Marth

"I am a prince before I am a son or brother."

- Marth after liberating his home in Chapter 17 of Shadow Dragon.

Marth (マルス, Marusu, alternatively translated as Mars in the anime), the Hero-King, is a character from the Fire Emblem series of video games. He is the central protagonist and Lord-class character of the original game, Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi and Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, as well as their respective remakes. Although Marth's Fire Emblem titles were released only in Japan at the time, he has acquired more widespread international attention through his appearance in the Nintendo brawler, Super Smash Bros. Melee. The appearance of Marth and Roy sparked a greater level of Western interest in the Fire Emblem series, and it was in part because of this that Nintendo began releasing the games internationally beginning with Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken, the seventh title in the series.

Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi
Hundreds of years had passed since Medeus was slain in Akaneia. Once Medeus is resurrected, he rebuilds his land of Doluna, ready to invade Akaneia once again. After an attack from Doluna, Marth is forced into exile in the island nation of Talys and home of his childhood friend, the princess Shiida. His father, Cornelius, is killed due to a betrayal by his ally Jiol, the King of Gra and Gharnef, an evil Pontifex and a devout follower of Medeus; the sword Falchion is taken by Gharnef, and Marth's elder sister Elice is taken hostage. With the help of the Altean knight Jagen, Shiida, Aurelian commander Hardin, Red Dragon Princess Minerva, and others, Marth embarks on a quest to defeat Medeus, reclaim the kingdom of Altea, and rescue his sister. Marth meets Nyna, the princess of Akaneia — the most prominent kingdom — who gives him her country's national treasure, the Fire Emblem. After Gharnef is defeated by one of Marth's allies, Marth obtains Falchion which he uses to defeat Medeus. Afterwards, he proposes to Shiida.

Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
After the defeat of Medeus, Marth spent his days peacefully in Altea. During this time, Shiida becomes his fiancee, and the two are soon to be married. However, Marth is ordered by Hardin to put down a rebellion in Grust, and due to Akaneia maintaining some level control over other countries, Marth is forced to go. Upon arrival, Marth learns of General Lang's abuses when talking to Lorenz, and who dies shortly afterward, after entrusting Yubello and Yumina, a prince and princess of Grust respectively, to Marth. However, Lang takes them, and Marth then is forced to go to Medon, where he meets Linde, a mage of Akaneia, who had been keeping the Fire Emblem safe from harm. Marth eventually opposes Lang, attempting to get Hardin's support in removing the corrupt general, but is surprised that Hardin decides to support Lang and declares Marth a traitor, soon after he learns from Shiida that the United armies of Akaneia, Aurelis, and Gra having conquered Altea and captured Elice in Marth's absence. After freeing Grust, Marth discovers that several gems are needed for the Fire Emblem to regain its true power. Marth retrieves most of the gems. He eventually joins forces with Sheema, a distant relative of his and the Princess of Gra, a kingdom that had fallen to ruin after betraying Altea.

After reaching Akaneia Palace, Marth defeats Hardin, obtaining the last gem. The gems are placed on the Fire Emblem, which becomes the Shield of Seals. Afterward, Marth discovers that Hardin was not really evil, but was possessed by the evil priest Gharnef himself through the Darksphere. He then heads to Doluna where Gharnef lurks. After Gharnef 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. Afterword, Marth chose Shiida as his wife and marries her, is declared Emperor of the entire continent of Akaneia, and spends his time rebuilding Akaneia with her in Pales, the capital of Akaneia.

Base Stats

 * -|Book 1=


 * -|Book 2=

Base Stats

 * -|DLC=


 * -|SpotPass (Prince Marth)=


 * Stats may differ depending on difficulty. Equipment is not obtained after recruitment.
 * -|SpotPass (King Marth)=


 * Stats may differ depending on difficulty. Equipment is not obtained after recruitment.
 * -|Enemy=

Overall
In Mystery of the Emblem and its remake, Marth will have high HP, Strength, Speed, and Luck, but will end up with weak defenses; but his high HP and avoid should make up for it. He will usually do a lot of damage and will almost always strike twice. He is somewhat described as a glass cannon and leveling him up should be easy. However, his biggest drawback is that he cannot promote. This takes out a needed one time boost to all of his stats, which would fix his lack of resistance and defense, as well as taking out an additional 10 levels that he could get. Marth has received a significant boost in Shin Monshō no Nazo, with slightly higher growth rates. The Shield of Seals also give him an additional +2 points to all stats. If he has maxed out any of them, these bonuses will also stack.

Super Smash Bros. series
Marth's inclusion in Super Smash Bros. Melee sparked interest in the Fire Emblem series in the West; it was in part because of his inclusion that Nintendo began releasing the games internationally beginning with the seventh title in the series. Nintendo of Japan had originally intended to make him playable only in the game's Japanese release, but when he garnered favorable attention during the game's North American localization, Nintendo of America decided to keep both him and fellow Fire Emblem protagonist Roy in the North American and European versions.

