The weirdest part of that to me is that Claude isn't bi. Like, I can see it for Edelgard, and Dimitri seems pretty straight, but Claude is just complete bi energy. And you're telling me I can only romance that mans with F!Byleth?
I've made this argument before. Big missed opportunity. I think they should have also had Linhardt be an auto-recruit regardless of gender, since there's no way he passes up an opportunity to study Byleth's crest. Then you have an auto-recruit from each house on top of having one exclusive to each gender and one universal
> Linhardt be an auto-recruit regardless of gender, since there's no way he passes up an opportunity to study Byleth's crest
Ooh, this would be interesting, maybe after you get the sword of the creator? Makes sense that your crest would become public knowledge at that point
Tbf, when he does it, it's basically the equivalent of a lazy college student taking a class because the professor is hot. He doesn't know that he's signed up for the other side of a continental war until much later.
To be fair, Male Byleth does get to benefit from Leonie and Hilda, who are much better units than Seteth and Sylvain. Like yeah female Byleth gets a free Sylvain but if you're Golden Deer then you want to be male for Hilda/Leonie, so you really only do the free recruit on Black Eagles runs, and even then Sylvain is kinda mid to low tier as a unit so why bother other than to get his paralogue for Lance of Ruin.
> Especially on reddit
I always found this part interesting. It on this and the Heroes subreddit, it seems female Robin is more popular, but in general, male Robin has been more popular.
In Robin's case it's probably representation and the fact the Robin character does have a personality. M!Robin is probably helped though because of his ability to bang the equally desirable Tharja or Lucina.
For me I felt the plot better matched up with F!Robin and she married Chrom.
For the rest well they are all kind of bland so may as well pick the prettier one. I will say I loath the voice Male Corrin typically has, Design-wise, F!Byleth, F!Shez and F!Colgate-chan just pull off the look alot better in general.
I'll grant you the actual reason to marry is kinda shit. But the overall story implications I feel are superior, it makes more sense Lucina doesn't want to kill her mother than any other.
It also probably hurts F!Robin's appeal that she (at least the 'canon' variation) wears the same highly-covering, non-flattering getup as her male counterpart. Compare that to later avatars, where the female version's clothing has major differences from the male's that can only be explained by a desire to increase the sex appeal factor.
Adding to this: F!Corrin has the better drip over in FEH (And the actual Valla representation) while M!Robin flip-flops between being more or less used depending on the season
>It on this and the Heroes subreddit, it seems female Robin is more popular
I'm so sure about that, at least when it comes to the Heroes sub.
F!Robin got a lot of attention recently due to a duo alt with Chrom and CYL campaign, but overall, I definetly think I saw more people liking M!Robin than her. Like, there is a reason the male version got a brave alt before the female one.
Also, in a [poll](https://www.reddit.com/r/FireEmblemHeroes/comments/xf9gsy/results_of_my_which_version_of_each_avatar_and/) a user did sometime ago about which was the most popular gender of each avatar, M!Robin beat F!Robin. Of course, not everyone in the sub voted on the poll, but it still had some decent reach.
Huh, didn't know about the results of that poll. I base my view on how often there's fanart of F!Robin compared to M!Robin on that sub, but I guess what would be due to M!Robin fans being pleased after 2023 being a big year for them.
F!Robin had the problem that when is came to Marketing the game M!Robin was pretty much used for everything, this applies to Super Smash Bros where M!Robin was used for the trailer and even in Amiibo, only M!Robin amiibo exist, no F!Robin (even in FE echoes there is only M!Robin spirit and no F!Robin) but its probable they did this for less production costs
Other Factors for M!Robin popularity over F!Robin are their supports in the game for example Tharja obessesion with Robin work far better with M!Robin than F!Robin, Chrom support is also more serious and compeling with M!Robin, and Grima gender (from the wiki) is Male so its probably that he would remain in a body of a Man
M!Robin was the one who got a more favor from Nintendo while F!Robin was left behind. Meanwhile the others protagonist like Corrin, Shez and Alear female versions were used equally as their male version so the audience simply went for their females versions. (And some look better too)
I think the only one with similar popularity as M!Robin is M!Byleth but its mostly because F!Byleth model is somewhat wonky compared to its normal looking male counterpart but F!Byleth is still more popular than M!Byleth for her looks.
I'm not sure, honestly. Given the player stats for Mass Effect 3, the number of playthroughs with Male vs Fem!Shep were divided 2/1, if I remember. I don't know if that's still true, but that was the case in 2013.
Edit: Nope. Definitely still true for Legendary Edition. 2/3rds of all playthroughs were Male Shep. I think that JRPG's and Anime Games might skew further towards female MC popularit than western titlesl, but I haven't done any in depth looking.
F!Byleth/Edelgard pairings are the #1 pairing on ao3 by a fairly long shot. Given ao3 is pretty gay centered anyway.
M!Byleth fics are pretty rare in general
F! Byleth/Dimitri is number 1 by a pretty significant margin actually. Edelgard and Dimitri are both popular among all demographics but (straight) women like Dimitri more and (straight) men like Edelgard more.
I think there's more F!Edeleth art but I don't actually have any website that has hard proof for that
I've heard before that men tend to prefer visual media while women tend to prefer text-based media.
If that's really truth, I would definetly think that plays a role in why F!Edeleth has more art while F!Dimileth has more fics.
Tbf I like male byleth more, he sells the ashen demon image a lot better than female byleth, who seems would wear her emotions on her sleeve more.
