Super Smash Bros. Fighters – Fire Emblem series – 01 Marth

Debut

In the Fire Emblem series: Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light (1990 in Japan, 2020 in US)
In the Super Smash Bros. series: Super Smash Bros. Melee (2001)

Boxing Ring Title: The Hero-King

Theme Song: Shadow Dragon Medley

Marth is the main protagonist of Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, and its sequel Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem. This also includes their remakes, which are titled Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem: Heroes of Light and Shadow respectively.

In Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, Marth lives in the Kingdom of Altea with his father Cornelius, his mother Liza, and his sister Elice. Marth spends most of his days practicing his sword techniques, as well as his various studies.

One day, a massive war breaks out between Altea and the Kingdom of Dolhr! King Cornelius went off to try and stop it with some assistance from the Kingdom of Gra, but Gra betrayed them. Gra's soldiers then stormed Altea to take over. Thanks to Elice, Marth and a few remaining soldiers would manage to escape, where they begin to sail to the Kingdom of Talys, who's ruler was a friend of Marth's father. As they make their getaway, Marth swears to return to Altea one day to free his homeland, avenge his fallen father, and rescue his sister and mother.

Two years later, Marth and his army have spent their time training to get stronger. Marth would also befriend the Talys's princess, Caeda, and the two would grow quite fond of one another. When a group of Pirates invaded Talys, Marth and his army would manage to fight them off, after which the king encouraged Marth to head off to Aurelis to find allies so that he can reclaim Altea. As they approached Aurelis, Marth and his army discovered that Aurelis was in the process of being conquered by Dohlr! At the request of Princess Nyna and her gaurdian Hardin, Marth and his army head off to free the people.

Once Aurelis was secured, Nyna would entrust Marth with the mythical Fire Emblem, and the forces that were resisting Dolhr unite under Marth. Having dubbed their new army "The Archanean League" Marth and his army would head off to reclaim Archanea. During his travels, Marth would meet a man named Bantu, who tells him he's looking for the manakete named Tiki, who is the last of the divine Naga clan. He decides to journey with Marth to find her. Marth would later be told to look for the legendary blade - the Falchion - in order to defeat Dohlr's ruler Medeus, an evil and twisted manakete.

After freeing the kingdom of Achanea, Marth and his army head to Gra, not only to try and find the legendary blade, but also to exact revenge on its king, Jiol, for betraying Marth's father. Although they managed to bring Gra down, Falchion was nowhere in sight. Marth 's advisor, Malledus, suggests they head to Khadein, theorizing about the possibility that Gharnef has it.

The trip to Khadein proved fruitless, as neither the Falchion or Gharnef were there. However, Marth receives a telepathic message from a White Mage named Gotoh, who informs Marth that Gharnef did take the Falchion. However, trying to reclaim it from him now would be foolish, as Gharnef has learned a powerful magic spell called "Imhullu" which protects him from all harm. The only thing that can break the spell is the "Starlight" spell, which requires the Starsphere and the Lightsphere to make it. With this info, Marth decides it's better to head off and reclaim Altea from Morzas.

As Marth confronts Morzas, he received terrible news from the villain: Morzas has not only personally killed his mother, but handed his sister off to Gharnef! Despite this heavy news, Marth manages to slay Morzas and free Altea. Nyna insists that Marth should stop and rest for a bit, but Marth chooses to put on a brave face and and greet his people of Altea, who are all joyful at their freedom.

Afterwards, Marth and his army would head off to the Fane of Raman to try and find the Starsphere and the Lightsphere, all while a group called the Sable Order would try and stop them. Along the way, they come across Tiki, a Manakete who's been napping for quite some time. Before Marth and friends had arrived, Gharnef tried to manipulate her by whispering lies into her ears while she slept. This plan was working until Bantu woke her up. After which, Tiki joined Marth's army.

Managing to find both of the orbs, Marth decides it would be good to defeat Grust before heading off to free Macedon. Once Grust falls, Marth heads to Macedon and helps Princess Minerva overthrow her brother, Michalis, who has turned on everyone due to falling for Gharnef's lies. During this, Marth manages to find the humble abode of Gotoh, who uses the spheres Marth found to make the Starlight spell! With Michalis's defeat, Marth and his army march to Thabes to confront Gharnef.

Making their way into Gharnef's castle, the villain would "thank" Marth for obtaining the various powerful weapons for him, as well as killing off his competition. Gharnef then creates various illusions of himself and sends them off to kill Marth and his army!

Despite the bombardment of fake illusions, Marth and another member of his army would manage to get past them and find the real Gharnef. Said member of Marth's army uses the Starlight spell to make Gharnef vulnerable, allowing Marth to kill Gharnef. With that, Marth not only reclaims the Falchion blade, but also reunites with his sister, Elice!