Much of Marth's play style heavily revolves around a quick and strong close range game and good mobility. However he is one of very few characters who lack any sort of projectile moves or any options to play a ranged game without items. Marth wields the original version of the Falchion in all of his Smash Bros. appearances. The sword has a special property in which striking the opponent with the tip of the Falchion deals more damage than striking the opponent with the blade itself. Due to not appearing in any English games by the time of the release of both Melee and Brawl, Marth spoke Japanese and continues to do so in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Wii U, even after the international release of Shadow Dragon.

Melee
Marth is unlocked in Melee by clearing Classic mode with the 14 starting characters or participating in 400 Vs. matches. His appearance is designed as he appeared in his Mystery of the Emblem artwork. As such, his gloves are different and he wears pants for the first time in a game.

Brawl
Marth returns in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as an unlockable character. Just like in Melee. Marth can be unlocked if the player participates in 10 Vs matches, clears Classic mode once on any difficulty, or by recruiting him in the Subspace Emissary. Marth retains his Melee design but with much more detail.

For 3DS and Wii U
"The Hero-King"

- Marth's Aliases on Punch-Out stage.

Marth returns in Super Smash Bros. For 3DS and Wii U. Marth's appearance has been changed to be near identical to his design in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and Fire Emblem: Shin Monshō no Nazo ~Hikari to Kage no Eiyū~, yet Falchion uses the original design. Also, what appears to be the insignia of Naga is embrodered onto his cape. For the first time, Marth is a Starter Character in both versions of Smash 4.

Special Moveset

 * Regular Special: Shield Breaker: Marth's standard special move. In Melee, this was performed as an downward-arcing vertical slash. In Brawl, it was changed into Marth's standard thrust move from his battle animations in the Fire Emblem universe. The move can be charged in place and will initiate once the player lets go of the B Button. The longer the move is charged, it will do more damage and has a higher chance of breaking a shield if the opponent is shielding, leaving them stunned for a short period of time. Unlike most charge moves, Marth's Shield Breaker cannot be stored for later use.
 * Custom Regular Special 1: Storm Thrust: Marth's thrusting animation gains a small whirlwind in front of him, giving him higher knockback.
 * Custom Regular Special 2: Assault Dash: Marth gains a lunging property to his thrust.
 * Side Special: Dancing Blade: Marth's side special move. Marth performs a series of different slashes depending on the button input by the player. After performing the standard Side Special input, the player can press B while pressing up, down, or forward, up to 4 attacks. With all the different move variations, Marth can perform 18 different versions of the Dancing Blade move. High variations are outlined with blue streaks, middle variations are outlined with red streaks, and low variations are outlined with green streaks.
 * Custom Side Special 1: Easy Combination: Marth's combo is executed much quicker, however it has low damage output and low knockback.
 * Custom Side Special 2: Heavy Combination: Marth's combo is executed much slower but has higher damage and knockback.
 * Up Special: Dolphin Slash: Marth's stage recovery move. Marth performs an extremely quick, leaping vertical slash that launches him almost straight up. However it has little horizontal movement making it difficult to recover from the sides of the screen.
 * Custom Up Special 1: Crescent Slash: Marth propels himself with a diagonal trajectory
 * Custom Up Special 2: Dolphin High Jump: Marth propels himself much higher than its base form, however it does not deal any damage.
 * Down Special: Counter: Marth's down special move. Marth takes a defensive stance and his body flashes for a few seconds. If any character attacks him with a non-projectile move up close, Marth will reflect the damage. In Melee Marth's counter will deal at least 1% to a maximum of 7% in reflect damage depending on the strength of the move the Marth is countering. In Brawl, Marth's counter will deal x1.1 of the damage he would have received with a minimum 8% should the counter deal less than 8%. Marth can counter/negate items thrown at him using this move, however projectiles with explosive properties cannot be reflected and will detonate on him if he tries to reflect these.
 * Custom Down Special 1: Easy Counter: Marth's counter starts up faster and lasts longer but deals less counter damage and has low knockback
 * Custom Down Special 2: Iai Counter Marth's counter starts off a bit slower and has a slightly longer recovery period. However, it deals more counter damage and has a much higher knockback.
 * Final Smash: Critical Hit: Critical Hit is an extremely fast and powerful Final Smash. After raising his sword, Marth quickly rushes forward, instantly blowing away all enemies he comes in contact with off screen. A Health Meter appears, which rapidly decreases to zero, though this is purely an aesthetic. Arguably the most powerful Final Smash, not just for the 60% damage if it connects, but for the knockback effect, able to offscreen KO Bowser, the heaviest character in the game, even when he is at 0% from the opposite edge of a medium sized stage. It can also be launched in the air and he will still propel him straight forward. However on smaller stages, Marth can actually launch himself offscreen using this move and suicide KO himself. The move can be cancelled by pressing B again to stop him from dashing.