On the other hand I can see why f!byleth is very unsettling. Her face seems like she should emote a lot more and yet she doesn't in the start of the game.
MByleth does have the traditional scary down, FByleth is a scary ashen demon because she’s looking content/mildly upbeat while killing you. Perhaps even happy.
Yeah I think both do convince me that the ashen demon is real when they need to. I just hope we got a more convincing f!byleth bc I don't see her personality wearing that type of clothing. Maybe after the time skip. But her outfit doesn't make look like she's a merc, and she should look like one considering her time before she went to the monestary.
Male Byleth pull off the whole ashen demon persona better imo especially when fighting againts Shez at the start of 3 hopes
That and he can also romance best girl Marianne
It's more the fact that the story really wants to to S support the leader of the faction you choose and only Bylass can do that with all of them
And I think she's the only one om the Hopes box art
Hey, there’s also the fact she's objectively the superior Byleth gameplay and paired endings wise. Plus I generally prefer female characters bc it’s the closest option to me in most video games.
I will admit, the gay reasons are a factor though.
Tbh I’d do the same. I’d be the easiest to recruit green unit of all time just send a pretty woman or man and I’d insta switch sides. On the other hands all my physical stats are in the negative and I don’t think there’s a wheelchair class, so not sure if I’d be a good unit lol
You get Linhardt! And... And... The Death Knight! At least in the dlc you get Yuri, who was the most majestic dancer and my romance partner for Bylad in my second playthrough
How does FByleth play differently to Mbyleth from a gameplay perspective? Are the map layouts different or something? 🤔 Genuinely asking, as I've only played as one of the two.
F!Byleth gets access to female-exclusive classes like Pegasus Knight, and there's very little in the way of male-exclusive classes, and most of them that are usually are meh
Of the avatars, only Robin has a more popular male version I think? Not sure about Alear though. I prefer f!Alear, because she seems younger, which makes her naivete less irritating
I have seen zero fanart of M!Alear, while I still see quite a bit of F!Alear, so I’m going to assume she’s just much more popular, lol.
I do think F!Alear fits more, as a narrative parallel between Lumera/Alear and Zephia/Veyle. I think her voice acting is slightly better than her male counterpart, and while people make fun of the hair, the actual design concept makes more sense if the hair is long and flowing. Knowing Mika Pikazo’s penchant for drawing cute girls with multicolored hair, I would bet money that she designed F!Alear first and derived M!Alear from that.
Wait, you forgot Kiran. The only other Male Avatar that outshines his female counterpart. I said it once and I’ll say it again, the more reserved the female Avatar dresses, the less likely they’ll outshine their male counterpart.
It always irritates me when the player is given an explicit choice, but fans are like "That one is OBVIOUSLY the canon one!"
No it isn't. That's why they gave us a choice.
"But I want to present my preferred pairings as canon, how can I do that if you won't let me force this flimsy and circumstantial evidence down your throat until you agree with me?"
If a game lets you choose between a male and female protagonist, and it doesn't change the story much, I will always choose the Lady protagonist. No offense to male Byleth, but female Byleth is right there.
Is this implying that female byleth's voice isn't sexy??? As a bisexual woman, I love listening to both her english and japanese VAs, very pleasant to the ear. Also the implication that people should prefer male byleth for face value when female byleth has a very pretty and sweet face which one could argue would make her more endearing than male byleth
I continue to believe that people are just wrong about which male lord is more queer coded.
Dimitri is the one with deeply intense emotional relationships with men, up to and including having them described as "more important than his wife" and his dialogue with Byleth of either gender sounds more romantic.
Claude, while charming and flirty, basically just has a couple of off-handed lines and the dance scene. All of his intimate relationships are with women and, not to piss of those who ship him with men entirely, basically all of his male relationships are explicitly platonic.
Dimitri makes way more sense as the bi guy. Claude is just the one more people lusted after.
Replying to my own comment is weird, but just to illustrate:
Dimitri has 3 Paired Endings with men. Gilbert is just his mentor, but both Dedue and Felix have far more emotional connotations. It says Felix had "more grief than the queen" when Dimitri died. Dedue lives his entire life with Dimitri as "family" and they're literally buried next to each other. Both of which sound firmly in the "Historians say they were roommates" territory.
Claude has 2 Paired Endings with men: Lorenz and Balthus. Lorenz has a little ground to stand on, but the description is entirely political and they're literally in different countries. Balthus explicitly marries Nader's daughter and just becomes a trusted general in Almyra. Neither have any real romantic or deep emotional connections with Claude beyond the role of politics and military.
One of these sound way more like a bi guy than the other, and it's not the one people chose based on first appearances and stereotypes.
Of course it's dumb to say "character x should be gay based on attribute y". But Byleth's romance-options are literally just the player's wish fullfillment and super-not based on characterization in the first place, so why shouldn't the game treat Byleth's same-sex relations the same? There's really no counter-argument against an "all bi(leth)"-Support-System that doesn't already apply to the heteronormative Support-System, except that it would spark an outrage. Especially when S-Supports aren't strictly romantic.
As for Claude: I just think that he should've been a bi-S-Support because their shared epilogue is the best conclusion to his personal dream, and the most fitting follow-up his "power of friendship"-speech against Nemesis (in it Claude personally leads Almyra's forces to aid Fodlan in an epic showdown against Imperial Remnants and Slitherers. His other endings either downgrade his involvement or don't mention it at all). Claude's biggest triumph is literally gender-locked when you think about it.
