So About Ike

[Silver-Haired Maiden]

So when it comes to Ike, it seems like everyone really likes him. He's extremely popular, at least PoR!Ike, and heck, it's hard not to like him.

Ike is probably one of my favorite male lords, despite not being able to play PoR personally I do still know of his more major feats from that game, and so I'm interested to hear everyone's more in-depth opinions on him.

Do you love him? Like him? Dislike him? Hate him?

Feel free to share!

[DefyingFates]

I really liked his no-nonsense attitude in PoR, mostly because it was hilarious seeing him clash with Begnion officials and the like who expect more from him (read: expect him to respect nobles), but I also really liked his honest-to-a-fault nature when he meets the laguz for the first time and confesses he doesn't know a thing about them.

I like him in RD too.

...when he isn't stealing the spotlight from Micaiah, of course.

Edit: If you don't want PoR completely spoiled for you, you may want to edit your post to ask that people stay vague/ give their general impressions of him (or just avoid spoilers altogether). Thankfully no one's spoiled anything so far!

Edited November 8, 2017 by DefyingFates

[Magical Glace]

FE9 Ike isn't a fav, but he's not super hateable.  I'm ambivalent about him at best, his existence is a bit soiled by FE10 Ike.

 

FE10 Ike however is one of my least liked characters in the entire series.  He's a spotlight hog, bland, has no development, and all around has no business being a main protagonist again.  He had his game.  He should not steal someone else's.

Micaiah should quite frankly have been FE10's sole "lord" character.  

Edited November 8, 2017 by Glaceon Mage

[Etrurian emperor]

I like Ike. He's a well written character and a good unit.

Now I don't always think Ike is a likable guy but even that is always in line with his personality. 

[blah the Prussian]

I think Ike is overall quite overrated. 

His character arc is essentially your standard FE lord coming of age, except that he's only learning responsibility for a mercenary group instead of a nation. The whole commoner angle could have been interesting, but the narrative doesn't really engage with it; Ike starts and ends the game with, among other things, the same attitudes towards nobility, the same attitudes towards discrimination, and the same general perspective, and I don't see how him being a commoner changes this perspective. Finally, I feel that Ike is simply a less interesting character than Elincia, and that his moronic rivalry with the Black Knight distracts from Ashnard, a much better antagonist. Ike isn't bad, but he's far from the best FE has to offer in terms of protagonists.

[Silver-Haired Maiden]

9 minutes ago, DefyingFates said:

I really liked his no-nonsense attitude in PoR, mostly because it was hilarious seeing him clash with Begnion officials and the like who expect more from him (read: expect him to respect nobles), but I also really liked his honest-to-a-fault nature when he meets the laguz for the first time and confesses he doesn't know a thing about them.

I like him in RD too.

...when he isn't stealing the spotlight from Micaiah, of course.

I pretty much agree with this entirely, except that his clash with Sanaki should have gotten him killed. He's very lucky Sanaki was more interested in playing a game with him and that Sephiran had vouched for him.

Personally I feel that they could have done much more in terms of development with him in RD than they did. Ike had his coming of age story in PoR, so they could have focused on most any other arc for him in RD and they just... didn't. He remained pretty static. I still liked him but he could have used less spotlight and more development.

8 minutes ago, Glaceon Mage said:

FE9 Ike isn't a fav, but he's not super hateable.  I'm ambivalent about him at best, his existence is a bit soiled by FE10 Ike.

 

FE10 Ike however is one of my least liked characters in the entire series.  He's a spotlight hog, bland, has no development, and all around has no business being a main protagonist again.  He had his game.  He should not steal someone else's.

Micaiah should quite frankly have been FE10's sole "lord" character.  

A spotlight hog, yes, right alongside Yune. No development, also yes, and that could have been fixed pretty easily, but that's more an issue with the game having lackluster writing in a potentially mega-tier game. Seriously, if they had fixed the writing the game would have been the best in the series by far.

Of course I agree that Micaiah should have been the sole lord character but it is a Tellius game so I expected Ike to make some sort of appearance and I liked that he did show up and helped out... he just shouldn't have been such a huge focus.

6 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

I like Ike. He's a well written character and a good unit.

