Choose Your Legends is an annual event for Fire Emblem Heroes.
Overview[]
Choose Your Legends is an annual voting event that began in 2017 and has taken place each January since. Via a ballot hosted on the official Fire Emblem Heroes website, players vote on their favorite Fire Emblem characters from across the entire franchise, and are allowed to vote for one character per day for the extent of the voting period. Participants may vote for the same character as many times as desired.
At the end of the voting period, all characters are ranked, and the top two characters of each gender are crowned the winners of the event. All four are then given a special Hero variation called Brave Heroes who are released on a unified banner around August of that year. The top male and female character in the ballot also receive a special skill that is exclusive to them. Brave Heroes wear clothing that is referential in some manner, with common examples being the garb of a promotion class from their game of origin or clothing based on that of a close relative.
Once a character has won a Choose Your Legends event, they are no longer eligible to participate in future Choose Your Legends events. This also extends to variations of winning characters. For example, the Path of Radiance incarnation of Ike won the first Choose Your Legends ballot for the male category, and Lucina placed second among female characters. Consequently, the Radiant Dawn version of Ike and Lucina's "Masked Marth" persona were deemed ineligible for future ballots. This rule is not enforced in the case of an alternate gender version of an Avatar character that won a prior ballot, or for versions of characters that differ significantly from a prior winner. Such examples of these instances include the male version of Byleth and the younger, Shadow Dragon era version of Tiki remaining on the ballot after female Byleth and Awakening Tiki won the ballot in a prior year.
Choose Your Legends Events[]
2017 Choose Your Legends Event[]
Prior to the launch of Fire Emblem Heroes, the game's official website went live with the inaugural Choose Your Legends event. From January 18 to January 31, 2017, visitors to the website could vote for one character per day. All playable characters, major villains, and select major NPCs from each entry in the franchise were eligible to receive votes. Characters that appeared in more than one game could also receive votes for each individual appearance.
Results[]
On February 8, 2017, the top twenty male and female characters to receive votes were announced via Nintendo of America's Twitter account. The top two of each division this year were:
- For the full results, see Choose Your Legends Results: Round 1.
The top ten male and female characters were featured in monthly calendar mobile phone wallpapers distributed from March 2017 to December 2017.
| Lyn Brave Lady |
Ike Brave Mercenary |
Lucina Brave Princess |
Roy Brave Lion |
On August 27, 2017, Lyn, Ike, Lucina, and Roy received a Brave Hero variation due to holding the top two spots for each gender respectively. Ike and Lyn, the top ranked hero of their gender categories, received their own unique skills: Beorc's Blessing and Sacae's Blessing respectively.
Origin
- Lyn's Brave Hero variation is based on the nomadic people of Sacae, being similar to the Nomad class distinct to the region and wielding Mulagir, the sacred bow associated with the area.
- Ike's Brave Hero variation is based on his father, Greil, using Greil's color scheme in his outfit and wielding his axe, Urvan.
- Lucina's Brave Hero variation is said to be similar garb to that of her father, Chrom.
- Roy's Brave Hero variation is based on his father, Eliwood, represented by being calvary and wielding Durandal.
Four of the highest ranking units who were not already in Heroes were added in the Farfetched Heroes banner: Dorcas, Joshua, Mia, and Lute.
2018 Choose Your Legends Event[]
On January 21, 2018, the second round of the Choose Your Legends event began. Characters added to the ballot included the new characters in the Fire Emblem Gaiden remake, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, as well as the original cast of Fire Emblem Heroes itself. It also saw the addition of some characters who appeared in Gaiden that were not eligible prior to the remake, those being Slayde, Barth, Lawson, Tatarrah, Garth, Blake, Irma, Nuibaba, Jerome, Halcyon, Dolth, Massena, Marla, Hestia, Jedah, Duma, and Mila. The voting period for the second Choose Your Legends event was shorter than the first, and lasted only seven days.
Results[]
The results of the ballot were revealed on the official website on February 1, 2018. The top two of each division this year were:
- For the full results, see Choose Your Legends Results: Round 2.
| Hector Brave Warrior |
Celica Warrior Priestess |
Ephraim Sacred Twin Lord |
Veronica Brave Princess |
On August 21, 2018, Hector, Celica, Ephraim, and Veronica received a Brave Hero variation due to holding the top two spots for each gender respectively. Hector and Celica were the two highest ranked Heroes of their respective genders. Their Brave variations received Ostian Counter and Double Lion for their unique skills respectively.
