A major mechanic of the Fire Emblem games involves pairing up units in order to gain stat boosts in combat. These stat boosts unlocked special conversations that displayed the bonds between various characters, some even ending in marriage. While most character s and endings have leaned heterosexual in the past, developers IntSys have begun working towards acknowledging LGBTQ+ pairings.
Fire Emblem: Three Houses, the series' latest entry, is also the best by far in of LGBTQ+ inclusion. Not only does Byleth, the player avatar, have multiple same-gender romance options, but some of the other units can enter LGBTQ+ relationships with each other depending on player choices.
Felix And Sylvain
In Three Houses, Sylvain is most known for his relentless attempts to woo women. However, certain lines of dialogue strongly imply that he's not only into women; in his with Flayn, he doesn't deny Flayn's assertations that he's also into men. His interest in men can best be seen in his s with his best friend Felix, where their relationship goes way beyond just friendship.
The two men are incredibly close—so much, in fact, that they promise to die on the same day so as to not live without each other. In the "Azure Moon" route, their promise ultimately fulfills itself as the game concludes that neither could live without the other.
Edelgard And Byleth
Edelgard is well-known for being the first bisexual lord of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, able to romance Byleth regardless of gender. Bisexual players rejoiced, eager to see a complex character of their sexual orientation, and many romanced her upon the game's launch, looking past the fact that Edelgard was once Byleth's student.
In the original Japanese version, the romantic aspects of their ending are even more explicit. Edelgard mentions a honeymoon and calls Byleth her spouse and partner. In turn, the ending follows suit by using the same terminology and references to intimate trips the two took together.
Dimitri And Dedue
Fan favorites Dimitri and Dedue have had a special connection even before the start of the game; Dimitri saved Dedue's life when they were both children, and in turn, Dedue has pledged loyalty to him since. Their A has Dimitri confessing to Dedue that he cherishes him and wishes to be more than just lord and retainer.
A few fans have raised their eyebrows at the idea of Dimitri and Dedue as a romantic pair, out of concern towards the power dynamic between the two. At the same time, Dimitri never marries in his ending with Dedue, and the narration points towards them being family. Even when the two characters die together in Crimson Flower, their parting words to each other are romantically charged.
Byleth And Yuri
Introduced in the "Cindered Shadows" DLC, Yuri Leclerc is the classic charming rogue archetype with a twist: he's bisexual. He flirts with main protagonist Byleth in both the DLC side route and main game and is unapologetic about his sexual orientation. Despite his criminal background, Yuri became a fan favorite for his brutal honesty and S- with Byleth at the end of the game.
No matter which gender the player chooses for Byleth at the beginning of the game, the ending refers to Yuri as Byleth's husband and makes note of their wedding. In the ending with male Byleth in particular, it's implied that the two lived a remarkably long time and never aged.
Ashe And Caspar
Ashe and Caspar's s take a turn for the wholesome when the two of them discover that the pantry thief they'd been chasing the whole time was just a hungry little cat. The two of them take on the responsibility of feeding the cat, and their relationship becomes akin to a married couple with a newborn baby. Fans subsequently latched onto Ashe and Caspar as a pairing and as cat-dads.
In their ending, Ashe and Caspar travel the world defending the innocent and presumably feeding more cats. Oddly enough, both Ashe and Caspar are rumored by fans to have been initially romanceable by male Byleth before IntSys scrapped them as same-gender love interests.
Catherine And Shamir
Catherine and Shamir are both powerhouse units and heroes from the Knights of Seiros, with a lengthy chain that explores their relationship as partners. At the end of their A+ , Shamir offers that the two get married, but it's ambiguous as to whether or not she is serious. The Japanese version, however, indicates that she is, as Shamir elaborates that in her home country, partners marry one another regardless of gender.
Both endings refer to the women becoming life partners and having an inseparable bond as they travel the world together. Many fans consider their relationship a romantic one, given the nature of their ending and its similarity to other LGBTQ+ endings in the game.
Byleth And Jeritza
While Jeritza had been present ever since the release of Three Houses, he was only added as a playable unit for the "Crimson Flower" route with the release of the 1.1.0 update. Players were curious to see that Jeritza could marry Byleth regardless of gender and exuberant to see Jeritza confess his love with no ambiguity in his dialogue.
A major criticism of Three Houses stemmed from the lack of same-sex options for male Byleth at launch, as his only romantic same-gender ending was with Linhardt. With the release of Jeritza and Yuri, however, Three Houses proved to LGBTQ+ fans that it was willing to provide better representation.
Caspar And Linhardt
Caspar and Linhardt, two students of the Fire Emblem: Three Houses Black Eagle house, seem to be a callback to fan-favorites Ike and Soren from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, especially when it comes to their romantic ending. Similar to his ending with Ashe, Caspar's ending with Linhardt has the two of them traveling the world together and experiencing many misadventures along the way.
The key difference, however, is a mention of the two eventually settling down together. The Japanese version refers to the two making a home for each other, suggesting that they married.
Ferdinand And Hubert
Hubert and Ferdinand are among the most popular pairings shipped from Three Houses—so much so, in fact, that their voice actors recorded a romantic duet together for their fans. The game itself seems to the pairing, as their A+ conversation involves the two men blushing as they give each other meaningful stares.
The Japanese version of their ending confirms their relationship to be a romantic one, mentioning their intimate connection despite their opposite personalities. In the world of Fire Emblem, opposites do attract, and it's easy to see the appeal of pairing Ferdinand and Hubert together.
Dorothea And Petra
Dorothea is one of the most open bisexual characters in Three Houses. Aside from her romantic ending with both Byleths, she's often seen hitting on the other female students throughout the game. One such student is her fellow Black Eagle Petra, who has the ability to end up with Dorothea after the game's events.
The ending talks about how Dorothea becomes "the person whom [Petra] loved the most," and their later fully confirms that their relationship is a romantic one. The Japanese translation further cements them as in love, thanks to the romantic word choices Dorothea uses.
