How does Alm, character wise, strike you?

[JimmyBeans]

From what I've seen on the forums Alm's character had negative reception on his character for the most part. This includes criticism on his ability to conquer his problems with little to no experience (insert mary sue accusation), his ideal being the perfect and flawless one in a game where both paths were supposed to be of equal importance, and that is personality is just downright boring. With this being said i'm not 100% sure what the majority thinks of Alm so the poll above is for me to gather some more data on the subject before i start pointing fingers. Also this Post does contain major spoilers to the plot of SOV so keep that in mind.

As for me personally I very much like Alm and found him very refreshing as a Lord given my negative reception on the last 2, and before the thought plagues you i have played all the previous US released fire emblem games and I know that Alm isn't the best writing wise. So in this post I will be defending him (my first idea for the title was "In defense of Alm" but I didn't want anyone to think that they were wrong for not liking him and that these are just my thoughts).

Most of his criticisms I heavily disagree with and I'm going to start with the idea that his whole path is perfect and that Celica was wrong and Alm was right. My main problem with this is that saying Alm ideal is flawless is saying that personally putting your father and your cousin to the sword is not a detriment to his ideal at all. This war not only brought many consequences to the land and citizens, but had many personal consequences on Alm himself as the path he took is the sole reason he had to kill his remaining family (This personally makes me wonder what Berkut's parents are up too and how they would interact with Alm after the conflict of the game ends), When Alm learns the truth of his lineage and who the emperor was who he had just killed he shows a color very similar to Eliwood where he breaks down showing weakness but then is able to pull himself together to do what is needed, putting those feeling away and fulfilling his oath to Mycen he made all the way back in Zofia castle ( If you don't remember Mycen asked Alm if he was ready and that there would be no turning back no matter how painful it would become, to which Alm replied that he was ready, and stayed true to that all this time). This shows strength on his mental fortitude while the tragedy makes him more human, having these together may be cliche, but it is an effective way to make a character relatable and a strong leader/individual. Eliwood for example pulls this off well and it makes an excellent difference between him and Hector, as Hector is the strong one who was not only devastated his fathers death, but that devastation  affected for a much longer time, you have to remember that he even for a while cut all ties with Oswin. And while Eliwood was physically weaker his mental fortitude was superior to Hectors. While it's no surprise that Eliwood with that difference pull it off better than Alm does making him in my opinion a great character and one of the best lords, it salvages Alm a ton as well in my opinion especially because of the emphasis Mycen put on him early about tragedies that will happen giving moments the player get to see that will help him move forward.

On him being a Mary Sue I have to say that to stay true to the original Alm had to become the leader of the deliverance at that time, but there is one key factor that I feel like a lot of people miss because I find myself very confused that people criticize this part so hard. Clive wants Alm to be leader to raise the soldiers morale because his "lineage" is a spectacle to the men. Clive even says that he will handle all the day to day affairs and that Alm is required to do one thing and one thing only; Lead. This means he just has to point and say charge, and deliver the occasional speech. This part is extremely similar to when Michiah is made leader of the Daein Rebellion army in part 1 of RD and Sothe catches on and isn't a fan of the idea because she is being made a spectacle. What Pelleas and Izuka had planned is almost identical to why Clive made that decision as well, and I baffled that Alm becoming leader of the deliverance is criticized and that the same scene in RD gets not even a bat of the eye. I for one think Clive's plan is very reasonable.

Also Celica's plan wasn't a complete flop, Celica's decision and sacrifice is what convinces the earth mother Mila to unseal falchion and let Alm use it, she was planning on holding it forever to protect her brother until Celica showed her that Humans were strong enough to not rely on her and Duma. So Celica is the only reason Alm was able to get the Falchion to destroy Duma. Both were very essential to the conclusion of the game. Criticize the writing all you want as the final act in many parts was a mess, but Neither was right or wrong completely, and neither flawless.

I could talk about this stuff for hours and write pages on why I think Alm is not a bad character but I'm starting with this and I would not want the first post to be this long. So tell me your expressions of Alm, and if you disagree with my points please let me know as this topic is a very subjective one.

[Rapaille]

I also like Alm but I can see why people would dislike him.