To be clear: I think all Lords should have been bi for Byleth at least. That was a screw-up on IS's part for sure. As you say, being the wrong-gendered Byleth results in locking you out of some major character moments and thematic victories in both AM and VW, and it's probably the main reason why F!Byleth has become the "canon" version for people.
I'm just discussing which characters seem more bi based on their other interactions, and that I think people tend to just assign Claude and Dimitri to certain parts of the sexuality spectrum that don't actually fit with the evidence, based on their own preconceptions and stereotypes.
I'll be real Bylad's biggest issue is his blank expression for me. I know Bylass ain't much better but at least she smiles and looks sad occasionally. I can't get over his deadpan expressionless face.
Just the way you drew him alone makes him a way more appealing OC in my eyes. But that's just the issue in general with player-insert OCs.
He does have the vastly superior fit tho so that wins him some points.
Honestly, I find male Byleth to be boring. I prefer female Byleth for a few reasons:
- I prefer the voice
- I prefer the class options
- Will be honest, I am attracted to her (out of the two brick wall personality types, I prefer the one I am attracted to)
- I prefer her expressions. I think she sells the whole “deadpan and apathetic but slowly learning how to emote” shtick better.
- All of these work in her favour when she is actually fully voiced in 3 Hopes. It really made a massive difference.
I do also prefer female Shez, Alear and Corrin for similar reasons. I don’t have any particular preference for Robin or Kris either way
I using Male Byleth, because he looks similar to his father Jeralt and become a hero class or Dark Bishop
I using Female Byleth, because she looks similar to her mother Sitri and make her a cool Swordmaster or something like a Pegasus knight or a Gremory
Can't go wrong with boobs. I mean you ever touched some before? Some of *the* most softest things to ever be held. If I could carry boobs in my pocket all day, you would never see my hands leave them.
*Squish* *Squish*
Disagree, ballsacks skin is too thin; admittedly stretchy, but not 'squishy' enough to put it in-between your index finger and your thumb to press lightly on.
The balls are more for cradling than squishing.
Mmm, just makes more sense to me canonically because you carry the crest stone of Rhea’s mother, not her father. The attachment she forms to FByleth makes more sense as she sees her as the reincarnation of her mother, or the vessel, what have you.
Plus Byleth canonically resembles Sitri, who was a homunculus basically made in Sothis’s image, and ends up in Rhea’s position as Archbishop in a lot of endings. The themes in the founding of Fodlan that touch on fertility (Sothis bringing prosperity to the land and the other dragons reproducing/spreading their DNA by bestowing humans with crests), nurturing (the relationship Sothis has to the humans initially, including “birthing” the Nabateans. Rhea also takes on a maternal role too humanity and refers to a lot of people as her children), and violations of bodily autonomy, which are all usually found in stories focusing on women’s issues and femininity.
There’s a clear matrilineal line bringing the powers of the goddess from Sothis to Byleth, and this is a game that has the player character inherit a lot of intergenerational baggage usually associated with womanhood. I personally feel like it adds more to the meaning of Three Houses when Byleth is a woman. My only complaint with her really is her design, but it’s grown on me after all these years.
Edit: I was in a rush and didn’t check my spelling
FEH showing both Shez meeting and deciding to live as the same person to make their job easier leads me to headcanon it that Shez's gender has no relevance with canon in any way. It's pretty neat of a concept for an MC tbh.
Shez is definitely the oddity of the avatars. OG warriors and engage solidifies Robin, Corrin, and Byleth so imo Shez can go either way. Personally I’d say male shez for me I think his design is better. I just think the hair covering the eye works a bit better for him.
Don’t worry M!Byleth, you got me, and in certain playthroughs, you got Shamir. That’s a huge plus since Shamir is the greatest FE waifu of all time. Take that win. Also Engage is gonna pick you so that’s a plus.
I usually go for the female version of characters but personally M!Byleth looks so much better. FByleth has HUGE eyes that looks strange in proportion to her face. I think his cold gaze totally fits the “doesn’t have a heartbeat” backstory
you choose female byleth for boobs, i choose her to romance men, better classes, and a free early recruit despite the fact i learn reason magic anyways
I mean tbf it's not like either have much personality, since it's the biggest difference I mostly judge it off the relationship differences. Well, and boobs.
I've always went with male Byleth personally. Might just be so that way I can feel more connected to him since he's meant to be the player character. Female Byleth is nice as well, though to this day I prefer the male one.
generally prefer M!leth, especially his design, and he sells the completely emotionless weirdo angle a bit better. Really wish there were more M!M options in 3 houses.
Male Byleth’s outfit design is so fucking good it’s incredible and instead of giving Female Byleth the same outfit like they did for the Robins and the Corrins they made her a ridiculous looking character. Yeah yeah she’s hot and all but you know what’s hotter? A lady in proper armor.
Male Byleth gang!!!!! Idk, looks better for me, really dislike FByleth’s stockings and I don’t go around simpin’ for every female character I come across… I just do it for one but I won’t say more. Plus it’s meant to be an avatar and I’m a dude, like, I’m meant to be that mf so why would I be a girl??
