| abstract | - The Tactician (軍師 Gunshi, lit. Military Adviser) whose default name is Mark (マーク Māku) is portrayed as a mysterious traveler who is found unconscious on the plains by Lyndis at the beginning of Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade. The tactician was introduced to give the player an actual role in the game and was a means to introduce players into the gameplay mechanics of the Fire Emblem series, of which The Blazing Blade (simply titled Fire Emblem for outside territories) was the first of the series to be launched outside Japan. The tactician is a male named Mark by default at first, though the player can change the name, gender and birth month at the start of the game. They act as the player's avatar and is a non-playable character during the whole game, but will never appear during actual gameplay. Most of the time, they are only addressed by other characters during story sequences. The tactician can be seen, but only during the few scenes involving movement on the battlefield, appearing as a sprite resembling a brown-haired individual wearing green robes over yellow garments. The sprite itself will never change between genders, regardless of the player's choice in the beginning of the game. Despite never having a set appearance or any dialogue in the story, some snippets of the tactician's personality are seen in conversations with other characters. They are compassionate, willing to let Lyn journey with them and helping her take back her land, family and inheritance. They can be rather incredulous at times, shown when Serra wonders why the tactician is giving her a strange look at her "generosity" when offering to heal Erk. They are also willing to go to any lengths for their friends, shown when they even join the final battle against Nergal. Depending on the gender, characters will react on the tactician differently. For example, Sain will try to flirt to both Lyn and the player if the tactician is a female and Florina will hesitate to speak to the player if the tactician is portrayed as a man, but will talk in a more comfortable manner when speaking to a female tactician. Nonetheless, everyone in the army respects the tactician greatly, offering suggestions and putting their faith in his or her orders. The tactician is asked at the end of Eliwood and Hector's story to name their children and to become the godparent of Roy and Lilina, respectively. There are also alternate endings, though they may change based on the playthrough and the ranking of the tactician at the end of the game. At the lowest ranking, the tactician's strategy is viewed as so incomprehensible that historians of Elibe in the far future are puzzled as to how he achieved Eliwood and his army victory with such a strategy. However, at the better rankings, the tactician is highly revered by many because of their skills in tactics. So much in fact, that Bern, Lycia and Etruria are searching for them. At the highest ranking, Bern and Etruria go so far as to start a war in order to procure the skills of this brilliant mind. Regardless, it is implied that the tactician was never found. In Fire Emblem Awakening, at the end of Smash Brethren 3, Lyn speaks to the Avatar. Due to the many similarities between the two tacticians, Lyn believes the Avatar to be her old friend. It may be that the Avatar is a reincarnation of the original tactician in another world. Lyn asks the Avatar if they are in fact her old friend, and the player is given a yes/no choice that Lyn will respond to accordingly.
|
