For fighter info, seeRoy (SSBM),Roy (SSB4), andRoy (SSBU).For other characters with the same name, seeRoy (disambiguation).

Roy
Official artwork of Roy fromFire Emblem: The Binding Blade ,Fire Emblem Awakening, andFire Emblem Heroes.
Universe	Fire Emblem
Debut	Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001, video game debut) Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade (2002, origin series debut)
Smash Bros. appearances	Melee Brawl SSB4 Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	Fire Emblem Engage (2023)
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo GameCube (debut in a video game) Game Boy Advance (debut in home series)
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Place of origin	Lycia
Designed by	Eiji Kaneda
Voice actor	Jun Fukuyama (Melee/SSB4)
Englishvoice actor	Ray Chase (Ultimate)
Japanesevoice actor	Jun Fukuyama (Ultimate)
Article on Fire Emblem Wiki	Roy

Roy (ロイ,Roy) is the protagonist ofFire Emblem: The Binding Blade, the sixth game in theFire Emblem series. He debuted inSuper Smash Bros. Melee as anunlockable character, and returned as a playable character in bothSuper Smash Bros. 4 andSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate after being absent fromSuper Smash Bros. Brawl.

Origin[edit]

The lead character of what becameFire Emblem: The Binding Blade underwent many changes throughout the game's development. Because it was in development at the same time asSuper Smash Bros. Melee, the character was chosen bySuper Smash Bros. series creatorMasahiro Sakurai to be a fighter in it alongsideMarth, anotherFire Emblem character.^[1] At some point this new character was named Roy, and he first appeared in his design closest to his eventualMelee design through a preview ofThe Binding Blade shown at Nintendo Space World 2001.

Melee's Japanese and American releases ended up precedingThe Binding Blade's release by a few months. DespiteFire Emblem games being Japan-exclusive at the time, Roy was still included inMelee's international versions. According to Sakurai, Nintendo of America said "He'll be fun, so let's leave him as is," and he added that the inclusion of him and Marth led to a "reciprocal relationship" in thatMelee benefited from the fanbase's perception of them as fun characters, while theFire Emblem series in turn garnered a much larger audience thanks to their inclusion.^[1]

Roy hails fromLycia, one of six nations of the land ofElibe, and is the son ofEliwood, ruler of the Lycian noble house ofPherae. The game begins with Roy called back home from his studies in the province of Ostia in response to the militant nation of Bern launching invasions of Elibe's other realms. As Eliwood has fallen ill, Roy is entrusted with leading Pherae's army alongside the other armies of the Lycian League against Bern and its ruler,Zephiel, who displays a mysterious thirst for the destruction of human rule. Zephiel's errant younger sister, PrincessGuinivere, escapes Bern and comes to Roy in defiance of her brother's motives, hoping to negotiating a treaty with Lycian nobility. Roy quickly agrees to her proposal to search for a peaceful means to end Bern's aggression.

The war, and their quest to end it, takes Roy and Guinivere across Elibe. They fight the forces of Bern and opportunistic traitors within other countries, unite other lands behind their cause, and learn of Zephiel's ambition to return Elibe to dragon rule to right what he views as a wrong:The Scouring, an ancient war in which humans drove dragons out of Elibe. To achieve their mission, Guinivere entrusts Roy with theFire Emblem, an important gemstone in the culture of Bern which Roy uses to unlock theBinding Blade, a powerful weapon from the age of the Scouring once wielded by the forefather of Bern,Hartmut.

Once he acquires the Binding Blade, Roy invades Bern and defeats Zephiel in his own castle, then—in the game's good ending—embarks on a quest to find Zephiel's allyIdunn, a soulless Demon Dragon created by ancient dragons to fight back against humanity, seeking to undo the damage that the dragons did to her. Regardless of the ending the player achieves, the game ends with Roy returning to Pherae and helping rebuild, eventually succeeding his father as its marquess.