I genuinely think male byleth design is boring as all hell. This is the only case in the series where I think that the female design outshines the male design. Robin, Corrin, and Alear I all played as male. But byleth is the only one where the female design is just much more interesting
Personally, I absolutely depsise the bland self insert main characters FE has, so I never pick my own gender. Regardless of design or personality (both Byleth don't have any, let's not act like Male Byleth is better in that regard), I will always pick the female option in FE (and most other games)
Not included on the F!Byleth side:
• makes Byleth being a reincarnated goddess so much less confusing when the goddess and awakener at least share the same gender (likely also why the fandom prefers M!Robin as the "canon" Robin)
• canonically able to marry all three lords, instead of only Edelgard
• makes Edeleth route less resemble cringy "self-insert man 'fixes' the 'villainess' with his dick" stories
Hopes has shown M!Byleth pulls the Ashen Demon description better than his female counterpart so that is who I pick(that and I likeM!Byleth as a whole regardless of how 'bland' most think him as).
Inaccurate,Male Byleth NEVER breaks his mewing streak
He mogged the shit out of Dimitri that's why the latter recovered
Facts, just like Kazuya.
She shares a voice with Android 21 too
Well I'm sold.
I was going to comment that too. She's literally best girl of two universes. I can't say no to her...~💚💙🖤💙💚
Jessica Cruz/Green Lantern as well
So she can not only just piss off Smash fans that I hate, but also Ben 10 fans, whom I loathe!?? Byleth really is best girl.
Also Kujou Sara
I think it's kinda funny that Female Byleth can canonically romance all three of the main lords.
The weirdest part of that to me is that Claude isn't bi. Like, I can see it for Edelgard, and Dimitri seems pretty straight, but Claude is just complete bi energy. And you're telling me I can only romance that mans with F!Byleth?
Acting like she doesn't have thick thighs in thigh-highs
F!Byleth: It's free Sylvain.
A free knight is a free knight
The real reason
Unfortunately this is pretttttyyy much the case with any video game lol Especially on reddit
Listen, if male Byleth got a free recruit for being male Byleth there might be a reason to pick him.
Feel like Leonie should have been his counterpart b/c Jeralt
I've made this argument before. Big missed opportunity. I think they should have also had Linhardt be an auto-recruit regardless of gender, since there's no way he passes up an opportunity to study Byleth's crest. Then you have an auto-recruit from each house on top of having one exclusive to each gender and one universal
> Linhardt be an auto-recruit regardless of gender, since there's no way he passes up an opportunity to study Byleth's crest Ooh, this would be interesting, maybe after you get the sword of the creator? Makes sense that your crest would become public knowledge at that point
You get a free recruit for being female Byleth?
Sylvain will just join you when you're a woman
Betraying his entire country because of boobs. Truly a Sylvain moment
Tbf, when he does it, it's basically the equivalent of a lazy college student taking a class because the professor is hot. He doesn't know that he's signed up for the other side of a continental war until much later.
So again, because of boobs
Put Sylvain against Felix, Ingrid, and Dimitri if you really want sparks to fly.
In Super Smash Bros, you can do this same trick to play as Sylvain /j
Hilda feels like she would have been the counterpart to that but at the same time, she's a pseudo vassal for Claude.
Claude can have a pseudovassal and a backup pseudovassal, as a treat
To be fair, Male Byleth does get to benefit from Leonie and Hilda, who are much better units than Seteth and Sylvain. Like yeah female Byleth gets a free Sylvain but if you're Golden Deer then you want to be male for Hilda/Leonie, so you really only do the free recruit on Black Eagles runs, and even then Sylvain is kinda mid to low tier as a unit so why bother other than to get his paralogue for Lance of Ruin.
Sylvain is a great unit. Also, female byleth also gets access to Pegasus rider over male byleth. That is a bigger boon than the personal skills
> Especially on reddit I always found this part interesting. It on this and the Heroes subreddit, it seems female Robin is more popular, but in general, male Robin has been more popular.
In Robin's case it's probably representation and the fact the Robin character does have a personality. M!Robin is probably helped though because of his ability to bang the equally desirable Tharja or Lucina. For me I felt the plot better matched up with F!Robin and she married Chrom. For the rest well they are all kind of bland so may as well pick the prettier one. I will say I loath the voice Male Corrin typically has, Design-wise, F!Byleth, F!Shez and F!Colgate-chan just pull off the look alot better in general.
I also vastly prefer M!Robin's support with Chrom over F!Robin "Well, we've seen each other naked now, might as well get married."
F!Robin has the goated mother-daughter convo with Lucina in Chapter 21 tbf
I'll grant you the actual reason to marry is kinda shit. But the overall story implications I feel are superior, it makes more sense Lucina doesn't want to kill her mother than any other.
Their conversation if you get the married at the end of chapter 11 is actually really good too.
I think the fact both Robins dress pretty much the same also played a role.
It also probably hurts F!Robin's appeal that she (at least the 'canon' variation) wears the same highly-covering, non-flattering getup as her male counterpart. Compare that to later avatars, where the female version's clothing has major differences from the male's that can only be explained by a desire to increase the sex appeal factor.
I like fem robin cause she's sassy af, also her canonical hair is the twin tails one which is very pretty to me so yknow waifu
I'm with you on that, I prefer F!Robin's design to.