Now I don't always think Ike is a likable guy but even that is always in line with his personality. 

I'm sure the nobles of the games agree with you xD I like Ike too.

2 minutes ago, blah the Prussian said:

I think Ike is overall quite overrated. 

His character arc is essentially your standard FE lord coming of age, except that he's only learning responsibility for a mercenary group instead of a nation. The whole commoner angle could have been interesting, but the narrative doesn't really engage with it; Ike starts and ends the game with, among other things, the same attitudes towards nobility, the same attitudes towards discrimination, and the same general perspective, and I don't see how him being a commoner changes this perspective. Finally, I feel that Ike is simply a less interesting character than Elincia, and that his moronic rivalry with the Black Knight distracts from Ashnard, a much better antagonist. Ike isn't bad, but he's far from the best FE has to offer in terms of protagonists.

I do agree that Ashnard is a great protagonist and he deviates from the dragon/god/relative villain that FE uses so commonly, but I really liked the Black Knight. His theme music was great and it was interesting to see him come and help Micaiah out, much to everyone else's consternation. As for Elincia I really liked her too but it seemed like everyone relied too much on Ike in RD. Poor guy didn't stand a chance xD

[DefyingFates]

8 minutes ago, blah the Prussian said:

his moronic rivalry with the Black Knight distracts from Ashnard, a much better antagonist

Using spoiler tags, for @Silver-Haired Maiden's sake, why do you think Ashnard is a better protagonist than BK? (I hope I don't come across as confrontational, I'm genuinely curious.)

[Icelerate]

I think Ike is alright. Nothing too spectacular but man that ending.... 

[ping]

I'm almost a bit surprised that my opinion about Ike is pretty much in line with the answers thus far - I think he's decent enough in PoR and kinda stale in RD. In other threads, people seem to either deem him bigger than Jesus or literally Hitler. :D

To elaborate, PoR!Ike is pretty much the logical continuation of Hector and Ephraim before him. More on the brash side, tongue occasionally faster than the brain, but no malicious streak in him. I find him likeable, and I can see why royals like Kurth (who's just a sweet kid in general) and Sanaki (who is constantly surrounded by scheming, brown-nosing senators) don't mind his direct attitude. The fact that he's a commoner is funny to me on a meta level, since it means that PoR tells the usual FE story of lord-liberates-country from the perspective of the game's (admittedly relatively young) Ogma archetype. Ingame, or rather in the plot, it's admittedly not used very much, other than a somewhat shaky explaination why Ike knows nuthin' about anything at the start of the game. So, uh, decent "Lord" character, but not a stand-out character, either.

In RD, I find that Ike gets more screentime than he needs. He might have worked better if the DB and GM were switched in terms of focus - keeping him more as an antagonist before everyone joins forces in part 4. Even on the Laguz Alliance's side, Skrimir is a more interesting and dynamic character, but I'd say that he'd be fine if he'd be built up as the powerful but reckless character that he is in the first 2 or 3 chapters of the part, and then used as a dangerous thread to the DB until Zelgius deals with him. To sum it up, I don't dislike Ike in RD as such, but a little less of him would have been aplenty.

[familyplayer]

I like PoR Ike a good amount. Not as much as other people, but a good amount. He's not my favorite lord though. 

I don't really like RD Ike that much though as he kinda feels more generic and bland. He also steals the very needed attention for Micaiah, though she also has another person stealing her spotlight in part 4, aka 

Spoiler

Yune

 

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Right in the mid tier of Lords for me. I feel like a lot of the problems people attribute to Ike are better attributed to poor plot direction that affects every character. The only thing that really bugs me is the lack of expressed emotion. Whenever Ike gets mad at Sanaki or the Black Knight, I just don't believe it when he stoically remains quiet around every other side character. I assume Shinon and Gatrie were family to Ike, but he expresses nothing at their departure or when he finds them again later. It's in this regard that I generally believe Alm is a better Ike. Alm gets the crap kicked out of him emotionally throughout the whole game and gives pretty human responses to all of it. When Alm picks himself back up and has that same cheery disposition, it makes you root for him. Ike would just say nothing to every ordeal.

