History VideoGame / FireEmblemFates

The game features support for Toys/{{amiibo}}, allowing players to use the ''Fire Emblem'' figures from the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' line. Meanwhile, Corrin themselves appears in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' as the penultimate [[DownloadableContent downloadable fighter]] (released about 2 weeks before ''Fates’s'' US release) and again as an unlockable character in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''.

The game features support for Toys/{{amiibo}}, allowing players to use the ''Fire Emblem'' figures from the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' line. Meanwhile, Corrin themselves appears in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' as the penultimate [[DownloadableContent downloadable fighter]] and again as an unlockable character in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''.

'''Both:''' We swear to you!

[[caption-width-right:350:The path is yours. [[labelnote:From left to right:]] Camilla, Elise, Leo, Xander, the female Avatar, Azura, the male Avatar, Ryoma, Takumi, Hinoka, and Sakura.[[/labelnote]]]]

-->-- '''Lyrics to "Lost in Thoughts All Alone"'''

''Fire Emblem Fates'' (''Fire Emblem if'' [[MarketBasedTitle in Japan]]) is the fourteenth installment in Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series of StrategyRPG games, developed by Creator/IntelligentSystems. It was created by the same team that worked on the previous game, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''.

Like other ''Fire Emblem'' installments, ''Fates'' begins with the creation of a custom [[PlayerCharacter Avatar]], who has the default name of Kamui in Japan and Corrin in the West. Unlike previous entries, the Avatar takes the role of the main protagonist of the story rather than a [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade faceless tactician]] or a [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening deuteragonist]]. [[ChildOfTwoWorlds Born among Hoshido nobility, the protagonist was raised by the Nohr royal family]] and, on the brink of war between the two kingdoms, must choose between allying with their Hoshido or Nohr families.

The game features support for Toys/{{amiibo}}, allowing players to use the ''Fire Emblem'' figures from the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' line. Meanwhile, Corrin themself appears in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' as the penultimate [[DownloadableContent downloadable fighter]] and again as an unlockable character in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate''.

'''Xander:''' Hoshido and Nohr are united together forever.

----

''Fire Emblem Fates'' was released on June 25, 2015 in Japan, February 19, 2016 in North America, and May 20, 2016 in Europe. The official preliminary website for the game(s) can be found [[http://fireemblemfates.nintendo.com/ here (English)]].

Preview trailers: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz2LJ-4DDWU Teaser Trailer]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94CCxVMltQY Choose Your Path Trailer]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oO7b-oWl2g "My Castle" Trailer]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLFB-LtKYuQ E3 Trailer]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNdXk1_Aj40 "Revelation (Invisible Kingdom)" Trailer]]

[[caption-width-right:350:[[ChooseYourOwnAdventure The path is yours.]] [[labelnote:From left to right:]] Camilla, Elise, Leo, Xander, the female Avatar, Azura, the male Avatar, Ryoma, Takumi, Hinoka, and Sakura.[[/labelnote]]]]

->''You are the ocean's gray waves, destined to seek''\\
''Life beyond the shore, just out of reach''\\
''Yet the waters ever change''\\
''Flowing like time''\\
''The path is yours to climb''

''Fire Emblem Fates'' (''Fire Emblem if'' [[MarketBasedTitle in Japan]]) is the fourteenth installment in Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series of TurnBasedStrategy games, developed by Creator/IntelligentSystems. It was created by the same team that worked on the previous game, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''.

''Fire Emblem Fates'' (''Fire Emblem if'' [[MarketBasedTitle in Japan]]) is the fourteenth installment in Creator/{{Nintendo}}'s ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' series of TurnBasedStrategy games, developed by Creator/IntelligentSystems. It was created by the same team that worked on the previous game, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening''.

The game was revealed in a Nintendo Direct on January 14th, 2015, exclusively for the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS, featuring the same graphical and art style as ''Awakening''. The story was penned by notable manga author Shin Kibayashi, writer of series such as ''Manga/GetBackers'', ''Manga/KamiNoShizuku'' and ''Manga/PsychoBusters''. Said story revolves around the choices made by the player, split between two kingdoms -- the "peace-loving" [[{{Wutai}} Hoshido]], and the "glory-seeking" [[MedievalEuropeanFantasy Nohr]].

