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Chance: 0.01%
Well... we were told to expect the unexpected... but I somehow don't think they're referring to someone like Merric. Let's ignore the fact that he's got a spirit in the game, that's the least of his worries. What he really has to contend for is being an FE rep chosen when 3 Houses are on another block. Not only that, but not being as popular as some of the more requested FE characters. And to top it all off, Robin already does the mage thing, so that angle wouldn't be unique for Sakurai to look into... which he already said he's worried about overrepping Fire Emblem, and Chrom was added already...
Want: 0%
Sorry, but it seems to me that Merric doesn't bring much in terms of new to the table. Not to mention, with there only being four slots left, I'm a lot more picky about who I'd like to see, and Merric just isn't one of them.
Predictions: Quote
Hmm, he's kinda old news b now, right? That said, he was popular back in the day... 7.01%?
It would be a Merric-alif people gave him a high percentage
Chance: 0%
Some would say anything's possible but in this case, I'd disagree. There's a huge amount of things going against him.
-He's a spirit.
-Just 4 spots left. Competition is major.
-While recurring, isn't a main lord. (from what I know) Those are the characters they tend to go with.
-We already have a mage in the form of Robin.
-Literally who?
-Three Houses rep is still the likeliest FE dlc choice.
-Another FE character isn't likely to begin with, because...
-It doesn't have the suprise factor at this point, if it does, it would be the bad kind of suprise.
-A large part of the fanbase would groan at the inclusion. Sakurai isn't completely tonedeaf.
-Even Sakurai agrees that there are too many FE characters.
-General audiences wouldn't be as interested in those characters as other potential groundshaking inclusions.
So yeah, I'm absolutely sure it isn't happening. Although Opossum
will probably make my post invalid by stating reasons why Merric is actually likelier than we think, i dunno. Probably will involve that gacha game.
Want: 0%
Ahahahahaha! This guy's getting a big fat NO!!! from me. Even if Dee made it in alongside him, it wouldn't be able to wash the bad taste out of my mouth a terrible inclusion like Merric would give me. Happy new year people.
Chance: 0%
Fire Emblem has a lot of competition, and Merric does not have recency or marketability on his side. He is a decently important character in his games and in the end becomes Marth's brother-in-law, but he's still probably behind a few other SD characters in the queue, like Tiki and Caeda.
Want: 30%
The main reason I'll go this high on him is the fact that he's one of my favorite FE characters. I love Shadow Dragon/New Mystery and would be fine with another rep from those games. But I can only let my bias go so far; he's probably not an important enough FE character to make it in without us also getting Lyn, Ephraim, Sigurd, Tiki, and a few others. And even if Sakurai were to let me pick one SD rep to accompany Marth, I'd probably choose Barst or Caeda over Merric.
[insert standard "Literally who?" argument]
[insert standard "Even Sakurai thinks Fire Emblem is overrepped" argument]
[insert standard "He's nowhere near iconic" argument]
[insert standard "He's a Spirit, and they probably disconfirm" argument]
[insert standard "The likeliest FE characters are from the next game, not one that passed a while ago" argument]
[insert standard "I'm not a fan of JRPGs" argument]
[insert standard "I'd like to see another series than FE get some love" argument"]
[insert standard "There are only 4 slots confirmed, so I'm really particular" argument"]
Merric: Chance: 0%, We already have too much fire emblem, even Sakurai said that when Corrin with Corrin and only added him/her because of Nintendo. Plus we got a mage, I imagine if Sakurai would add another, he would stop with the swordsman, and probably add an axe wielder. Want: 0%, never heard of him before this, and we have Robin for the mage. Would rather have an Axe Wielder.
Predict: Quote: Don't see it happening, 5%
Since my votes for Jar Jar won't count (As the 2 kind people stated below)... Nominations: Freddi Fish and Luther (The Freddy Fish Games) x10
Should've gone for Linde, but I guess Elice isn't too bad. Badmouthing her brother in front of some random jackass isn't cool, though, IDK why he'd go out with somebody like that.
Chance: 0%. The only reason Piranha Plant happened was because it was iconic. Merric is not iconic, is not from a franchise hurting for characters, not from a franchise big enough to warrant more characters, is not a standout character, and everything interesting he can do, so can Robin who is in. There is no reasonable scenario in which Merric is even an Assist Trophy, or even a Mii Costume, much less a fighter.
Want: 0.1%. He's not Joker, and isn't Arle competition so I give him a pity point. But aside from that, Merric would be a worse inclusion than basically any other request on Smashboards. I don't think he even has a thread, so not enough people want him for it to be worth it. And even the "not Arle competition" is debatable.
Do I even need to say it? He's a minor character (in his overall franchise) that basically no one wants from a game that was ages ago. And Heroes means literally nothing because he doesn't get any real prominence there. He's a genuinely irrelevant character, simple as that. And that's ignoring the fact that there are numerous other, more popular/ relevant characters from his own series he has to deal with.
Want: 0%
A pure mage character would be kinda neat, but that's not enough to make me want an irrelevant character I have no attachment to. Especially when we have other, more relevant options for that.
