Two kingdoms.
One united by honor, family, and solidarity,
the other united by loyalty and shared bloodshed.
These empires of light and dark are locked
in a large-scale war to decide the future
of the land.
This is Fire Emblem Fates.
In the world of Fire Emblem Fates, the rival
kingdoms of Hoshido and Nohr have great differences
in their motives and designs, reinforcing
both a conflict of light versus dark, and
also one of East versus West.
A great number of details went into reinforcing
these aesthetics and giving Hoshido and Nohr
contrasting designs, the likes of which hadn’t
yet been so deeply explored in the Fire Emblem
series, and today, it’s time to make a thorough
analysis into these aesthetics.
And the focus of today’s analysis will be
the western kingdom of Nohr and its ties to
the lands under the Roman Empire at its height,
including Celtic, Greek, Germanic, and Norse
cultures.
But before we begin, for those who missed
Part 1, which focused on Hoshido’s connections
to pre-industrial Japan, please use the on-screen
annotation to make sure you see both sides
of the conflict!
Without any delay, it’s time to look to
the kingdom of Nohr see which sources of inspiration
lie in its shadow!
I’m Angela Marie Volpe.
...and I’m the Kitsune Hawk, and today,
we’re going to break apart the characters,
classes, and other details of the kingdom
of Nohr to show its connections to the Roman
Empire!
So get out your pencils, trivia enthusiasts,
because this is Character Development!
Just like Hoshido, several of the cast names
are a great way to begin discussing Nohr’s
inspirations.
And as to be expected, the Nohrian royal family
has their names tied to important leaders
from European history and mythology.
Let’s start with the crown prince of Nohr,
Xander, whose name is taken from Alexander
of Macedon, one of the most kings in history.
Alexander inherited the title at a young age
and quickly led the Macedonians to conquer
both Greece, and Egypt, as well as bring down
the Persian Empire.
Many accounts of Alexander of Macedon describe
him as having shoulder-length blond hair and
a strong build, easily matching those of Prince
Xander.
The name Alexander itself is also Greek for
“defender of the people,” a trait visible
in Xander’s devotion to Nohr and its people.
The name of Xander’s signature sword, Siegfried,
however, is taken from Norse and Germanic
mythology.
Siegfried, also known as Sigurd, was a hero
of noble birth, and in some tales, he carried
a sword that was sharp enough to cut the anvil
in half while it was being forged, using it
to slay the dragon Fafnir.
Lady Camilla gets her name directly from Roman
mythology.
In Roman legends, Camilla was the princess
of the Volsci, a native Italian tribe who
predated the Romans.
She was raised as a huntress and warrior,
gathering a band of warriors to join her in
combat against the exiled Greek hero Aeneas.
Many of Camilla’s followers happened to
be warrior women, just as the Fire Emblem
Camilla has both Selena and Beruka as her
retainers.
Next in the Nohrian line of succession is
Leo, whose name might be a nod to either King
Leon of Sparta, the oldest known ruler to
bear the name, or his grandson, King Leonidas
I of Sparta, who famously led the Spartan
army against the Persians at the Battle of
Thermopylae.
And just like Xander, Leo’s signature weapon
is tied to Norse and Germanic mythology.
In his case, his tome is named after Brunhilde,
a recurring character who, depending on the
story, plays a wide variety of roles, including
her being a valkyrie or the queen of Iceland.
No matter what role she plays, however, she’s
always closely associated with Siegfried.
The attack animation for the Brunhilde tome
has another clever nod to Norse mythology,
as it summons a tree to sprout under the enemy,
a reference to Yggdrasil, the tree that ties
the worlds of Norse mythology together.
On the topic of Leo and Xander, it’s also
worth noting that the two are named after
royal figures who gained fame primarily from
fighting the Persians, a group of peoples
from Asia, similar to how Nohr’s enemy,
Hoshido, is strongly influenced by another
Asian empire.
And then there’s the youngest of the Nohrian
royal family, Elise.
Elise is a shortened form of the name Elizabeth,
commonly used in Nordic countries, even though
the name Elizabeth is originally Greek.
While there have been many royals bearing
the name of Elizabeth, nearly all of them
have little to do with the Roman or Byzantine
Empires.
Moving forward from the Nohrian royalty, Effie,
Selena, and Nyx all get their names from Greek
culture; Effie’s name is a shortened form
of the name Euphemia, meaning “soft-spoken,”
while Selena’s name is a play on Selene,
the Greek Titan of the moon.
On a similar note, Nyx is named after the
embodiment of the night in Greek mythology.
The primordial deity of Nyx was born from
Chaos itself, and through her children, Nyx
created the powers of sleep, death, fate,
and most notably, old age, similar to Fire
Emblem Fates’ Nyx being far older mentally
than she is physically.
