roy has been so inconsistent in Fire Emblem.
Basically roy is such a blank slate in his own game that its difficult for them to do much with him that's actually unique. It seems his smash and engage iterations are more based off the binding blade itself than him and I can't really blame them as he's just that bland
Meh, not that much, he’s actually interesting if you look into his supports.
When I was young and had no knowledge f the Fire Emblem series I always thought of Roy and Marth as rivals or leaders on opposite sides of a war.
In my head Marth was a bit older, more skilled, and essentially the main villain for Roy, who to me was the cool and powerful protagonist who would one day defeat Marth once and for all.
This was partially influenced by their Melee designs, which always seemed a bit more strict and serious to me, especially compared to Roy’s actual FE6 design where he looks like a kid. (My perception was also influenced by me playing as Roy and getting crushed by my older brothers playing as Marth, but that’s beside the point).
I don’t remember where, but I recall a video claiming that Roy was designed for Melee without any real knowledge of what his character was or how he played (because FE6 was still in development), so the team took creative liberties that lead to an effectively different character for smash brothers, which led to the topic of this video.
I just watched a video about when the original fe creator left is when fe6 (then fe 64) was being created him leaving caused a lot of problems at is to sum it up roy doesn't have a character because of the fact fe6 was kinda under done and his lack of representation in any game until engage (where really he isn't much of a character) just kinda lead to him being roy that guy from smash bros
Roy is the excuse for wooing Cecilia, hot for teacher 🥵
Roy in Smash could very well be himself, just after the timeline of FE6. He uses the Binding Blade and his character design is a fair bit older looking in 4 and Ultimate. I interpret it as “Roy after he’s grown up”. Engage Roy, by contrast, is in the process of growing up to be that strong, rushdown style character. Hold Out is for his perseverence, the extra levels help units who are behind to catch up, while closing in to attack is almost a direct nod to how you’re supposed to play him in Smash
Holding out for promotion. Lol.
No I’m not.
I personally don't really think Roy is that bland as a lot of people say. For a 15 year old who has to lead an army out of the blue, he pretty smart and insightful. His smash appearance was made the way it is because sakurai's impressions of Roy where that of a young man with a lot of energy. However to me, he did not came across as hotheaded. His battle screams are quite loud, but his post-battle ones are quite the opposite. This trend can be seen in his heroes quotes and sounds well. To me this comes across as someone who is driven when need be, but otherwise collected and calm. Roy's smash appearance seems to have influenced Roy's fe appearance quite a bit, as can be seen in echoes and engage. I do agree though that in his later appearances, he does not really look like a 15 year old. What I disagree on is that Roy in the later smash games in basically an echo of Marth. While they share a few moves, their playstyles and character properties are quite different. As for heroes inconsistency, an explanation can partially be found in the amount of characters the game has. There are more characters whose stats differ quite dramatically across alts. Just look at leif for example his first and third alt where quite fast while his second alt was very slow. Same can be said when you compare Reinhard's newest alt to his first. Ike's alt do differ a little bit as well, but I think you get what I mean at this point. Different stats somewhat help to differentiate the unit a bit. This at least used to be the case when heroes was a bit younger
I couldn't tell you other then he's one of the two FE protags that feels like a radically different character in every game they appear in, the other one being Corrin. But I will say that Engage getting him wrong is hardly anything new considering 1. It's Engage, 2. these aren't the real characters, just emblem versions which if i had to take a wild shot in the dark, are based more on how people view these characters in legend than the actual person themselves.
Tbh, the same would apply to Smash, almost all of those guys are imperfect replicas created from toys(Smash 64) or figurines(Smash Melee and beyond. Yes, Amiibo functionality is fairly literal in this case)
I've always seen Roy's personality as (Marth + Leif)/8
(Low result because none of his stats are good anyway)
I will always say this if they ever remake binding blade they need to give roy a coming of age story. At the start roy is his young self then by midgame he grow up a little his awakening design and by endgame when you fight zephiel he's grown up more mature smash ultimate roy.
