Avatars/My Units

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I'm curious to hear everyone's thoughts on Avatars/My Units?

Chris/Kris I never really understood the hate for beyond being OP and having too large of a story presence. They're highly customize-able, are given several choices that affect gameplay albeit minor ones, and are completely blank slates. I can see the dislike for unnecessarily shoehorning them into FE3's story, but I don't think anyone can act like Marth had a personality until this game. I feel like they're basically a playable Mark.

Robin is re-balanced but limits the out-of-the-gate customize options and meaningful story choices. It's debate-able as to whether or not they stole the story from Chrom/Lucina as that's arguably more of a problem with pacing & poor world building. They have a personality as well, so I see them as a weird in-between.

Corrin is basically a character you can change the hair color of and not too much less. They have the largest gameplay decision to make nor do they negatively affect the story but are the least self-input-able given they have a fairly defined personality.

I think I'm personally in favor of limiting them to online modes or going the FE7 route and keeping them in a minor role. Thus far they seem to either be pointless gameplay-wise or bog down the more focused stories the series used to the known for. I'm curious to see how Three Houses may attempt this as the story seems to be more focused than Fates.

 

[Idon]

I think they should vastly tone down their importance and the worship they receive from other characters. My issue with them is that they're simultaneously trying to be blank slates and actual characters, while having neither the personal freedom of the former nor the interesting facets and flaws as the latter.

It feels kind of masturbatory and icky when you're just playing the game and the plot has to stop to congratulate you and praise you at every corner. It personally takes me out of the story and feels like the game's deliberately trying to pander to me and make me feel good which ironically only makes me feel patronized.

That's why if they're going to put an avatar in, I'd prefer someone like Mark, who basically is just a wallflower and observer to the events of the plot rather than being the most important character in the plot. Byleth seems to be a step in that direction, being an instructor rather than some important figurehead.
Or hell, not have them at all. It's not like I play Fire Emblem so I can self-insert myself and be an anime protagonist with a harem of teenage girls.

If I wanted that, I'd play Persona.

 

[Frizz]

Although Avatars/My Units are, for the most part, my favorite characters in the series, they still need a lot of work. Like Idon stated, the main problem comes from the fact that they're both trying to be a blank slate for the player to project themselves on to as well as trying to be their own character. As a result, they don't give much backstory, but when they do, it's either very little, like Kris training with his grandfather to become a knight, or through some other excuse like Robin's amnesia. But anyway, here are my thoughts.

Kris: There's a couple of Reddit posts that can be found here about Kris's character that pretty much sums up his flaws as a character. Some of them are rather vulgar, but the points are still valid. Aside from being a good character unit-wise (being able to select your class from the start and set your growth rates), Kris isn't that very good of a character. If they were to rework his character a little, he could definitely be better, but either way, I still like him. Unlike Robin and Corrin, he isn't anything special. He's not gifted at strategy (at least, not to Robin's extent), and he isn't born to an important lineage or anything, so he doesn't have any royal blood that makes a weapon exclusively wielded by him. Instead, he constantly trains in fighting, and reads up on books on strategy and tactics. He's probably the best choice of an Avatar/My Unit for a blank slate since he's an ordinary human being who just happens to work hard and is extremely loyal.

Robin: Robin is so far the best Avatar/My Unit character-wise out of all of them. There's a Tumblr post that can be found here that really goes into detail about Robin's character and personality. A bit vulgar as well, but not too much. And although it's mainly directed at accurately writing Robin's character in fanfictions and whatnot, it's still a good post when regarding his character. His amnesia is the only thing that makes him a blank slate, since it hinders him from having any backstory other than what is explained by Grima!Robin and Validar. Other than that, he has a character to work with, and a pretty decent one at that. In his supports, his strengths and weaknesses are often shown, such as having low self-confidence or not being able to paint/draw. If he wasn't an Avatar/My Unit, I'd say that he'd do pretty well as his own character.

Corrin: I haven't played Fates yet, so I can't really give much of an opinion on them.

