Ike

Ike
Official artwork of Ike from Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.
Universe	Fire Emblem
Debut	Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (2005)
Smash Bros. appearances	Brawl SSB4 Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	Fire Emblem Fates (via amiibo, 2015)
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo GameCube
Species	Beorc
Gender	Male
Place of origin	Tellius
Designed by	Senri Kita
English voice actor	Jason Adkins
Japanese voice actor	Michihiko Hagi
Article on Fire Emblem Wiki	Ike

Ike (アイク, Ike) is the main playable hero in the ninth installment of the Fire Emblem series of tactical role-playing games, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, and also appears in a main role in its sequel, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn. He is known by his title as the "Radiant Hero" (青い炎の英雄, Hero of the Blue Flame). Ike is one of the more recent Fire Emblem protagonists and was the first one to appear in multiple Fire Emblem console games that were released outside of Japan, which resulted in him gaining more familiarity with players than most other characters in the series. He appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Smash Bros. 4 as a playable character.

Character description

File:Ike Radiance.png

Official artwork of Ike from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, which would be the design used for Ike in his Brawl appearance.

By 2005, the Fire Emblem series of tactical role-playing fantasy video games had fully been established as an internationally famous and successful franchise, thanks in no small part to the inclusion of previous Fire Emblem protagonists Marth and Roy in 2001's immensely successful Super Smash Bros. Melee as playable characters. After Melee, another Fire Emblem game, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, was released outside of Japan and marked Ike's debut.

In Path of Radiance, Ike serves the traditional role of the Fire Emblem main protagonist in that the story revolves around him and his efforts of heroism, and that in terms of gameplay he is the game's one Lord-class playable unit; he starts out at a unique class level called Ranger with initially shaky battle statistics, but he grows into a top-quality Lord-class unit by the end of the game, on average maxing out most of his stats. The game's sequel, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, extends the story and brings the overall story full-circle. It has been three years since the Mad King's War, and war engulfs Tellius once again as the various countries attempt to re-establish themselves. Unlike Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn focuses on an ensemble cast from varying viewpoints, with Ike becoming playable around mid-game and later being required to deal the finishing blow to the final boss, Ashera. In both games, Ike learns the Aether character skill, the most powerful of the skills in the reintroduced character skill mechanic. Aether gives Ike a chance to perform a powerful two hit combo, the first of which restores his Hit Points by the amount of damage he inflicts, and the second of which inflicts damage while only half of the target's defense is applied.

Aside from his main appearances, Ike appears as an optional party member in both Fire Emblem Awakening and Fire Emblem Fates. He appears in Awakening as an Einherjar, a DLC and SpotPass-exclusive character that can appear from the Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn world and interact with the heroes of the Awakening world. In Fates, he appears as amiibo-exclusive character, sports his Radiant Dawn design and dialogue in Fates makes reference to his status as a fighter in the Super Smash Bros. series.

His appearance in Brawl is based on his younger Path of Radiance incarnation as a Ranger character class, while his appearance in Super Smash Bros. 4 is based on his older, more muscular Radiant Dawn incarnation as a Hero character class. He wields the two-handed sword Ragnell with one hand, which makes him one of the more powerful characters in the game. Interestingly, in Path of Radiance, he could only wield the Ragnell and use the Aether skill after graduating into the Lord character class.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Ike, as he appears in Brawl.

Ike was the first Fire Emblem character to be revealed as a playable character in Brawl, sporting his Ranger character class design from Path of Radiance. He clearly adheres to the human swordsman aesthetic upheld by Marth and Roy in Melee. His sword, Ragnell, appears especially hefty and specialized for long-range combat, but Ike is strong enough to hold it with only one hand. Ike's attacks are among the longest reaching and most powerful attacks in the game. To counterbalance this, Ike's attacks are notorious for being among the slowest attacks in the game, both start-up and ending lag wise. Ike also comes with his trademark skill Aether as a technique, which gives him launch resistance at the beginning of the attack when he and Ragnell are separated and he is hunched down to jump. This allows him to resist the knockback, but take the damage of an attack. He is based on his appearance in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. Ike is ranked 23rd on the current tier list in D tier.