[Silver-Haired Maiden]

I appreciate that @DefyingFates but there's no need :) I knew I would get PoR spoilers when I started an Ike thread xD

So it seems like there's a general mid of the road consensus on Ike then? That's pretty interesting since I always believed Ike was insanely popular... or insanely hated by people. Huh.

Honestly RD!Ike, while I love him, does take the focus of the game off of Micaiah. I do agree that he should be in the game but he shouldn't have taken such a huge leading role. Also his ending really bothers me. Really. That needs to be changed.

[vanguard333]

Ike is my favourite FE character of all time. He's not just an excellent character. In Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, he is an excellent unit, to the point where one can fairly easily complete Path of Radiance using Ike alone. As a unit, he's probably the best FE lord. As a character, in my humble opinion, even more so.

I like his personality. Blunt, honest, eager to learn from mistakes, and so much more I could say, but I am bad at describing character personalities in just a few words. I like that he is a peasant, rather than a prince or noble. It offers a truly fresh and unique perspective compared to every other FE lord.

Edited November 9, 2017 by vanguard333

[Silver-Haired Maiden]

2 minutes ago, vanguard333 said:

Ike is my favourite FE character of all time. He's not just an excellent character. In Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, he is an excellent unit, to the point where one can fairly easily complete Path of Radiance using Ike alone. As a unit, he's probably the best FE lord. As a character, in my humble opinion, even more so.

I like his personality. Blunt, honest, eager to learn from mistakes, and so much more I could say, but I am bad at describing character personalities in just a few words.

Please feel free to be as detailed as you like! I enjoy reading them! :)

[Anacybele]

Ike is my favorite FE character and one of my all time favorite video game characters. I love him a lot!

There's nothing not for me to love about him. He's badass and looks badass. His writing is really good in PoR and he has some great lines in RD too (just lacked anymore development, sadly). Both his designs are awesome too, though I prefer RD Ike because I think he's hotter and stands out more with his muscles and manliness. :3

He was also the first FE lord and character I got to experience since I learned of him through Smash and PoR was my first FE game.

I just wish he hadn't gotten a stupid ending and had gotten an ending with Elincia (romantic or no).

 

Edited November 9, 2017 by Anacybele

[Acacia Sgt]

Personally, I think Ike in PoR was fine. While PoR had a plot that leaned on the standard, it was a novelty to have the game center on the Ogma, but it was still alright.

I'm mostly indiffernet to RD Ike, for the most part. I think he should've been the protagonist from the start, or none at all and the writers should've allowed Micaiah to have been it for the whole game (form my understanding, the game way back was advertised with her, no? Should've been the latter then, I think). But well, that's more a problem with RD's design, instead of a problem with Ike himself. As well, I think his role was fine in RD for the most part, though I still don't fully support it, specially with the whole war thing. And the only-he-can-land-the-final-blow with Ashera thing. But oh well...

[SavageVolug]

First of all Radiant Dawn was my first Fire Emblem game so it will probably always remain one of my favorites, as such Ike will likely remain in my top 5 or so protagonist list. Why do I like Ike? Well, for starters I like his design and his blue hair (even though it makes no sense realistically speaking), also I really, really, REALLY like characters who wield big, huge weapons like Poleaxes or Greatswords. Something that both Ike and Greil have going for them. Additionally the mercenary class is one of my favorites for foot units, they typically are fast, sturdy and hit hard it's almost impossible to have a bad mercenary unit. 

As a character I like the premise that he is the leader of a revered and unchallenged mercenary band with many of the members having different backgrounds with MOST of them getting along with each other. However even those that have grievances will put aside their dislikes and not let their contempt get in the way of the assignment. Also I love Ike's honest, straight forward way of dealing with people, he speaks his mind and isn't going to walk on eggshells when he does, at the same time he can be surprisingly sympathetic and compassionate with people ( like his encouraging conversations with Yune). And one of my favorites is that he doesn't judge people based on their race or station but on who they are as a person.

I can't say much more than this as I've only played Radiant Dawn and I feel to understand Ike's character fully one needs to experience both games so I'll leave it at that.

[vanguard333]

13 minutes ago, Silver-Haired Maiden said:

Please feel free to be as detailed as you like! I enjoy reading them! :)

Oh; well, in that case (be warned, it may be long):

To start:

2 minutes ago, Anacybele said:

Ike is my favorite FE character and one of my all time favorite video game characters.