With no other opposition to oppose them, Marth and his army marched towards Dolhr Keep to challenge the evil dragon, Medeus. With the Falchion in hand, Marth manages to defeat Medeus and end his reign of terror!

At the end of the war, spurred by Nyna’s urging, Marth would finally confess his feelings to Princess Caeda, to which she reciprocates. Sometime afterwards, Marth would return the Fire Emblem to Princess Nyna as well.

One year later. the events of Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem occur. Marth has spent most of his time with the reconstruction of Altea, which is nearing completion. Additionally, Caeda has become his fiancée, and the two plan to wed very soon. However, on the day of their wedding, Marth receives a letter from his old friend, Hardin - who had married Nyna and became Emperor of Archnea - asking Marth to stop an incoming insurrection at Grust. Thus, the wedding was put on hold.

Upon arriving, Marth meets with Lang, the general occupying the force in the region, and a rather malicious and rude individual. Lang informs Marth that the plan is to reclaim the two royal children of Grust, Princess Yuliya and Prince Jubelo, and kill General Lorenz, who is leading the rebellion. Since Lorenz was a former ally of Marth's this causes the Hero-King to question the situation. Upon confronting Lorenz, Marth's suspicions are proven true when Lorenz reveals that he's trying to protect the young princess and prince. While an uprising in Grust did occur, it was in response to Archnea's harsh dominance of the region. Lorenz soon succumbs to the fatal wounds he took in a previous battle, but not before entrusting the prince and princess to Marth, as well as warning him of Emperor Hardin's sudden change into a cruel tyrant.

Before Marth could claim the kids, Lang would take them away and order Marth to head to Macedon, where their next mission is to save Princess Minerva, who has been capture by one of her generals. During this, Marth meets a woman named Linde, who gives Marth the Fire Emblem. She tells Marth that Emperoress Nyna had asked her to deliver it to Marth in secret, but for reasons Nyna didn't tell her. Despite their efforts, Marth and his army were unable to rescue Minerva, who had unknowingly been taken away by her brother Michalis, who has somehow come back from the dead.

Afterwards, Lang would order Marth to reclaim Princess Yuliya and Prince Jubelo, as a man named Ogma had stolen them away from him. Unable to stand Lang's harsh attitude anymore, Marth opposes to follow his orders. Lang takes this as a personal declaration of war against Archnea, and flees to inform Hardin. Marth and his army then move to instead rescue and take in Ogma and the two children.

Once they recruits them, Marth intended to get assistance from Hardin to remove Lang from his General position, only for Caeda to arrive. She reveals to Marth that Hardin's Archanean League, Gra, and Aurelis stormed Altea and took over. Caeda only managed to escape thanks to Marth's sister Elice. With this new info, they realize that Hardin set them all up to conquer Altea!

As Marth hurries back to his kingdom, he arrives at Olbern Keep, headquarters of General Lang. Marth decides it would be best to deal with him first to stop the Archanean abuse of the Grustian people. Upon Lang's defeat, Marth rescues a man named Wendell, who was on a quest to recover the 12 lost pieces of the Starsphere. Wendell asks for Marth assistance in this urgent task, and Marth agrees. Marth and his army than make a short detour to the Fane of Raman. Upon arriving, they find that the place has been ransacked by thieves! They also learn from Bantu that Gotoh has taken Tiki to the Ice Dragon Temple.

At Chiasmir Bridge, Marth comes face-to-face with Hardin, who informs Marth that he's trying to conquer various areas of the country to try and stop the dissent with him. Additionally, Hardin possesses a power that prevents other from hurting him, so Marth and his army are eventually forced to retreat by sea to Khadein.

As Marth tries to figure out how to defeat Hardin and reclaim his kingdom, Khadein Mages attempt to ambush Marth's Army, with the Archanean soldiers right behind them! During this kerfuffle, Marth would find Princess Minerva, who joins their cause once more. They also come across two students of Wendell, one of them - named Arlen who seized control of Khadein and sent its soldiers after Marth, due to feeling jealous that Wendel trusted Merric - Wendell's other student - more than him.

After getting Arlen to see the error of his ways, Gotoh contacts Marth via telepathy, and informs Marth that Hardin has been possessed by a mysterious orb called the Darksphere. The Darksphere brings out incredible power to its holder, but also amplifies the feelings of wrath and envy. He then asks Marth to visit him at the Ice Dragon Temple to obtain the Lightsphere, which may be able to counteract the Darksphere and save Hardin.