If we get a fire emblem character, it’ll be a promotional pick (Three Houses) or a popular character (Lyn). Merric is neither. We won’t get a Fire Emblem character anyways. Plus Spirit and yadda yadda. I don’t want more Fire Emblem characters unless people give a **** about them.
NOOOOOOOO! MY NAME'S, NOT, RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK! (I'll like your post if you get the reference)
Chance: 0%
Want: 0%
This is probably one of the worst cases of a character having EVERYTHING going against them that I've ever seen. Xurkitree had quite a few things going against it, but this is 10x worse.
-This character is not popular *at all*
-This character is completely irrelevant as of now
-Another Fire Emblem character
-Series is not diverse and is overloaded with semiclones and echoes
-Signature powers already represented with Robin (so basically he's another echo)
-FE Three Houses is waiting for a representative that would at least be unique.
-Reggie and Nintendo are leaning towards surprise characters that will cause major hype (Mostly 3rd parties)
-Is a spirit
That's quite a lot of proof that Merric is screwed.
And I'm giving Merric a 0% want score as well! I let Pokémon and Mario characters slide because they can always bring something new to the table and serve as a fun inclusion. Fire Emblem is a series that is mostly semiclones and echo characters. The fans and Sakurai himself stated that FE is over represented. I've had enough as well. I like playing some of the FE characters, but this inclusion seems very pointless to me.
Also my Merric spirit battle on the board suicided off the stage as well. (Lol)
Feel better man, and I'm looking forward to your angry Merric essay.
Quote: 10.37%
An interesting idea I had on the bowl...
Noms: Concept: Spectator Emotes x10
(Similar to Clash Royale except you don't have to pay for them, and they are character specific)
Okay everyone, strap in. Today we're going to take a look at Merric. Before you vote today, I would love it if you would read this post. Merric's a character that means a lot to me, personally, so I'd like to give complete context for why I have been nominating him.
At this point, many people are probably confused. Why Merric? Who is he? These are questions I expect to see a lot today, so here I am to inform you all about the Wind Mage of Khadein.
What Game is Merric From?
Merric is a character from Fire Emblem's Archanea saga, known to many as "the games with Marth in them." The first game in this saga was the very first Fire Emblem game itself: Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, which released in 1990 for Nintendo's Famicom system in Japan. The sequel, Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, would release on the Super Famicom in 1994 to critical and commercial acclaim. The games would later be remade for the Nintendo DS as Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon (notably being the only game in the saga to release outside of Japan) and Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem.
In each of these titles, Merric appears as a major character. As a fun fact, due to his appearance in the first game, Merric is the very first playable Mage in the Fire Emblem franchise. That being said, let's segue into another topic.
What is Merric's Role in the Games?
As stated previously, Merric is an incredibly important character within the Archanea saga. This can be clearly seen, especially in Mystery of the Emblem and the DS remakes of the Archanea duology. This section also contains some spoilers, so stay wary if those bother you.
Merric is the childhood friend of Prince Marth, having grown up in a noble Altean family. A frail and sickly child from a family of well-respected Knights, Merric had a very tough upbringing and had few friends. His only two friends growing up were the prince and princess of the Royal Family: Marth, and his older sister Elice.
Marth and Elice were the only two people to support Merric's dream of becoming a Mage instead of a Knight. The boy had quite the magical aptitude, after all, and was unfit for traditional knighthood. Elice, being a trained cleric, would often have to heal Merric when he injured himself, and before long he had developed feelings for her. Potential bro-code violation notwithstanding, Merric finally worked up the courage to study in Khadein, an independent city state known for its magical academy. For reference, it's basically Hogwarts+The Vatican, but in the middle of the desert. He vowed to learn a great deal of magic to protect Marth and Elice in return for the kindness they'd shown him.
However, only a short while after Merric left Altea, the War of Shadows was beginning, and Altea was taken over by the Dohlr/Gra/Grust allied forces, forcing Marth and a small garrison of his men into exile on the island kingdom of Talys, as Princess Elice is taken captive. During his studies at Khadein, though, Merric excels under the guidance of his teacher, Wendell. It is here that he is given the divine tome, Excalibur...or, rather, Merric was chosen by the tome to be its wielder. With this spell in his arsenal, he heads to Aurelis to regroup with Marth, swearing to use his magical skill to protect Marth and save Elice.
During their time in Aurelis, Merric can be used to recruit Wendell himself, who has fled Khadein due to it being taken over by the forces of the Dark Pontifex, Gharnef. Merric, at this point, has now lost both Altea and Khadein, his home and home-away-from-home. When the League reaches Archanea, Merric can speak with Linde, a relatively inexperienced Mage who is the daughter of the late Pontifex Miloah, who was held in high regard. The two geek out about magic and become fast friends. Much later, after Elice is rescued from Thabes, Merric speaks with her and tries his best to defend her, promising to cut down hordes of enemy soldiers if they dare lay a finger on her. She chuckles, saying that she knows he's much to kind to actually consider doing that, and that she prefers it that way. Being a total nervous dork, he accepts that, lowering his guard a bit.
