History YMMV / FireEmblemAwakening

** The practice of mounted characters naming their mounts after deceased mounted characters from history didn't actually start in this game. ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'' ('96) had Fee name her mount [[spoiler:Mahnya, after her aunt who fell in battle during the events of Chapter 4]].

** Female Avatar is this in some circles due to how her male counterpart appears far more than her in other media, where he is often either the primary or even only form of Robin.

** [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Celica's]] [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/fireemblem/images/d/d1/Celica_FE13_Artwork.png/revision/latest?cb=20170118235124 DLC art]] in this game was drawn by then-guest artist Masatsugu Saito, who would later go on to do more work for Nintendo as the lead character designer for ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' and ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3''. Due to the breakout success of those games and Celica having a different artist and design in the ''Echoes'' remake, Saito's Celica design in hindsight looks a lot more like a prototype or crossover of Pyra, the lead heroine of ''2'', than the character it's supposed to be.

* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: The [[https://serenesforest.net/awakening/miscellaneous/hubba-tester/ Fortune Telling]] option. Then again, the DLC reveals that the fortune teller himself is a major {{Cloudcuckoolander}}, so it's probably to be expected.

** Lucina. While incredibly popular and initially seen as one of the best characters in the game, has begun to become a polarizing character thanks to her[[ItsPopularNowItSucks popularity and exposure]] in other media like ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes''. Some like that Lucina, a major character in the game, gets to stand out as something of a representative for ''Awakening'' and/or the series as a whole, on top being a well written character with a tragic past but still being relatively upbeat about it, while others feel her overexposure hurts her character, and/or that, while a good character, she isn't that complex or unique enough to warrant the popularity she gets. The fact she is arguably the most popular romance option for a male Avatar makes the split worse, since some find it to be one of the best romances in the game, while others see it as just waifu bait.

* MemeticLoser: Chrom, thanks to Lucina and Robin's character reveal trailer in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' has him spending 90% of the time lying down on the ground after getting beaten up by [[VideoGame/FZero Captain Falcon]]. This has died down now that Chrom is revealed to be a playable character for ''Ultimate''.

** Fans totally ate up [[NightmareFuelStationAttendant Henry]] like he was going out of style. Hell, he even has [[SelfDemonstrating/{{Henry}} his own page]] on this very wiki.
** Out of all the minor antagonists in this game, [[NobleDemon Mustafa]], Cervantes and [[{{Gonk}} Excellus]] seem to be the most memorable. The sheer amount of people who wish that Mustafa would be a [=SpotPass=] unit (or playable at all) is notable, especially considering that he's a minor character, [[AntiVillain but it's extremely easy to see why.]] (They'd get their wish when he was added to ''Heroes'' as a playable character.) Excellus is frequently grouped with [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones Gheb]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Oliver]] due to his hideous looks, and mockingly treated as an overly attractive man just like them.

** [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Celica's]] DLC art in this game was drawn by then-guest artist Masatsugi Saito, who would later go on to do more work for Nintendo as the lead character designer for ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'' and ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles3''. Due to the breakout success of those games and Celica having a different artist and design in the ''Echoes'' remake, Saito's Celica design in hindsight looks a lot more like a prototype or crossover of Pyra, the lead heroine of ''2'', than the character it's supposed to be.

** Severa. Despite being near the top of the Japanese character polls, Severa is very polarizing among western fans. In the localization, she comes off as more of a {{Jerkass}} in some of her supports, whereas her abrasiveness is mostly a façade to hide her affectionate side in the original version. This, on top of her being a {{Tsundere}} has divided the fandom heavily, with some liking her for being complex and having some understandable issues, while others dislike her for seeming like an asshole to her mother and other characters.

** In the west, Gerome is Inigo's most popular pairing in this game due to their humorous dynamic together and Inigo's jealousy at him being easily interpreted as [[StupidSexyFlanders something else]].

** Chapter 18 also takes place in a volcano that's named "Doma's Remains". Given that ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden'' wasn't actually released outside of Japan, it'd make most western gamers think "...Huh?". They actually bypassed this ContinuityLockout by naming it the Demon's Ingle. This actually works--and since its significance isn't actually ''important'' apart from a small CallBack to ''Gaiden'', it still works. Of course, they still have a temple of Mila and the Mila tree untouched in the western version, but they don't actually show any significance apart from just simple theme naming.