Roy is an upstanding and thoughtful fifteen year-old young man with a natural proclivity to help and support others. While he would prefer to avoid bloodshed and works to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict, he maintains a strong resolve to see peace return to Elibe. He is a talented tactician in his own right, and unusually is perceptive and cunning for his age: he is able to trick a traitorous vassal in his group into exposing himself, and he reacts calmly and tactically to surprises and disturbing news.

According to one of his allies, Roy is somewhat socially awkward, and he is quite oblivious to the obvious feelings that some of the women in his army develop for him and he even feels very uncomfortable and unpleasant with the forwardness of one of them. Roy is similar to Marth with respect to both characterization and gameplay role, and is the only character inThe Binding Blade to be of theLordcharacter class. As the commander of his army, it is necessary for Roy toseize castles and thrones held by enemy armies to complete chapters and progress in his quest, but if he is defeated in battle, the game is over and the player must restart from their last save point.

Intelligent Systems followed upThe Binding Blade with a prequel set twenty years prior to Roy's adventures in Elibe:Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade (originally released outside Japan simply as "Fire Emblem"), the franchise's seventh installment and the first internationally-released one. The game stars Roy's father Eliwood, whose somewhat older resemblance to Roy was meant to appeal to players ofMelee; Roy himself appears as a five-year-old child in the game's epilogue. The game's story is laid out with ten introductory chapters starring one of Eliwood's allies,Lyn, meant to introduce players to theFire Emblem style of tactical play, with the other 20+ chapters containing the main story. Though it is a prequel,The Blazing Blade is structured so that no knowledge ofThe Binding Blade is required to understand its story.

Although he did not appear in a new game for nine years afterThe Blazing Blade, Roy started making regular appearances with Marth andIke in variousFire Emblem crossovers and spinoffs in 2012 when he appeared as a bonus SpotPass and DLCEinherjar inFire Emblem Awakening. In 2017, Roy's design was updated to reflect his modernized appearance inSuper Smash Bros. 4, combining elements fromThe Binding Blade andAwakening:Fire Emblem Heroes featured him as a summonable hero (with his first variant more closely resembling hisSuper Smash Bros. 4 design instead of his original design fromThe Binding Blade), debuting Ray Chase as his English voice actor, andFire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia allows players to summon an illusory phantom of Roy using hisSuper Smash Bros.amiibo. Roy has also made frequent appearances in theFire Emblem Cipher trading card game from 2016 up until its discontinuation in 2020. Most recently,Fire Emblem Engage features Roy as one of the game's numerous Emblems, ethereal clones of protagonists from various otherFire Emblem games who dwell within special rings.

InSuper Smash Bros. Melee[edit]

As a playable character[edit]

Roy, as he appears inSuper Smash Bros. Melee.

Roy makes hisSuper Smash Bros. series debut (and by extension, his debut in any game) as anunlockable character inSuper Smash Bros. Melee. He can be unlocked in two ways: beating eitherClassic Mode orAdventure Mode asMarth on any difficulty, or playing 900Versus Mode matches. He was added as aclone of Marth due toThe Binding Blade nearing the end of its development at the time.^[1][2] Roy is voiced byJun Fukuyama; the character was known as "Ike" during the recording sessions.^[1] Like Marth, he only speaks Japanese in all versions ofMelee.

Roy wields theBinding Blade (referred to as the Sword of Seals inMelee), which is used for almost every one of his moves, aside from his grabs and throws. In contrast to Marth'sFalchion, the Binding Blade is most powerful near its hilt instead of at its tip.^[1][2] True to its depiction inThe Binding Blade, it also has a multitude offlame-based attacks. Roy's neutral special move,Flare Blade, is a chargeable sword strike akin to Marth'sShield Breaker. However, it can be charged up to 5 seconds, after which it will unleash an explosion powerful enough toone-hit KO virtually any opponent, although Roy receives 10%recoil damage as a side effect.