As Marth and his army make their way to the Ice Dragon Temple, they manage to find the pieces of the Starsphere shards. They also meet a man named Xane, who tells Marth the true history of Archanea, the Manaketes, and the creation of both the Falchion and the Fire Emblem. Arriving at the Ice Dragon Temple, Gotoh uses the twelve shards to restore the Starsphere, afterwhich he gives both it and the Lightsphere to Marth to use against Hardin. He also allows Marth to wake up Tiki to assist him on his journey, on the condition that Marth collects all five of the Fire Emblem's spheres to restore its true power and ensure Tiki's safety.

Gotoh then sends Marth and his army back to Altea using his magic, and Marth once again heads off to free Altea. At the battle's end, Gotoh uses telepathy to inform Marth that Gharnef has returned, and is holding Elice, Maria, and Lena hostage for unknown reasons. He then suspects that Nyna is the next target, so Marth and his army rush to Archanean to stop Hardin and get to Nyna before Gharnef can. However, upon arriving, they learn that Hardin has already sent Nyna to Gharnef.

The two armies engage in battle, which ends with Marth killing Hardin. In his dying breath, Hardin is freed from the Darksphere's - as well as Gharnef's - control, and begs Marth to save Nyna and stop Gharnef. He then gives Marth the final sphere, allowing the Fire Emblem to regain its power and transform into the Binding Shield! Marth then receives news from Gotoh that Gharnef is planning on resurrecting Medeus again by using the four maidens he kidnapped earlier: Elice, Maria, Lena, and Nyna! To stop Gharnef, Marth heads to the Dragon's Table, where a member of his army would once again use the Starlight to weaken Gharnef, allowing Marth to slay him.

Unfortunately, they were too late, as Medeus was fully resurrected into the frightening Shadow Dragon! However, thanks to the efforts of Merric, Sirius, Minerva, and Julian, the women were all freed from Medeus' control, allowing Marth to head in and kill Medeus with the Falchion for the second and final time.

With the war finally over, most of Archanea’s noble houses were in ruins. The surviving rulers ceded sovereignty over their territories over to Marth, who would take this opportunity to unite the continent as the Archanean Alliance, where he would serve as its first king, with Caeda serving as his queen. Under their reign, the continent experienced a golden era of peace.

Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem: Heroes of Light and Shadow is an enhanced remake of Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem. While the story is similar, a notable new feature is that the player can make a customizable avatar character named Kris, who serves as Marth's tactician and close friend. The player can choose if Kris is a boy or a girl, change their name, pick a hairstyle, choose the hair and eye color, as well as choose a detail about Kris's past that will influence their stat growth throughout the adventure. If Kris manages to live to the end, Marth gives Kris a personal thank you for helping him save Altea, as well as helping him and his army defeat Gharnef and Medeus.

2000 years later, Fire Emblem Awakening happens. While Marth doesn't have a role in the story, his descendant, Lucina, uses his name as an alias when she travels back in time to rescue her father, Chrom, from an upcoming calamity, as well as to try and prevent her disastrous future from occurring. The player can also recruit Marth, as well as some members of his army, via Spotpass and DLC.

Marth also starred in a short animated adaption of Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, which adapted the early parts of the game's adventures. Notably, the animated adaption reveals that Marth's tiara belongs to his sister, and that he wears it to honor her. Additionally, this was the US's first exposure to the Fire Emblem series, as the games wouldn't start coming to America until the seventh installment, Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, was released in 2003. As a final note, Marth's name was changed to "Mars" here, and he was also given the surname of Lowell.

Personality-wise, Marth’s most consistent traits are his bravery and nobility. His portrayal depends on what you’re playing. The two original games shown him acting somewhat childish and naive, while the remake of the first game changes him to being wise and somewhat mature. The remake of the second game also carries the “wise and mature” bit, though also includes a few nods to his original childish personality.

In Super Smash Bros., Marth fights foes by using graceful swipes with his Falchion. The tip of his sword is where he does the most damage, so try to keep some space between you and your foe!

Special Moves 

Neutral Special: Shield Breaker

By holding the Special Button, Marth reels back a bit and charges his sword. Releasing the Special Button has Marth stab it forward! How much damage he deals depends on how much you charge it. If you hit the opponent’s head, extra damage will be dealt!

You can also slightly aim the stab upwards or downwards by tilting the Control Stick in that direction as you’re charging.

If you use the move on an opponent that happens to be shielding…

CRACK!!

The opponent’s shield breaks, leaving them open for any attack you wish!

Inspired by the Rapier weapon, which debuted in “Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light.” Rapiers have the ability to deal extra damage to armored enemies.

The animation of Shield Breaker is inspired by Marth's attack animation while using a Rapier in “Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem."

