Well, it’s that day again. This is actually based on an older post I made, and while most aspects remain the same, it was made too long ago to be referenced, so I’ll present a remastered version.
Let’s begin!
Introduction
Before starting, there is a question probably many of you asked yourselves.
Who is Micaiah?
Micaiah is the main character from Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn, one of the several main games in the series originally released for the Wii in February 2007, or November in States. Micaiah is a Silver-Haired Mage and one of the members of the Dawn Brigade, a small band created with the objective of fighting for the citizen of their country, Daein, currently taken for the Begnion and their Occupation Army.
Micaiah is a kind-hearted person with a extreme passion for Daein and her people after living there for a unknown time and believing in them despite all the bad things that happened after Ashnard (the Daein’s king before the occupation) left Nevassa. Despite her apparently quiet look she is actually incredible persistent, with unbreakable spirit; she tries to take action for the sake of others if even it can potentially get her in trouble. She is a relatively introvert individual, enjoying her free time alone, but she wouldn’t ever replaces the people she loves.
Micaiah plays a key role in the team thanks to her ability to see the future, isn’t perfect, but it can help them to retreat and avoid being captured by the Empire, but more prominently, is her unique healing ability of unknown origin, “Sacrifice”, which is able of essentially making miracles through his heal touch at expense of her own life force. This kind of description makes her sound a bit like a Jeanne D’Arc, and in many way she is.
Fun fact: While isn’t exactly confirmed if she is actually a vegetarian, she has preference for fruit.
Before continuing, I’ll talk about the term “Lord” in the franchise. “Lord” while is usually used in the franchise also for the actual people with the title of Lord, in Fire Emblem discussions the term is actually used to talk about the main characters, the group of characters that can’t die in the adventure, otherwise the game will end in game over. The reason of this is because the Lord class has a long running tradition of being the class the main characters use; for example, Marth himself, Seliph, Sigurd, Leif, Roy, Eliwood, etc.; because of this even if the class isn’t actually known as “Lord” is essentially considered one if has the same special properties (must always be used, if the character dies the games end, the main character of the game).
The Chances.
Micaiah is a character in a rough position right now, the competition has become larger and more troublesome, not only including Alm and Celica, but also a new bunch of new characters (Byleth, Edelgard and co) that are now in the perfect time for being picked as playable characters, with all of them having their unique perks to be considered. However despite these problems Micaiah still has some appeal on her side that isn’t easily replicable.
There's aspects of the Fire Emblem franchise that haven't been represented, or even truly replicated in Smash as of yet, and she's very much fit for that role.
This opens up possibilities to many interesting niches and gimmicks.
1- Micaiah is a user of Light Magic
"But Robin already wields magic tomes"
First off, Robin is more akin to a Magic Knight or Red Mage, if you will. While magic is an important part of their gameplay, they function like a sword user most of the time, and as such, their moveset is split between magic and swordplay, limiting their depth with either, while Micaiah is purely a magic user. Secondly, Robin wields Anima (Fire/Thunder/Wind) and Dark magic tomes, which in the context of Fire Emblem, are different from Light magic, allowing for a variety of different functions or effects, ranging from the highly powerful but make you vulnerable (Aura), Long-Range Magic (Purge), the ones that have quirky effects like debuffing in someway (Valaura) and of course there are the ol'reliable ones that doesn't have particular disadvantages or advantages like Shine.
The lack of a sword also makes Micaiah more reliant in the all kinds of animations for magic attacks in the series, which include aura attacks, light balls, light serpents, little fairies, light pillars, and explosions of light, among other stuff that is possible to do with the power of a type of magic so simple but also so flexible.
But Magic isn't limited just to flashy movements, after all that is something that Zelda and Palutena already does in their moveset, specially in their magic based attacks (with different animations of course). Micaiah also has in her side other way of using her power.
2.- Micaiah is a user of the Utility-Based Magical Staves.
The staves are one of the most useful tools you can find in a Fire Emblem game because of their special utilities as support tools, being pretty much the White Magic of Fire Emblem, utility of all kind (thought the way the Staff Magic is known in the series sometimes is different like with Gaiden’s white magic and Three Houses’ faith magic).
There are some very straightforward staves like the ones that heals HP or Status Ailments. But there are also some that offer many possibilities; Warping and Rescuing Units can be used to move units at positions that would otherwise being impossible, making them key to create powerful strategies to beat even the hardest maps (for people that known about Reinhardt, his map in Thracia 776 it’s quite harsh if you’re unable to Teleport your units and take the castle quickly).
Micaiah is the only lord that is actually associated (but not as much as the Light Magic) with Staves and supporting magic in general; and they're one of the key elements in the franchise (the Staves and their strategies are as old as the first Fire Emblem) that would be represented in some way.
Palutena technically uses a Staff, but it's only really just a weapon for some of her attacks and doesn't represent anything in particular other that her goddess theme.
