Marth (マルス,Marusu?) is the main playable hero in the first, third, eleventh and twelfth installments of the Fire Emblem series. He debuted in the first and third games, Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, and later reprised his role in the Nintendo DS remakes of these two games. He made his first appearance in the Super Smash Bros. series as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee and has appeared in every proceeding game since. At the time, no Fire Emblem games had ever been released outside Japan, but his popularity in Melee (along with that of his counterpart Roy) is believed to have influenced Nintendo's decision to release almost all subsequent Fire Emblem games internationally.
The first game in what would become the long-running tactical role-playing medieval high fantasy series Fire Emblem, released on the Japanese NES (Famicom) and titled Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light (Ankoku Ryuu to Hikari no Tsurugi), introduced Marth as the main character. His design was noticeably different from his modern-day incarnation. The second game in the series, Fire Emblem Gaiden, took place on the same fictional world, but on a different continent, and did not feature Marth. As such, it was only tangentially related to the first. The third game however, titled Fire Emblem: Monsho no Nazo ("Mystery of the Crest") and released on Super NES (Super Famicom) early in 1994, was both a remake of the original game and a continuation of that game's story. Marth underwent a character redesign to resemble the more "bishounen" prince he is portrayed as in today's modern image of him, and he became the only Fire Emblem main character to feature in a starring role from the start of the game in more than one title. In both these games, his in-game unit is the only one that belongs to the Lord character class, establishing the tradition with all main starring characters of subsequent titles, being units that must be kept alive and start out weak, but become very powerful over the course of each game.
Falchion[]
The Falchion is Marth's sword. It remains his only weapon through his three appearances in the Super Smash Bros. series, and is Fire Emblems "icon" for both Melee and Brawl. All of Marth's attacks use The Falcion with the exception of grabs and throws.
In the games, the Falchion appears to be a golden broadsword during in-game battle sequences. However, it has been shown as a longsword with a steadily widening blade in its official artwork. A Falchion has also been used by Alm, and Sigurd'sTyrfing sword greatly resembles the Falcion. Chrom wields the Falchion in Fire Emblem: Awakening as he is a descendant of Marth and Chrom's daughter from the future Lucina wields a future version of the Falchion, thus causing two Falchions to exist at the same time. It is extremely effective against dragons in all its appearances, and it is vital to killing Earth Dragons, Dark Dragons, and Fell Dragons. In Fire Emblem: Awakening the sword received a redesign to demonstrate the passage of time from Marth's era to Chrom's era.
Marth uses Falchion in all his moveset except his pummel and throws.
In Super Smash Bros.[]
In an interview from the 25th Anniversary of the Fire Emblem series, Masahiro Sakurai stated that he actually wanted Marth in the game as a Link's clone, but he did not have the time to implement his character during development as he barely had time to develop the other features already included in the final release.
Marth makes his Smash-series debut (and by extent, his altogether North American debut) as an unlockable character in Melee. He can be unlocked one of three ways: using all fourteen starter characters at least once each in Vs. Mode matches, beating Classic mode with all fourteen starter characters on any difficulty, or playing 400 Vs. mode matches. In each of these cases, after fulfilling the conditions Marth must be battled to be unlocked.
Many would instinctively agree that Marth is the game's most effective fighter and the best character for use in the competitive metagame. Pros include the long reach, very good damage and knockback of his sword attacks, very high priority, moderately fast dash, long grab, usefully floaty wavedash, excellent edgeguarding capabilities, easy and efficient combos, and great SHFFL, with main cons being his lack of a projectile attack, and a laggy recovery. Marth's clone, Roy, has attacks that are near identical in appearance, and many "Marth vs. Roy" debates ensued in the years following Melees release, but professional analysis places Marth in a higher tier than Roy because he lacks Marth's subtle, but vital advantages.
All of Marth's moves (except grabs) involve him using his sword, the Falchion, which has a property no other weapon has: attacks are stronger if landed at the tip of the blade, which acts as a sweetspot. Successful use of this is the crux of Marth's success.
Trophies[]
By tradition, Marth as a playable character is featured on his personal three trophies. His normal trophy is acquired by beating the Classic mode with Marth on any difficulty, and his Smash Blue and Smash Red trophies are acquired the same way by beating the Adventure and All-Star modes, respectively.
