Top 30 Fire Emblem Characters of ALL TIME Countdown

[Mekkah]

Here's a fun little side project. Every day that I'm able to and can be bothered, I'm going to post an entry to this top 30, going down all the way 'till who I believe is the best unit ever made in any Fire Emblem game*. This is just something I'm doing for a little entertainment, I could've spent a lot longer thinking out who should be above who, but in the end this is more supposed to be a light discussion/speculation topic than an actual tier list thing.

It's based MOSTLY on efficiency, but for the sake of getting a few units I like or want to write about in, I'm just going to allow a little bit of flexibility here with regards to playstyle/speed. I'm not going Spirit Dust to Mia mode here, but just...giving myself some breathing room. Let's start off with the Honorable Mention, which perfectly reflects this ideology.

Honorable Mention - Sedgar and Wolf, from FE11

That's right, I'm allowing myself to cram multiple units into one spot if they are similar enough, just so I can write about more different things. I will mostly talk about Sedgar because he's the better of the two (as well as the less furry and the more liked of the two), but Wolf is so close to him that he deserves to be in here, mentioned in a Honorable Mention.

Sedgar, like everything else on this list, is absurdly broken. Not so much for efficient play, but for the slightly slower, casual players. The reason for this is that he has the potential to turn H5 into a walk in the park by going General. With 180% HP growth and 110% Def, he's one of the few units that can hear the *tink* sound against all those jacked enemies. His other growths are absolutely brutal too, with 75% Str and 60% Spd. Remember when we joked around that FE10 Gatrie had the FE9 Knight Ward infused into his blood? Sedgar probably ate around ten of them for breakfast.

Why is he hanging so low, then? Well, he has flaws. You can't fault any unit for having flaws, but in this list, competition is just so tight that someone has to be at the bottom, and I believe Sedgar just happens to have the most exploitable flaws. For one, his personal bases are awful. They're a bunch of zeros and 1s, with a single 2 in Luk, and then even -1 Spd and Res. That is painful when you grow so insanely slowly (sub 10 EXP per battle, I believe). In combination with D lances and E bows, that means Sedgar's going to need a lot of training to get anywhere. When he does get there, with a bit of "grinding" (without having it cost turns, just have him tank a bunch of Ch8 Cavs on a fort), he turns into an invaluable wall. Your painful journey pays off in dividends, as Sedgar can now basically say "alright Marth, Shiida, Jagen, Barst, you can go to that half of the map and clean up there, while I'll do this one on my own". At one point, Sedgar will have grown so much that he can reclass to Hero to move around faster and double things, while still being your most durable unit. Of course, this also pretty much resets his weapon ranks...

His other problem is that he's in FE11, which is one of the worst games to be a growth unit in because of the broken infinite range Warp. We didn't think it was an issue initially, but then Interceptor just tried skipping the last 10 or so chapters and it worked. And then others improved upon that by skipping almost the entire game with Warp, and Sedgar is left with around...maybe six maps or so to prove himself. That's not enough for any growth unit in any game, really, and Sedgar is in no position to try and be an exception.

He is still a lifesaver for most people completing H5 for their first time, or even playing the game for the first time even though he is very very overkill for Normal Mode. He most definitely breaks the game, it's just that the players have broken it further to the point where we no longer need Sedgar to do it for us. This is actually a process that happens for every FE game: the most durable units are hyped at first, then lose importance as players figure out better strategies. It happened to Oswin, Gilliam, Lowen, and quite a few others I can't really think of. I really just wanted one of these units to be in this topic, as a symbol for that type of sturdy unit that can get you through a map no matter how long it has to take.

* Though I may be biased towards the ones that I played more...

30 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1781433

29 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1782387

28 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1783208

27 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1784422

26 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1786162

25 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1787120

24 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1788265

23 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1789064

22 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1790104

21 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1791112

20 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1792269

19 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1793171

18 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1794463

17 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1794922

16 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1795748

15 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1797220

14 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1798082

13 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1799175

12 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1800181

11 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1801123

10 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1802073

09 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1802976

08 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1804067

07 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1804732

06 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1805688

05 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1806734

04 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1808204

03 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1809337

02 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1810994

01 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1810994

B Route

02 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1810522

01 - http://serenesforest.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=29384&view=findpost&p=1810542

Edited January 3, 2012 by Mekkah

[NinjaMonkey]

I'd be willing to bet that FE10!Haar comes 1st (or at least in the top 3)... with Seth nearby.