3.- Micaiah's signature abilities.
Alongside the more well known use of Magic and Staves that appear across the series; Micaiah has her own abilities beyond these. Micaiah has Corona (also known as: Dawn Light), that is the name of the Micaiah's Proc Skill that does additional damage (more specifically, ignores the enemy's Magic Resistance) and can blind the enemies affected; in her game she isn't the only character that uses this skill, but unless you're very unlucky (getting Corona'd by Sephiran), it's unlikely you ended up seeing someone else using the ability.
When casting Corona, Micaiah creates a light sphere above her, and then it connects into the next character, it would be perfectly used as the start of a Final Smash with a powerful white magic explosion or something like that.
Micaiah also has another ability, and this one is completely unique to her (even in Fire Emblem): the previously mentioned “Sacrifice” (also known as: Healing Hands), this is a tricky skill, it's effect (as their names would indicate), is a healing skill that gives HP to other units, quite interesting, not exactly the easiest skill to represent in Smash; but would at least work for some kind of Cool Easter Egg.
Also, Micaiah has her own personal magic tome: Thani, which would be an important element of how Micaiah would work in Smash Bros; Thani is a weapon known to be effective against Cavalry and Armor Units, a property shared with the Rapier (Marth’s and Roy’s Base Weapon) that it’s basically the reason why Marth has Shieldbreaker capabilities. (Thani’s anti Cavalry/Armor property is conserved even in most recent depictions of Micaiah like the ones in Fire Emblem Heroes, in fact, she is at this point associated with the very idea of being effective against these classes because all her FEH Units so far share this property despite only one of them actually using Thani)
There is a moveset I did for Source Gaming a few years ago exploring many of the previously explained ideas and even more:
http://sourcegaming.info/2016/12/22/ds-micaiah/ (I hope you found them interesting)
After explaining the gameplay stuff, the things that would interest Sakurai for a new character, it's time to explore other points; the things that helps or damages her chances.
Let's start with the negatives.
Micaiah hasn't have a new appearance in a Main Game (unless you want to count Fire Emblem Heroes) since Awakening, and that was essentially a cameo; Micaiah most notable appearances in the last years were her original release in Fire Emblem Heroes (January 2018), and her release as a Brave Unit (a unit that was voted by the fans into existence) in August 2019. So far she had only been a main character in Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn, 12 years ago (February 2007)
She is evidently behind many people for a spot in the next Smash Bros; specially now that her competition had become more troublesome with people like Edelgard and Byleth being in the perfect time to appear as Smash Characters, and of course there are still a lot of other options to consider in between First Parties and Third Parties
These are quite heavy problems without a doubt, but Micaiah still has some small things in her side.
Now the positives.
Something important for a character selection, it's to stand out in the roster; Micaiah has a similar anime aesthetic to the rest of the Fire Emblem Character, so isn't hard to see in which franchise she belongs, however, the rest of her design makes her feel completely different from the usual Fire Emblem protagonists. This is particularly relevant because having a distinctive silhouette is important in Smash Bros’ character design.
Also, related with her design, being a original female character kind of helps her to stand out; it’s not exactly the biggest of the advantages; but hey, it’s something..
Micaiah surprisingly got some support during the ballot time, as it was show for the Source Gaming Posts about it... Nothing super special, but the support actually exists, while small appears to time to time.
And the last thing to consider; it’s probably a stretch; but Micaiah benefits a bit of the surprise factor because she is a character that lives her support partially thanks to the moveset ideas it can offer compared with her main competition.
And so, I decided to give her a
5% Chance rate... she is definitely unlikely, but there is not doubt she is a character filled with tons of potential, waiting to be found.
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The Want
I want to start saying that Fire Emblem is my second favorite franchise from Nintendo and in the videogame industry in general, only Smash is above it, and Kirby it’s the only other franchise that comes close to my love and dedication, it gives me exciting adventures and stories, an incredibly fun way to play strategy games I have never seen in my life before and done in a quite simple way.
I love the RPG Elements the games have; it also give me tons of new characters to known and like in their stories, people like Marth, Caeda, Minerva, Sigurd, Roy, Sophia, Nino, Lucina, Edelgard and more. But above all of them, she is different from the rest.
Micaiah is very important to me in a very personal way, I have a quite interesting story with her since I know of her existence, even before playing her game some years ago; in fact, I would say my story as a fan of Micaiah started when I was seeing the Speculation of Super Smash Bros. Brawl; learning everyday above new characters and stuff from the games, after all I loved MeIee, I definitely wanted to get Brawl and their gigantic collection of characters, engaging game design and other stuff we love about Smash.
