Byleth (Fire Emblem)

Byleth
Fire Emblem character
First appearance	Fire Emblem: Three Houses July 26, 2019
Voiced by	English Zach Aguilar (male) Jeannie Tirado (female) Japanese Yūsuke Kobayashi (male) Shizuka Itō (female)
In-universe information
Full name	Byleth Eisner
Alias	Ashen Demon
Occupation	Professor
Affiliation	Church of Seiros
Weapon	Sword of the Creator
Family	Jeralt Eisner, Sitri
Origin	Garreg Mach Monastery

Byleth Eisner, better known simply as Byleth, is the player avatar and main character of Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Byleth serves as a professor at Garreg Mach Monastery. They possess the mysterious Crest of Flames and can wield the Sword of the Creator. Byleth gained widespread attention after being publicized through their playable appearances in Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. series of fighting games. Byleth received mixed responses from critics, with some criticism directed towards their lack of personality.

Appearances

In Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Byleth is a central character whose name, gender, and appearance can be customized by the player. Byleth serves as a professor at Garreg Mach Monastery. They possess the mysterious Crest of Flames and can wield the Sword of the Creator.

Throughout the game, Byleth's only known relative is their father Jeralt Eisner, a renowned mercenary who once fled Garreg Mach Monastery. It is later revealed that they carry the goddess Sothis within them as a result of Archbishop Rhea's experiments into reawakening her mother. Byleth was the child of Sitri, an artificial "vessel" created to carry the Crest of Flames crest stone. While Sitri was unable to unlock its power, she fell in love with Jeralt on account of her incredible kindness, and had a child. Due to Sitri's secret inhuman nature, the child, Byleth, was stillborn with no heartbeat, but Sitri voluntarily gave the child her crest stone to allow them to live, though at the cost of her own life.

Jeralt, suspicious of Rhea as the cause of Sitri's death, used a fire as cover to escape the monastery. Byleth grew up in Jeralt's care, but they still lacked a pulse. Their lack of emotions was also evidence that they were being kept alive by the crest stone, until such time as the sleeping Sothis made herself known to Byleth, albeit in the underdeveloped form of a young girl. When Byleth attempts to sacrifice their life to save Edelgard from bandits, Sothis grants Byleth the ability to use Divine Pulse, a power that can both stop and turn back time to a limited extent.

Rhea's attempt to resurrect Sothis ultimately never comes to pass. When the villainous mage Solon traps Byleth in an otherwise inescapable void, Sothis is forced to merge her consciousness with Byleth's, making them the Enlightened One and retreating into their subconscious. In most of the game's endings, Byleth retains this divine power and succeeds Rhea as the leader of the Church of Seiros. However, in the game's Crimson Flower route, in which Byleth allies with Edelgard against the Church, Sothis' crest stone is destroyed and Byleth becomes a living mortal for the first time, as well as Edelgard's confidant.

In other media

Outside of the Fire Emblem series, Byleth was also included in a number of other Nintendo-related games, including the Super Smash Bros. crossover fighting game series. Byleth was a playable character in 2018's Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as part of the game's core fighting cast, being voiced by Zach Aguilar. Nintendo received criticism from fans for adding another Fire Emblem character.

Byleth later also received their own amiibo.

Voice acting controversy

The former voice actor for male Byleth, Christopher "Kirbopher" Niosi, was removed from his role for violating an NDA and discussing his role prior to the game's launch, as well as potentially due to physical and emotional abuse that he admitted to on social media. He was replaced by Zach Aguilar, and his lines re-recorded.

Reception

The character of Byleth has had mixed feedback from critics, with some calling the character lacking in depth. Matthew Zawodniak of Nintendo World Report rated Byleth the worst avatar character in the series, saying that even when compared to Corrin of Fire Emblem Fates, they are "half-baked" by being the least-customizable avatar. He states that since "you can’t alter their appearance at all [...] this breaks down the illusion that Byleth is a representation of the player". Stating his belief that the "defined" nature of Byleth conflicts with their undefined personality, he also criticizes points where the player can only reply with one line of dialog, noting that not fully voicing Byleth was likely a cost-saving measure.

Maddy Myers of Kotaku called it "kind of creepy" how Byleth spied on their students all the time. However, Sisi Jiang of the same publication reacted positively, calling Byleth a "great" example of an nonbinary character, noting that there is no gender select for Byleth, only selecting a "form". She also praised the fact that the player was forced to affirm Byleth's humanity, making them more than just a vehicle for the player's own gameplay experience.

Hirun Cryer of USgamer remarked that the game's DLC, Cindered Shadows, "goes a long way toward helping Byleth feel like a real character with a real arc and not just an avatar". Remarking that Byleth felt more like a tool to help the player connect with the game's world during the main storyline, he noted that the plot about Byleth's mother Sitri allowed Byleth to connect emotionally with someone other than Jeralt.

Ian Walker of Kotaku called the inclusion of Byleth in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate "refreshingly simple", while Tyler Treese of GameRevolution expressed dissapointment and calls Byleth addition as "boring". The character was also met with criticism by fans due to the large amount of Fire Emblem characters in the game. Although Masahiro Sakurai agreed that "there are too many Fire Emblem characters", he reminded people that he did not choose the DLC fighters for Smash Bros.