Side Special: Dancing Blade

Marth swings his sword forward. Pressing the Special Button again will have Marth quickly follow up with an additional slash. Marth can do about three follow-ups to his initial slash, for a total of four hits.

While you’ll need to hold the Control Stick left or right and press the Special Button to initiate the attack, you can tilt the Control Stick up or down for the follow up hits! Each direction is color-coded as well!

Forward/Neutral is red, and the final hit is the strongest of the three.

Up is blue, and can be used on the second swing. It can easily hit foes up above, and the final hit has the shortest end-lag.

Down is green, and can be used on the third swing! (trying to use it on the second swing will have Marth use a neutral swing instead) The final hit deals the most damage, but has the weakest knockback, and noticeable end-lag.

In total, you have 18 total combinations of Dancing Blade! Mix-and-match wisely!

Inspired by the ability, Astra, introduced in “Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War.” Astra gives the user a small chance of performing five consecutive hits on an opponent.

Marth is unable to learn Astra in any of his games, but the “King Marth” bonus unit in “Fire Emblem Awakening” has it as an ability.

The English version of “Fire Emblem Fates” has an ability called “Dancing Blade” for the Lodestar class, and Marth is able to obtain it. However, the ability's original Japanese name - Gentle Blade - doesn’t match up with the Super Smash Bros. move's name - Marvelous Combination. Additionally, it gives Marth – and the Lodestar class – the unrelated effect of being faster, but slightly dropping their defense. 

Up Special: Dolphin Slash 

Marth jumps upward while swinging his sword skyward! The move has the most knockback at the beginning of the attack, and less knockback at any other point.

The move seems to be inspired by the final blow of the critical hit animation of the Swordmaster class in “Fire Emblem Thracia 776.” 

Much later in “Fire Emblem Warriors”, Marth can be seen performing this move as one of his Strong Attacks, though it is not named Dolphin Slash.

Down Special: Counter

Marth gets in a defensive stance. If anyone happens to attack him while he’s in this stance…

…Marth counters by swinging his sword at the foe while shouting “My turn!”, “Predictable!” or “Nice try!”

Inspired by the core element of the Fire Emblem games. When a foe attacks the player’s unit, the unit will retaliate if they are equipped with a weapon that has a compatible range. (example: if the foe attacks your unit up close and your unit is holding a sword, they can counter; if the foe attacks from afar and your unit is holding a sword, they can’t because the foe is too far away) This also applies vice-versa when the player’s unit attacks a foe. Neither will retaliate if their HP drops to 0, in which case they are defeated.

Much later, the game “Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance” would introduce the Counter skill. How much damage it deals to the foe depends on the game – from half of the damage the user received to all of the damage the user received – but it allows it’s user to deal extra damage in addition to the retaliation attack.

“Fire Emblem Awakening” would allow Marth to gain this skill if the player changes his class to a Warrior. 

Final Smash: Critical Hit

Marth holds his sword skyward as a light shimmers!

Marth then rushes forward! If he collides with anyone, a health bar will pop up and drain all the way to empty as the foe goes flying away!

Be careful! If you use the move in the air and there's no one to collide into, Marth could accidentally KO himself by flinging himself offscreen! If you think you’re gonna miss, press the Special Button again to have Marth swing the sword and stop his momentum!

Inspired by the the Critical Hits that can happen in various Fire Emblem games. They have a rare chance of happening, but when they do, the user will to 3x the damage to their foe!

The animation for the move is taken from Marth performing a Critical Hit while wielding the Falchion, Mercurius, or a Rapier in “Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light.”

The health bar is modeled after how the Health Bar looks like in “Fire Emblem Awakening.” Yellow bars mean that the unit has plenty of health. As they take damage, the yellow bars disappear, and if they are all gone, the unit is considered dead. (unless you’re playing on Casual Mode, in which case your unit is simply defeated and retreats back to the base to safety)

Additional Notes

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the first time Marth is given an English Voice Actor in the Super Smash Bros. series: Yuri Lowenthal, who previously voiced him in “Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.” Before that, Marth always used the voice clips from his Japanese Voice Actor: Hikaru Midorikawa.

Speaking of Hikaru Midorikawa, he first voiced Marth in the animated adaption of “Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem!” Guess Nintendo and Intelligent Systems must of loved his portrayal of the character to recast him as Marth’s voice in both the Fire Emblem games and the Super Smash Bros. series.

Left: Marth's original look in "Shadow Dragon." Right: Marth's redesign in "Mystery of the Emblem."

Marth’s original appearance was quite different to how it is today. His current outfit wouldn’t appear until the sequel, “Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem,“ which has - barring a few modifications here and there - stuck ever since.