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:A-C]]
* AcceptableBreaksFromReality: The jars of poison and medicine in one chapter of ''Conquest'' look almost identical to each other (one is ''ever so slightly'' greener than the other), but fortunately, the game will inform you just what jars are poison and which jars are medicine.
* AccentUponTheWrongSyllable: The English version of Azura's song contains the line "'''Yet''' the wat'''ers''' ever '''change'''", putting the wrong emphasis on the "ers" in "Waters". Additionally, it also features the lyric "A dou'''BLE'''-edged blade cuts your heart in two".
* AdultFear: Realizing that the PlayerCharacter is not merely choosing between two opposing factions but between two different families. One who raised them as their own in spite of their foreign blood and the shady circumstances behind their "adoption", and the other who still loves them deeply even after years of separation and looks forward to seeing them again. What really drives the message home is that they both have [[LittleSisterHeroine sweet little sisters]] (Sakura, for Hoshido, Elise, for Nohr) who clearly adore the protagonist. '''And they can't choose both.''' Family matters indeed.
-->'''Sakura''': ''"Big brother/sister?"''\\
'''Elise''': ''S/He's ''my'' brother/sister!!''
** [[spoiler:''Subverted by the third route with extreme impunity.'' So now those who want both little sisters (and both parties by extension) can rejoice. Even then, it's not ''quite'' a straight subversion at first, as it still takes a while for everyone but the younger sisters to come around.]]
* AerithAndBob: Nohr has plenty of exotic or regal-sounding names like Prince Xander, Princess Elise and Dark Mage Nyx. Local GentleGiant NiceGuy Benny is the odd name out.[[note]]This does not count in the Japanese version, where his name, Benoit, fit right in[[/note]] On the Hoshidan side, most of the names are unusual Japanese names, like Orochi, Oboro, and Hinoka.
* AlasPoorVillain:
** [[spoiler:Zola being executed by Garon for begging to spare the avatar]] in ''Birthright''.
** After [[spoiler:Anthony fails to kill Corrin, he begs to Anankos to not be punished before his master [[BalefulPolymorph turns him into a Faceless]]. His battle dialogue implies he's either completely mentally broken or in a state of AndIMustScream]]. Defeating him is basically a MercyKill.
** Also, [[spoiler:anyone who is being controlled by Anankos]].
*** In particular, [[spoiler:Garon in ''Birthright'', who had been portrayed as mostly unsympathetic up until his death, where the end of his final speech induces a bit of pity from the Avatar]].
** [[spoiler:Anankos himself. He's a full-blown TragicVillain who did not ''choose'' to be a genocidal maniac and wage war on Hoshido and Nohr, but was forced into it by degeneration. He even took measures to prevent this, but all of those measures failed. However, this is primarily revealed through DLC, such as ''Hidden Truths'' and ''Heirs of Fate''.]]
* AllJustADream: The prologue. You're on a battlefield where Hoshido and Nohr troops are calling you their sibling, the music sounds off... and then you're woken up.
* AllLowercaseLetters: The Japanese subtitle of ''if'' is, at least.
* AllMenArePerverts: The male characters generally have more...''suggestive'' lines in the skinship minigame. Out of the female characters, only Camilla gets close to being as risqué as them. Case in point:
-->'''Niles''': ''"For all that I had to endure...you better prepare yourself tonight. Even if you cry or scream...I won't stop."'' ''"Close your eyes...Don't worry...I'm just going to touch you."''\\
'''Forrest''': ''"Everything suits you so there's worth in making clothes. But...I...really know that you look best when wearing nothing."''\\
'''Jakob''': ''"In front of everyone else, I am only your butler. But right here and now, I want to make a mess of you."''
* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: Occasionally your home castle will come under attack by invaders. You can pull this on other players' castles if you wish.
* AlternateContinuity:
** Played with. The ''Fates'' DLC [[https://fireemblem.fandom.com/wiki/Before_Awakening#Synopsis "Before Awakening"]] states that the kingdoms of Nohr and Hoshido are considered legends in the in-game lore of ''Awakening''. Whether the two kingdoms actually existed in that world is up to question, as the continent where they're located is never mentioned by name in ''Fates''.
** Played with in the case of the ''Echoes'' DLC. The DLC maps "Cypher Legends" I & II contain ''TabletopGame/FireEmblemCipher'' characters who are Nohrian and Hoshidan, further implying that the events of ''Fates'' and ''Echoes'' may be contemporary and/or take place in the same world. Unlike the "Before Awakening" ''Fates'' DLC, there are no supernatural/extemporary elements that lead to the encounters, further driving the point that said Nohrian and Hoshidan characters may indeed live in the world of Archanea/Valentia.
* AlternateUniverse: The ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' characters encounter via the UsefulNotes/{{amiibo}} feature are from an alternate world: the world of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''.
* AmbidextrousSprite: Characters with asymmetrical features (such as Saizo's scarred eye, Kagero and Camilla's PeekABangs, etc.) will be flipped depending on which direction they're facing.
* AnInteriorDesignerIsYou: While maybe not a simple house, there is a customizable base known as "My Castle" that will let the player create their own village, placing buildings around the pavement.
* AntiFrustrationFeatures:
** When starting a new game file, the game gives you the option to skip the first five chapters and go right to chapter six, which is where the path branches into one of the three routes. [[ZigZaggingTrope However]], this will not allow you to pick the difficulty; it will automatically use the same difficulty as your last playthrough. You also get stuck with a Level 1 Felicia/Jakob if you switch your Avatar's gender.
** The paralogues for the second generation characters are scaled to your progress in the story - and the second generation characters can't join promoted. At this point, they come with a "Child Seal" that auto-promotes them to the average level of the enemies on the map, allowing you to use them immediately.
** If the player is having a particularly difficult time, Phoenix mode is always an available option, though difficulty can only be lowered and not raised.
** If you have enough copies of a base weapon and enough ore, the game will allow you to forge higher-level weapons in a single command rather than going through the arduous process of combining them 2 at a time into +1 weapons, then combining those 2 at a time into +2 weapons, and so on. If you're forging at discount, this could potentially mean making a +6 weapon.
* AntiGrinding: Striking a balance between the ability to class change and grinding, ''Fates'' removes the ability to reset levels when changing classes. In classic ''Fire Emblem'' fashion, only by promoting can a unit's level reset to 1, this means the unit effectively stops growing once they hit level 20 while in a promoted class. However, the new, highly expensive Eternal Seal can raise a unit's level cap by 5, allowing for further growth.
* AnyoneCanDie: ''Lots'' of important characters die regardless of what path is taken. Aside from obvious gameplay unit deaths, certain character deaths are avoidable depending on the player's choices, and some ''will'' die depending on your chosen route no matter what. The characters who are confirmed to die under the above listed reasons are as follows: [[spoiler:Sumeragi and Mikoto[[note]]both die protecting the Avatar, the former from Garon and the latter from ''her CameBackWrong husband'', both later killed by the party with each other after being brought back by Anankos in the third route[[/note]], Kaze[[note]]can fall off a cliff by preventing the Avatar from doing so in ''Birthright''[[/note]], Flora [[note]]self-immolation during ''Birthright''[[/note]], Kaden or Keaton[[note]]the boss of a chapter featuring their pack in ''Conquest'' and ''Birthright'' respectively[[/note]], Charlotte and Benny[[note]]Are enemy characters in Chapter 14 of ''Birthright''. They can also either be recruited or killed in ''Revelation'' depending on whether or not you talk to them as Elise.[[/note]], Lilith[[note]]dies protecting the Avatar from Hans in ''Birthright'' and a Faceless in ''Conquest''[[/note]], Arthur and Effie [[note]]can be talked to or killed in Camilla's second boss fight[[/note]], Elise[[note]]took a hit from Xander intended for the Avatar during ''Birthright''[[/note]], Laslow and Peri[[note]]die in battle along with their lord in ''Birthright'' unless if one defeats the lord fast enough.[[/note]], Xander [[note]]SuicideByCop after Elise's death[[/note]], Hinata and Oboro[[note]]same as Laslow and Peri/Saizo and Kagero, but with Takumi on the second to last battle with him in Conquest.[[/note]], Saizo and Kagero[[note]]same as Laslow and Peri, but with Ryoma[[/note]], Ryoma[[note]]commits {{Seppuku}} to protect the Avatar from being killed by Garon after being spared[[/note]], Garon[[note]]''killed before the story even starts'' after he had Elise and replaced by a fake from then on[[/note]], Azura[[note]]decomposes into water after the battle with "Garon" in ''Birthright'' ''and'' ''Conquest''[[/note]], Takumi [[note]]brainwashed and killed by the Nohrian army in ''Conquest'' as the final boss[[/note]], Shura[[note]]can either be spared or killed in Nohr. Should you fail to recruit him by the ''Revelation'' route in chapter 15, he can also die.[[/note]], Izana[[note]]died while using all his life force in delivering a message from the gods for the Avatar in the third route[[/note]], and Scarlet[[note]]killed by a "shadow" and resurrected by Anankos as a brainwashed servant on the third route and killed in battle during chapter 13 of ''Conquest''[[/note]]]]. That's a ''lot'' of characters.
* ArbitraryHeadcountLimit: Once the player fills out their army, the game only allows bringing a certain amount of units into battle (which varies based on the map). This is a staple of the series, for the most part.
* ArcWords: The opening verse to "Lost in Thoughts All Alone" ("You are the ocean's gray waves, destined to seek / Life beyond the shore, just out of reach") is sung by Azura several times over the course of each story. The entirety of the song is about the Avatar, the 3 major routes they can take, and [[spoiler:Anankos's pleas for help]].
* ArchnemesisDad: It was hinted that Garon and his son Xander will eventually share this relationship. [[spoiler:Actually, they don't; it's Garon's posthumous impostor that the cast comes to blows with.]]
** [[spoiler:The player character, however, plays this absolutely straight, since the GreaterScopeVillain on both routes (and flat-out BigBad of the third path) is their dragon-god father.]]
* AristocratTeam: With careful planning, everyone can be related to royalty by marriage.
* ArmorIsUseless: Averted. Some skills and weapons have a secondary effect of lowering the defense stat of the enemy they hit, and its visual effect on the character models is always ClothingDamage.
* ArtMajorBiology: Just like ''Awakening'', each of the second-generation characters are fixed to one specific parent (In this case, their fathers). Who their fathers marry and have them with has absolutely no bearing on their physical appearance sans their hair color, which is obviously not how real-life genetics work.
* ArtShift: The first trailer opens with fairly realistic-looking CGI before switching to a more stylized version like that of ''Awakening'''s pre-rendered cutscenes. The game itself also does this from ''Awakening's'' artstyle and a more traditional anime style most noticeably when [[spoiler:the Avatar transforms into and from their dragon form the first time]].
* ArtificialBrilliance: While the AI will still send generics to their deaths [[SpitefulAI to wear your powerful units down and make you restart if you're playing Classic]], it has learned a few tricks to annoy you. Some enemy ninjas have the Lunge skill, an ability that allows them to swap places with targets who survive their attacks. Naturally, the computer ''always'' figures the best order to send units, pulling them away from a partner they may be supporting, trapping them behind enemy lines, or just in general cherry-tap them. They also use Shurikens, which are [[WeakButSkilled rather weak, but rarely miss]], and they significantly reduce your stats - meaning the tank you put in the front may suddenly become too weak to hold the line against them.
** It is possible to reduce maximum health temporarily via staves or traps. Sure enough, if you put a Fighter (Who has high health, but very low Defense and even lower Resistance) in the way, guess who's going to get hit with it? They become an even bigger GlassCannon, since a single attack they could normally shrug off will become fatal.
** One way the Pair-Up mechanics have been adjusted is allowing ''the enemies'' to do it. Naturally, they will take advantage of this.
** On the ''Conquest'' path, enemies are smart enough to stop charging at your units if they have no chance of damaging them. However, if they can debuff a unit (using Shurikens or Seal X skills) or deal damage via skills (Poison Strike, Grisly Wound etc.), they ''will'' do it and send more units to take advantage of this.
** An AI unit that has low health and is near a fort will make it a priority to head straight to that fort so it can get healed.
** Sometimes the AI is smart enough to wait until a unit is in range of multiple enemies before attacking them [[ZergRush all at once.]]
* AscendedMeme:
** Saizo and Beruka's C-support (in the international version at least) is believed to be a nod to a meme where people made joke support conversations where the silent or mean-looking characters just stared at each other going "...", like the fanmade one between [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade Jaffar and Rath]].
** Ryoma and Orochi's English supports also reference the "lobster lord" meme, with Orochi saying that Ryoma looks like "a lobster on a bad hair day."
* ATasteOfPower: Chapter 6 of Conquest/Birthright lets the player control all the royals of their respective routes before they're permanently recruited later. Played a bit straighter in Conquest since all the Nohr royals (minus Elise) are promoted and stronger.
* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: Applicable to the Faceless (large, ogre-like creatures) and Stoneborn (rock-hurling {{Blob Monster}}s), both of which are significantly bigger than your own units. They're essentially ''Fates''[='=]s equivalent to the monster battles seen in previous installments.
* AwardBaitSong: "Lost In Thoughts All Alone" or "if~ hitori omou" in Japan, the game's main theme and the recurring song that Azura sings, is a rather somber example. The full version, played over the end credits, even makes good use of sparkly synth and TruckDriversGearChange.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Forging weapons much beyond +2, maybe +3 if it's a basic Iron weapon or something else easily obtainable. The way forging works is that you take two of the same weapon and merge them into a weapon with a bonus 1 level higher, and you also have to spend an amount of a certain type of ore (based on the weapon type) equal to the bonus of the weapon you're trying to create (minus one if your Smithy is of a class that wields that weapon type, though this can't reduce the cost of making a +1 weapon from 1 to 0). So a +1 weapon requires two unforged weapons and a single piece of ore, but a +2 requires two +1 weapons and either 1 or 2 pieces of the proper ore. The maximum is +7, which gives +11 to might, +20 to hit rate, and +15 to crit rate if the weapon is capable of making a critical hit and +11 to might and +30 to hit rate if it is not--which puts most Iron weapons on par with the S-ranked weapons in raw might without the drawbacks that the stronger weapons come with, but also requires ''128 copies of the base weapon and 184 pieces of the proper ore (at discount)''. Note that this also means it's impossible to forge a +7 weapon from scratch in a single go, since the {{Cap}} on each type of ore is 99.
** In a downplayed example, the A-Rank weapons, while devastatingly powerful, have significant drawbacks to discourage spamming them. For instance, the Ginnungagap tome has a crushing Might of ''15'', but after use in combat, it halves the wielder's Magic stat for their next attack, which severely cripples their damage output (albeit temporarily).
* AwesomeMomentOfCrowning: All three routes end with one. In ''Birthright'', [[spoiler:Ryoma is crowned king of Hoshido, with Leo's coronation as king of Nohr on the way]]. In ''Conquest'', [[spoiler:Xander is crowned king of Nohr, with Hinoka's coronation as queen of Hoshido on the way]]. And in ''Revelation'', [[spoiler:the Avatar is crowned the king/queen of Valla, along with Ryoma and Xander being crowned kings of their respective nations]].
* BackstoryInvader: [[spoiler:Anankos's good side]] had given [[spoiler:false backstories for Laslow, Selena, and Odin]] when they come to Nohr, and are subsequently appointed as retainers to the royals. Xander points out how odd he finds it that he had never heard of [[spoiler:Laslow]] until his appointment as a retainer in spite of having records suggesting his existence in Nohr — but regardless, Xander won't argue with the results. Niles additionally points this out as well, saying that [[spoiler:Selena basically appeared out of thin air]].
* BadassFamily: Both the Hoshidan and Nohrian royal families are full of {{Warrior Prince}}s and Princesses. [[spoiler:In the third route, ''Revelation'', you can have all eight of both the Hoshidan and Nohrian families in your army, and their children.]] Much like [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Chrom in the previous game]], you can theoretically have an entire battlefield of nothing but the Avatar's extended family.
* BagOfHolding: While every character has an inventory of 5 items, there's also a Convoy that holds all of your unused equipment. The Avatar has access to this Convoy at all times if you need to grab something during battle.
* BalanceBuff: Heartseeker (the ''Fates'' equivalent of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'''s Hex skill) had its effectiveness increased. It now lowers enemy Avoid by 20 instead of 15.
* BaldOfEvil: Hans, a bald Nohrian soldier, is clearly not a friendly fellow from his intimidating appearance alone. He later reveals that he is only in it for his own gain.
* BattleAmongstTheFlames:
** Chapter 21 of ''Birthright'' has you fight your way through a giant lava mountain.
** Chapter 25 of ''Conquest'' has Ryoma use his Raijinto to light up some braziers to look cool before your final confrontation.
** Chapter 16 of ''Revelation'' features walls of fire that rise and fall. Naturally, they can be manipulated with Dragon Veins.
* BattleThemeMusic: The game is fairly consistent in giving people battle themes based on plot importance.
** Unplayable and capturable Hoshidan bosses get "Rage in the Light".
** Playable Hoshidan bosses get "Misery in Hand".
** Hoshidan royals get "You of the Light".
** Unplayable and capturable Nohrian bosses get "Squirm in the Dark".
** Playable Nohrian bosses get "Condemnation".
** Nohrian royals get "You of the Dark".
** Invader/[[spoiler:Vallite]] bosses get "Puppet's Feast". [[spoiler:[[MusicalSpoiler The fact that Takumi uses this theme on the]] ''[[MusicalSpoiler Conquest]]'' [[MusicalSpoiler route ought to be a major red flag.]]]]
** Major Invader/[[spoiler:Vallite]] bosses get "Destiny By Blood".
** Nohrian King Garon and [[spoiler:possessed Gunter]] get "Lost King's Supper".
** [[spoiler:Empty Vessel]] Garon and [[spoiler:Anankos' base form]] get "Fantastical Feast".
** The three {{Final Boss}}es get "End of All", a remix of the main theme. [[spoiler:Blight Dragon]] Garon gets the "Sky" variant, [[spoiler:possessed Takumi]] gets "Land", and [[spoiler:Anankos' true form]] gets "Below". In addition, [[spoiler:Anankos]] gets another variant called "Lost in the Waves" as the FinalBoss of the "Heirs of Fate" DLC.
* BecomingTheMask: In ''Birthright'', Zola puts on a masquerade of a HeelFaceTurn, and when his masquerade ends, asks Garon to spare the Avatar's life because he's come to respect the Avatar.
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: The leader of peaceful Hoshido, Queen Mikoto, is beautiful and serene-looking. Garon, the king of Nohr, is old and sinister-looking, while the noble Prince Xander is more handsome.
* BeefGate: Downplayed, as it can be passed at any time (in fact, there's no real way to prepare for it), but ''Revelation''[='=]s notoriously difficult Chapter 7 (in which you're direly undermanned for the game's only FogOfWar level) seems designed to chase off players who haven't completed the other two routes yet, especially since the difficulty swiftly levels off right after.
* BigBad: The Nohrian ruler, Garon, is an antagonistic force in both ''Birthright'' and ''Conquest'', but in different capacities.
** In the Hoshido path, he is in a more straightforwardly-antagonistic role as the ruler of the invading kingdom [[spoiler:and (somewhat predictably) is the FinalBoss]].
** In the Nohr path, it's his glory-seeking influence on the kingdom [[spoiler:(which is actually a GenghisGambit)]] which you are ultimately trying to reform.
** Then there's the third path, [[spoiler:where he gets demoted to TheDragon of the real BigBad, Anankos.]]
* BittersweetEnding: ''Birthright'' and ''Conquest'' both end in this way.
** In ''Birthright'', [[spoiler:King Garon is dead, the most corrupt villains of Nohr are killed off, and both kingdoms are now at peace with the implication that Nohr will be rebuilt into a better land. However, the road also involves the Avatar's adoptive family and friends being killed off, including Xander, Elise, and Flora. Lilith dies protecting the Avatar from Hans. Kaze could potentially also end up being a casualty (if you don't have an A-rank support with him). Along with numerous people being forced or tricked into fighting against Hoshido and dying against them]].
** In ''Conquest'', [[spoiler:King Garon is revealed to be an impostor and defeated, along with the corrupt individuals Iago and Hans. However, Hoshido was still invaded, causing many innocent lives lost in a pointless war, but the Avatar was able to save some even at the cost of others. In addition, Ryoma commits suicide in order to save the Avatar from execution, Lilith dies protecting the Avatar from a Faceless, and Takumi is lost to corruption and must be [[MercyKill killed off]]]].
** To make matters worse, [[spoiler:Azura dies on both routes with the Avatar unable to save her, along with the fact that the true BigBad that instigated the Hoshido/Nohr war is still alive, with the implication that it will one day make a return]].
* BladeOnAStick: Naginatas appear for the first time in the series and are used by the Hoshido army. They function more or less like their lance counterpart, but with just slightly different stats.
* BlatantLies: In the ''Before Awakening'' DLC map, the Avatar tells Chrom that the invaders they're chasing after are actually "invisible boars". Chrom is at least willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, while Frederick views the party with suspicion (although he still helps the Avatar).
* BloodMagic: Overlaps with RoyaltySuperpower and RoyalBlood. Nohr and Hoshido's royalty have blood from divine dragons, which let them use dragon veins to manipulate the environment. [[spoiler:You can also literally drink divine dragon blood to gain dragon vein powers for a time, as demonstrated in the Hidden Truths DLC.]]
* BookEnds:
** In ''Birthright'', [[spoiler:Xander is the boss of the second chapter and the second-to-last chapter]]. In ''Conquest'', [[spoiler:Takumi is your first ally and your last foe]].
** The game begins with Corrin being woken up by Felicia and Flora for a training session with Xander. [[spoiler:After being struck down by Garon's dragon form, Corrin imagines being woken up by Flora (who's dead) in a dream]].
** Corrin meets Azura by the shore of a lake in Hoshido. In the ending of ''Birthright'', Corrin returns there [[spoiler:after Azura disappears and sees her spirit]].
* BoringButPractical:
** The lower-tier weapons, while obviously weaker than higher-tier weapons, don't have major secondary penalties attached to them.
** The Cupid Bow replenishes the ''enemy's'' health. While it is usually a JokeWeapon, it is helpful for grinding low-level archers.
* {{Bowdlerise}}:
** The face-rubbing skinship minigame was removed from the Western releases. Calling allies to the Avatar's Private Quarters or having the Avatar bond with their spouse will skip the minigame, playing the session completion dialogue and rewarding the support boost for free. The minigames for waking up the Avatar's spouse and blowing away bath steam still remain.
** The support conversations between male Corrin and Soleil were rewritten in the Western release, [[https://kantopia.wordpress.com/2016/01/21/fire-emblem-fates-info-on-the-soleil-controversy/ as the original version]] featured the Avatar SlippingAMickey in her drink, which many interpreted as [[CureYourGays him applying gay conversion therapy on Soleil]]. Instead of the "magic powder" in the Japanese version, Corrin has Soleil wear a blindfold and perform a visualization exercise.
** The C support between Saizo and Beruka is utterly devoid of text in the Western releases, as opposed to the Japanese version's heart-to-heart over their respective careers.
** Almost all of the remotely risqué body pieces have been DummiedOut of the Accessory Shop in the Western release, with the only thing left to purchase being the Bath Towel. Characters can now only be seen in their swimsuits while visiting the Hot Spring or in the swimwear option in the Accessory Shop, while their underwear is only visible if they receive sufficient ClothingDamage or are hit with certain skills.
** A lot of Niles's dialogue was toned down due to how innuendo-laden it was in Japanese. For example, the C Support with Arthur originally had Niles say an innuendo about wanting to "ram something else in him", but the localization is just him teasing Arthur about saying something offensive.
** In Fuga's C Support with the male Avatar in the original Japanese, he mentions that he and Sumeragi would get kicked out of brothels when they were younger. The localization changed this to him talking about Sumeragi being a prankster that would play tricks on the royal servants.
* BoyishShortHair:
** Hinoka the Sky Knight sports short, bright red hair.
** Scarlet wears her hair short, as well.
** It's also a choice of hairstyle for a female Avatar.
* BreadEggsBreadedEggs:
** In ''Conquest'', while the Avatar's group is having trouble passing through Wind Tribe territory, Elise notices that Camilla's feminine wiles failed to sway them. She concludes that they must not like Nohr or women... or just Nohrian women.
** If Sakura fights in the Boo Camp DLC, she asks if the creature she's facing is a ghost, a monster, or a ghost monster.
** In Ignatius's C support with his mother, the mother asks if a spider or a worm got into Ignatius' tent. He replies that it's a spider riding a worm.
** In Laslow and Saizo's ''Revelation'' supports, Laslow mentions having lost girls to a masked man and a scary-looking guy ([[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Gerome and Brady, respectively]]) before. He then concludes that he had no chance against a scary guy in a mask, which he proceeds to [[ComicalOverreacting cry hysterically over]].
* BreakableWeapons: Averted for the first time in the main series since ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'' in 1992. All weapons are indestructible, but healing staffs/rods still have limited uses. The trade-off is that high-tier weapons now have stat penalties.
* BreatherEpisode: ''Conquest'' Chapter 18 involves the party dealing with Izana, the [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} very eccentric]] Archduke of Izumo, and him forcing the Nohrian royal siblings to attend a peaceful party with the Hoshidan royal siblings. The humor of the situation gives a break from the serious tone found in the rest of the version's narrative.
* BrotherSisterIncest: The Avatar and Azura are allowed to marry their siblings from Hoshido or Nohr, and even have children with them. This is made possible by the fact that they are not directly related and are not blood siblings with either royal family.
* BustContrastDuo: The older sisters of the two opposing families Nohr and Hoshido are the big-breasted, motherly Camilla and the flat-chested, tomboyish Hinoka.
* CallBack:
** Keaton and Laslow's "C" support has Keaton excitedly showing a ''massive'' bug to Laslow, who responds with disgust and fear after Keaton had done that to him previously. [[spoiler:As one of Lucina's possible siblings in ''Awakening'', it's fully possible for him to have been terrorized by a huge bug in the past.]]
** Caeldori's A support with Mitama has one to, "Make Him Fall for You in a Fortnight", a book mentioned in Cordelia/Severa's exp tile events. Funnier still is that Caeldori intends on having Mitama reading said book, and with Severa's comments on it in Awakening heavily implying it to be a trashy romance novel ''at best''.
** Asugi mentions in his C support with the Female Avatar that he ''was'' going to give them the nickname "Bubbles" but "but something about it just didn't sit right." "Bubbles" was Gaius' nickname for both Avatars.
*** Another one involving Asugi is in his support with Sakura if she's his mother. Asugi's mother is always worried that something might happen to him on one of his solo missions, but Sakura specifically mentions worrying that he might be bleeding somewhere she couldn't get to him. Sakura finding Saizo bleeding behind enemy lines is exactly how their support is set up.
** Should you defeat Garon in Chapter 12 of ''Birthright'', he says "This is a waste of time. My men can take it from here." - just like how in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', Julius said "Playtime is over - I'm going home" if you beat him during his FinalBossPreview.
** Some of the Spear Fighter/Master animations are very similar to those of the Halberdier/Sentinel class in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTellius'', especially the critical animation and the final hit of Astra.
* CameraScrew: If your units fight in a ''very'' cramped area (such as an alley or a narrow hallway), the camera has ''very'' little room to move around. Fortunately, this is a rather minor trope.
* CanonWelding: When spoken to, the amiibo characters mention their experiences in the ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' universe.
* CantCatchUp: Averted by the new Child Seal, which, in addition to promoting a child unit, will also adjust their stats to match how strong they should be depending on how late in the game it is used. As a result, child units are still usable regardless of what point in time they are recruited.
* CantDropTheHero: The Avatar cannot be removed from the party for any of the story missions.
* CastFromHitPoints: The upgraded version of Ganglari (only obtainable by doing 400 Castle Battles) has a very high Might stat, but it also causes the wielder to lose 20% of their health after attacking.