** Allegedly, the "pies" were bento boxes in the Japanese script. While making sense to Japan, not everyone really knows of bento boxes outside of Japan... nor does it make sense in a Medieval European setting like ''Fire Emblem''. However, pies, on the other hand are not only a well-known food object in the west, but also were indeed consumed throughout history. On top of that, there's a type of pie called...a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepherds_Pie Shepherd's Pie]]. Quite the {{pun}} [[FridgeBrilliance when you think of it]].

** [[RankScalesWithAsskicking Yen'fay, the Dynast of Chon'sin,]] was [[MasterSwordsman a former swordsman]] who after his defeat made [[HeroicSacrifice the ultimate sacrifice to protect his kingdom and sister]]. The past king of Chon'sin, Yen'fay fought valiantly against Walhart, but after his kingdom fell, and Excellus blackmailed him with Say'ri's life, Yen'fay was force into Walhart's army, becoming one of his generals. Scheming against his captors, Yen'fay set-up a plan, adding his people to his army, and waiting for a force who can take him down. Seeing the Ylisse army's effort, Yen'fay saw them capable of defeating Walhart, and as such has himself killed in a battle against them to keep his deal with Excellus to protect Say'ri, before unleashing [[ThanatosGambit his trap]] by using his death to influence the Chon'sin soldiers to defect during a critical battle, striking a major blow and giving Ylisse the chance to take down Walhart and Excellus beyond the grave.

** [[MagikarpPower Donnel's]] caused some to restart the game just for him, let that sink in.them.

* ItsPopularNowItSucks: Many veteran ''Fire Emblem'' fans are unhappy with the title overshadowing the rest of the series. ''Awakening'' also receives disproportionate focus in merchandising, cross-over games (like ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' and ''[[VideoGame/ProjectXZone Project X Zone 2]]''), and it has influenced [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates its immediate successor(s)]], to the point that [[spoiler:a few characters from ''Awakening'' appear in ''Fates'']]. The [[ItsEasySoItSucks generally-lowered difficulty level]] is a common point of attack. Things got even worse with ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriors'', since the game disproportionately favors the newer games to the detriment of the older ones, and fans accuse ''Awakening'' as the main culprit for being the game that popularized the series in the mainstream. This had since started to wear off after ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'' was released, as ''Awakening'' was beginning to show its age, causing its popularity to be on a slow decline at the dawn of TheNew20s.

%%* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: The game features an [[TheCaligula insane king in Gangrel]], Walhart--someone who dreams of conquering the world--and the Grimleal, a cult that seeks to revive the Fell Dragon Grima, who wants to kill all humans. But [[AlphaBitch Severa]] is hated more than any of them for bullying Cynthia and Owain, manipulating her father into spending a lot of shopping money for her, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking needing to be recruited]] during an EscortMission.
%%ZCE* LoveToHate: Gangrel and Excellus.
* LowTierLetDown:
** Units who lack access to Galeforce often get the shaft by hardcore players due to being unable to move twice in the same turn. Or at least that's the initial impression one gets; the real opinion among experts is more complicated. Non-Galeforce units, called "hard supports" because they support a partner with Galeforce and never go up front themselves, are actually extremely valuable damage dealers, and in fact do the majority of damage when you're using brave weapons. Some male non-Galeforce units, particularly Yarne, are considered to be extremely good units, especially if they have access to Berserker class and the Sniper's Hit+20 skill, because their damage output is absolutely devastating.
** Archers and Snipers in general aren't liked very well as units due to their CripplingOverspecialization. In Lunatic+ mode, however, they are much more useful due to their effective Counter immunity, and for Apotheosis their usefulness in the opinion of experts is pretty high too. In terms of inheritance to the future kids, the Archer set is usually seen as one of the most useless in the game, simply because its skills don't really lend all that much outside of the set itself. About the only skill from this set one really goes out of their way for is Bowbreaker for dealing with enemy archers, and even then it can be gotten just as easily from the Mercenary set.
** In terms of inheritance options, Virion is often considered the worst potential father in the game gameplay-wise, since his class selection is a bit mediocre and he doesn't really pass down anything any of the children especially need. He also suffers from a case of OvershadowedByAwesome in this department, since every one of the children has at least a few better options available. And if you recruit Donnel, then there will always be more first-generation males than females, even with a female Avatar in the mix. Meaning that even if you try to pair everyone up, there'll be at least one odd man out, and it's likely to be Virion.