During the Speculation I learned about one of the games related to this speculation; it’s name was Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn; Fire Emblem was a franchise I knew about quite loosely thanks to some videos talking about Marth’s moves; and other stuff like that; it was a game I notice a few times in the store, and also found a bit about in magazines; I mostly remember from that time the pictures of the bulky Ike, the handsome green-head (Sothe) and the quite charming Silver-Haired Maiden; after the release of Brawl and after playing quite a lot I ended up checking the Trophies; I remember finding the Sothe Trophy, looking pretty much the same as the artworks in the magazines, with his description having a “Micaiah” character being quite prominent on it; after exploring the stickers in my times of boredom I made the connection; the Micaiah was indeed the Silver Girl from the Radiant Dawn Pictures.
In 2009, the year I was trying to complete Smash Bros Brawl again (because my first copy of the game died… and the Wii Console with it) was also the year I started properly to play Fire Emblem, and fall in love with the mechanics and the overall feeling; during this time I also started to investigate more about the franchise; I discovered many things, but the most relevant thing for today’s post is the fact I found that Micaiah was indeed the Main Character of Radiant Dawn; not just bulky Ike; and since that day it gives me headaches trying to understand why Sothe has a Trophy in the Brawl, but Micaiah doesn’t… that didn’t make sense, after all Sothe’s importance in Radiant Dawn it was pretty much connected to be Micaiah’s bodyguard and best friend.
After this my young mind started to speculate the potential reasons for years; I never had a proper answer; but I was sure I wanted to play Radiant Dawn; the game looked awesome and the quite mysterious image of Micaiah was around it, it would learn something after play it.
I started to feel a special attachment to her, even before I played her game; I wanted to know her and Radiant Dawn better somehow; in 2012 and beyond I started seeing people discuss about the game, their characters and became quite connected with the cast despite having little experience with the narrative and how the game actually worked in the practice; this was also a hyped time, Awakening was recently released and many of the main characters that ended up being forgotten were (kinda) resurrected in the form of the DLC Stuff; the Micaiah in the Dark Mage outfit it’s probably one of the things I remember the most from those times. Micaiah was a character that without a doubt fascinated me since long ago, but I don’t actually became a fan until a bit later.
Smash Bros Wii U arrives along with many new characters; Awakening was the newest thing released from Fire Emblem; so I was sure we’re gonna get something from that game; I wasn’t very into the community of Smash to see people talking about rumours and stuff; I just knew it we’re gonna get an Awakening Character, and it was the case. I think after seeing Megaman in the game I wasn’t very interested in any character in particular at that point, I was just happy with everything.
Then 2015 arrived, Mewtwo Striking Back brings happiness to old and new fans; it also was the beginning of the Ballot; and age where speculation went nuts without a doubt; and this was also the key moment for me to become a Micaiah fan.
I remember a close friend (who is also a Fire Emblem Fan) told me he wanted Micaiah in Smash Bros; I was confuse for the idea, but I ended up embracing it after understanding the potential she had as a magic and staff user; this was the beginning of one of my busiest years trying to understand Micaiah as a character with a more mature mind-set and it was finally the moment I was properly capable of getting the Radiant Dawn Experience after so many years.
When I was done, I love it; and simply love it; I would see the flaws in the balance and the rush in development, but I simply loved the concepts they decided to went with Micaiah and her game’s story is probably the most interesting and engaging of the International Fire Emblem Games so far (something that only was recently challenged by Three Houses).
Micaiah is such a sweet gal, but she is also stubborn and has tons of will power, despite looking like a character that would depend in the world to don’t die; she is actually smart enough to be a competent leader, even in the actual plot; and that is awesome.
Since this moment I was sure I was a Micaiah fan, and I wanted to make something in her name to make people respect more a character that was misunderstood for many and for many reasons. It made search for answer for many questions both for the game’s design, and for Micaiah’s criticisms.
For example, before playing Radiant Dawn I learned from many old opinions about Micaiah’s “Special Kind” Capabilities (talking about most of them would be a spoiler, so if you’re interested I can talk about it), and they made her some kind of Mary Sue in their minds; I became more obsessed with narrative and the whole idea of “What is a Mary Sue actually?”; and learned from many sources what it’s actually a Mary Sue, and what isn’t. In the end I can say Micaiah made me less lazy.
Now I dedicate to write and share stuff to show how Micaiah would work in Smash Bros, to help other people understand her character better, and in general share Micaiah Love.
Maybe in the past I would have give
100% to other characters, I think Bandana Dee used to be my most wanted character from the Smash Bros Wii U Speculation; but nowadays the only character I want with this burning passion is her. I love Micaiah in every way I can imagine, I love her simple but extremely stylish and beautiful design, I love her character, I found her quite a charming person with many interesting aspects to see when you read the story, and of course, I love the fact she is a spellcaster unlike most of the Main Characters in Fire Emblem, I love my magic-based stuff. Micaiah is my favorite character in all media.
Predictions
Captain Rainbow: 3.4%
Nominations
Ryu Hayabusa x5
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