Roy (Fire Emblem)
| Roy | |
|---|---|
| Fire Emblem character | |
| File:RoyFESmash.png In-game render of Roy as he appears in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. |
Search Roy (Fire Emblem) on Amazon.
Roy is a fictional character from Nintendo's Fire Emblem video game series. He first appears in the 2001 crossover fighting game Super Smash Bros. Melee as a representative character from the Fire Emblem series. He is the lead character of Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, released the following year exclusively in Japan. Within the story of The Binding Blade, Roy is the son of Eliwood, and heir presumptive of Pherae, who eventually becomes a major military leader. Roy's inclusion in Melee has been noted by video game publications for its role in increasing brand awareness for the Fire Emblem series as a whole outside of its native Japan, which encouraged Nintendo to localize the series for international distribution. Roy continues to make recurring appearances in subsequent Fire Emblem media, such as a manga series and spinoff video games.
Concept and design
Roy was initially designed by Masayuki Horikawa,[2] then being handled by Eiji Kaneda.[3] Characters like Roy and Karel concept has survived during the transition of the Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade.[4] The character of Roy was designed to appeal to younger players, and was also given a strong character in contrast to earlier recent titles. He was also made to be a free-spirited and emphatic character so he appealed to as wide an audience as possible.[5] For Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, Roy was designed by Sachiko Wada.[4]
When implementing Super Smash Bros. Melee, Masahiro Sakurai stated that he liked characters with swords, and wanted more characters who could cross blades with Link. Sakurai then proceeds and campaigned Roy.[6] Roy and Marth was not removed for the Western release, giving audiences their first wider look at the Fire Emblem series through the characters.[7]
Appearances
Roy's first video game appearance is 2001's Super Smash Bros. Melee. Roy does not reappear in the 2008 entry Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but was remade in a notable fanmade mod known as Project M.[8] He was reintroduced into the series as downloadable content (DLC) for Super Smash Bros for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U,[9] and appears as part of the base roster in the series' 2018 entry, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
Roy is the lead character of Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade.[10] The story begins when King Zephiel, ruler of the kingdom of Bern, finishes the brutal conquest of Ilia and Sacae and sets his sights on Lycia. In a small region called Pherae, Roy, the son of Pherae's ruling marquess Eliwood, is forced to return home when Bern begins its invasion. As Eliwood is unable to battle due to illness, Roy is assigned command of Lycia's army. Eventually, Roy assumes command of the army of Etruria.
The next instalment after The Binding Blade, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, is a prequel which features a younger Eliwood as one of its protagonists. Roy appears during the game's epilogue, where Eliwood reunites with his comrade Hector and their respective children are introduced to each other.
Roy is available as a playable character in Fire Emblem Awakening as DLC.[11] Roy also appears in Fire Emblem Heroes.[12]
In other media
Roy appears in the Fire Emblem: The Champion's Blade manga, first published prior to the release of The Binding Blade and takes place concurrently with the events of the game.[13]
Promotion and merchandise
To promote his appearance in Super Smash Bros for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, an amiibo figure of Roy was featured as an exclusive release at GameStop.[14] In 2019, plushies depicting Roy and other Fire Emblem characters were released.[15]
Reception
Roy's appearance in Melee, alongside Marth's, introduced the Fire Emblem series to players outside of Japan. It was in part because of his inclusion that Nintendo began localizing and releasing Fire Emblem games internationally, beginning with the seventh title in the series.[16][17][18][19] Due to the popular demand from Japanese fans, Roy was added in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as a DLC character,[20] a decision welcomed by Chris Carter from Destructoid.[21] In North American Fire Emblem character popularity polls running up to the release of Fire Emblem Heroes, Roy was ranked top 2 as a favorite character, out of all Fire Emblem other male characters.[22] The top four characters in the polls received new in-game costumes; Heather Alexandra of Kotaku has praised Roy's original costume by stating that "Roy’s outfit hits all the notes of overclass imagery one", but criticized that Roy remains as a red-colored unit.[23]
Not all reception to Roy's presence in Smash had been positive. In response to fan backlash against the addition of further Fire Emblem characters as DLC for Ultimate, with complaints that the Smash roster has too many sword fighter character archetypes or that Roy played too similarly compared to certain characters, game director Masahiro Sakurai conceded that there are too many representatives from the series,[24][25] but maintained it is an unfounded concern and the development team are diligent in ensuring that each character along with the game as a whole would be balanced properly.[26] Gavin Jasper of Den of Geek downplayed Roy's significance, and claimed that the character was added to Melee as a gamble because The Binding Blade was still under development at the time and Nintendo wanted to promote the game well ahead of its release.[27] Commenting on Roy's 30th place ranking on a 2018 list of Smash playable characters published by Polygon, Jeremy Parish expressed a preference for Roy Koopa Jr., a Koopaling character instead.[28] IGN criticized that Roy's moveset in Super Smash Bros. Melee is similar to Marth, even its different from Ike at Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii. He also further stated that "Maybe if they gave him an all-new moveset, but he doesn't seem like he'd deserve that level of effort and focus – only characters like Ganondorf would seem major enough for that. Roy's probably a one-and-done, fans. Bid him a fond farewell."[29]
In his review of The Binding Blade, Mike Moehnke of RPGamer criticized Roy's weak in-game attributes for the majority of the game, to the point where his presence detracts from an otherwise satisfactory gameplay experience.[30] Carter found that the character played quite differently in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U compared to his previous iteration in Melee or to other Fire Emblem characters.[21]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Voice of Roy - Fire Emblem franchise". Behind The Voice Actors.
