PRIDE 2021: The Power of Leon’s Innocent Crush in Fire Emblem Echoes

People change over the years.

Intelligent Systems and Nintendo breathed new life into a dying franchise with 2012’s Fire Emblem Awakening. It modernized the series for a new generation, introduced more players to tactical RPGs and exploded in the west beyond its previously niche diehard audience. But 2017’s Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia flew under the radar. It arrived on the ageing 3DS only months after the launch of the Nintendo Switch, and was a remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden, a 1992 Famicom game that never made it outside of Japan. So I wouldn’t blame anyone for not noticing it. But that is a tragedy. Mainly because it means so many missed out on the return and revitalization of Leon, my new favourite sniper in the series.

When I was first introduced to Leon, I was a bit concerned. The Fire Emblem series has an uneven history with queer characters, and this archer was falling into a few tropes out of the gate. Specifically, being obsessed with his straight best friend, Valbar. But with thoughtful localization, a respect for the agency of others, and supportive relationships with his friends, Leon succeeds where many other characters fail.

Over the years, Fire Emblem has adopted more and more dating and romance elements. While Echoes has none of the romance elements of the most contemporary FE games, the remake does let the player see their party interact, fall in love, and deal with rejection through support conversations. These are one on one vignettes where characters take a moment to develop their relationships after growing closer on the battlefield. It is important to note, in both Gaiden and Echoes when Leon tells Valbar about his feelings he learns that the attraction isn’t mutual.  Leon isn’t alone in dealing with a crush that won’t be reciprocated, as several other characters deal with opposite-sex attraction that isn’t returned. But refreshingly, Leon is afforded the same grace for his crush on Valbar as those straight characters.

When Leon stops flirting and comes out with his feelings, it’s not to an audience that he fears rejection from. His friends accept him, without tropes of panic or homophobia, or even a coming-out sequence. When discussing his past with Celica, the co-protagonist of Echoes, Leon explains how Valbar’s kindness helped him deal with the trauma of a past crush dying in battle. Through the frankness of this discussion, Leon is allowed space to be in love with a guy without having to explain or justify his sexuality. It’s refreshing to see this level of acceptance and is a further win for a localization team that has learned from past missteps in the Fire Emblem series.

Valbar is the character on the right btw.

Thankfully, Leon’s character has evolved beyond the Famicom version from 25 years prior.  Before the casual mode introduced in recent entries, Fire Emblem forced the player to play with permadeath on. This allowed characters to die, but not before crying out mellow dramatically, leaving the player to feel terrible about their failed strategy. Leon’s original Fire Emblem Gaiden death quote makes it seem as though he had a death wish, after love goes unreciprocated, as he would shout, “I have long desired to fall in battle…” (Fan Translation) before dying. While his Echoes death quote pointed out a yearning for more in life, “This is so embarrassing... What a...clumsy way to go... I always pictured something more... impressive.”  Shifting the queer character away from borderline suicidal, to someone who believes that there is still plenty to live for, is a smart move. It points to a level of care for Leon and the context he exists in. Queer characters can have lives and futures they look forward to.

Often media focuses on the same experiences of trauma that can accompany queer people being open about their feelings. Rejection by friends and family is regularly the best case scenario, with slurs being hurled or even violence in retaliation for even showing the insinuation of attraction. And that comes from a basis in fact; many queer people are rejected by those around them and the justification of a violent response on the grounds of ‘temporary insanity’ is still a valid legal defence in the majority of the United States and much of the world. But there’s more to the queer experience than struggle and hardship. And it’s refreshing to see a world where the fantasy of puppy love is afforded to queer characters as well it is straight ones.

Finally, Leon has a future outside of his crush. He is given two endings in Echoes, one with Valbar surviving the events of the game, and the other where his beloved dies somewhere along the campaign. If Valbar survives, Leon ends up living “free, happy, and dauntlessly true to himself.”  If Valbar dies, Leon grieves, but throws himself into knighthood and eventually training new recruits. His world is bigger than one guy he thinks is cute. 

Leon’s last line during the final battle is a rejection of a ‘perfect world’ without agency. Without the freedom to love and the freedom to move on from rejection. In spite of his love not being reciprocated, he still champions the possibility that one day will find one that is. Hopefully, Fire Emblem will return to Valentia and Leon will get his wish. But until then, I’m just happy I got to experience my time with him and left knowing that he is probably doing alright.

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This is where my article originally ended. However, there’s more to the story that I haven’t seen discussed in other articles. While editing this piece, we discovered that Leon used the masculine personal pronoun “ore” in Fire Emblem Gaiden, the 1992 Japan-only NES game. However, in the Japanese version of Echoes, Leon uses the feminine personal pronoun “atashi.”  This is further detailed in the Japanese art book, which specifically mentions Leon’s speech patterns being like that of a woman and their looks being effeminate. I’m reluctant to dig into this further myself because I only played the English version of the game and I do not have enough experience with the language or culture to critique this presentation of Leon in the Japanese version of Echoes. 

Worst case, Leon's possible trans/genderqueer experience was erased during the English localisation. While a kinder reading could argue that the Japanese version of the game demonstrated a colloquialism that is common in gay culture around the world. However I don't know and, frankly, I don't want to misstep with a reading that misses the mark because I myself am not Japanese and might miss certain cultural signifiers or intricacies of the language. I think there is definitely more to discuss about this character from the perspective of a queer person from Japan and I’d love to read that critique.

Sensitivity read by Radiant G.