"Scatter like the wind!"
Well, here she is, the lady of the plains. If Ike got second because he represented the Tellius games, one of my favorite experiences in my life, Lyn just represents the franchise as a whole, and loving Fire Emblem as much as I do, I can’t help but love Lyn. But why? Well, I’m going to get even more personal, so hold your horses, here it comes.
Fire Emblem for the Game Boy Advance was released in my country in 2004. I was 7 years old when my brother decided to buy that game for the console (Well, more my parents hahaha), in 2005 if I recall. My brother was a big fan of Advance Wars, another game of the console (So am I actually) and seeing the adverts he thought it would be a cool game.
I remember I didn’t get to play the game when I was young, the only games I played on the GBA were Mario VS Donkey Kong, Pokémon Emerald, that Crash Bandicoot game for the console, and Sonic Advance, but I watched my brother play the other games I didn’t play. I remember it so clearly, it’s really funny that few of the memories I have for when I’m young are all tied to videogame consoles.
Either way, when he first started playing Fire Emblem, I was curious. I asked what made that game fun, and he replied:
“It’s a strategy game, but it’s really hard. You have to think twice what you do, because when someone dies, it stays dead forever. It’s quite different from Advance Wars, but I feel like it’s more entertaining since I have to value every single character”.
This threw me off so badly. “Ugh, characters stay dead? Who the hell would play that game…” I really didn’t want to play it, and so time went forward without me playing Fire Emblem. My brother bought The Sacred Stones when it came out, and I do remember watching him play that game too (I also remember poor Franz died in the final map, RIP) but I still didn’t intend to play the game.
And so, we fast forward to… 2008 I believe. Being 10 years old, and with a Nintendo DS, now I played way more games. But one day, my brother decided to give me his GBA.
“I won’t be using it anymore, and maybe you can enjoy some of the games you missed when you were younger.”
First, I’m really thankful of the brother I have. And second, the console wasn’t the special part, since the DS could play GBA games. It was the games (of course it’s about the games). That year I played lots of GBA games for the first time, like Zelda The Minish Cap, Metroid Fusion, Mario & Luigi SuperStar saga, and some others I don’t quite remember. But the one game I do remember clearly is Fire Emblem.
Who was the first character I saw when I entered the game? Lyn. There she was. And I think it was the first game where I played as an avatar when I was young, at least that I remember (Not counting Pokémon because I played on my brother's file lol)… So having Lyn talking to me, felt really special when I was playing for the first time. She taught me the essentials of the game, and even though the tutorial was stupidly easy and irrelevant to the story, it has one moment that I have in my memory and I simply won’t ever forget.
I couldn’t understand why I had to leave her, I didn’t want to. This scene made me so sad, and being so young, it made such a big impact on me. When starting Eliwood’s story the only thing I cared about was if I could see her again, the lady from the plains. Thankfully, it wasn’t long enough until I met her again, and seeing her so happy to meet me was really special.
I remember I was really bad at the game, and didn’t understand the story that much. I recall asking my brother for help in a couple of chapters, and that way I was able to finish the game. And this is going to sound funny, but it’s what happened. My brother told me: “Well, now that you played Fire Emblem, why don’t you try The Sacred Stones?” I answered:
“Does the game have Lyn?”
He looked at me and answered: “No?” And my reaction was
“If Lyn isn’t in the game then I see no reason to play it”.
I WAS SO STUPID LMAO. And thus my hiatus with Fire Emblem began. The only relationship I had with Fire Emblem was Super Smash Bros Brawl, with two characters that I didn’t know that were from Fire Emblem. But I did know that Lyn appeared as an assist trophy, and I remember she was my favorite assist, always hoping to bring her out.
Then 2014 came, and with it and brand new Smash game. I grew quite attached to a couple of characters, mainly Shulk and both Robin (Daraen here in Spain) and Lucina. I decided to read about both, and hey, those last two were from Fire Emblem! So, on summer 2015 I decided to give it a try and bought both Fire Emblem Awakening and Xenoblade Chronicles 3D on the same day. And I don’t know if you will believe this, but the only thing I could think of when going home with my brand new games was:
“Man, I wish Lyn were in the game, I miss her…”
Guess she really made an impression on me hahaha. My biggest surprise was that Lyn was actually in the game, and appeared trough DLC. Of course I had to buy it because she was my favorite character. That little exchange she has with you when you recruited, when she asked me if I were the same tactician that she knew… Oh man, I’m so weak, something so stupid felt so special after so much time not playing this franchise.
After playing Awakening, my love for Fire Emblem rose up, and after playing the Tellius games, I was so in love with the franchise. I’ve played almost every single game in the franchise (baring Thracia 776) and Lyn was the fire that made me care when about it even if I hadn’t played it for ages.
To me Lyn is Fire Emblem, she is our first lord, and that’s why she’s my favorite character in the franchise.
