So, yeah. In case you haven't guessed, I'm starting a blogging miniseries in which I rave (or in some cases, denounces) various Fire Emblem characters and their effectiveness in battles. Today's a double-header with characters from Fuuin No Tsurugi, even though it's a Japan-exclusive game, so...

You all know him, you all love him, or alternatively you all hate him. It's Roy, the main character of Fuuin No Tsurugi, who you'd only really know as one of the Fire Emblem series' two representatives in Super Smash Bros Melee. By the way, he was only featured in Melee as an advertisement for Fuuin No Tsurugi in Japan, and it was because of him and Marth that Fire Emblem was brought to the English-speaking world. Yay. Anyway.

First, to generalise: Roy is simultaneously one of the strongest and weakest Lord characters in the entire series. He's certainly better than his father Eliwood (protagonist of the seventh game), though. Like any Lord, he starts off relatively weak, needing to be leveled up carefully and not being put in danger. He does improve over time; by Lv 12 unpromoted, I've found that he's strong enough to fight at the front line. When he promotes, he gets considerably stronger, and he's absolutely unbeatable when he has the Sword of Seals. Heck, with the Sword of Seals, Roy's pretty much your ONLY bet for bringing down King Zephiel, and he can destroy the final boss Idoun with only two strikes! There are also some really good choices of other units to support him with; I like to support him with Lilina, which brings me to ranting about her.

Lilina is the daughter of Hector, one of the other protagonists of the seventh game. For years, she was one of Roy's closest friends, and so wanted to assist him in the war against Bern. Eventually, she did, but not until after her father Hector had been killed by King Zephiel. She's one of three potential Sages available in Fuuin No Tsurugi, and I'd say she's one of the better ones.

Lilina starts off as a Mage, meaning she fights with Nature magic (fire, wind, lightning). You get her in Chapter 8, in which she's been kidnapped by rebellious Ostian soldiers. When freed from her prison cell, Roy can be made to talk to her, and out of nowhere you get a free Thunder spellbook. Can't argue with that. Though she starts off at Level 1, she can be beefed up quickly if you play very carefully; what I did was annihilate all other enemies, then set up a little turn-by-turn system in which Lilina slowly chips away at the boss's HP, gaining significant EXP on the way. After that, Chapter 8x can be used to level her up even quicker. Once she's been levelled to be on par with your other units, Lilina is an absolute terror in battle. She's excellent at dodging, and good at offence. Give her an Aircalibur spell, and she obliterates Wyvern Riders, which indeed comprise many of the enemies throughout the mid-to-late game.

Oh yes. I should note that theoretically, depending on what you do in the seventh game, either Roy or Lilina could be Lyn's children, or neither, but not both. Fortunately.