Arthur and Percy both get their names from
famous heroic figures; Arthur’s name comes
from King Arthur, a noble of mixed Roman and
Briton lineage who famously defended England
from attempted invasions by the Saxons, among
other more romanticized adventures.
Percy, meanwhile, is named after Perseus,
a Greek hero born as a demigod, specifically,
as a son of Zeus.
Perseus’ main claims to fame were slaying
and beheading Medusa, as well as using Medusa’s
head to transform the titan Atlas into the
Atlas Mountains of modern-day Morocco.
The last character worth mentioning is the
enigmatic dark mage Odin, who gets his name
from one of the main gods of Norse mythology.
Odin is seen as the Norse god of healing and
death, as well as war and knowledge, but above
all else, he is most closely associated with
magic, just like his Fire Emblem counterpart.
Many of the classes seen in the kingdom of
darkness also reflect the inspiration from
the Roman Empire; while most of these classes
are based on typical medieval fantasy vocations,
like knights and archers, there are still
plenty of exceptions to this rule.
One of the most notable classes on the Nohr
side is the Wyvern Rider and its two promotions,
the Wyvern Lord and Malig Knight.
As their names suggest, all three of these
classes ride atop a type of dragon called
a wyvern, a term used to describe a dragon
which uses its wings as a pair of arms.
The wyvern myth can be traced back to the
imperial Roman province of Dacia, in modern-day
Romania, though they were commonly depicted
in East European mythology as a whole, even
during the time of the Roman Empire.
The Malig Knight in particular has further
ties to Greco-Roman culture, as they’re
shown riding atop an undead dragon, setting
them apart from every other class in the game.
While the exact origins of necromancy are
rather murky, the oldest known written accounts
of it are from Ancient Greek society, where
the term was originally used to refer to any
ritualistic communication with the deceased.
The whole “bringing the dead back to life”
idea, however, came much later, into the Middle
Ages.
It’s a minor detail with the Malig Knight
class, but one still worth noting.
The Stoneborn units seen in castle battles
and battles against Nohr have faces based
on the Mouth of Truth, a famous and unusual
statue found in Rome.
The Mouth of Truth has been the subject to
a great amount of debate, including if it
was used as a fountain piece, as a storm drain,
or as a ritual object.
The very face of the Mouth of Truth, however,
remains the greatest mystery, as archaeologists
still aren’t sure if it represents a Greek,
Roman, or Pagan spirit.
In Fire Emblem Fates, the Stoneborn appear
to follow the drain cover theory, based on
how they embed themselves in the ground when
inactive, but don’t seem to be connected
to any sort of deity.
The Wolfskin and Wolfssegner classes both
get their inspiration from Germanic and Central
European inspiration.
In the Japanese version of Fates, the Wolfskin
class is referred to as Garou, a word that--while
it can be read as Japanese--is the French
word for “lycan” or “lycanthropy,”
the technical term for a person transforming
into a wolf.
How fitting it is, then, that werewolf myths
in Europe tend to be rooted in Germanic paganism.
The Wolfssegner class happens to have its
name directly taken from Germanic history
and mythology.
The term was used in 16th century Germanic
cultures to describe Bavarian men who were
able to make magical charms that protected
them from wolf attacks.
The general public, however, began to see
them as suspicious, and it was not long before
the Wolfssegner were hunted, tried, and executed
because the Germanic people believed that
they were witches, sorcerers, or even--ironically--werewolves.
This class’ Japanese name, Managarumu, also
happens to be the Japanese translation for
one of the many names of a wolf from Norse
mythology who chases after the moon, hoping
to devour it.
And speaking of wolves, that also brings up
the Berserker class.
While they’ve been a staple of the Fire
Emblem series, Fire Emblem Fates decided to
go with a slightly more authentic design for
them.
In Norse cultures, the Berserkers and Ulfhednar
were warriors who would charge into battle
wearing nothing but a bear or wolf pelt, respectively.
They’d often train in the wilderness to
learn to act like bears or wolves, and once
unleashed on the battlefield, were known for
their ferocity.
While the male and female Berserkers in Fates
are shown wearing pieces of metal armor, it’s
still worth noting the wolf pelt on the waist
of their design, as a nod to the Norse mythos…
even if they’re named after the incorrect
warrior.
Even beyond the characters and playable classes,
the geography of Nohr also bears resemblance
to the Roman Empire, as many of the lands
within its borders are based on locations
once encompassed by the Romans.
The city of Cyrkensia, for instance, is very
likely based on the city of Venice; both Venice
and Cyrkensia are prosperous port cities known
for their opera houses.