He was also the first FE lord and character I got to experience since I learned of him through Smash and PoR was my first FE game.

I just wish he hadn't gotten a stupid ending and had gotten an ending with Elincia (platonic or no).

All this; Path of Radiance was my first FE game, and I seriously wish he had gotten a better ending than he did. Considering he spent so much of both games trying to master his father's style of swordsmanship, I thought that he would at least give some thought to passing it down, perhaps by teaching others (as many sword masters throughout history ended up doing).

Now for my input:

As someone with high-functioning autism, my mind works a bit differently than others, and part of it is that it takes a lot more effort for me to learn about societal norms and such. So, naturally, I found Ike: an introverted, somewhat socially awkward peasant who has to learn about the world around him, far more relatable than all the princes and noble sons. I also like the fact that, apart from his vendetta with the Black Knight, his actions are built around trying to do good where he sees good needing to be done. He has internal motivation, not just, "My kingdom got invaded. I must fight back against the monsters and army of thousands using my thirteen soldiers." I like characters that have internal reasons to do stuff, and I like those kinds of moral paragon characters that do good when good needs being done and inspire others, and, despite the trouble his lack of social awareness often causes, he certainly also has the inspiring part down. The Black Knight even notes, "People seem drawn to him." This even makes him a catalyst for character development in other people; particularly Soren and Elincia.

His desire to do good, combined with the different way in which he views the world, makes him stubborn and reckless, but those are flaws that he learns from. Speaking of which, I like that he has actual character development. So many FE lords just don't have any obvious character development (Alm being a blatant example). Sure, Ike's development is considered to largely plateau in Radiant Dawn, but what character development is there, is actually really good, and there's more than enough of it in Path of Radiance to compensate.

I like that he actually recognizes his limits. Much like Khadgar in WoW (barely played the game, but did enjoy the lore and the film), Ike's acknowledgement of his own limits makes him all the more badass. He acknowledges repeatedly that he does not feel comfortable commanding an army, and gives orders such as, "Commander Tanith's troops, are to follow Commander Tanith's orders". He acknowledges that he still has much to learn when it comes to commanding the Greil Mercenaries (though he does grow into the role gradually and effectively), and he acknowledges his own mistakes and errors. I find it really interesting when a character recognizes where their limits are, and, for Ike, it was really well done.

I like that he is a master swordsman in the story, and is such a great unit in the gameplay. By the end, he easily cuts down pretty much everything apart from Ashnard and the Black Knight with ease.

On a smaller note, I also relate to Ike in having a black hole for a stomach, making all the jokes about his eating habits particularly funny for me.

Well; that's my input for now. I did say it could get long.

[EricaofRenais]

Well I played RD first because I did not know PoR existed, so I did not like him very much in RD because he was a forced character and I really like Micaiah and Ike and Yune stealing her thunder made me very annoyed when I first beat the game.  When I finally played PoR a few years later I really liked Ike in that game and I see why people love him so much, but I feel like his story should have ended there and he should have only been a minor character in RD.  Plus like others have said he doesn't really have any personal growth in RD which makes him rather bland and boring in that game, while PoR is all about him growing up and learning.

[Anacybele]

@vanguard333 I'm high-functioning autistic too! So I kinda relate to Ike the same way. I also share his bluntness, honestly. lol And hatred of politics, sorta.

[omegaxis1]

It's really hard not to like Ike. He's a guy that really develops well when you look at Path of Radiance, though you have some issues with Radiant Dawn. And even in RD, he's handled decently enough. However, I wouldn't say Ike is my favorite lord, and I have some criticism in him as well. He's got his flaws and issues as well. For example, Ike... really isn't that deep of a character. The guy is very straightforward. Nothing complicated about him. So to some, he comes off as bland. This also causes him to make extremely stupid decisions. 

Since you didn't play PoR yet, Silver, I won't spoil you, but there are times that Ike doesn't realize the consequences of one's actions enough. 

[Truthblade]

I honestly don't really like Ike that much. I mean, I don't dislike him, but he never really clicked to me in PoR or RD. I ended up finding myself liking Micaiah and Elincia way more. I think his stoic atmosphere might have something to do with it, or maybe its just that I don't dig that far into his design (which is strange, since his RD design seems to be the type that I usually like the most), or....I just don't know. I just don't see where all the hype for him is from.