* FountainOfMemes: '''[[LargeHam Owain]]'''. The heroes' blood in his veins is [[HotBlooded BOILING]], his sword hand [[DoubleEntendre twitches]], [[SomethingElseAlsoRises and he can't control it whenever he confesses his love to one of the women]]. [[MrImagination He also hones his psyche so he can grapple with nefarious beasts of the night]] (or at least with ''[[ADateWithRosiePalms something]]'' according to Inigo) and he's an all around walking fountain of [[MythologyGag Mythology Gags]].

** Fans forget that [[BrokenAce Cordelia's]] [[HeroicSelfDeprecation massive]] [[SurvivorsGuilt issues]] go beyond [[UnrequitedTragicMaiden her unrequited love for Chrom]]. This is especially the case for [[ShipToShipCombat those who oppose Sumia's (who's only known to them as the one who took what they believe to be Cordelia's rightful place by baking the above-mentioned pies) status (in this game only) as Chrom's]] closest thing to a canonical wife via game mechanics and cutscenes.

* TierInducedScrappy:
** Units who lack access to Galeforce often get the shaft by hardcore players due to being unable to move twice in the same turn. Or at least that's the initial impression one gets; the real opinion among experts is more complicated. Non-Galeforce units, called "hard supports" because they support a partner with Galeforce and never go up front themselves, are actually extremely valuable damage dealers, and in fact do the majority of damage when you're using brave weapons. Some male non-Galeforce units, particularly Yarne, are considered to be extremely good units, especially if they have access to Berserker class and the Sniper's Hit+20 skill, because their damage output is absolutely devastating.
** Archers and Snipers in general aren't liked very well as units due to their CripplingOverspecialization. In Lunatic+ mode, however, they are much more useful due to their effective Counter immunity, and for Apotheosis their usefulness in the opinion of experts is pretty high too. In terms of inheritance to the future kids, the Archer set is usually seen as one of the most useless in the game, simply because its skills don't really lend all that much outside of the set itself. About the only skill from this set one really goes out of their way for is Bowbreaker for dealing with enemy archers, and even then it can be gotten just as easily from the Mercenary set.
** In terms of inheritance options, Virion is often considered the worst potential father in the game gameplay-wise, since his class selection is a bit mediocre and he doesn't really pass down anything any of the children especially need. He also suffers from a case of OvershadowedByAwesome in this department, since every one of the children has at least a few better options available. And if you recruit Donnel, then there will always be more first-generation males than females, even with a female Avatar in the mix. Meaning that even if you try to pair everyone up, there'll be at least one odd man out, and it's likely to be Virion.

** [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Yen'fay, the Dynast of Chon'sin,]] was [[MasterSwordsman a former swordsman]] who after his defeat made [[HeroicSacrifice the ultimate sacrifice to protect his kingdom and sister]]. The past king of Chon'sin, Yen'fay fought valiantly against Walhart, but after his kingdom fell, and Excellus blackmailed him with Say'ri's life, Yen'fay was force into Walhart's army, becoming one of his generals. Scheming against his captors, Yen'fay set-up a plan, adding his people to his army, and waiting for a force who can take him down. Seeing the Ylisse army's effort, Yen'fay saw them capable of defeating Walhart, and as such has himself killed in a battle against them to keep his deal with Excellus to protect Say'ri, before unleashing [[ThanatosGambit his trap]] by using his death to influence the Chon'sin soldiers to defect during a critical battle, striking a major blow and giving Ylisse the chance to take down Walhart and Excellus beyond the grave.

* CrackPairing: Lucina x Spider-Man is, for some reason, a pairing with an outright ''absurd'' amount of art for it.[[note]]It should be noted, however, that at lot of it has been commissioned by the exact same person.[[/note]]

* CrackPairing: Lucina x Spider-Man is, for some reason, a pairing with an outright ''absurd'' amount of art for it.

* ItsPopularNowItSucks: Many veteran ''Fire Emblem'' fans are unhappy with the title overshadowing the rest of the series. ''Awakening'' also receives disproportionate focus in merchandising, cross-over games (like ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosForNintendo3DSAndWiiU'' and ''[[VideoGame/ProjectXZone Project X Zone 2]]''), and it has influenced [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates its immediate successor(s)]], to the point that [[spoiler:a few characters from ''Awakening'' appear in ''Fates'']]. The [[ItsEasySoItSucks generally-lowered difficulty level]] is a common point of attack. Things got even worse with ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriors'', since the game disproportionately favors the newer games to the detriment of the older ones, and fans accuse ''Awakening'' as the main culprit for being the game that popularized the series in the mainstream.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Out of all the minor antagonists in this game, [[NobleDemon Mustafa]], Cervantes and [[{{Gonk}} Excellus]] seem to be the most memorable. The sheer amount of people who wish that Mustafa would be a [=SpotPass=] unit (or playable at all) is notable, especially considering that he's a minor character, [[AntiVillain but it's extremely easy to see why.]] (They'd get their wish when he was added to ''Heroes'' as a playable character.) Excellus is frequently grouped with [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones Gheb]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Oliver]] due to his hideous looks, and mockingly treated as an overly attractive man just like them.

