Fire Emblem Character Spotlight: Rutger 

Twitter Post: tinyurl.com/y3effslh Reddit Thread: tinyurl.com/y2lvo85m I always love doing Binding Blade spotlights, and the new banner was the perfect opportunity. As always, if you can help me out by retweeting and upvoting this spotlight, as it helps me attract new viewers to the channel. You can also win some free orbs by doing it via Gleam. Thank you guys :)

I want Rutger's Hoodie

"Fir is just so much better than Rutger" - Young Mangs

Rutger is the hero when you play FE6 on Hard Mode

Hey Rutger fans, Mangs was going to give him 4 stars so I told him to give the unmounted, swordlocked unit a 5 star rating instead. You're welcome.

My first impression of Rutger >comes out of nowhere at the top of enemy phase >wrecks my army "I must have him"

The virgin Navarre vs the chad Rutger

Edgy dude crits things Then he bangs Clarine The end

Honestly, Rutger is one of the few Binding Blade characters that is both a fantastic character and a good unit.

People ship Rugter and Fir? That’s new to me. It’s like shipping Marth and Lucina... oh wait, that happened already

Rutger's character intrigues me as his character arc is essentially a twisted version of yet another swordsman(or swordswoman), Lyn. Both have similar backstories: Lyn watched her tribe, the Lorca, get massacred by Taliver Bandits. Rutger witnessed a massacre by Bern soldiers in his home city of Bulgar. Because of said events, both swore vengeance against the culprits. However, here is where the two split: Lyn had friends to guide her away from the bloody path she initially set out to walk(before a certain Caelin incident), specifically her support with Wallace. However, Rutger did not have friends or family to do so. In Rutger, I see the darker ending of Lyn if she chose to pursue and wipe out the Taliver Bandits, and while it may be unintentional, I feel it makes Rutger a little more... interesting

In a game where nobody really one round KO’s a enemy unit or in many cases even double, it’s nice to have that one character that’s essentially a delete button for any enemy you put him up against. He’s one of the only characters that manages to be unbelievably broken despite being an infantry unit that’s sword-locked.

