Byleth (Fire Emblem)

Byleth Eisneris a fictional character inNintendo'sFire Emblemfranchise. They first appeared as theplayer characterandmain protagonistofFire Emblem: Three Houses(2019), and have since appeared as a playable character in thecrossover gamesFire Emblem Heroes(2017) andSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate(2018), being added asDLCin 2019 and 2020 respectively, and as the secondaryantagonistinFire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes(2022).In each game, players can choose between a female or male version of the character.The male version of the character also appears inFire Emblem Engage(2023) as an Emblem alongside otherFire Emblemprotagonists.

Byleth
Fire Emblemcharacter
The male (left) and female (right) versions of Byleth
First appearance	Fire Emblem: Three Houses July 26, 2019
Last appearance	Fire Emblem Engage January 20, 2023
Designed by	Chinatsu Kurahana
Voiced by	English Zach Aguilar(male) Jeannie Tirado(female) Japanese Yūsuke Kobayashi(male) Shizuka Itō(female)
In-universe information
Full name	Byleth Eisner
Nicknames	Ashen Demon Professor Emblem of the Academy
Species	Human/artificial Nabateanhybrid Emblem (Fire Emblem Engage)
Gender	Varies (player-determinant)
Occupation	Mercenary Professorat Officers Academy
Affiliation	Church of Seiros Jeralt's Mercenaries
Weapon	Sword of the Creator
Family	Jeralt Eisner (father) Sitri Eisner (mother)

Byleth is a wandering mercenary who possesses the mysterious Crest of Flames and can wield the powerful ancient weapon known as the Sword of the Creator. InThree Houses,they receive an offer to serve as a professor at the military academy of Garreg Mach Monastery, acting as the leader of one of its classes.Three Hopesis set in an alternative timeline where Byleth was never a professor at the academy.

Byleth's first appearance inThree Housesreceived mixed responses from critics, with criticism directed towards a perceived lackluster of a personality. The decision to add the character toSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatewas also met with hate from Western fans due to a perceived overabundance ofFire Emblemcharacters inSuper Smash Bros.Despite this, they became one of the most successful characters in the game'scompetitive scene,after becoming the main character ofMkLeo,the number oneUltimateplayer in the world.

Appearances

InFire Emblem: Three Houses

Byleth is the main protagonist of the game, whose name and gender can be customized by the player.Byleth serves as a professor at Garreg Mach Monastery, and possesses the mysterious Crest of Flames; they can also wield the Sword of the Creator.

Throughout the game, Byleth's only known relative is their father Jeralt Eisner, a renowned mercenary who once fled from Garreg Mach Monastery. It is later revealed that they carry the goddess Sothis within them as a result of Archbishop Rhea's experiments into reawakening her mother.Byleth was the child of Sitri, an artificial "vessel" created to carry the Crest of Flames. While Sitri was unable to unlock its power, she fell in love with Jeralt and had a child. Due to Sitri's inhuman nature, the child, Byleth, wasstillbornand had no heartbeat. As a result, Sitri voluntarily gave the child her crest stone to allow them to live at the cost of her own life.

Jeralt, suspicious of Rhea as the cause of Sitri's death, used a fire as cover to escape the monastery, and Byleth grew up under his care. However, they still lacked a pulse and emotions, signifying that they were being kept alive by the crest stone. Eventually, Sothis makes herself known to Byleth, albeit in the underdeveloped form of a young girl. When Byleth attempts to sacrifice their life to saveEdelgardfrom bandits, Sothis grants Byleth the ability to use Divine Pulse, a power that can stop and rewind time to a limited extent.

Rhea's attempt to resurrect Sothis ultimately never comes to pass. When the villainous mage Solon traps Byleth in a seemingly inescapable void, Sothis is forced to merge her consciousness with theirs, making them the Enlightened One and causing her to retreat into their subconscious. In most of the game's endings, Byleth retains this divine power and succeeds Rhea as the leader of the Church of Seiros. However, in the game's Crimson Flower route, in which Byleth allies with Edelgard against the Church and becomes her confidant, Sothis' crest stone is destroyed, causing Byleth to become mortal. Regardless of the ending, Sothis remains permanently merged with Byleth as a shared consciousness.

Byleth also appears inFire Emblem Heroesin both genders.