Roy Melee had a more outgoing oersonality to cou ter Marth
And in 6 hes more headstrong and like Marth
In Awakening he is Hero class and this eould leak to his later Smash appearances as his hero appearance was so well received.
Its still so strange as Smash says hes still 15 but hes clearly based on post war Hero Roy from Awakening and hes bigger built and no longer a scrwany kid like he was in melee. I still miss that look for him as he looks like that in his actual game.
In short they really dont know what to do with him. Engage gave him his classic look again but gave him his whole "being a strong man" schtik from Awakening and Smash. It seems like going forward Roy will be shown as Engage showed him. I hope so at least as if he isnt axed from the inevitable next Smash game i hope to see him like he was in Engage and less like his Hero Awakening look previous Smash games incorporated into his design.
I agree with everything you said. He is pretty bland and every single time roy appears in a game they take liberties into giving him a personality but they don't make him ANYWHERE near consistent to have a established personality. In FE05 he was literally just a average guy who looked about 14-16 in his home game which they made him a marth clone for obvious reason due to melees development cycle. During Smash 4 (this is a theory with 0 proof) I believe that they used a early version of FE awakening redesign. I believe this due to them having very simular designs in their clothing. Perhaps it was a a design that more closely represented their game before scraping it and making the other version. IN FEH They used the older design as the new one was tied to FE awakening and stuck with it to pay better homage to his game as the FE awakening redesigned changed a LOT of his design to make him almost unrecognizable.
It's because every iteration of him outside his game has terrible writing - FEH and Engage.
If the team behind Echoes were to characterise him, it'd be cohesive with what was in FE6.
And yeah, the way SSB portrays him is a big outlier. He leans closer to characters like Ike or Cloud.
Earliest concept art (probably made before Kaga and Thracia's artist Hirota left) shows that Roy is gonna be yet another Marth/Leif clone with not much to make him distinct, but then one of the later concept arts show him as this hyperactive Ash Ketchum like kid with an even spikier hair than his final design. The side comics also show Roy more as a goofball or at least a party guy.
Hi, 3 things: 1- Good video, 2- Roy is the worst Lord in FE franchise. 3- You ok bro? Eat fruit and vegetable, sleep well. Todays video You seemed a little worried and different. Take time of if you need it. We that love your videos will wait for you to get better just like one piece fans wait for Oda to get better.
Why do you say that? I did lose a lot of weight recently, but that was intended, perhaps it's the dark circles ahahahha?
I gotta say, Roy is worst Lord in the series. Marth had an excuse to be horribly bland, it wasn’t a good one, but being first Lord is something. Roy comes directly after Leif who is in many ways a parallel to him (very young lord thrust into responsibility) but Leif is actually compelling and has an arc. Big thing to make Roy better for remake would be to make EliNini straight up canon so he’d have a connection to the plot. Because as is someone like Lillina, Guinevere or Fae would work better as a main character due to actually having emotional and personal stakes in what’s happening.
Essentially Roy is inconsistent because he never really had a well defined, apparent character. Like some other Lords it’s easy
Ike- 0 time for bullshit, honest and dedicated but with no graces.
Leif- Impetuous and hot headed until his attitude burns him and he has to really take time to learn.
Ephraim- Frat boy who wants to fight everything
Eliwood- Soft hearted guy not made for fighting but dedicated genuinely to his friends and loved ones so he tries anyway.
Sigurd- classic chivalric romance character. Dooms the world for love.
Corrin- similar to Eliwood but dialed up to 11 and wracked with crippling self doubt (especially in CQ)
Chrom- Himbo
Claude- Suave, witty, clever fellow with grand plans.
Lucina- Driven woman desperate to save a future at great personal cost, yet unaware of how to really live the peaceful life she craves (admittedly played for comedy).
The only character to have similar inconsistency is Micaiah who in RD is a lot tougher than heroes or engage where they’ve emphasised more the selfless healer characteristics and less the revolutionary leader ones. But at least those elements are there in her main game.