Sadly, the era of peace brought upon by the end of the War of Shadows is far too short for everyone's liking. Not two years later, the War of Heroes begins. Once again, Merric is in Khadein when it starts off. The continent is in a full-scale war, and Khadein is one of the places pitted against Marth and the rest of Altea. Eventually the Altean army storms the academy to find Merric in a wizard's duel against Arlen, Merric's self-proclaimed rival. Jealous that Merric received Excalibur despite Arlen being the superior Mage, he tries to settle the score after thinking Merric is a traitor for siding with Altea. As a side note, if this brings to mind the relationship between Baron Mordo and Doctor Strange, you are not alone. Merric, meanwhile, doesn't hold the slightest bit of resentment toward Arlen and actually considers him a friend, and tries to talk things through with him. Wendell manages to break through to Arlen by comparing his actions to Gharnef's, who killed Pontifex Miloah for similar bouts of petty jealousy. Relenting, Arlen joins with Altea. And Merric? He still doesn't hold the whole "he tried to kill me" thing against him because he's that good of a guy.
Later in the story, at the climactic fight against Medeus, Elice is one of four maidens put under the shadow dragon's curse. In a kinda-cheesy kinda-sweet power of love moment, Merric breaks Elice out of her curse while lamenting the fact that he failed to protect her yet again. Elated to see him, the two warmly embrace before Merric realizes everyone is watching and gets flustered. As the war comes to a close with the deaths of Medeus and Gharnef, for reals this time, Marth becomes king of all Archanea, Elice creates a magic academy in the palace, and Merric marries her and becomes a teacher at her academy, known for his compassion.
Although not entirely canonical, it should also be noted that Merric is one of the more viable candidates to wield the Starlight tome, the only weapon that can defeat Gharnef. Any Mage with a high enough tome rank and magic stat can do this, but Merric is often used.
In conclusion, Merric is a fairly major supporting character during the chronicles of Archanea. Among the cast members playable in both games, he's definitely among the top five most important, falling behind Marth and Caeda, and being on par with Minerva and Tiki. This is based on lore significance, amount of conversations in a conversation-dry era of Fire Emblem, possession of a unique legendary weapon, and reasonable suspicion based on distribution of resources (Merric was one of the few Shadow Dragon characters to get official art for the remake, where only ten out of the several dozen major characters got art). He's far from an unimportant character in the grand scheme of things, so there's no need for "Literally Who"s today. That'd just be silly.
How Would Merric Work in Smash?
I'm glad you asked!
Merric is the Wind Mage, and as such, he'd mostly rely on his tome, Excalibur, which allows him to command the wind itself and pummel the opponent with sharpened gusts of razor wind. Notably, as well, Excalibur's signature effect is that it does effective damage against airborne opponents like Pegasus Knights and Dracoknights.
As such, in Smash, this would be incorporated by having Merric have a lot of dedicated anti-air attacks in his moveset, such as tools for juggling or forcing the foe higher into the air, or even controlling how they land by freezing the ground with a Blizzard tome. As a downside, Merric is canonically frail, so he would be fairly lightweight and easy to knock away if the foe gets too close. Combined, these make for an interesting set of properties. As well, Merric would be the first true playable Fire Emblem Mage in Smash. Whereas Robin only uses his tomes in his four specials, jab, and Final Smash, Merric's entire moveset would be tome-based, providing a unique flavor all his own.
As for a moveset, here is my take on Merric. Please take a look.
Normal Attacks:
Jab: A gust of wind comes from slightly in front of Merric, pushing foes toward him. Another gust pushes foes slightly away from Merric. These can be chained for a bit, until the knock back forces foes away. All the while Merric moves his hands in a back and forth twirling or stirring motion.
Dash Attack: Merric clutches Excalibur to his chest as he lunges forward with one hand outstretched, sending a blast of wind toward the ground in front of him. Visually and mechanically similar to Little Mac's dash attack.
Forward Tilt: Merric sweeps his arm out in front of him as a small slice of compressed wind shoots out in front of him. A multi hit move that travels about half the width of a Battlefield platform.
Up Tilt: Merric lifts his arm quickly in a scooping motion as a razor wind travels from in front of him, to above him, to slightly behind him. This move mimics Marth's Up Tilt almost exactly, due to fitting in with Merric's anti-air theme and referencing his and Marth's friendship.
Down Tilt: Taking out an Elfire tome, Merric crouches. He then snaps his finger and a small ember appears on the ground a small distance in front of him, burning whatever foe he hits.
Smash Attacks:
Forward Smash: Merric creates a wall of razor wind in front of him. He then extends his arm and points, sending the wall of wind crashing into the foe. The wall travels the width of a Battlefield platform and drags the foe with it, not unlike Greninja's Water Shuriken with far less distance. However, there exists a momentary delay on the move before the wall begins to move. Walking into the unmoving wind wall causes no damage, so Merric must be careful of foes approaching quickly.
Up Smash: Merric summons a massive cyclone above him, which includes a suction effect. Foes are rapidly hit with multiple attacks from the cyclone before they are tossed from it. Foes are launched horizontally, similar to Jigglypuff's down smash.
Down Smash: Merric moves his hand in a small circle while holding an Elfire tome. The ground immediately around him flashes with red before erupting in two columns of fire.
Aerial Attacks:
Neutral Aerial: A gust of wind twirls around Merric's body as a multi-hit move, not dissimilar to Mewtwo's or Pikachu's neutral aerial.