Origin
- Hector's Brave Hero variation has him wearing the armor of his brother, Uther.
- Celica's Brave Hero variation is based on her original appearance from Gaiden.
- Ephraim's Brave Hero variation has him wearing the armor of his father, Fado.
- Veronica's Brave Hero variation features a grown version of her from an alternate world, where she rides a horse similar to her brother, Bruno and protector, Xander.
Three of the highest ranking voted units (aside from Veronica) that were not already in Heroes were added through the Brave Redux banner in November 2018, being Owain, Kliff, and Loki. Aversa, who placed at 23 in the female division, was also added, despite Selkie placing higher than her at 12, most likely because beast units had not been introduced at the time.
2019 Choose Your Legends Event[]
On January 21, 2019, the third round of the Choose Your Legends event began.
Changes[]
This event saw two major changes to its overall structure:
- Characters with multiple appearances no longer saw their votes split between appearances. Votes for all variations of a character are instead combined, and the variant with the most votes is considered the winner should the character place.
- However, some characters received exceptions due to them having dramatic differences between games, such as undergoing a new alias (ex. Owain/Odin), a long amount of time passing (ex. Tiki), developing a shift in personality (ex. Hardin) or being an entirely different character altogether (ex. Anna).
- The way ties were counted was changed. Previously, when multiple characters received the same number of votes, the placement they received depended on which seemingly random order the results website happened to place them in. Now, multiple characters receiving the same number of votes results in a genuine tie, in which all characters receive the same placement.
Both of these changes have been carried on to future Choose Your Legends events.
Results[]
The results of the ballot were revealed on the official website on January 31, 2019. The top two of each division this year were:
- For the full results, see Choose Your Legends Results: Round 3.
| Alm Imperial Ascent |
Micaiah Queen of Dawn |
Camilla Light of Nohr |
Eliwood Marquess Pherae |
Alm, Micaiah, Camilla, and Eliwood each received a Brave Hero variation due to holding the top two spots for each gender respectively. Alm and Micaiah placed first in their divisions and received special skills for their Brave Hero kits, being Scendscale and Yune's Whispers respectively.
Origin
- Alm's Brave Hero variation is based on his original appearance from Gaiden with incorporation from his father, Rudolf.
- Micaiah's Brave Hero variation features her after the events of Radiant Dawn as the 15th ruler of Daein, and has her in her Light Priestess promotion outfit.
- Camilla's Brave Hero variation comes from a world she has become the Queen of Nohr.
- Eliwood's Brave Hero variation has him dressed for his ascension ceremony to Marquess Pherae, and he wields Ninis's Ice Lance, which references his connection to Ninian.
Unlike previous years, there was no banner adding the highest ranking units not yet present in Heroes this year. Instead Sigrun was added as a Tempest Trials+ reward despite placing at 95 for the female division, with multiple female characters yet to appear placing higher than her.
2020 Choose Your Legends Event[]
The fourth Choose Your Legends voting event began on January 21, 2020, and ended on January 28, 2020. New characters added for this year's ballot include the casts of Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE Encore, as well as new original characters from Fire Emblem Heroes itself, with the exception of Gustav, Henriette and Thórr.
Results[]
The results of the ballot were revealed on the official website on February 1st, 2020. The top two of each division this year were:
- For the full results, see Choose Your Legends Results: Round 4.
| Edelgard Adrestian Emperor |
Dimitri King of Faerghus |
Claude Almyra's King |
Lysithea Earnest Seeker |
Edelgard, Dimitri, Claude, and Lysithea received a Brave Hero variation due to holding the top two spots for each gender respectively. Edelgard and Dimitri received special skills for their Brave Hero kits, Black Eagle Rule and Blue Lion Rule respectively, for placing first in their divisions.
Origin
- Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude's Brave Hero variations all reference their final exclusive classes from Three Houses, those being Emperor for Edelgard, Great Lord for Dimitri, and Barbarossa for Claude.
- Lysithea's Brave Hero variation combines her War Phase outfit color scheme with the clothing of a Gremory.
In addition to the free summon gifted to the player, after the player summoned forty times on the regular Choose Your Legends 2020 banner, the player could redeem one of the Brave heroes for free. The player could do this up to four times to claim all four heroes (requiring a total of 160 summons to do so)
Once again, there was no banner representing the highest ranking units yet to appear in Heroes this year. Instead Jorge, who placed at 12 for the male division, was added as a Grand Hero Battle reward despite Felix, Ashe and Sylvain placing higher than him.