Roy's side special move,Double-Edge Dance, functions like Marth'sDancing Blade in that it is a series of up to four sword slashes determined by the number of times the special button is pressed and which direction the control stick is pressed during each swipe. Roy's up special move,Blazer, deals more damage, hits multiple times and emits flames compared to Marth'sDolphin Slash, yet it is also slower.^[2] Lastly, Roy's down special move,Counter,^[1] functions similarly to Marth's: it has a larger damage multiplier (1.5×) and is thus capable of easily KOing opponents who use a sufficiently strong attack, yet it has more start-up, a shorter duration,^[2] and a sourspot.

Due to being aclone of Marth, Roy's mobility and attack style are largely similar, yet their specifications are different. Roy has a relatively fastdashing speed, a fast and long dash-dance, and a very fastfalling speed;^[2] altogether, these make hisshort hop aerials almost as proficient as Marth's. Double-Edge Dance is very useful in battle, thanks to its various combo routes. Roy's forward smash andFlare Blade are powerful KOing options and even decent atedge-guarding, while his grab range is deceptively long like Marth's. However, Roy is held back by a slew of flaws. Although he shares Marth's weaknesses of an unimpressive recovery and lack of a projectile, Marth overwhelmingly outclasses him because of Roy's glaring susceptibility to combos and juggles, overall low damage output, and the Binding Blade's notoriously ineffective hitboxes.

Roy and Marth were a primary subject of the "tier wars" at GameFAQs that lasted between 2003 and 2004, determining which among these two very similar fighters was the better character, while Marth ultimately won by a very large margin. This has been reflected in his ranking of 21st out of 26 on the current tier list, which places him in the D tier and renders him a low tier character. Despite being universally considered an inferior clone of Marth, Roy developed a loyal fanbase nonetheless.

Trophies[edit]

In line with the other playable characters, Roy as a playable character is featured on three trophies: a normal trophy acquired by beating the Classic Mode with Roy on any difficulty, and Smash Red and Smash Blue trophies are won by beating the Adventure and All-Star Modes, respectively.

Roy's Classic Mode trophy inMelee

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 leadership of Pharae's armies. After his fateful meeting with the Princess Guinevere, his destiny became inextricably linked with the fate of the entire continent.

Fire Emblem (Japan Only)

Future Release

Roy's Adventure Mode trophy inMelee

RoySMASH

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.

B: Flare Blade

Smash B: Double-Edge Dance

Roy's All-Star Mode trophy inMelee

RoySMASH

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.

Up & B: Blazer

Down & B: Counter

InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]

Roy is one of the five playable characters inMelee who did not return as a playable character inBrawl. His only appearance in the game is as a sticker of his official artwork fromFire Emblem: The Binding Blade. Roy is also referenced in the title of "Winning Road - Roy's Hope", a theme from his game that can be played onCastle Siege.

Unfinished data[edit]

While Roy does not appear as a playable character inBrawl, data of what appears to be the character has been uncovered through hacking as ef_roy.pac., alongsideDr. Mario andMewtwo. The exact reason why the data is included is unknown, though it is commonly believed that Roy was planned to be included as a playable character before being cut for unknown reasons. Of particular note is that the data for Roy includes his own unused fanfare, as "snd_bgm_Z39_FROY", further indicating that he was intended to be playable inBrawl.

Sticker[edit]

Name	Game	Effect	Fighter(s)
Roy	Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade	AttackSlash+024 Attack +24	All characters

Roy (Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade)

InSuper Smash Bros. 4[edit]

As a playable character[edit]

Roy, as he appears inSuper Smash Bros. 4.

