Fire Emblem Elibe/YMMV

General Tropes:

 * Alas, Poor Villain: Quite a few examples, actually. Even some villains who seem really nasty are revealed to have sympathetic qualities upon dying, such as.
 * Others like Sonia on the other hand, would have punted themselves over the MEH one too many times for their deaths to feel like anything but karmic justice.
 * Lloyd and Linus. You fight one before the other, the first one is always misled into thinking you're a gang of corrupt nobles and evil people (Who the Black Fang was originally founded to combat) but upon finding out you aren't, begin to question the leadership of the black fang, and refuse to fight you through underhanded methods and do not want to hurt any non-combatants. They don't join you because they had to do some thinking, but . The other is similarly misled because they think you killed their brother. If you especially want this trope, have Nino attack them...
 * just make things even worse.
 * Best Level Ever: "Cog Of Destiny" (Chapter 27/29 from The Blazing Blade) is generally and genuinely regarded as one of the most intense, challenging, and goddamned fun chapters ever programmed into a Fire Emblem game. The difficulty level earns a lot of respect for forcing many gamers to take genuine tactical measures, and the story elements introduced and/or developed during the chapter don't hurt, either.
 * Character Tiers: Hard mode and Hector Hard Mode bonuses (Characters that start as enemies in 6's hard mode and 7's Hector Hard Mode gain the same random stats boosts that enemies have) cause interesting and notable shifts in the tiers.
 * Cliché Storm: Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade. Evil empire invading the land, the emperor turns out to be a Disc One Final Boss with darker forces at work. Hmmm... Fire emblem 7, however, did its utmost to avert this.
 * Then again though, a Cliché Storm plot like this may be a Necessary Weasel for a strategy game to work; as there always must be a war.
 * Complete Monster: Lundgren, Ephidel, Sonia, and Desmond are all in this trope's territory.
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: Batta The Beast and Glass are two minor easy bosses, made into Memetic Badasses by the fanbase. Denning is a boss with literally one line.
 * On the heroes' side, Canas and Nino both ranked very high in the popularity polls.
 * Game Breaker: Arenas can get you theoretically infinite amounts of money and EXP. Though that's really only possible on emulators.
 * The Luna Tome is the most accurate weapon in the game, has a high Critical Hit rating, and ignores Resistance, allowing its wielder to basically deduct its might and their current Magic stat from the target's HP. Given that the only two mages who can wield it, Athos and Canas, are considered to be some of the strongest in the game, it is not out of the ordinary for a Luna-Equipped Canas or Athos to defeat both final bosses in a round or two each. Because of this, Luna got a huge Nerf in Sacred Stones, rendering it circumstantial at best.
 * Actually, Arenas can be used in a physical cartridge...if you don't mind ruining your tactician rating because you can't save scum as easily.
 * Even in-game, there's a trick involving Rescuing and Ninian's rings that makes Arenas a bit more of a potential Game Breaker... Though it will still ruin your tactics score.
 * Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Not as much as the Jugdral series, but it does have some popularity in the west due to the fact this is the first Fire Emblem series the western gamers are officially exposed to. As a result; a lot had become spoiled when Shadow Dragon came around.
 * The Elibe saga is also arguably the most popular Fire Emblem games to ROM-hackers. The fact that there exist more tools for hacking the Game Boy Advance games (specifically the Elibe games) should pretty much show that.
 * Memetic Badass: Batta the Beast and Glass of course but Marcus is seen as the Chuck Norris of FE 7 among the fandom.
 * Mind Game Ship: The majority of Legault's supports indicate he likes messing with heads as much as he might like his support partner.
 * That One Level: Chapter 21 in The Binding Blade. Reinforcements arrive every turn for 12 turns, almost all of them in a group of three wyvern riders and one wyvern lord. Also, the boss of the level is incredibly hard if the units brought are not experienced enough. To make things worse, you must finish this within 30 turns, or you cannot go to Chapter 21X and obtain the Apocalypse dark tome necessary for the Good Ending.
 * Battle Before Dawn in The Blazing Blade. Luck-Based Mission, Escort Mission, Ursula's GODDAMNED BOLTING, and Fog of War, which this troper maintains is the stupidest strategy game mechanic EVER.
 * In addition, Hector Mode throws in fighters wielding Swordreavers to take out Jaffar. The damn mission shifts to luck as to whether or not you're keeping Jaffar alive until the end of the chapter.
 * They Changed It, Now It Sucks: The reaction to the magic triangle's change from fire, wind, and thunder to anima, light, and dark. Oddly, this happens in reverse when the 9th game returned to the original triangle.

Character Tropes:
Eliwood of Pherae
 * Iron Woobie: You want to hug him after, and again when ... and then give him a high five for refusing to give up in spite of his grief.
 * What Measure Is a Non-Badass?: Oh, Fan Dumb...
 * The Woobie: With a helping of Iron Woobie on the side.

Hector of Ostia
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: He's a main character, but still... The creators claim that he's one of the series' most popular characters, prompting them to model Ike in "Path of Radiance" off him (both in terms of personality and appearance). He's certainly the most popular of the Elibe Lords. Probably helps that he has such a complex personality and is seen as more intriguing that the more straight-good Eliwood and Lyn (though they also have character flaws).
 * Iron Woobie: When he talks about losing his parents to illness, he comes off as this in demeanour.

