Byleth

For fighter info, see Byleth (SSBU).

Byleth
Official artwork of Byleth from Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
Universe	Fire Emblem
Debut	Fire Emblem Heroes (2019, technical debut) Fire Emblem: Three Houses (2019, proper debut)
Smash Bros. appearances	Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	Tetris 99 (2019, cameo)
Console/platform of origin	Mobile (technical debut) Nintendo Switch (proper debut)
Species	Demigod
Gender	Varies
Place of origin	Fódlan
Designed by	Chinatsu Kurahana
English voice actor	Male: Zach Aguilar Female: Jeannie Tirado
Japanese voice actor	Male: Yūsuke Kobayashi Female: Shizuka Itō
Article on Fire Emblem Wiki	Byleth

Byleth (male: ベレト, female: ベレス, Byleth) is the default name for the player character in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. In the game, Byleth assumes the role of a professor to one of the three titular houses at Garreg Mach Monastery, guiding the students through day-to-day activities and improving their combat skills.

Origin

Byleth Eisner is the main character of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, following in the footsteps of Corrin in also serving as a player surrogate. Unlike previous playable avatars Robin and Corrin, the only customizable features of Byleth are name, gender, and birth date, and they are portrayed as a mostly silent protagonist, with the majority of their dialogue being from battle quotes instead of interactions from other characters.

In Three Houses, Byleth is the child of Jeralt Eisner, a former knight of the Church of Seiros and Sitri, a nun of the Church of Seiros in Imperial Year 1159. As Byleth was born in critical condition, Archbishop Rhea took the Crest Stone of Flames from Sitri, both to save Byleth and to reawaken the goddess Sothis, resulting in Sitri's death. Byleth does not recall much of their past, and Jeralt has told them very little of their childhood.

However, following a chance encounter where Byleth and Jeralt rescue Edelgard von Hresvelg, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd, and Claude von Riegan from a group of bandits, they are brought back to Garreg Mach Monastery. Upon arriving, Jeralt is reinstated as the captain of the Knights of Seiros, and Byleth is enlisted as a professor for one of the Officers' Academy's three houses: the Black Eagles led by Edelgard, the Blue Lions led by Dimitri, and the Golden Deer led by Claude. Depending on the player's decision, the story plays out differently in part 2.

Sothis is a mysterious entity who appears in Byleth's dreams and, eventually, manifests in real life, although Byleth is the only one that can see her. She has lost all of her memories except her name, but possesses great power, bestowing Byleth the ability to turn back time. Eventually, after Byleth is banished to a dark realm by a mysterious group called "those who slither in the dark", and Sothis learns that she is a goddess upon rediscovering her past. She subsequently fuses with Byleth, thus granting them all of her power at the cost of ceasing to appear to them after that point, except in a few select circumstances. Sothis is also the source of Byleth's Crest, the Crest of Flames, which allows them to wield the Sword of the Creator effectively.

Regardless of which house they choose, at the end of Byleth's first year as a professor, Edelgard declares war on the Church of Seiros and Byleth is forced to take a side. An accident results in them falling into a coma for five years; once they awaken, they reunite with their house of choice (or the Church of Seiros, should they decide to side against Edelgard after choosing the Black Eagles) and assist their house leader in their goals: Edelgard in Crimson Flower to destroy the Church, Dimitri in Azure Moon to stop Edelgard, Claude in Verdant Wind to discover the truth behind the Crests and the Heroes' Relics, and The Church of Seiros in Silver Snow to stop Edelgard and Those Who Slither in the Dark.

What happens to Byleth depends on the route, in Silver Snow and Verdant Wind, they become the new leader of the United Kingdom of Fódlan, in Crimson Flower, Byleth spends the rest of their life to end Those Who Slither in the Dark and becomes a lifelong confidant to Edelgard, and in Azure Moon, Byleth becomes Archbishop after Rhea retires.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

As a playable character

Male and female Byleth, as they appear in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Byleth appears as a newcomer in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, with his inclusion being announced during a Mr. Sakurai Presents presentation on January 16, 2020. He is the fifth and final DLC character of Fighters Pass Vol. 1, and was released on January 28, 2020. Like his fellow Fire Emblem representatives Robin and Corrin, Byleth's female counterpart is also playable as an alternate costume.

Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai played an early version of Fire Emblem: Three Houses in order to gain a better experience of how to develop Byleth for Ultimate. Sakurai further elaborated that he did this to also ensure that Byleth's release was not delayed, and mentioned that he used this developmental process previously, in which he listed The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as an example.

In a subsequent interview with Famitsu on February 5, 2020, Sakurai stated that he agreed with fan criticisms regarding the amount of both sword-wielding characters and playable Fire Emblem representatives in Ultimate. However, he reiterated that he was proceeding with a plan created for him by Nintendo and not picking his own favorites to be in the roster.

Sakurai said that freshness was the theme of Byleth's inclusion, as Three Houses was released only seven months after Ultimate. Due to Sakurai's aforementioned agreement with the criticism, he sought to have Byleth's moveset reference the branching storylines of Three Houses. As a result, he decided that Byleth would not only retain the Sword of the Creator, but also wield the eponymous three houses' signature regalia (Aymr, Areadbhar, and Failnaught).

Spirits

• 

  1,380. Byleth (Male)

• Female Byleth Spirit.png

  1,381. Byleth (Female)

Trivia

• With a July 2019 debut, Byleth is currently the most recent fighter in Super Smash Bros. history.
• Byleth is one of two playable characters whose system of origin is the Nintendo Switch, the other being the unannounced ARMS character.
  • Due to Byleth's appearance in Fire Emblem Heroes prior to Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Byleth is the only playable character in the series to technically have debuted in a mobile game.
• Byleth is the only character other than Jigglypuff with only one idle pose. However, the female variant has a different idle pose than the male one.
• In Japanese, Byleth has two different names to refer to the male and female versions. Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Inkling, Pokémon Trainer, and the Mii Fighters also share this trait.
  • Byleth is the only character with this distinction to have a given name rather than a generic title, and the only one to have this distinction in Japanese.
• Byleth is the first and so far only Fire Emblem character who possesses a tether recovery.
• Byleth, along with Robin and Corrin, shares the unique distinction of being Fire Emblem characters:
  • That has male and female variants, with all of their default costumes being male.
  • That has access to projectiles.
• Robin and Byleth are the only Fire Emblem characters whose down specials are not counterattacks.
  • Also like Robin, Byleth utilizes more than one weapon.
• Byleth is one of two female characters with moves that have super armor, along with Wendy.
  • Coincidentally, they are both alternate costumes.
• Byleth is the only playable Fire Emblem character who does not use a sharpening sound effect when charging a smash attack. However, this does not apply when charging a forward smash with a battering item.
• Byleth is the third Fire Emblem character to be a DLC, with the first two being veteran Roy and newcomer Corrin in SSB4 respectively.
  • Additionally, Byleth is the second Fire Emblem newcomer to be DLC in their debut.