Forward Aerial: Merric extends an arm, performing a motion similar to Robin's forward aerial, and launches a small blast of wind a small distance.
Back Aerial: Merric turns around and holds his Excalibur tome open with both hands as a green blast of wind erupts from it. It's range is short, but the move is very potent.
Up Aerial: Merric lifts his hand and launches two rising wind blasts which carry foes slightly upwards.
Down Aerial: Merric shoots a massive crescent of wind downward. If an opponent is hit by the center of the crescent, they are meteor smashed.
Pummel and Throws:
Pummel: Merric grabs the foe as wind magic pulses into them with each pummel.
Forward Throw: Merric hurls a chilling wind using his Blizzard tome, launching foes forward.
Back Throw: Merric tosses the foe back and blasts them with his Shaver tome.
Up Throw: Merric tosses the foe up and bombards them with three razor wind blasts from Excalibur.
Down Throw: Merric launches a fireball at the grounded opponent, causing a ground bounce.
Special Attacks:
Neutral Special: Excalibur - Merric holds his palm face down over the cover of his tome as it pulses with a green glow. After releasing the button, Merric launches a speedy and aimable razor wind blast. Like Pit's neutral special, this move can have its course adjusted as it flies. This move doesn't do a whole lot of damage or knockback, even when fully charged...against grounded opponents. If the opponent is in the air, however, the damage output gets increased significantly and the knockback is greatly expanded, making this a terrifically versatile anti-air projectile.
Side Special: Swarm - Merric takes out a siege tome, Swarm. When the button is held, a small dark energy orb appears about one Battlefield platform's distance away from Merric. By holding down the button and moving the stick, similar to Greninja's Shadow Sneak, you can move the orb further outward, upward to 80% of the length of Final Destination. However, you may not move it closer to Merric than its starting position and Merric cannot move while preparing this attack. When the move is released, a swarm of dark energy bombards any foe trapped in the blast radius in a high-damage, multi-hit move that does more damage the further away the foe is. Because the move isn't restricted to the stage itself, you can also hit foes off stage, so long as they are directly in Merric's line of sight, in an attempt to ruin their recovery. This move shouldn't be used in Free For Alls, however, as Merric is a sitting duck while using it.
Up Special: Shaver - Merric uses a Shaver tome to launch himself upward. This move doesn't cause any damage, but covers a great deal of vertical distance, compensating for Merric's low jumps. As well, as Merric ascends, he gets a wind box around him, pushing away foes that stray too close.
Down Special: Blizzard - Merric stands in place and takes out a Blizzard tome, pointing his hand diagonally downward toward the ground. While holding the move, he can move the control stick both in front of and behind himself, shooting an icy wind blast toward the ground and freezing it. Merric can only have a total amount of ground equivalent to one Battlefield platform frozen at a time. The frozen ground becomes slippery, making foes that step on it likely to trip, allowing for Merric to either counterattack or escape, or forcing them to make an aerial approach. The ground will thaw after a period of time, however. In the air, this move just acts as a chilling wind attack that's launched diagonally downward and doesn't cover a very large distance.
Final Smash: Starlight - In a cinematic Final Smash, Merric traps all foes in range in a magical bind. The background turns into a star-filled void as Merric unleashes a celestial explosion from the Starlight tome, yelling "Divine Starlight, lend me your aid!" and causing massive damage and knockback.
Taunts:
Up Taunt: Merric raises his hand, palm upward, as a small ball of wind forms in his hand.
Side Taunt: Merric begins reading through his tome, lightly chuckling to himself.
Down Taunt: Wind billows around Merric as Excalibur's pages turn and his hood rises up, while saying "Winds, heed me!"
Victory Animations:
Victory 1: Merric tucks Excalibur away into his robe and takes a bow.
Victory 2: Merric descends to the ground, surrounded by powerful gusts of wind and says, "It's been a pleasure."
Victory 3: Merric, with Excalibur drawn and open, says "The magic I've learned must protect everyone."
Victory vs Marth: Victory 3, except the voice line changes to "Don't worry, Marth. I'm sure Elice will be able to patch you up."
Kirby Hat: Kirby gets Merric's hair, hood, and Excalibur tome.
Alternate Costume: His white bishop robes from Mystery of the Emblem.
As you can see, I also included things like taunts, victory poses, and his Kirby hat.
As shown here, Merric can bring things to Smash that no other character can, showing that he's more than just an ordinary Mage.
Merric's Odds
Let's review Merric's résumé.
- Important to his games' story
- Best friend, and later brother in law, of the main protagonist
- Has his own unique legendary weapon
- Using said weapon, he'd bring an underutilized playstyle into Smash
- Is well-regarded among fans of the Archanea games
- Is nothing like any of the other Fire Emblem characters in Smash
- Is pretty much only behind Caeda and Tiki in Archanea's pecking order, and about on par with Minerva
So why are his odds so low? Sadly, it's solely due to how Fire Emblem content is chosen in Smash. The odds of us ever getting another Archanea character are slim as it is, and while high up on the pecking order, Merric lags behind Caeda and Tiki in prominence and importance, and that cannot be ignored. But since I personally love Caeda and Tiki as well, I'd gladly take either of them too. Merric is just a bigger personal wish. If Merric held these same credentials in any other franchise, he'd have been in Smash long ago, but sadly, time marches on.