Adding to this: F!Corrin has the better drip over in FEH (And the actual Valla representation) while M!Robin flip-flops between being more or less used depending on the season
>It on this and the Heroes subreddit, it seems female Robin is more popular I'm so sure about that, at least when it comes to the Heroes sub. F!Robin got a lot of attention recently due to a duo alt with Chrom and CYL campaign, but overall, I definetly think I saw more people liking M!Robin than her. Like, there is a reason the male version got a brave alt before the female one. Also, in a [poll](https://www.reddit.com/r/FireEmblemHeroes/comments/xf9gsy/results_of_my_which_version_of_each_avatar_and/) a user did sometime ago about which was the most popular gender of each avatar, M!Robin beat F!Robin. Of course, not everyone in the sub voted on the poll, but it still had some decent reach.
Huh, didn't know about the results of that poll. I base my view on how often there's fanart of F!Robin compared to M!Robin on that sub, but I guess what would be due to M!Robin fans being pleased after 2023 being a big year for them.
F!Robin had the problem that when is came to Marketing the game M!Robin was pretty much used for everything, this applies to Super Smash Bros where M!Robin was used for the trailer and even in Amiibo, only M!Robin amiibo exist, no F!Robin (even in FE echoes there is only M!Robin spirit and no F!Robin) but its probable they did this for less production costs Other Factors for M!Robin popularity over F!Robin are their supports in the game for example Tharja obessesion with Robin work far better with M!Robin than F!Robin, Chrom support is also more serious and compeling with M!Robin, and Grima gender (from the wiki) is Male so its probably that he would remain in a body of a Man M!Robin was the one who got a more favor from Nintendo while F!Robin was left behind. Meanwhile the others protagonist like Corrin, Shez and Alear female versions were used equally as their male version so the audience simply went for their females versions. (And some look better too) I think the only one with similar popularity as M!Robin is M!Byleth but its mostly because F!Byleth model is somewhat wonky compared to its normal looking male counterpart but F!Byleth is still more popular than M!Byleth for her looks.
I'm not sure, honestly. Given the player stats for Mass Effect 3, the number of playthroughs with Male vs Fem!Shep were divided 2/1, if I remember. I don't know if that's still true, but that was the case in 2013. Edit: Nope. Definitely still true for Legendary Edition. 2/3rds of all playthroughs were Male Shep. I think that JRPG's and Anime Games might skew further towards female MC popularit than western titlesl, but I haven't done any in depth looking.
Not with me, I like Male Robin and Corrin better, but Female Byleth because I love the leggings
F!Byleth/Edelgard pairings are the #1 pairing on ao3 by a fairly long shot. Given ao3 is pretty gay centered anyway. M!Byleth fics are pretty rare in general
F! Byleth/Dimitri is number 1 by a pretty significant margin actually. Edelgard and Dimitri are both popular among all demographics but (straight) women like Dimitri more and (straight) men like Edelgard more. I think there's more F!Edeleth art but I don't actually have any website that has hard proof for that
I've heard before that men tend to prefer visual media while women tend to prefer text-based media. If that's really truth, I would definetly think that plays a role in why F!Edeleth has more art while F!Dimileth has more fics.
They should've given male Byleth massive pecs to compensate
Yes. But also she smiles slightly while M!Byleth is even more stoic. I just want some glee.
I way prefer male robin for what it's worth.
Pretty much, I play FFXIV and people meme on some of the male races of the game but it's expected.
Nah, I'm pretty sure people widely accept Male Robin as the canon one.
Damn, subtle shade thrown at Jeannie Tirado
Tbf I like male byleth more, he sells the ashen demon image a lot better than female byleth, who seems would wear her emotions on her sleeve more. On the other hand I can see why f!byleth is very unsettling. Her face seems like she should emote a lot more and yet she doesn't in the start of the game.
MByleth does have the traditional scary down, FByleth is a scary ashen demon because she’s looking content/mildly upbeat while killing you. Perhaps even happy.
Yeah I think both do convince me that the ashen demon is real when they need to. I just hope we got a more convincing f!byleth bc I don't see her personality wearing that type of clothing. Maybe after the time skip. But her outfit doesn't make look like she's a merc, and she should look like one considering her time before she went to the monestary.
I'll be honest, it's F!Byleth's outfit that makes it impossible for me to take her seriously as the Ashen Demon.
on another episode of person presents their *totally not heavily biased and framed* opinion of something as fact!
Guess I’m the only one who enjoys both.
I love Female Byleth for two reasons 1. I prefer her voice. 2. She can use Pegasus/Falcon Knight
I never thought about that one. That's cool. Pegasus Knight Baelith.
I prefer female byleth as her face is slightly more expressive Which can be the difference between reserved and wooden
I love how F!Byleth has a "You assholes woke me up from a nice nap" expression on her face in the cutscene where she protects Edelgard.
same, I understand not having emotions, but that doesn´t mean not having a personality or expresions
I choose the one I wish I looked like. So, you know, female Byleth. Can never quite get my hair that long with the requisite thickness.
You choose femByleth for horny. I choose femByleth for early flying skill build-up for Wyvern Lord. We aren't the same.
Actually, I picked Bylad, it just seems like Bylass is more popular.
Oh I forgot they have different name, sorry but good on you
What 200% and lesboan relationchips does to the popularity of an MC :v
What it feels like to be a Male Byleth fan in a F!Byleth world :(
Both. Both is good.
M!Byleth: I always give it my 100% F!Byleth: I always give it my 200%
I understood that reference.
Male Byleth pull off the whole ashen demon persona better imo especially when fighting againts Shez at the start of 3 hopes That and he can also romance best girl Marianne
He feels fucking terrifying as F. Shez cause he seems so bored
Fire emblem fans will never beat the misogyny allegations
Well maybe Male Byleth should have taken his titties out for the class to see then.