* CentralTheme: A general one is ConflictingLoyalties and ThickerThanWater vs FamilyOfChoice. There's also East vs. West represented by Hoshido and Nohr respectively.
* CharacterCustomization: The Avatar (with the default name of Kamui in Japan and Corrin in the West) can have their appearance, name, and voice customized by the player.
* CheckPointStarvation:
** There is no option to save between ''Revelation'' chapters 16 and 17, so if the player is defeated or a unit is killed in chapter 17 and the game is reset, the player will be forced to restart at the beginning of 16.
** All three routes also do this for the final chapter and endgame.
* ChekhovsGun: In the ''Hidden Truths'' chapters, [[spoiler:Owain, Inigo, and Severa]] are given a stone that can help them return to their homes whenever they want. This stone is never seen being used in the main story line, but it shows up again in [[spoiler:''Heirs of Fate'', being the strange stone Ophelia and Soleil were given by their fathers, which they use to go back to Shigure before he gets to sacrifice himself to Anankos]].
** [[spoiler:Odin, Laslow, and Selena]] are also mentioned to disappear in all of their endings, [[spoiler:unless they marry the Avatar in ''Revelation'']]. It's strongly implied that they used the stone obtained in ''Hidden Truths'' to indeed go home.
* ChildOfTwoWorlds: The Avatar is born from the Hoshido royal family, but was raised in the court of the Nohr royal family. Azura was originally the princess of Nohr, but was taken prisoner by Hoshido. [[spoiler:Although ''Revelation'' shows that it's ''three'' worlds, as the Avatar and Azura are originally from Valla.]]
* ChooseYourOwnAdventure: The English Nintendo Direct stated the player can choose which side to serve — the peace-loving Japanese-like Hoshido, and the glory-seeking Medieval Europe-like Nohr. However, it was later revealed that the game is split into two versions, with each sending the player off to one of the two kingdoms —- removing the ability to choose which side you join —- though the other route is available as DLC, as well asa "[[TakeAThirdOption Third Path]]" campaign, called "The Invisible Kingdom" in Japan and "Revelation" in the West. Only the LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition has all three campaigns accessible right from the start.
* ClothingDamage:
** If a unit is brought down to half health or outright defeated, parts of their armor/uniform will visually break off or be torn.
** Raider weapons and the Disrobing Gale can shred a target down to their underwear if they are at a weapon disadvantage when hit, regardless of how much health they have left. Silas's daughter, Sophie, can do this naturally with her personal skill regardless of weapon advantage.
* ColorCodedArmies: As per Fire Emblem tradition, during battle, the player's army is colored blue, while the enemy army is identified by the color red, invaders by the color purple, and allies are green.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: The Weapon Triangle is distinguished this way, with two weapons are assigned to each color. Much like the Grass-Fire-Water triangle from ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', Red (Swords and Tomes) beats Green (Axes and Bows) beats Blue (Lances and Daggers) beats Red.
* CombatStilettos:
** Camilla is wearing some very tall and very sharp heels on her boots.
** All maids happen to wear high-heeled boots, even to the point of having one of their melee critical animations that involves ''[[KickChick kicking]]'' their opponent.
* ComesGreatInsanity: Like in previous games, [[spoiler:the dragons here eventually become insane due to their instincts taking over unless they do something about it. Anankos fell victim to this pretty bad]].
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: Naturally, there are many missions where the enemy can get particular and serious advantages over the player, such as access to special Dragon Veins. In addition, the game has the annoying habit of spawning enemies behind or perilously close to your army with little warning or reason, forcing you to play extremely conservatively or restarting the mission to change up your strategy [[TrialAndErrorGameplay through trial and error.]]
* CompositeCharacter: The Outlaw class takes the traditional elements of the Thief class and mixes it with the classic bow-locked Hunter class from the original Archanea games, as reflected by their skills (Locktouch and Movement +1) and promotion branch. (Adventurer and Bow Knight)
* ConflictingLoyalty: The revelation that the Avatar has [[ThickerThanWater familiar ties]] with Hoshido, but [[NoBloodTies was brought up]] with Nohr brings up a dilemma of where their loyalty truly lies. You'll even be called "a traitor" by people of the side you don't choose. [[spoiler:You can choose neither, but everyone will come after you except for Sakura.]]
* ContinuityNod:
** A wall decoration similar to the Mouth of Truth [[http://i.imgur.com/muUs67y.png appeared]] all the way back in the second ''Fire Emblem'' installment, ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''.
** [[spoiler:Odin and Laslow's A Support has the former referencing the conversation they had in the Harvest Scramble DLC.]]
** [[spoiler:Laslow's B Support with Saizo in ''Revelation'' has the former referencing how he lost girls to Brady and Gerome in their Supports under similar circumstances after he loses his competition with Saizo.]]
** [[spoiler:Selena's Supports with the Avatar have them trying to find a yukata for her after she mentions the one she wore during the events of the Hot Spring Scramble DLC, and ropes them into helping her.]]
** In the ''Before Awakening'' DLC map, you team up with [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Chrom, Frederick, and Lissa]] to fight some monsters. [[spoiler:Shortly after you leave, they find an unconscious person and begin the dialogue from the start of Awakening when they find the Avatar.]]
* ContractualBossImmunity: The last few bosses in all three paths are immune to statuses, indirect damage (e.g. Poison Strike), and stat debuffs. Many bosses are also immune to the Entrap and Freeze staves due to how they interact with movement and the bosses being [[StationaryBoss stationary]].
* CoolCrown: Xander wears an iron laurel, helping with the Roman Empire [[FantasyCounterpartCulture connotations]].
* CoolSword:
** The new "Katana" sword type, staple to the Hoshidan army.
** The Avatar wields Ganglari at first, a dark blade with an ominous eye [[spoiler:(even though its purpose is far from cool)]], and then Yato, a long bronze sword with prongs on its hilt [[spoiler:which in the third route becomes a ''[[ChainsawGood chainsaw sword]]'' with YinYangBomb powers]].
** Ryoma and Xander have their own holy swords; the former has Raijinto, a katana constantly wreathed in lightning, and the latter has Siegfried, a sword with dark flames and two separate long blades that join together at the tip.
* CreatingLife: The Avatar is able to make Bond units by bonding with another player’s Avatar. The two breathe life into the earth itself to create new Avatars. [[spoiler:This power is likely inherited from Anankos, who could give his own emotions/mental state and heart human form.]]
* CreepyCemetery: Leo's boss fight in the ''Birthright'' route takes place in one of these. The cemetery is located in [[TheLostWoods the Woods of the Forlorn]], making it even creepier.
* CriticalStatusBuff:
** Scarlet's personal skill, In Extremis, increases her CriticalHit rate by 30 as long as her health is at 25% or lower.
** The Awakening skill, learned by Great Lords, increases the user's Hit, Avoid, CriticalHit rate, and Critical Evade by 30 when their health is below half.
* CrutchCharacter: True to ''Fire Emblem'', you do get early prepromotes who are around to help lessen the stress on your weaker units and help you through the EarlyGameHell. Zig-zagged, however, in that a lot of them are actually ''quite'' feasible and that they don't "steal" experience.
* CulturalPosturing: One of the few things that make the generally benevolent Hoshido [[ALighterShadeOfGrey grey]] is their tendency to characterize all citizens of Nohr as wicked monsters, when the truth is that it is really just [[TheEmperor Garon]] and [[TheDragon his advisors/generals]], [[{{Necromancer}} Iago]] and [[AxCrazy Hans]]. This has the result of making the Hoshido characters look a tad racist during the ''Conquest'' route, as they insist that the player character must have been brainwashed as they continue to plead for peace between Nohr and Hoshido.
* CuttingOffTheBranches: Averted. [[spoiler:In the ''Hidden Truths'' DLC, Owain, Severa, and Inigo all get their hair colors changed by magical means before their portraits even appear on screen so as to not give any confirmation on who their fathers are.]]
** [[spoiler:The ''Hidden Truths'' DLC does, however; imply that Inigo, at the very least, is not Chrom's son, as he does not seem to have a brand at all as seen when Owain is surprised to see his Brand being hidden, yet Inigo makes no comment on having something similar. Granted, Inigo's brand is stated to be in his right eye, but his lack of comment on it despite him knowing about it if he is Chrom's son, heavily leans towards him not being his son]].
** [[spoiler:In the ''Before Awakening'' DLC, none of the above three characters have any dialogue with Frederick, which implies that he isn't the father of any of them.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:D-G]]
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: There are a number of ways to lower the enemies defensive stats, such as knives/shuriken, the Enfeeble staff, and the "Seal Defense", "Seal Resistance", and "Draconic Hex" skills.
* DamnYouMuscleMemory:
** The Pair Up system has changed drastically compared to ''Awakening'': joining two units in one square always puts the rear unit in defense, and main attacks from the enemy will only be blocked if the gauge beneath the health bar is full. Meanwhile, having two adjacent unjoined units is the only way of having the rear unit attack. So if you're used to ''Awakening''[='=]s system, which does not regard whether units are joined and runs on RNG, things may get a bit tougher for you.
** Some skills returning from past games have been reworked to focus less on RNG and be more of a direct StatusBuff. For example, Demoiselle now makes males within 3 spaces take 2 less damage rather than get increased accuracy and evasion. This can cause issues for players of those games when trying to mentally calculate damage.
** The method of recruiting the child characters in ''Awakening'' (talk with either the main Lord or their fixed parent) doesn't always work here, and some of the kids ''have'' to [[DefeatEqualsFriendship be fought before they join]], something that players of previous games would normally avoid at all costs.
* DarkerAndEdgier: Namely, there's [[spoiler:the sheer amount of playable character deaths (including Flora's self-immolation while her twin sister looks on, Xander's accidental murder of Elise (who took the blow for Corrin) before his [[SuicideByCop own death at the hands of the Avatar]], and Ryoma [[{{Seppuku}} killing himself]] to prevent the Avatar from being the one to do it) and the flagrant incestuous vibes running wild in Fates (even though none of them are actually related to you at all except for Azura)]]. That's not even everything that the game covers...
* DarkIsEvil: While they don't seem to be [[GrayAndGreyMorality entirely evil]], the more morally-questionable Nohr all wear armor that is primarily black in color.
* DarkIsNotEvil:
** Nohr is associated with dark colors and the country is [[{{Mordor}} a hellish landscape]], though very few named characters from there are actually evil. Even when they're the main antagonists in ''Birthright'', many Nohrians are just doing their jobs and fighting for their country.
** The grotesque Golems and Faceless can be used as personal servants/defenders of the player's My Castle on the ''Conquest'' and ''Revelation'' routes. Up to three Golems (A, B, and C) can be set up to act as defense.
** Despite the Nohrian legendary weapons being associated with darkness, their actual effects are far more conventionally virtuous than the Hoshidan ones, focusing on protecting the wielder rather than allowing them to do more damage or move around more easily.
* DefeatEqualsFriendship: One of the ways to recruit certain units is by defeating them in battle. All of the amiibo characters require this method.
* DefectorFromDecadence:
** Potentially, on the Hoshido path, where the protagonist, despite being raised in the Nohr court as a member of the Nohr royal family, defects to join their blood relations in protecting the kingdom and reforming TheEmpire.
** The Nohrian siblings could also count on the ''Revelation'' path, where they outright join Corrin's side in order to help them strive for peace between the two main countries.
* DevelopersForesight:
** To preserve the game's advertised feel of being like classic ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' titles with limited resources and LevelGrinding opportunities, playing any of the DLC in ''Conquest'' (with the exception of Boo Camp, which is designed to allow grinding) will not award any experience. Support grinding is still possible in all [=DLCs=], however.
** In Casual Mode, you normally don't get a Game Over if the Avatar dies... except in Chapter 5. This is because the boss of that chapter [[UnwinnableByMistake would likely be unbeatable without the Avatar]].
** In Chapter 10 ''Conquest'', if you manage to [[LordBritishPostulate make it to Takumi and defeat him]] before he uses the Dragon Vein, he actually ''won't'' [[ButThouMust do it anyway]].
** The game clearly does not want the player to fight Garon when he shows up in Chapter 12 of ''Birthright'', as he's exceptionally powerful and the goal of the map is to flee the area. If the player decides to take him on and somehow beats him, he has dialogue for being defeated.
** In Chapter 7 of ''Revelation'', there is a short cutscene where the party meets up with Gunter that is supposed to trigger once one of the player's units enters the second-to-last room of the map's maze. If the player is able to skip this room[[note]]Only possible by abusing the Lunge ability (which is not available at this point unless it's purchased from another player's My Castle or the Log Book) with a ranged weapon to cross a wall to enter the last room.[[/note]], the cutscene will still play so Gunter can join the party.
** During the DuelBoss fights with [[spoiler:Xander]] in ''Birthright'' Chapter 26 and [[spoiler:Ryoma]] in ''Conquest'' Chapter 25, the game does not allow you to have the Avatar start the chapter Paired Up in order to sneak a third unit into the duel.
** In chapter 25 of ''Birthright'', Iago carries the skill Bowbreaker, which adds +50 hit and +50 avoid to the unit if they're attacked by a bow-wielder. He also has it even earlier in Chapter 16. [[spoiler:Given that you find out he's been controlling Takumi like a puppet for practically the whole game, it seems that Iago anticipated Takumi turning on him.]]
** Depending on who wields it, the Umbrella weapon takes on a more European or Japanese-style design.
** While most of the supports between mothers and the second generation are the same, a few alterations occur depending on who the mother is. For example, in Siegbert's A support with his mother, he offers to give her a shoulder massage again, which has the mothers react differently as fitting their personalities, such as Azura playfully teasing him, Felicia thinking he's asking because he couldn't find someone else to practice on, to Charlotte joking that if it wasn't for the fact that he's her son, she'd assume he was coming onto her. Interestingly enough, the later support actually changes his response, whereas the others are all the same.
** Normally, Nohrian and Birthright characters can only support each other - except in ''Revelation'', which adds some supports between the two. One of these is Subaki, whose child is Caeldori (who looks ''exactly'' like Cordelia from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'') and... Selena, who is Cordelia's ''daughter''. Meaning that if Subaki is paired with Selena, Caeldori will inherit Selena's hair colour and look ''EXACTLY'' like Cordelia. The game will in fact acknowledge this, if Selena is Caeldori's mother, then an extra scene acknowledging this will play.
** The ''Before Awakening'' DLC (Which takes place before the opening scene of Fire Emblem Awakening) has some future acknowledgement as well:
*** If Selena, Laslow, or Odin are deployed, they will gain unique dialogue with Chrom and Lissa [[spoiler: in which they will conceal their identities, but Selena will tell Chrom to at least have a cup of tea with Cordelia.]]
*** If Ophelia is deployed (Odin's daughter), she can actually speak with Lissa. This seems weird... until you realise [[spoiler: Ophelia is actually Lissa's ''grand''daughter!]]
*** If Caeldori is deployed, she gains the option to speak with Chrom.
** When S ranking another unit, if the units share the same base class, using a Partner Seal will result in the unit gaining their spouses secondary class instead, since they share the same class. In addition, if two classes share an overlapping promoted class, such as a Great Knight for a Knight or Cavalier, than leveling up the unit will give them access to the starter skills of the secondary class without having to reclass, since they now have the base class requirement.
* DiscOneNuke:
** The Dragonstone that the Avatar is given at the end of Chapter 5 has a Might of 14, which is stronger than most weapons available for a good chunk of the game, and provides an increase to their Defense and Resistance stats. It's very useful during the early game to allow them to safely shrug off hits and potentially one-shot enemies.
** Should the Avatar be female, if the player reclasses Jakob into a Paladin/Great Knight, he will have good stats for a good amount of chapters.
** In ''Birthright'', Takumi and Reina. Reina is an already promoted class that, despite eventually being outclassed, does fairly good damage for the time. Takumi is a pretty strong Archer unit that gives the player a good ranged option early. Additionally, both of them join on maps where bows come in ''very'' useful.
** Camilla in ''Conquest'' is a prepromote with great base stats, a solid personal skill, access to the Dual Club and a nice skill set. She has a low internal level in comparison to other pre-promotes, so she actually gains EXP rather quickly. Somewhat averted in that she continues to dominate well into the lategame.
** In ''Revelation'':
*** The Avatar becomes one. They are essentially the only source of offense until Chapter Nine, meaning that they'll wind up gaining a ''ton'' of levels and will probably be well into the teens when most of your allies who join will be around 7-10. This is going to be quite helpful since the game tosses promoted enemies at you ''far'' earlier than in other routes.
*** Takumi joins pretty early compared to the rest of the siblings, and he still has his Fujin Yumi. Reina joins one chapter later as well, and again on a shuriken-heavy map.
* DoesNotLikeShoes: Both the Avatar and Azura go about barefoot. Kana is also barefoot by default.
* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTy-eYbRf88 Azura's dance]] has been making some rounds on the internet, and a lot of viewers are giggling over Garon's [[TheImmodestOrgasm undignified reaction]]. What's actually happening is [[spoiler:a purification, where Garon, who turned out to be a monster disguised as the real guy, is damaged by Azura's magic.]]
* DoubleInLawMarriage: Three possibilities:
** Hinoka and Sakura could marry Saizo and Kaze.
** Quadruple In Law Marriage: marrying the Hoshidan and Nohrian royals together. It still works as long as at least four of the eight siblings are paired up in some way.
** [[spoiler:Shigure marries the female Avatar's daughter, and Kana marries Azura's daughter.]]
** Double Subverted if the male Avatar marries Flora and Xander or Leo marries Felicia: the Avatar's not blood related to Xander and Leo, but certainly still regards them as his brothers. In the ''Revelation'' route, Takumi or Ryoma could instead marry Felicia. [[spoiler:It's still a subversion as they're not blood related to the Avatar either.]]
* DoubleWeapon: The Dual Katana, Club, Naginata, and Shuriken have this design. They also reverse the game's [[TacticalRockPaperScissors weapon triangle system]] and double the strength of its effects.
* DownloadableContent: Plenty of extra maps can be purchased, which include ones that give easy experience and supplies, side stories, extra classes, and more.
* DragonAncestry: Both the Hoshidan and Nohrian royal families are descended from the First Dragons, and the Avatar in particular is capable of transforming into a dragon as a result of [[spoiler:Anankos being their birth father]]. Kana, being the Avatar's child, has the same ability.
* DreamingOfThingsToCome: The Avatar's dream in the prologue mirrors the events of Chapter 6, with the Nohrian army on Hoshido's border and the royal families fighting over them. Additionally, the map features units that wouldn't be in the army if not for the Avatar's presence later on, such as Nyx, Keaton and Kaden.
* {{Dracolich}}: The new Malig Knight class ride undead wyverns with [[RedEyesTakeWarning glowing red eyes]].
* DualWielding: Uniquely, the Swordmaster class can dual wield when equipped with certain katanas. This is an entirely aesthetic feature, however, and does not count as two attacks, etc.
* DudeLooksLikeALady: Forrest is mistaken for a girl by the Avatar, Elise, and some ruffians on several separate occasions due to his long hair and effeminate clothing. Dwyer also assumes he's a girl at first in ''Heirs of Fate''.
* DualBoss: [[spoiler:Takumi as the final boss of ''Conquest'']]. However, you only need to kill one.
* DuelBoss: [[spoiler:The Avatar must fight both Ryoma (on ''Conquest'') and Xander (on ''Birthright'') alone while the rest of the team takes care of the brother's subordinates. Both fights feature a kink though: Xander will never do any damage to you, and your team can eventually get to where you and Ryoma are through Dragon Vein if you beat Kagero and Saizo.]]
* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:Many characters whose corpses are possessed by Anankos]] have a few moments as themselves after the party defeats them, which they often use to say a few parting words before they really die.
* DysfunctionJunction: Compared to Hoshido, Nohr's roster is filled with this. To name a few, we got [[MyBelovedSmother Camilla]], [[AxCrazy Peri]], [[{{Tsundere}} Keaton and Selena]], [[BitchInSheepsClothing Charlotte]], [[{{Sadist}} Niles]], [[LargeHam Odin]], [[ShrinkingViolet Laslow]]...
* EarlyBirdCameo:
** Aside from the royals, the prologue's map consists almost entirely of named units that neither the Avatar nor the player have been introduced to.
** Saizo and Kagero also have a brief appearance at the end of Chapter 3; neither of them reappear in the story for at least a few more chapters, regardless of route.
* EarlyGameHell:
** The first chapter of ''Conquest'' (technically Chapter 7) features several hard-hitting monsters, all while the player slowly accumulates a small amount of units (maxing out at six), even the hardiest of whom can be broken easily at this point if the player isn't careful.
** ''Revelation'' Chapter 7 only gives the player 3 characters: Corrin, Felicia or Jakob (depending on Corrin's gender), and Azura. Only Corrin can take a hit out of the three, the map is initially a maze of twisty passages layered in FogOfWar, and there are treasure chests that the player will probably want to grab. The saving graces are Corrin's Dragonstone and a CrutchCharacter showing up near the end of the map, but if Corrin's Defense is the chosen DumpStat, there will be trouble.
* EasierThanEasy: Phoenix Mode causes defeated units to be revived the turn after they are defeated. Even if the enemy [[TotalPartyKill manages to defeat all your units in one turn]], they'll all revive on the next turn so it's impossible to lose unless there's an additional condition for defeat. Unlike Casual Mode, it can only be used with Normal difficulty.
* EasterEgg:
** If the Avatar dies during Chapter 2, their death quote changes to reflect the circumstances in which they're dying, and Xander gets an appropriately horrified reaction to seeing his little brother/sister die in front of him.
--->'''Avatar :''' I can't believe I failed...in front of Father...\\
'''Xander:''' Avatar? [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone What have we done?!]] We should never have let you leave the fortress!
** If Takumi reclasses to a Samurai via Partner or Heart Seal, his outfit will be based on Sumeragi's, his father's. Similarly, Shiro gets an outfit based on Ryoma's if he gets reclassed into a Swordmaster.
** Midori has special Ninja and Master Ninja outfits that not only have unique clothing, but a special green palette as well.
** Engaging and and defeating certain bosses with specific characters will lead to unique conversations. For example, Kotaro will taunt Saizo about how he killed Saizo's father, and say Saizo won't land a single blow if he's anything like his father. If Saizo kills him, he will taunt Kotaro back and say he ''did'' get a blow.
** In the ''Before Awakening'' DLC, Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick can be talked to by various characters.[[note]]All three can talk to the Avatar. Chrom can talk to Selena, Laslow, and Caeldori. Lissa can talk to Odin and Ophelia and Frederick can talk to Jakob.[[/note]] There's no real benefit to this outside of reading the conversations, which are different depending on who they're talking to.
** If Selena is Caeldori's mother in ''Revelation'', she will show up in the cutscene at the end of Paralogue 13. Selena's A Support conversation with Caeldori also has extra dialogue where she will compare Caeldori to her own mother.
** Unlike in ''Awakening'' where a child unit's lines would essentially be set in stone for their non-determined parent (or sibling in Lucina and female Morgan's case), the second gen's supports in this game will actually contain noticeable (though rarely significant) changes depending on who their parent/sibling is. Such as Mitama changing/adding/dropping haikus depending on her mother, male Kana reacting uncomfortably to Odin's antics, and Caeldori having a unique line at the end of her B-supports for each of her possible mothers.
** ClothingDamage taken by units carries over into cutscenes that use 3D models.
** In the UsefulNotes/{{amiibo}} battles, Odin, Selena, and Laslow can have a unique conversation with Lucina and Robin. They'll each find Robin familiar, but also recognize that [[YouDontLookLikeYou he's not the same Avatar]] they knew from their Ylisse.
** Giving Odin, Selena, or Laslow any of the four accessories obtained from scanning the Robin or Lucina UsefulNotes/{{amiibo}} will garner unique responses from them, such as being disgusted if handed the Dragon's Feather.
*** They also have special reactions if you give them the Emblem Shield obtained by having Street Pass data from ''Awakening''.
* EasyModeMockery: {{Defied}} by the developers, who state playing on Phoenix Mode won't give the player a worse ending.
* EldritchLocation: Valla, at least, by the time of the game's events. [[spoiler:Usually, you get there by falling into a canyon since most people don't have the ability to use the entrance at the bottom of lakes, though then there's a chance you'll get possessed by the evil god in charge either way. If your sanity is intact upon arrival, you can see clouds and the ocean if you look through the holes in the foggy white sky, which is also where some pieces of the ground are, and it's populated by the invisible, reanimated corpses of the original kingdom's soldiers. You also die if you talk about it outside.]]
* ElementalPowers:
** Dragon Veins allow manipulation over various elements, such as water, fire, wind and earth.
** Water is frequently manifested by the Avatar and Azura via their unique abilities.
** Individuals hailing from various clans, such as the Ice, Wind and Fire clans, all produce an appropriate elemental effect when their attacks land. These effects are purely aesthetic, however.
* ElementalWeapon: The royal brothers' weapons, which each oppose that of their counterparts:
** Ryoma wields a lightning-imbued katana called Raijinto.
** Takumi wields a yumi called Fujin Yumi that forms arrows of wind.
** Xander's sword, Siegfried, [[SwordBeam shoots beams]] [[CastingAShadow made of darkness]].
** Leo's tome, Brynhildr, manipulates earth and gravity.
* EstablishingCharacterMusic: Azura, the songstress, is introduced when the player character hears someone singing and a cutscene shows Azura singing by the lake ([[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=torno-FT2h8 Seen toward the end here]]). The song itself, in addition to being her theme, proves to be a key plot point and has [[MagicMusic strange powers]] which become more apparent as time goes on.
* EtTuBrute: As seen in the Choose Your Path trailer, the kingdom that is not sided with will carry this sentiment towards the Avatar. Xander and Takumi flat out call the Avatar a traitor depending on which side they are on. [[spoiler:This even happens in the ''Revelation'' route, where the Avatar is initially considered a traitor to ''both'' of them.]]
* ExcusePlot: Most of the children characters' Paralogue chapters are contrived random encounters with bandits, monsters, etc. to prove that the child is capable of fighting alongside their parents.
* EvenEvilHasStandards:
** Iago expresses shock when Garon acts outright cruel and says he ''wants'' the Avatar to suffer.
** Zola in ''Birthright'' [[BecomingTheMask comes to legitimately respect the Avatar]] and even begs Garon to spare their life because of that. [[HeelFaceDoorSlam Garon, however, has none of this.]]
* EvolvingWeapon: The Yato becomes more powerful at key points in each story path. In ''Birthright'' it gains Speed and Strength buffs, in ''Conquest'' Defense and Resistance buffs, and both sets of buffs in ''Revelation''.
* {{Expy}}: Caeldori, Rhajat, and Asugi, who are all nearly identical to Cordelia, Tharja, and Gaius from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' respectively, right down to the latter's names being anagrams of the former. [[spoiler:Funnily enough, subverted with Odin, Selena, and Laslow, who actually are Owain, Severa, and Inigo.]]
* FacelessGoons: Generic enemy units are the only ones who allow their faces to be obscured by helmets/hats. Actual enemy monsters called Faceless also wear masks.
* FactionCalculus: Unlike most ''Fire Emblem'' games, [[MedievalEuropeanFantasy Nohr]] and [[WuTai Hoshido]] have very different units available between them. Even the weapons used by them are different.
** Powerhouse: Nohr. Utilizes units and weapons closer in spirit to the standard Fire emblem game and has a near monopoly on armored and various forms of mounted (Horses and Wyverns) units sans the various forms of Pegasus knights.
** Subversive: Hoshido. Their units tend to favor fragile speedsters and their unique alternate weapons tend to give some bonus over their more standardized Nohr counterparts at a small cost- often accuracy.
** [[spoiler:Balanced: Valla and the Revelations path has access to the arsenal of both Nohr and Hoshido.]]
* FakeDifficulty: The Endgame chapters don't let you save before starting them. If you screw up, you have to redo the preceding chapter as well.
