This article is about the character. For the currency inShadows of Valentia, seeForge § Currency.

Mark (Japanese:マークMark) is a customizabletactician (Japanese:軍師tactician) fromFire Emblem: The Blazing Blade that acts as the player's persona within the game. The player can change Mark's name, gender, birth month, and—in the Japanese version—blood type; the default settings have Mark as a man named "Mark" who was born in January and has a blood type of A. Acting as the first player-customizable character in the series, the concept of Mark later evolved into theavatar system used in almost every game sinceFire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem.

Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade

Role

Mark's purpose in-game is to act as a way for the player to link with the playable characters; many characters in-game will speak with Mark prior to at least one battle, and the lords in particular speak with Mark quite often, primarily to ask for their advice. Despite this, Mark has no direct effect on gameplay; while Mark does have an overworld sprite, it is not seen in actual battles, and Mark also cannot be placed on the map, preventing them from participating in battles. Of note is that this sprite features what appear to be thick, layered yellow and green (or faction-colored) robes, and Mark's sprite also does not change between genders.

Significant care seems to have been taken to avoid establishing too specific a visual appearance for Mark, likely because they are meant to represent the player, and no visual customization options are available in-game. While Mark can be barely seen in two CG images in Lyn's tale, these shots are mindful to not show their face or make them the focus of the composition; in the first, only the back of Mark's head is visible (and positioned such that even the length of their hair is ambiguous), while in the second, Mark's face is obscured with a hood.

Biography

As the player is supposed to be Mark, intentionally little information is given about them; both Eliwood and Hector note that they know very little about Mark despite having spent many days traveling with them, though the supposed resulting conversation is not actually seen by the player. Regardless, it can be assumed that Mark is a drifter of sorts; the game opens with Lyn finding Mark unconscious in the plains of Sacae, at which time she notes that their name sounds foreign. In addition, one year later, Mark is found in Pherae, where they volunteer to assistEliwood on his journey.

In the end of the game, Mark chooses to continue their travels of Elibe. Just before leaving, however, Eliwood or Hector will designate Mark as the godparent of eitherRoy orLilina. Additionally, depending on the player's ranking, different endings involving Mark are featured in the Epilogue.

Mark appears to have previously worked for an unspecified employer while in or traveling through Bern prior to the time of Eliwood and Hector's tales,^[1] though this is never elaborated on.

Tactician's bonus

Mark is assigned anaffinity based on themonth of birth they are assigned when created. This influences thetactician's bonus, where units who share the same affinity as Mark gain small statistical boosts to theirhit rate andavoid, which grow stronger as Mark's ranking increases throughout the game; additionally, every unit also receives a boost tododge regardless of affinity. For every star displayed in Mark's Rank menu inpreparations, units receive +1 to each calculation they qualify, for a maximum +10 boost per calculation. These bonuses are only present inEliwood's orHector's tales, not inLyn's.

The Japanese versions of the game also feature the ability to choose Mark's blood type, which also factored into determining their affinity. As blood types hold a considerably lesser significance in Western culture, this option wasremoved in localization.

Affinities are assigned to Mark based on birth month and blood type selection as follows:

Affinities by month

International versionsJapanese version

Month	Affinity
January	Light
February	Ice
March	Wind
April	Thunder
May	Wind
June	Anima
July	Fire
August	Dark
September	Fire
October	Anima
November	Ice
December	Thunder

Month	Blood type A	Blood type B	Blood type O	Blood type AB
January	Ice	Wind	Fire	Ice
February	Wind	Fire	Thunder	Anima
March	Ice	Wind	Anima	Thunder
April	Anima	Fire	Thunder	Ice
May	Light	Thunder	Fire	Wind
June	Thunder	Anima	Wind	Fire
July	Anima	Wind	Ice	Thunder
August	Wind	Dark	Fire	Anima
September	Fire	Ice	Anima	Thunder
October	Ice	Anima	Wind	Fire
November	Anima	Thunder	Ice	Ice
December	Thunder	Fire	Wind	Light

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Other effects

In the Japanese version, the five "emblem items" –Emblem Blade,Emblem Lance,Emblem Axe,Emblem Bow, andEmblem Seal – are instead named directly after the save file's tactician (e.g.Mark's Sword orMark's Lance). The four weapons are described as "a tactician's [weapon]" in their description in all regions, and the Emblem Seal's description also cites it as belonging to Mark. This effect is purely cosmetic and otherwise has no impact on gameplay.

Playing without Mark

If the player elects to start the game without Mark by directly starting with either Eliwood's or Hector's stories, the character simply does not appear, and in many scenes, the role of the army's tactician instead falls to eitherMarcus orOswin, as well as sometimes other characters. The usefulness of this, however, is questionable; in addition to not receivingAfa's Drops fromAthos, the player also loses access to Mark's bonus and theEmblem Seal will lose its effects.

Additionally, in the Japanese version, the five "emblem items" will fill Mark's empty name space in both the weapon names and their descriptions with ♡♡.

Fire Emblem Heroes

Role

One version of Mark is present inHeroes: a special young version in a duo with Lyn added in theNo Matter Where update; this version was first available for players to summon starting April 7, 2023. Notably, Mark does not have any dialogue, as Lyn does all of the speaking on their behalf.

Mark: Winds of Hope

Starting stats

Mark: Winds of Hope is only available at 5★ rarity.