[Interdimensional Observer]

PoR Ike works well enough, not terrible, not incredible. He's better when Ranulf and Reyson are around, since they make Ike a little less stoic.

RD Ike- yes he doesn't develop, yes P4 Final focuses too much on him. But I don't hate him in RD. Skrimir is the real developing protagonist in Part 3 when you play as the GMs. I'd be fine if Ike was still the main character from a gameplay perspective, but not the main character from a narrative one, that role being fulfilled by Skrimir instead. I find it odd that for all the importance of Laguz in Tellius's narrative, we don't have one in a main protag role.

Think of it like Xenoblade Chronicles X, the customizable avatar MC isn't important at all, Elma is the real main character in the plot, the avatar might as well not exist save for gameplay (this isn't the best example, since Elma never develops, but I think you can get the point). 

Of course Micaiah could have used more time (and Elincia! -says her fans), and Ike is partly to blame. As is Yune. As is the guy at IS who thought shoving four separate stories into one game could work, despite FE being niche with a limited budget, without someone getting shortchanged- Micaiah and the entire DB being among them. But not the only ones- Naesala much? Renning?

Edited November 9, 2017 by Interdimensional Observer

[blah the Prussian]

9 hours ago, DefyingFates said:

Using spoiler tags, for @Silver-Haired Maiden's sake, why do you think Ashnard is a better protagonist than BK? (I hope I don't come across as confrontational, I'm genuinely curious.)

Ashnard is the second best antagonist in FE because he represents ideology and an entirely human driven conflict. The narrative focuses on Ashnard's drive to establish a Social Darwinist society as the main driver of the plot, and sticks with that as the reason for the Mad King's War to the end. That's also why certain retcons in RD piss me off, because they make Ashnard part of a grand plan.

As for the Black Knight, I dislike him for two main reasons. First, in POR he doesn't serve a distinct narrative purpose from Ashnard. They're both big, imposing bruisers who fight in close combat and have armor that makes them invulnerable to all but divine weapons. You could give all of the Black Knight's scenes to Ashnard and nothing would change. Have Ashnard be the one to kill Greil, have Ashnard constantly chasing the protagonists, have Ashnard, for example, be baffled as to why Ike rejects his darwinian world order; after all, isn't Ike strong? Doesn't Ike have everything to gain? Ike could then reply that it is the duty of the strong to help the weak, not use them like playthings.

Second, the Black Knight in POR only worked because of the mystery associated with who he is. Thus, his character in POR is ruined by his disappointing RD reveal. How he acts in RD is at odds with how he acts in POR, and he is never anything more than a lackey who gets too much attention. Again, you can make SPOILER FOR RD DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVENT PLAYED I SWEAR TO GOD Zelgius be a minion of Ashnard and nothing would have changed. The Black Knight's relationship with Ike is contradictory and nonsensical, and he detracts from more interesting villains like Ashnard. So, while this isn't Ike's fault, since his identity is so tied to his rivalry with the Black Knight he is somewhat dragged down by his lukewarm rival.

[Silver-Haired Maiden]

Well I can honestly say I was expecting to hear from some of you and you did not disappoint! Thanks so much for the input, I really do enjoy reading it.

I will say though, please don't worry about spoiling PoR for me. I knew that risk when I started an Ike thread so please feel free to discuss PoR as well! :)

It seems like Ike is at least generally well liked though there is a general consensus on him being too important in RD with not enough development, which I can certainly agree on. Of course RD suffered from many things like that and the development could have been helped by some support conversations, but... oh well. I'd like to see people come up with their own at some point, but I'm not quite talented enough for that lol.

As for his appearance I must say that, though I like both, I do prefer his PoR design over his RD one. The same holds true for other PoR characters with the exception of Ranulf plus a couple others like Ilyana and Nephenee.

I think my biggest problem with Ike in RD that hasn't been touched on too much already is his ending in RD. Just... just no. It feels insanely out of character for him and everything the player gets to know about him. I can see him having multiple endings but I don't see that one in particular being among them.