If you order the supports in terms of earliest possible/most likely to be unlocked, then Rutger's supports go Clarine -> Dieck -> Fir -> Dayan -> Karel. And if you do so, there's something of a narrative between them. Clarine C starts off with her telling Rutger off for not addressing her by name. Clarine A then reverses a bunch of things. Rutger is the one approaching her, Clarine realizes that she's been just as rude as he has been, and it finishes off with Rutger actually calling her by name. Clarine is where we get the "show the bad boy's good side" maneuver, a trope that has been done plenty of times elsewhere... for a reason, though. It's a tried-and-true method to getting people interested in a character's backstory. And at the time of his recruitment, the only other character in Roy's army Rutger can support with is Dieck. His Dieck support does a whole bunch of things: it fleshes out Rutger's backstory, and it adds more to his character. Dieck A is where we theoretically first see Rutger's strong aversion to any forms of charity, probably because he hates feeling like he's being pitied. It's also the first point in which we see implications of Rutger knowing how empty, unfulfilling, and ultimately destructive his quest for vengeance is: by privately apologizing to Dieck, Rutger tells the audience that he doesn't want Dieck to go where he's going. And the whole support demonstrates that, despite his apparent aloofness, Rutger *is* capable of forming bonds and attachments. After these two, the player might be compelled to support him with the other early myrmidon, Fir, who joins a few chapters later. She's also half-Sacaen, and she's also a fast, somewhat fragile swordie. They should get along, right? *...Wrong.* The two are like oil and water. But here is where something interesting crops up. The player has so far seen his Clarine and Dieck supports; and in his Dieck support, he actively tries to assault Dieck. Yet here, when Fir asks to spar with him, he refuses! What gives? If it's not because she's a girl, is it because she's not good enough? To answer that, we need to continue on with the other supports. The Dayan support has an esteemed Sacaen chieftain attempting to "bring Rutger back into the fold"... to no avail. Believe it or not, Rutger's silent responses to Dayan's questioning is actually uncharacteristic; compared to Navarre, Rutger is pretty talkative. He tells Clarine why he's rescuing her, and tells Dieck his entire backstory. Had Navarre been put into those same situations, and we would've gotten a lot of terse two-word answers and a lot of sidestepping. So why is Rutger suddenly clamming up here? The reason for this is twofold. For one, at this point in time, Rutger is still fully intending on committing "suicide by cop" against Bern. Considering how Dayan is recruited right before the final assault on Bern, Rutger's probably thinking he's got a few days to at most a few weeks left to live. So when asked about his "future plans", Rutger can only think, "what 'future'?" For two, Rutger does not consider himself Sacaen. Or, to be more specific, Rutger considers himself *formerly* Sacaen. I'll elaborate in a moment. This brings me back to the Fir support, and also brings me to the Karel support. From what I can tell, the reason he refuses to spar with Fir or Karel, but is perfectly okay with assaulting Dieck, is because *Fir and Karel treat the sword as an art, not a weapon*. As revealed in his Karel support, Rutger once shared the same sort of spirituality as as other Sacaens. In Sacae, the sword is often a vessel for spirits of nature, such as "Father Sky and Mother Earth". But Rutger's desire to massacre hordes of Bernish soldiers is incompatible with the holiness of swordsmanship in Sacae. This, combined with his identity conflict, compels Rutger to only practice the sword with others of similar outlook - to fight only with those who treat their weapons as tools for killing, such as ex-gladiators and mercenaries (i.e. Dieck), rather than with those who remind him of the heritage he has "lost". Now, considering you can only unlock one A support per playthrough, I think it's fair to read the A support as being a natural lead-up to each character's epilogue. If you do so, then 4 out of 5 of Rutger's supports end with him essentially committing "suicide by cop". The Clarine, Dieck, Fir, and Dayan supports all fail to convince him of there being any alternative, so Rutger disappears from history. In these cases, he's probably gotten himself killed fighting whatever remained of Bern's forces, partially out of despair, partially out of survivor's guilt, partially from his unending desire for revenge, and partially in a vain attempt to prove, for once and for all, that he truly is a "man of Sacae". On the other hand, there is Rutger's support with Karel. Karel is his foil: notice how Rutger is stoic-loner-Navarre red to Karel's wise-prince-Shannan blue. In his support with Karel, as you mentioned, Karel tells Rutger that there is no "Sacaen" path, no "non-Sacaen" path; there is only one path. But Karel ISN'T telling him to quit the sword. Quite the opposite. With only a few short sentences, Karel manages to simultaneously communicate to Rutger a myriad of things. He tells him that, **so long as he seeks to improve his sword, he would eventually regain the spirituality that he'd lost**; that there is peace to be found outside of death; and how Rutger's Sacaen heritage cannot be regained, because it wasn't lost to begin with. In just a few words, Karel manages to redirect Rutger towards a quiet life. And so, with a Karel A support, Rutger's epilogue changes in feeling; rather than him disappearing by dying a bloody death, Rutger disappears by retiring to some remote location, to practice his swordsmanship and recover from his traumas in quiet solitude. In other words, a Karel A support leaves Rutger to end off in the same way Karel did.

Rutger and Karel handshaking over being the only sacaeans who aren't all about "nature this nature that" you don't count guy.

Rutger is 104% of my team’s power in FE6

Shoutout to Rutger for using the Durandal to one round Narcian.

The design on his sleeves too, at least in FEH, shows off his Sacaean heritage even if so subtly. Those triangle/diamond tribal patterns only really appear on the clothes worn by warriors from Sacae. On Rutger's case, given he's a mixed blood and he's essentially being undercover to infiltrate Bern, the small Sacaean patterns on his sleeves was a really nice charming touch on his more Bernese style clothing.

Wait.... since when do hard mode bonuses give move? Mangs were you drunk again?

I think Rutger's interested in Deke because they're the only useful -non healing- units in the early game

Wow this came out fast. I figured it would take as long as it would take to reach a C support in Binding Blade AKA at least 3 weeks.

The Critger.

Why are half-sacaeans so hot?

Why did you spell Critger as Rutger?

I remember encountering Rutger for the first time. He came out of nowhere and murdered Ellen. I hate Enemy Phase reinforcements.