That being said I'm gonna be brief on chance because my boy's probably gonna get walloped today anyway lol. I just hope the want scores do him justice.
Chance: 1%
Otherwise known as "Piranha Plant Percent." With all of the above stated, the only way he's getting in is as a deliberate left field choice.
That being said...
Want: 100%
Merric is one of my absolute favorite characters in all of Fire Emblem. Chrom, of course, reigns supreme, but Merric (and Celica) are right up there behind him. He's a dorky and compassionate wind wizard. What's not to like? He could even bring in a cool Khadein stage. I even have him at five stars with ten merges in Heroes, if anyone here cares. Current load out is refined Excalibur, Reposition, Moonbow, Close Counter, Special Spiral, and Attack Smoke, with a Close Defense seal.
Plus I mean he's voiced by Yuri Lowenthal and I find it hilarious that Marth shares a VA with his best friend.
Anywho, with that I'm also done with nominations. Hopefully this post at least changed some minds and can serve to increase my dude's Want score. Here's hoping!
Merica
Chance:0%: Sorry, but another FE rep won't happen. Especially since he would basically be an echo of Robin.
Want:0%: No. The only FE rep I would be fine with is Black Knight at this point cause we need a villain. And we don't need another character that would be like one from Awakening.
Nominations:
Hollow Knight x5, Shy Guy x5
Merica
Chance:0%: Sorry, but another FE rep won't happen. Especially since he would basically be an echo of Robin.
Want:0%: No. The only FE rep I would be fine with is Black Knight at this point cause we need a villain. And we don't need another character that would be like one from Awakening.
Nominations:
Hollow Knight x5, Shy Guy x5
Might as well throw my proverbial hat into this literal ring. A NEW YEARS MERRIC-LE
Chance :
Hey, Opposum’s post saved me from having to do any actual research, yay! Joking aside, Merric does seem to hold a fair bit of significance within his own games, even if he is a side character. Holding a legendary weapon, having a fair amount of dialogue and story importance, this guy’s no slouch. Plus, he‘s the first playable mage in fire emblem, and seems to have inspired the general design for mages in the series as a whole due to appearing in the very first game, so he’s got legacy and significance in the series too! However, that’s where I gotta halt the pros. Merric ultimately only has a significant role in the Archanea games, of which there are only 3, with the last one releasing 8 whole years ago. Safe to say, he ain’t exactly the most relevant guy around. Furthermore, he’s still a side character, even if he’s one of the more important ones. Side characters generally don’t appear in Smash as playable unless they’re super prominent throughout the whole series or are easy clones, of which Merric can claim neither. Plus, what reason would Nintendo have to promote Merric as DLC? He’s in the end, fairly obscure over all, and Nintendo seems to be aiming for real big names as DLC, which Merric I’d wager isn’t particulary, third-party focus aside. Sakurai still seems to have a hand in DLC too, and if he thought Corrin was pushing it and chose him for being NEW and having moveset potential? Things ain’t looking so hot for ol Merric. Unless Nintendo is making a new Archanea game and wants to promote it with Merric over anybody else, that’s they only way I can see him getting in.
Also spirit might be a deconfirm so.
1% (hey, anything could happen)
Want :
Sure, why not? Opposum made him sound like a pretty likeable character, plus a wind mage would be a cool moveset. I like his design, so I’d be up for it. But I also dunno much about him and there’s other characters I’d prefer with limited space.
40%
Wasn’t that section much shorter?
Noms: Is that new-years super vote thing still up? (its technically not New Years yet where I am)
If so, Ezio Auditore from Assassin’s Creed X100
If not, well, Ezio X5
Some guy from Marth's game:
Chance: 0%-Barring Marth himself and Chrom, all FE newcomers come from recent games in the same vein as Pokémon, so no reason to suddenly expect a classic character all of sudden, unless it's Hector or Ephraim, and even then, that's only because those two are incredibly popular among FE fans.
Want: 0%-I've said it before, no more FE characters. Don't care about their weapons or magic nor about their popularity, I just don't want any more of those.
Nominations: All-guests passx5
Dantex5
Chance - 0% - Even if we got yet another Fire Emblem character, it'd probably be ether a promotional pick, a character with recurrence around that or higher than Tiki, or a really popular main Lord. It doesn't look like we got that here. We don't even know if Fire Emblem will get another character, and considering that Sakurai said that he was wary about adding Corin, that doesn't look good for any Fire Emblem character's chances.
Want - 10% - If I wanted a wind mage I would prefer Vaati. If I wanted another Fire Emblem character, I've been championing Anna for a while now. I really don't care about anyone else.
Merric...wait, what?
Chance: 0%
This guy didn't even make it into Fire Emblem Warriors, base game or DLC, despite being from one of the focused games. All he has is a tenuous connection to Marth with little in the way of personally defining attributes other than being the originator of a trope.
Want: 0%
I like FE. I don't want Merric. Blah blah blah.
Oh, so it's finally happening? So, Merric. You think you have a shot of being playable in Smash?