** On ''Revelation'', Chapters 16-17 don't let you save between them, either.
* {{Fanservice}}: ''Fates'' introduces a number of extra features, such as the ability to "pet" any playable character between battles,[[note]]Japanese version exclusive[[/note]] the ability to dress up characters in a variety of accessories, and the ''hot spring''.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Hoshido resembles feudal Japan, complete with unusually Japanese-sounding names for the series, like Hana and Hinoka, as well as curved weaponry such as naginatas and katanas. Nohr looks similar to Medieval Europe, with one of its major characters, Xander, wearing a laurel crown.
* FinalBossPreview: [[spoiler:Chapter 12 in ''Birthright'' features the FinalBoss King Garon on the map.]]
* FirstEpisodeSpoiler: [[spoiler:Mikoto's sudden death]] right before the Branch of Fate section is this. Only supports with the Hoshidans and [[spoiler:Revelation]] help extend how she used to be.
* FireIceLightning: Ice takes wind's place in the Fire-Wind-Thunder trio, without the strengths that wind tomes usually come with (i.e. effective against fliers). Excalibur is the only wind tome here, and it is an S-rank tome exclusive to ''Conquest'' and ''Revelation''.
* FiveSecondForeshadowing: The games likes doing this a lot with map sprites. The start of ''Birthright'' involves searching for Takumi. In Chapter 10, he shows up on the second turn... in ''enemy'' colors. The player has just enough time for an OhCrap reaction before the reveal that [[spoiler:he's BrainwashedAndCrazy.]] A similar thing happens with [[spoiler:Flora in Chapter 17]], except [[spoiler:there's no brainwashing involved this time.]]
* FlirtyStepsiblings:
** [[spoiler:Any marriage between the Avatar and their Hoshido "siblings" is revealed to be this.]]
** Similarly, Azura can marry her step-brothers Xander and Leo in ''Conquest'' and ''Revelation''.
* FloatingContinent: Several small, floating islands are briefly seen in the first trailer. They even appear to be upside down and/or sideways. They're said to be part of the "Invisible Kingdom", as the one time you visit islands like them in the Nohr route, you're swarmed by "Invisible Demons".
* FlowerMotifs: CherryBlossoms represent Hoshido, [[TheTragicRose roses]] represent Nohr, and [[spoiler:both and/or]] water lilies represent [[spoiler:Valla]].
* {{Foil}}: The royal families of both Nohr and Hoshido fit this to a T.
** Their parental figures, Garon and Mikoto, are an EvilOverlord and TheHighQueen. [[spoiler:Garon is actually biologically related to his children (with the exception of the player), while Mikoto is only the biological parent of the player character.]]
** The eldest brothers, Xander and Ryoma, are respectively an AloofBigBrother and HotBlooded on the surface, but both care equally for their younger siblings Corrin and [[spoiler:Azura]] included no matter what getting to the point that [[spoiler:Xander [[SuicideByCop lets the Avatar kill him]] after having [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone accidentally killed Elise]] who took the blow from his sword for the Avatar and Ryoma [[DrivenToSuicide kills himself]] [[HeroicSuicide to spare the Avatar]] of a SadisticChoice.]]
** The eldest sisters, Camilla and Hinoka, have their TomboyAndGirlyGirl dynamic examined [[spoiler:in their third-route support line]] and both of them are very protective of the Avatar.
** The younger brothers, Leo and Takumi; the former is a TeenGenius who is very fond of the player, and the latter is a boy who prides himself on his work ethic while being distrustful of the player character even if they side with Hoshido.
** The youngest sisters, Elise and Sakura, downplay this, as they are both TheBabyOfTheBunch [[LittleSisterHeroine Little Sister Heroines]] who seriously look up to their siblings and try to bring out the best in everyone. However, Elise is much more upbeat and sociable, while Sakura comes off as rather shy.
** The retainers who serve the royal siblings are also like this. Their respective character pages cover their personalities; as a whole, the Hoshidan retainers, and most of the other Hoshidan units, are either from nobility or from other prominent families (Hayato being the ward of the leader of the Wind Tribe, for example), with the retainers being from families that have served the royal household for generations. The Nohrians, by contrast, are from all class backgrounds. Beruka and Niles were criminals raised in absolute poverty, Shura is the fallen duke of the Duchy of Kouga, and [[spoiler:Odin, Laslow, and Selena are really [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Owain, Inigo, and Severa]], all under pseudonyms.]]
** Hoshido and Nohr as kingdoms foil each other as the ''Revelation'' support for Azura and the Avatar explains. Hoshido was able to be peaceful and prosperous because of its beautiful, eden-like land, whereas its equal and opposite Nohr had to be ambitious and warlike in order to survive their [[{{Mordor}} hellish]] environment.
** Even the protagonists, the Avatar and Azura, are this to each other.
*** First, the way they each became a ChildOfTwoWorlds oppose each other, with Nohr-born Azura being raised in Hoshido, where the Avatar, raised in Nohr, was born.
*** Second, the results of their unique upbringing contrast: the Avatar's character emphasizes how both sets of royal sibling love them and consider them family no matter what, while a large part of Azura's character has to do with how neither kingdom truly accepted her. Interestingly, this is played with: even if the Avatar chooses a side, they feel ties to the land they're fighting against and will never truly hate the kingdom they oppose. Meanwhile, although Azura had faced hostility in Hoshido, she prefers it overall compared to Nohr.
*** Third, the Avatar always begins as a WideEyedIdealist, but changes differently depending on the path, while Azura starts off a [[TheStoic coolheaded, reserved]] KnightInSourArmor and always stays that way.
*** Their outfits serve as a fourth foil: The Avatar wears rigid silver and black armor (the latter being a color associated with Nohr) with stiff clothing underneath; Azura wears a puffy, flowing white dress (white being associated with Hoshido) with gold accents. Tying with the second point above, the Avatar's main promotions have them don either all-white (Hoshido Noble) or all-black (Nohr Noble) armor, and they can freely promote to both in ''Revelation.'' Meanwhile, the only time Azura ditches her white dress is in the ''Conquest'' version of the dance at Cyrkensia, where she puts on a dark purple version of her dress and wears a veil over her face.
*** Finally, [[spoiler:We learn in both ''Revelation'' and the ''Hidden Truths'' DLC that both of them aren't from Hoshido or Nohr at all - they are actually royalty from ''Valla.'' Azura is the daughter of its last king before its destruction; the Avatar is the son/daughter of Anankos, the dragon that destroyed it and usurped the throne. To take this even further, if you beat ''Revelation,'' the Avatar - the child of the usurper - will become the new regent of Valla, while Azura, the actual heiress to the throne, will disown her claim to it; the only way she can become a ruler is by marrying a male Avatar on that path, and even then, she acts as his Queen Consort.]]
** Though the comparison breaks the pattern above, Elise and Takumi are polar opposites in terms of character ''and'' story role(s):
*** Elise is the best-adjusted of the Nohr siblings, with loads of self-confidence despite being the youngest and least experienced, unconditionally loves and admires her siblings, and completely believes in/fights for peace between Nohr and Hoshido. Meanwhile Takumi's lack of confidence and trust as well as his suspicions of being TheUnfavorite causes several points of conflict between the three routes, and has a hatred for Nohr second to only Oboro (whose hatred is so great it translates to a personal skill), extending to his adoptive sibling Azura.
*** Story and gameplay-wise, they have a number of parallels and points of contrast. In the route where one falls ill near Macarath, [[spoiler:the other dies near the end of the story, along with their oldest brother (Elise while saving the Avatar, Takumi after failing to kill them.)]] Among the siblings, Takumi is the most recurring boss, [[spoiler:fought four times in a single path]], while Elise is TheUnfought and is even sometimes required to turn enemies on the map into allies.
* {{Foreshadowing}}:
** Some of the characters' support conversations as well as the lines in their facerubbing sequences foreshadow [[spoiler:their deaths or ultimate fates. See Scarlet's A support, or Xander, Takumi, Flora, and Azura's facerubbing lines when you've reached S-support with them.]]
** If siding with Hoshido, the Avatar tells Xander that they believe [[spoiler:Garon is no longer human, he's pure evil.]] This statement turns out to a a lot more literal than they probably thought... There are many more hints to [[spoiler:Garon's DemonicPossession]] as well, [[spoiler:he's earlier overheard having a conversation, but the characters enter the room to find no-one else there, he doesn't seem to recognize Azura when she returns on ''Conquest'', the lyrics of the ''Conquest'' version of Lost in Thoughts All Alone mention "a legacy of lies, a familiar disguise", and, of course, his reactions to Azura's singing on both routes.]]
** On the ''Birthright'' route, having the Avatar engage Leo in a fight triggers a conversation where Leo threatens to "knock some sense into [them]" but makes it clear that he takes no pleasure in the act. [[spoiler:This proves early on that his antagonistic attitude towards the Avatar in that route is all an act]].
** In ''Conquest'' Chapter 10, having the Avatar engage with Hinata and Oboro (Takumi's retainers) result in unique dialogue. Their reactions are best summed up as out for their blood (Hinata) and disappointment they aren't on the same side (Oboro), which are especially notable as both are [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness quite out of character]] considering how they normally are in ''Birthright''. [[spoiler:They're hints of what is to come for their lord in later chapters of ''Conquest''.]]
* ForgedByTheGods: The five legendary weapons were originally created by dragons to stop the ancient war between, um, other dragons. They were, however, made for humans, which back then were subordinates to the warring dragons.
* ForWantOfANail: A major part of the game's premise is seeing how certain events change depending on which country the Avatar sides with:
** The biggest case involves [[spoiler:Takumi.]] He always [[spoiler:falls into the Bottomless Canyon and ends up being slowly possessed by Anankos]]. On ''Birthright'', Azura meets up with him shortly after this happens, and so is able to use her song to (mostly) cure him. On ''Conquest'', he isn't so lucky. [[spoiler:As his possession did not become apparent until ''much'' later on, it's far too late to save him by the time Azura realizes. This, combined with his greater resentment and bitterness on this route due to the Avatar's betrayal, means he eventually gets so consumed that the original Takumi is outright dead and Anankos is able to turn his corpse into a puppet, which serves as the FinalBoss.]] On ''Revelation'' [[spoiler:the Avatar manages to reach him while he's still in Izumo, meaning his fall into the bottomless canyon is prevented entirely.]] However, it's not all good news. [[spoiler:Without him to use, Anankos possesses someone else who fell into the canyon: Gunter.]]
** Another example of this is the fate of the Ice Tribe. In ''Conquest'', the Avatar was sent in a UriahGambit to quell the tribe's rebellion. The rebellion is stopped through a diplomatic method (though not without a fight), and Flora much later joins as a party member. What happens to them in ''Birthright'', where the Avatar and Felicia aren't there to talk Chief Kilma down from his plan? [[spoiler:Garon steamrolled the tribe with impunity, slaughtering most of them, and had Kilma executed. Flora then gathered the survivors and pledged loyalty out of fear, which Garon used as a bait to lure out the Hoshidan Army. At the end, Flora was broken because of the entire affair and immolates herself out of grief.]] Whereas in ''Revelation'', the rebellion still happens and is quashed by Garon, but rather than [[spoiler:destroying them outright]] as in ''Birthright'', he gives Flora a chance to save her people by helping Camilla and her retainers kill the Avatar, since Flora's ice control abilities allow them to ambush the Avatar's forces while traveling on the high seas by literally freezing the water, trapping them, and he needs her cooperative. When the Avatar in turn defeats them and gets Camilla on their side, Flora decides not to accompany them, but only so she can return to the Ice Tribe and get them into hiding before Garon can make good on the threat. [[spoiler:Much later in the route after Flora manages to accomplish this, she ''can'' be optionally recruited.]]
** Gunter [[spoiler:is thrown into the Bottomless Canyon by Hans]] early on in the game. On ''Conquest'', [[spoiler:the Avatar and Azura later end up in Valla (the world at the bottom of the canyon), where they are able to rescue him.]] On ''Birthright'' however this does not happen, and so [[spoiler:he never rejoins the army.]] Finally, on ''Revelation'', [[spoiler:he rejoins the party, though much earlier than in ''Conquest''... and turns out to be under DemonicPossession]].
** Another character, [[spoiler:Kaze]], can suffer a PlotlineDeath on ''Birthright'' but not on ''Conquest''. The death itself is a case of this too [[spoiler:if he does not have an A Support with the Avatar, he has to pledge his loyalty right there, which distracts him enough that he can't find a way out of their situation without sacrificing himself. If he does, he has enough concentration to notice something he can use to save them ''both''.]]
* TheFourGods: The Four Dragon symbols for Dragon Veins are based on them. The Fire Dragon is birdlike, similarly to the Vermilion Bird, the Water Dragon has a snake for a tail like the one that accompanies the Black Tortoise, the Ground Dragon has fur and is vaguely feline in shape like the White Tiger, and the Wind Dragon has a lean appearance much like the Azure Dragon.
* FourIsDeath: [[spoiler:The [[DangerousForbiddenTechnique fourth verse]] of ''Lost in Thoughts All Alone''.]]
* {{Gainaxing}}: Camilla's very ample chest jiggles noticeably in her ''Birthright'' cutscene. In addition, her battle model, along with Kagero and Charlotte's, also has significant bounce to their animations.
* GameFavoredGender: Done interestingly. The female Avatar has the freedom to marry whoever she wants without consequence (whereas the male renders one child {{Permanently Missable|Content}} if he marries a first-generation non-Avatarsexual), in addition to having multiple children who can become a Hoshido/Nohr Noble, whereas the male can only marry Azura if he wants a second child. On the other hand, the male has twice as many gender-exclusive DLC classes as the female, and the one great skill of a female-only class, Warp, is available to males through a Warp Scroll. (Female characters can get access to Vanguard skills via the ''Vanguard Dawn'' map, but one of these is also available from the Great Lord class, and none of them are as game-breaking as Warp.)
** Female Avatars are also favored in terms of unit availability. Whichever assistant doesn't accompany you at the beginning of the game only joins much later. A female Avatar will get Jakob first, and have Felicia be the late joiner. It is entirely possible to get all the children without having Felicia available if Mozu is recruited, the only problem coming if the player really specifically wants Felicia to mother one of the children. A male Avatar will get Felicia first, and need to unlock Jakob later, which makes ''both'' Jakob and Dwyer unavailable until relatively late in the game.
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration:
** In general, a unit's personal skill will either have something to do with their personality or their class. For example, Ryoma, the game's prototypical samurai having "Bushido" as his own personal skill or Niles, an outlaw being able to kidnap units.
** At one point in ''Conquest'' and ''Birthright'', Elise/Takumi comes down with a fever, causing the party to sidetrack so they can get them access to medicine. In the next battle, Elise/Takumi cannot be deployed.
** The 'My Castle' Arena works according to which campaign you are playing: the ''Conquest'' version doesn't let you gain experience, while the ''Birthright'' version does.
** Arthur's quirk is that he has the worst luck of anyone in the army. He has a Luck stat of 1 when he joins, as well as a ''very'' poor luck growth.
** Leo's stats during his main confrontation on ''Birthright'' are unusually low for a major boss, even on Lunatic Mode. [[spoiler:He reveals after the battle that he never had the heart to kill the Avatar and all his hatred was a lie, so he was likely holding back.]]
** A similar example happens with Xander's boss battle in ''Birthright''. His stats are also lower than the player might expect, due to [[spoiler:Elise's HeroicSacrifice a few minutes prior. The Avatar even notes that Xander let them win in the following cutscene from the guilt of accidentally killing his own sister]].
** Ryoma's fight in ''Conquest'' is a reverse of the above two examples. His stats are very high, and on harder difficulties, he can be impossible for the Avatar to fight alone due to [[spoiler:his fury at the Avatar for apparently killing Hinoka. Unlike Leo and Xander, he is truly fighting to kill]].
** The swamp on ''Birthright'' Chapter 18 is stated to specifically not affect Nohrians, and tires anyone from Hoshido. Both Corrin and Silas don't take any damage from standing on them, unlike every Hoshidan member of the army.
* GameplayAndStorySegregation:
** It's possible for support conversations to mention people who haven't joined the army yet; Arthur and Elise's B Support involves trying to make Xander laugh, and Odin mentions Leo and Laslow in his B Support with Felicia.
** In spite of [[spoiler:the curse placed on the land of Valla]], the player can take any units there for Challenges on the Chapter 7 map in ''Revelation''.
** Saizo and Kaze's C-rank support has Kaze expressing concern over Saizo's strong desire to avenge the death of their father, treating it as a current issue Saizo's still facing despite the fact that it's entirely possible for you to have allowed Saizo to do just that by having him kill an early boss in both the ''Birthright'' and ''Revelation'' routes.
** In ''Revelation'' Chapter 13, the city of Cyrkensia is destroyed by [[spoiler:the undead forces of Valla]], but since Xander and Ryoma happen to be there and can't see them, [[LetsYouAndHimFight they blame each other for the destruction and battle]], and you're tasked with defeating the real perpetrator. In battle, however, the Nohrian and Hoshidan armies are all programmed as one giant enemy faction, so instead of fighting each other, they'll actually [[GangUpOnTheHuman team up against YOU.]] In fact, this chapter's gimmick[[note]]Picking up blocks of debris and strategically setting them down to seal off the path of one army[[/note]] is specifically designed to give the player a means of avoiding this.
** Despite Leo's son Forrest saying that he and Aunt Elise would become "fast friends," they cannot gain any support ranks, as like other second-gen units, he only has support ranks with his parents and other second-gen units.
*** Similarly, despite a clear bond between Ryoma and Scarlet in the script, Ryoma and Scarlet cannot gain any support ranks, as Scarlet can only support Corrin.
* GayOption: ''Fates'' includes same-sex marriage options for the Avatar -- however, which gender gets the option depends on the chosen game version. The ''Conquest'' story has Niles as a possible male love interest for the male Avatar, the ''Birthright'' story includes Rhajat as a female love interest for the female Avatar, and ''Revelation'' includes both. Children still come with the marriages, though it's only mentioned that they're adopted and you can't recruit them.
* GenderEqualEnsemble: The siblings and their retainers are split perfectly down the middle. There are two Princes and two Princesses, each with one male and one female retainer (with the exception of Camilla, who has two female retainers, and Leo, who has two male retainers.) Combining all playable units together (counting children but not counting captured units and DLC), there are two more males in the army than there are females. When adding the siblings together, you can either subvert this trope by playing female (as Azura, the Avatar's counterpart, is always female, thus giving the royals two more females than males) or play it straight by playing male (balancing out Azura for equal genders overall).
* GenderedOutfit: Both male and female Avatar wear identical clothes, save for the fact that the female [[ZettaiRyouiki leaves her inner thighs bare]].
* GenderFlip: In a reverse from ''Awakening'', it's now the ''fathers'' that the children come from, with their mothers determining hair color. This means that now female Avatars can receive two children from most first generation males, while the male Avatars can only get two from the plot-central Azura (much like how Chrom was the only male who could give a female Robin two children).
** Azura's son himself, Shigure, will always inherit his mother's light blue hair, much like Lucina would always have Chrom's dark blue.
* GenreThrowback: The ''Conquest'' campaign is closer to classic ''Fire Emblem'' gameplay, with a much more difficult campaign, more various victory requirements, and limited chances to gain experience and funds. The ''Birthright'' campaign is closer to ''Awakening'' gameplay.
* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: The strap across Camilla's left breast doesn't seem like much most of the time, but when viewed from a certain angle, say, like her ''[[http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/fireemblem/images/9/96/Camilla_art.png/revision/latest?cb=20150621033234 official profile art]]'' the strap takes on a new form as a thick, erect piece of cloth with a obvious change in coloration at the rounded point.
* GladToBeAliveSex: Implied to be the case with [[spoiler:Kaze and his wife]] in ''Birthright''. [[spoiler:Why else would one be unable to unlock Midori's paralogue unless he survives Chapter 15?]]
* GlowingEyesOfDoom:
** Transformed Nine-Tails and Wolfssegners have glowing red eyes, and their generic untransformed portraits also depict glowing eyes under their hoods.
** The portraits of the invisible warriors have eyes that glow pinkish purple.
** [[spoiler:Takumi's possessed corpse]] has glowing red eyes that are given ample focus in its introductory cutscene.
* GoldenEnding: The third route, ''Revelation'', compared to the other two paths, ends with this trope. [[spoiler:The true BigBad, Anankos, is defeated, King Garon is dead, the most corrupt Nohr villains, Iago and Hans, are also dead, the Avatar becomes the rightful heir and ruler of Valla, and to top it all off, the other two kingdoms, Nohr and Hoshido, are finally at peace, along with the implication that Nohr itself will be rebuilt into a better land. Even though there were still some unavoidable deaths (in this case, Izana [[note]] forced to sacrifice his life to deliver a divine prophecy to convince Takumi to believe the Avatar[[/note]], the Rainbow Sage [[note]]Who dies from natural causes (in this case, old age)[[/note]], Scarlet [[note]]dies from protecting the Avatar from an Anankos-possessed Gunter, and dies again after she CameBackWrong[[/note]], Arete, Mikoto, and Sumeragi [[note]]In another few cases of CameBackWrong, forcing the Avatar, Azura, and company to kill the three of them[[/note]]), most of the cast from both sides, including ''all'' of the siblings survive the events and become very good friends with each other. Also, unlike the other 2 routes, Azura lives.]]
* GoldenPath: ''Revelation'' was definitely intended to be this. [[spoiler:Hoshido and Nohr unite against a common foe and save the continent from collapse, defeating the mastermind behind the war.]]
* GoodColorsEvilColors: The peaceful Hoshidan army feature a lot of white, [[PrimaryColorChampion red and blue]] in their uniforms. The more antagonistic Nohr army are identified by their predominantly black and [[PurpleIsPowerful purple]] uniforms.
* GoodMorningCrono: The first chapter of the game begins with the player being woken up by Felicia and Flora.
* GreaterScopeVillain: For the ''Birthright'' and ''Conquest'' routes. [[spoiler:Naturally, you end up fighting insane water dragon Anankos as the regular BigBad in ''Revelation''.]]
* GreyAndGrayMorality: Despite Hoshido being portrayed as a "peace-loving" kingdom while Nohr is portrayed as a "glory-seeking" empire, neither Hoshido nor Nohr are outright portrayed as "good vs. evil." In fact, the royal siblings from both Hoshido ''and'' Nohr are genuinely good people at heart that care about the Avatar very much, but have very different ideas of what is best for them. The Nohr royal siblings want the Avatar to accept their life in Nohr, but also play a key part in reforming a militaristic empire within in the Nohr route. The Hoshido siblings want the Avatar to return to their birth home and take pride in their bloodline, but also want to defeat the Nohr militaristic empire in the Hoshido route. Also, despite their light and dark themes from Hoshido and Nohr, their appearance is not all what it seems. Garon, the BigBad king of Nohr, does have [[GenghisGambit some justification]] in declaring war on Hoshido [[note]]Poor crop harvests in Nohr due to poor weather conditions, rampant chaos within the kingdom, and Hoshido shinobi kidnapping their princess[[/note]]. Hoshido, despite being the "peace-loving" kingdom, also has some uncouth secrets, [[spoiler:such as the aforementioned kidnapping of Azura, the princess of Nohr, in retaliation of Nohr kidnapping the Avatar and if the Avatar sides with Nohr they send ninjas to assassinate the Avatar. But in the end, both Hoshido siblings and Nohr siblings care deeply for the Avatar even if you have to fight most of them in the different story lines]].
** It's also reflected in both original routes to some degree. ''Birthright'' has a lot more named-character deaths, while ''Conquest'' has a higher civilian death toll.
* GuestStarPartyMember: As a result of the ChooseYourOwnAdventure nature of ''Fates'' and the natural exclusion of units from one path or the other, certain characters will temporarily join your party but end up leaving for one reason or another. [[spoiler:Gunter on the ''Birthright'' route, the Hoshidan siblings and Rinkah on the ''Conquest'' route, and Scarlet on the ''Revelation'' route.]] Interestingly, most of these guest star as a result of being playable in the prologue [[spoiler:with Scarlet being the exception]].
* GuideDangIt: A few minor examples:
** Downplayed in regards to [[YouKilledMyFather Saizo's beef with Kotaro]], which is only explicitly stated on the ''Conquest'' route and in Saizo's B support with Kaze. If you don't view said support on ''Birthright'', there is no indication that anything special will happen if you pit Saizo against Kotaro, and it's actually impossible to have any advance warning on ''Revelation'' since Saizo joins during the chapter you fight Kotaro unless you've played a different route.
** [[spoiler:Kaze's death in ''Birthright'']] comes somewhat out of the blue and it's quite easy to be surprised. Before that specific point, the character in question must have an "A" support with the Avatar otherwise the character is removed from the group entirely, despite that you can actually have this character form an "S" relationship with any other potential characters. (Meaning there is no InterfaceSpoiler). The only way to tell that something is up would be if you notice that [[spoiler:Midori's paralogue is not available despite putting him together with someone]], a hint that is ''very'' easy to miss on your first playthrough - and even then, this hint doesn't tell you ''what'' you have to do.
** The gimmick of ''Birthright'' Chapter 21 is that you need to use the Dragon Vein points at the statues to open paths through the map, but each statue has two points and only one opens a path, the other floods the area you're standing in with lava, restricting your movement and damaging your troops every turn, while also summoning reinforcements for several turns. While is ''is'' possible to figure out which Dragon Vein is the right one, [[spoiler:it's whichever is under the hand the statue is holding an orb in]], the game doesn't mention what to do if you pick the wrong one: you have to wait several turns for the right Vein to reappear. It's a long time before this happens, and Dragon Veins have never respawned in any earlier map, so a player who chooses wrong might think they've rendered the map UnwinnableByDesign as there is ''no'' way for non-fliers to cross the lava without the Veins. And ''Birthright'' never explains the gimmick of a map before it starts, like ''Conquest'' does, making this even more confusing.
** Also rather minor as well - Flora, Izana, and Yukimura. They are recruited via reaching specific objectives - you must have a structure upgraded to level three and they must be on a route where they ''survive''. There is nothing actually telling you ''which'' structures must be built. While Yukimura's can be guessed (Any puppet that defends your castle during invasions), Flora's seems completely arbitrary (Any orb, launcher, or ballista). Fuga can be a bit of a GuideDangIt as well, since he only joins in ''Revelation'' and uses the same structure that [[spoiler:Izana]] uses in the other two routes (and since said character dies in the third route, the player might not think to upgrade their respective building).
** The goal of Nina's Paralogue is to rout the enemy before she escapes. Nina herself ''is'' an enemy, and can't be talked to by Niles, indicating that you have to defeat her too. Except that when she's reduced to 0 HP, the music cuts and plays the normal character death theme, which usually indicates a recruit has been [[FinalDeath killed permanently]]. But she isn't, she'll still join at the end of the chapter. This is probably an oversight or a poor translation, as all other child characters you're forced to defeat in battle to recruit don't play the death theme. Inversely, if Benny's son Ignatius is defeated in his Paralogue but you still manage to finish it, the dialogue with him at the end of the chapter will still play, but he actually ''is'' {{Permanently Missable|Content}}. While a player can figure out just what happened to make him missable, the fact that the dialogue doesn't change is what confuses you.
** The westernmost chest in ''Conquest'' Chapter 26 is subject to an intriguing oddity that went undiscovered for over three years after the game's release. If Kaze's shuriken rank is B or higher, the chest will yield a Spy's Shuriken. If it is still his base rank of C, it will yield a Spy's Yumi instead.
** Stat-boosting statues for your castle can be built for each character who kills 10 enemies, with upgrades available after killing 50 and 100. If you want to get Scarlet's statue for your castle in ''Revelation'', you have to earn it before starting Chapter 18, [[spoiler:as she is killed as soon as it begins]]. If you want her statue at Level 3, that also means lengthy grinding on Challenges as the two storyline Chapters you get her for don't offer nearly enough enemies.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:H-O]]
* HardLevelsEasyBosses: Zig-zagged - for some stages, the bosses are indeed threatening. Others aren't much more than a DamageSpongeBoss, but getting ''to'' them is really difficult. Play on harder difficulties like Lunatic, and it becomes:
* HarderThanHard: Lunatic Mode makes an appearance once more, ramping up enemy stats, throwing promoted units at the player much earlier than normal, outfitting enemies with frustrating skills like Counter and Countermagic throughout a good chunk of the campaign, and even giving enemy units access to devastating enemy-only skills (like Inevitable End, which lets debuffs stack).
* HealerSignsOnEarly:
** Like many ''Fire Emblem'' games, one of your first allies is a healer (Felicia or Jakob depending on the Avatar's gender).
** Elise and Sakura, both of whom are the healers of their respective royal families, are the first of their siblings to join in their respective route. Sakura is also the first royal sibling to join you in the ''Revelation'' campaign.
* HeelFaceDoorSlam: In ''Birthright'', Zola begs for the Avatar's life but Garon has none of this.
* HeirClubForMen: Zig-zagged. The line of succession for the throne is by age, regardless of gender. However, [[spoiler:when Xander dies at the end of ''Birthright'', Camilla passes the Nohrian crown to Leo because she has no desire to be queen, and when Ryoma dies at the end of Conquest, Hinoka says that she ''would'' have passed the Hoshidan crown to Takumi for similar reasons, except Takumi died too, so she wound up forced to become queen herself]]. However, in the original Japanese version, it is clear that Hoshidan rules prefer men as their rulers. Also the case regarding the divine weapons: except for the female Avatar and female Kana, there are no canon female divine weapon wielders.
* HeroicResolve: Channeled through the new Mercenary skill, Stubbornness (renamed Good Fortune in English), giving the unit a chance to recover 20% of their health each turn based on their Luck.
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Selena, Odin and Laslow. [[spoiler:The ''Hidden Truths'' two part DLC focuses on their origins, what brought them to Nohr, and the origins of the one who will be known as [[GreaterScopeVillain Anankos]].]]
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Any same-sex unit (except GayOption units) can support with each other once they have A+ support. Doing this allows the same-sex partner to access each other's classes. [[spoiler:Double goes with former enemies where someone like [[TheRival Ryoma and Xander]] if Ryoma becomes a Paladin and Xander a Swordmaster and [[NotSoDifferent Leo and Takumi]] with each of their classes can achieve this once the third path is chosen]].
* HistoryRepeats: [[spoiler:In ''Revelation'', Sumeragi explains that he met and fell in LoveAtFirstSight with Mikoto when he met her by a lake. Mikoto's child, the Avatar, first meets Azura by a lake, and if male and romancing her is also suggested to have fallen in LoveAtFirstSight with her.]]
* HoldTheLine: The goal of ''Conquest'' Chapter 10 is to defend Port Dia from an invading force of Hoshidians for 10 turns. If any enemy units enter the town, you lose.
* HotterAndSexier: Character designs in general (both male and female) have more {{Fanservice}} compared to previous entries.
* HulkingOut: The Avatar's dragon transformation is some variation of this. They're stricken with strong emotion, they transform into something twice their size and functioning on UnstoppableRage, it takes someone (Azura in this case) to talk (sing) them out of it. The conversation with Azura afterwards implies that it's prone to happening again, with worse consequences, without the Dragonstone.
* ILetYouWin: An inverted example. The Avatar says [[spoiler:that Xander let THEM win after they mortally wound him in their duel in ''Birthright''. Considering the events that happened before the battle, [[SuicideByCop they are almost certainly right.]]]]
* INeverSaidItWasPoison: The Avatar uses this in ''Revelation'' this to flush out [[spoiler:Scarlet's murderer]] hiding in their group. While making their way to Anankos, [[spoiler:Gunter mentions the flower Scarlet pinned on her armor]] just before she jumped into the Bottomless Canyon. Only the Avatar, Scarlet and the murderer should've known about [[spoiler:the flower]], since the former two were the last to jump, and it was burned away in the attack.
* InSpiteOfANail: A few key events will always happen regardless of which route is being played.
** In ''Birthright'' and ''Conquest'', the siblings of whichever side you picked always join in the same order; first the younger sister since [[HealerSignsOnEarly she's the healer of the family]], then the older sister, then the younger brother, before the older brother joins last. Averted in ''Revelation'' where the order is muddied somewhat due to the siblings of both sides joining, but a little sister (Sakura) is still the first one to join you.
** A battle at Fort Jinya in Hoshido always occurs, with Sakura being involved somehow. [[spoiler:In ''Birthright'' the newly-defected Avatar helps defend the Fort with Sakura's help from a Nohrian invasion force led by Silas. In ''Conquest'' and ''Revelation'' however, the ''Avatar'' is the one attacking the fort, but for different reasons; in ''Conquest'' overcoming Jinya is the first step in actually being able to invade Hoshido, and Sakura decides to take part in the battle, having learned to fight so she can defend her home. In ''Revelation'' however, the Avatar only assaults the fort in order to defend themselves from Yukimura and to convince him they haven't betrayed Hoshido, and to lend some support to fighting the real enemy. Sakura doesn't participate in the battle directly, but upon finding out that none of the Hoshidan soldiers were actually killed, she stops Saizo from making a suicide attack at her sibling and decides to join the Avatar to prove that they aren't a traitor.]]
** Scarlet's uprising at Cheve always occurs.
** Azura always ends up singing for Garon at Nestra's Opera House, [[spoiler:except in the Revelation route, where the opera house is destroyed before she and the Avatar arrive]].
** The Avatar's group always visits Izumo, only to find out that Archduke Izana is being impersonated by a Nohrian named Zola.
** In ''Birthright'' and ''Revelation'', the group is tricked into killing innocent Wind Tribe villagers due to illusions that made them appear as Faceless.
** The group always ends up fighting Kotaro at Mokushu, in the process freeing Kagero, who is always a hostage.
** Takumi [[spoiler:ends up possessed by Anankos]] in both ''Birthright'' and ''Conquest''.
** [[spoiler:Lilith always dies in a HeroicSacrifice]] in both ''Birthright'' and ''Conquest''.
** [[spoiler:Flora will always turn against the Avatar]] as part of a key battle in all three paths of the game.
** Most tragically, [[spoiler:Azura has to weaken the FinalBoss with her song, and dies from overusing her pendant]] on both ''Birthright'' and ''Conquest''.
* InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons: At the end of the first trailer, a dragon, later confirmed to be the Avatar, is seen choking the mysterious dancer Azura before they turn into a human. This is nothing new to the series, as humanoids who can transform into dragons have existed since the very first game. It is, however, the first time said shapeshifter has been the main character.
* InstantWinCondition: The victory condition for ''Birthright'' Chapter 12 is to get the Avatar off the map. You win the moment they step foot on one of the designated exit tiles, regardless of the status of the rest of your forces (who also escape) or the enemy's forces.
* InterfaceSpoiler:
** When Silas first shows up as a boss in Chapter 7 of ''Birthright'', his personal skill (which explicitly involves the Avatar as an ally) is visible in the HUD when he's scrolled over. After seeing this, it becomes obvious that he joins the Avatar's army upon defeat.
** Once the player notices that S-supports are possible between the Avatar and every other opposite-sex character including the Hoshido royal family, the plot twist that [[spoiler:they're NotBloodRelated]] is self-evident.
** Gunter seemingly dies at the end of Chapter 3. However, the heart symbol indicating Support points were gained still displays when he fights alongside the Avatar and Jakob (despite the function not being available yet), indicating that he's not gone for good. [[spoiler:[[PlayedWith Unless you choose ''Birthright''. Then he's really gone]].]]
** When Gunter rejoins at the end of Chapter 7 in ''Revelation'', he does not have the ability to Support with anyone, despite the fact that he can in ''Conquest'' and the Avatar can freely Support with every single player unit. This implies that there's more to him than meets the eye.
** Accessories given to characters will still be worn during cutscenes. If [[spoiler:Gunter]] happens to be wearing something distinctive enough that it can be identified while a character is [[VisibleInvisibility semi-invisible]] (like the Invaders), his identity as [[spoiler:Scarlet's killer]] can be given away before the game wants it known.
** The mysterious cloaked swordsman boss of Chapter 5 [[spoiler:has a crown indicator besides their name, usually a symbol of Hoshidan or Nohrian royalty. He is also of the Swordmaster class, which is associated with Hoshido in this game.]]
** [[spoiler:Mikoto]] appears as a [[spoiler:Priestess]] in the ''Birthright'' class roll. It seems strange for a character who gets killed off before ever appearing in combat to have a full battle model, with unique VoiceGrunting to boot... [[spoiler:She's a boss on ''Revelation'' via CameBackWrong.]]
** Averted in ''Birthright'' with [[spoiler:Kaze]]. There is actually nothing telling you that [[spoiler:he must have an "A" or above support with the Avatar prior to a specific point in the game]], despite that it is fully possible for [[spoiler:him to marry another character before then.]] However, if this is not your first playthrough, it is fully possible to spot that something might be off since [[spoiler:Midori's paralogue will not unlock until after Chapter 15]].
* InternalReformist: While ''Birthright'' is a fairly genre-standard "fend off TheEmpire" story, ''Conquest'' focuses on the Avatar and their adoptive family trying to reform Nohr from within.
* ItsTheJourneyThatCounts: [[spoiler:The "strength" you gain from climbing Notre Sagesse and meeting the Rainbow Sage really is the strength you gain from climbing.]] Granted, meeting him is tantamount to a weapon upgrade for the Avatar, but that isn't so for the four people who did it before them.
* JokeItem: There are a slew of mundane objects that can be used as weapons, such as a bottle or parasol being used in lieu of a sword or a frying pan substituting for an axe. Many of these weapons have a low Mt stat for minimal damage and may have a negative attribute, such as the parasol lowering the wielder's Speed by 5 points.
* KillStreak: All the Taker Skills save for Lifetaker allows the user to gain a +2 bonus to the appropriate stats up to a maximum of +10 if they defeat an enemy. To balance it out these skills do not overlap with each other.
* KissingCousins:
** The second generation characters are allowed to marry their cousins. For example, it's possible to pair Asugi and Midori in the Japanese version even though they are related via their fathers, brothers Saizo and Kaze.
** A lategame reveal in ''Revelation'' shows that [[spoiler:Azura and the Avatar]] are cousins; their mothers, as it turns out, are sisters. The game still lets the player marry them before or after the reveal.
* LampshadeHanging:
** In Chapter 18 of ''Revelation'', the player's units are tasked with reaching eight separate Dragon Vein points on the map; using one chips away at the statue near where all your units spawn (as well as preventing enemies from respawning from this Vein), and completely destroying the statue allows passage to the chapter's boss. Azura counts how many of these the player has completed, lampshading the dullness of the task at four:
--->'''Azura''': Four down. Four more... this is quite boring...
** After the Avatar accomplishes their mission, albeit [[LoopholeAbuse not in the way Iago assumed]], he of course curses your loopholes.
** The units are, just like since ''Path of Radiance'', all rather quirky. After several sets of silly retainers on ''Conquest'', the Avatar asks themselves "Where do my siblings ''find'' these people?"
* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: If you attack Garon during the FinalBossPreview of Chapter 12 ''Birthright'', his lines sound a little as if he's talking to the player directly.
** In Orochi and Nyx's ''Revelation'' supports, the two wonder who people will come to now that there are two powerful spellcasters in the army. The way they discuss who is needed more makes it sound similar to gameplay strategy.
* {{Leitmotif}}: "Lost in Thoughts All Alone" (or [[https://soundcloud.com/kawaiisparkles/fire-emblem-fates-if-theme-song-ones-thought-ifhitori-omou-hq-ost if~Hitori Omou]] in Japan), the song that Azura sings. It pops up frequently throughout the game in various remixes, such as the title screen song and multiple levels themes, with the "true" version only playing during the end credits of each route. [[spoiler:The song itself is tied to both Anankos and the Avatar, being sung from Anankos' perspective to the Avatar and the prophecies he foretold.]]
* LethalChef: Anyone who's on chef duty in My Castle's cafeteria can flip-flop between this and SupremeChef. For the Lethal Chef case, their food can cause their consumers' stats to decrease temporarily.
* LevelLockedLoot: Standard to ''Fire Emblem'' games, a unit's Weapon Proficiency rank determines what weapons they are capable of using, with the most powerful weapons requiring a higher ranking. The S rank proficiency makes a return, but only certain classes are capable of attaining it.
* LeyLine: The Dragon Veins are hinted (thanks to images inspired by TheFourGods appearing every time they're used) to work the same way that the Dragon Veins in Feng Shui do, but instead of {{Chi}} flowing through them, it's the earth-shaping power of the First Dragons.
* ALighterShadeOfGrey: The series is somewhat more favorable towards Hoshido regardless on what path the player chooses, as the real BigBad[[spoiler:, the "fake" Garon and Anankos,]] is hiding behind Nohr's shadows. Even if the Avatar sides with Nohr, the Hoshido characters do have some justifications on sending ninjas to kill you[[spoiler:, as you somewhat take part in conquering Hoshido in addition to trying to reform a militaristic empire. The endings are also contrasted as well, as the ''Birthright'' ending does involve rebuilding Nohr and bringing peace between the two kingdoms while the ''Conquest'' route involves reforming Nohr with Hoshido invaded and conquered at the end]]. The worst that can be said of Hoshido is that they send assassins to kill Corrin, Hoshido factions sending assassins to kill Azura for being Nohrian [[spoiler:even on ''Birthright'', as revealed in the Subaki support with her]], and Takumi starting a surprise attack during Chapter 13 of ''Conquest'' to shoot the Avatar for their betrayal and Elise. [[spoiler:And it is the ''Nohr'' siblings that save all four Hoshido family members during a Nohr plot to take them hostage.]]
* LivingToys: The UsefulNotes/{{amiibo}} characters [[SubvertedTrope subvert]] this. All ''Smash'' fighters, including the amiibo characters in ''Fates'', are living versions of collectible trophies in some (ambiguous) way. ''Fates'' seems to establish that the characters' trophy forms (in this case, the [[{{Defictionalization}} physical amiibo]]) summon a living version of the character in some imaginary universe (in this case, the canon ''Fire Emblem'' universe), as the amiibo characters are just like any other unit with no reference to their trophy forms.
* LoopholeAbuse:
** In ''Conquest'', one of Garon's first mission for the Avatar is to suppress a rebellion in the Ice Tribe by themselves. They manage to do this through diplomacy, and with the help of Elise, her retainers, and Leo's retainers. Because Garon never told them they had to ''kill'' the rebelling Ice Tribe members, and because they didn't outright ''ask'' for them to help, he allows this.
** While the Avatar is visiting the Rainbow Sage in Chapter 11 of ''Conquest'', Iago appears to relay Garon's orders to kill the Sage. The Avatar resists since the Sage just helped them power up the Yato, but he drops dead on his own to prevent the Avatar from having to do the deed. Garon lets it slide, since the end result he desired - stop anybody else from accessing the Sage for power - is ultimately the same.
** In Chapter 25 of ''Conquest'' the Avatar is ordered to execute [[spoiler:the defeated Ryoma]]. He commits {{Seppuku}} before the Avatar even has a chance to do anything, which Garon accepts (but not Iago).
* LordBritishPostulate:
** Takumi fits into this in Chapter 10 of ''Conquest''. He's a little too dangerous to approach, but if you're risky enough with Camilla, you ''can'' rush him and beat him before he uses the Dragon Vein against you.
** Garon is on the map at one chapter of ''Birthright''. You are clearly ''not'' supposed to attack him; his presence is supposed to frighten you into finishing the map as quickly as possible. But if you have grinded enough, you can actually attack ''and'' defeat him. [[DevelopersForesight Should you accomplish this, you actually will get a few lines from Garon]].
* MaleGaze: A certain cutscene features gratuitous close-ups of Camilla's butt, crotch, and breasts.
** In the ''Conquest'' ending, you get a great close-up of Camilla's breasts when you accidentally run right into her.
* MarketBasedTitle: Primarily, there's the title change from ''Fire Emblem if'' (the Japanese title) to ''Fire Emblem Fates'' (the English title). Secondarily, the names of the games' three versions also change - the Japanese titles of ''Fire Emblem if: White Night Kingdom'', ''Fire Emblem if: Black Night Kingdom'', and ''Fire Emblem if: Invisible Kingdom'' are all altered to the English titles of ''Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright'', ''Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest'', and ''Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation'', respectively.
* MartialArtsHeadband: Hana, of the myrmidon-esque Samurai class, wears a white headband.
* MaximumHPReduction: The Hexing Rod reduces a target's max HP by half for the remainder of the map.
* MeaningfulName: Nohr, pronounced like "noire", the French word for "[[DarkIsEvil black]]," while Hoshido, besides containing the Japanese word for "star" (''hoshi''), which matches the kingdom's light motif and the shape of its associated symbol, was probably chosen for its American English pronunciation, that would end up sounding as as "Hoshi''r''o," containing the Japanese word for [[LightIsGood white]] (''shiro'').
** Both names also relate to how each nation carries itself in war: replace the first two letters of Hoshido and you get ''Bu''shido, rearrange the letters of Nohr and you get ''Honor''.
** Many of the weapons, more so than the people wielding them:
*** Raijinto and Fujin Yumi respectively mean "Thunder God Blade" and "Wind God Bow" and are named after the oft-paired Japanese deities Raijin and Fujin.
*** Siegfried is named after the hero of ''{{Literature/Nibelungenlied}}'', and Brynhildr is named after the Queen of Iceland in the same poem.
*** Yato means "Blade of the Night", which ties with the names of the two warring kingdoms... at least, [[LostInTranslation in the original Japanese,]] where Hoshido and Nohr respectively were originally Byakuya (White Night) and Anya (Black Night). Though one could argue that the translation still retains that part of the meaning, since the night is still associated with both the color black (Nohr) and stars (Hoshido), it's not as blatant, and people without knowledge of the needed Japanese might miss it easily. Its full Japanese name, Yato-no-Kami, refers to a kind of snake deity from Japanese folklore which were rumored to bring familial extermination on anyone who saw them. Fitting for a character whose choices will end up claiming the life of at least one family member, regardless of route.
*** Ganglari (the Avatar's sword before Yato[[spoiler:later the possessed Sumeragi's]]) and Bolverk ([[spoiler:the possessed King Garon's axe]]) are both pseudonyms of Odin ([[Myth/NorseMythology the real one]]), though not without their own meanings. Bolverk means "evil worker", which is straightforward enough, and not only Ganglari does contrast Yato's name by meaning "wanderer", but when it's not one of Odin's aliases, it's that of Gylfi, the first Scandinavian king, when he had to disguise himself.
*** Skadi, [[spoiler:the possessed Takumi's bow,]] is named after Skadi, the Norse goddess of bowhunting, among other things.
*** Then there's Ophelia's Missiletainn, sharing a name with the sword [[spoiler:her father had]] in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''.
** Many characters in the game also have names referencing [[UsefulNotes/KatanasOfTheRisingSun Imperial Japanese Navy]] ships.
* MegaTwinTails: Elise, whose hair dwarfs her head.
* {{Meido}}: Felicia and Flora both have this style of outfit as they are both of the new Maid class.
* MercyRewarded: Completing missions without smacking around named underlings can adjust the plot in a more idealistic direction, within reason. Also, you can gain a new ally by not killing them.
* {{Miko}}: The Shrine Maiden and Priestess classes and outfits are based on this.
* MirroredConfrontationShot: One of the promotional images, which the games' box art uses, has the Hoshido nobles and male Corrin on one side, the Nohr nobles and female Corrin on the other side, and Azura in between them.
* MissingSecret: The Armor and Beast Shield skills appear in game data, but remain unused in any form and it is unknown whether they can be obtained via DLC or are enemy-only like Wing Shield.
* {{Mordor}}: Official artwork for the Kingdom of Nohr depicts it as a hellish landscape.
* MotherhoodIsSuperior: The game inverts this, where the children are tied to their fathers (again, with the exception of Azura and the [[PlayerCharacter Female Avatar]]). It makes a point of giving the children [[RelationshipValues supports]] with the parent they aren't tied to, however.
** Played incredibly straight with Mikoto, as demonstrated in the fifth chapter, not-so-subtly titled "Mother." [[spoiler:It's played with in regards to Garon; the game presents him as the wicked, distant, and stern father to Mikoto's angelic mother. However, the Garon that's dishing out orders throughout the game is a fake, and the real Garon was said to have been a kind and doting father to all of his children (hence Xander's reluctance to turn on him); he also loved all of his concubines and both of his wives. The concubines in turn, all turned on one another, fighting against one another to get their respective children on the throne. The end result was the Avatar's four Nohr siblings being ''the only survivors'' of the turmoil, and Garon eventually loses his kindness as a result. It loses some impact, however, because most of this is spoken in Supports, and the real Garon is never seen, even after dead characters (namely, the Avatar's Hoshidan father Sumeragi) are revived in the ''Revelation'' route.]]
** [[spoiler:And related to the above, it's also averted with Sumeragi, the Avatar's adopted father; he took the Avatar in with no hesitation, and even compared to the real Garon, he's portrayed as being as saintly as his wife.]]
** [[spoiler:Averted with Anankos' Heart. He loved the Avatar and wanted to be with his family until his memories returned and he tried to stop his insane half. Also averted with Gunter who effectively raised the Avatar in Garon's stead, like turning punishments into playtime and feeding them when the fake Garon would have them starve.]]
* {{Mukokuseki}}: Nohr is a MedievalEuropeanFantasy country with some German and Roman influences and Hoshido is a FantasyCounterpartCulture for Japan, but there are only a handful of characters that look [[FacialProfiling distinctly white or Asian.]] Despite this, all of the MedievalEuropeanFantasy characters from ''Awakening's'' Ylisse decided to blend in on the Nohr side. This makes Corrin an interesting case, who they claim is the child of Hoshido's Queen Mikoto (who does look Japanese), but for years passed as the child of Nohr's King Garon (who does look European); possibly, they look mixed InUniverse. Granted, being raised in a secluded tower, very few people that weren't in on the masquerade ever interacted with Corrin to draw attention to their appearance, or resemblance to the parents.
** The only real distinction that can be made between the people of the two kingdoms is that Nohr has a sizable amount of units (including one of the aforementioned Awakening characters) that are [[PhenotypeStereotype blonde,]] whereas other than Kaden's daughter Selkie (because she is a Kitsune), Hoshido has none. [[spoiler:Some civilians from Valla also seem to have sky blue hair and golden eyes as prominent traits (Arete, Azura, Lilith, Shigure, and Anankos' sane half), but at the same time, Mikoto has dark brown hair, and the Avatar's appearance is customizable.]]
* MultipleEndings: Depending on which side is chosen, the story and endings are vastly different. Even after that, it appears that multiple in-game factors affect how the story pans out.
** Generally speaking, both ''Birthright'' and ''Conquest'' end with [[spoiler:the war being won by whichever country the Avatar fights for, and a peaceful alliance being restored between Hoshido and Nohr. In addition, Garon is finally exposed as an inhuman beast and is promptly defeated. However, two of the Avatar's siblings from the opposing side die in the process (Xander and Elise, or Ryoma and Takumi), leading to one of the surviving siblings (Leo or Hinoka) serving as king/queen in their stead, not to mention the various amount of {{Non Player Character}}s (party members from the alternate campaign) who have fallen in the process.]]
** ''Revelation'' has a happier ending, in comparison. [[spoiler:The Avatar is able to get both of their families and their respective armies to cooperate against Valla and Anankos, restoring the lost kingdom to its former glory. They are crowned the new ruler of Valla, and all three countries establish peace between themselves for good.]]
* MultipleTailedBeast: Kitsune will promote into the appropriately-named Nine-Tails class, which features an animal form with one large tail and eight smaller tails sprouting out of it.
* MundaneUtility:
** In the ''Beach Brawl'' DLC, Hinoka's vacation picture shows her using her naginata to cut apart coconuts.
** Leo uses his legendary tome Brynhildr to grow tomatoes.
** In the ''Museum Melee'' DLC, Xander mentions that he does not want see his legendary sword Siegfried used as a "glorified whisker shaver."
** Female Kana uses her ability to turn into a dragon to quickly dig a hole during a game of hide and seek, letting her beat Asugi.
** If Saizo ends up marrying a female [[PlayerCharacter Avatar]], he mentions in his C Support with his son Kana that he gave his wife a magic whistle that emits a sound only he can hear. It was originally created for the Hoshido Royal Family as a tool to summon bodyguards, but he says that she'll use it to get his help carrying heavy objects or when she wants sugar for her tea.
* MusicalSpoiler:
** Your royal siblings each share a unique boss theme; "You of the Light" for the Hoshidans and "You of the Dark" for the Nohrians. [[spoiler:Takumi]], however, uses the standard Invader/[[spoiler:Vallite]] boss theme, indicating that something is very, ''very'' wrong with [[spoiler:him]].
** When [[spoiler:Takumi]] joins your team in ''Birthright'', the song that's used is "Implore the Dawn" instead of "Guest of Light", the usual Hoshidan recruitment theme. [[spoiler:Takumi is unwittingly and unwillingly supplying Iago with information of the Hoshidan army and as such is not completely on your side. When he's finally freed of Iago's influence in chapter 25, "Guest of Light" finally plays before the battle begins.]]
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: ''Revelation'' is generally a giant subversion, as the units who were exclusive to either the ''Birthright'' or ''Conquest'' routes will happily fight together. However, there are still a few straight examples.
** Yukimura only joins on the ''Birthright'' route, and can never fight alongside the Nohrians or Fuga.
** Izana [[spoiler:sacrifices himself to deliver a prophecy to convince Takumi to join you]], preventing him from joining you on the ''Revelation'' route, so he cannot fight alongside Fuga.
** Scarlet [[spoiler:spends two chapters as a GuestStarPartyMember before suffering a PlotlineDeath]] in ''Revelation''. This occurs before Flora or Fuga can join you, preventing them from fighting together.
* MyRulesAreNotYourRules:
** Enemy playable units are sometimes equipped with skills that the player cannot obtain, or require reclassing into units from the opposing nation. For example, Hinoka has "Wing Shield" (negates the weaknesses of flying units and lets them benefit from terrain effects, AI only) and Sol (heals user for half of the damage they deal with an attack, requires reclassing into the Nohrian class Hero) when fought in ''Conquest''.
** Iago can use staves, despite the fact that his class (Sorcerer) should not have the ability to wield them.
** The Staff Savant skill lets the owner use staves without them consuming charges, on top of boosting their range to 10. The skill is exclusive to AI units.
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: Played straight for Xander in all three routes, ''especially'' in ''Birthright''. [[{{Deconstruction}} Heavily Deconstructed]] for the [[PlayerCharacter Avatar]] in ''Conquest''. Let's just say there's a whole ''[[TraumaCongaLine laundry list]]'' of shit the kid has to go through on that route and leave it at that.
* MysticalWhiteHair: This Avatar's default appearance, reminiscent of the [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening previous Avatar's]] standard look.
* MythologyGag:
** The Japanese name of the protagonist's class is Dark Prince(ss), a class that formerly belonged to [[VideoGame/FireEmblemJugdral Julius]], another noble raised by an evil emperor, who has a connection with dragons.
** The maps for Rhajat, Caeldori, and Asugi's Paralogues have [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Conquest]] and its Ablaze variant playing, likely due to the fact that they're expies of Tharja, Cordelia, and Gaius respectively.
** The implication [[spoiler:that Corrin is a reincarnated Robin, or a previous incarnation of Robin,]] this may be directed at the player themselves and not the character, as many who play Fates likely played Awakening, similar to a conversation with Lyn in one of Awakening's DLC chapters.
** The UsefulNotes/{{amiibo}} Robin mentions that he came from a world where he was launching fighters, implying that he's the Robin from ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''.
** One of the skills learned by the Lodestar class, Dancing Blade, is named after a move used by Marth and Lucina in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''.
* NamedWeapons: Several significant weapons have a MeaningfulName as listed above, but you can name any weapon you forge, and Odin's personal skill, Aching Blood, even encourages you to give long names to weapons you intend to give him.