Although Roy did not return as a playable character in the base version ofSuper Smash Bros. 4, the rearranged song "Winning Road - Roy's Hope" fromThe Binding Blade returns fromBrawl forSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Due to data mining of update 1.0.6, Roy's presence as a playable character within the game's files wasleaked in mid-April 2015.^[3] He was then made available asdownloadable content on June 14th, 2015 alongsideLucas andRyu.^[4] Jun Fukuyama reprised his role as Roy's voice actor via new lines that mimic his lines inMelee.^[1] Roy is one of five characters that only speak Japanese in allSSB4 versions, alongside Marth,Takamaru, thePrince of Sablé, andCloud.

In the transition toSSB4, Roy underwent a considerable overhaul, both aesthetically and mechanically. Due to Masahiro Sakurai's desire to modernize Roy's design, his attire became a combination of his design fromThe Binding Blade and hismercenary design fromFire Emblem Awakening. In reference toSSB4's co-lead developerBandai Namco, Sakurai jokingly referred to this updated design as having "a sort ofTales-ish appearance."^[5]

Due to acknowledging Marth's superiority to Roy inMelee, Sakurai sought to modify Roy's attributes and moveset.^[5] To this end, several of Roy's animations now consist of him swinging the Binding Blade in a reverse grip,^[1] while the Binding Blade itself is drastically stronger.^[1][5] In addition, Roy's already excellentdashing speed is even faster, and unlike inMelee, he now boasts an extremely fastair speed. Due to these changes, Roy was effectively de-cloned into a semi-clone of Marth.

Roy also received his ownFinal Smash; in his case, it isCritical Hit.^[5] UnlikeMarth andLucina's versions, however, Roy performs it similarly to hiscritical hit animation inThe Binding Blade: he remains stationary as he swings the Binding Blade in a circular motion, then performs a downward slash to generate a powerful explosion.^[5]

Thanks to his increased overall damage output, modified frame data, and his updated moves being much stronger than his previous ones, Roy is much more capable at dealing damage and KOing. Roy was also buffed indirectly via gameplay changes: the changes to hitstun canceling grant his modified down throw respectable combo potential, the changes to shield mechanics significantly improve his sweetspots' safety on shield, andrage supplements his already impressive power.

However, the Binding Blade's inversetipper mechanic still requires Roy to get dangerously close to opponents to strike with the sword's sweetspot, which is counter-intuitive for a swordsman. Aside from this, Roy also received direct and indirect nerfs: his reworked animations decreased the ranges on some moves, while the weakening ofdash-dancing and the removal of bothwavedashing andL-canceling weakened his approach.

Due to achieving decent results in spite of below-average representation, Roy is ranked 41st out of 54 on the currenttier list. This places him in the E tier, and renders him a mid-tier character.

As an alternate costume[edit]

Marth's purple alternate costume inSuper Smash Bros. 4.

Marth has a newalternate costume based on Roy's design inThe Binding Blade.

Trophies[edit]

Roy's trophy inSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Roy's trophy inSuper Smash Bros. for 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.

:Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade (2002 (JP))

Roy (Alt.)'s trophy inSuper Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Roy (Alt.)'s trophy inSuper Smash Bros. for Wii U

Roy (Alt.)

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.

:Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade (2002 (JP))

InSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]

As a playable character[edit]

Roy, as he appears inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Roy returns as a playable character inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate.^[6] Like his fellowFire Emblem fighterMarth, Roy is now fully voiced in English outside of the Japanese version, with Ray Chase reprising his role fromFire Emblem Heroes.

Presumably due to his mid tier status inSuper Smash Bros. 4, Roy has been significantly buffed in the transition toUltimate. He benefits immensely from universal changes, arguably more so than any other fighter: the standardization of 3 frame jumpsquats and general reduction of landing lag greatly improve the utility of his powerful aerial attacks, while the return of dash dancing and expanded utility of dash canceling does much the same for his strong grounded attacks. The Binding Blade's hilt sweetspot is also much larger, his attacks' already high knockback has increased even further, and his movement and frame data are both faster. Overall, these changes collectively improved Roy's tournament representation and results to a significant degree, with most players agreeing that he has become a high tier fighter, where he ranks 15th out of 82 on thetier list.