Still waiting for that Hugh spotlight... You know he's that mage with speed as his highest growth that Mekkah can't seem to get to level speed. He's super good with kids and super bad with the elderly!

I don't really know why, but I only now realized I really like Rutger, unlike most other edgelords in FE. People like Navarre and Shiva act edgy for no real reason, while Rutger and Lon'qu have actual reasons for their behaviour.

Anybody want to tell Mangs you don't have to say "No homo" before calling a man handsome?

FE6 is one of my favourite FE game. Rutger is a really solid choice to use, and one of the few who are easy to train up. I love the swordmasters in this game for their evasion/hit rate/crit rate - I did train both Fir and Rutger, and thanks to the availability and the strength growth, Fir can only stay in the shadow of the Critger. As for his Heroes version, I like the art and stats, but his skillset does not reflect to me the Rutger I met in FE6. This could put him in a bad spot compared to other sword units, but with some investment his Gen 3 Infantry stats will help you out.

I've been missing these! Love your character spotlights!

!Yay character spot lights are back!

Been awhile since you've made one of these, I missed them! Also still can't wait for my kaden spotlight.

Maybe there is not enough to talk about with him, but i really like Kent and would love a spotlight on him.

I Thought His Name Was Critger

Tell me, who is this Rutger fellow? The only red clad swordsman from Binding Blade I know is Critger, is he a secret character?

Shiny Navarre

FE6's lore is so interesting, from its character history to world-building lore. Such a shame that people dismiss the game for being bland without digging just a bit deeper.

This was really good, and I agree I perfer Rutger/Clarine. He's my least hated of the edgy sword bois, and thats because I'm shallow and like his portrait and how good he is.

The one time I watch an old character spotlights is the same day you make a spotlight video

The only romantic relations Rutger could ever have are with 100+ crits. Wait, hold on. Rutger means Roger. And Roger means “Famous Spear”. The other character named Roger got pretty famous in Mangs’ Shadow Dragon LP, and he was a Knight (at least at the start), a class which uses Lances, another way of saying Spears. Make of that what you will.

Oh Lord it begins

He cant be an edgelord if he came to be the way he was for legitimate reasons. But I guess edgelord is what we call people like that anyways considering its a meme. Still, never forget. lol

He just wants his “Diek”🌚🌝

Excellent Character Spotlight! I always enjoy these. I’d love to see a spotlight on Heath from Blazing Sword or Jill from Path of Radiance. Wyvern Riders/Lords are two of my favorite classes.

11:54 Dutch? I'm Dutch and I'm pretty sure that Rutger isn't a Dutch name. Sounds more like German to me.

wait the fe can ship everyone they want!? wait... spiderman x lucina....

Rutger died in the chapter where you rescue Lilina the first time I played, oh well

What kind of *DISGUSTING* human being supported Fir and Rutger? Fir and Noah are the only correct option

Unironically i want his hoodie, it looks cosy af

Ah, Rutger. It says something that I really like this guy even though FE6 is my least favourite Fire Emblem. Even though he'll always be the guy who died to a 2% crit from the last enemy on the map... TWICE... for me. (Kind of surprised you never mentioned his low Luck. It's not normally a big deal, but I find he tends to get crit-haxed more than most) I think Rutger's unique half-Bernese, half-Sacaean background makes him stand out despite his otherwise "generic edgelord loner Myrmidon" personality, though his supports with Clarine don't hurt either. Swordmasters have always been one of my favourite classes casually (ironically, so are Generals despite them being total opposites), but it does feel like how good they are in any given game depends a lot on the enemies. As you say here, reliably doubling is hard in FE6's earlygame so speedy units are more valuable, whereas in, say, FE7, where enemy speeds suck, not so much. Also, crits being more useful in FE6's earlygame is also interesting. I vaguely remember (it's been a while since I played FE6) there being a lot of high-HP, average-Defense enemies in that game, which would be where crits are useful. Because against lance users with high def no amount of crit is going to save SMs from doing crap damage. FE10's buyable physical 1-2 range swords did a lot for Swordmasters too, at least I find. Are FE6's Hard Mode Bonuses intentional or did the devs just accidentally apply the enemy's HM stat boosts to recruitable ones?

I like to see a Titania Character Spotlight from fire emblem path of radiance!