Edited December 6, 2011 by NinjaMonkey

[Integrity]

I'm going to be watching this so I can disagree vocally later.

[Anouleth]

For all that mention of Sedgar, and not a single word to his superior companion Wolf?

[Ansem]

Seth and Marcus.

[dondon151]

For a moment I thought that some rando had made this topic. I'm glad it's Mekkah.

EDIT: and yeah, which one is outright better between Wolf and Sedgar is arguable. If you're turtling enough to justify using Sedgar, then Wolf is not really worse at all despite the lower def growths. I also think you should point out specifically that these guys have no base weapon rank to speak of, not just mention D lances and E bows as general.

Edited December 6, 2011 by dondon151

[I.M. Gei]

1) Shinon doesn't belong because he's locked to 2-range (besides the rather weak crossbows) until 4-E-1.

2) Gotohs don't belong because they're not around for enough of the game to really trivialize it.

EDIT:

01:22 <Anouleth> "Anyway I can see Harr, Ike, Leven, Shinion, ect along those lines being put there"

01:22 <Anouleth> it's amazing

01:22 <Anouleth> he misspelled all of them

01:22 <Anouleth> I guess he should get some credit for spelling Ike correctly

Edited December 6, 2011 by Black★Rock Shooter

[Esaka]

Levin's kids and Sigurd will be near top I freaking promise you.

[Paperblade]

I would post predictions but you confirmed/denied like all of them so it's more like spoilers

[Elieson]

oddly, no one has mentioned Christmas knights.

Abel/Cain? Kent/Sain? Need I continue?

[Mekkah]

EDIT: and yeah, which one is outright better between Wolf and Sedgar is arguable. If you're turtling enough to justify using Sedgar, then Wolf is not really worse at all despite the lower def growths. I also think you should point out specifically that these guys have no base weapon rank to speak of, not just mention D lances and E bows as general.

Most of the things I said for Sedgar go for Wolf as well. There was actually quite a bit of discussion on the differences between the two on FEG. Wolf has slightly better bases (2 more HP, 1 more Spd, 3 more Luk, vs 1 less Res). What generally pushed it in Sedgar's favor was his 20% higher Def growth, vs Wolf's 20% higher Str (and Luk), which lets Sedgar break into 110% Def growth whereas Wolf has 90%.

I kind of implied the weapon rank thing when I mentioned their class change to Hero pretty much resetting their ranks. I don't believe they have business as any other class except maybe Warrior or Berserker, but those are kinda gimmicky. Plus we all know Etzel is the best Berserker.

[Mekkah]

A last minute change shows evidence of my self-esteem but you won't notice that!

30. Franz, from FE8

Everyone loves Franz. He has more availability than ALMOST anyone, has bases and growths that will reliably make him one of your best units, uses a regular promotion item, and he has the best combat class in the GBA series: Cavalier -> Paladin/Great Knight, with (partial) weapon triangle control, and the choice of either getting 8 mov, or three different weapon types.

Franz only has one issue that he shares with ALMOST the entire FE8 cast: he's not Seth.

But that's okay, there's only one person that can be Seth. Franz is modest and shy: he aspires to be as great as Seth, and when Seth is on vacation (even Seth gets tired of ORKOing the entire game with a Javelin), Franz has a friendly competition with Vanessa about who is the best unit. Franz is easily better at combat overall, but Vanessa flies everywhere...you can see the results of this in the various drafts that have been held, and some people have even been doing Sethless playthroughs.

You just can't really go wrong with Franz. He has all that mounted utility, he grows fairly quickly because he gets to enemies so quickly and never really has to hold back since he can generally enforce WTA and starts ORKOing with just 2-3 Str + Spd procs (40% and 50% growths respectively). The only things he kind of has problems with don't attack...they're called forests, mountains, rivers, and desert tiles.