According to Sakurai, Ike himself was not intended to be on the roster early on. Instead, Sakurai devised a blank character template of a slow and very powerful swordsman. Along with this, Sakurai wanted a new Fire Emblem character in Brawl. When discussing the potential new Fire Emblem character with Intelligent Systems, it was suggested he use Ike, being the protagonist of the latest two games in the series. Upon this suggestion, Sakurai considered Ike, and saw him to be a perfect fit for the aforementioned character template, leading to his inclusion as the new playable Fire Emblem character.

Trophy

The Ike trophy in Brawl

Ike

A member of Crimea's top fighting force, the Greil Mercenaries. He's a man of few words whose blunt manner gives the impression that he's uncaring, but he's actually a passionate hero. He was crucial to the reconstruction of Crimea. In Radiant Dawn, he continues to show his deep sense of honor and leads the Greil Mercenaries to the aid of the Laguz Alliance.

: Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (2005)

: Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (2007)

Stickers

Name	Game	Effect	Character(s)
Ike	Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance	Attack +23
Ike	Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn	Attack +27

Ike (Fire Emblem Path of Radiance)

Ike (Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn)

In Super Smash Bros. 4

Ike, as he appears in Super Smash Bros. 4.

Ike makes a return in Super Smash Bros. 4 as a veteran playable character. Fittingly, he now sports his Hero character class design from Radiant Dawn.

Ike ranks at 26th place out of 56 on the tier list, sitting within E tier. In the transition to SSB4, Ike's power and reach were slightly toned down, yet were compensated by faster attacks. His mobility was also improved, giving him faster movement on the ground and in the air. With the removal of edge-hogging, Aether is much more reliable as a recovery. However, he no longer has his effective jab cancel, removing some of his combo ability. While initially not seen as improved much, Ike has since been heavily buffed by game updates. 1.0.8 is by far the most noteworthy, decreasing lag on multiple ground and aerial attacks. 1.1.4 also increased the damage from his forward smash, neutral and forward aerials. Despite the reduction of power and reach, the overall improvements to Ike's mobility and reduced lag, especially after game updates, have granted him relatively more viability compared to Brawl, and especially the early days of SSB4. Although currently having a small player base, players such as Ryo have demonstrated Ike's capabilities in tournament play, earning decent results.

Trophies

Ike

One of the main characters from the Fire Emblem series. Having fought in the Mad King's War, restored the fallen nation of Crimea, and taken on the Begnion Empire, Ike is rightly called a hero. He has the strength to back the title—one good swing of his blade can launch the heaviest of foes.

One of the main characters from the Fire Emblem series. Having fought in the Mad King's War, played a huge part in restoring the fallen nation of Crimea, and taken on the Begnion Emprire, Ike is rightly called a hero. And he has the strength to go with that title. One good swing of his blade can launch even the heaviest of fighters.

Ike (Alt.)

Ike's side smash is a powerful two-handed sword strike. It's one of the best launch attacks in the entire game, though it will leave you wide open when you use it. For Eruption, one of his specials, you stab the ground and unleash a pillar of fire. Charging for too long will hurt Ike, so be careful!

Ike's side smash is a powerful two-handed sword strike. It's one of the best launch attacks in the entire game, so even though it leaves you open, it's a real winner. For Eruption, one of his specials, you stab the ground and unleash a pillar of fire that hits anyone nearby. If you charge it too long, though, you'll hurt yourself, so be careful!

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  Classic (3DS)

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  Classic (Wii U)

• IkeAllStarTrophy3DS.png

  Alt. (3DS)

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  Alt. (Wii U)

Trivia

• While he eventually promotes into a Lord class in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Ike appears as a Ranger in Brawl and a Hero in SSB4, making him the first playable Fire Emblem character to not appear as a Lord in the Super Smash Bros. series.
• Ike is the first Fire Emblem character in the Super Smash Bros. series to be a starter character.
• Ike is the first Fire Emblem character to speak English in a Super Smash Bros. game.
• Ike is the only Fire Emblem character in the Super Smash Bros. series who does not have a neutral aerial with two successive hits or a backflipping slash as an up aerial.
• Ike appears in several downloadable chapters as an Einherjar in Fire Emblem Awakening, including all three of the aptly named series of downloadable chapters titled Smash Brethren, whose name references Ike's involvement in the Super Smash Bros. series.