Chance: 0%
Want: 0%
He's ain't happening. While he has the benefit of being playable of 4 games in total (2 of those being the DS remakes), It means jack when the same can be said for literally anyone else from Shadow Dragon or Mystery of the Emblem. I'd rather see Caeda get in with her riding a pegasus which I'm sure would be a challenge to pull off as a playable fighter. An illiterate orphan is stronger than Merric. He's also a bad unit in Fire Emblem Heroes and players had the misfortune to get Merric'd out of a more worthy 5* green like Hector because this ****** for like a year and half was part of the 5* pool. I was one of those people who got Merric'd, and worse, his attack stat was his bane stat (**** stat), so he was made worse than he already was. Best investment of 1,000 feathers I'd made.
Chance: 0 - I don't think we see any retro FE characters in as DLC. I can't see Nintendo picking him over a new FE character that would help promote a new game, especially one that didn't have their game come out recently. In a FE exclusive fighting game? sure. Here? Doubt it
Want: 0 - As much as a true mage character would be cool, I don't see one getting in unless one of the main characters from 3 Houses is one, and I think they feel like Robin has the mage part covered well enough already. Would be cool to see one get in though, because different characters are always more fun.
Hey look once again me and Opossum
disagree on a Fire Emblem character, however this time I don't really have time to do a whole big thing about it lol.
Merric
Chance 0%
Opossum, in my opinion, has overstated Merric's role in his games. While everything he said was true, Merric does all those things, he wouldn't probably even been top 5 most important or relevant characters from his games nor the top 5 most popular. If they are looking for a new Fire Emblem rep they have TH characters or popular lords ahead of him. If they specifically want a Fire Emblem mage he has Celica or Thraja ahead of him. If they want a wind mage he would have Soren or Nino ahead of him. Heck if they wanted a mage from his games someone like Gharnef would probably be better because he could work as a villian in a series that currently lacks one. The one and only thing he really has going for him is that he is first. This of course is all on top of everything everyone else said about the series as a whole. He has no chance.
Want: 15%
That said he gets the standard 10% for a first party. As well an extra 5 for being from Fire Emblem a series I love.
Opossum told me to come here again for more FE stuff, so
Merric is cool. I like him. He's a nice guy, and a decent enough unit and viable Starlight candidate. And he'd mean more FE content, and I'll take all I can get. Plus he's a mage, and we need a proper mage in Smash, so he'd fit the bill. ...He ain't happening, though, unless they really want to go for an out-of-nowhere option.
- Chance: 1%
- Want: 60%
- Nominate: Protector from Etrian Odyssey x all the nominations
Chance: 0 - I don't think we see any retro FE characters in as DLC. I can't see Nintendo picking him over a new FE character that would help promote a new game, especially one that didn't have their game come out recently. In a FE exclusive fighting game? sure. Here? Doubt it
Want: 0 - As much as a true mage character would be cool, I don't see one getting in unless one of the main characters from 3 Houses is one, and I think they feel like Robin has the mage part covered well enough already. Would be cool to see one get in though, because different characters are always more fun.
Merric al least is relatively important for his game and has some legacy in the design of many of the playable Mages in future FEs; but otherwise; this guy is kind of forgotten despite everything; in fact I would say that nowadays many of the characters inspired for Merric are more popular.
Merric biggest problem is competition; FE representation has become very harsh because of the high numbers the franchise has; you would need to be someone with recency bias to be actually considered likely (like Edelgard); but at least Chrom shows that older characters can appear if demand is high enough (but this would be more for people like Celica, Hector, Ephraim and Micaiah).
The 1% is mostly because... Anything with moveset potential is possible
0%. I'm sorry, but I really can't see him happening. I just looked at his page on the FE Wiki, and it looks like he wasn't all that important in his game, about on the same tier as Lissa or Clive (correct me if I'm wrong). If we were to get another FE character, it would probably be Celica, Hector, or a 3H Character.
Want: Abstain. I've never played any of Marth's games. I will say there are other FE characters I'd prefer.