2021 Choose Your Legends Event[]
The fifth Choose Your Legends voting event began on January 21, 2021, and ended on January 28, 2021. New characters added for this year's ballot included the characters featured in the Cindered Shadows expansion for Fire Emblem: Three Houses and the latest characters from Fire Emblem Heroes, with the exception of Thórr and the newest character Eitri. 2021 also saw the addition of NPCs and boss characters from across the franchise that were left off of the ballot in prior years. These new ballot additions include:
- Díthorba, Generation 1 Oifey, and Generation 2 Arvis from Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
- August and Dryas from Fire Emblem: Thracia 776
- Bramimond, Brendan, Durban, Desmond, Elbert, Eleanora, Fargus, Hellene, Lundgren, Murdock, Natalie, Roland, and Uther from Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade
- Morva and Vigarde from Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
- Bryce, Gromell, Kasatai, and Shiharam from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
- Alder, Altina, Lehran, Lekain, Levail, Ludveck, and Numida from Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
- Phila from Fire Emblem Awakening
- Daichi, Daniela, Funke, Gazak, Haitaka, Kumagera, Llewelyn, Lloyd, Senno, Tarba, and Zhara from Fire Emblem Fates
- Gustav and Henriette from Fire Emblem Heroes
- Gatekeeper from Fire Emblem: Three Houses
This year, voters were required to log in with a MyNintendo account in order to vote, unlike previous years, where using a MyNintendo account was entirely optional.
Results[]
The results of the ballot were revealed on the official website on February 1st, 2021. The top two of each division this year were:
- For the full results, see Choose Your Legends Results: Round 5.
It was stated in a followup tweet that most Heroes players supported Gatekeeper, Marianne was more popular among frequent players, and that Eirika was more popular among players who were taking a break.
| Gatekeeper Nothing to Report |
Marth Prince of Light |
Marianne Serene Adherent |
Eirika Pledged Restorer |
The Gatekeeper, Marth, Marianne, and Eirika received a Brave Hero variation due to holding the top two spots for each gender respectively. Like last year, all four winners received special skills for their Brave Hero kits, those being Detailed Report for Gatekeeper, Requiem Dance for Marianne, Shining Emblem for Marth, and Moonlight Bangle for Eirika.
Origin
- Gatekeeper's Brave Hero variation doesn't alter much from his Three Houses appearance, but it does heavily feature the gates of the Garreg Mach Monastery he's dedicated to protecting.
- Marth's Brave Hero variation is based on his ancestor, Anri.
- Marianne's Brave Hero variation combines her War Phase outfit color scheme with the Three Houses female Dancer outfit. The animation for her tome features Maurice, her ancestor.
- Eirika's Brave Hero variation is based on her brother, Ephraim, in her clothing and her usage of Reginleif, a weapon exclusive to him in Sacred Stones.
This year, Pelleas, who placed in 44th in CYL5 for the male division, and 99th overall, was added as a Grand Hero Battle Reward despite several other male characters yet to appear placing higher than him.
2022 Choose Your Legends Event[]
The sixth Choose Your Legends voting event began on January 19, 2022 and ended on Janurary 26, 2022. New characters added for this year's ballot included the latest characters from Fire Emblem Heroes, as well as Thórr and Eitri, who were left off the ballot previously. Notably, despite becoming playable in the past year, Ullr did not become eligible for voting this year.
Results[]
The results of the ballot were revealed on the official website on February 1st, 2022. The top two of each division this year were:
- For the full results, see Choose Your Legends Results: Round 6.
| Chrom Fated Honor |
Tiki Fated Divinity |
Seliph Enduring Legacy |
Byleth Sublime Light |
Chrom, Awakening Tiki, Seliph, and Female Byleth received a Brave Hero variation due to holding the top two spots for each gender respectively. All four winners received special skills for their Brave Hero kits, those being A Fate Changed! for Chrom, New Divinity for Awakening Tiki, Heir to Light for Seliph, and Divine Pulse for Female Byleth.
This year, Jeralt, who placed in 42nd in CYL6 for the male division, and 97th overall, was added as a Grand Hero Battle Reward despite other male characters yet to appear placing higher than him.
Origin
- Chrom's Brave Hero variation uses the outfit from his Great Lord promotion, and his lance Geirdriful is said to be similar to Brave Lucina's Geirskögul.
- Awakening Tiki's Brave Hero variation has her donning the garb belonging to her younger self that she once wore when she traveled with Marth.
- Seliph's Brave Hero variation has him wearing the clothing of his father, Sigurd.