* {{Nerf}}:
** The Pair-Up mechanic from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' has been extensively modified, as it was easy to just keep units in a Paired-Up state and not separate. Only individual units can have adjacent units assist them in attacks, while combining two units together will only have one unit attack while the other unit only defends the first. Not only that, enemies can use this mechanic as well.
** To mitigate them being unbreakable, more powerful weapons now have negative attributes to them, limiting their potency and forcing players to have greater forethought before equipping. For example, Nosferatu now hinders the user's evasiveness in addition to being incapable of inflicting criticals or double attacking with.
** Many ranged weapons now make it harder to double attack (or cannot double attack at all) and/or lower the wielder's Avoid, and some, such as the Spear and Tomahawk, can only hit from 2 range instead of 1-2.
** The returning magic weapons now give huge penalties to Avoid, can no longer crit, and cannot trigger offensive skills.
** Some returning skills from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' have been rebalanced. Galeforce (once per round, a character gets to act again if they nab a kill) will no longer activate if the owner of the ability is in Attack Stance or Guard Stance. Counter (if damage is taken, deal it back to the opponent) now only activates in battles triggered by opponents, preventing AI units with Counter from kamikaze-rushing player units. Vengence had its trigger rate reduced from (Skill x 2)% to (Skill x 1.5)%.
** Staves have seen a considerable decrease in the number of times they can be used before breaking (e.g. the Rescue staff now has 2 charges instead of 5). In addition, ranged staves now have a set range instead of having it based on the user's Magic stat.
** Most items have had their uses decreased as well as their potency. For example, Elixirs now only heal 40 HP, and the Boots now only increase movement by 1 (though now the limit for how many boots a unit can be given is 2 instead of Awakening's 1).
** The class system for the Avatar and their child has been reworked. While the Avatar of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' and their child (Morgan) could class change to almost anything that wasn't exclusive to specific genders or characters (and could do so as soon as they hit Level 10), the Avatar of ''Fates'' initially only has access to the secondary class chosen during character creation. New classes now have to be unlocked by A Supporting with other characters of the same gender, granting that character's base class as a reclass option. The Avatar's child (Kana), meanwhile, only gets to reclass into their non-Avatar parent's class, the Avatar's secondary class, and the class of whatever Second Generation unit they S Support with.
** Only one Wind magic tome exists, the S-Rank Excalibur. It only appears [[LastDiscMagic near the end of the game]] in two of the three paths (''Conquest'' and ''Revelation''). As such, magic's effectiveness against flying units has been greatly limited.
** Magic-based classes are less effective against the otherwise magic-weak Knights and Generals. Tomes and Scrolls now fall in the new weapon triangle where they are grouped with swords, which are at a disadvantage against spears and lances (the main weapons used by Knights and Generals). Generals also have the "Wary Fighter" Skill that prevents any double attacking when they are in combat, so it's more difficult to snipe them from range with magic. This means that best way to deal with them is either using a weapon designed specifically for killing armored units (i.e. Hammer and Armorslayer), or use a magic damage dealing weapon other than tomes or swords (i.e. Flame Shuriken or Bolt Axe), or even one of the rare weapons whose effect reverse the weapon triangle (i.e. Calamity Gate).
** Dark Mages have lower bases and growths in this game, making them hard-to-raise {{Squishy Wizard}}s instead of {{Mighty Glacier}}s they used to be. They also have lower selections of dark tomes as mentioned above and the ones that are left are powered down.
** The forging mechanic was changed so that it requires obtaining a number of a specific same weapon and a certain number of gems to upgrade the weapon. The stat boost for each forge upgrade is also very minimal when compared to the previous installations. However, the total stat gain surpasses by a notable margin those acquired in the previous game, but the new rules enforce the player to ''really'' work for it (for the record, getting +7, the upgrade cap on a weapon, requires a Lv.3 Forge, 128 of the same weapon and 247 of the same gem).
** The second generation is ''nowhere'' near as powerful as they were in Awakening. There, children always started on level 10 and their stats were essentially the average of their parents', easily giving you a level 10 base class unit with stats that look decent for a promoted unit if you choose to grind before getting them. Now, children level along with the story, and their stats are determined by their growth rates, so they'll only be slightly better than a unit of the same level. On top of that, the enemies also scale along with the story, so you can't simply wait until late game then just steamroll all the Paralogues. This leaves the children as still usable, but they no longer overshadow the first generation.
** Warp returns from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'' as a skill that can be used by the player, but it now only allows the user to teleport next to an ally instead of being able to go anywhere on the map.
** The Spy's Yumi replaces the Longbow, and it is locked at a range of 3 instead of having 2-3 range. It also cannot double attack like the Longbow can.
** Unlike in ''Awakening'', unused keys cannot be sold or saved for later. You ''have'' to use them in the Chapter they're obtained, otherwise they just disappear from your inventory.
** Dodgetanking gets even harder in this game due to lowered HP growths and caps and the introduction of skills that debuffs and deals damage to the target post-battle, leaving less room for error.
** Sky Knights are not as powerful as Pegasus Knights from the previous games, particularly ''Awakening''. This is due to the removal of the Dark Flier line from their promotions, the prevalence and damage boost from [[AntiAir bows]], the nerfs to dodgetanking and having most of their skill set being more situational than before.
* NeutralityBacklash: In the ''Revelation'' route, the Avatar refuses to choose a side and proceeds to get denounced by both of their families. They have to spend several chapters winning everybody over.
* NeverTrustATrailer: Some of Famitsu's claims about the game before its release were patently false or at least misleading, perhaps the most flagrant of which being that both Mikoto and Garon would be playable on ''both'' ''Birthright'' and ''Conquest''. [[spoiler:Neither of them is known to be playable on any of the three routes whatsoever; Mikoto bites it before the route split (and CameBackWrong on the third route), and Garon was DeadAllAlong.]]
* NewGamePlus:
** After completing the game, you are allowed to save up to 5 of your units into your unit logbook. When a new game is started, you may purchase them back into your army as Einherjar units, or purchase their skills for your current units.
** Captured enemy units who have been recruited to your side are similarly saved into your logbook.
** All rewards earned through battle and visitor points are refreshed for use when a new game is started, allowing easy, early access to useful weapons and items.
* {{Ninja}}: The game features a Ninja class, basically a Japanese-flavored Thief which uses shurikens and can wield katanas or yumi when promoted to Master Ninja or Mechanist, respectively. Kaze, Saizo, Kagero and Asugi are playable characters that are of this class.
* NinjaMaid: The new Maid class, in addition to healing staves, is able to wield weapons like knives and shuriken. They kick their weapons out of their heels and their running animation is the same as the Ninjas.
* NintendoHard: ''Conquest'' is designed to be the harder route, with difficulty akin to earlier ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'' titles. This includes limited experience and money, more complex victory/defeat conditions, and maps that are quite fiendish by ''Fire Emblem'' standards. Even those playing Phoenix mode will find challenge in this route.
* NoFairCheating: While not needing any cheat devices to do it, the Witch skill Warp doesn't let you [[spoiler:teleport next to Corrin in ''Birthright'' chapter 26 when fighting Xander to secure an easy, one turn win]].
* NonstandardGameOver: Maps with alternative win conditions or gimmicks can lead to this. It's also more prominent on Casual Mode, as the death of the Avatar in this game's Casual Mode does not lead to a Game Over this time around (which was the case in ''Awakening'').
** Chapters 12, 15 and 18 of ''Conquest,'' Chapters 6 and 21 of ''Revelation,'' Asugi's Paralogue, and Nina's Paralogue are all timed, although it's [[DownplayedExample downplayed]] for the Paralogues. ''Conquest'' 15 and 18 and ''Revelation'' 21 need to be cleared within 20 turns, while ''Revelation'' 6 needs you to defeat both commanders in 5 turns. You will fail Asugi's Paralogue if he successfully flees the map (he is an allied unit and cannot be spoken to), and the same applies to Nina's, except she's an enemy unit and you can defeat her to assure this doesn't happen.
** Siegbert's Paralogue requires you use all of the Dragon Veins on the map to prevent more enemies from spawning in addition to routing the enemy. If all of your potential Dragon Vein users (which include the royals, any of their potential children, and any unit that's been given the First Blood DLC item) are killed, then you automatically lose, even on Casual or Phoenix mode.
** Chapter 10 of ''Conquest'' requires you to defend the port town of Dia for 11 turns. If one of the enemy units lands in the green tile zone you're supposed to defend, you lose.
** Chapter 12 of ''Conquest'' requires you escape within 15 turns or defeat the boss, which in this case is [[LightningBruiser Ryoma]], and unless you've been abusing DLC/grinding (which is difficult to do in ''Conquest'' in the first place) or ''really'' know what you're doing[[note]]You can marry Jakob and pass him Wyvern Lord to give him Swordbreaker, which allows you to cheese Ryoma with no effort[[/note]], wasting him is a borderline LuckBasedMission. Not escaping leads to a Game Over.
* {{Noodle Incident}}: If you haven't played ''Awakening'', then Odin, Selena, and Laslow's support conversations are full of these.
* NostalgiaLevel: Various DLC maps are based off of levels found in previous games:
** ''Before Awakening'', ''Hidden Truths I'', and ''Anna on the Run'' all use maps from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' (in order: Chapter 2, Chapter 16, and Paralogue 4)
** ''Vanguard Dawn'' is based off of the map used in Chapter 2-E of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn''.
** ''Ballistician Blitz'' is based off of Chapter 13 of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight'', the chapter where Marth must dispatch of Grust's Ballistician forces.
** ''Witches[='=] Trial'' is based off the Fear Mountain map in Act 4 of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden''. It is where Alm first encounters a boss who can summon Witches.
* NumericalHard: Actually [[AvertedTrope averted]] for the most part. Enemy stats are virtually identical between Hard and Lunatic, and the stat gap between Normal and Hard isn't too significant. What makes each difficulty level a major step above the last is other factors, like more enemies with stronger weapons and skills (such as the Inevitable End skill, exclusive to Lunatic. Staff Savant is also a lot more common there), changed enemy distribution, additional reinforcements, changes to enemy AI (e.g. Xander in ''Birthright'' Chapter 12 won't move on Normal unless you enter his range. On Hard, [[AdvancingBossOfDoom he charges for you right from the start]]), modifications to mission objectives (''Conquest'' Chapter 25) and deployment positions (''Conquest'' 27) and even altered Dragon Vein effects (''Conquest'' 20).
* OffModel: In the official artwork, [[http://serenesforest.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/feif-april002.jpg the female protagonist has two left feet.]] This is rather hilarious considering the previous game was a little infamous for having no feet for in-game character models. Subsequent releases of her artwork have since fixed the foot issue.
* OhCrap: Your units will make this expression in their portraits [[WhatTheHellHero if you send them into battle with unfavorable combat odds]]. Conversely, enemy units will do the same if ''you'' have the advantage.
** On occasion, BOTH SIDES can have this expression. You'll be able to take out the unit, but not without the possibility of taking hefty damage. Same goes for the enemy as well.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpM1t1XyW1I Endless Nightmare]] is this trope in musical form. It plays whenever the game calculates that one of your units has a serious chance of dying, and OhCrap is likely to be the player's reaction.
* OldSaveBonus: If there is [=StreetPass=] data from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' present on the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS, the game grants the player a special Emblem Shield accessory. Specifically, it's the Ylissean Fire Emblem from ''Awakening'', which Chrom used as a buckler on his promoted class. It is equipped on the left shoulder, much like the Mercenary class wear their own shields, and grants -2 damage taken for the wearing during online [[PlayerVersusPlayer PvP]] battles.
* OneGameForThePriceOfTwo: Or three as the case may be. Thoroughly subverted as of the 4Gamer interviews. Unlike, say, ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', which is essentially the same game with small differences here or there, the two versions of ''Fates'' not only split into two completely different stories (complete with different campaigns within each and different sides of the characters in them), but also different gameplay styles. ''Birthright'', Hoshido's campaign, will play like ''Gaiden'', ''The Sacred Stones'', and ''Awakening'', in which the player will be able to grind in between chapters and overall provide an easier experience. ''Conquest'', Nohr's campaign, will provide a more challenging experience akin to the rest of the series, sticking the players on the rails of the plot with no breaks and more limited resources [[SerialEscalation in addition to further mission completion requirements]]. The Third Campaign is a mixture in between the other two in terms of difficulty [[spoiler:as the Avatar's party works to uncover the true mastermind behind the conflict between Hoshido and Nohr, the Invisible Kingdom]]. A more apt comparison would probably be the [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames Oracle Games]].
* OneManArmy: [[WorldOfBadass All units as usual]] can become this if properly leveled and not screwed by RNG. Even non combatant classes like healers gain attacks when they promote, or they can change to a fighting class.
* OneWomanWail: Present during the songstress Azura's first scene in the trailer.
* {{Oni}}: The Oni Savage and Oni Chieftain classes are based on these youkai, particularly in the way they wear oni masks and wield clubs as their main weapons.
* OnlyTheChosenMayWield: The 4 divine weapons Raijinto, Siegfried, Fujin Yumi, and Brynhildr can only be used by their rightful heirs in the royal family, while the Yato goes to the person destined to bring Nohr and Hoshido to peace.
* TheOphelia: Despite literally being named after the TropeNamer, Ophelia isn't really an example of this trope; she is a downplayed example instead. She is a bit of BunnyEarsLawyer, but that's it. Takumi in the ''Conquest'' path is more qualified for this trope despite [[RareMaleExample the fact that he is male]]. He is a LongHairedPrettyBoy who, in this particular path, falls into madness for several reasons: his hate and jealousy to the Avatar, also from his sorrow from losing his mother [[spoiler:(actually, his Parental Substitute)]], his InferioritySuperiorityComplex, and the depression he got from all of that. Following the water theme of Ophelia, his clothes are mostly blue and white, unlike his siblings who wear red and white - blue and white are both common color themes for water. Not to mention, the kanji for his name can be read as "ocean" . Granted, he is actually [[spoiler:under a ''huge'' MoreThanMindControl state caused by a water dragon god,]] but it doesn't change the fact that he exhibits several archetypical traits of this trope. While both hate and sorrow are the reasons for his madness, the game emphasizes more on his hatred while fanworks emphasize more on his sorrow, perfectly depicting the "beautifully broken" trait of this trope (and sometimes reducing him ''solely'' to that). He also often babbles to himself in that path.
* OptionalStealth: Chapter 24 of ''Revelation'' has an optional objective where you sneak past some weak guards wandering the map (done by not being present in their attack range at any time) and avoiding combat until you reach the boss. Doing so rewards you with Boots, a Master Seal, and 10,000 gold.
* OutOfCharacterAlert: Subverted in ''Birthright''. When the party arrives at the court of Archduke Izana of Izumo, they find him acting very... erratic. When he insists on taking the main character and Sakura somewhere separate from the others based on flimsy excuses, Hinoka comes to the rescue and declares that no noble would ''ever'' act this way, causing Izana to complain that his impersonation was perfect and reveal himself as Zola, a Nohrian mage, in disguise. They later find the ''real'' Izana in the dungeon... where he acts precisely the same way Zola did when disguised as him.
* OutsideManInsideMan: This is how the Nintendo Direct describes the two different paths. The Hoshido path is fighting the enemy from the outside, while the Nohr path has you fight important leaders and change Nohr as a member of the "evil" team.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: In ancient times, dragons were numerous across the land. During wars against each other, humans would side with the different dragons and aid them in their wars. In exchange, the dragons gave them land, and the leaders of those armies became the royal families, with dragon's blood running through their veins as proof of their loyalty and right to rule. [[spoiler:Eventually, dragons became corrupted as their primal instincts took over, driving them mad. Most dragons escaped this fate by discarding their physical form and becoming spirits. Others were not so lucky, as they lacked the ability to discard their bodies and went mad as a result.]]
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: Wolfskins are a race of LittleBitBeastly people who can shapeshift into giant, bipedal wolf-like creatures. One particular Wolfskin, Keaton, can be recruited in ''Conquest'' and ''Revelation''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:P-Y]]
* PacifistRun: In-universe, the Avatar does their absolute best to avoid killing anyone whenever possible. Deconstructed on the Conquest route, where despite being merciful and making sure their own troops do not kill anyone, the Avatar is unable to stop much of the death and destruction surrounding them, with Xander finally explaining to them that trying to save or spare everyone in war is pointless.
* PantyShot: Played with. Azura wears a bizarre [[http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/fireemblem/images/6/6d/Aqua_White%28FE14%29.png/revision/latest one-legged tights]], which gives it the appearance of a panty shot when seen through her dress's side slit.
** Oddly, Camilla seems to prefer riding wyverns while wearing only thigh-high armored boots and a pair of black panties. Her armor can be seen [[http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/fireemblem/images/9/96/Camilla_art.png/revision/latest here.]]
** The Nohr Princess class's half-skirt just barely reveals their underwear on their right side and more when moving around.
* PapaWolf: A few men, should they marry, will go berserk if their child is in any immediate danger in their respective paralogue. Examples include GentleGiant Benny, Takumi, and even the Avatar.
* PermanentlyMissableContent:
** If you marry a male Avatar to any of the 1st generation females that can also S-rank with a "fertile" male, then it becomes impossible to get every 2nd generation unit. This is because the males are given ''just enough'' options so they can all get married, but the developers did not factor in the player character.
** Kana is never born if you go with either GayOption, preventing them from joining the army. This also applies to Nina if a male Avatar marries Niles.
** Some characters, such as Nyx in Chapter 9 of ''Conquest'' or Benny and Charlotte in Chapter 14 of ''Revelation'', have to be talked to while they are present on the map to get them to join the Avatar's army. If you don't do so and move on, those characters are permanently gone.
* PetTheDog: Surprisingly, [[ObviouslyEvil Iago]]. He clearly doesn't think much for the Avatar, even saying that if he had his way, the Avatar would be dead at his hands. But he ''does'' in fact laud the Avatar for following Garon's orders.
* PinkGirlBlueBoy: The color of the background when performing skinship in My Room differs depending on the character's gender; pink for girls, blue for boys.
* PlainPalate: Hana likes the ninja ration buns even though, according to Saizo, they are made from pounded rice and flaked fish and so don't have much taste.
* PlayEveryDay: You can visit a specific castle only once per day.
* PlayerMooks:
** By using Capture, you can "recruit" most enemy units (generic or unique) to your side. These units cannot Support and lack personal Skills, but they are also readily available in high numbers (useful for Classic Mode due to its FinalDeath mechanic) and disposable if you need to sacrifice somebody.
** You can install Puppets or Stoneborn to guard My Castle. They act as autonomous friendly [=NPCs=] that will always respawn whenever you enter a new My Castle battle.
* PlotArmor: Characters that have a role in the story merely retreat when defeated, instead of dying, when playing on Classic. [[spoiler:Though for some characters, this is just so they can die at their pre-determined time.]] They will no longer be usable, however. In addition, like the mothers of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', even normally expendable units will retreat if they have a child unit tied to them, as to not cause complications with those child's paralogues. In this case, it would be the fathers. Anyone who doesn't meet either qualification will die as per usual.
%%* PlotHole: [[spoiler:The Hidden Truths DLC,]] when put into the context of the main game, introduces quite a number of plot holes. To not give too much away, [[spoiler:Odin, Selena, and Laslow, are set up to be a LOT more important in the main game than they ended up being. They even go so far as to act directly against their main objective in 2 out of the three routes!]]
* PoisonedWeapons: Hoshido's military occasionally employs poison as a weapon. The new Ninja skill, Poison Strike, takes an additional 20% of health off their target at the end of a battle the user initiated. Some of the Faceless (enemy-only golem-like creatures constructed from the flesh of corpses) can use Poison Strike as well, but they hit with their fists, not with weapons.
* PointyEars: The Avatar has noticeably pointed ears, unlike the other human characters, just like the Manaketes. [[spoiler:There is a very good reason for this: it turns out that the Avatar is a HalfHumanHybrid, being the result of an affair between Mikoto and the dragon god Anankos which took place before Mikoto married Sumeragi.]]
* PolarOppositeTwins:
** Felicia is a skilled fighter, but pitiful at domestic chores. Her twin sister Flora is less adept at fighting, but she is also perfect maid.
** Kaze is calm and collected, and chooses who he serves based on his personal loyalties. His twin brother Saizo is hot-blooded and obeys his family tradition of serving the Hoshido royal bloodline only.
* PoorCommunicationKills: A lot of battles only happen because other characters refuse to listen to the Avatar, make assumptions, or other miscommunication takes place. For example, the fight with the Ice Tribe in ''Conquest'' is caused because the tribe assume the Avatar has come to violently ensure their loyalty to Nohr.
* PowerAtAPrice:
** Silver weapons are very strong and accurate, but they lower the user's stats (specifically Strength/Magic and Skill) by 2 every time they enter combat. Silver weapons also lower Dodge by 10, increasing the chances of getting struck by a CriticalHit.
** The "Life and Death" skill increases the user's damage by 10, but they also take 10 more damage per hit.
* PowerFloats:
** Diviners and Sorcerers will float for their regular and critical attack animations, respectively.
** [[spoiler:In the final map of ''Heirs of Fate'', Anankos' final phase - resembling his cloak-wearing human self in this case - also does this for his regular attack.]]
* PowerGlows: Raijinto, Fujin Yumi, Brynhildr, and all the Yato's upgraded forms emit some kind of light when in use. Inverted with Siegfried, which has a dark aura due to its [[CastingAShadow darkness-based powers]].
%%* ThePowerOfFriendship: The Pair Up system returns from ''Awakening''; however, it received some serious tweaks.
%%* ThePowerOfHate: Whichever younger brother you betray uses this against you. In Leo's case, [[spoiler:[[WhyCantIHateYou it doesn't work]]]]. In Takumi's case, [[spoiler:[[DemonicPossession it works too well]]]].
* PreMortemOneLiner: Just like ''Awakening''. However, special mention goes to the retainers from both sides, all who share a one-liner their lieges use themselves (with little to no alterations). Then there is the Avatar's one-liners reflecting the kingdom they picked or [[spoiler:turning their back on both kingdoms]].
* PreviousPlayerCharacterCameo:
** The DLC map "Before Awakening" has you team up with Chrom, Lissa and Frederick from ''Awakening''.
** Robin, the Avatar from ''Awakening'', can be recruited by scanning his ''Super Smash Bros.'' Toys/{{amiibo}}.
* PunnyName:
** The black-clad Kingdom of Nohr, whose name sounds an awful lot like "noir."
** Camilla's class in the West is called "Malig Knight", which is similar to "malignant", which is fitting for a class riding on a zombie dragon.
* QuirkyMinibossSquad: While the royal siblings generally have normal personalities for the most part, their retainers are often very strange or quirky. Collectively, they make for odd little groups of powerful potential enemies.
* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: Compared to previous titles, this is heavily downplayed. The majority of Corrin/Kamui's army is made up of princes and princesses of Hoshido and/or Nohr (including Azura), the retainers and soldiers that serve them, and a number of people who either have an important status or title (three of your allies are the children of the leaders of three independent tribes, the [[TokenNonHuman token beasts]] are leaders of their packs, and Charlotte and Benny officially work as guards for the Nohrian border). The only allies that really fit the "ragtag" part are [[FarmersDaughter Mozu]], [[RichesToRags Shura]], [[IntelligenceEqualsIsolation Nyx]], [[BlitheSpirit Scarlet]], and [[ChildhoodFriends Silas]].
* RaisedByRival: Corrin was born in the kingdom of Hoshido, but was (for complicated reasons) raised by the royal family of Nohr, their rivals. As a ChildOfTwoWorlds, the adult Corrin is now free to decide with which side to join in the ensuing war, justifying the two main routes of the game.
* RapunzelHair: Azura sports nearly floor length, light blue hair. The female Avatar is also shown to have rather long hair by default. Camilla also has some very long wavy hair, reaching just below her waist.
* RealityEnsues:
** The Rainbow Sage is an incredibly ancient wise man who can unlock the power of legendary weapons. [[spoiler:Naturally, being so old, he dies of natural causes shortly after you meet him. Or so it would appear until the ''Revelation'' route, where he's revealed to have been one of the ancient dragons, and had been holding onto his power until he could help make things right.]]
*** In ''Conquest'' after the Avatar meets the Rainbow Sage, [[TheDragon Iago]] appears and orders them to kill the Rainbow Sage. As much of a KickTheDog as it is, removing such a powerful neutral factor from the war is a pragmatic strategy, especially after in ''Birthright'' Xander was able to gain a boost in power from the Sage.
** In ''Revelation'', the Avatar tries to [[spoiler:convince people on both sides to stop fighting by claiming there is an unseen enemy but cannot give any further details, asking them to take their word on it.]] Needless to say, this hardly works.
*** Also in ''Revelation'', [[spoiler:Xander and Ryoma finally manage to call a truce after Chapter 17. In their supports however, both of them find it difficult to dispel bad blood between their nations.]]
** Charlotte gets in trouble for her flirtatious and inappropriate behavior around the men during her support conversations with Xander. Her attempts to charm him into letting it slide also fail, since Xander isn't going to fall for the exact same routine he's already read about in the reports.
** Although it was for their own protection, putting the children in the Deeprealms causes many of them to resent their parents for "abandoning" them without any good reason for it. Even if they don't get mad at them for doing it, several kids such as Kana develop personality issues that make them struggle in their supports.
*** Shiro is a good example. Not only was he put into the Deeprealms like the others, he was never told he was actually royalty, but was treated as one by his caretakers and never knew why. Once he did learn, he became angry for being treated differently for a factor he never knew about, and clashed with his father Ryoma because of it.
*** On the other hand Siegbert is told from a young age he is a prince, but this causes him to grow up knowing he has a looming responsibility he will have to accept and deal with. The stress of it causes him extreme HeroicSelfDeprecation as he feels unworthy of becoming king and constantly compares himself to his father Xander. All of his supports deal with him struggling with what he needs to do and if he can even handle the pressure of an entire kingdom.
** In Conquest, when [[spoiler:Elise]] catches an illness that could very well kill her, the medicine required to save her is in the hands of Ryoma, the opposing army's leader. Though he ''does'' recognize the gravity of the situation and wants to help the Avatar out, they ''are'' at war, and [[spoiler:the opposing army's healer being out of the picture]] would be a far better outcome for Hoshido.
* ReconcileTheBitterFoes: Nohr and Hoshido have hated each other for years (if not generations) due to their preconceived notions about how the opposite acts, ultimately leading to the war. One of the Avatar's goals in ''Revelation'' is to get the two countries to make peace.
