Super Smash Bros. Fighters – Fire Emblem series – 07 Chrom

Debut

In the Fire Emblem series: Fire Emblem Awakening (2012)
In the Super Smash Bros. series: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (2018)

Boxing Ring Title: Prince of Ylisse

Theme Song: Prelude (Ablaze)

Chrom is one of the main protagonists of “Fire Emblem Awakening.” He is the prince of Ylisse, though he mostly goes and leads a small army called The Shepherds, who try and protect the kingdom and keep the peace. His younger sister Lissa has recently joined him on his adventures, while his older sister Emmeryn stays at the capital to rule the kingdom.

While traversing the plains with his sister Lissa and his bodyguard Frederick,  Chrom comes across a man lying on the field. Once he wakes up, they find out that he has amnesia, though he can at least remember his name, Robin, as well as Chrom's name surprisingly enough. Frederick assumes that Robin may be an assassin, but Chrom decides to trust him and takes Robin in.

Just then, a nearby village is under attack by Plegian soldiers! Chrom, Lissa, and Frederick rush off to stop them, and Robin tags along to help as well. Thanks to Robin's uncanny knack for planning, they manage to drive the soldiers off! After that, Chrom feels Robin has shown he's trustworthy, and makes him the tactician of The Shepherds. After that, they begin to head back to the Ylisse castle.

During the trip, dead warriors called Risen would suddenly pop up and attack them during the night! Chrom's sister, Lissa, is almost killed by one, but is saved by a mysterious man who calls himself Marth. Marth warns them that the Risen attack is only a prelude of an upcoming disaster. Once they make it back to the castle, Chrom heads off to have a discussion of the events with Emmeryn, while Lissa heads off with Robin to introduce him to the other members of the Shepherds. Emmeryn and Chrom both agree that it's best if they ask Regna Ferox for some assistance in the Plegia and Risen attacks, thus Chrom and the Shepherds head off.

Arriving at the Frontfort, which divides Ylisse and Ferox, they are attacked by some Ferox soldiers stationed there, who think that Chrom and the Shepherds are brigands who are invading! Chrom nearly gets skewered by the spears the soldiers toss, but gets saved at the last minute by Sumia, who's riding atop a Pegasus she befriended earlier during the trip. Once they land near Robin, the tactician tells them that seeing that has given him the idea of pairing up soldiers with another, allowing them to both double up on the enemy, and protect one another.

Once they clear up the misunderstanding, they arrive at Regna Ferox. Flavia tells Chrom that she'd be happy to help, but it's that time of the year where Ferox holds a tournament to determine which one will rule the region for the rest of the year. Chrom and the Shepherds are chosen to represent her for the tournament. During the tournament, they cross paths with Marth once more. During the fight, Chrom notices that Marth's fighting style is pretty similar to his own. Regardless, Chrom manages to defeat him, after which Marth quickly leaves. Flavia is grateful for their assistance, and promises to help Chrom with the trouble that's coming.

Back at Ylisse, Chrom and the others are informed that Lissa's best friend, Maribelle, has been kidnapped by the demented King of Plegia: Gangrel! Chrom leads the Shepherds to her rescue, and though they are successful, this causes a declaration of war between the two kingdoms.

This leads to an assassination attempt on Chrom's sister, Queen Emmeryn! Luckily, Marth arrives to help protect her! However, during the fight, Marth's mask breaks, revealing that "he" is a "she!" Despite that shocking reveal, Chrom and the others work with Marth to fight off the assassins. One of the assassins is a man named Validar, who seems to know Robin. Regardless, Chrom and the others manage to drive off the assassins, and Emmeryn is saved! Before Marth leaves, Chrom manages to find her gives her his thanks.

The next day, Chrom leads the Shepherds back to Ferox to request more soldiers, and Emmeryn tags along as well. However, Emmeryn decides to quickly retreat back to the castle following another assassination attempt on her, worried that if Plegia learned she left her kingdom, her people would fall into panic. Chrom and Lissa aren't happy about this, but Emmeryn assures them they will meet again. 

Before she leaves, Emmeryn gives Chrom the Fire Emblem, a sacred family treasure that has been passed down through the generations. Once Chrom and the Shepherds make it to Ferox, they receive grim news that Ylisstol has fallen! Not only that, but Emmeryn is to be personally executed by Plegia's king himself!