Spirit[edit]

Names in other languages[edit]

Language	Name
Japanese	ロイ,Roy
English	Roy
French	Roy
German	Roy
Spanish	Roy
Italian	Roy
Chinese (Simplified)	罗伊,Roy
Chinese (Traditional)	羅伊,Roy
Korean	로이,Roy
Dutch	Roy
Russian	Рой
Portuguese	Roy

Trivia[edit]

• Roy's official artwork pose for bothMelee andSSB4 resembles hisneutral pose as aGreat Lord when wielding theBinding Blade inFire Emblem: The Binding Blade.
• Due toMelee launching beforeFire Emblem: The Binding Blade, Roy is one of two characters who can claim aSuper Smash Bros. game as their debut game. The other isMr. Game & Watch, who is a composite of older Game & Watch characters with original elements added.
• Roy is the only character whose moveset is based on Marth's that does not wield a variation of theFalchion, and the only one to not have any connection to Marth in theFire Emblem games.
  • Roy is also the only character to transition from a clone of a character (Marth) to the basis of a clone (Chrom).
• Roy'scrowd cheer, "Roy's our boy!", has become popular amongSuper Smash Bros. fans, and is often used as a meme. The cheer's popularity was even touched upon inFire Emblem Heroes, in which the Brave Lion variant of Roy says it as one of his voice clips.^[7]
• Prior toUltimate, Roy,Toon Link andYoung Link were the only swordsmen in theSuper Smash Bros. series whose swords consistently produced a punch/kick sound effect instead of a slashing sound effect for the majority of their moves.
• Roy and Lucas are the only two fighters whose intended debut games have not been released outside of Japan. Additionally, they both come from games that had long development cycles and transitioned from the Nintendo 64 to the Game Boy Advance.
• Roy's English voice actor, Ray Chase, has said in interviews that Roy was one of hismains (the other beingDr. Mario) in previousSuper Smash Bros. games before he was cast in the role.^[8]
• Roy is currently the only fighter available asDLC at any point to lack a projectile attack.
• As ofSSB4, Roy shares his name withRoy Koopa, another playable character, making it the only repeated name in theSuper Smash Bros. roster. However, Roy Koopa is analternate character that shares a slot withBowser Jr. instead of being a full-fledged character.
  • Owing to this, both of them are seen together in official screenshots several times, such as theCongratulations screen of Roy's Classic Mode route inUltimate.
• Roy,Pit, andPalutena are the only characters who received a modernized redesign in theSuper Smash Bros. series that would be later featured in their respective home series.
  • Roy is the only non-Kid Icarus character with this distinction.
• In thePalutena's Guidance about Roy inUltimate,Viridi says that Roy spends his days in Ostia as a noble whileFire Emblem: The Binding Blade states that he does so in Pherae.

References[edit]

v • d • e Fire Emblem universe
Fighters	Marth (SSBM ·SSBB ·SSB4 ·SSBU) ·Roy (SSBM ·SSB4 ·SSBU) ·Ike (SSBB ·SSB4 ·SSBU) ·Lucina (SSB4 ·SSBU) ·Robin (SSB4 ·SSBU) ·Corrin (SSB4 ·SSBU) ·Chrom (SSBU) ·Byleth (SSBU)
Assist Trophies	Lyn ·Black Knight ·Tiki
Stages	Castle Siege ·Arena Ferox ·Coliseum ·Garreg Mach Monastery
Item	Killing Edge
Other	Sothis
Trophies,Stickers andSpirits	Trophies (SSBM ·SSBB ·SSB4) ·Stickers ·Spirits
Music	Brawl ·SSB4 ·Ultimate
Masterpieces	Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light ·Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem

• Characters
• Fire Emblem universe
• Roy
• Trophies (SSBM)
• Trophies (SSB4-3DS)
• Trophies (SSB4-Wii U)
• Stickers
• Spirits

• Featured articles