The major reason why I really like Alm is because he often seen by the people as this strong warrior that led the deliverance on his own and killed a god (or that is the reason I think they named the continent after him). But we can also see his more human side. I for example really like his overworld interactions that show his more silly sight. And while I think his interactions with the other characters aren't as good as the ones that Celica has I think they are still good and show the things he values.

There are things about Alm's character that could have been done better. I think that he should make a few more mistakes, reflect on them and get criticized for. But the major difference between other lords who I think are flawless (Ephraim & Corrin) is that I could relate to Alm on a personal level and that is something that those other lords didn't do.

[DMan64]

While I myself am indifferent towards Alm on the whole, compared to other FE main characters, he does stand out compared to other lords.  I think what makes me like him a bit more than other lords is that he has a bit of a goofy side, and is very charismatic.  At the same time, I feel that throughout the story, Alm's morals aren't necessarily challenged enough, at least not until near the end.  

I know some don't like Celica, yet at the same time, you can tell that her values are constantly being challenged(mind you this doesn't make her sacrificing herself to Jedah anymore sensible in my opinion), but she is constantly going back and forth with a lot of things, while Alm doesn't really experience it that much.  That may be the point, seeing as this story really couldn't work without the other because the two are one half of a greater whole.  That said, while I personally think Celica is the better character, I find that I can connect with Alm better due to sharing the values he has, if that makes sense.

[Kurrin]

I don't hate Alm on his own. He's a nice guy. He's a huge dork at times, and I can appreciate those things. But I start comparing him to other protags and I see how others think of him and compare him to others, and my opinion on Alm has started to sour a bit.

A prime example is how much he gets compared to Celica and how he's apparently so much better than her because Celica made one mistake.
To quote a comment I made about him elsewhere:

"He's a decent character but I feel like he could have benefited more from failure. Celica got taken away when he was young, and yes, it sucked. He grows up and trains and decides to try and help save his nation. He gets an easy promotion to army commander despite little knowledge of anything relevant to the role. OK, then. He eventually meets up with Celica again and they get into a fight Celica takes most of the flak despite having some truth to her side of the story. She leaves upset and that makes Alm upset and that sucks. Meanwhile, he saves a bunch of women and beats a bunch of high ranks because he's awesome like that. Then he eventually meets up with Celica again. In her well-meaning, desperate, yet futile attempt to try to protect Alm, she gets possessed and Alm kills her to save her and he's sad and all but then designated hero plot convenience bullshit happens and he take his magic sword to kill the requisite evil dragon and saves the girl. Everything comes up Alm and all Celica gets is hate for being human and making human mistakes."

Regarding his path, Alm did nothing wrong. A big chunk of this mess started out because of Rudolf, and Rudolf is like if Fates was a character: really great idea, really poor execution.

Regarding the Alm vs Micky leader debate, one notable difference is that Micky was not a stranger to the Daein. Was she the most qualified to lead? She wasn't the worst, but she wasn't the best. With Alm, he defeats one fairly strong commander and everyone's like "zomg, teh hero of profesy. we just met you and this is crazy, but you're in charge now, lead us to safety."
Side note: Do you know who else got "promoted" to a position of leadership despite qualifications: Corrin? Do you know who made mistakes and learned about their terrible consequences (gratuitous Yato sucking from other's aside)? Corrin.

I'm not going to say that he's flat out a Gary Stu, but to say he doesn't have a lot of Stu-ish qualities would also be a lie.

All in all, (not to sound redundant) I'm not going to say I hate him. He's a good guy and I won't fault him for that, but he could have definitely benefited from failure (and a bit from less sexism, but that's for a whole 'nother discussion).

[Etrurian emperor]

Overall I really like the guy. Alm's a nice guy and his dorky behavior always ensured it was a joy to see his dialogue. 

I think people are a tad to hard on him when compared to other lords. Alm is showed to be an amazing guy who always wins out and is always in the right. But can we honestly say Marth is any less perfect? Its a little bit off putting when Alm is so obviously in the right in his conflict with Clive but its not like Merlinus isn't any less obviously wrong whenever he opens his mouth, and while Alm comes off better than Celica it certainly isn't to the extend that Ike just dominates poor Michy in how the plot portrays him. 