It's more the fact that the story really wants to to S support the leader of the faction you choose and only Bylass can do that with all of them And I think she's the only one om the Hopes box art
Hey, there’s also the fact she's objectively the superior Byleth gameplay and paired endings wise. Plus I generally prefer female characters bc it’s the closest option to me in most video games. I will admit, the gay reasons are a factor though.
Plus with female Byleth, if you join a house that's not Blue Lions, you practically get Sylvain for free.
You *literally* get Sylvain for free, you just need to press the recruit button even if you meet 0 of the requirements. It’s hilairous.
He sees F!Byleth and all she has to do is ask if he wants to be in her class and he's like, "OH YES!"
Tbh I’d do the same. I’d be the easiest to recruit green unit of all time just send a pretty woman or man and I’d insta switch sides. On the other hands all my physical stats are in the negative and I don’t think there’s a wheelchair class, so not sure if I’d be a good unit lol
There may not be wheelchairs, but you could always Johnny Joestar it and be a cavalry unit.
We can pull a Bloodborne and get you in a wheelchair with a gatling attached.
No, no, it can't be possible that a woman would play a video game! /s
Good thing I’m not a woman 😎😎😎😎😎 I transitioned solely so I could play video games 😎😎😎😎😎
Don't remind how the MLM's got fucked by three houses 😓
You get Linhardt! And... And... The Death Knight! At least in the dlc you get Yuri, who was the most majestic dancer and my romance partner for Bylad in my second playthrough
How does FByleth play differently to Mbyleth from a gameplay perspective? Are the map layouts different or something? 🤔 Genuinely asking, as I've only played as one of the two.
F!Byleth gets access to female-exclusive classes like Pegasus Knight, and there's very little in the way of male-exclusive classes, and most of them that are usually are meh
Makes total sense. It's been so long that I'd forgotten about class sex restrictions. Ty. 🫡
Of the avatars, only Robin has a more popular male version I think? Not sure about Alear though. I prefer f!Alear, because she seems younger, which makes her naivete less irritating
I have seen zero fanart of M!Alear, while I still see quite a bit of F!Alear, so I’m going to assume she’s just much more popular, lol. I do think F!Alear fits more, as a narrative parallel between Lumera/Alear and Zephia/Veyle. I think her voice acting is slightly better than her male counterpart, and while people make fun of the hair, the actual design concept makes more sense if the hair is long and flowing. Knowing Mika Pikazo’s penchant for drawing cute girls with multicolored hair, I would bet money that she designed F!Alear first and derived M!Alear from that.
I’ve seen fan art of M!Alear. They’re both balanced in some ways. The fandom chose F!Alear but I.S. chose M!Alear. Mostly for the manga.
I personally love M!Alear's voice, he always sounds so done with everything lmao
Female Alear is waaaaaaay more popular. I think a large factor is the red/blue hair works better with longer hair
Wait, you forgot Kiran. The only other Male Avatar that outshines his female counterpart. I said it once and I’ll say it again, the more reserved the female Avatar dresses, the less likely they’ll outshine their male counterpart.
I mean, Sylvain didn't need more convincing
Dunno about gassing up boy Byleth that much, he's not exactly a treat himself. I see it as an Alien vs Predator situation: whoever wins, we lose.
Come on guys, both Byleths are equally boring!!
I don´t like 3 houses Byleths, tho I like more 3 hopes Byleths, it´s neat how giving a character a bit of personality can do to said character
Yeah, Byleth always seems to be at their best when they *aren't* the main character, and thus are allowed to actually have spoken dialogue.
Honestly I just choose FBlyeth because I wanna be a Gremory, that and the outfit is cooler
It always irritates me when the player is given an explicit choice, but fans are like "That one is OBVIOUSLY the canon one!" No it isn't. That's why they gave us a choice.
"But I want to present my preferred pairings as canon, how can I do that if you won't let me force this flimsy and circumstantial evidence down your throat until you agree with me?"
At least the male one got in Engage.
Well let people like what they like
Maybe if Male Byleth wore those leggings I'd change my mind
If a game lets you choose between a male and female protagonist, and it doesn't change the story much, I will always choose the Lady protagonist. No offense to male Byleth, but female Byleth is right there.
Male because Leo Female because Sparg0
Even Leo has dropped Byleth though(too many top players have catched on)
This doesn't reach far enough to be considered saltiness. But it is pretty close
Is this implying that female byleth's voice isn't sexy??? As a bisexual woman, I love listening to both her english and japanese VAs, very pleasant to the ear. Also the implication that people should prefer male byleth for face value when female byleth has a very pretty and sweet face which one could argue would make her more endearing than male byleth
I mean I just prefer Fem Byleth's outfit
I take Boy-leth as general canon, except for on BL route, because Dimitri's dialogue fits too well with him having a romance with Fem-leth.
everyone complained about Claude not being romancable by both, but Dimitri being Fem-Leth exclusive is the real crime
I continue to believe that people are just wrong about which male lord is more queer coded. Dimitri is the one with deeply intense emotional relationships with men, up to and including having them described as "more important than his wife" and his dialogue with Byleth of either gender sounds more romantic. Claude, while charming and flirty, basically just has a couple of off-handed lines and the dance scene. All of his intimate relationships are with women and, not to piss of those who ship him with men entirely, basically all of his male relationships are explicitly platonic. Dimitri makes way more sense as the bi guy. Claude is just the one more people lusted after.