Venice happens to be the home of the world’s
oldest public opera house, the Teatro di San
Cassiano, first opened in 1637 CE.
And as a more recognizable nod to the city
of Venice, the interior of the Cyrkensia opera
house contains a canal and several boats that
battles take place on, just like the famous
canals and gondolas of Venice.
Then there’s Macarath, a city described
as being an entertainment and gambling capital,
much like Monaco, one of the few remaining
city-states in the world, located near the
border between France and Italy.
Monaco is a wealthy city-state known for its
resorts, hotels, and casinos, including the
world-famous Monte Carlo Casino.
Macarath’s most significant attraction,
however, is its private residence for the
Nohrian royal family, just as one of Monaco’s
landmarks is the Palais Princier de Monaco,
a palace and private residence reserved for
royalty.
The Nohrian ally nation of Cheve is respected
for its powerful knights, but as part of the
story, it also becomes the site of a rebellion
against Nohr.
For these reasons, the Chevois people are
likely based on one of the many Germanic people
whose land the Romans annexed and whose powerful
warriors the Romans forced into their ranks.
Given the French-sounding name, then the Chevois
people are most likely based on the Franks,
a powerful Germanic group that led several
rebellions against Roman control, even founding
their own kingdom named Francia after the
Fall of Rome in 476 CE.
And with all these connections to lands under
the Roman Empire, it’s only natural for
the capital of Windmire to be based on Rome
itself!
Looking at the exterior of Windmire in particular,
two sets of walls can be seen around the city
itself and around Castle Krakenburg, just
like the two walls that stood in Rome.
The first of these walls was the Servian Wall,
which was built in the 4th century BCE, in
the early period of the Roman Republic.
As Rome grew dramatically over the centuries,
the Servian Wall came to surround the Forum,
the political heart of both the Roman Republic
and Roman Empire, requiring a new wall to
protect the city.
This prompted the construction of the Aurelian
Wall, which was built around Rome’s newer
borders in the 3rd century CE.
Not only do Windmire’s two sets of walls
match the walls of Rome, but they also vaguely
resemble the shape of an octopus, maybe as
a play on Castle Krackenburg, which is, of
course, named after a sea monster described
as being a giant squid or octopus, based on
the interpretation.
Even the name of Nohr itself has links to
the age of the Romans; while it’s primarily
meant to be a play on noir, the French word
for “black,” it could also possibly be
derived from Noricum, a Germanic kingdom that
existed in today’s Austria and Slovenia.
The Noric people were, rather interestingly,
described as being a Celtic warrior society,
a tidbit of trivia that becomes even more
important as we transition into the Conquest
side of the soundtrack!
The Nohrian side of Fates’ soundtrack uses
several instruments from the many cultures
within the Roman Empire, the most frequently
used being two similar Celtic instruments:
the uilleann pipes, a shoulder pump-operated
wind instrument from Ireland, and the bagpipes,
a common instrument in Celtic cultures, though
they usually don’t have the same varied
range that their Irish counterparts boast.
A more Central European instrument heard in
Nohr’s soundtrack is a medieval fiddle.
Keep in mind that the term “fiddle” was
used very loosely back then compared to now,
and it could potentially refer to any number
of medieval lutes played with a bow.
More than likely, the instrument used is either
a vielle, considered the ancestor of the modern
violin, or a Byzantine lira, the very instrument
the vielle is based on.
The harpsichord can also be heard in the soundtrack;
while it was invented in the final years of
the Medieval Era, it still predates the fall
of the Byzantine Empire and was most likely
perfected in either the Germanic territories
or the remains of Rome.
And then the last of the particularly recognizable
Greco-Roman instruments used in the soundtrack
might be the pandura, a Greek lute that evolved
over time into the Byzantine tambouras, as
well as the modern day mandolin and bouzouki.
And so ends the analysis of the dark kingdom
of Nohr.
Until the release of Fates, Fire Emblem tended
to lean toward a fantasy European aesthetic,
but even though the kingdom of Nohr follows
this pattern, it still manages to stand out
compared to Hoshido, perhaps even kingdoms
from previous Fire Emblem titles.
Much of this can probably be based around
Nohr’s more historical influences, taking
in details from ancient Greece, the Roman
and Byzantine Empires, and even the Celtic,
Germanic, and Norse cultures that surrounded
them.
In a way, the many influences from Roman and
Byzantine Era Europe add a distinctive flair
to Nohr; something familiar at first, with
the recognizable European emphasis, but deeper
than you might initially expect with all of
the finer details.
And if it can still stack up against Hoshido,
a nation that brought Fire Emblem into a totally
new area of influence, then I’d say that’s
a true mark of successful design!
This has been a Character Development Special;
thanks for watching!