Noms: Grovyle x9, Stahl (FE:A) x1 (now that's a good FE character)
I like how every time one of Opossum’s characters are rated he brings a lot of people with him. (In case of misunderstanding, this is a genuine comment and is not meant as a diss or as sarcasm)
Over 200
Arle Nadja x350
Concept: All DLC will be third-party x315
Rhythm Girl x300
Nero Claudius (Fate) x250
Hollow Knight x242
Grovyle x224
Mach Rider x215
Concept: Stages outside Fighter Pass x215
Reimu Hakurei x215
Reaper (Overwatch) x211
Concept: More DLC x210
Concept: Gen 8 Pokemon x201
200 - 151
150 - 101
Concept: SNK rep x145
Sephiroth x135
Kat & Ana x130
Concept: No fan favorite/highly requested characters x130
Professor Hector x125
Ryota Hayami x115
Arthas Menethil (Warcraft) x110
Andy (Advance Wars) x110
Amy Rose x110
Brash the Bear x110
Dante x110
Magikarp x109
Sly Cooper x105
Dark Matter x105
Ravio x105
Q*Bert x104
Impa x101
Maxwell (Scribblenauts) x101
100 - 51
Tracer x100
Concept: 100 characters (counting Echo Fighters and Miis/Pokémon Trainer as 3) x100
Monster Hunter x100
Shy Guy x100
Poochy x100
Cranky Kong x100
Vaati x100
Concept: World of Light expansion x100
Nathan Drake x100
Concept: Boss Rush x100
Concept: Microsoft Rep x100
Aloy x100
Bonkers (Kirby) x100
Concept: Third-party character from unrepped Company x95
Lora (Xenoblade) x90
Boss: Kracko x85
Porky Minch x81
Concept: Style Savvy rep x70
9-Volt x59
Hat Kid x55
Spyro x52
I like how every time one of Opossum’s characters are rated he brings a lot of people with him. (In case of misunderstanding, this is a genuine comment and is not meant as a diss or as sarcasm)
Over 200
Arle Nadja x350
Concept: All DLC will be third-party x315
Rhythm Girl x300
Nero Claudius (Fate) x250
Hollow Knight x242
Grovyle x224
Mach Rider x215
Concept: Stages outside Fighter Pass x215
Reimu Hakurei x215
Reaper (Overwatch) x211
Concept: More DLC x210
Concept: Gen 8 Pokemon x201
200 - 151
150 - 101
Concept: SNK rep x145
Sephiroth x135
Kat & Ana x130
Concept: No fan favorite/highly requested characters x130
Professor Hector x125
Ryota Hayami x115
Arthas Menethil (Warcraft) x110
Andy (Advance Wars) x110
Amy Rose x110
Brash the Bear x110
Dante x110
Magikarp x109
Sly Cooper x105
Dark Matter x105
Ravio x105
Q*Bert x104
Impa x101
Maxwell (Scribblenauts) x101
100 - 51
Tracer x100
Concept: 100 characters (counting Echo Fighters and Miis/Pokémon Trainer as 3) x100
Monster Hunter x100
Shy Guy x100
Poochy x100
Cranky Kong x100
Vaati x100
Concept: World of Light expansion x100
Nathan Drake x100
Concept: Boss Rush x100
Concept: Microsoft Rep x100
Aloy x100
Bonkers (Kirby) x100
Concept: Third-party character from unrepped Company x95
Lora (Xenoblade) x90
Boss: Kracko x85
Porky Minch x81
Concept: Style Savvy rep x70
9-Volt x59
Hat Kid x55
Spyro x52
Chance: 0.1%
Sorry Merric, but there's just too many other, more popular mages in Fire Emblem. Even if Shadow Dragon were the only title in the whole series, he'd still be competing against Linde and arguably Gharnef, if priorities didn't lean towards the game's more popular lancers instead.
Want: 1%
Well, all of us who've played at least one Fire Emblem game have that character that they really like. Nothing wrong with that.
He'd certainly be unexpected, to say the least. I'm somewhat of the mindset that spirits are bad news for a character's chances, but Merric has a lot of other issues that I believe hold him back from being a viable candidate. In my opinion, Merric's only shot at inclusion is if the bigwigs are looking for another surprise character from a well-represented franchise, and I don't think that's too likely.
Want: 1%
I'm not a FE superfan, but I like to think my knowledge on the franchise is passable. Unfortunately, I don't recall having heard of Merric before today. That being said, I did my research with an open mind, and Opossum did a wonderful job explaining the character, so I feel informed enough to give an opinion. Unfortunately, Merric just isn't a character who interests me, so I have very little desire for him.
Chance: 0.5%
I don't think we're getting a Fire Emblem character outside of either SoV or Three Houses as DLC at this point. We already have Marth representing Shadow Dragon and I certainly don't need another one. Gave him a .5 chance for once again surprise factor (Yeah, I'm gonna be doing this for unexpected characters from now on), but even then, he really has no chance here.
Want: 0%
I'm not against adding another Fire Emblem character that is not a swordfighter (and Merric is certainly is one), but there are more characters that are more famous than him like Hector or Celica. Still, Merric is definitely someone you would not expect to show up in Smash.
Yet Another Fire Emblem Character Chance: 0.01%
Sorry, but being in the First game doesn't matter (unless you're Marth). This is Fire Emblem, not Pokémon. He isn't popular either, so that's another point against him. Want: 0%
Usually I like to root for the underdog, but this is a FE character so no. Fire Emblem does not need any more characters, it has enough.
Over the course of this game, not many characters have really made me in a mood to actively not want them and write up enough to counteract them. Mipha is the big one that rings in my head. However, there are other characters that we have rated who I feel fall into that category. Excluding joke characters, I was very much anti Fawful. The only reason I rated Shantae and Krystal as non 0s was out of sympathy for large fanbases. Here though, I find a character I actively did not want to rate. A character that I tried to encourage people to not rate. We have Merric.
Merric's most notable claim is his role within the first Fire Emblem. He is the childhood friend of Prince Marth. He is the defacto mage archeatype within the FE universe. Most of FE games tend to borrow archeatypes such as the Camus or the Jaegan from the Archeanea games. Being the first mage, and arguably the most important vanilla mage, is something to consider.