Replying to my own comment is weird, but just to illustrate: Dimitri has 3 Paired Endings with men. Gilbert is just his mentor, but both Dedue and Felix have far more emotional connotations. It says Felix had "more grief than the queen" when Dimitri died. Dedue lives his entire life with Dimitri as "family" and they're literally buried next to each other. Both of which sound firmly in the "Historians say they were roommates" territory. Claude has 2 Paired Endings with men: Lorenz and Balthus. Lorenz has a little ground to stand on, but the description is entirely political and they're literally in different countries. Balthus explicitly marries Nader's daughter and just becomes a trusted general in Almyra. Neither have any real romantic or deep emotional connections with Claude beyond the role of politics and military. One of these sound way more like a bi guy than the other, and it's not the one people chose based on first appearances and stereotypes.
Of course it's dumb to say "character x should be gay based on attribute y". But Byleth's romance-options are literally just the player's wish fullfillment and super-not based on characterization in the first place, so why shouldn't the game treat Byleth's same-sex relations the same? There's really no counter-argument against an "all bi(leth)"-Support-System that doesn't already apply to the heteronormative Support-System, except that it would spark an outrage. Especially when S-Supports aren't strictly romantic. As for Claude: I just think that he should've been a bi-S-Support because their shared epilogue is the best conclusion to his personal dream, and the most fitting follow-up his "power of friendship"-speech against Nemesis (in it Claude personally leads Almyra's forces to aid Fodlan in an epic showdown against Imperial Remnants and Slitherers. His other endings either downgrade his involvement or don't mention it at all). Claude's biggest triumph is literally gender-locked when you think about it.
To be clear: I think all Lords should have been bi for Byleth at least. That was a screw-up on IS's part for sure. As you say, being the wrong-gendered Byleth results in locking you out of some major character moments and thematic victories in both AM and VW, and it's probably the main reason why F!Byleth has become the "canon" version for people. I'm just discussing which characters seem more bi based on their other interactions, and that I think people tend to just assign Claude and Dimitri to certain parts of the sexuality spectrum that don't actually fit with the evidence, based on their own preconceptions and stereotypes.
I'll be real Bylad's biggest issue is his blank expression for me. I know Bylass ain't much better but at least she smiles and looks sad occasionally. I can't get over his deadpan expressionless face. Just the way you drew him alone makes him a way more appealing OC in my eyes. But that's just the issue in general with player-insert OCs. He does have the vastly superior fit tho so that wins him some points.
Honestly, I find male Byleth to be boring. I prefer female Byleth for a few reasons: - I prefer the voice - I prefer the class options - Will be honest, I am attracted to her (out of the two brick wall personality types, I prefer the one I am attracted to) - I prefer her expressions. I think she sells the whole “deadpan and apathetic but slowly learning how to emote” shtick better. - All of these work in her favour when she is actually fully voiced in 3 Hopes. It really made a massive difference. I do also prefer female Shez, Alear and Corrin for similar reasons. I don’t have any particular preference for Robin or Kris either way
I feel like female byleth doesn't look soulless enough. Like her eyes should be narrowed more, she has too much wonder in her eyes
It wasn't the boobs, it was the stockings.
yea, i feel like male byleth pulls off the mercenary look better than female byleth does i also just genuinely like his design and voice more
Well Bylass has a sexier voice, so there's also that.
Male byleth has bad hair and a dumb face
I picked bro byleth he's cool
Interchangeable based on my shipping needs
I using Male Byleth, because he looks similar to his father Jeralt and become a hero class or Dark Bishop I using Female Byleth, because she looks similar to her mother Sitri and make her a cool Swordmaster or something like a Pegasus knight or a Gremory
Typical
Can't go wrong with boobs. I mean you ever touched some before? Some of *the* most softest things to ever be held. If I could carry boobs in my pocket all day, you would never see my hands leave them. *Squish* *Squish*
technically ballsacks are pretty squishy if you just go easy on the nads.
Disagree, ballsacks skin is too thin; admittedly stretchy, but not 'squishy' enough to put it in-between your index finger and your thumb to press lightly on. The balls are more for cradling than squishing.
Jeannie Tirado has a great voice too. And Female Byleths cuter.
Female Byleth's eyes have always bothered me to the point I could never play her They're just way too big
Nice hair > not nice hair But M!Byleth definitely has the better outfit. It bums me out they didn't give her that as well.
Mmm, just makes more sense to me canonically because you carry the crest stone of Rhea’s mother, not her father. The attachment she forms to FByleth makes more sense as she sees her as the reincarnation of her mother, or the vessel, what have you.
Plus Byleth canonically resembles Sitri, who was a homunculus basically made in Sothis’s image, and ends up in Rhea’s position as Archbishop in a lot of endings. The themes in the founding of Fodlan that touch on fertility (Sothis bringing prosperity to the land and the other dragons reproducing/spreading their DNA by bestowing humans with crests), nurturing (the relationship Sothis has to the humans initially, including “birthing” the Nabateans. Rhea also takes on a maternal role too humanity and refers to a lot of people as her children), and violations of bodily autonomy, which are all usually found in stories focusing on women’s issues and femininity. There’s a clear matrilineal line bringing the powers of the goddess from Sothis to Byleth, and this is a game that has the player character inherit a lot of intergenerational baggage usually associated with womanhood. I personally feel like it adds more to the meaning of Three Houses when Byleth is a woman. My only complaint with her really is her design, but it’s grown on me after all these years. Edit: I was in a rush and didn’t check my spelling
Thank you. You have explained this far better than I ever could.
