The world of Fire Emblem is absolutely brimming with characters. From the protagonists who made it into the Super Smash Bros. series to the esoteric NPCs no one's heard of, players come across a variety of personalities in Fire Emblem games. This is perhaps most obvious in Fire Emblem Heroes, the tactical RPG franchise's mobile spinoff from Nintendo and DeNA. In Heroes, players collect different characters from the Fire Emblem universe via gacha mechanics, a game design choice that's made it Nintendo's most lucrative mobile game yet.
Fire Emblem Heroes' success can also be attributed in part to the Choose Your Legends polling events, which give players the opportunity to vote for which characters they'd like to see in the game. The results of the most recent Choose Your Legends event, in particular, have caused a commotion online since their announcement in February: in addition to Pelleas from Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn making an appearance in the Grand Hero Battles, Fire Emblem: Three Houses' Gatekeeper has finally been added to Heroes' roster. For those unfamiliar with Three Houses, the addition of a nameless guard may seem a little odd, but the Gatekeeper has been a fan-favorite since the game's initial release in 2019. Something about his character's upbeat attitude has earned him the fanbase's adoration.
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The Gatekeeper is an NPC featured in Fire Emblem: Three Houses who appears as early as Chapter 1. When Byleth (the player's character) chooses to explore the monastery on a free day, they can find the Gatekeeper guarding the entrance to Garreg Mach Monastery opposite the market. Admittedly, dialogue between Byleth and the Gatekeeper often implies he's inept at his job, but the Gatekeeper has nonetheless won fans over with his wholesome, optimistic attitude. Exactly what it is that makes the Gatekeeper so lovable isn't clear—he's nice, sure, but there are plenty of nice characters in Three Houses. Maybe it's the comical touch he adds to an otherwise grave story of war and politics. Maybe it's his humility about his position. It may even be that the Gatekeeper is the perfect everyman, a character with whom everyone can relate if only just a little.
Whatever the true reason for his popularity, Gatekeeper memes, fan art, and appreciation posts have cropped up ever since the release of Three Houses. In some pieces of fan art, the Gatekeeper is depicted dreamily, reassuring the viewer that there's nothing to be reported. Other fan art features various characters in the Gatekeeper's armor, not least of which Alm, another Fire Emblem character played by the Gatekeeper's voice actor, Kyle McCarley. Overwhelmingly, memes of the Gatekeeper emphasize his strength, his compassion, and his loyalty in various scenarios and contexts. That same relatability that endears the Gatekeeper to players lends itself to all sorts of different memes.
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All this considered, it really is no wonder why the Gatekeeper won the most recent Choose Your Legends poll. Fire Emblem Heroes had been out for about two years when Three Houses was released, so fans have been speculating about the Gatekeeper's inclusion since the get-go. The final results of the vote indicate the size of his fanbase: the Gatekeeper received 72,000 votes, and Marth (Fire Emblem's defacto mascot) received 46,000 votes. For the female heroes chosen, Marianne and Eirika, there was only a difference of about 1,600 votes. Clearly, the Gatekeeper's inclusion in Heroes is something that fans have been anticipating for a long time, and the creative liberties taken in his in-game attacks and stats show that the developers recognize this.
It speaks volumes that the Gatekeeper's inclusion in Fire Emblem Heroes has sparked so much discussion. Fire Emblem: Three Houses received positive reviews upon release, with many critics praising the game's replayability. Out of all the characters and their compelling, interconnected backstories, however, the Gatekeeper has arguably resonated with players the most. It's not to say that the game's playable characters are less memorable but rather that the Gatekeeper's character did something unexpected. While there are parallels between each of the Fire Emblem series' troubled protagonists, there is no other character quite like the Gatekeeper. His presence is a reminder that the smallest character can make the biggest impact, even when there's nothing to report.
Fire Emblem Heroes is available to play now for free on Android and iOS.