| Roy | |
|---|---|
| Fire Emblem character | |
 | |
| First game | Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001) Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade (2002) |
| Designed by | Eiji Kaneda |
| Voiced by | EN:Ray Chase[1] JP:Jun Fukuyama[1] |
Roy (Japanese:ロイ,Hepburn:Roi) is a character from Nintendo and Intelligent Systems'Fire Emblemvideo game series, who first appeared in the 2001crossoverfighting gameSuper Smash Bros. Melee, along with fellowFire Emblem characterMarth. He is thelead character ofFire Emblem: The Binding Blade, the son of Eliwood and heir presumptive of Pherae who eventually becomes a major military leader. He has also appeared in otherFire Emblem games. The inclusion of Roy and Marth inMelee is cited as one of the reasons Nintendo started localizing the series for international distribution.
Roy was designed by Eiji Kaneda and voiced byJun Fukuyama in Japanese and byRay Chase in English. The designers intended Roy to be a free-spirited character who would appeal to younger players, which they felt contrasted with earlier titles' protagonists. His personality differs from his appearance inMelee, whereSuper Smash Bros. creatorMasahiro Sakurai believed that he was an energetic and internally strong character, only to discover that this was not the case after playing the game.
Roy received negative reception for his appearance inThe Binding Blade, with critics noting his poor gameplay attributes. His inclusion inSuper Smash Bros. was also criticized due to his similarity to otherFire Emblem characters also included, as well as his similarity to them in terms of gameplay.
Roy is the lead character ofFire Emblem: The Binding Blade.[2] The story begins when King Zephiel, ruler of the kingdom of Bern, begins invading neighboring nations, added by the Dark Priestess Idunn. Roy, the son of Pherae's ruling marquess Eliwood, returns home, becoming assigned to defend against Zephiel in his father's place due to illness. Along his quest, he is joined by several allies, including princess Lilina and his retainers, Marcus and Merlinus. He later learns that Idunn was forced to fight to destroy humanity by Zephiel. The player can find legendary weapons and the titular Binding Blade in optional chapters. If all are obtained, Roy is able to defeat Idunn without killing her, freeing her from being under control.[citation needed] The next installment afterThe Binding Blade,Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, is a prequel featuring a younger Eliwood as one of its protagonists. Roy appears during the game's epilogue, where Eliwood reunites with his comrade Hector and their respective children are introduced to each other. Roy is available as a playable character inFire Emblem Awakening as DLC.[3] Roy also appears inFire Emblem Heroes.[4] InNorth AmericanFire Emblem character popularity polls running up to the release ofFire Emblem Heroes, Roy was ranked the second favorite male character behind Ike .[5] He later appears as an Emblem character inFire Emblem Engage.[6]
Roy's first video game appearance was in 2001'sSuper Smash Bros. Melee, where his gameplay was based onMarth's, anotherFire Emblem character featured in the game. He is more powerful and slower than Marth.[7] He was later reintroduced into the series asdownloadable content (DLC) forSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS andWii U after being absent fromSuper Smash Bros. Brawl.[8][9] His inclusion in theWii U andNintendo 3DS entries was reportedly leaked, alongsideRyu.[9] He also appears as part of the base roster in the series' 2018 entry,Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. To promote his appearance inSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, anamiibo figure of Roy was featured as an exclusive release atGameStop.[10] In 2019,plushies depicting Roy and otherFire Emblem characters were released.[11]
Roy appears in theFire Emblem: The Champion's Blademanga, which was first published prior to the release ofThe Binding Blade and takes place concurrently with the events of the game.[12]
Roy was created for the cancelledNintendo 64 entry in theFire Emblem series, which had a long development cycle. He was originally named Ike, and was one of only two characters kept when what becameBinding Blade restarted development in 2000.[13] Roy's character was designed to be free-spirited and emphatic to appeal to younger players and a wider audience, which they believed contrasted earlier titles' protagonists.[14] The renamed Roy was first revealed atNintendo Space World 2001, where a demo ofBinding Blade was being shown.[15] His final design forBinding Blade was created by Eiji Kaneda.[16] At 15, Roy is the youngestFire Emblem protagonist.[2]