Alm is flawed but those flaws aren't unique to him. Most of his flaws can already be found in other lords of the series. 

24 minutes ago, Kurrin said:

Regarding the Alm vs Micky leader debate, one notable difference is that Micky was not a stranger to the Daein. Was she the most qualified to lead? She wasn't the worst, but she wasn't the best. With Alm, he defeats one fairly strong commander and everyone's like "zomg, teh hero of profesy. we just met you and this is crazy, but you're in charge now, lead us to safety."
Side note: Do you know who else got "promoted" to a position of leadership despite qualifications: Corrin? Do you know who made mistakes and learned about their terrible consequences (gratuitous Yato sucking from other's aside)? Corrin.

Alm being given the position of general on a silver platter is actually rather justified. Clive explicitly states that its meant to serve as a PR stunt  to raise morale and unlike Corrin Alm isn't really a complete novice. Alm says he wasn't just trained in swordplay by Mycen but also in military tactics and terrain. 

Edited August 14, 2018 by Etrurian emperor

[Modamy]

When it comes to Alm I find him to be a likable person, but as a character he's pretty boring. He's the character I'm following and am supposed to be most engaged in on his route, but nothing of interest really happens to Alm until the end. He gets made the leader of the deliverance, wins battle, is practically told he's Rigelian royalty multiple times and just kind of ignores it (but that's not really my point), and then he finds out he killed his father and cousin and then has an interesting moment realizing that he's mat the family he's always longed to have and they're dead now. Other than the ending there isn't anything engaging about Alm as a main character; no trials, doubts, or changes (meaningful ones for him at least).

Throughout Alm's route I was more engaged with Clive as I watch his development from a man rooted in his beliefs only to try something new when his old methods don't work and how this lead to a series of events that give him a whole new world view. Clive was a much more engaging character since it felt like a new meaningful piece of his story got added.

When I judge characters I don't like comparing them with others as I feel they should stand on their own merits. Comparing Alm and Celica doesn't matter to me and I found Celica to have her own issues with her actions feeling poorly established and required some leaps in logic from the player to understand why she would do any of the things she did. I intend on playing the game again to see if their really is something I just missed on her story though, but for now I don't get her wide appeal just as much as I don't get Alm's.

[redtutel]

Alm is my favorite Lord so far. I loved seeing him go from farm boy to war hero to reluctant prince to legend

[Kurrin]

4 minutes ago, Etrurian emperor said:

Alm being given the position of general on a silver platter is actually rather justified. Clive explicitly states that its meant to serve as a PR stunt  to raise morale and unlike Corrin Alm isn't really a complete novice. Alm says he wasn't just trained in swordplay by Mycen but also in military tactics and terrain. 

Fair point, but to mention a small counterpoint. Learning tactics =/= immediate successful application. The Deliverance only knew that he had trained under Mycen, and while their knowledge of Mycen could easily lead them to believe what exactly it was that he taught Alm, that's still acting on the assumption that a total stranger could pull all this off. I can get past the purpose of his position being a PR stunt. I totally get that it's something that La Resistance needed, but it still feels a bit too perfect. "A bunch of misfits rally to stop the bad guys and save the world." This isn't new to FE and I'm well aware of that.  I'm going to chalk it up to the fact that this sudden promotion only serves to glorify his character more and thus doesn't sit well.

[Florete]

I dislike him. Too much works in his favor for no good reason and he's just dull. The real kicker for me, though, (and I know this gets mentioned a lot) is how the story completely turns its theme of "One doesn't need to be of noble birth to be great" on its head and makes him the heir to the Rigelian throne. No, you don't get both.

The only FE lord lower for me is male Corrin.

[Jingle Jangle]

One thing I'll give credit to Alm is that this English voice actor gave one good performance. That being said he's a goody two shoes, in a series where practically every other lord is one. I never found him to be exciting as one of the protagonists. The whole destiny tattoo idea cheapens the accomplishments he did.

