Fire Emblem Wiki
Fire Emblem Wiki
(Undo revision 389057 by Hernobleness (talk) While it has the rune translation, that image is of the Falchion and not the Shield of Seals, hence does not belong on this page.)
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File:FE3 Fire Emblem.png|The Fire Emblem in ''Mystery of the Emblem''
 
File:FE3 Fire Emblem.png|The Fire Emblem in ''Mystery of the Emblem''
 
File:Shield of seals icon.png|The Shield of Seals in ''Mystery of the Emblem''.
 
File:Shield of seals icon.png|The Shield of Seals in ''Mystery of the Emblem''.
Warriors Shield of Seals.jpg|The Shield of Seals in ''Fire Emblem Warriors''.
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File:Warriors_Shield_of_Seals.png|The Shield of Seals in ''Fire Emblem Warriors''.
 
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Revision as of 05:40, 17 April 2017

Not related or to be confused with Elibe's Binding Blade.

“The conqueror's proof gifted from House Archanea. Its bearer is granted access to all treasure chests.”
—In-game description, New Mystery of the Emblem

The Shield of Seals (封印の盾 Fūin no Tate), later renamed as the Fire Emblem (ファイアーエムブレム), also called the Crest of Flames (炎の紋章 Honō no Monshō) in the Japanese version is the legendary shield of Archanea and the counterpart of the Falchion.

The Shield of Seals is called the Pedestal of Flames (炎の台座 Honō no Daiza) in the Japanese version of Fire Emblem Awakening. When Tiki is first met, she asked if the army had with them the 'Crest of Flames', the name which Chrom didn't recognize. Only after Tiki explained that it was the treasure passed down in royal family did Chrom understand.

Profile

Origin and Early Use

Originally forged by Naga from one of her fangs, she used it to seal away the Earth Dragons, who had gone wild and were threatening to destroy humanity. After her death the shield was stolen by a thief named Adrah, who removed and sold the gemstones placed in it, thus unknowingly weakening the seal over the Earth Dragons. The thief would later go on to found the kingdom of Archanea and kept the shield, now renamed the Fire Emblem, as a royal treasure. During the battle against Medeus and the Dolhr Empire, the Fire Emblem was wielded by Duke Cartas, leader of the rebellion against Medeus, although it was ultimately the peasant born Anri, wielding the Falchion, who would slay Medeus.

Sometime after the Shield of Seals became the Fire Emblem, a curse was put on it, dooming its wielders, who for most of its history was the Archanea royal family, to misery. There are two different origins given for the curse: Mystery of the Emblem implies the curse began when Adrah stole the shield and removed the orbs, while Shadow Dragon implies that the curse originated with Artemis, who cursed it in order to guarantee Cartas victory in battle only to have it backfire on her and doom her relationship with Anri.

Shadow Dragon and Mystery of the Emblem

The shield remained in Archanea until Medeus's revival, where the surviving member of the Archanea royal family, Nyna, entrusted it to Marth to use in his battle against Medeus. In Mystery of the Emblem, Marth would obtain the shield once again, this time from Linde, when he began his battle against the possessed Hardin. He would eventually find the missing orbs and have Gotoh restore the Fire Emblem to its true form, the Shield of Seals. With the Shield of Seals and the Falchion, Marth was able to slay a revived Medeus, and put the Earth Dragons back into the seal. During his defeat, Medeus taunted Marth that the complete shield would be eventually lost due to humanity's greed, but Marth resolved to keep it together.

Fire Emblem Awakening

The Fire Emblem is one of the national treasures of Ylisse, alongside the Falchion. The Fire Emblem was used by the First Exalt of Ylisse to defeat Grima, but due to the Emblem's overwhelming power, four of the jewels were removed from it afterwards. When all five jewels (Argent, Sable, Gules, Azure, and Vert) are placed on the Emblem, the Awakening Ceremony can be initiated. The Fire Emblem is also used as a shield by Chrom when he is promoted to Great Lord, similar to how Marth uses it in Mystery of the Emblem. Its alternate appearance in this title is explained by Lucina in a support conversation; both the Fire Emblem and the Falchion were broken and reforged some time before the game.

The five gems of the shield were distributed across the world in the various countries during a time known as the Schism. Ylisse held onto the shield itself as well as the the silver gem, Argent. Ferox held the red jewel, Gules, Tiki held the blue jewel, Azure, in the Mila Tree, Chon'sin held the green jewel, Vert, until it was taken to Valm after Walhart conquered Chon'sin, and the black gem, Sable, was stolen by the Grimleal in Plegia, who viewed the Emblem as sacrilegious due to its role in defeating Grima.

In Game Use

The Fire Emblem is used by Marth to open chests without a key. After it is upgraded into the Shield of Seals it gains the ability to repel Earth Dragons. Contrary to popular belief, it is not needed to wield the Falchion, although Marth and Chrom both wield the two together. The shield also gives Marth +2 for all his stats in New Mystery of the Emblem once all the Gems have been Replaced. In Awakening, Chrom wields it, although it has no gameplay effect.

Other appearances

Monster Hunter Frontier G

In the Wii U version of Monster Hunter Frontier G, the Fire Emblem is usable as a shield as part of the crossover promotion involving Chrom and Lucina armor sets. The Fire Emblem is paired with the Falchion (Chrom's)/Parallel Falchion (Lucina's) as part of a combined shield and single-handed sword set.

Etymology

The name Fire Emblem most likely refers to the fact that In Mystery of the Emblem, Shadow Dragon, and New Mystery of the Emblem, the Shield depicted a Phoenix bearing five Orbs, the Orbs themselves being absent until near the end of Mystery of the Emblem and its remake. A Phoenix is a creature that when near death catches fire and is later reborn from its own ashes, somewhat akin to the Shield's own vandalism and restoration.

Trivia

  • In Awakening, after the Fire Emblem is taken from Chrom by Validar, (If Chrom is a Great Lord) the Shield of Seals no longer appears on his arm until he retrieves it. Likewise, if he promotes to a Great Lord before receiving the Fire Emblem in Chapter 7, it will not appear on his arm. Despite the developers taking this into account, Chrom's map sprite always has the shield.
  • The Fire Emblem's change in function in Awakening is entirely unexplained. Its ability to stop Tiki from degenerating is not mentioned, and Tiki herself keeps the Fire Emblem apart.
  • The English names of the gems in Awakening are based off of tinctures used in heraldry.
  • The runes around the gemstones of the Awakening manifestation read (top to bottom, left to right): "white frame orb holy light, black frame orb dark night, blue 'fram' orb starry heavens, red frame orb lifeblood, green frame orb mother earth."
  • In Fire Emblem Fates, a replica of the Awakening version appears as a special clothing that can be equipped on all units via My Castle. It is obtained by having StreetPass data on the 3DS for Awakening. Odin, Selena, and Laslow confirm that it is merely a replica and not the original.

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