* UnfortunateImplications:
** The lack of S Supports for same-sex relations [[http://kotaku.com/5980657/fire-emblem-awakening-the-kotaku-review has been criticized by some reviewers.]]
** That two characters who appear as 12 year old girls are marriageable by the player [[http://awkwardzombie.com/comic/minor-setback has]] [[http://tinycartridge.com/post/21330765433/fire-emblem-awakening-has-fun-with-a-disturbing been controversial.]]

** The game's translation is pretty faithful, for the most part... except for Nowi's character being radically changed. The [[NoYay implications]] of someone who looks and acts like a child being a romantic option (despite being ReallySevenHundredYearsOld) are ''[[PaedoHunt much]]'' more [[UnfortunateImplications unfortunate]] in America than in Japan.

** Nowi's original name was Nono, which sounds silly to American and British ears for being a repetitive syllable name and "no" is a very common English word. Also, her dialogue was changed to make her sound more mature, and her English voice is a little more teen-sounding. This helps tone down the UnfortunateImplications on [[NoYay romancing her]] in the Japanese version and also, they significantly lessened her ThirdPersonPerson dialogue as well.
** There is a similar approach for Ricken, as his voice acting is also more teen-sounding to avoid the same UnfortunateImplications and DoubleStandard when [[NoYay romancing him.]] [[note]]And the fact that they hired Creator/YuriLowenthal, who's best known for KidHero characters, help make Ricken a bit more appealing.[[/note]] Similarly, Nah's Supports with her father go from calling him out for being a paedophile to [[ShotgunWedding wondering if he was forced to marry her mother because he got her...]] Many find this to be much funnier. Then it becomes hilarious if Henry's her father. [[note]] In the Nowi/Henry Supports, Nowi is lonely and wants other Manakete friends to play with, and Henry tries to help. The S Support is basically Henry giving the 'idea' of getting her pregnant so she can have Manakete children and not be alone anymore...[[/note]]

* EnsembleDarkhorse:
** Owain, Lissa's son, has probably the most major unexpected fanbase. He also placed the highest of the children characters in the popularity poll after Lucina, due to being [[LargeHam hammier than the heavens]]. His FountainOfMemes status definitely helped.
** Fans totally ate up [[NightmareFuelStationAttendant Henry]] like he was going out of style. Hell, he even has [[SelfDemonstrating/{{Henry}} his own page]] on this very wiki.
** Out of all the minor antagonists in this game, [[NobleDemon Mustafa]], Cervantes and [[{{Gonk}} Excellus]] seem to be the most memorable. The sheer amount of people who wish that Mustafa would be a [=SpotPass=] unit (or playable at all) is notable, especially considering that he's a minor character, [[AntiVillain but it's extremely easy to see why.]] (They'd get their wish when he was added to ''Heroes'' as a playable character.) Excellus is frequently grouped with [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones Gheb]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Oliver]] due to his hideous looks, and mockingly treated as an overly attractive man just like them.
** Maribelle, the frequently hilarious LovableAlphaBitch {{Ojou}}.
** Olivia became this for her [[ShrinkingViolet personality]] and her hilarious ApologeticAttacker tendencies when she is deployed in combat. Up and using Astra and/or ''Lethality'' while doing it. In fact, she has two variants in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'' and is a DLC character for ''VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriors''.
** Children characters in general are extremely popular, thanks to their sympathetic backstory, and superb writing in general. It's pretty notable that most of the children characters are well liked even by some parts of the playerbase that considered ''Awakening''[='s=] writing to be underwhelming. Notable examples are Brady for his hilarious speech pattern that creates some hilarious dialogue with [[spoiler:Maribelle]], Noire for her SplitPersonality and her "BLOOD AND THUNDER!" mantra, and Inigo for having considerable depth compared to past {{Chivalrous Pervert}}s in Fire Emblem.
** The four most popular adults were Chrom, Cordelia, Gaius and Tharja, as seen in [[BeachEpisode Summer Scramble]] where they all got swimsuits. Among the kids, Owain, Inigo, Lucina and Severa got the yukata treatment in the follow-up, Hot Spring Scramble. As for the kids, aside from Lucina, it has the effect of [[spoiler:Owain, Inigo and Severa being featured in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' with new identities: Odin, Laslow and Selena.]]
** Lon'qu, the badass, woman-fearing swordsman, is very popular too, only ''just'' being beaten out by Chrom and Gaius for the swimsuit DLC.
** Marth, Roy and Ike, who are popular [=SpotPass=]/DLC units due to their appearance in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros''.
** [[MagikarpPower Donnel's]] caused some to restart the game just for him, let that sink in.

