Roy (Fire Emblem)

Roy
Roy's artwork from Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade
Series	Fire Emblem
First Appearance	Super Smash Bros. Melee (non-canon) Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade (home series)
Age	15
Year Created	2001
Created by	Intelligent Systems
Voiced by (English)	Ray Chase
Voiced by (Japanese)	Jun Fukuyama

Roy is a character from the Fire Emblem series, who made his debut as the main protagonist of Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade for the Game Boy Advance, released only in Japan.

Most Americans and Europeans were first introuduced to him in Super Smash Bros. Melee, where him and Marth were playable characters, marking the first time people from west got a glimpse of the Fire Emblem series.

His appearance in Melee was technically his frst appearance in a video game. His Melee cameo was an advertisement for his GBA game, which came out very soon after. His father, Eliwood, appeared in the first Fire Emblem game released outside of Japan, Fire Emblem, titled Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade in Japan.

He was later cut in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Many people thought that he was replaced by Ike, but this probably wasn't true. Hacking shows that Roy was planned to be in that game. He later returned in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U via DLC, sporting a large redesign. He was also confirmed to appear in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in the E3 2018 Direct.

Fire Emblem series

Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade

Roy is the lead character of Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade. The story begins when King Zephiel, ruler of the kingdom of Bern, finishes the brutal conquest of Ilia and Sacae and sets his sights on Lycia. In a small region called Pherae, Roy, the son of Pherae's ruling marquess Eliwood, is forced to return home when Bern begins its invasion. As Eliwood is unable to battle due to illness, Roy is assigned command of Lycia's army. Eventually, Roy assumes command of the army of Etruria.

Fire Emblem Awakening

Two versions of Roy are playable as bonus units in Awakening: a free one through SpotPass as part of the Binding Blade character set, and a paid one from the DLC chapter package Champions of Yore 2.

Roy also appears as an enemy in six DLC chapters, and as a neutral unit in the first installments of the Smash Brethren and Rogues & Redeemers packs.

Fire Emblem Heroes

There are five different variations of Roy available to Heroes, all of which are tied to his storyline appearance in The Binding Blade. Roy gets to speak English for the first time in the series. The normal variation of Roy is one of the characters available to be summoned by players from the game's initial launch. A brave variation of Roy was made available on August 31, 2017 as part of the summoning event surrounding the launch of the Brave Heroes update. A Valentine's variation of Roy was made available on February 9, 2018 as part of the summoning event surrounding the launch of the Love Abounds update. A variation of Roy termed "Blazing Lion" was first made available to players on February 27, 2019 as the game's fifteenth Legendary Hero. A groom variation of Roy was made available on May 20, 2022 as part of the summoning event surrounding the launch of the Bridal Blossoms update; this variation is a Harmonized Hero paired with Eliwood, and carries a dual-credit with The Blazing Blade as such.

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

In this game, Roy appears as an illusionary likeness summonable by Mila's Turnwheel and the Roy amiibo. Somehow, he is able to defeat Duma, despite not wielding a Falchion like Alm or Marth.

Fire Emblem Engage

Roy appears as an Emblem character.

Super Smash Bros. series

Roy appears in Super Smash Bros. Melee as a playable character and Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a sticker. He returns in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U as a DLC character with his design reflecting his Master Lord promotion mixed with his Awakening redesign as an Einherjar. He later appeared in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, gaining an English voice actor and also had an Echo Fighter in the form of Chrom.

Attacks

In his original incarnation in Melee, he played very similarly to Marth with the two main differences being that Roy is more powerful near the hilt and a significant portion of his moves are fire-based. When he was brought back in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U, he was reworked drastically. Roy's inverse-tipper mechanic was brought out more with improved mobility and damage. His specials are:

• Neutral Special - Flare Blade
• Side Special - Double-Edge Dance
• Up Special - Blazer
• Down Special - Counter
• Final Smash - Critical Hit

Trophy Descriptions

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Roy

"The son of the lord of Pharae Principality, Roy was studying in Ostia when the Kingdom of Bern invaded League of Lycia. His father fell ill at this time, so Roy assumed lordship of Pharae's armies. After his fateful meeting with the Princess Guinevere, his destiny became inextricably linked with the fate of the entire continent."

Smash Red

"While Roy's moves are well balanced, he's a little on the slow side, and doesn't excel at midair combat. His blade, the Sword of Seals, gives him excellent reach, and makes his Double-Edge Dance slightly different than Marth's Dancing Blade. When it's fully charged, Roy's destructive Flare Blade delivers an instant KO."

Smash Blue

"Roy's blade is different than Marth's; he does the most damage hitting with the center of his sword. So, a fearless advance into the arms of his foe is Roy's best bet. Blazer is a bit slower than Marth's Dolphin Slash, but it's still a mighty attack that sets anyone it strikes aflame. Roy's attack after using Counter differs slightly from Marth's."

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS/Wii U

Roy

"Roy, the main character of Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, returns for the first time since Melee! In The Binding Blade, Roy led the troops of Pherae into battle in his ailing father’s stead, and now he brings his speed and talent for short-range combat into this game. His sword, the Sword of Seals, is uniquely powerful at the base of the blade."

Alt.

"His sword, the Sword of Seals, is uniquely powerful at the base of the blade. Flare Blade creates an explosion in front of Roy that can be charged by holding down the button. Take care, though, because at the highest levels of charge, Roy himself will catch fire and take damage! His side special, Double-Edge Dance, changes for each strike after the first depending on whether you hold up or down while attacking."

Critical Hit

"For Roy’s Final Smash, he traps enemies in a circular swing of the blade, brings it up behind him, and then, in a blast of fire, brings the blade down for a powerful finisher! The downward attack is powerful on its own but doesn’t have much range, so make sure you’re close enough to hit your enemies with the full combo and really seal their fate!"

Trivia

• Roy and Leif are the youngest main characters in the Fire Emblem series; in their main games, both of them are 15 years old.
• Due to Melee launching before Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, Roy is the only playable character whose debut occurred in the Super Smash Bros. series instead of his own home series.
  • Roy is the also only Fire Emblem character to appear in non-Fire Emblem media before his own Fire Emblem game debuted.
• Roy's English voice actor, Ray Chase said in interviews that Roy was one of his mains (the other being Dr. Mario) in previous Super Smash Bros. games before he was casted in the role in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
• Roy's crowd cheer, "Roy's our boy!", has become popular among Super Smash Bros. fans, and is often used as a meme. The cheer's popularity was even touched upon in Fire Emblem Heroes, in which the Brave Lion variant of Roy says it as one of his voice clips.
• In Super Smash Bros. Melee, unlike every other character, Roy's files and debug menu listings do not reference him specifically: he is instead referred to generically as "EMBLEM" in many places, most prominently the debug menu and his texture files refer to him with the two-letter codename "Fe", an obvious abbreviation of "Fire Emblem". This suggests that Roy was chosen as the Marth clone relatively late in development.

External links

• Roy at Fire Emblem Wiki, the Fandom wiki on Fire Emblem.
• Roy on Fire Emblem Wiki