This more empathetic writing of a gay character isn’t something I expected from Echoes, given that romance is dialed back in the title compared to the two previous entries in the series, as well as the franchise’s bumpy track record when it comes to writing gay characters.

Many older entries in the franchise have pairings that fans have argued may be gay because of in-game dialogue and implications drawn from epilogues, but none of these characters have their sexualities canonically confirmed (Ike and Soren and Lucius and Raven are two such pairings). By not entirely committing to these aspects of their personalities, these characters were less relatable to queer players looking for concrete representation. And, until recently, these unconfirmed relationships between characters in other Fire Emblem titles were some of Nintendo’s only examples of queer representation in their games.

2015’s Fire Emblem Fates is the only game in the franchise to allow the player-made protagonist to romance a unit of the same gender, but the choice was limited to one specific character for each gender: Niles for male characters and Rhajat for female characters. Unfortunately, if you choose to pursue one of these same-sex options in Fates there are negative gameplay repercussions: you’re unable to acquire your child (as well as Niles’ child if you’re a male and you romance him), both as a unit to use in battle and as character you can use to build supports with other characters in your army.

Moving forward, Leon signals positive changes for the inclusion of more diverse characters across Nintendo’s franchises.

The primary thing that separates Echoes’ Leon from these characters is that Fates’ Niles and Rhajat will date your character regardless of your gender, and their support conversations don’t differ significantly with your character’s gender. As a result, aspects of these characters’ personalities are intentionally vague and removed from any meaningful conversation regarding sexuality, lacking the same openness that gives Leon a character arc that is easier for queer players to empathize with.

From left to right: Kamui (Leon’s friend), Celica (one of the two protagonists), Valbar (Leon’s crush and traveling companion), and Leon in the group’s introductory CG.

Leon is explicitly written as gay, meaning he talks about his feelings for other men in a way that put other readings of the character to bed. Though many entries in the Fire Emblem franchise have some permutation of the ‘gay archer’ and other similar archetypes, Leon is able to develop and have an impact that is stronger than his character’s blueprint.

Leon serves as an important touchpoint for gay players to relate to — his character is written in a way that doesn’t reinforce all-too-common stereotypes. While his main support conversations focus on unrequited love for a straight friend (a common experience for many LGBT people to the point of becoming a commonly-misused trope), his support conversations are sympathetic, and offer a unique perspective on the situation while grounding his development in experiences that many queer people have had.

To put it simply, Leon is an impactful character who overcomes the franchise’s penchant for relying on tropes and archetypes to signal positive changes for the inclusion of more diverse characters across all of Nintendo’s franchises moving forward.