** And [[BloodKnight Gregor]] isn't far behind him. At times he comes across practically like the ''Fire Emblem''-verse equivalent of [[Series/{{Firefly}} Jayne Cobb]] or [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy Drax the Destroyer]]. His broken English and BluntMetaphorsTrauma makes it funnier.

** ''[[spoiler:Emmeryn.]]'' Either she's a sweet lady who is completely undeserving of what [[spoiler:Gangrel]] put her through back in [[spoiler:Chapter 9]] and is a genuinely kind person, or she needs to get a reality check and whose sacrifice [[spoiler:in chapter 9]] rendered the deaths of many people utterly pointless, such as [[spoiler:Mustafa]] (which makes no sense, as his death was very much '''not''' a consequence of hers by any stretch of logic, and in fact only had the gravity it did ''because'' it came immediately after her sacrifice). Or she might even be a prospect {{Guile Hero}}ine whose HeroicSuicide in Chapter 9, regardless of one's stance on its nature, was actually a ''ThanatosGambit'' to give Chrom the best shot to not just become [[spoiler:a new Exalt]], but to grow into the prospect [[spoiler:leader of the continent]] -- no matter what sacrifices took.

* AngstWhatAngst: In chapter 7, [[spoiler:The Hierarch, said to be a close friend of the royal family, betrays the party and lures them to a Plegian ambush]]. Not only is this event never mentioned again, but no one comments when it happens.

** [[spoiler:The events of (and the ones pertaining to) chapter 23 are this, oh so much. So, Robin killed Chrom and nothing changed, right? Nope! Basilio comes back and pulls a BigDamnHeroes, and reveals that Robin foresaw everything in a dream. Validar taunts him, only for Basilio to state the further revelation that he replaced the gemstones with fakes. Then cut to the end of the chapter; Grima warps in out of nowhere and revives himself with the life force of all the surrounded Grimleal. Shortly after that, when the group is beginning to despair, Robin reveals that they took the Fire Emblem off of Validar's body, and shows it to them, aglow from all five real gemstones set in it. So, Robin had the real gemstones and they weren't in the Emblem; therefore, Grima can't be resurrected. ...Except he just brought himself back using the life force of the surrounding Grimleal. This completely defeats the reason for Plegia to even still want the Emblem, since Future Grima is here and can just revive himself.]]
** [[spoiler:Grima reviving Validar in chapter 6.]] Not only is this never explained, mentioned, or used again, but it could've been done by [[spoiler:having Validar play dead and slip away when everyone goes to check on Emm, or having Validar be mentioned as being on the verge of death]].

** The practice of mounted characters naming their mounts after deceased mounted characters from history didn't actually start in this game. Decades previous, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'' had Fee name her mount [[spoiler:Mahnya, after her aunt who fell in battle during the events of chapter 4]].

* SturgeonsLaw: Mild example. The Avatar has the most Support conversation options out of any character. Especially if not romancing the character in question, many of them are a bit more bland and less personal than between other characters due to the Avatar's fairly down-to-earth personality and lack of personal connection to many of the characters. That said, they're still worth reading for sure.

** Some of the male Avatar's marrying options, which varies from minor examples to ones as notorious as Lucina (his best friend's daughter) and [[spoiler:Emmeryn in a severe amnesiac state]]. Also the female Robin can marry [[spoiler:Gangrel despite everything he did]].

* VindicatedByHistory: When ''Awakening'' first came out it was seen by many as a ContestedSequel that had mostly sold on overused Anime tropes seeing the game as rather shallow with an ExcusePlot and one-note characters. In recent years however, with many having played the other games like ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Fire Emblem Echoes]]'', and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses'', many have begun looking back at ''Awakening'', seeing it as a fairly solid game. Many citing the interesting ways to [[GameBreaker break it]], generally enjoyable moments with the characters, and a inoffensive plot with many little {{Call Back}}s to the previous games.