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The fashion of Fire Emblem


Corrobin
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6 hours ago, Corrobin said:

Pent, Klein's father, follows this idea. Though he replaces Klein's gold with silver, the fanciness and refinery of his dress cannot be denied. Patterned, flowing dress shirts, a cape, two belts, show that this is a man with taste.

I don't think I've ever read anything truer about Pent.

 

6 hours ago, eclipse said:

But then there's some design choices that make no sense (Serra's skirt, for one).

Serra is a bit off, so I guess with her wanting to look her best it kind of makes sense, putting fashion above practicality? But yeah, I forgot how freakishly tight it was.

 

1 hour ago, EricaofRenais said:

Seeing those pictures of characters with eye wear makes me really want Canas and Etzel in Heroes.  Ax users normally are poorer so of course their clothing shows that, anyone with a mount has money so they have better armor mages also tend to have money because they learn magic by studying.

Ugh, so much. I'm a little partial to Etzel because I like his design just a touch more, but they'd be so awesome. It's a shame they probably won't get in for a very long time if ever.

 

Anyway, fun read and it is cool to see how much FE does with clothing and character designs. One other thing is that the promoted, i.e. more established, characters generally have fancier outfits. Titania's armor and entire outfit is more ornate than Oscar's despite being at essentially the same place in life during PoR and RD, but since she's had more time to save up, be that during her time as a noble or just as a mercenary, and get some nicer clothes and armor. 

Obviously, there ae some exceptions like Berkut, a prince, and Zeke, a general, but even that reflects them as people. Zeke is confident in his abilities and probably wants to live a comfortable life and thus wears fancier attire more along the lines of clothing. Berkut is always worried about proving his ability in combat and thus wears armor.

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9 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I hazard to speculate monocles, barring on a butler or something (so why don't you have one Jakob?), come off as medieval whereas glasses do not. Monocles are the thing of older times, it makes no sense to wear them in the modern day, whereas the wacky people of the past did.

True, but I still can wonder why people like Izuka wear frame monocles, at that point, why only one lens?

9 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

There is the Takumi's Shinai in Fates, and the Trainer swords and Practice Axe used in PoR's Prologue fight. So they've referenced them before, just not much.

Thats true and some of the non wooden swords look pretty cheap.

9 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I hazard to speculate monocles, barring on a butler or something (so why don't you have one Jakob?), come off as medieval whereas glasses do not. Monocles are the thing of older times, it makes no sense to wear them in the modern day, whereas the wacky people of the past did.

You're right, that portrait could totally be used for an old lady Manakete.

12 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

That was weird, but I guess the horses you could pretend are of poorer stock or stolen from a farm. Given the bandits in that PoR chapter are slavers and their cargo was stored in containers (otherwise Ike would have seen what it looked like- Laguz slaves), they could have doubled as the means by which to drag the Laguz chattel.

If they just made Soldier a normal not LoLdier or Japanified class again, they could invent a bandit aesthetic for the class to be used alongside the normal one. And Knights are explicitly more professional and most commonly lancers, so Soldiers don't have to be that way.

I guess that makes sense, still it kinda stood out for me that there were no lance class that would fit the thematic for bandits/mercenaries. Its true in almost every Fire Emblem game.

Even Soldiers wears a very military uniform. I mean their uniform is very thematic to be a regimented member of a nation's army. Though early screenshots of Path of Radiance do depict Soldiers wearing a uniform similar to Fighter, oddly enough! Bandits and Mercenaries did use Spear soldiers in Berwick Saga.

Berwick Saga did have a rogue farmer that had the ability to wield pitchforks that was associated with criminals and mercenaries. I think thats the only real Lance class with that thematic. I guess Lances are very associated with armies in Fire Emblem.

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2 minutes ago, Emperor Hardin said:

Berwick Saga did have a rogue farmer that had the ability to wield pitchforks that was associated with criminals and mercenaries. I think thats the only real Lance class with that thematic. I guess Lances are very associated with armies in Fire Emblem.

Interesting, and it reminds me we've never had to put down a peasant rebellion despite that being a routine duty of armies in history. Blame it on FE always being goodie good. I'd be fine with one as a kind of bonus battle. Lots of weak enemies, but the chapter has awesome bonus rewards that require very stringent planning to obtain. You can't really lose the fight if you have half a brain, but you can easily miss on things you probably don't want to.

 

5 minutes ago, Emperor Hardin said:

You're right, that portrait could totally be used for an old lady Manakete.

Well for me it was mostly because enemy Manaketes, and Bantu and even Gotoh to a lesser extent (his sage hat brings one to mind) like that head covering. Naga nowadays is never shown with anything like one, and Tiki, well she had one

Chiki

but she has lost it in more recent games, or even 3B2.