In a run with Seth, Franz isn't really obsolete but even he has a very hard time getting ample level-ups to show his potential. But without Seth, he can usually eat more than half of the map on his own and sort of become Seth by himself, it just takes around eight chapters or so. And anyone that can kind of become Seth himself deserves a spot in this top 30. Lowen has a lot to learn from Franz.

[NinjaMonkey]

1) Shinon doesn't belong because he's locked to 2-range (besides the rather weak crossbows) until 4-E-1.

2) Gotohs don't belong because they're not around for enough of the game to really trivialize it.

Since when did this become your list, exactly?

[Ether]

Since when did this become your list, exactly?

Since he gave a response akin to what the TC would have given. It doesn't have to be his list for him to comment on a comment, and I, as well as what I would believe to be most serious watchers of the topic, will agree.

[Anouleth]

For a moment I thought that some rando had made this topic. I'm glad it's Mekkah.

EDIT: and yeah, which one is outright better between Wolf and Sedgar is arguable. If you're turtling enough to justify using Sedgar, then Wolf is not really worse at all despite the lower def growths. I also think you should point out specifically that these guys have no base weapon rank to speak of, not just mention D lances and E bows as general.

Wolf has the advantages of higher speed base, higher luck forever, and higher strength, which is arguably better than yet more defense (as if they're really hurting for it).

[General Horace]

If Franz made the list, I really hope Saleh did too. I doubt it though, since he's kind of a niche character for just warping in lategame, like Pent.

[Mekkah]

Wolf has the advantages of higher speed base, higher luck forever, and higher strength, which is arguably better than yet more defense (as if they're really hurting for it).

They are definitely hurting for more Defense when they're starting out, and when they're Heroes. I also believe Wolf grows slightly slower because of his higher base level.

[Lord Raven]

I predict Lilina and Nino will be in the Top 5. Easily.

[Anouleth]

They are definitely hurting for more Defense when they're starting out, and when they're Heroes.

But Sedgar doesn't have more defense initially, it's that his growth is better. And Wolf will face critical less often and get doubled less, as well as having more base HP.

I also believe Wolf grows slightly slower because of his higher base level.

That's true, but it's about 2 exp per kill. Meaning that to be an entire level behind Sedgar, they'd have to kill about 50 enemies. So when it counts most (early on in the game), Wolf is better.

Edited December 6, 2011 by Anouleth

[Stark]

Interesting. Franz would not have been on my mind for this list, but I guess that just goes to show how horribly everyone gets overshadowed by Seth in SS.

Top 10 Predictions: Haar, Sigurd, Levin!Arthur, Seth, FE9!Titania, FE3!Sirius, Shiida, Lena, Safy, either Catria or Marcus. Roughly in that order. Slot MU in there for sure if he's in the running.

I'l certainly be following this.

[dondon151]

I kind of implied the weapon rank thing when I mentioned their class change to Hero pretty much resetting their ranks. I don't believe they have business as any other class except maybe Warrior or Berserker, but those are kinda gimmicky. Plus we all know Etzel is the best Berserker.

I've found utility for both of them in horseman, and berserker has a higher axe rank compared to hero, so they're both choices that may be considered, although not as useful as hero or general.

[Paperblade]

fuck I'm already wrong

this sucks

at least I guessed #1

[Just call me AL]

I predict Lilina and Nino will be in the Top 5. Easily.

Considering this is Mekkah we're talking about, I heavily doubt it. Marcus and Zealot would be more accurate if you ask me. Just saying. Edited December 7, 2011 by Little Al

[Lord Raven]

Thanks for the heads up, Little Al. I appreciate it. I legitimately thought they'd be on this list... Guess we can't all get what we want.

Edited December 7, 2011 by Mercenary Raven

[Caliban of Sycorax]

Levin!Arthur for #1

It'll be interesting if he looks at FE4 kids, if he analyzes each father, or only specific fathers. I mean, there are some kids that are just ridiculous (Claude!Swordtwins) but I'm interested in the possibilities.