I really wish Rutger had a support with Garrett. It would've been great for Rutger to see someone on the other end, someone who'd already completed his revenge and found nowhere else to go. Speaking of which, Garret spotlight when?

You truly out did yourself with this one, and Rutger is now one of my favorite FE characters. Great job as always!

I'd like to suggest a spotlight about Hawkeye because yes

If they ever remake the GBA series with fates personal skills Rutger’s would be “Berning hatred”- deals +4 damage and 10% crit when fighting a soldier of Bern.

Just came here to say rest in peace sweet prince...

11:53 rutger = roger roger

102 crit man

The Crit God has arrived.

Say’ri spotlight would be dope because my waifu needs some love.

I soled the entire game with him after i recruited him, he is THAT good.

annnnnnnnnnd it's another sub-30 defenses sword unit with nothing valuable baseline and all of his weight put into a speed score despite there being exactly one general-use skill for speed (while the rest of the effects are generally locked to Prfs). If only he weren't viciously outclassed by a smothering number of other swords who don't need to rely on solely their speed to carry them through things. There's disappointing, and then there's 'another mediocre sword unit in FE Heroes in 2019.' Come the Hell on, a staggering majority of the cast are sword-users and a staggering majority of those get shoved further into irrelevance each time they cough up another new powercrept sword unit on a 5-star banner. Could they not at least have given him something valuable like a Push skill or a Seal skill or literally anything except the absolute dull-ass kit they slapped onto him here? I get it, FE is mostly sword-users, but they don't have to be so fucking boring about it all the time.

rutger seeking out Diek's sword. yeah okay ;) i ship

Do you even crit bro?

OwO What's this? A new spotlight, haven't seen this in quite some time.

18:45 I completely agree, again no homo. He’s a handsome guy!

Ahh the master of critical hits

When do we get a Kelik Spotlight ?

Ah yes, the enemy reinforcement that I knew was coming but still managed to kill Wolt in 1 hit

I am going to wait for the Shannan Spotlight. Can't wait to see it.

Thank you Rutger, very cool

Rutger just seems to be obsessed with the Dieck ;) didn’t seem he had any good supports with females.

Aka, the best swordmaster

Binding Blade should be revamped/remade for the Switch

"Hoping to do some damage to the nation before he dies" Oh and damage he would go on to do. Hes not called "Critger" for no reason.

4:13 Does anyone know what hack this footage is from?

Most reliable character I've ever had honestly

Rutger senses DIECK....😌😌

I thank you mangs for picking rutger, he is my favorite myrmidon and if you could i would love it if you chose guy from fire emblem 7 for the next spotlight

Rutger has a humiliation fetish

I was actually waiting for something like this Mangs considering Heroes adding FE6 Units!

Ah yes, good old Rutger Or as Entinen would probably call him, "Rudge"

When I played FE6, I made Diek The leader, Because Roy sucks, And Rutger would run around the back alone, and ambush, Diek was the Front line, Rutger was the Secret weapon. Nice

That intro though 😶

And here I was expecting 21 minutes of Rutger crit animations

Valter next plz idc if there isnt much to talk about hes just so cool

14:30 that’s some pretty bad luck right there, missing 81% twice in a row. but considering your mangs, anything can happen

Rutgers is seriously one of the coolest Fire Emblem characters! Do Lugh next. The absolute coolest in my opinion.

Can you talk about Keaton?

Rutger isn't actually a swordsman from Sacae Rutger is THE swordsman from Sacae

To be honest, I just think people like to link Fir and Rutger because Fir is a cutie and she learns something from Rutger. Karel refuses to teach her and she learns from Rutger, who is much like Young Karel, that there isn't one "path of the sword" but multiple paths.

egg

Why Rutger is Good in Swordmaster

Rutger seeks Dieck's sword😗

It could also just be that Rutger is gay for Dieck but he doesn't know how to express his feelings

*Calls Lot a bad unit *Relies on big daddy Lot to carry his Ironman RIP.

Great spotlight, Mangs. And I'm glad to give you my continued supporch.

Tana Spotlight? Anyone?

Celica or Alm would be nice.

I wish we got these a bit more often, I love these!

Like your videos! I hope you can do Rinkah, she is very underrated!