Crossing the deserts, they make it to the Plegia Castle. Chrom enacts Robin's plan to save his sister, who's on top of a tall mountain, and it appears to be going well. After taking out the Plegia soldiers, Emmeryn's personal guard, Phila, flies in with her Pegasus units to save her. However, Phila and her squad are quickly killed by an unexpected ambush! Gangrel then demands Chrom to hand over the Fire Emblem, or else Emmeryn will die.

However, knowing that Chrom would be killed regardless if he handed over the Fire Emblem or not, Emmeryn decides to sacrifice herself and jumps off the cliff she's on. With their rescue plan now shattered, Chrom and the Shepherds are forced to retreat back to Ferox. After a bit of mourning, Robin begins to hatch a new plan for Chrom, Lissa, and the Shepherds. Heading back to Plegia, Chrom and Lissa manage to defeat Gangrel, avenging their fallen sister.

A bit later, a woman from the army, Sumia, runs up to him to make sure he's okay. After a small chat, Chrom confesses his love to her, to which she reciprocates. After he, Robin, and the others manage to repair what was ruined in Ylisse during the war against Plegia, he and Sumia get married.

Two years later, a young girl is born to Chrom and Sumia, whom they name Lucina. Things are going peaceful, but it is soon disturbed when they are informed that a mad man named Walhart has conquered the Kingdom of Valm, and is currently planning to invade Ylisse next! Chrom wishes to stop him as soon as possible, but neither Ylisse or Regna Ferox has ships, so he is forced to head to Plegia to ask its new king for some. Everyone is a bit hesitant, especially since they are informed that the new king appears to be a cult member of Grimleal, who worship and seek to revive the Fell Dragon, Grima.

At Plegia, they are shocked to see that the new king is Validar, the man who tried to assassinate Emmeryn two years ago, though he acts as if they've never met before. Validar is willing to help support their cause, and gives them ships and gold, but no soldiers.

Before they leave, Validar shows them his personal hierophant, a man who not only looks just like Chrom's tactician Robin, but also shares the same name with him! Before any questions could be asked, Validar's assistant, Aversa, rushes them out of the castle, telling them that they have no time to ask about trivial things.

Later at night, Chrom notices Robin is gone from camp, and goes searching for him. Hearing some noises, he rushes to Robin's location, where Robin tells him some disturbing news. Validar approached him, and revealed that he is Validar's son. Robin becomes unsure if he wants to learn his past, but Chrom assures him that Robin is his own man before anyone's son.

Back at the camp, Risen Soldiers arrive to attack the Shepherds! They manage to fight them off, but one manages to slip by, and is about to assassinate Chrom! Luckily, "Marth" arrives just in time to save him! ... and also refers to Chrom as her "father." Wanting answers, Marth reveals the truth to him, his wife, and Robin: she is actually Lucina, Chrom's daughter from the future.

She then tells them that in her timeline, the Fell Dragon, Grima, was successfully revived, and has brought death and destruction to the lands. She and her friends have traveled back to this time to try and prevent this from happening, though they all ended up getting scattered from each other during the trip. Regardless, Lucina is worried that history is trying to "correct" itself from her alterations. Upon hearing this story, Chrom and his wife swear to prevent this disaster from occurring, as well as help find her friends; thus they welcome her to the army.

During their attack on Valm, Chrom would get to know Lucina. She's interested in learning the way of the sword with him, though Chrom feels it isn't needed, as he thinks she's already pretty good with one. However, he quickly catches on that she's only asking because she wants to spend time with him, thus he agrees. As they get further in their sparring matches, Lucina reveals that one they manage to prevent her future, she plans on leaving Chrom, his wife, and their present daughter to themselves, as she doesn't want to be a burden on them. Chrom assures her that she doesn't have to do that. Even if she's his daughter from the future, there will always be a place for her with him

A bit later, they happen to come across the Divine Dragon, Tiki, who informs the group that if they hope to defeat Grima - should he be revived - they'll need to find the five Gemstones and place them into Chrom's Fire Emblem. Afterwards, he'll have to head to Mount Prism and perform the Awakening Ritual, which will awaken the full power sealed within his Falchion and allow him to seal Grima away. Tiki then gives them the gemstone she was guarding, after which Chrom leads the Shepherds back to their battle against Valm.