 

[Fire Emblemier]

My main gripe with Kris was that his/her personality was EXTREMELY one note, "its training this, training that, I train all the time." Liked the customizability of them and as unit, I like powerful ones, and they are powerful.

Robin at first I thought of like Kris except replace training with strategy. Not nearly as bad though as focusing on strategy of stuff is a lot more broad of a subject than training. Though Robin definitely benefits from characterization outside of Awakening.

Corrin after first playing Conquest and finishing the story I decided that its best I don't pay attention to their personality or growth of as a character as to keep it short wasn't done well. Their design is cool though and they are a fun unit to use.

 

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Isn't the point of Avatars/My Units to be projections of yourself? Giving each of them personalities and having little to no control over their actions kind of defeats the point of including them as characters or as gameplay elements does it not?

I'm interested in hearing dissenting opinions. For those in favor of Avatars/My Units how do you want them handled?

 

[Frizz]

I personally wouldn't mind having much more dialogue options for them, in both the main story and in supports, kinda like how the dialogue options work in the Fallout series—you could choose the kind, sarcastic, witty, etc. dialogue options that's more in line with your own personality, which in turn impacts how the other characters would react and treat you. If the My Units/Avatars make choices for themselves all the time, then they're really more of their own character rather than as a projection of the player.

Even if they don't do that, My Units/Avatars are still fine by me. I don't really try to project myself onto them, so I just leave them as the default, as if they were their own character. I instead see myself as them instead of seeing them as me. Even if we're not really alike, I still try to take on their perspective and mindset, like I was in their shoes.

 

[Moydow]

I never really think of any of the avatars as images of myself in the game, but that might just be me since I feel the same in any game that lets you create your own character(s).

I don't dislike the concept, but I don't feel like any of the games have done them in a way that I really like yet, either. Mark being mute is fine, but I'd have liked a few dialogue options here or there and to be able to make them an actual unit; while Kris, Robin, and Corrin all suffer from having preset personalities (none of which really appeal to me, personally, Corrin in particular) but are still treated as if they actually are the player, and end up being subject to far too much player worship as a result.

I think if they're going to insist on the avatar being intended as a projection of the player into the game world, I'd make the avatar mute, and instead give them dialogue options throughout the game that other characters can react to, but make them a more passive participant in the plot, rather than one of its main drivers. Or if they're going to go down the route of making the avatar more involved in the plot and have preset dialogue, then they should just be a character whose appearance you get to personalise, but don't actually treat them as if they are the player when they aren't.

I'd also prevent the avatar being able to S-support in either situation, but I'm not sure if this is the place for that topic. :p

 

[False Sense]

Speaking as someone who's favorite character is Robin...

Yeah, the whole "Avatar" thing is poorly executed.

Basically what everyone else has already said. Characters like Robin and Corrin are marketed as avatars and feature a decent amount of customization options, especially in regards to their appearance, but you're ultimately just putting a different skin over what is otherwise a very defined character. This isn't too bad in terms of gameplay, as having a unit that customizable can be fun to experiment with and offer more individualized experiences, but in terms of story, characterization, and fulfilling the role of an "avatar" for the player, it doesn't really work. Them being designed as avatars just doesn't add to the game; they would work just as well, if not better, if they were made into normal characters.

In fact, they do. Later games like Heroes and Warriors features Robin and Corrin as ordinary members of the cast, and subsequently you start to see aspects of their personalities come into sharper focus, such as Robin being an upbeat nerd and Corrin basically being Rapunzel.

Going forward, I'd say either make actual avatar characters (true blank slates that exist primarily to let the player exist in the world of the game), and have them be relegated to side-characters, at best, or just ditch the whole "avatar" concept and just make normal characters. You could still make them customizable to an extent, especially in regards to stats and class options, but don't design them like they're meant to *be* the player, because so far IS has demonstrated they don't really know how to do that properly.

 

[Folt]

I like the later versions (Robin/Corrin).

Having someone I can determine aspects of like stat focus and what class I end up using is great.

Though in that aspect, I'm more for Robin than I am for Corrin.