Edited August 15, 2018 by Jingle Jangle

[thecrimsonflash]

Personally I find him to be one of the weaker lords overall, he really doesn't have all that much to make him stand out, I feel like if they made his short sightedness and aggression more apparent it would have improved him general, on the whole stu argument, he seems to have some issues in that regard, most notably how no good or reasonable person hates him, everyone who opposes him is just so evil that they have no credibility because of it (fernand is a traitor, the lowest of all sentient life). But, at least he doesn't do anything outright hypocritical and at least he isn't overshadowed by a self insert or is just an uninteresting copy of one or two better characters, so on the whole, he is not a very stand out character and he has some issues with the world seemingly wanting him to win, but otherwise he is ok, not incredible, not great, just ok.

Edited August 14, 2018 by thecrimsonflash

[SoulWeaver]

1 hour ago, Florete said:

The only FE lord lower for me is male Corrin.

Alright, I'll bite. Why only Male Corrin?

[JimmyBeans]

2 hours ago, LJwalhout said:

 

There are things about Alm's character that could have been done better. I think that he should make a few more mistakes, reflect on them and get criticized for. But the major difference between other lords who I think are flawless (Ephraim & Corrin) is that I could relate to Alm on a personal level and that is something that those other lords didn't do.

The sad part is they put those mistakes and criticisms Alm gets behind game play factors like when Clive is upset at Alm because Matilda died before you could rescue her. It was a pretty decent moment for Alm and Clive as characters the sad part is that no one gets to see it unless they don't care about Matilda.

2 hours ago, DMan64 said:

While I myself am indifferent towards Alm on the whole, compared to other FE main characters, he does stand out compared to other lords.  I think what makes me like him a bit more than other lords is that he has a bit of a goofy side, and is very charismatic.  At the same time, I feel that throughout the story, Alm's morals aren't necessarily challenged enough, at least not until near the end.  

I know some don't like Celica, yet at the same time, you can tell that her values are constantly being challenged(mind you this doesn't make her sacrificing herself to Jedah anymore sensible in my opinion), but she is constantly going back and forth with a lot of things, while Alm doesn't really experience it that much.  That may be the point, seeing as this story really couldn't work without the other because the two are one half of a greater whole.  That said, while I personally think Celica is the better character, I find that I can connect with Alm better due to sharing the values he has, if that makes sense.

Celica is hard to defend, and I probably won't take a wack at it. If you have never seen it Ghast has made video analyzing Celica and does a good job making her not as bad as she comes off to be. I recommend checking it out.  

2 hours ago, Kurrin said:

 

All in all, (not to sound redundant) I'm not going to say I hate him. He's a good guy and I won't fault him for that, but he could have definitely benefited from failure 

See above, It's a shame you have to fail in game for Alm to fail. 

17 minutes ago, Jingle Jangle said:

One thing I'll give credit to Alm is that this English voice actor gave one good performance. That being said he's a goody two shoes, in a series where practically every other lord is one. I never found him to be exciting as one of the protagonists. The whole destiny tattoo idea cheapens that accomplishments he did.

I agree that destiny stuff is cheap and i'm not a fan of it. I personaly don't think he is any worse or better than some previous protagonists, but after Corrin, Alm felt very refreshing. Especially because he knows you have to kill enemy soldiers to win a war. (and doesnt have the ability to knock out an entire platoon of soldiers without killing any of them, looking at you corrin)

[Florete]

28 minutes ago, SoulWeaver said:

Alright, I'll bite. Why only Male Corrin?

While I dislike Alm, I outright hate male Corrin. Every other lord I either like or am indifferent to.

[JimmyBeans]

3 minutes ago, Florete said:

While I dislike Alm, I outright hate male Corrin. Every other lord I either like or am indifferent to.

I've never played as Female Corrin, is she a better character? I always thought she was no better.

[Ottservia]

27 minutes ago, JimmyBeans said:

I've never played as Female Corrin, is she a better character? I always thought she was no better.

she isn't really any better as far as I can tell but she's cute so you know.

My thoughts on alm are mixed. I feel he's a good example of a poorly written likable character. I mean he's not terribly written or anything he's just incredibly generic. He's a good guy and all but that's really about it he doesn't really go through any arch and just acts as a sort player surrogate most of the time. I'm probably not explaining this as well I could be but those are my general thoughts.