Upon taking care of Walhart and obtaining four of the Gemstones, Chrom receives word that King Validar wishes to see him, as he holds the last gemstone. Arriving at Validar's Castle, Validar has his soldiers surround Chrom and the Shepherds! He then demands Chrom to hand over the Fire Emblem! Luckily, Robin anticipated that this was a trap, so he helps everyone escape the castle.

However, right outside the gates, Validar teleports in front of Chrom, Robin, and Lucina! Validar proceeds to mind control his unwilling son Robin, and forces him to steal the Fire Emblem right from Chrom and hand it over to him! Validar then inserts the final Gemstone before teleporting away to revive Grima. Once they get as far away as they can from Validar's Castle, Robin apologizes to Chrom, and suggest that perhaps it's better if he stays behind while Chrom leads the others to face Validar, as he doesn't want his father to force him to hurt anyone. Chrom assures him that things will be alright, and that Robin can fight off his father's mind control.

A bit later, Chrom notices Lucina leading Robin to a secluded area, and stealthily follows them. There, he witnesses Lucina preparing to execute Robin, as that event with Validar has caused her to find out that Robin was the one who betrayed Chrom and caused her horrible future to occur! She tries to steel herself, but is unable to go through with her plans, due to her close bond with Robin. Chrom then makes his presence known, and reaffirms his trust in Robin. He then assures Lucina that they'll be able to prevent her future from happening.

Chrom then leads the Shepherds to the Dragon's Table to stop Validar! During the battle, Chrom and Robin manage to weaken him, which forces Validar to try mind control on Robin yet again. This time, he forces Robin to kill Chrom with his Thoron magic. It seems like things are finally on the path to Lucina's bad future...

Until its quickly revealed that the Gemstones on the Fire Emblem were fakes! Not only that, but Robin was able to resist the mind control just long enough to not give Chrom a mortal wound! With the wheel of fate turning in their favor, Chrom, Robin, and Lucina put an end to Validar! Everything seems like it's finally gonna be okay...

But then, the mysterious Robin look-a-like shows up again. He reveals that he is actually Robin from Lucina's future, who "accepted" his fate and fused with the Fell Dragon to become a god. This "Grima-Robin" followed Lucina into the past to try and stop her and her friends efforts to undo his revival. However, the trip through time drained him of his power. When he happened across Robin, he tried to fuse with him to restore his power, but since it was too soon at this point in time, all that happened was that Robin gained amnesia, thus explaining why Robin couldn't remember anything.

Since that failed, Grima-Robin decided to instead focus on undoing all of Lucina's efforts. However, now that Validar is dead, Grima-Robin has decided to abandon that plan, and instead become the vessel for this timeline's Grima, allowing him to fully-regain his powers! Grima-Robin begins the ritual, and the building they're in begins to collapse! Chrom, Lucina, and the Shepherds escape, after which they look up in horror as the Fell Dragon emerges.

Wondering what they can do to stop it, Robin approaches them and reveals he snagged the Fire Emblem back before the building fell. Realizing they now have a fighting chance at defeating Grima, Chrom leads everyone to Mount Prism. There, he performs the Awakening Ritual, and the Divine Dragon, Naga, awakens the true power within his blade, the Falchion!

Before they leave, Lissa asks if their was some way to defeat Grima for good. Naga reveals that the only way to do that was to get Grima to kill himself, which is something that he wouldn't do to himself Robin then realizes something. Since Grima is him - thanks to Grima absorbing his future-self - that should allow him to defeat Grima once and for all.

Naga agrees with this assessment, but warns that doing so would cause Robin to die as well, since Grima and Robin's hearts are now linked together. However, she mentions the slight possibility that Robin could survive, thanks to the strong ties he has to everyone in the Shepherds. Regardless, Chrom isn't thrilled about Robin sacrificing himself to save everyone, and tries to get Robin to promise him that he'll stay alive.

Chrom then leads Robin, Lucina, and the Shepherds to Origin Peak, where Grima is currently residing. During the final battle, the player can either have Chrom land the final blow and seal Grima away for one-thousand years, or have Robin do it and destroy Grima forever, but at the cost of Robin's life.