*Edit from 1/1 posting from original write up. He also gets a spirit. While I lean on the camp of Spirits deconfirming a character, it is something to consider. Having a character that I previously was not thinking of much before research get a spot as a spirit for FE is something at least.
So, why then do i give him a 0% Chance.
Yes a flat 0. I have tried to avoid these, especialluy in the wake of Piranha Plant, but I feel that here I can not avoid it.
For starters, .
Robin already fills the niche of a FE mage. Notice how in his reveal trailer for 4, they played up the magic aspects of him. He is "no ordinary swordsman". Sakurai chose Robin because they offered a gimmick of magic, something that is core to the FE series. Robin already displays the general FE portrayal of magic. Granted, we still do not have a full on sorcerer in smash. Zelda and Ganon are our closest to that, but Ganon is focused on being a beefcake. So maybe you could see Merric squeeze in, but I doubt it.
Furthermore, let me quickly give an analysis of the unique FE characters we got. For the sake of this arguement, I will be ignoring Lucina and Chrom. Echo fighters are clearly meant to be seen as just a bonus, and as such I feel the lack of effort needed is not going to be indicative of their dev time. Roy was also a last minute clone, and while he has been made more unique over time he still shares many latent similarities to Marth. Some details of Roy will be considered however.
: Ike offered a heavier sword style than Marth did. Smash at brawls point did not have a heavy swordsman. Ike meanwhile offered something unique of a heavy swordsman. He also came with the bonus of representing the newer Tellius games at the time.
Back to Robin. Robin was also chosen to represent Awakening. This is a less important detail on its own, but one to be discussed.
: Corrin ended up being the second most hated DLC character. I blame poor marketing. Corrin should have been revealed in an earlier direct with the teaser. Also Cloud should have been claimed to win the ballot but thats beside the point. Corrin was chosen as a Manakete and a transformation character. This was the first time the main lord was able to be a manakete styled character.
If we look at these three, we can see the criteria for selecting a unique FE newcomer: recency within the series, and moveset potential. Roy also adds further evidence to recency being a huge element.
However, there is a new fold that we have to consider: popularity. I may be in a minority when I say this, but FE deserves the current number of newcomers that it has. It more than any other series in recent Nintendo history has grown exponentially. Maybe animal crossing but I consider that always was big. FE went from being almost cancelled to a smash hit, pun intended.
So how popular is merric? in the Choose your legends poll for 2018, he got... 347th. Ouch. Popularity is something to consider. It is why Lyn in future smash games or Black Knight will not have small chances despite their eras passing outside of remakes. It is why Hector or Celica are both things to consider still for the future. But Merric lacks that juice.
Finally, there is the issue of Three Houses looming over. Edelgard seems to many as the best pick due to her axe and her being a cutie. But there are three other main characters. Each of these four characters are things to consider, even if I am full team Edelgard.
In conclusion, Merric is a character that has nothing going for him within his franchise that would allow him to get into smash other than a legacy.
0% Want
Originally I was going to abstain. Contrary to what I may have been playing up as a heel, I do not hate Merric. I just felt that as the game was winding down, there were many things I would have rather rated and discussed. I felt that we could have done so much more than what we got.
However, here we have Merric. Let me put aside the bias I have for not wanting to rate him. For starters, I can list several FE characters I would want more. Just to name the most notable ones, Lyn, Black Knight, Hector, Celica, Edelgard. There are many characters I would rather have than him from his franchise.
Furthermore, while I think multiple waves of DLC is inevitable for this game, especially given that we have gotten 30 placeholder spots in the code, I feel that Merric would feel like a waste. This is someone who over time has somehow soured even more on Piranha plant, and her uniqueness (piranha plant is audrey 2) is what saves her. Merric meanwhile does not have the moveset chops to interest me.
Quote
Chance: 15%
While hard to say for sure if the DLC is going to go the route of promotional picks or popular 3rd party picks Quote could almost find a home in either category fitting as a 3rd party character and having a game out on the Switch (although its a re release), though it would be a stretch for sure. He also has Nintendo history backing him and a decent amount of popularity. The biggest issue with a lot of the current indie suggestions is a lack of "lasting impact" or being too new to have really seen if it will have any when compared to more iconic mainstream characters, which would apply slightly less to Quote who made a huge impact on the indie scene. If we were going to get an indie rep that isn't Shovel Knight or Shantae, Quote seems like the best option. That said he still doesn't seem very likely for a DLC pick since he hasn't been popular in a while.
Want: 40%
In doing some research about the guy he seems like he could be cool, and he has a unique look that would fit well in Smash. Like I said in the chance section, if we are getting an indie character I'd rather it be him over many of the other suggestions (Sans, Steve, etc.)
Prediction: Katalina .5%
Nomination Ravio x10
EDIT: got some free time to look up Quote so I thought I'd rate.
Chance: 35%. I don't particularly think he has anything going for him, but at the same time he has no negatives. It's mostly a coin flip, but I just consider other characters more likely to the extent it slightly hurts him.
Want: 20%. I mean he has seniority, so he'd be an okay pick. However, Cave Story right now seems to be the game I tried to like, but it just isn't clicking.
Arle Nadja x 10, Katalina's chance will not break 0.85%, as Hitagi has had a falling out.