DespiteBinding Blade intending to be released first, delays caused his game to release afterSuper Smash Bros. Melee, which featured Roy as a playable character.[17] When developingSuper Smash Bros. Melee,Masahiro Sakurai wanted to include more characters who could cross blades withLink fromThe Legend of Zelda due to his personal preference for sword-fighting characters and campaigned for Roy's inclusion.[18] He was added as a character based on fellowFire Emblem protagonistMarth. Sakurai explained that he viewed Roy as an energetic and internally strong character compared to Marth, leading him to designing Roy's sword to do more damage at the base as opposed to Marth's, where more damage was done at the tip. He remarked that, despite his initial impression of Roy from a description of the character, he found that he was nothing like that after playingBinding Blade, exclaiming that his characterization of Roy was not due to a misunderstanding of his character.[17]
Due to theFire Emblem series being only available in Japan, whether they should be included in the English release ofSuper Smash Bros. Melee was called into question, with Sakurai noting how unusual it was to have characters speak Japanese in English releases at the time. Sakurai stated that there were difficulties getting Marth to remain in the English version, but he pushed hard for his inclusion due to believing he would be fun. He added that there was more dispute over Roy, with Sakurai discussing removal of him with Nintendo of America, though they stated that he would be fun, so he should remain.[17] Their popularity inSuper Smash Bros. Melee led to Nintendo releasing futureFire Emblem games outside of Japan.[19] The first of these wasFire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, which has a younger Roy designed by Sachiko Wada.[13]
Roy is voiced in Japanese byJun Fukuyama, three years after Fukuyama's voice acting debut. Sakurai noted that his vocal performance had changed slightly fromSuper Smash Bros. Melee to his recording session forSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS andWii U, with him having more difficulty doing higher-pitched sounds.[17]
Roy's appearance inMelee alongsideMarth brought further exposure to theFire Emblem series outside of Japan, and was cited as a reason Nintendo began to localize and releaseFire Emblem games internationally,[20] beginning with the seventh title in the series.[21] Due to popular demand from Japanese fans, Roy was added inSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as a DLC character.[22] Chris Carter fromDestructoid welcomed Nintendo's decision to reintroduce Roy and considered him his "personal favorite", although he found that the character played quite differently inSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U compared to his previous iteration inMelee or to otherFire Emblem characters.[23] Lucas M. Thomas fromIGN felt his moveset inMelee was too similar to Marth's, preferringIke replacing him inSuper Smash Bros. Brawl.[24] Roy was criticized alongside otherFire Emblem characters in theSuper Smash Bros. series byKotaku writerCecilia D'Anastasio alongLucina, Marth andChrom, mainly due to D'Anastasio believing they all fit the same sword fighter archetype.[25]Die Hard Game Fan writer Aileen Coe stated that, with the release ofFire Emblem: Blazing Sword, fans of Marth and Roy inSuper Smash Bros. were confused by their absence, assuming that the character Eliwood was Roy.[26]
Roy was the subject of criticism for his low strength inBinding Blade, withHardcore Gaming 101 writer Kurt Kalata feeling that all of his popularity was fromSuper Smash Bros. Melee due to his lack of appearances and his comparative weakness to characters likeIke,Hector, andSigurd.[27]Real Sound writer Kensuke Sakata noted that he had poor growth rates for his stats, including strength and speed, causing him to be used less, especially during the middle of the game where enemies and allies grow more powerful.[28] Mike Moehnke ofRPGamer criticized his weakin-game attributes for the majority of the game, feeling that this detracted from an otherwise satisfactory gameplay experience.[29] FellowRPGamer writer Sam Wachter felt that his late promotion in the game was a contributing factor to his issues.[30] Other critics agreed, with Marianne Penn ofTheGamer calling him among the series' weakest and felt that was a contrast to his role in theSuper Smash Bros. series. Despite these gameplay criticisms, Penn felt that Roy is a decent character in terms of personality, and that his popularity is "rightfully warranted" in spite of his glaring flaws.[31]
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