In Chrom's ending, Chrom strikes Grima with the Falchion, successfully sealing him away for 1000 years. Everybody then celebrates that Grima is defeated. Back at the Ylisse Castle, Chrom notices that Robin is feeling guilty, wondering if he should've been the one to land the final blow to end Grima's curse forever. Chrom assures him that they made the right choice, as they would've robbed the world of a brilliant man if they allowed Robin to sacrifice himself. If Robin married, his spouse and child agree. With that, Chrom ends the conversation by saying that Robin belongs with them, and with his help, they'll create a better future.

In Robin's ending, Chrom looks on in disbelief as Robin heads to Grima, where he lands the finishing blow, causing Grima to disappear. However, Chrom's disbelief is quickly turned to horror as Robin begins to fade away! Robin however, accepts his date, thanking Chrom for all that he's done, and to tell everyone that his final thoughts were of them. Robin then says he hopes they'll meet again in a better life, before he vanishes completely.

Back with the Shepherds, Chrom tells them that the war is over, but at the cost of losing Robin. Though all are saddened by this, they all hope that Robin somehow survived. After that, Chrom vows to give it his all to restore the realm to honor Robin. He also swears to find him one day, to which his sister Lissa agrees.

Some time later, Chrom and his sister were out on another search for Robin, when they spot a familiar looking man lying on the road. Realizing it's Robin, they approach, and begin to wonder what to do. They then notice that Robin is opening his eyes. Chrom then extends his hand to help Robin up, assuring him that the war against Grima is over. They then escort him back to the castle, where he's welcomed back by his friends.

Regardless, Chrom, along with his wife, are officially welcomed as the new exalts of Ylisse. Chrom's unflinching perseverance has made him a beacon of hope for the people of Ylisse, and he works hard to keep the peace for his kingdom. He and his wife also begin raising their daughter, Lucina. Their daughter's future-self, however, would leave at some point with Robin, and the two were presumably never seen or heard from again.

Chrom also makes an appearance in "Fire Emblem Fates" in the DLC chapter, "Before Awakening," which takes place just a little bit before the events of "Fire Emblem Awakening." Chrom, Lissa, and Fredrick are wandering through Ylisse, where they come across Corrin and her group. Corrin then asks them if they saw invisible bandits... which she quickly changes to warthogs, after a suggestion from her butler. Slightly confused, Chrom decides to help her stop the "invisible warthogs" anyway, since they are threatening a nearby town.

After taking care of that, Chrom thanks Corrin for helping him save the town. He then decides to give her two valuable treasures to help her out: the Exalt's Brand, and the Hero's Brand. They then promise to meet again someday, and go their separate ways. Lissa then notes that Corrin was a tactical genius, to which Chrom agrees, saying they could use someone like that. Just then, they happen across a man lying on the plains...

Personality-wise, Chrom is an unassuming and impulsive individual, who believes that he must show strength in the face of fatigue and the burden of great work, in order to set an example and be an inspiration to others. He also tends to be quite idealistic and trusting, which can often get him into trouble. Chrom also loves to spare in his spare time, which often results in him accidentally breaking something, or busting a hole in a wall.

Chrom prefers to lead the Shepherds than be a ruler, as he finds the royal life somewhat stifling, though he also knows that he shouldn't take for granted his luxurious lifestyle. Following his sister's death, he has the occasional moment where he worries about how he'll rule the kingdom, but slowly over time, he becomes a good ruler to his people.

Chrom can also be somewhat awkward at times, and due to how blunt he can be, he will often say something insensitive without meaning to. His awkwardness is definitely shown in his romance options, where he's either nervous or dense.

In Super Smash Bros., Chrom fights his foes by wielding his sword, the Falchion! He’s an Echo Fighter of Roy, so if you know how to play as him, you should have no trouble playing as Chrom! Unlike Roy, his sword has an even distribution of power at the tip to the hilt, so feel free to attack up close or from afar!

Special Moves 

Neutral Special: Flare Blade 

By holding the Special Button, Chrom reels back a bit and charges his sword. Releasing the Special Button has Chrom swing it overhead towards the ground, emitting an explosion of flames! How much damage and knockback he delivers depends on how long you charge it.

If you manage to charge it up all the way...