[Slumber]

There were two ways to interpret Alm from his original incarnation.

The kind of standard "Nice guy" we got with SoV, and the brutal warrior that Awakening went with. I think I would have preferred the latter, and I think a lot of people were hoping they'd go that direction and were initially upset with what we got in SoV, where Alm is just kind of your typical lord.

That said, Alm has his quirks and he's goofy enough that I think it works well enough. I'm indifferent leaning towards positive on SoV Alm. There aren't a lot of things that make him stand out compared to your typical Marth-lites, but things like "Hello, Mr. Sun." make it hard to truly dislike the guy unless your heart is a cold block of concrete.

Edited August 15, 2018 by Slumber

[DisobeyedCargo]

I think he’s one of the better lords. him becoming the leader of the deliverance is basically a PR stunt for morale, and while hidden behind killing Mathilda, the post battle conversation was a great interaction between him and Clive. 

His overworld interactions are also very charming. I loved them

 

 

[vanguard333]

I'm going to quote myself:

Quote

As someone who is left-handed, I bought SoV and thought, "Okay Alm; let's hope you're a good enough character to make up for Link being right-handed in Breath of the Wild for no good reason." To be honest; he had potential. It looked like there was going to be an interesting story of him and Celica each trying to save the world their own way based on their respective ideologies, and nearly tear themselves apart like Mila and Duma did, but they reconcile and balance each other out unlike Mila and Duma. They learn from Mila and Duma's mistakes and save the world. Oh; what a story that would have been.

It was obvious throughout the game what Celica thought: the world needed Mila; Mila would solve everything. It was obviously clear what Celica's flaws were. But for Alm? It seemed like the game was maybe going to try to make it that Alm thought they needed to stand up for themselves, and the flaw that would come about from this would be that his mind only thought in terms of the next battle, and him unknowingly killing his father would make him see where it all went wrong. I thought they would perhaps have even made it that Rudolf, with his mad plan born of the Rigelian battle and strength is everything mindset, is what Alm would've become if it weren't for Celica. It certainly seemed like that's what some of the writers were going for. That they would both, in effect, save each other.

But; no. They made Alm a generic Marth lord, in a game where a generic Marth lord does not fit. They tried to compensate for this with some sort of societal-class doesn't matter subplot like Ike had, except it was completely undercut by Alm being secret royalty, all his greatness that other characters kept yapping about being due to his heritage, and even him becoming head of the Deliverance not being something he earned, but something he was just given for being Mycen's supposed grandson.

What were Alm's flaws? He certainly had some, as I mentioned, but they weren't properly explored. A lot of people have described Celica as being naïve and/or idiotic in Part 4, but I am willing to bet no one would be saying anything like that if a) it had been handled a little better, and b) the game actually bothered to explore Alm's flaws, rather than have Alm be this special guy who's always in the right: this character who every single girl wants and who every guy seems to want to be, all for no reason. No one can relate to that; no one can believe that. 

Alm could have been a great character, but instead, he was bland, generic, treated as perfect, and right up to the edge of being a gary sue. 

So, basically, how I feel about Alm is that he had a lot of potential, but that potential was not used nearly as well as it could have been. And yes, this basically is me listing the criticisms that JimmyBeans pointed out, but also with me establishing why I feel these criticisms apply to Alm.

To be clear; I do not think Alm, as he is written, is without character flaws; he definitely has some, but they are neither properly explored, nor treated as flaws by the game itself or any of the characters within. Gratification of his character was given priority over exploring his character. It's the same problem as Corrin: he definitely had flaws; he was rash and naïve. But not one of the three versions of Fates actually explored them or even presented them as flaws. 

Don't get me wrong; Alm is far better than Corrin. I'm just saying they both suffered the same character-writing flaw: gratification of the character taking priority over establishing the character. It's the biggest symptom of a mary sue/gary stu; hence the accusations. 

