#its also 5am and my ability to words is horrible sorry

[imustbenuts]

Thoughts on why Fire Emblem adores the idea of Avatars

Some people might find this idea complete bullshit, or find it interesting. If I'm reading too deep, so be it. Idc because this is a core component that seems missing whenever people get upset about contemporary MCs being framed the way it is.

So I've been putting out the theory that Kiran from FEH is us isekai'd into the FE world. I reason that because they are a FE nerd, obsessed with one element or another about the series, that due to our knowledge of characters and patterns of non-FEH elements, they are essentially a Deva. A God, or an Angel-like being pulled down.

Devas are a group of Buddhist Gods. And FE is very consistent with themes surrounding war and deities.

There is actually way too much Buddhism in the series. Like a suspicious amount, far far more than Christianity. Like 3H? 3H has so much Buddhism that I'm sure some of it is common knowledge in the fandom.

(check my pinned or my #fire emblem heroes tag for the Kiran is a Deva theory, its another long read I won't get into in this post)

Anyway. I think it matches up with how FE keeps framing our MC as an Avatar. Avatar in the religious sense, that a God assumes an extended 'drone' form in the lower realms. Devas are explicitly not meant to directly interact with the lower worlds unless in extremely rare occasions, so if Kiran = Devas, Avatars as Avatars in the religious sense isn't a stretch to think about.

And I totally understand that Avatars in the modern nerd usage means something along the lines of a 'customizable dolls', and its reasonable to ask why FE isn't offering customization.

But that's the thing. It's not always reasonable in FE's case. Their main focus is to tell a story, not create a world fully meant for indulgences.

Many words describing the MC we control is suspicious. When we start a game, the game explicitly asks us to "Select a form".

In Awakening and Fates, it also frames our Avatar as "My Unit".

Top JP: Create My Unit. /Bottom JP: Select the appearance of your Avatar. EN: Create an Avatar.

In Engage, the Japanese Ally Notebook frames our S partner with Alear's interaction as interactions with us. My Room is My Room, Bed is My Bed, and in EN there's My Castle (Fates).

In New Mystery of the Emblem and Blazing Blade, the Avatar is called My Unit instead, but there is no misunderstanding that they are and have always been meant to be an Avatar -- the will of the players.

Because in Buddhism and Hinduism terms:

FE has always asked the player to Role-Play in a Tactical Japanese Role Playing Game from the moment we pressed start. Letting us go solve a crisis happening in the worlds of these stories. Help whack a dragon or kick ass or some such.

In a way, we players are Gods. We are the customers who gets to decide if the franchise lives or dies. Even Nintendo to a degree seem to hold this philosophy, seeing as how their name means "Leave it to Heaven".

I get so weirded out when people take shots at this idea from the gender aspect or the non-customization aspect without really asking why.

Anyway these are my thoughts looking at some of the weird discourse on this topic at times.