- ↑ "ファイアーエムブレム〜封印の剣〜". www.1101.com.
- ↑ "ファイアーエムブレム メモリアルブック アカネイア・クロニクル". April 14, 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-04-14.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 メイキング オブ ファイアーエムブレム 開発秘話で綴る25周年、覚醒そしてif (in Japanese). Tokuma Shoten. November 28, 2015. ISBN 978-4-19-864056-9.
- ↑ "ファイアーエムブレム〜封印の剣〜". www.1101.com.
- ↑ "How Super Smash Bros. Melee Introduced Fire Emblem to Western Audiences". Shacknews.
- ↑ "Nintendo Feature: Fire Emblem through the ages - Official Nintendo Magazine". April 16, 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-04-16.
- ↑ Klepek, Patrick. "Smash Community In Shock Over Sudden End To Popular Mod, Project M".
- ↑ "Roy, Ryu, And Lucas Prices Revealed For Super Smash Bros. - Siliconera". 14 June 2015.
- ↑ "Fire Emblem Echoes director would like to remake The Binding Blade - Nintendo Wire". 22 May 2017.
- ↑ Drake, Audrey (11 February 2013). "Fire Emblem Awakening: Recruiting Roy".
- ↑ "Fire Emblem Heroes adds 'Love Abounds' heroes Lilina, Roy, Hector, and Lyn - Gematsu". 7 February 2018.
- ↑ "Nintendo's Fire Emblem Had a Manga Before It Came to America". 18 February 2021.
- ↑ "Roy amiibo pre-orders begin today, exclusively at GameStop". 21 January 2016.
- ↑ Life, Nintendo (May 15, 2019). "These Fire Emblem Plushies Are Simply Adorable, You Guys". Nintendo Life.
- ↑ Brown, Mark (April 18, 2013). "Pocket Primer: A complete history of Fire Emblem". Pocket Gamer. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 6, 2016. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "How Super Smash Bros. Melee Introduced Fire Emblem to Western Audiences". Shacknews.
- ↑ East, Thomas (April 13, 2013). "Fire Emblem through the ages". Official Nintendo Magazine. Archived from the original on April 16, 2013. Retrieved July 17, 2015. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "30 Years Later, The Original Fire Emblem Is Getting Localized For Switch". Kotaku.
- ↑ "Why Are There So Many Fire Emblem Characters in Super Smash Bros?". 29 September 2020.
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Roy's not quite our same boy in the new Super Smash Bros". 15 June 2015.
- ↑ "Fire Emblem Heroes Fan Favorites Poll Led By Ike, Roy, Lucina, Lyn, and Tharja". USgamer.net. 27 January 2017. Archived from the original on 3 August 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2021.
- ↑ Alexandra, Heather. "Fan-Voted Favorites Get Stylish New Armor Sets In Fire Emblem Heroes".
- ↑ Phillips, Tom (February 5, 2020). "Even Super Smash Bros. boss Sakurai agrees it has too many Fire Emblem characters".
- ↑ D'Anastasio, Cecilia. "Breaking: Too Many Fire Emblem Characters In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate".
- ↑ "Tired of sword users in Smash Ultimate? Sakurai says don't blame him". March 5, 2021.
- ↑ "Super Smash Bros. Characters Ranked". Den of Geek. March 7, 2019.
- ↑ Parish, Jeremy (December 3, 2018). "We rank the Smash Bros. (and friends)". Polygon.
- ↑ Thomas, Lucas (16 November 2007). "Smash It Up! - Veterans Day". IGN. News Corporation. Archived from the original on 2009-05-17. Retrieved 20 October 2009. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Moehnke, Mike (January 23, 2012). "Fire Emblem: The Sealed Sword - Staff Retroview". RPGamer. Archived from the original on September 22, 2015. Retrieved November 23, 2016. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
| Main series |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Spin-offs | ||
| Characters | ||
| Related topics | ||
This article "Roy (Fire Emblem)" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Roy (Fire Emblem). Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
|
This page exists already on Wikipedia. |