I would just quickly like to point out one thing JimmyBeans also said:

On ‎2018‎-‎08‎-‎14 at 3:19 PM, JimmyBeans said:

On him being a Mary Sue I have to say that to stay true to the original Alm had to become the leader of the deliverance at that time, but there is one key factor that I feel like a lot of people miss because I find myself very confused that people criticize this part so hard. Clive wants Alm to be leader to raise the soldiers morale because his "lineage" is a spectacle to the men. Clive even says that he will handle all the day to day affairs and that Alm is required to do one thing and one thing only; Lead. This means he just has to point and say charge, and deliver the occasional speech. This part is extremely similar to when Micaiah is made leader of the Daein Rebellion army in part 1 of RD and Sothe catches on and isn't a fan of the idea because she is being made a spectacle. What Pelleas and Izuka had planned is almost identical to why Clive made that decision as well, and I baffled that Alm becoming leader of the deliverance is criticized and that the same scene in RD gets not even a bat of the eye. I for one think Clive's plan is very reasonable.

 There's a very good reason why Alm being handed leadership is criticized and Micaiah being handed leadership isn't: with Micaiah, it's far more organic. Micaiah was already a Joan-of-arc figure to the Daein people and an experienced leader of the Dawn Brigade from day 1. Izuka's plan was built on the name Micaiah had already earned in the eyes of the people. Clive's plan was, "Well; I've let everybody down. I'm going to give the position of leader to this kid just because he's Mycen's supposed grandson." Clive's plan is not unreasonable; especially for one built entirely on his own self-loathing at that point. The problem isn't his plan being "unreasonable"; it's that it undermines Alm's relatability in that he's just given the role because of Mycen, and believability in that Alm's first mission immediately afterwards is take the capital and its castle, and he just... succeeds. 

Edited August 15, 2018 by vanguard333

[Interdimensional Observer]

10 minutes ago, vanguard333 said:

The problem isn't his plan being "unreasonable"; it's that it undermines Alm's relatability in that he's just given the role because of Mycen, and believability in that Alm's first mission immediately afterwards is take the capital and its castle, and he just... succeeds. 

I think this is partly a gameplay-related issue. By refusing to deviate at all from Gaiden concerning the sequence and number of battles, SoV is rather forced in having to do something flawed here.

In original Gaiden, you meet the resistance (actually, you don't have to), you take Zofia Castle right afterwards, and it isn't a big problem since there is so little plot.

By adding more plot however, what SoV should have done is put some clashing between the resistance and Desaix/Rigel to provide a gradual step-by-step process by which the Deliverance and Alm learn what it takes to reclaim territory. Or maybe SoV could have kicked the entire Deliverance to Ram, so Alm starts by commanding a lowly battalion of it, only meeting with Clive in its advanced vanguard later before the Zofia Castle assault.

Or to pull a different page from RD, the Daein Liberation Army was being manipulated both towards failure and success if failure fails, by Izuka. Just make it a little more clear that Rudolf is handicapping the south Zofian defenders so Alm, now that he is rising, is presented with a challenge, but not one he is absolutely certain to lose no matter how hard he tries.

Or they could have moved Zofia Castle northward into Act 3 and end with a building of some lesser but still great importance taken.

[vanguard333]

1 minute ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

I think this is partly a gameplay-related issue. By refusing to deviate at all from Gaiden concerning the sequence and number of battles, SoV is rather forced in having to do something flawed here.

In original Gaiden, you meet the resistance (actually, you don't have to), you take Zofia Castle right afterwards, and it isn't a big problem since there is so little plot.

By adding more plot however, what SoV should have done is put some clashing between the resistance and Desaix/Rigel to provide a gradual step-by-step process by which the Deliverance and Alm learn what it takes to reclaim territory. Or maybe SoV could have kicked the entire Deliverance to Ram, so Alm starts by commanding a lowly battalion of it, only meeting with Clive in its advanced vanguard later before the Zofia Castle assault.

Or to pull a different page from RD, the Daein Liberation Army was being manipulated both towards failure and success if failure fails, by Izuka. Just make it a little more clear that Rudolf is handicapping the south Zofian defenders so Alm, now that he is rising, is presented with a challenge, but not one he is absolutely certain to lose no matter how hard he tries.

Or they could have moved Zofia Castle northward into Act 3 and end with a building of some lesser but still great importance taken.

