Waifu Wednesday: Lapis (Fire Emblem Engage)

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Lilia Hellal
February 1, 2023
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Fire Emblem Engage is the latest mainline entry in the Fire Emblem franchise, and with it comes both familiar faces and new characters to get further acquainted with and familiarise yourself with.

A certain someone from the cast has definitely captured my attention and made me want to gush about her until the end of time. So, here’s to Lapis. It counts for something when you’ve already unlocked all her support conversations and heard every line of her Wake-Up Events, right?

Who is Lapis?

Best girl Lapis is a royal knight of Brodia who serves under Alcryst as one of his retainers. Alear meets her in chapter 7 where she will join the player’s forces before its chapter battle commences to protect Alcryst from Hortensia’s attack.

Her major characteristics are her low confidence and the secrecy of her low social status, which she keeps concealed from other characters unless revealed in her supports. In each and every one of these eleven support conversations, her character depth and value can easily be seen, making her one of the best characters at the end of the day in my opinion.

Why we love her

Call it shallow, but the reason why I was immediately drawn to her is due to her design. She looks like the most feminine looking Claymore warrior to ever be conceptualised, and I love it. Wielding a big sword that is far too heavy-looking for her delicate frame — but being a perfect fit to her character since it allows her to utilise her unexpected brute strength — is pretty damn endearing. And when it is all for the sake of protecting others, despite said use of such weaponry making her feel undignified and unappealing, taking her at face value hides many complexities of her character.

Due to her living and working in the countryside, she was shaped and trained into a hunter to survive. She quite literally has faced deadly adversaries head on, even as a child, having learnt how to win when confronting huge predators. She also knows how to make the most of her situation, as seen through her becoming an expert in the supposedlu most “mundane” or “useless” knowledge of grass types.

As a result, she ends up being the best person to go to when having to tackle coming out of a bear encounter alive – which somehow comes up more than once or twice when Lapis is involved, as luck would have it – but there’s even more to her than just her surprisingly powerful nature and her predilection for attracting fearsome wildlife.

Why you will love her

As she is meant to represent the average person in terms of both her design and character arc, Lapis makes for one of the most relatable and grounded characters in the game. She sees herself as nothing special despite having such obvious strengths – something most people are susceptible to when they themselves are their own worst critics. She does not give herself enough credit, especially for the fact that through her own hard work and paving a path for herself, she got to where she currently is, which is a far cry from the village life she originally came from.

Despite being ashamed of her background, she works under royalty to provide an income to send back to her parents, and sings their praises whenever they are brought up in conversation. Her heart and honour are always in the right place despite how hard she is on herself – a fact that is quite humorous considering her crush on Alcryst, who is also just as blind to his worth. Two peas in a pod — I just want to put their heads together.

She also has some of the most wholesome and adorable supports of the entire game. Her developing friendship with Goldmary highlights Lapis speaking fondly of her roots as they both bond through their similarities — both of them hail from the countryside. Rosado has him encouraging her to feel more confident about the traits that make her unique, and Lapis finds out that her input is much more helpful to those around her than she initially thinks thanks to her conversations with Céline.

But the very best comes in the conversation strings with Etie and Citrinne, who both highlight how wrong she is for the way she sees herself or how her concerns about how others may perceive her is a silly fear. The rest of her conversation chains simply highlight just how wonderful of a person she is without her even having to try. For example, Anna’s showcases just how selfless Lapis is, as she never expects anything back when she does a favour for her and denies compensation for her efforts and time.

Lapis was a delightful surprise of a character to grow closer to and see her layers gradually reveal themselves. Her learning how to stay true to who she is despite living in constant fear of being looked down upon may be a relatively minor journey in the grand scheme of things, but it’s a personal one worth experiencing. She’s a gem.

Fire Emblem Engage is a Nintendo Switch exclusive. Go play it now!

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