- Female Byleth's Brave Hero variation has her in the DLC Sothis Regalia outfit as a reference to Sothis, and the Divine Pulse mechanic has been converted into a unique special for her.
2023 Choose Your Legends Event[]
The seventh Choose Your Legends voting event began on January 5, 2023 and ended on Janurary 12, 2023. New characters added for this year's ballot included the cast of Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes and the latest characters from Fire Emblem Heroes. The starting date of the ballot was earlier than in past years in order to avoid conflict with the release of Fire Emblem Engage on January 20, 2023. As a result, no Engage characters were eligible for the ballot.
Interestingly, despite being eligible in previous years, the Enlightened version of Male Byleth was removed from the ballot this year, leaving only his Academy version. In the Enlightened version's place, voters are told that in the scenario where Male Byleth places in a top position, the version of him that receives a Brave Hero variation will be decided at a later date. It is unknown what specifically led to this unique ruling, but may have been influenced by Female Byleth placing second among female characters in 2022 and thus receiving a Brave Hero variation.
Results[]
The results of the ballot were revealed on the official website on February 1st, 2023. The top two of each division this year were:
- For the full results, see Choose Your Legends Results: Round 7.
| Robin Exalt's Deliverer |
Soren Radiant Confidant |
Gullveig Seer Beyond Time |
Corrin Silent Bloodline |
Male Robin, Soren, Gullveig, and Female Corrin received a Brave Hero variation due to holding the top two spots for each gender respectively. All four winners received special skills for their Brave Hero kits, those being Tip the Scales! for Robin, Rare Talent for Soren, Gold Unwinding for Gullveig, and Realms United for Corrin.
The Askran Time Scramble, a web event featuring each of the winners, was held. It tells the story of how the four winners went about saving Askr from financial ruin.
This year, Cyril, who placed in 25th in CYL7 for the male division, and 58th overall, was added as a Grand Hero Battle Reward. Cyril was the second highest ranking character not yet present in the game at the time, second to Touma Akagi.
Origin
- Male Robin's Brave Hero variation is said to be that of a royal advisor to Exalt Chrom.
- Soren's Brave Hero variation features him in his Archsage outfit from Radiant Dawn.
- Gullveig's Brave Hero variation has her dressed as Seiðr, her past self.
- Female Corrin's Brave Hero variation comes from a time where she has become the queen of Valla.
Rising Hero Award[]
For the first time in Choose Your Legends, the ballot also recognized Rising Heroes. The three male and female characters that rose the most in the rankings over the previous year's results were given a special introduction on the official Twitter. The top three in each division and their introductions are as follows:
| Men's Division | ||
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
| Desaix ↑288 |
Coirpre ↑196 |
Arlen ↑124 |
| Chancellor of Zofia. Staged a coup and seized control of the country. Wielding a dracoshield, he stands in the way of Alm and the others. | The clever son of Silvia and younger brother of Lene. Adopted and raised by Hannibal. | A Mage of Khadein who sees Merric as his rival. Wields powerful thunder magic known as Thoron. |
| Women's Division | ||
|---|---|---|
|
|
|
| Monica ↑109 |
Yuliya ↑94 |
Díthorba ↑82 |
| Noble of the Adrestian Empire and daughter of Baron Ochs. Endlessly faithful to Edelgard. | The princess of Grust, and sister of Jubelo. Though she lost her parents at a young age, she puts on a courageous air. | One of the Four Heavenly Knights of Silesse. Comes to serve Lord Myos, youngest brother of the late king. Clashes with Sigurd's forces. |
2024 Choose Your Legends Event[]
The eighth Choose Your Legends voting event began on January 14, 2024 and ended on Janurary 21, 2024. Characters added to the ballot this year included the cast of Fire Emblem Engage and the latest characters from Fire Emblem Heroes. New to this year, the interim ballot results released on January 16, comprising the top twenty male and top twenty female characters to receive votes to that point, was accompanied by additional results listing the five characters to receive the most votes per game. As in past years, all interim results were listed in alphabetized order and do not indicate ballot ranking.
Similar to the interim results, the final results were accompanied with compiled lists of the top five characters to receive votes per individual game. Rising Heroes were not recognized as part of the ballot results this year.