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9 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Interesting, and it reminds me we've never had to put down a peasant rebellion despite that being a routine duty of armies in history. Blame it on FE always being goodie good. I'd be fine with one as a kind of bonus battle. Lots of weak enemies, but the chapter has awesome bonus rewards that require very stringent planning to obtain. You can't really lose the fight if you have half a brain, but you can easily miss on things you probably don't want to.

FE10 P2 kind of did that with Ludveck appealing to the commoners.

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1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Interesting, and it reminds me we've never had to put down a peasant rebellion despite that being a routine duty of armies in history. Blame it on FE always being goodie good. I'd be fine with one as a kind of bonus battle. Lots of weak enemies, but the chapter has awesome bonus rewards that require very stringent planning to obtain. You can't really lose the fight if you have half a brain, but you can easily miss on things you probably don't want to.

Good point there should be a peasant rebellion mission. Arran mentions doing one in his past in one of New Mystery's info conversation, but its all offscreen.

Come to think of it, aren't many of the bandit missions, kinda peasant rebellions. August in Thracia 776 stresses that bandits are usually commoners that turn to crime due to poor living conditions.

latest?cb=20150915122633latest?cb=20151005005641

From left to right, the Mercenary icon and the Bandit Icon. No Lance unit uses them, even though all other physical weapons are represented by them!

1 hour ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

Well for me it was mostly because enemy Manaketes, and Bantu and even Gotoh to a lesser extent (his sage hat brings one to mind) like that head covering. Naga nowadays is never shown with anything like one, and Tiki, well she had one

Chiki

but she has lost it in more recent games, or even 3B2.

Her book 1 portrait depicted with a hood, albeit lowered, as did her artwork in the accompanying card game. By the DS remakes, Tiki's hood seems to have disappeared for good.

Edited by Emperor Hardin
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I recall a peasant rebellion DLC mission in Shadows of Valentia, and thinking on it now, it really does make the most sense for one to take place in Zofia. (Though I could see this taking place in Daein, Bern, and various other countries, too.) It was really interesting, as it focused on events before Clive & Co. left the army to form the Deliverance.

As for lance bandits, I'm sure there are disgraced members of the military who would turn to banditry, just as retired knights can turn to farming or mercenary work. As is shown in every FE I can think of, not all knights are of noble spirit.

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10 hours ago, Emperor Hardin said:

Thats definitely the case, while there are some mercenary cavaliers, almost all of them have a  background in the military, like Trec in FE6 is a former member of Lord Zelot's forces.

Free Knights are a little more likely to be purely mercenary like Beowulf and Fergus though.

Hunters are also lowborn as I mentioned in another thread.

You know there doesn't seem to be a Lance class associated with mercenaries and bandits the way Fighters, Myrmidons and such are. The rare times bandit armies use lances, they just have a couple random cavaliers. Like in the 14th chapter of Path of Radiance, there is a single random lance cavalier with the Laguz Lance in the bandit army. Unlike the other bandits, he also wears begnion's colors. 

Nephenee and Devdan are explicitly commoners.

Come to think of it, Ashnard allowed anyone of any birth to reach the rank of commanders if they had the skills, so its quite possible, people like Emil, Kotaff and Hafedd rose through their skill.

Jarod also indicated he wasn't a noble in Begnion.

You wouldn't see a bunch of Knights/Generals in a bandit or mercenary army though.

True to the class name, Military Generals in the series,  allied or enemy, are almost always of the General class. Royalty and Nobility love the class as well, makes sense, not going to move on a throne.

Aren't monocles just as expensive as glasses.

 There are actually cheap flimsy swords with only a little bit of metal in them, as well as Wooden swords. I imagine those are the swords, Villagers use.

Portrait_malliesia's_grandmother_fe03.pn

Just remembered this bespectacled character from Mystery of the Emblem.

@Jotari

Portrait_old_village_woman_fe12.png

I just remembered another little known portrait exclusive to FE3. She's just a generic villager in the DS remake, similar to the Slaver.

Haha. Glasses Grandma is way better than Sad Grandma.

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14 hours ago, eclipse said:

I strongly suggest consulting a dictionary with regards to the word "skirt".  Not all of them are short.  I own a nice A-line that falls below my knees.

Maybe your sister's gait is drastically different than mine for some reason.  Restrict the natural movement of my legs, and it becomes awkward.  That's why I prefer A-line skirts, even if they're a hindrance once the wind picks up - I can run as if I was wearing my usual jeans.

If you want an example, take a few steps, and look down.  Note how your legs look as you move.  Now imagine that there's a ring of fabric around your shins, which limits how far you can take a step.  It's not too bad for walking, but it makes it hard to run.  And if you're in the middle of a battle, I can't imagine why you'd want to hinder your ability to run.  Serra's dress is great for a nice stroll in the park, but completely baffling for battle wear.

