Ike: Difference between revisions

|caption = [[File:FireEmblemSymbol.svg|50px|class=invert]]<br>Official artworks of Ike from ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance}}'' and ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn}}''.

|firstgame = ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance}}'' (2005)

|lastappearance = ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem Heroes}}'' (2017)

|species = {{s|fireemblemwiki|Beorc}}

|homeworld = {{s|fireemblemwiki|Gallia}} (birthplace)<br>{{s|fireemblemwiki|Crimea}} (surrogate home)

'''Ike''' {{ja|(アイク|Aiku}}, ''Ike'') is a character from the {{uv|Fire Emblem}} series. As the main protagonist of ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance}}'' and deuteragonist of ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn}}'', Ike grows from a naive mercenary-in-training into a savvy and renowned war hero who desires to be a capable warrior like his father, {{s|fireemblemwiki|Greil}}. Ike made his ''{{b|Super Smash Bros.|series}}'' series debut in ''[[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]]'' as a playable character, and has appeared as such since then.

Following the release of ''[[Super Smash Bros. Melee]]'' and its inclusion of ''Fire Emblem'' protagonists [[Marth]] and [[Roy]], ''Fire Emblem'' established itself outside Japan with two Game Boy Advance titles: ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade}}'' and ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones}}''. The international success of the former prompted developer Intelligent Systems to begin work on a more ambitious, large-scale ''Fire Emblem'' game for the Nintendo GameCube: ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance}}'', Ike's debut game, which released in 2005.

Ike is the son of {{s|fireemblemwiki|Greil}}, a legendary warrior who leads [[fireemblemwiki:Greil Mercenaries|a band of mercenaries]] which operates in {{s|fireemblemwiki|Crimea}}, a minor kingdom on the continent of {{s|fireemblemwiki|Tellius}}. He and his younger sister, {{s|fireemblemwiki|Mist}}, live with the mercenaries in a remote Crimean fort. Notably, Ike is currently the only protagonist of a ''Fire Emblem'' game to have absolutely no royal, noble or divine ancestry at all; this is reflected in his initial [[fireemblemwiki:Class|character class]] in ''Path of Radiance'' not being the usual {{s|fireemblem|Lord}}, but rather the unique {{iw|fireemblemwiki|Ranger|Path of Radiance}} that ultimately promotes into a Lord when he is temporarily knighted.

''Path of Radiance'' follows Ike's exploits through the {{s|fireemblemwiki|Mad King's War}}. Having only recently been allowed by Greil to join missions with the Mercenaries, Ike encounters Princess {{s|fireemblemwiki|Elincia}} of Crimea on the run after the neighboring Kingdom of {{s|fireemblemwiki|Daein}} attacked and conquered Crimea. Elincia hires the Greil Mercenaries to assist her in escaping Crimea, but after Greil himself is killed by his former student, the [[Black Knight]] of Daein, Ike is forced to take command of the Mercenaries.

Ike's journeys with Elincia – fleeing to the {{s|fireemblemwiki|Begnion}} Empire, assisting its Empress {{s|fireemblemwiki|Sanaki}} in destroying a slave trafficking ring, being knighted by Elincia, and raising an army to march on Daein and take back Crimea – brings him into contact with the ancient racial tensions between the {{s|fireemblemwiki|laguz}} (clans of animal shapeshifters) and his fellow {{s|fireemblemwiki|beorc}}; with a plot by Daein's Mad King, {{s|fireemblemwiki|Ashnard}}, to unleash a dark god sealed within [[fireemblemwiki:Lehran's Medallion|a bronze medallion]] and remake the world; and with the sacrifices his parents made to try and stop that plot decades prior. By the end of the war, Ike's deeds have earned him respect across the world, from beorc and laguz nations alike.

''Path of Radiance'' received a direct sequel in 2007 called ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn}}'', in which Ike returned as part of a larger ensemble cast of protagonists, playing out the conflicts from multiple viewpoints. ''Radiant Dawn'' is set three years later, by which time Ike has renounced his Crimean knighthood and returned to work with the Greil Mercenaries. After assisting Queen Elincia with ending an uprising in Crimea, Ike is hired by his friend {{s|fireemblemwiki|Ranulf}}, a cat laguz, to assist the {{s|fireemblemwiki|Laguz Alliance}} in a war against Begnion, demanding reparations for the major atrocities they committed against laguz nations. This provokes a civil war in Begnion, in which Sanaki breaks away from her corrupt senate to join Ike's side, and is further complicated when Daein's army, led by the mage {{s|fireemblemwiki|Micaiah}}, joins the war on Begnion's side.

The enormous war awakens and angers the goddess of order, {{s|fireemblemwiki|Ashera}}, with the underlying conflicts having been specifically manipulated to do so, and Ike and Micaiah join forces with the released "dark god" – actually {{s|fireemblemwiki|Yune}}, a sympathetic goddess of chaos – to reverse Ashera's judgement and save the world. The game ends with Ike dealing the finishing blow to Ashera, for which he becomes known as the legendary "Radiant Hero" {{ja|(青い炎の英雄|Sōen no Eiyū}}, ''Hero of the Blue Flame''), and with him leaving Tellius forever for parts unknown.

