History VideoGame / FireEmblemTheSacredStones

* TheTeam: The implicit wielders of the Sacred Twin weapons, and the nobles and advisers who drive most of the plot.
** Ephraim and Eirika share a joint role as TheLeader[=/=]TheHero, but which gets more focus depends on who you choose to follow.
** Seth and Innes share the TheLancer role. The former as chief adviser and NumberTwo to the Renais Twins. The latter a cunning strategist that considers himself Ephraim's [[TheRival rival]] in all things.
** Tana and L'Arachel share TheHeart role as both as characterized by their femininity and for being emotionally grounded. Tana is a more traditional PrincessClassic while L'Arachel is a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} ChurchMilitant.
** Duessel is TheBigGuy as a heavily armored FourStarBadass and Ephraim's combat instructor.
** Knoll is TheSmartGuy who has been most involved in discovering the secrets of the Sacred Stones, and Lyon's research.
** Saleh is a WarriorMonk who guides the team when dealing with the supernatural.
** Myrrh is a MysteriousWaif from Darkling Woods
** [[spoiler:Joshua is the SixthRanger as the secret prince of Jehanna who poses as a wayward gambler until his identity is revealed (in Eirika's path at least)]].

** Jehanna is a more innocuous mix of Egypt, India, Israel, and other Middle-Eastern countries. This is reflected in their desert geography, Tethys' BellyDancer design, their Myrmidon-exclusive sword is Shamshir-which is modeled a scimitar instead of a katana like Wo Dao. While their strength is also in arms, it is composed of loosely organized mercenary bands who take up the work simply because there are very few other options.

''Fire Emblem The Sacred Stones'' is one of the ten UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance games available to participants in the UsefulNotes/Nintendo3DS Ambassador Program, having been given a limited rerelease to early adopters of the system for free on its [=eShop=] as of December 2011. As of January 2015 in the PAL regions and June 2015 in North America, it is also available on the UsefulNotes/WiiU UsefulNotes/VirtualConsole.

''The Sacred Stones'' is followed by the UsefulNotes/NintendoGameCube game ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'', which takes place on the continent of Tellius in a different continuity.

* SpiritualSuccessor: The game takes several mechanics from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'' (which are present in most [=RPGs=] but not in ''VideoGame/FireEmblem''), such as infinite XP, use of a world map, monsters as enemies, trainee classes and branched promotions. The two-protagonist setting and their ideals also brings Alm and Celica to mind, and the Arena theme is based from ''Gaiden''[='=]s battle theme.

* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Still present (all of the protagonists look beautiful), yet subverted at the same time; many of the human bosses range from homely to almost as good looking as the heroes, three of the heroes are mildly {{Gonk}}ish (Garcia, Dozla, and Gilliam), and the truly "ugly" opponents are undead monstrosities. However, to tell which of Grado's top generals are morally firm and [[AxCrazy which have nary a screw left in their head]] is pretty easy to tell: Valter, Caellach and Riev all look like they haven't slept for a month, and they have creepy facial expressions to match (''especially'' Valter, combining with his [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil lust for Eirika]]).

* BittersweetEnding: Eirika and Ephraim manage to end the war with Grado and [[spoiler:stop the Demon King Fomortiis from ruining Magvel once again]], assuming leadership of Renais afterwards. But their father, King Fado, was killed in the conflict, and they had to [[spoiler:fight and kill their former friend Lyon, who became corrupted by [[BigBad Fomortiis]] and he was thus responsible for starting the war and causing the Demon King's revival. [[note]]And not only is it implied that he's the one that killed their father, but their friendship with him is strongly implied to have contributed to his StartOfDarkness by Fomortiis manipulating and fueling some of his insecurities.[[/note]]]] Several countries have been devastated by the war, including Renais and Grado; and many people have lost their lives. Then Grado is further devastated by an earthquake shortly after the war.

* CameBackWrong: [[spoiler:[[EmptyShell Orson's wife Monica]] and [[DamagedSoul Emperor Vigarde of Grado]]]] both died and were resurrected with the power of the stones. [[spoiler:Vigarde]] promptly crumbled to dust when Ephraim defeated him. And the less said [[spoiler:of Monica,]] the better as she was dead for several months before being resurrected.

* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: Chapter 5x has the player controlling Ephraim and his knights despite taking place before Ephraim's route proper (which stats in Chapter 9).

* PowerTrio: [[ThreeAmigos Ephraim, Eirika and Lyon.]]

** [[spoiler: For a split second when the title screen starts up, an image of Fomortiis, the Demon King and real BigBad of the whole story flashes on the screen.]]

* SoullessShell: As mentioned above in CameBackWrong, [[spoiler: Orson's wife Monica, and Emperor Vigarde.]] But in the Final Chapter, [[spoiler: the party inflicts this on Fomortiis, imprisoning his soul in the last Sacred Stone. As a result they now only have to deal with the now-mindless resurrected body as the final boss.]]

* TragicMonster: [[spoiler: Lyon, who [[DemonicPossession falls under control of the Demon King]] while trying to save his country (on Eirika's route) or [[SuperpoweredEvilSide becomes so addled from suddenly gaining phenomenal cosmic powers from the Dark Stone]] (also while trying to save his country) that he may as well ''have'' been possessed by Fomortiis (on Ephraim's route).]]

** Troubadours, Valkyries and Ranger (the game's promoted HorseArcher) have 1 less movement than their melee cavalry counterparts, perhaps due to their ranged attack capabilities on top of high movement would threaten many squares at once. This also extends to the newly-added Mage Knight class.

* RagTagBunchOfMisfits: Outside of various members of royalty, we have two childhood friends (Colm, Neimi), a mercenary leader and dancer (Gerik, Tethys), several technical traitors (Cormag, Duessel, Knoll, Natasha, and Amelia) and various thieves (Rennac), former soldiers (Garcia), and of course...[[AndZoidberg L'Arachel...]]

* BittersweetEnding: Eirika and Ephraim manage to end the war with Grado and [[spoiler:stop the Demon King Fomortiis from ruining Magvel once again]], assuming leadership of Renais afterwards. But their father, King Fado, was killed in the conflict, and they had to [[spoiler:fight and kill their [[BigBadFriend best friend Lyon]], who became corrupted by [[BigBad Fomortiis]] and he was thus responsible for starting the war and causing the Demon King's revival. [[note]]And not only is it implied that he's the one that killed their father, but their friendship with him is strongly implied to have contributed to his StartOfDarkness by Fomortiis manipulating and fueling some of his insecurities.[[/note]]]] Several countries have been devastated by the war, including Renais and Grado; and many people have lost their lives. Then Grado is further devastated by an earthquake shortly after the war.

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: Lyon, compared to Nergal and Zephiel, but he is ''especially'' this compared to the rest of the series. He is a [[ActiveRoyalty ruler of a foreign nation]] who leads it to its doom... but he's not an ObviouslyEvil person with a sympathetic backstory (like Nergal and Zephiel) - he's actually ''nice'', with his acts of villainy happening mostly onscreen with little buildup. [[spoiler:in reality, is he's not the actual Big Bad but rather a pawn for the real Big Bad Fomortiis the Demon King. After splitting the Sacred Stone into the Dark Stone, The Demon King's spirit either directly possessed Lyon or manipulated his darkest thoughts and emotions, and thus forced the young prince to resurrect his father as a lifeless corpse and make Lyon control him to initiate a full scale invasion of Magvel, starting with Renais to destroy the other nations sacred stones that sealed Fomortiis body away. All so the Demon King can be returned to full strength with implication of either subjecting or wiping out humanity.]]

* BittersweetEnding: Eirika and Ephraim manage to end the war with Grado and [[spoiler:stop the Demon King Fomortiis from ruining Magvel once again]], assuming leadership of Renais afterwards. But their father, King Fado, was killed in the conflict, and they had to [[spoiler:fight and kill their [[BigBadFriend best friend Lyon]], who became corrupted by the [[BigBad Fomortiis]] and was responsible for starting the war and causing the Demon King's revival. [[note]]And not only is it implied that he's the one that killed their father, but their friendship with him is strongly implied to have contributed to his StartOfDarkness by Fomortiis manipulating and fueling some of his insecurities.[[/note]]]] Several countries have been devastated by the war, including Renais and Grado; and many people have lost their lives. Then Grado is further devastated by an earthquake shortly after the war.

