Marianne von Edmund
Fire Emblem character
Marianne von Edmund in Fire Emblem Heroes
First appearance	Fire Emblem: Three Houses (2019)
Designed by	Chinatsu Kurahana
Voiced by	Sawako Hata (Japanese) Xanthe Huynh (English)
In-universe information
Affiliation	Golden Deer

Marianne von Edmund (マリアンヌ フォン エドマンド) is a character in the 2019 video game Fire Emblem: Three Houses. She is a member of the Golden Deer house, led by Claude, and has self-worth issues due to a curse tied to her Crest. She has multiple relationships she can form in the game, including Hilda, Dimitri, and the protagonist, Byleth. She was designed by Chinatsu Kurahana. She also appears in other Fire Emblem games, including Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes and Fire Emblem Heroes, the latter where she won a special character after being voted the #1 female character by players. She was voiced in Japanese by Sawako Hata and Xanthe Huynh in English.

She has received generally positive reception, with multiple critics finding her self-worth issues relatable and expressing a desire to help Marianne sort through her own issues. Her relationship with Hilda was also highlighted, being one of the most popular lesbian ships on Archive of Our Own.

Concept and creation

Marianne was created by Chinatsu Kurahana for the video game Fire Emblem: Three Houses. ^[1] Marianne has self-worth issues, owing to a curse associated with her Crest. ^[2] She also has a love for animals. ^[3] When making her design for Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, character designer Toshiyuki Kusakihara discussed how he designed her and others with the idea of how they might look had they never met Byleth. ^[4] She is voiced by Sawako Hata in Japanese and by Xanthe Huynh in English. ^[5]

Appearances

Marianne first appears in Fire Emblem: Three Houses as a playable character. She is a student of Garreg Mach Academy, and a member of the Golden Deer house, led by Claude von Riegan. She is available by default should players choose the Golden Deer house, but she can also be recruited if they choose the Blue Lions and Black Eagles under certain circumstances. She is able to have support conversations with various characters in the game, including Claude, Hilda Valentine Goneril, and the protagonist, Byleth. She appears after a five-year timeskip, allying with Claude in a war started by Edelgard von Hresvelg to unite Fodlan and end the Crest system if she is not recruited into the Blue Lions or Black Eagles.

She also appears as a playable character in Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, which is an alternate story that takes place two years after the beginning of Three Houses and examines what would happen if Byleth had not become a teacher at the school.

Marianne appears in Fire Emblem Heroes as a playable character. ^[6] In the 2021 "Choose Your Legends" contest, where players vote who to get a special outfit, Marianne was the #1 female character, beating Eirika from Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones. ^[7] She was found to have been more popular among regular players, whereas Eirika was more popular with players who had taken a break. ^[8] She became a trending topic on Twitter due to her success. ^[9] This design was illustrated by Toshiyuki Kusakihara. ^[10]

Reception

Marianne ranked ninth among female characters on a Famitsu poll of Japanese readers. ^[11] Kotaku writer Gita Jackson discussed how they approached Marianne in order to help them open up, initially perceiving her as someone suffering from a lack of confidence. However, they recognized that there was more to her than a lack of confidence, discussing how the exploration of her trauma and how it informs her actions helped them in their own healing journey. They related to Marianne's self-loathing and shame, discussing a scene where Claude helped Marianne come to terms with the burden she shoulders by relating to her struggles with being seen as a monster. ^[12] GamesRadar+ writer Heather Wald noted that early on, she was drawn to Marianne due to her shy demeanor, as well as the fact that one of her dislikes was 'herself'. Wald felt was relatable, motivating her to help Marianne, including by surrounding her with others to be her friends. While she noted that all characters have their own burdens to bear, she continued to fixate on Marianne, finding her character growth especially meaningful. She praised her timeskip design, finding her unrecognizable in it, and feeling it showed a brighter Marianne. Wald discussed how Marianne's self-perception as a monster caused her to develop an understandable lack of self worth. She felt happy to see Marianne progress, noting how participating in Marianne's journey helped her own journey towards liking herself. ^[2]

The Mary Sue writer Madeline Carpou expressed adoration for the character, stating that she "easily wins the player's heart" and appreciating that Three Hopes gave Marianne a support conversation with Bernadetta von Varley. She felt worried that the conversation would be "needlessly uncomfortable," but loved that they practiced socializing together, questioning whether there was shipping potential between them. She also appreciated that Marianne got a support conversation with Ingrid, whom she felt ambivalent about until this scene, stating that Marianne "deserved all the love she got in this game." ^[13] Fanbyte writer Ib hunktears discussed their favorite ships in Three Houses, identifying multiple examples featuring Marianne, including one with Dimitri von Blaiddyd and one with Hilda Valentine Goneril. With the former, they noted that the basis for their relationship - a "shared self-hatred over being uncontrollable monsters" - was a bad basis for their relationship, but it was an interesting relationship for them to follow. With Hilda, they felt that the caring energy of Hilda supporting Marianne was "super endearing," though begrudging how Marianne seemed oblivious to Hilda's advances. ^[14] Gayming Mag writer Aimee Hart noted that the ship between Marianne and Hilda was one of the more popular female ships on Archive of Our Own. ^[15]

References