Snake's conversation About Marth
A fellow Super Smash Bros. Brawl character, Snake, can call one of his trusted partners for information on any character he fights. This is what is discussed about Marth:

Mei Ling: Snake, have you heard the saying "Politics makes strange bedfellows"?

Snake: Don't tell me that's a Chinese proverb.

Mei Ling: Err, no... It means that when the going gets tough, you might need unexpected partnerships in order to succeed. Marth was a prince whose kingdom was usurped. He didn't even have an army to fight with him. But as he battled his way forward, he found new allies to fight at his side, and in the end, he was able to reunite the war-torn land of Altea.

Snake: So he built his army from the ranks of his defeated enemies.

Mei Ling: Marth did his share of fighting, too. Even when he had an army, he was always alongside his men in the thick of battle. Then he was betrayed by one of his most trusted friends. I can't imagine how that feels...

Snake: ...I can.

Palutena's Guidance
Palutena's Guidance is featured in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and is similar to Snake's Codec in Brawl. Pit holds a special conversation with Palutena and Viridi to comment on one of Pit's opponents, giving him helpful tips about their strengths and weaknesses. This feature is based on the numerous chapter dialogue in Kid Icarus: Uprising.

Pit: Get a load of Mr. Fancy Pants here.

Viridi: Is that jealousy I detect in your voice, Pit?

Pit: Why would I be jealous of Marth?

Viridi: Well, he's a prince, for starters. A handsome prince. And you're just—

Palutena: Anyway, Prince Marth's most dangerous attack comes from the tip of his sword. Avoid his blade at midrange.

Pit: So I should either attack from a distance or get up close and personal.

Palutena: He's got a counter as well, so be on guard when you go hand to hand. If you're attacking from afar, use items to improve your chances.

Fire Emblem OVA
Originally, in the English localization of the original video animation (OVA), Marth was referred to as "Mars", but with the release of Super Smash Bros. Melee, Nintendo of America officially localized his name as "Marth". However, in  Melee' s debug menu, which was written and programmed by the game's Japanese developer, lists his name as "Mars". In contrast with the games, he is given the surname 'Lowell' in the anime.

Due to his appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee, it has been a misconception by some fans that Fire Emblem: Binding Blade ' s main character Roy has a tie in with Marth. However, Marth's world, which is typically the setting for the series, and Roy's world, the first to deviate from that standard, are not mentioned to be connected. This confusion stems primarily from the fact that the trophy descriptions for Marth and Roy describe both characters as being from Fire Emblem, but do not name the specific titles each character appeared in. It has been theorized however that the Dragon's Gate may be a wormhole connecting the two, and that the Dragons sent through it during The Scouring became the dragons in the backstory of Shin Monshō no Nazo. However, even if this was true, no connection between Marth and Roy would exist even then.

Marth was voiced by Midorikawa Hikaru (緑川 光) in the Japanese version of the anime and Super Smash Bros. Melee. In the western localization of the anime by ADV Films, he is voiced by Spike Spencer. The anime was based on Mystery of the Emblem; production ended after only two episodes were finished. The anime follows the events of the game, recounting Marth's journey to liberate Akanea and kill Medeus.

Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.
Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. is compatible with the Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U Amiibos of Fire Emblem Characters. When scanned, a S.T.E.A.M. version of Marth will appear in game. Marth wields the Falchion which deals heavy damage to single targets near him. He also wields a Rapier to strike weak spots much more easily. Marth's special ability in game is Lodestar which heals a substantial amount of health to his nearby allies. He is voiced by Yuri Lowenthal.

Character Depiction
Marth is about 14 years old in the prologue added to Shadow Dragon, 16 years old in Ankoku Ryu to Hikari no Tsurugi and its remakes, and about 19 in Mystery of the Emblem and its remake. He often wears a headdress with a jewel in the center of it. While this headdress appears to be his in the games, the anime implies it is a memento given to him by his sister Elice and in the manga it is a gift from Shiida. In Ankoku Ryu to Hikari no Tsurugi, Mystery of the Emblem and their remakes, he has light blue hair, while he has midnight blue hair in the anime and the Super Smash Bros. games. When he first appeared in Ankoku Ryu to Hikari no Tsurugi, Marth wore a light blue tunic, a dark blue cape with matching pauldrons that have a yellow outline, heavily-strapped brown sandals and armbands, a gold belt that held a red oval jewel on the front with a black rope above it, and no pants. He wore the same thing in the retelling of Mystery of the Emblem Book 1, except his footwear was replaced with blue boots, his cape got lengthened with a red lining, and he has now has short white sleeves and long white fingerless gloves. In Book 2 of Mystery of the Emblem, he wore a similar outfit consisting of more elaborate royal clothing and a red circular jewel holding his cape over his chest. This time, he once again wore no pants except on the artwork shown in the box and manual, where his gloves were also depicted the same navy blue color.