* RecurringRiff: "Lost in Thoughts All Alone", particularly the opening melody, is played several times throughout the soundtrack in different forms.
* RequiredPartyMember: The Paralogues that involve the Second Generation characters require you to use their fathers (or their mothers for Shigure and male Kana) for the duration of the map.
* ReverseGrip: Ninjas and Master Ninjas hold their daggers and katanas backwards.
* TheRevolutionWillNotBeVillified: Played with in the ''Conquest'' route. Despite Hoshido STILL being portrayed as sympathetic and heroic, even the most ethical characters are not above making morally ambiguous choices. [[spoiler:Ryoma withholding medicine from an ill-stricken Elise in particular stands out.]]
* ResistTheBeast: [[spoiler:Anankos had been resisting his primal urge to cause destruction for years, if not decades or more, as his sanity deteriorated. The entire game is essentially his last effort at this, in the sense that it's an effort to keep him from causing any more harm.]]
* RightForTheWrongReasons: In ''Birthright'', Hinoka figures out that the Archduke Izana of Izumo the party meets is an impostor based on how casually he talks, believing that no royal would ever act that way. The real Izana does indeed speak that way, and she just happens to be correct that he's being impersonated.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: As per usual for the franchise, with the Avatar themself being related to Hoshido royalty. Azura also counts, being the princess of Nohr and all. And just about every other royal counts as well.
* RuleOfThree: The game has three versions and there are three kingdoms that are pivotal to the plot, each being the focus of one version.
* TheSacredDarkness: Nohr reveres the Dusk Dragon in the same way Hoshido reveres the Dawn Dragon. Siegfried and the Grim/Shadow Yato forms are also sacred weapons that draw power from darkness.
* SadisticChoice:
** The player is presented with one near the beginning of the game that determines the course of the rest of the game: Do you side with Hoshido, the kingdom from which you originally hail and the family that you were taken from? Do you side with Nohr, the kingdom you were raised in and the family you grew up with? Or do you choose neither side, and in doing so, possibly become an enemy of both kingdoms?
** The ''Conquest'' storyline has the Avatar forced by Garon to commit a number of atrocities, or risk death for insubordination. One of the most prominent examples is near the end of the campaign [[spoiler:when they are ordered to execute a defeated Ryoma. The Hoshidan prince, realizing the trouble the Avatar is in, chooses to spare them from being forced to make such a decision by committing {{Seppuku}}.]]
* ScissorsCutsRock: Dual Weapons and the Calamity Gate reverses Weapon Triangle advantage.
* SecondHourSuperpower: The Avatar's dragon abilities only appear after the first five (four if you count the initial rampage) chapters out of 28.
* SerratedBladeOfPain: The Killer weapons have their edges jagged, even the Killer Bow's arrowheads. And they do inflict a lot of pain, with their high critical rates and dealing 4 times the critical damage instead of 3.
* SharePhrase: All of the royal siblings have one PreMortemOneLiner they share with both of their retainers.
-->'''Ryoma'''/'''Saizo'''/'''Kagero''': You have breathed your last!\\
'''Hinoka'''/'''Azama'''/'''Setsuna''': I won't lose!\\
'''Takumi'''/'''Hinata'''/'''Oboro''': Oh, that's it!\\
'''Sakura'''/'''Hana'''/'''Subaki''': It's all me!\\
'''Xander'''/'''Laslow'''/'''Peri''': You're right where I want you!\\
'''Camilla'''/'''Selena'''/'''Beruka''': Time to play!\\
'''Leo'''/'''Odin'''/'''Niles''': You can't hide from me!\\
'''Elise'''/'''Arthur'''/'''Effie''': No more holding back!
* ShoutOut:
** One to Film/PulpFiction, of all things. One of Scarlet's critical hit quotes is ''"I'm gonna get Nohrian on your [[GoshDangItToHeck butt!]]"''
** Another in Flora and the male Avatar's A support, in which, after starting a small blizzard she asks if she can "[[{{Disney/Frozen}} Let it go]] a little longer."
** Forrest and Kiragi's support has Forrest mentioning being attacked by a horde of chickens, and Kiragi pointing out that Forrest did hit one a few times. This is obviously a reference to the cuccos in ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'', which will attack the player if they are hit enough times.
** One of Arthur's lines in My Castle is "Listen, Lord/Lady Corrin, I wouldn't lie! [[Film/SupermanTheMovie I'll make you believe a man can]][[SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion - er, prevail.]]
*** Another one from Arthur, "It is a great honor to spend time with a fellow [[WesternAnimation/SuperFriends friend]] of justice. We should form our own [[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague league]]."
** In one of Kaze's My Room lines, he expresses support for Corrin's [[Film/SupermanIVTheQuestForPeace "quest for peace."]]
** Percy's wyvern is named "Ace" (in North America), likely a reference to another superhero's NonHumanSidekick, [[Franchise/{{Batman}} Ace the Bat-Hound.]]
** Arthur's entire design is one to American superheroes, as he looks like a mix between ComicBook/CaptainAmerica and Franchise/{{Superman}}.
** The generic Hero class (which is Arthur's canon promotion in ''Birthright'' and some [=DLCs=]) resemble [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]] instead, especially with the enemy's red color scheme. They can even wield Hammers!
** Laslow and Xander's B-Support has the latter make a reference to the famous phone scene from ''{{Film/Taken}}'' while threatening the former.
-->'''Xander:''' ''I will seek you out, I will find you, and I will punish you.''
** When gaining a surge in My Castle, Selena references [[VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles Shulk's memetic line of "I'm really feeling it!"]] In his C support with Selkie, Kaden calls his fellow kitsune "a bunch of jokers", referencing Reyn.
** During Asugi's recruitment mission, the boss character "[[VideoGame/XMen Invites you... to DIE]]!"
** Corrin's transformation, rampage, and cooldown in chapter 5 is presented very similarly to Issei's brush with Juggernaut Drive in the ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'' anime, except scaled down and [[ItMakesSenseInContext with less toplessness.]]
** Dwyer's A-Support with Caeldori has him say that heart failure is an awful thing to inflict on someone. His resemblance to [[Manga/DeathNote L]] has never been more apparent.
** Asugi's cat lollipop certainly looks [[http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/ideas/images/7/72/Donyatsu.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20111224015105 remarkably]] [[http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=15755 familiar]]. Makes sense, seeing as how Yusuke Kozaki designed both characters.
** Saizo is the older brother and wears red, while Kaze is the younger brother and wears green. [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Nope, nothing to see here.]]
** Depending on which route you're on, Lilith either has an offensive skill called Astral ''Breath'' or a healing skill called Astral ''Blessing'' (or both on Revelation). [[VideoGame/GoldenSun That could get a bit confusing, couldn't it?]]
** Where else was there [[Literature/HarryPotter a man named Arthur with a son named Percy]]?
* SiblingSwitchSquick: Shigure and male Kana can have several different sisters depending on who their mother marries. If their fathers are changed between playthroughs, one playthrough's sister can become another's potential wife.
* SitcomArchNemesis: Elise declares Sakura her arch-nemesis in ''Conquest'' solely because she's the Avatar's birth sister, and doesn't want to share. Sakura is far too nice to hold anything against Elise despite being on opposing sides of the war, and is more confused about it than anything. [[spoiler:Elise drops this attitude by the end of the route, and becomes quite good friends with her.]]
* SmugSmiler: Most of the generic units have a very smug-looking grin, especially when they have the advantage in battles.
* SocializationBonus: The resources used to develop "My Castle" can be obtained through [=StreetPass=] and online visits to other players' castles. You can also buy items and equipment and possibly recruit new units or learn new skills this way.
* SplashDamage: The "Savage Blow" skill causes all units within 2 spaces of a target to lose 20% of their max health whenever the user initiates combat.
* SpritePolygonMix: While overlooking the map during battle, characters are depicted with sprites while the geography uses models.
* StanceSystem: The reworked Pair Up mechanic, splitting the old benefits into two stances. Attack Stance allows adjacent units to make follow-up attacks when one of them attacks or defends, while Guard Stance offers the stat-buffs of the old pair up, passively negates all follow-up attacks, and will negate one enemy attack after a guard gauge fills up, but prevents the unit from either making or using any follow-up attacks.
* StatStick: The Yato becomes this for a Corrin that's in a class doesn't use swords as they still get bonus stats just from having it in their inventory.
* StaticRoleExchangeableCharacter: Depending on the gender of your Avatar, you will either get Felicia or Jakob as your first permanent party member and healer. While their personalities and stats are quite different, they both serve the same function in the story and Paralogues as the Avatar's loyal retainer and general assistant.
* StealthSequel: ''Fates'' is set in an entirely new universe (technically the sixth in the series, as ''Awakening'' is set in the same world as Akaneia and Jugdral), but the presence of the Outrealms and [[spoiler:the presences of Owain, Inigo and Severa (here living under aliases and often referencing events that happened during ''Awakening'' itself) imply that ''Fates'' is a ''very'' loosely connected sequel to ''Awakening'' - emphasis on "loosely," as the three aforementioned characters have little to no impact on the story, ''Hidden Truths'' notwithstanding.]]
* StockSubtitle: This trope only applies to one version of the game, and only the English release, at that - ''Fire Emblem Fates: '''Revelation'''''.
* StoryBranchFavoritism: While there are 3 main paths with their own narratives, ''Revelation'' is the only one that actually involves [[spoiler:stopping the real villain, Anankos,]] and uniting the two kingdoms with minimal bloodshed. It also lacks a BittersweetEnding with lots of scripted {{Character Death}}s in favor of having the GoldenEnding with a very small casualty count, along with it being the only branch where [[spoiler:Azura and Lilith live]].
* SuperMovePortraitAttack: If a character gets a CriticalHit or triggers and offensive skill, a portrait of their face shows up and they say a line just before the attack animation.
* SwampsAreEvil: The Woods of the Forlorn are so dark that even the trees struggle for what little light they can find, and parts of it are Faceless-spawning bogs that also hurt anyone who isn't Nohrian. One boss in ''Birthright'' exploits this when battling the Avatar's group.
* SwordAndFist: Many classes, like the Swordmaster and Vanguard, incorporate kicks and other strikes during their critical animations.
* SwordOfPlotAdvancement: The Yato. Its upgraded forms are necessary to continue each route, and the BigBad can't be defeated without it.
* TacticalRockPaperScissors: The norm for the series, though the system has been expanded in this game. Now, the triangle consists of a pair of weapons being effective against another pair of weapons; swords and magic beat axes and bows, axes and bows beat lances and concealed weapons, and lances and concealed weapons beat swords and magic.
* TakeAThirdOption: At the Branch of Fate, the player is given the choice between sticking with Hoshido or going back to Nohr for the inevitable war. If the ''Revelation'' DLC has been purchased, a new choice is added: refuse to side with either and instead go stop [[spoiler:Anankos from destroying humanity]].
* TakingTheBullet:
** The Guard Stance, a modified version of ''Awakening'''s Dual Guard system, allows one unit to protect the other from enemy attacks from their follow-up attacks and, after filling a gauge, from the main unit attack.
** This also shows up at four/five points in the story: [[spoiler:In the backstory, Sumeragi shields the Avatar from arrows; Mikoto throws herself in front of the exploding Ganglari in the Prologue to protect the Avatar; and in ''Birthright'' Elise throws herself in front of a lethal attack from Xander, protecting the Avatar. And in both ''Birthright'' and ''Conquest'', Lilith throws herself in the way of an attack meant for Corrin.]]
* TankGoodness: The Ballistician DLC class rides around in a medieval tank with shields protecting the wheels and the Ballista/Bow acting as the cannon.
* ATasteOfTheirOwnMedicine: Selena decides to act overly flirtatious towards Laslow in their B Support to teach him a lesson about how his own flirting makes women uncomfortable (and thus dislike him).
* TeamSwitzerland:
** The Principality of Izumo refuses to get involved in the war between Hoshido and Nohr. It's able to enforce this because it possesses the best medicine on the continent, which it can choose to withhold.
** Cyrkensia and Mokushu are also said to be neutral territories, although Mokushu ends up {{Subvert|edTrope}}ing it in all three routes.
* ThemeMusicPowerUp: In chapter 17 of ''Revelation'', everything has gone to pot, you and your army are fatigued from dealing with Hans, and Iago is coming dangerously close to overrunning you. As all hope seems lost, the unsettling "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j0GFsvKkJ0 Vanity Judge]]" is playing. Then [[BigDamnHeroes Xander and Leo show up to turn the tide]], and the map music changes to the much more heroic "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBQFNUJ8s2A A Dark Fall]]".
* ThemeNaming: Sakura and her two retainers, Hana and Subaki, all have floral-themed names. ''Sakura'' is a cherry blossom, ''Hana'' is a general Japanese term for flower, and Subaki is derived from ''Tsubaki'', a camellia flower.
* ThemeSongReveal:
** Boy, that demon swordsman had a cool boss theme. [[spoiler:But why is Takumi suddenly using it?]]
** On both routes (though it has greater impact on ''Birthright''), Shura, who appears to be a Nohrian bandit, uses the Hoshidan boss theme when fought. [[spoiler:The ''playable'' Hoshidan boss theme.]] This is a big clue that he's more than he seems.
* ThickerThanWater: The Avatar was born into Hoshido royalty, but was raised by the Nohr royal family. One of the biggest choices in the game is deciding whether or not the Avatar will invoke this trope and side with their newfound kin against their lifelong adoptive family.
* ThisIsUnforgivable: ''[[TakeAThirdOption Revelation]]'' aside, the defining note of Corrin's speech when choosing a side comes down to whether they believe [[spoiler:Garon using them as a pawn to kill Corrin's mother and thousand of innocent civilians]] is this, or if they want an explanation first.
* ThoseTwoBadGuys: A pair of bandits named Lloyd and Llewelyn show up in a Paralogue and several Xenologues as recurring enemies.
** Iago and Hans can count as this in ''Conquest'' as they tend to show up together [[spoiler:and are both dealt with on the same map.]]
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Swords now have a proper ranged, throwable variation in the form of the Kodachi and Wakizashi blades.
* TimedMission:
** Chapters 15 and 18 of ''Conquest'' both have a 20 turn time limit. Chapter 15 requires you to defeat the boss or escape the map entirely, while Chapter 18 requires that you defeat both Zola and two enemy Generals. Conquest's version of Chapter 15 appears again in ''Revelation'' (as the 21st Chapter instead) with the same requirements, except you have your entire army with you instead of just the Avatar, Azura, and Gunter.
** The mission of Chapter 6 of ''Revelation'' is to beat a commanding officer from both Hoshido and Nohr within 5 turns to distract the armies.
** There's [[DownplayedTrope no specific turn count]], but Paralogue 9 requires you to beat the boss before Asugi flees the map.
** Nina's Paralogue also requires you to rout the enemy before ''she'' flees the map.
* TitleDrop:
** The versions of "Lost In Thoughts All Alone" that play during the Endgames of ''Birthright'' and ''Conquest'' mention the corresponding title's name in the lyrics. The full version of the song, which plays during the credits of the 3 stories, mentions both.
** Owain references the titles of all three games in ''Hidden Truths''.
--->'''Owain:''' I suppose being heroes is our birthright. Or maybe we crave the thrill of conquest... the seduction of revelation.
* TokenEnemyMinority: Kaze is this in ''Conquest'', a Hoshidan retainer who overhears the Avatar explain how they want to end the war and change Nohr for good. Combined with [[spoiler:his guilt for not preventing their kidnapping originally]], he asks to join their noble cause. In ''Birthright'', it's Silas, a Nohrian knight who was friends with the Avatar as a child, and happily chooses to defect to Hoshido because he doesn't want to fight them.
* TooAwesomeToUse: Non-healing staves have very useful effects such as freezing an enemy in place, but they cannot be purchased indefinitely and each one only has very few amount of charges before breaking down. The S-rank Bifröst staff in particular revives the most recently killed unit, but it only has a single charge and only one exists in the entire game.
* TopWife: It's a plot point that King Garon had many concubines due to having taken the MarryThemAll route, but also a legitimate wife. The first one, Katerina, was adored by the concubines. She died and got replaced by Arete, who was viewed as an in-universe ReplacementScrappy and greatly disliked.
* TongueTied: [[spoiler:Anyone who steps foot inside the borders of Valla will be cursed to be unable to talk about it outside its borders, for they'll dissolve into water if they do. Corrin gets inflicted with this in the Conquest and Revelations routes, but they manage to convince their siblings in the Revelation route to jump into the Bottomless Canyon without question, as that was the only way to reach Valla.]]
* TraumaticSuperpowerAwakening: The Avatar first turns [[PartialTransformation some of their limbs]] into dragon limbs after they see Gunter fall into the Bottomless Canyon. Then when they see their mother die protecting them, they get the full deal, [[SuperpoweredEvilSide mind and all]]. Similarly, their child Kana goes on full-transformation in their paralogue when attacked by bandits.
* TruceZone: In ''Conquest'', the Principality of Izumo hosts a banquet that has attendees from both Nohr and Hoshido despite them being at war.
* UnbreakableWeapons: Unlike the previous games, the weapons in this game are unbreakable, with the only BreakableWeapons being the staves (which can be subverted with an AI-only skill). To compensate, the stronger weapons now inflict various penalties on their user's stats.
* UnderwearOfPower: Both genders of the Sorcerer class and the female Dark Mage class wear bikini bottoms over their leggings/bodysuits.
* UndyingLoyalty: Any characters that are allies regardless of which path is chosen likely has this toward the Avatar, considering the fact that following the Avatar may entail them defecting from their home kingdom.
** The retainers of each sibling have this to their respective lord or lady, but this is especially apparent in the early game of ''Revelation''. [[spoiler:When Sakura, Takumi, Camilla, and Elise defect to the Avatar's side, their retainers come with them with no hesitation, even though the Avatar is considered a fugitive by both Hoshido and Nohr since their loyalty to their lord or lady trumps their loyalty to their nation.]]
* UnexpectedGameplayChange: ''Birthright'' Chapter 12 is an Escape mission in a game where every other chapter (excluding the first five that are the same in all routes) are either Rout or Defeat Boss missions. Your goal is to get the Avatar off the map as soon as possible.
* UnprovokedPervertPayback: If you enter the hot springs in your castle, there is a random chance that the occupants will be the opposite gender of your character, often resulting in a scathing remark ([[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale especially if you're playing as a male Avatar]]) from the occupant(s) and you bolting out of there. Since you have absolutely no way of knowing who's in the spring until you actually enter (apparently no one thought to post a sign indicating which gender currently has their turn), it comes off as this.
* UnusableEnemyEquipment: Like most ''Fire Emblem'' games, only very specific items that are indicated as droppable (marked via green text) can be obtained from slain enemies. Typically, when an enemy is defeated, their weapons are lost with them.
* TheUsualAdversaries: Kotaro, Zola, Hans, and Iago, end up being faced by the Avatar in all three routes, even ''Conquest'', in which Kotaro is (nominally) an ally of Nohr (but seeks the advancement of his nation of Mokushu above all else), and Zola, Hans, and Iago ostensibly being on the same side as the Avatar in that route!
* VariableMix: Similar to ''Awakening'', there are two versions of of each gameplay track; a calm one that plays on the map, and an intense one that plays during battle animations. The soundtrack seamlessly switches between them as appropriate.
* VictoriasSecretCompartment: Camilla pulls a map out of her bra (her breasts in the Japanese version) during her support conversation with the Avatar. When they question her about it, [[JustifiedTrope she retorts that it was the only place she could carry it]].
* VideoGameCaringPotential: It's possible to spare some bosses instead of killing by using the Capture command to place them in the My Castle jail.
* VideoGameCrueltyPotential:
** In Chapter 6, you can choose seek out and attack Elise or Sakura (depending on your route) when it's not necessary to do so. Both sisters only want the Avatar's happiness, they are easily the nicest member of their respectively families, and neither are even capable of fighting back. Doubly cruel on the ''Birthright'' route, as the only objective for the chapter is to defeat Xander; at least on the ''Conquest'' route you could justify attacking Sakura, as you need to defeat a specific number of units to win and Ryoma's extremely powerful.
** [[spoiler:You can make Felicia fight her own sister in any of the routes while playing as the Male Avatar. It's even worse in chapter 17 of ''Birthright''. It's nothing compared to [[DrivenToSuicide what happens to Flora afterwards]], but it can make her fate even worse.]]
** Kaze will go with the Avatar no matter which route you choose, while his brother Saizo is only playable in ''Birthright'' and ''Revelation''. This means if you choose Nohr, you can potentially have Kaze fight his own brother.
** In My Castle, you have the option to wake your spouse gently or violently. The results can be pretty humorous if you choose the latter.
** During the battle in Cyrkensia in ''Revelation'' there are lots of opportunities for this, though the game really only acknowledges one. Mainly, it's possible to have [[spoiler:Camilla, who joined your side in an earlier chapter]] fight Xander, who is leading the Nohrian forces in the city. [[spoiler:Xander angrily denounces her as a traitor like the Avatar and refuses to listen to her pleas to back the Nohrian army off, leading to a fight, though this is made somewhat better by Xander himself joining the Avatar's side a few chapters later.]] You can also have [[spoiler:Takumi or Sakura, if she's able]] fight Ryoma on the same map, but there's no special dialogue for either of them. The game also doesn't call attention to it, but it's also possible on the same map to have [[spoiler:Selena]] cross blades with Laslow [[spoiler:meaning it's possible to have Severa fighting her old comrade from Ylisse, Inigo, since their respective lords are on opposite sides of the conflict now.]]
** In ''Revelation'', many of the later chapters involve [[spoiler:fighting the re-animated bodies of the protagonists' parents. You can force the Avatar, Azura, and all the Hoshidan royals to fight and kill their mother or father, and all of them are affected by it--Ryoma even ''starts crying''.]] YouBastard.
** Also in ''Revelation'', [[spoiler:Scarlet is resurrected a few chapters after her death and is fought as a mini-boss]]. Fighting this character with Ryoma will trigger some special dialogue where it's very clear that he's ''not'' happy about this fight.
* VillainousRescue: Inverted. The Ice Tribe's chieftain Kilma rescues the Avatar from freezing to death in ''Conquest'', not realizing they've come to suppress their rebellion.
* VisibleInvisibility: "Invader" enemies are supposed to be invisible, but the purple distortion aura is so obvious that they're easily spotted.
* VoodooZombie: [[spoiler:The insane dragon god, Anankos,]] can reanimate the dead and make them do his bidding. These undead soldiers seem to have varying degrees of conscience and personality, which can involve retaining the original body's personality with major or minor changes, or just be mindless puppets.
* WarriorPrince: The Avatar (whose class takes this further: Nohr Prince/ess) and their blood-related and adoptive family, particularly Xander and Ryoma who [[FrontlineGeneral lead their respective forces]], and Camilla and Hinoka who are well known bruisers. Even Sakura and Elise can become this when they promote, and Azura is an incredibly competent lance wielder even if she's more known as a dancer.
* WakeUpCallBoss:
** ''Birthright'' Chapter 12 marks the first time you encounter promoted units as regular enemies, plus a moving HopelessBossFight in the form of Xander if you are on Hard difficulty or above. It is also an Escape mission in a game where every other chapter unique to that route is a Rout mission or has you defeat a boss.
** ''Conquest'' Chapter 7 has a lot of enemies and very few units to use against them. The next chapter has a staff user much earlier than the other routes proving how difficult Conquest is.
** ''Conquest'' Chapter 10 is the first chapter on Casual mode in which one of the defeat conditions is something other than a TotalPartyKill, and the first chapter on Phoenix mode where you can actually lose, warning you that just because your units simply retreat instead of dying for real doesn't mean the game will hand every victory to you on a silver platter.
** ''Revelation'' Chapter 7 is the game's only Fog of War mission. You also only have three units: your Avatar, Jakob/Felicia who is primarily a healer and Azura who will most definitely not be fighting.
* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou:
** In Classic Mode, the Avatar's defeat under any circumstance results in an immediate GameOver. In Casual Mode, this only applies for Chapter 5 since it's very difficult (if not impossible) to beat the boss without them. In any other circumstance, the Avatar simply retreats from the battle and will be ready to fight after it concludes; subsequently, they will return the following turn in Phoenix Mode if it's active.
** The final part of the ''Heirs of Fate'' DLC is automatically lost if either of the Kanas or Shigure die, [[JustifiedTrope since their powers are required to beat the boss]].
* WhamEpisode: ''Revelation'' Chapter 12, "Frozen Sea". Up until this point, ''Revelation'' can feel a bit like just a tougher version of ''Birthright'', with the Avatar commanding a mostly Hoshidan army against primarily Nohrian opponents, [[spoiler:and with two Hoshidan siblings in Sakura and Takumi]] with only Jakob/Felicia (who are in all three routes) and [[spoiler:Gunter]] as the only Nohrian units available (and using [[spoiler:Gunter]] isn't recommended for a number of reasons). Then Camilla and her retainers, as well as Flora show up to ambush the Avatar's group on the high seas, since Garon has ordered Camilla to execute the Avatar as a traitor, which she is reluctantly willing to go through with, forcing the Avatar to fight them, the first time in the route they've been directly pitted against one of their siblings. [[spoiler:Upon defeating Camilla's forces, however, the Avatar spares her life and convinces Camilla to follow them in defeating the real enemy and ending the war, meaning for the first time in all three routes you can actually have siblings from opposite sides of the war in battle together, as well as units that were formerly unique to ''Conquest'' in Beruka and Selena, and this is where ''Revelation'' really starts to take off]]. Subsequent chapters ramp up the number of recruitable Nohrian characters as well to make up for ''Revelation's'' early game being so Hoshido-centric and really start to hit home the idea of the two sides coming together.
* WhamLine:
** ''Birthright'' Chapter 17:
--->'''[[spoiler:Flora]]''': Nothing will change the fact that I betrayed you. Not to mention my own flesh and blood. For that... [[spoiler:[[DrivenToSuicide I deserve to die.]]]]
** ''Conquest'' Chapter 27, if you are deluded enough to think it's over after you finally defeat the BigBad:
--->'''[[spoiler:Takumi]]:''' [[DemonicPossession Betrayal...]] [[FinalBoss betrayal...]] [[IAmTheNoun I AM BETRAYAL!!!]]
* WhatTheHellPlayer: If you make Laslow, Selena or Odin equip the Dragon's Feather, they will chew you out for it.
* WhiteAndGreyMorality: You know about how Hoshido [[spoiler:kidnapped Azura]]? Yeah, turns out they did that because [[spoiler:''Garon kidnapped the Avatar '''first''''' when he and his men ambushed Sumeragi, who was visiting Cheve to establish some relations between it and Hoshido, [[WellIntentionedExtremist while Hoshido simply kidnapped Azura to trade her back for the Avatar despite treating the princess very well regardless]]]] and Nohr had yet to invade Hoshido after the incident until the present day, apparently establishing some form of Non-Aggression treaty prior. All in all, both sides are neutral at worst with only a few exceptions.
* WithUsOrAgainstUs: In the Chapter 6, the Avatar is forced to choose whether to support their blood relations or their foster family in the war between the two. [[spoiler:Even worse in Revelation where both sides consider the Avatar a traitor but most end up joining the Avatar to fight a bigger evil]].
* WorldInTheSky: [[spoiler:The Kingdom of Valla]] consists of a number of floating continents.
* {{Wutai}}: Hoshido is clearly based on feudal Japan, with soldiers and citizens wearing samurai armor and traditional period garb, at least one map showing a Japanese-like mansion, and medieval Japanese weaponry, including katanas and naginatas, appear to replace the series standard weapons of swords and lances.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Characters have a wide range of colors for hair, but special mention goes to the songstress Azura, who bears the signature ''Fire Emblem'' blue hair of plot-importance.
[[/folder]]

