It’s been over three decades since the beginning of theFire Emblemseries.Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Lightreleased for the Nintendo Famicom in 1990. Since then over a dozen sequels have added to the series' rich lore, all the way toFire Emblem: Three Housesfor the Nintendo Switch in 2019.
As a series based around tactical warfare, there are hundreds ofweapons inFire Emblem. Only a handful of these are important enough to feature in the series' lore however, and none is more important than the Falchion, also known as the Kingsfang. A legendary sword, the Falchion features in many of theFire Emblemgames, and is often crucial to the plot. Here’s the entire story of how the Kingsfang has changed the world ofFire Emblem.
The Divine Dragons
There are actually two separate blades intheFire Emblemseriesthat are known as Falchion, but they both forged by the same person; Naga, leader of the Divine Dragons, created Falchion using one of her own fangs. Naga is often worshipped by humanity due to her immense divine power and sympathy for the mortal race. Therefore, the Falchion is referred to as a holy weapon in many of theFire Emblemgames.
Naga created the Falchion alongside the titularFire Emblem shield, which was used to seal away the Degenerated Dragons. Due to its origins, the Falchion has the power to destroy Dragons in any form. It’s this feature that was most important to humanity when the blade eventually passed into human hands.
The Archanea Series
Among theFire Emblemgames, the Falchion appears primarily inthe Archanea series, which covers those titles set on the continent of the same name. After its forging, the Falchion was first passed into human hands by Gotoh, a Divine Dragon and playable character in the firstFire Emblemtitle. Gotoh helped Anri, a human hero who serves as a legendary figure in the series, to claim the sword from the Ice Dragon Temple.
Gotoh helped Anri to acquire the Falchion in order to use it against Medeus, the primary antagonist ofFire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, after the Shadow Dragon began a war on humanity. Although Medeus was killed by Anri, he was later resurrected by the sorcerer Gharnef, who allied with him to begin a war against the continent of Archanea. This conflict is the setting for thefirstFire Emblemgame, in which the protagonist Prince Marth takes up the Falchion and uses it to defeat Medeus once again.
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The Valentia Series
The other copy of Falchion appears in the gameFire Emblem: Gaidenand its remakeFire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. On the continent of Valentia, the sword was given to the Divine Dragon Duma before his exile from Archanea. Thousands of years later, human Emperor Rudolf of Rigel gained the sword from Duma to seal his sister Mila within it, giving it the power to destroy monsters created by Duma.
However, Mila also made it impossible for humans to use Falchion against Duma himself. She only relinquished full control over it after Alm, the protagonist ofFire Emblem: Gaiden, proved to her that humanity could survive without the gods.
Fire Emblem Awakening
The final major title in which the Falchion is crucial isFire Emblem Awakening, which is set 2000 years after Marth wielded the sword. The blade was passed down through the royal bloodline, eventually coming to the hands of the First Exalt of Ylisse, who used both it and the Fire Emblem itself to defeat Grima the Fell Dragon.
After the war, the Falchion was reduced in power as the gemstones in the Fire Emblem were scattered across the continent. InFire Emblem Awakeningit falls to Chrom, prince of Ylisse and primary protagonist, to restore its power. Chrom uses the Falchion throughout the game, eventually restoring its full power and defeating Grima once again.
ThelatestFire Emblemgame,Fire Emblem: Three Houses, doesn’t feature either the Falchion or the Fire Emblem, at least by those names. However, many fans speculate that the two holy artifacts may be in the game after all, in the form of the Crest of Flames and the Sword of the Creator. Though the lore behind these items is hazy, they do fill a similar role to the Fire Emblem and Falchion in the original series.
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