His appearance in the anime, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl is based on this appearance, with the addition of a heavy breastplate and some other changed details. In the anime, he also casually wore light brown clothing with blue pants. In Shadow Dragon, Marth is given a new design that somewhat resembles his appearance in Mystery of the Emblem, with a bronze pendant rather than a ruby one. He also has boots close to his original sandals, a leather strap with a buckle around his waist rather than a belt, a longer tunic based on the one from the Super Smash Bros. games, and baggier pants. His design in Shin Monshō no Nazo adds slightly more regal clothing and replaces the pendant again to resemble Mystery of the Emblem. In the Fire Emblem: Awakening DLC, his appearance is a combination of different previous designs, with a leaner physique and more sophisticated noble clothes resembling his pre-remake artwork, and the bronze pendant from Shadow Dragon again used. It is however technically not the real Marth (it is one of many Einherjar cards, which are mirror-image copies of historical personalities). Also in Awakening, Lucina uses a near identical design to this DLC Marth, especially so when wearing her mask. In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Marth's character model is a cross between his Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Shin Monshō no Nazo designs, leaning closer to Shin Monshō No Nazo but with his heavier armor more grey than blue. He also has what appears to be the insignia of Naga from Fire Emblem Awakening on his cape, and Falchion bizzarely uses the original NES/SNES design, contrasting his heavily remake inspired look.

Quotes
"If Elice has news of our father, I pray it's good news..."

- Marth in Prologue I of Shadow Dragon

"General Lang, I will not follow your orders. We’re going back to our own country."

- Marth standing up to Lang in Chapter 3 of Mystery of the Emblem

Death Quotes
"Forgive me...my friends..."

- Marth's death quote in Shadow Dragon

If Shiida is alive (Shadow Dragon and Shin Monshō no Nazo Hikari to Kage no Eiyū only):

Marth: "Forgive me...my friends..."

Shiida: "Ah! Marth, don't leave me!"

Shin Monshō no Nazo ~Hikari to Kage no Eiyū~
Altean Prince

Marth was crowned the fifth king of Altea. As the leader of the United Kingdom of Akaneia, He worked tirelessly to help rebuild the ruined kingdom.

Etymology
'Marth' is a corruption of 'Mars,' the Roman god of war, by which name he is called in the anime. However, their personalities are not similar, as the god Mars was uncontrollable and violent, whereas Marth's character is more suited to an anime hero or to romanticized perceptions of medieval nobility. It is probable that the reason his name was romanized as "Marth" is because in the Japanese language, there is no "th" sound, and their equivalent of the "th" sound is the "s" sound. Much like how "b" is substituted for "v." This has led to some confusion over his real name, but it is generally accepted that correct version is "Marth."

His last name-exclusive to the anime, "Lowell", means Little Wolf.

Trivia

 * Marth and Sigurd are the only two Fire Emblem Lords that cannot promote.
 * Marth has starred in more Fire Emblem games than any other Fire Emblem protagonist.
 * Marth is the only Outrealm character in Awakening to not be built from the Avatar creation system, instead being identical to Lucina's disguise, just without the mask.
 * Marth speaks Japanese in all releases of Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl because neither of Marth's games were released outside of Japan. He continues to do so in 3DS/Wii U even though Marth's first remake game, Shadow Dragon, was released worldwide.
 * Marth is the only character that can wield all three versions of Falchion in Awakening.
 * Marth's Awakening artwork depicts him wielding a Rapier.
 * If recruited in Awakening, Marth is the only unit to have access to the Lodestar class.
 * If you fight Prince Marth as a SpotPass character from Shadow Dragon, the other units that join him represent some of his allies:
 * 3 Paladins (Cain, Abel, and Jagen)
 * 1 Sniper (Gordin)
 * 1 General (Draug)
 * 1 Falcon Knight (Shiida)
 * 1 War Monk (Wrys)
 * Marth shares his Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. voice actor, Yuri Lowenthal, with Ricken from Fire Emblem: Awakening.
 * Marth is one of the few units whose status screen portrait changes at some point of the game, a trait he shares with Ike, Sothe, Volke, Micaiah, Avatar (Shin Monshō no Nazo) and Lucina. His change happens between the Prologue and Chapter 1 of Shadow Dragon.

Gallery
Marth