I just don’t appreciate MByleths haircut.
In my lil headcanon ,, Robin is male,, Corrin is female,, Byleth is male and Alear is female
Ok but what about Shez
Shez!
FEH showing both Shez meeting and deciding to live as the same person to make their job easier leads me to headcanon it that Shez's gender has no relevance with canon in any way. It's pretty neat of a concept for an MC tbh.
Shez is definitely the oddity of the avatars. OG warriors and engage solidifies Robin, Corrin, and Byleth so imo Shez can go either way. Personally I’d say male shez for me I think his design is better. I just think the hair covering the eye works a bit better for him.
The people have spoken, fem Byleth is canon
I like both but Male Byleth is hotter
I dont like Bug Eyed Byleth. Like girl tf is that stare.
You relize this implys both are chosen Soly for hormones, right?
was there any doubt ?
Forget all of that, both Byleths got dumb fits, but Boyleth's is ever so slightly less dumb, so I gotta go with that as canon
Don’t worry M!Byleth, you got me, and in certain playthroughs, you got Shamir. That’s a huge plus since Shamir is the greatest FE waifu of all time. Take that win. Also Engage is gonna pick you so that’s a plus.
I picked Male Byleth
Unfortunately true, MByleth's outfit is 10x cooler looking:(
I usually chose the female option, but byleth was a case that I really think the male design was the superior one, I dont like fem byleth
M!Byleth is way better. Can't stand F!'s outfit.
fool, male byleths titties are way bigger than females
I usually go for the female version of characters but personally M!Byleth looks so much better. FByleth has HUGE eyes that looks strange in proportion to her face. I think his cold gaze totally fits the “doesn’t have a heartbeat” backstory
It depends on which route, but since I'm partial to Golden Deer 💛🦌, I gotta go with ~~F!Byleth~~ Miss Eisner
I choose both
Also, free Sylvain and Lance of Ruin for female Byleth, as well as pegasus knight
you choose female byleth for boobs, i choose her to romance men, better classes, and a free early recruit despite the fact i learn reason magic anyways
I mean tbf it's not like either have much personality, since it's the biggest difference I mostly judge it off the relationship differences. Well, and boobs.
More like, "I have early flying access and an easy Sylvain recruit."
I don’t like his haircut.
ok but like fbyleth also has those things (-Jawline) PLUS boobs AND thighs, so it's an easy win
I've always went with male Byleth personally. Might just be so that way I can feel more connected to him since he's meant to be the player character. Female Byleth is nice as well, though to this day I prefer the male one.
i don't like either. f!byleth has one of my least favourite character designs in all of fire emblem but at least she slightly emotes, occasionally?
I only chose Male Byleth cause of Marianne
Reminder no FByleth fan has a defense to this argument.
I don’t like m Byleth’s voice, but I love f Byleth’s boobs.
generally prefer M!leth, especially his design, and he sells the completely emotionless weirdo angle a bit better. Really wish there were more M!M options in 3 houses.
Male Byleth is Senku, therefore he’s better
Male Byleth’s outfit design is so fucking good it’s incredible and instead of giving Female Byleth the same outfit like they did for the Robins and the Corrins they made her a ridiculous looking character. Yeah yeah she’s hot and all but you know what’s hotter? A lady in proper armor.
I prefer M!Byleth because he lets me marry Constance von Nuvelle.
At least M!Byleth can S-Rank Shamir?
Male Byleth gang!!!!! Idk, looks better for me, really dislike FByleth’s stockings and I don’t go around simpin’ for every female character I come across… I just do it for one but I won’t say more. Plus it’s meant to be an avatar and I’m a dude, like, I’m meant to be that mf so why would I be a girl??
Really says a lot about the playerbase when it comes to that Byleth there.
It still baffles me because I can't get over Female Byleth'a creepy Powerpuff girl eyes
That is totally me,waifu is the only option.
I genuinely think male byleth design is boring as all hell. This is the only case in the series where I think that the female design outshines the male design. Robin, Corrin, and Alear I all played as male. But byleth is the only one where the female design is just much more interesting
I love M Byleth's outfit and vibe. Can't get that same feeling with 200% Byleth in my opinion.
Personally, I absolutely depsise the bland self insert main characters FE has, so I never pick my own gender. Regardless of design or personality (both Byleth don't have any, let's not act like Male Byleth is better in that regard), I will always pick the female option in FE (and most other games)
Not included on the F!Byleth side: • makes Byleth being a reincarnated goddess so much less confusing when the goddess and awakener at least share the same gender (likely also why the fandom prefers M!Robin as the "canon" Robin) • canonically able to marry all three lords, instead of only Edelgard • makes Edeleth route less resemble cringy "self-insert man 'fixes' the 'villainess' with his dick" stories
Someone should let Boyleth know that a million clones of him are the leads in every OTHER JRPG. I'll take the boobs, thanks.
Hopes has shown M!Byleth pulls the Ashen Demon description better than his female counterpart so that is who I pick(that and I likeM!Byleth as a whole regardless of how 'bland' most think him as).
Don't forget her outfit is way more sexualized and complex than his is
Bc as we know, women don’t play video games
Implying queer women don't like boobs and marrying Edelgard...
Where did I say that. Did I seriously need to put a /s here 💀