InFire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes

Byleth reappears as the secondary antagonist inFire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes,aWarriorsspin-off set in aparallel universefromThree Houses.Like inThree Houses,the player can freely choose Byleth's name and gender. If save data fromThree Housesis detected on the player'sNintendo Switch,the default name is the last name used inThree Houses.They are a rival to the main protagonist, Shez, who ends up being the one that attends Garreg Mach and allies with one of the three lords during the war, while Byleth, Jeralt and their band of mercenaries are hired by one of the opposing sides. Shez also carries a being in their conscious named Arval, who was created by Epimenides, an ancestor of Those Who Slither in the Dark, to destroy Sothis. If Shez kills Jeralt, Byleth will allow Sothis to control them to exact vengeance, but Shez kills both of them; however, they feel regret afterwards. If Shez spares Jeralt and Byleth, they will eventually recruit them in their party. This leads to an additional chapter where Epimenides' consciousness takes control of Arval to force Shez into trying to assassinate Byleth, but they are stopped by the lord Shez is allied with. Epimenides then transports Shez and the three lords to a void and attempts to kill them, but they and Byleth work together to destroy him and escape back to their world.

In other media

Zach Aguilar(left/top) andJeannie Tirado(right/bottom) provide the English voices of male and female Byleth, respectively.

Outside of theFire Emblemseries, Byleth is a playable character added asdownloadable contentforSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate,being voiced by Zach Aguilar and Jeannie Tirado in English,and by Yūsuke Kobayashi and Shizuka Itō in Japanese.

Anamiibofigure of the male Byleth, based on his appearance inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate,has also been released.In addition, a figure of the female Byleth, distributed byGood Smile Company,has also been confirmed for release.

Voice actor controversy

In July 2019, the former voice actor for male Byleth,Chris Niosi,was removed from his role for violating anNDAand discussing his role prior to the game's launch, as well as potentially due tophysical,emotional,andsexual abusethat he admitted to on social media. He was replaced byZach Aguilar,and his lines were re-recorded.

Reception

Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Byleth has received mixed feedback from critics, with some calling the character lacking in depth. Melanie Zawodniak ofNintendo World Reportrated Byleth the worst avatar character in the series, saying that even compared to the other avatars, their lack of customizability "breaks down the illusion that Byleth is a representation of the player". Stating her belief that the "defined" nature of Byleth conflicts with their indeterminate personality, she also criticizes points where the player can only reply with one line of dialogue, noting that not fully voicing Byleth was likely a cost-saving measure.Maddy Myers ofKotakucalled it "kind of creepy" how Byleth spied on their students all the time.Hirun Cryer ofUSgamerremarked thatCindered Shadows,the DLC story ofFire Emblem: Three Houses,"goes a long way toward helping Byleth feel like a real character with a real arc and not just an avatar". Remarking that Byleth felt more like a tool to help the player connect with the game's world during the main storyline, he noted that the plot about Byleth's mother Sitri allowed Byleth to connect emotionally with someone other than Jeralt.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Announcement and release

The decision to include Byleth inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatehas resulted in some criticism from players.During a June 2021 poll onResetEra(which took place whenthe final DLC characterhad not been revealed), Byleth was voted as the most boring Fighters Pass character inUltimatewith other half of the votes.Ian Walker ofKotakucalled the inclusion of Byleth "refreshingly simple",while Tyler Treese ofGameRevolutionexpressed disappointment and called Byleth's addition "boring".Brendan Graeber ofIGNcalled Byleth "A Study in Simplicity", stating that "Byleth has a simple to grasp moveset with some fun small twists that's welcomely easy to learn the ropes with, and their unique approach to directional-based weapons stands out enough to make checking out yet anotherFire Emblemhero worth it – even for the skeptics. "

Byleth was also met with criticism by Western fans, largely due to several otherFire Emblemcharacters already playable in the base game.Masahiro Sakurai,the creator and director of theSuper Smash Bros.series,agreed that "there are too manyFire Emblemcharacters ",but he also noted that he did not directly select the DLC fighters.To alleviate criticism of another sword-wielding fighter, Sakurai and the development team designed Byleth to utilize the Sword of the Creator alongside the signature regalia of the three house leaders inFire Emblem: Three Houses:Failnaught (Claude's bow), Areadbhar (Dimitri's lance), and Aymr (Edelgard's axe).

Competitive scene

Original reception for Byleth in theSuper Smash Bros. Ultimatecompetitive scenewas mixed;Inversecommented shortly before the character's release that "It's not looking good for theFire Emblem: Three Housesprotagonist. "Despite these early criticisms, Byleth would be picked up byMkLeo,the number oneUltimateplayer in the world; he first used the character during Grand Finals of themajor tournamentFrostbite in February 2020, winning the tournament.