In gameplay, Ike is a formidable all-rounder. In the tradition of all ''Fire Emblem'' protagonists, his death in battle causes an immediate Game Over, but his good statistical performance and high utility makes him a consistent front-line force nonetheless. He boasts high strength and speed, and good physical defense, but his big weakness is his resistance to magical attacks. Late in his games, he gains exclusive access to two powerful tools: [[Aether]], his unique master skill, and Ragnell, a {{s|fireemblemwiki|regalia}} {{s|fireemblemwiki|sword}}. In every attack he makes after acquiring it, Aether gives him a small chance to trigger an acrobatic two-hit sequence that combines the effects of two other mastery skills, {{iw|fireemblemwiki|Sol|skill}} and {{iw|fireemblemwiki|Luna|skill}}, that heals himself before bypassing his opponent's physical defense stat to deal more damage to them. Ragnell, meanwhile, allows him to fight both in close quarters and at a distance, attacking far-away enemies with a powerful shockwave; he is one of only three ''Fire Emblem'' main protagonists whose signature sword gives him this extra range, with the others being [[Roy]] and [[Byleth]].

Even before his ''Super Smash Bros.'' appearances, Ike was one of the most popular characters in the entire ''Fire Emblem'' series, especially outside of Japan. In 2017, he was voted the single most popular male character in the inaugural {{s|fireemblemwiki|Choose Your Legends}} popularity poll for ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem Heroes}}'' (surpassed only by the top placers of the female bracket, [[Lyn]] and [[Lucina]]; if votes for multiple incarnations of the same character had been tallied together, as they were in later years, Ike would have placed 1st overall). ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem Awakening}}'' features him as a bonus character, albeit unrelated to the main story, via SpotPass and DLC. ''Awakening'' also features the character {{s|fireemblemwiki|Priam}}, a distant descendant of Ike who bears both a striking resemblance to him and a heavily aged Ragnell. Later appearances include ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.}}'', ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem Fates}}'' and ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia}}'', all via [[amiibo]]. Ike also makes frequent appearances in the smartphone game ''Fire Emblem Heroes'' and the ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem Cipher}}'' card game. Finally, Ike is set to appear in ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem Engage}}'' as one of the game's numerous "Emblems" (protagonists from various other ''Fire Emblem'' games).

Thanks to the considerable size of his blessed sword, {{s|fireemblemwiki|Ragnell}}, the majority of Ike's attacks are among the longest ranged and most powerful in the game.<ref name=Dojo/> As a trade-off, however, most of his attacks are notorious for being among the slowest in the game in regard to both start-up and ending lag.<ref>[https://www.wired.com/2008/02/sakurai-talks-a/ Sakurai Talks About ''Smash Bros.'' Character Roster]</ref> Ike also possesses [[Aether]] as his up special move, which grants him [[armor]] at its beginning when he and Ragnell are separated and prior to his leap.<ref name=Dojo/> Unlike his fellow ''Fire Emblem'' fighter {{SSBB|Marth}}, Ike's moveset features a number of unarmed strikes (specifically punches, kicks, and a headbutt) alongside sword swings. On a related note, his [[neutral attack]] can [[jab cancel]] easily and reliably into various combos, or even KO outright.

| {{s|fireemblemwiki|Ike}}

| {{s|fireemblemwiki|Ike}}

Ike returns as a playable character in ''Super Smash Bros. 4''. Unlike in ''Brawl'', he now sports his {{s|fireemblemwiki|Hero}} design from ''Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn''. The majority of Ike's frame data saw noticeable improvement primarily in the form of decreased lag, thanks largely to game updates throughout ''SSB4''{{'}}s lifespan. His mobility has also improved, thanks to his faster dashing and air speeds, as well as his higher double jump. Changes to game mechanics have also benefited Ike: the changes to [[hitstun canceling]] grant his up and down throws respectable combo potential at varying percentages, while the removal of [[edge-hogging]] significantly improves [[Aether]]'s reliability as a [[recovery]] option.

Ike returns as a playable character in ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''. Unlike his previous appearances, Ike is now an [[unlockable character]], his ''Path of Radiance'' and ''Radiant Dawn'' designs are both available for selection,<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L93H7YC-83o Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - E3 2018 - Nintendo Switch]</ref> and Greg Chun has become his English voice actor since succeeding Jason Adkins as of ''{{s|fireemblemwiki|Fire Emblem Heroes}}''. Both designs have unique voice clips, with some different phrases and the ''Radiant Dawn'' design having a deeper, gruffer tone than the ''Path of Radiance'' design.

*Although Ike is eventually promoted to the {{s|fireemblemwiki|Lord}} class in ''Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance'', he appears as a {{s|fireemblemwiki|Ranger|Path of Radiance}} in ''Brawl'' and a {{s|fireemblemwiki|Hero}} in ''SSB4''. As such, he is the first playable ''Fire Emblem'' character to not appear as a Lord upon debuting in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series.

*Ike appears in several downloadable chapters as an {{s|fireemblemwiki|Einherjar}} in ''Fire Emblem Awakening''. This includes all three of the aptly named ''[[fireemblemwiki:Downloadable content in Fire Emblem Awakening|Smash Brethren]]'' chapters, which [[List of Super Smash Bros. references in other franchises|reference Ike's involvement in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series]].