Of course; I'm just pointing out the clash that resulted and that it's one part of how jarring they made Alm becoming head of the Deliverance; especially compared to Micaiah being made head of the Daein Liberation Army in part 1 of Radiant Dawn. 

[Fire Emblem Fan]

I like his character well enough, but he's definitely not my favorite protagonist of the series. I kinda wish they'd leaned a little more into the aspects of his character the Awakening DLC showed, but it's not a deal-breaker. As a left-handed person, I like that he was left-handed since there's so few protagonists who are. I think his voice acting helps a bit as well, the VA did a fantastic job!

[NekoKnight]

While I think he's charming on a personal level, his character proved to be detrimental to the themes of the game and the credibility of the writing. Alm being a good boy who wins battle after battle is not too different from the likes of Eliwood and Marth but the issue I see is that this game called for him not being perfect. Alm and Celica are supposed to be two halves of a whole, but the game shows Alm being right about everything and Celica being wrong about everything. Every decision Alm makes ends up being the proper one, contrary to what his advisors might tell him. Additionally, all the stuff about the value of commoners is thrown out the window because Alm is secret royalty and a child of destiny.

I don't believe Alm is challenged in any way, in terms of his military success or his values, like Celica is. Reckless heroism is always the correct answer and Alm will lead the Deliverance to victory despite Zofia's MASSIVE disadvantage (recovering from a civil war, drought/famine, Terrors and the country's reputation as being full of lazy hedonists). Even the 'trauma' of killing off his father and cousin falls flat because he didn't even know who they were (and Berkut was a nasty piece of work) until right before they died.  

He's not Corrin but he might be Corrin-lite for how effortlessly he takes up the reins of leadership and is praised as being just naturally superior and his contrived despair over family members he never knew.

9 hours ago, vanguard333 said:

There's a very good reason why Alm being handed leadership is criticized and Micaiah being handed leadership isn't: with Micaiah, it's far more organic. Micaiah was already a Joan-of-arc figure to the Daein people and an experienced leader of the Dawn Brigade from day 1. Izuka's plan was built on the name Micaiah had already earned in the eyes of the people. Clive's plan was, "Well; I've let everybody down. I'm going to give the position of leader to this kid just because he's Mycen's supposed grandson." Clive's plan is not unreasonable; especially for one built entirely on his own self-loathing at that point. The problem isn't his plan being "unreasonable"; it's that it undermines Alm's relatability in that he's just given the role because of Mycen, and believability in that Alm's first mission immediately afterwards is take the capital and its castle, and he just... succeeds. 

Quoting this because it's true. Micaiah is a messianic figure for the people of Daein and a proven leader by the time she is given her official title. Alm's accomplishments by the point he is made the leader of the Deliverance are rescuing two women. And then he becomes the hero of Zofia overnight because he somehow (helped) retake Zofia castle despite the Deliverance losing badly up to that point. 

Edited August 16, 2018 by NekoKnight

[vanguard333]

7 hours ago, Fire Emblem Fan said:

As a left-handed person, I like that he was left-handed since there's so few protagonists who are. 

Indeed; there's a reason that Link is The Left-Handed Hero; because he's literally the only left-handed protagonist that a lot of people know about, and I was so disappointed that he was right-handed in Breath of the Wild. With Skyward Sword, there was at least a reason (though I would've preferred it be an option so no player would be at a disadvantage just because of their dominant hand). But with Breath of the Wild, there was no excuse. I just hope he's left-handed in the next game. 

Back to Alm; yeah, him being left-handed was pretty cool.

[Erureido]

I like Alm the best when he's being a dork, and it really shows in his dialogue whenever you explore villages or similar areas of interest. However, I do find him to overrated when it comes to how he is written. He never has a clear character arc in the story, and he feels like he gets praised too much. The only time someone ever truly criticizes him for a character flaw is Clive's moment following the battle to rescue Mathilda. Alm also comes across as too forgiving for me when it comes to his biggest enemies, especially with Berkut considering how he was never nice to Alm for the entirety of SoV.

Alm is ultimately a character I kinda like but not completely. He has a nice and approachable personality that makes him a fun character at times, yet I can definitely understand why some fans label him as a Gary Stu.