Marth
The betrayed prince of the Kingdom of Altea, the blood of the hero Anri flows in Marth's veins. He was forced into exile when the kingdom of Dolua invaded Altea. Then, wielding his divine sword Falchion, he led a revolt and defeated the dark dragon Medeus. Afterwards, Altea was annihilated by King Hardin of Akanea.
Fire Emblem [Japan Only]
Marth [Smash]
Marth is a magnificent swordsman. While his swordplay is faster than that of Link, he lacks power, and his quickness is offset by a marginal endurance. His Shield Breaker gains power the longer it's held. The Dancing Blade combination uses both the Control Stick and the B Button to produce a series of up to four attacks.
The tip of Marth's blade causes the most damage, so you should try to create adequate distance between you and your enemy to gracefully strike with that point. Marth's Dolphin Slash is fast and powerful, but it leaves him vulnerable upon landing. Marth uses Counter to block a foe's attack and deal a return strike. If you're fighting a Counter-happy Marth, grab him.
Marth returns as an unlockable playable character. Marth has superior range to most characters in the game, and relies on the length of his sword to effectively zone against his opponents. But this time however, it is uncertain as to whether or not he has been nerfed since Melee like a lot of other higher tier characters. He is currently resting in the "A Tier" according to the official SBR tier list.
Trophy Info[]
The Marth Trophy
Marth
The prince of Altea, in whose veins the blood of heroes runs. He and a small group of stalwarts fought to free Altea after it was invaded by the kingdom of Doluna and the dark dragon, Medeus. With his divine sword, Falchion, he fought and defeated Medeus. However, Altea was then invaded by King Hardin of Akaneia and eventually destroyed.
Marth once again returns as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. Marth is now a starter character, as opposed to being an unlockable character as he was in Melee and Brawl. His design has been visually updated to closely match his attire from Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem, Heroes of Light and Shadow.
Trophies[]
Marth
The first hero from the Fire Emblem series, Marth is the prince of Altea and descendant of the hero Anri. In Smash Bros., he's known as an exceptional swordfighter, swinging his blade with grace. Striking with the tip will maximize the damage dealt. Teach aggressive foes a lesson with his strong Counter move.
(NES) Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light (JP)
(SNES) Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem (JP)
Marth (Alt.)
Marth's side special Dancing Blade is a four-stage attack. Aim and time your strikes carefully! The tip of his sword does the most damage. For his up smash, Justice Sword, he thrusts his blade into the air. You can use it to block attacks from above and launch nearby foes.
(NES) Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light (JP)
Marth returns to the series as an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. For the first time in the series, he is localized by Yuri Lowenthal, his voice actor since Fire Emblem Heroes. His design is also more closer to Fire Emblem Heroes.
Trivia[]
Marth's sword Falchion is not actually a falchion. It is more of a broadsword that resembles a Claymore or a Longsword. In the original Fire Emblem game, however, it was considered a rapier.
Marth's trophy info in Brawl is not entirely correct, as it says Altea was destroyed by Akaneia, while Akaneia only controlled Altea for a period of time, and it is reclaimed by Marth near the end of the game.
Marth's first overseas appearance was in a dubbed anime called Fire Emblem, however, he was called Mars, not Marth. It's likely that "Mars" was his intended name and "Marth" was a mis transliteration, as "s" and "th" are both represented by the katakana "su" (ス).
Marth is the only playable Fire Emblem character in the Super Smash Bros. series to debut in the 20th century.
Marth is the first fighter in the Super Smash Bros. series to debut in the 1990's.
Marth is the fastest Smash fighter in terms of walking speed (despite walking slightly slower than Fox in Melee only), but not running speed. (Captain Falcon has the fastest running speed in 64 and Melee before Sonic in Brawl onward)
Marth and Mario are the only characters in the Super Smash Bros. series to have two different clones, Marth's being Roy in Melee and Lucina in 3DS/Wii U.
In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, both Marth and Mario each have one full clone (Lucina and Dr. Mario, respectively) and one semi-clone (Roy and Luigi, respectively).
Fire Emblem universe