I'd take fashion in entertainment (especially video games) with a giant grain of salt.  Many of the designs cater to visual appeal over practicality.

Serra's dress seems to be tied at the side. Perhaps during battle it can be untied to make it distinctly less skirt like and thus suitable (if still not entirely practical) for running in.

On the subject of Binding Blade, you know who's character design works as practical and visual appeal? Sonia. She's pure fan service done right, as in game she's meant to be this sexy temptress character that Nergal built specifically to seduce Brandon. There's no reason a design can't cater to visual and practicality.

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14 hours ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

All three of whom come from the Awakening and Fates, and while Nohrian males are noted for historical authenticity in their garb, these games overall are more known for the objections to their fashion than their accuracy.

Maybe older FE was trying to stay accurate by barring glasses? Then again, maybe it was the artistic idealization of the human form- vision problems are an imperfection, as are skin blemishes, body hair, rotten teeth, and fat people. Loathed by Greco-Roman art as much as modern anime.

Glasses already existed in medival, but since they were rare, it makes sense that most didn’t bring them into battle. That being said all characters with glasses and monocles are ranged fighters who doesn’t participate in front lines, so in a way it’s still accurate.

It’s funny, we say a lot of shit about some fashion designs in Fire Emblem, bit they aren’t inaccurate as we think. For example, we complain about fanservice and girls showing cleavege, but clothes that show cleavege are older than we think. Hell, some noble women wore dressed that outright showed their breasts from what I’ e heard. And speaking of fanservice, Camilla’s armor, while still weird, is not bad as we think, because since she riding a flying creature, armor doesn’t really help much and also adds weight. Really, most flier units shouldn’t be wearing armor at all.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Speaking of, I'm going to actually write about females now! I'll do one lower-class, one middle-class and one upper-class.

Ekhidna

Echidna is a prepromoted Hero with decent growths recruited in the Western Isles arc of FE6, who leads the resistance forces against the Etrurian leaders of it, recruited in the Western Isles's A route.

Her armor is of the "practical but not plentiful" route: Grieves, boots, a breastplate and some shoulder pads. The rest of it is cloth- green skirt with a longer orange half-cape, half-dress alongside it, black pants, and an orange undershirt along with wristbands, gloves, and that bandanna. Echidna's collected confidence in her abilities and the more masculine aspects of her character shine through in this design.

FE5 Mareeta Artwork

Mareeta, from FE5, is a Swordfighter and the daughter of Galzus, adopted by Eyvel. At the beginning of the game, she gets controlled and forced to fight against her mother thanks to the Darkness Sword, but overcomes it and rejoins Leif later in the game.

Mareeta's design is simple, yet elegant. White pants that act as a sort of , boots with a red ribbon holding them together, red wristbands, a green dress with an open skirt and a brown breastplate and shoulderguards. Yes, this might leave her open to attack somewhat, but, like Echidna, she's confident in her skill, given her training with her birth father and adoptive mother.

Priscilla

Priscilla is a noble Troubadour from FE7 who is a minor noble herself. She joins semi-midway through Eliwood's and Hector's tales.

The nobility in Priscilla shine through in her choice of attire. It's not as overly fancy as some other nobles, but still maintains that elegance through the subdued combination of green and white, the soft but noticeable little accessories around her waist, and the feminine boots.

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Now explain Camilla. :P:

FE5 had relatively practical clothes for both genders.  While I don't like some of the game mechanics, I respect the art.

Female sword fighters have very varied styles. Compare Mareeta to Karla/Fir to Marisa to Mia to Hana - all of them are blade ladies, yet their clothing is quite different!

Edited by eclipse
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2 hours ago, eclipse said:

Now explain Camilla. :P:

FE5 had relatively practical clothes for both genders.  While I don't like some of the game mechanics, I respect the art.

Female sword fighters have very varied styles. Compare Mareeta to Karla/Fir to Marisa to Mia to Hana - all of them are blade ladies, yet their clothing is quite different!

Camilla's easily explained.
She has trouble finding armor that doesn't constrict her bust, or she's very obviously trying to seduce Corrin to the dark side.
As for her riding boots but lack of pants, I try to think it's like when cowboys used to wear "assless" chaps. You know, they cover the legs but aren't joined at the crotch so they protect the legs while riding but don't tear from the mount. At least, that's as much rationalization as I can do, even if there are holes in the notion.
 

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10 hours ago, Jotari said:

We need more manly women like Echidna in the series. Balance out all the feminine men they've been throwing around in the recent games.

True dat. I'd love for them to add her to Heroes, but I'm worried they'd make her too feminine to waifuize her.

Edited by bottlegnomes
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  • 3 weeks later...

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