Lyndis "Lyn" of Caelin (and the Lorca)
 * Iron Woobie: Refuses to cry even when she wants to.
 * Actually, there are times when poor Lyn sheds Tender Tears, and ALL of them are very justified. First, when she tells Mark of the slaughter of the Lorca, stopping herself and vowing to not shed tears. Second, when and the two are happily reunited. Third, in Hector's route, when . And finally, also in Hector's route,.

Matthew
 * The Woobie: You'll really want to hug him once
 * Iron Woobie: Doesn't let it detract from his mission, though.


 * Iron Woobie: Given some of the events in his backstory.

Sain
 * Crazy Awesome
 * Crowning Moment of Funny: A good percentage of his dialogue.
 * The Woobie: His supports with Rebecca and Priscilla give some insight into the psyche of a guy like him. It's not pretty.

Kent
 * Fan-Preferred Couple: A good deal of people like to ship him with Lyn, though that's not to say Fiora doesn't have her supporters, either.

Florina
 * Moe: Oh so much.

Serra
 * Jerkass Woobie: Haughty, childish, blunt... and very pitiful once you know her backstory.
 * The Scrappy: An in-universe example, even.
 * Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: For those who get certain supports, she becomes a much more likeable character once her past is revealed. Especially her supports with Hector, Oswin, and Lucius... The fanbase also used to hate her in the old days, but she is much more well-received now.

Erk
 * Fan-Preferred Couple: With Priscilla. It helps that
 * Stoic Woobie

Lucius
 * The Woobie: His backstory makes him this. So much.
 * Iron Woobie: He still manages to pull through everything though, even managing to.

Nils
 * The Woobie: Poor, poor kid.

Marcus
 * Tier-Induced Scrappy, though not as much as in The Binding Blade.
 * Rescued from the Scrappy Heap: He can easily solo the first 6 or so chapters, but then the rest of your party quickly becomes very weak. This caused a lot of people to hate him at first. Later, more people noticed that he can rescue anyone in your party (at first), visit villages which are out of the way, and when carrying someone he can knock enemies down to single digit HP without killing them, letting you feed the kills to your weaker party members. Now he's considered one of the most useful characters in the game.

Lowen
 * Die for Our Ship: Often hated by Rebecca/Wil shippers.
 * Despite the fact that Rebecca practically worships Lowen in their supports.

Lady Priscilla of Carleon 
 * Die for Our Ship and Real Women Never Wear Dresses: A girly girl? A female Kidanova? She wanted to marry her brother and still kinda wants so? OMG HOW DARE SHE.
 * The Woobie: The poor girl is a magnet for melancholy.

Canas
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: Canas is still remembered fondly by many fans of the game for his atypical personality and usefulness on the battlefield.
 * He was seventh place in an overall Japanese Fire Emblem popularity poll.
 * Game Breaker: On his own, he's a powerful mage. But since he's the only character besides Athos that can use the devastatingly powerful Luna Tome, he's one of the few characters who can take out the Fire Dragon in one turn.

Legault
 * Stoic Woobie: He looks like an easygoing dude, but his supports with people like Matthew, Jaffar, Isadora, and Nino give a huge insight on the broken man he is underneath. He covers it up with snark and thinly-veiled worry about what will come.

Ninian
 * Die for Our Ship: Oh God, the poor girl.
 * Real Women Never Wear Dresses: Since she's girly, sweet, and not a fighter, rabid Lyn and Fiora fans use this to bash her for getting Eliwood's attention.

Karel
 * Ron the Death Eater: His role is often exaggerated by some fans, particularly those who are unaware of where his character was going, to the point of painting him as a villain protagonist rather than an anti-hero. It also doesn't help that some fanfiction writers portray him this way.

Harken
 * Die for Our Ship: He tends to get a lot of flak for preventing Isadora from hooking up with somebody else, especially Legault.
 * Which is really quite sad.
 * Iron Woobie: Actually to an irresponsible degree.

Nino
 * Moe: Yes, she is the cutest mage ever.
 * The Woobie: One of the games' biggest examples.

 
 * Kick the Dog: He's the one who kills Leila for Ephidel. To Matthew, this is a Moral Event Horizon moment.
 * Stoic Woobie

Vaida
 * Hollywood Homely: Often mocked in fandom as the "ugliest" of the playable ladies in this game, if only due to her scar and the fact that she keeps her hair short.
 * That One Boss/Run or Die: Her first appearance has her stats buffed up to the caps for her class, which makes it highly unlikely that any of your units will survive an encounter with her unless they've been given multiple stat-boosting items and have been raised beyond reasonable expectations for that point in the game. This is not a boss you are expected to beat. She won't approach your units unless they enter her attack range, so staying out of it is the key to keeping everyone alive -- and if you do defeat her there, you won't be able to recruit her later.