** ''Ballistician Blitz'' is based off of Chapter 13 of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight'', the chapter where Marth must dispatch of Gra's Ballistician forces.

** Gunter seemingly dies at the end of Chapter 3. However, the heart symbol indicating Support points were gained still displays when he fights alongside the Avatar and Jakob (despite the function not being available yet), indicating that he's not gone for good. [[spoiler:Unless you choose ''Birthright''. Then he's really gone.]]

* HeroicAlbino: The Avatar's default look. Similar to the default Avatar in ''Awakening'', they have white hair, although ''Fates'''s Avatar takes it into true albino territory with red eyes and notably pale skin. (S)he is also ultimately well-intentioned, no matter whose side you take.

* PacifistRun: The Avatar does their absolute best to avoid killing anyone whenever possible. Deconstructed on the Conquest route, where despite being merciful and making sure their own troops do not kill anyone, the Avatar is unable to stop much of the death and destruction surrounding them, with Xander finally explaining to them that trying to save or spare everyone in war is pointless.

* SelfImposedChallenge:
** It is popular to do runs of just one class. Due to the prevalence of seals that change class of close allies, you can increase the number of characters in that class. It's actually possible to have everyone on the Nohr route be Heroes. Other popular one-class runs include Maid/Butler Runs and Malig Knight Runs.
** Another one, which adds a bit of VideoGameCaringPotential but is a lot harder than it sounds, is to spare any named character you aren't forced to fight. In any chapter where the objective isn't Rout (this is more common on ''Conquest'' due to the greater objective variety), non-boss named characters do not need to be killed. Since some of them are directly in your path and have brutal skill combinations, you often have to go ''very'' out of your way to spare them without losing any of your own characters, and you'll miss out on exp. But to some, avoiding the deaths of beloved characters is worth it.
** Another is similar to the "Casual Challenge" in ''New Mystery'' and ''Awakening'', but with Phoenix Mode as an [[AntiFrustrationFeature anti-frustration feature]] if you give up. You select phoenix mode... but play as if you are on "Classic" mode wherein you try to avoid letting ''any'' units die.
** Let's Player Mangs created the Corrinquest run. In this sort of playthrough, you can only use Avatars that have been recruited from other players' castles.

* FactionCalculus: Unlike most Fire emblem games, [[MedievalEuropeanFantasy Nohr]] and [[WuTai Hoshido]] have very different units available between them. Even the weapons used by them are different.

* FactionCalculus: Unlike most Fire emblem games, [[Nohr MedievalEuropeanFantasy]] and [[Hoshido WuTai]] have very different units available between them. Even the weapons used by them are different.

* CursedWithAwesome: In Conquest, Xander's defence can reach over 40 with pair ups. However, the AI won't attack if they can't do damage. This leaves Xander having to fight only on his turn against anything that cannot damage him.