Rarity ★★★★★ Weapon type Movement type Duo Hero

Initial StatsLevel 40 Stats Maximum HP 17/18/19 Attack 13/14/15 Speed 2/3/4 Defense 4/5/6 Resistance 10/11/12 Maximum HP 36/40/43 Attack 41/44/48 Speed 24/27/30 Defense 17/20/23 Resistance 43/46/49 {{{content3}}} {{{content4}}} {{{content5}}} {{{content6}}} {{{content7}}} {{{content8}}} {{{content9}}} {{{content10}}} {{{content11}}} {{{content12}}} {{{content13}}} {{{content14}}} {{{content15}}}

Skills Total War Tome Chilling Wind --

Skill set

Skill set
Skill		Unlock	Auto-unlock	SP cost
	Light	★★★★★	★★★★★	50
	Ellight	★★★★★	★★★★★	100
	Shine	★★★★★	★★★★★	200
	Total War Tome	★★★★★	★★★★★	400
	Chilling Wind	★★★★★	★★★★★	100
	Iceberg	★★★★★	—	200
A	Warding Blow 1	★★★★★	—	50
A	Mirror Strike 1	★★★★★	—	120
A	Mirror Strike 2	★★★★★	—	240
A	Remote Mirror	★★★★★	—	300
B	Sabotage Res 1	★★★★★	—	60
B	Sabotage Res 2	★★★★★	—	120
B	Sabotage Res 3	★★★★★	—	240
B	Sabotage A/R 3	★★★★★	—	300
C	Canto Control 1	★★★★★	—	60
C	Canto Control 2	★★★★★	—	120
C	Canto Control 3	★★★★★	—	240

Endings

Lyn's Tale

Mark, the Tactician
Mark leaves Lyn to continue his/her training. He/She plans on traveling throughout Lycia. Lyn refuses to say good-bye, believing in her heart that she will see him/her again.

Eliwood's and Hector's Tales

Mark - Superb Mind (With S or Aranking)
A tactician whose brilliance changed the course of history. Bern and Etruria so desired this skilled mind that they went to war.

Mark - Famed Genius (With B or C ranking)
The tactician vanished after the battle. Bern, Lycia, and Etruria all sought those famed skills, but none ever found the tactician.

Mark - Suspect Mind (With D or E ranking)
To this day, historians look back and question how these incomprehensible strategies ever led to victory.

Quotes

Main article:Mark/Quotes (Heroes)

Other appearances

Fire Emblem Awakening

While Mark does not appear inAwakening, they are referenced in a conversation betweenLyn andRobin upon completing thedownloadable content xenologueSmash Brethren 3. In this conversation, Lyn is convinced that the person in front of her is the same tactician from her adventures; when she learns the character has amnesia, she asks if they have any memories of their previous adventures. If the player says no, Lyn will be disappointed, but stays with Robin to see if they will remember their time together. If the player says yes, then Lyn will be happy that she has been reunited with her master strategist. Robin's child,Morgan, is also named after Mark (based on their default name) in the Japanese version.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS andWii U

Mark appears as an alternate color scheme forRobin inSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS andWii U, based off of their sprite on the map screen.

Flavor text

Meet some of the Heroes entries

Mark: Winds of Hope
A young Mark and Lyn have come to visit Askr! I'm not sure where Mark came from exactly, but I know Lyn was living a nomadic life in Elibe at this age!	Mark's face is almost completely hidden by that big hood. It's a nice hint at the distant, enigmatic look of this future star tactician!	Meanwhile, Lyn's wearing the traditional attire of the Lorca, a nomadic tribe who wander the plains of Sacae. She's been practicing with a sword so that she can become a master swordswoman one day!	Mark and Lyn didn't know each other until they got here, but it already feels as if they've known each other for years. I know their friendship is going to keep them strong!
Closely Associated Characters
Eliwood Hector {{{Related_name3}}} {{{Related_name4}}} {{{Related_name5}}} A sincere noble of Pherae. His friends Lyn and Hector serve him loyally. Aided by Mark, who serves as his tactician. Eliwood's friend and brother of the marquess of Ostia. Prefers action to court formality. Aided by Mark, who serves as his tactician. {{{Related_blurb3}}} {{{Related_blurb4}}} {{{Related_blurb5}}}

Trivia

• According to developer commentary in theFire Emblem Official Staff Book, both Mark as well as the lateravatar concept were inspired by the introduction ofCommanding Officer characters inAdvance Wars, another strategy game for theGame Boy Advance which was developed byIntelligent Systems.^[2]
• TheMage class is assigned to Mark's character data; they are set to appear as such in an unused test map exclusive to the Japanese version.
• For a time it was popularly believed that Mark's affinity increased growth rates by 5% for any character that shared their affinity; this was proven false by setting growths of some characters to 95, then demonstrating that some stats would fail to increase upon level-up.
• As of 2026, Mark is the only playable character inFire Emblem Heroes that is not eligible to be voted inChoose Your Legends.

Etymology and other languages

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Mark

Tactician

Gallery

• 
  Lyn introduces herself to Mark (bottom-right).
• 
  Mark (right) and Lyn meetingKent andSain.
• 
  Mark's map sprite.

Heroes artwork

Character artwork

• 
  Artwork of Mark: Winds of Hope.
• 
  Artwork of Mark: Winds of Hope.
• 
  Artwork of Mark: Winds of Hope.
• 
  Artwork of Mark: Winds of Hope.

Meet some of the Heroes artwork

• 
  Artwork of Mark: Winds of Hope.
• 
  Artwork of Mark: Winds of Hope.
• 
  Artwork of Mark: Winds of Hope.

Other artwork

• 
  Artwork of Mark and several other characters forHeroes's seventh anniversary, drawn byWada Sachiko.

Prototype

Images from theFire Emblem0206 and0219 prototypes.

• 
  Lyn introduces herself to Mark (bottom-right) in the prototype.
• 
  Mark (right) and Lyn meetingKent andSain in the prototype.

Notes

References