Results[]
The results of the ballot were revealed on the official website on January 30th, 2024. The top two of each division this year were:
- For the full results, see Choose Your Legends Results: Round 8.
| Bernadetta Sheltered Loner |
Alfonse Heir to Openness |
Robin Exalt's Right Hand |
Felix Sword Savant |
Bernadetta, Alfonse, Female Robin, and Felix received a Brave Hero variation due to holding the top two spots for each gender respectively. All four winners received special skills for their Brave Hero kits, those being Paranoia for Bernadetta, Makings of a King for Alfonse, According to Plan for Robin, and Lone Wolf for Felix.
This year, Panette, who placed in 19th in CYL8 for the female division, and 37th overall, was added as a Grand Hero Battle Reward. She was the second highest ranking character not yet present in the game at the time, second to Touma Akagi.
Origin
- Bernadetta's Brave Hero variation features her in her War Phase Bow Knight outfit. She wields the The Inexhaustible, a weapon that she can utilize to its fullest due to her Crest of Indech.
- Alfonse's Brave Hero variation features him wearing attire similar to his father Gustav and wields his axe Glitnir.
- Female Robin's Brave Hero variation is said to be that of a royal advisor to Exalt Chrom. She wields a Tome compared to her male variant, one of the weapons of the Tactician/Grandmaster classes.
- Felix's Brave Hero variation features him in his War Phase Mortal Savant outfit.
Trivia[]
- The four winners of the inaugural Choose Your Legends event in 2017, Ike, Lyn, Roy, and Lucina, all feature representation in the Super Smash Bros. series, with Roy, Ike, and Lucina all being playable characters, while Lyn has appeared as an Assist Trophy and Sticker in Brawl, and then later as a spirit in Ultimate.
- Not considering the gender variations of Robin, Corrin, and Byleth as separate representatives, as of 2023, all seven Fire Emblem series Fighters in the Smash series have received a Brave variation.
- If considering Assist Trophies as well, only the Black Knight lacks a Brave variation as Lyn and Adult Tiki have Brave variations.
- The current representation of Brave Heroes as of 2024 for each game are as follows:
- Fire Emblem Heroes (3): Alfonse, Veronica, and Gullveig
- Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon/Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem (1): Marth.
- Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (2): Alm & Celica.
- Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War (1): Seliph
- Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade (1): Roy.
- Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade (3): Lyn, Eliwood, and Hector.
- Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (1): Ike.
- Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (2): Micaiah and Soren.
- Fire Emblem Awakening (5): Chrom, Male Robin, Female Robin, Lucina, and Awakening Tiki.
- Fire Emblem Fates (2): Female Corrin and Camilla.
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses (9): Female Byleth, Edelgard, Dimitri, Claude, Bernadetta, Felix, Lysithea, Marianne, and the Gatekeeper.
- Statistically, had the vote count for character variants not been split in 2018, Marth would have placed second overall and second among the male characters, with a combined 37,192 votes cast between his Shadow Dragon and New Mystery of the Emblem appearances.
- The 2020 Choose Your Legends event is the only one in which all winners of that year come from the same game, with all four originating from Fire Emblem: Three Houses.
- The 2021 Choose Your Legends event was the first in which neither the top male nor the top female character to place first in their respective divisions was a Lord or a Lord-equivalent lead character, with the Gatekeeper being a non-combat NPC, and Marianne a classmate of the Golden Deer Lord, Claude.
- Due to an oversight in the creation of the ballot, Edelgard's appearance as the Flame Emperor was left eligible for the 2021 Choose Your Legends event. This was corrected in 2022's ballot and the Flame Emperor was removed.
- While Marth's Shadow Dragon version won the 2021 Choose Your Legends event, his Brave variation was based on his appearance in New Mystery of the Emblem.
- Female Byleth became the first Avatar unit to win by placing second among female characters in the 2022 Choose Your Legends event. She is also the first Three Houses character to place second or above with her Academy Phase design earning more votes than her War Phase design.
- Adult Tiki is the first Manakete to win a Choose Your Legends ballot, coming in first among women in 2022.
- Fire Emblem Engage launched in 2023 and saw no characters in the top two of either division in the 2024 Choose Your Legends event, becoming the first mainline title to see no characters win the first Choose Your Legends event following its launch.
- Robin became the first Avatar character to see both their male and female versions win Choose Your Legends, with Male Robin placing first in 2023 and female Robin placed second in 2024.
- In March 2024, Arlen and Yuliya were added to Fire Emblem Heroes together as part of a banner. They became the first two characters given the Rising Hero distinction in 2023 to since be added to the game.
- Characters that debuted in Fire Emblem Warriors, such as Lianna and Rowan, are ineligible for voting, as the game is excluded from the ballot. It is currently the only title excluded from Choose Your Legends.