BOOM!!

A massive explosion of wind occurs, and the opponent takes heavy damage! If they were shielding, their shield will instantly break open, leaving them stunned! However, Chrom will take 10% recoil damage upon using a fully charged Flare Blade, regardless if he lands the move on the opponent or not.

Unfortunately, it takes quite a while to fully charge, you might only be able to land a fully charged one on a stunned opponent.

Inspired by the animation that plays when Roy uses the Binding Blade to either attack an enemy unit from afar, or manages to land a critical hit with it in “Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade.” Chrom himself doesn’t have any attack that resembles this move.

Additionally, despite the move being called Flare Blade, no flames are used in the move at all.

Side Special: Double-Edge Dance

Chrom swings his sword forward. Pressing the Special Button again will have Chrom quickly follow up with an additional slash. Chrom 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 Chrom 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 Double-Edge Dance! 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.

Although the Astra skill is available in “Fire Emblem Awakening,” Chrom is unable to learn it.

Up Special: Soaring Slash

Chrom swings his sword overhead, flinging foes above him, while shouting either “Out of my way!”, “I’ll end you!”, “How about this?”, or just grunting. He then jumps after them, twirling around, before diving downward to slam foes on the ground!

Inspired by the "Two Falchions" cutscene from "Fire Emblem Awakening." In it, Chrom performs a similar-looking move in his battle against Marth, who is actually Lucina in disguise. This move also shows up in "Project X Zone 2," "Fire Emblem Warriors," and "Draglia Lost." 

Down Special: Counter

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

Chrom counters by swinging his sword at the foe while shouting “No way!” or “Not today!”

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.

Although the Counter Skill is available in “Fire Emblem Awakening,” Chrom is unable to learn it. 

Final Smash: Awakening Aether

Chrom shouts “Anything can change!”, “Now I’m mad!” or “Your end has come!” as he dashes forward! If he hits anyone, the foe is stunned. Chrom then backflips back to where he was standing as he begins charging power in his sword! Once it's fully-charged, he dashes towards the opponent to slice them, all while shouting “Aether!”

Inspired by the Aether skill that debuted in “Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.” It’s a two hit move where the first hit will heal the user by half the amount of damage they give to their foe, while the second hit will deal double the damage to the opponent.

Chrom is able to obtain Aether in "Fire Emblem Awakening" by reclassing into a Great Lord and reaching Level 5. The animation of the attack is also similar to how Chrom performs the move in "Fire Emblem Awakening. Incidentally, Aether is the only skill Chrom can pass on to his daughters – Lucina and either Cynthia or Kjelle – regardless if he obtains the skill himself or not.

Additional Notes 

Despite being a playable character, Chrom is still part of Robin’s Final Smash. This means you can have the absurdity of Robin summoning Chrom to help him beat up Chrom.

Chrom is the third character to share Marth’s playstyle, the second being Lucina and the first being Roy.

Top, Left-to-Right: Sumia, Sully, Maribelle. Bottom, Left-to-Right: Olivia, Female Robin.

As Chrom is the only character who is forced to get married in the game, the identity of his wife can either be either Sumia, Sully, Maribelle, Olivia, female Robin, or a nameless village maiden.

Top, Left-to-Right: Cyntia, Kjelle, Brady. Bottom, Left-to-right: Inigo, Male Morgan.

Additionally, Chrom marrying either of those women - besides the village maiden - will also give Chrom a second child! Said child can be either Cynthia (Sumia's daughter), Kjelle (Sully's daughter), Brady (Maribelle's son), Inigo (Olivia's son), or male Morgan (female Robin's son).

Evidence for who is most likely Chrom's wife and second child is between either Sumia & Cynthia, or female Robin & male Morgan. In Sumia & Cynthia's case: Sumia is shown holding baby Lucina in the opening of the game; one cutscene between Sumia and Chrom is titled "Lovebirds"; Chrom has the quickest support bonds with Sumia; and if Sumia's bond with Chrom is tied with anyone, Sumia takes priority over the them. In female Robin & male Morgan's case, female Robin is an important character in the story, and unique dialogue will play when Lucina finds out that female Robin is responsible for her bad future.

At the very least, “Fire Emblem Fates” heavily implies that Chrom does not end up with Olivia.