* BittersweetEnding: Eirika and Ephraim manage to end the war with Grado and [[spoiler:stop the Demon King Fomortiis from ruining Magvel once again]], assuming leadership of Renais afterwards. But their father, King Fado, was killed in the conflict, and they had to [[spoiler:fight and kill their [[BigBadFriend best friend Lyon]], who became corrupted by the real BigBad [[spoiler:Fomortiis]] and was responsible for starting the war and causing the Demon King's revival. [[note]]And not only is it implied that he's the one that killed their father, but their friendship with him is strongly implied to have contributed to his StartOfDarkness by fueling some of his insecurities.[[/note]]]] Several countries have been devastated by the war, including Renais and Grado; and many people have lost their lives. Then Grado is further devastated by an earthquake shortly after the war.

* BittersweetEnding: Eirika and Ephraim manage to end the war with Grado and [[spoiler:stop the Demon King Fomortiis from ruining Magvel once again]], assuming leadership of Renais afterwards. But their father, King Fado, was killed in the conflict, and they had to [[spoiler:fight and kill their [[BigBadFriend best friend Lyon]], who was responsible for starting the war and causing the Demon King's revival. [[note]]And not only is it implied that he's the one that killed their father, but their friendship with him is strongly implied to have contributed to his StartOfDarkness by fueling some of his insecurities.[[/note]]]] Several countries have been devastated by the war, including Renais and Grado; and many people have lost their lives. Then Grado is further devastated by an earthquake shortly after the war.

* {{Dracolich}}: The Draco Zombie class returns as a boss of the second-to-last chapter, now using a poisonous BreathWeapon known as ''Wretched Air.'' During the final chapter, on the penultimate map, there are ''two'', and on the final map, the BigBad may choose to summon these as ''mooks''. Gets worse in the [[BrutalBonusLevel Lagdou Ruins]], where the final map features no fewer than ''seven'' of them. Now you know why you've been saving up all those S-Ranked weapons. Thankfully, [[AntiAir bows are also effective against them]].

** [[spoiler: For a split second when the title screen starts up, an image of Fomortiis, the Demon King and GreaterScopeVillain of the whole story flashes on the screen.]]

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: Lyon, compared to Nergal and Zephiel, but he is ''especially'' this compared to the rest of the series. He is a [[ActiveRoyalty ruler of a foreign nation]] who leads it to its doom... but he's not an ObviouslyEvil person with a sympathetic backstory (like Nergal and Zephiel) - he's actually ''nice'', with his acts of villainy happening mostly onscreen with little buildup. [[spoiler|in reality, is he's not the actual Big Bad but rather a pawn for the real Big Bad Fomortiis the Demon King. After splitting the Sacred Stone into the Dark Stone, The Demon King's spirit either directly possessed Lyon or manipulated his darkest thoughts and emotions, and thus forced the young prince to resurrect his father as a lifeless corpse and control him to initiate a full scale invasion of Magvel, starting with Renais to destroy the other nations sacred stones that sealed Fomortiis body away.]]

* ContrastingSequelAntagonist: Lyon, compared to Nergal and Zephiel, but he is ''especially'' this compared to the rest of the series. He is a [[ActiveRoyalty ruler of a foreign nation]] who leads it to its doom... but he's not an ObviouslyEvil person with a sympathetic backstory (like Nergal and Zephiel) - he's actually ''nice'', with his acts of villainy happening mostly onscreen with little buildup.

* SealedEvilInACan: The soul of the Demon King, Fomortiis, is trapped in Grado's Sacred Stone, the Fire Emblem of this game. [[spoiler:Lyon's experimentation with Grado's Sacred Stone ends up freeing him from imprisonment.]]

* YouCantFightFate: Lyon had a vision of an earthquake that would destroy Grado sometime in the future. [[spoiler:This vision prompts him to start messing with Grado's Sacred Stone for the purpose of preventing it. He ends up starting a war instead (courtesy of Fomortiis) and the earthquake happens in the epilogue, which is viewed as Grado's divine punishment for starting the war.]]

* NothingIsScarier: The fact that you never see Monica's face lets the player fill in the gaps with whatever horror they can imagine.