Renault(/Renaud)
 * Tier-Induced Scrappy: People dislike how "weak" the character is, given that his magic stat is astoundingly low compared to Serra or Lucius's by that point in the game. His equipment is useful, though, especially that sweet Fortify staff...

Nergal
 * Magnificent Bastard: Has his moments of this.
 * Moral Event Horizon: . Ouch!
 * Moral Event Horizon: . Ouch!

Sonia Reed
 * Complete Monster: She has a quality or two that could be seen as pitiful, but she's at least on the brink of this.
 * Evil Is Sexy: Quite possibly the sexiest woman in the game.
 * Les Yay: The undertones of Sonia and Ursula's master/servant relationship is a surprisingly popular topic for steamy fanart.
 * Moral Event Horizon: She has many Kick the Dog actions in the game, but she most likely officially crosses the line when she
 * She was getting there before when she
 * And then we learn about
 * The Scrappy
 * Love to Hate: She might be this.
 * Love to Hate: She might be this.

Ephidel
 * Complete Monster: One, Two, Three, Four! Four! Four Moral Event Horizon crossings, ah ah ah!
 * Moral Event Horizon: If you don't hate him when he stabs Lord Helman, and you don't hate him when he stabs, you'll definitely hate him when he

Limstella
 * "I am not human. This mind and body are constructs. Yes, as is this sorrow."
 * Jerkass Woobie
 * Jerkass Woobie

Lloyd Reed - the White Wolf
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: The most popular Fang in fandom. It's probably the coat. And the stubble.
 * The Woobie: Unlike his colleagues, he can barely even be called a Jerkass.
 * The Woobie: Unlike his colleagues, he can barely even be called a Jerkass.

Linus Reed - the Mad Dog
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: Though not as much as Lloyd, he has many fans due to being Badass and thanks to his likeable, well-rounded personality.
 * Jerkass Woobie
 * Jerkass Woobie

Ursula - the Blue Crow
 * Ambiguously Gay: She almost seems to have a girl-crush on Sonia.
 * Evil Is Sexy
 * Jerkass Woobie
 * Evil Is Sexy
 * Jerkass Woobie

Jerme - the Death Kite
 * Nightmare Fuel: Oh boy, where do we start.
 * Squick

Heintz
 * Memetic Mutation: Insert your Ketchup jokes here.

Damian
 * Alas, Poor Villain: Arguably.

Zoldam
 * Game Breaker: Carries the all-powerful Luna magic...
 * Breather Boss: ...though he's still simple if you go after him with physical attacks.

Denning
 * Ensemble Darkhorse

Kishuna
 * Alas, Poor Villain
 * Ugly Cute: To some.
 * The Woobie

Lord Darin of Laus
 * Alas, Poor Villain: Even after all he's done, it's not hard to pity him when he's mortally wounded, in shock over his death and desperately calling for Ephidel to help him, trying to reassert his position. It becomes even easier when Nils reveals how Ephidel essentially corrupted him to his current actions.

Bernard
 * Alas, Poor Villain: Arguably.

Lundgren
 * Complete Monster: While many monsters here were either "created" that way or turned evil because of their powers, this guy is evil because of his own greed and racism.

General Eagler
 * Alas, Poor Villain

Batta "the Beast"
 * Memetic Mutation: The above quote led to this.

Glass
 * Ensemble Darkhorse: Despite being a level 3 mercenary with bad stats, he's one of the most beloved characters in the game, mostly due to..
 * Memetic Badass
 * Memetic Mutation: He's one of the two main lords in the hack known as Gheb FE.

Leila
 * Ensemble Darkhorse

Lady Eleanora of Pherae
 * The Woobie: You can't help but feel sorry for the poor woman... her husband vanishes without a trace, and now her only son goes rushing off into danger...

Prince Zephiel of Bern
 * It Was His Sled:
 * The Woobie: For similar reasons as Nino, but even moreso because

King Desmond of Bern
 * Complete Monster: While he does have believable human responses which cause them, his better qualities become warped due to his hatred and jealousy of his own son.
 * Love to Hate: For a character only appearing in several scenes in The Blazing Blade and being dead before The Binding Blade, his actions have sure earned him a lot of hatred. Of course, being responsible for tends to do that kind of thing to a character's reputation.
 * Unintentionally Unsympathetic: He's bitter because he was forced to marry Hellene instead of his one true love and feels inadequate compared to his son. That's still no excuse for treating said son like shit, trying to sabotage his coming of age ceremony so his illegitimate daughter can have the throne, and . Especially when Zephiel has nothing but respect for his father and wants to please him. He even considers Desmond's mistress part of the family!

Fargus
 * Fridge Horror: But, you ask, "Why on Earth would attacking him cause a Nonstandard Game Over?" Well, if you don't get a boat, you can't get to the Dread Isle. If you can't get to the Dread Isle, Nergal's men would in all likelihood easily capture Nils and Ninian. If Nergal has Nils and Ninian, he can open the Dragon's Gate. If the Dragon's Gate is opened, Dragons will come out. If Dragons come out, then, to quote, "The continent will be ash in less than a month." So, by being Too Dumb to Live and attacking the only guy with a boat, well, Sonny Jim, you've just caused the apocalypse. Have a nice day.