Overview
Marth is the prince of Altea, and the main character of Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryu to Hikari no Ken, the first game in the Fire Emblem franchise. He is the first "Lord" class character to be featured in the series and overall one of the most recurring and recognized characters in Fire Emblem.
Although Marth's Fire Emblem titles were released only in Japan, he has acquired more widespread international attention through his recurring appearances in Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. series. Theoretically, Marth is to thank for the transportation of the saga in the western world, since his appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee alongside Roy made him famous enough to convince Nintendo to localize the following games in the series.
History
To date, Marth has appeared in two games from the Fire Emblem series (not including the remake game Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon) and his appearance has been changed multiple times throughout the series. His overall style and appeal, however, has remained intact.
Since his first appearance, Marth has always sported short, blue colored hair and is always equipped with his sword, the Falchion. He is a swordsman with a slim build and wears a cape.
Hundreds of years had passed since Medeus was slain in Akanea . Once Medeus is resurrected, he rebuilds his land of Dolua, ready to invade Akanea once again. After an attack from Dolua, Marth is forced into exile in the island nation of Talis. His father, Cornelius, is killed battling Garnef, an evil priest and a devout follower of Medeus, and his elder sister Ellis is taken hostage.With the help of the Altean knight Jeigan, the Talisian Princess Sheeda, and others, Marth embarks on a quest to defeat Medeus, reclaim the kingdom of Altea, and rescue his sister. Marth meets Niena, the princess of Akanea—the most prominent kingdom—who gives him the country's national treasure, the Fire Emblem. Marth later obtains the Falchion sword, which was stolen from his father by Garnef, which he uses to confront Medeus.
After the defeat of Medeus, Marth spent his days peacefully in Altea. It wasn't until rumours had it that Hardin—a former ally and friend of Marth—had begun to conquer various countries in Akanea with the help of the Mamkutes (Manaketes in the West)that Marth was forced to leave his rule of Altea to investigate. When Marth and his men gathered at Grunia, several of his former allies were fleeing, or some were murdered during the pillages of Hardin. Marth then travelled to Macedonia where he met Linda, a mage of Akanea, who had been keeping the Fire Emblem safe from harm. He discovers that several gems are needed for the Fire Emblem to regain its true power. Marth retrieves most of the gems, only to realise that Hardin had conquered Altea in his absence. He leaves to see Gra, a kingdom that had seen a similar fate to what happened to Altea.
After reaching his palace, Marth defeats Hardin,obtaining the last gem. The gems are placed on the Fire Emblem, which becomes the Shield of Seals. Marth discovers that Hardin wasn't really evil and was possessed by the evil priest Garnef himself through the Dark orb. He then heads to Dolua where Garnef lurks. After Garnef is defeated, all that remains is the new reborn Medeus, guarded by Earth Dragons and possessed clerics. The Shield of Seals emits a power that forces the Earth Dragons to retreat, giving Marth's army the opportunity to save the clerics and for Marth to defeat Medeus once and for all with a slash of Falchion.Afterwards, Marth marries Sheeda and spends his time rebuilding Akaneia.
As per Nyna's request, after the Archanean Royal Family died out, Marth was at some point crowned Archanea's ruler.
Thousands of years later, he goes down in history as the legendary Hero-King. Marth's descendants rule Archanea, now known as Ylisse, as its royal family. His blade Falchion is passed down to Chrom, Ylisse's prince. As a historical figure, Marth is most remembered for his kind and gentle nature.
Smash Brothers
Marth's appearance in Smash Brothers Melee on the Gamecube was his first appearance to North American Nintendo fans. And he made a memorable debut. The competitive community quickly realized that he was one of the highest balanced characters in the game, making him high tiered.
The main play style for most Marth players is to do many short hops with neutral airs with quick fall and l-canceling. This entire sequence can be repeated multiple times very quickly, making it the bread and butter of any competitive Marth player's arsenal. Marth's Directional Influence (DI) and otherwise amazing recovery make him the easiest character to recover with from far smashes. There are many videos which feature Marth's getting smashed at 100%+ and the player using his DI to come back with no problems whatsoever.
Marth's key recovery ability comes from his Forward Air, also known as C-Stick Forward. If launched horizontally a Marth can hold in the opposite direction (towards the level) while slowly using his forward air, this move stops him from falling as fast and he gets a lot of horizontal distance. Marth's recover ability is only matched by Link's hookshot, Peach's float, and Samus' ball and chain.
Other Appearances
- Marth is a playable character in both Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Brawl, being a competitive high tiered character in both games.
- Marth, as many other characters in the series, appears in the games' spinoff trading card game as one of the strongest character cards.
- Marth is the main protagonist of the Fire Emblem anime, which is based on the events depicted in Monsho no Nazo.
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