Can You Be Gay in Fire Emblem: Three Houses?
Fire Emblem: Three Houses was my Game of the Year in 2019, and it’s a game that I still hold close to my heart. I absolutely loved it, and I’m deeply invested in everything about it. However, romance in Fire Emblem: Three Houses is complicated if you’re a gay man, who only wants to romance other men. So, with that in mind…
Can you be gay in Fire Emblem: Three Houses? Yes, you stilll can be! It’s just sort of complicated.
That’s never a good start, is it? You can be gay, but it’s a little complicated? Doesn’t really give any confidence. So, let’s start on the parts of Fire Emblem: Three Houses that do.
When you start the game it asks you what you look like, and then gives a typically masculine and feminine presenting pair of characters. No matter who you pick, you’ll be known as Byleth (though you are able to change your name) and your gender will be referred to multiple of times through dialogue, as well as who you can and can’t romance in-game. That, of course, doesn’t mean you can’t see or play Byleth as nonbinary if you want to. It’s just something you should consider.
There are queer characters in the game, but none are lesbian/gay characters in the same vein as Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Dorian or Sera. These characters can be romanced by either Byleth, though there are at least some dialogue changes to address the difference. But most of the time? It doesn’t really matter.
If you’re playing as a female Byleth, and are solely interested in romancing female characters, you’ll have the following options:
- Edelgard – Leader of the Black Eagles House (Crimson Flower Route Only)
- Dorothea – Student of the Black Eagles House
- Mercedes – Student of the Blue Lions House
- Rhea – Non-student
- Sothis – Non-student
Edelgard is one of the most popular love interest for Female Byleth players thanks to having more content, but Dorothea and Mercedes are both rewarding romances too. Rhea and Sothis are…slightly more complicated, especially considering that there is some very spoilery reasons why you shouldn’t really consider them.
As for Male Byleth, romance is something else entirely. In the vanilla game aka, the game that players received when the game first came out, there was only one male, same-sex romance and that was Black Eagles character, Linhardt. You could also get an S-Support (aka marriage/proposal of love) with elder male characters Gilbert and Alois, but this ending turned out to be platonic, as both of these characters had wives.
The reception for this queerbaiting went as well as you would expect, but unfortunately was only addressed by a certain number of reviews. Still, as the game progressed throughout 2019, additional love interests were added, including two options for a gay, Male Byleth.
As of writing this, Male Byleth has the following options for a same-sex romance:
- Lindhardt – Black Eagles Student
- Jeritza – Black Eagles non-student (Crimson Flower only)
- Yuri – Ashen Wolves Leader, DLC
If you don’t include Sothis and Rhea, who are all very ‘ehhhhh’ in my professional opinion in regards to their romantic potential, both Male and Female Byleth have the same amount of love interests. However, one of these love interests need to be paid for, which feels very much like a ‘pay-to-be-gay’ situation.
Regardless of who Byleth can romance, there are characters within the game who can romance others of the same-sex, such as Dorothea and Petra, Catherine and Shamir, Sylvain and Felix, and Hubert and Ferdinand. Some of these characters are not even available to Byleth, possibly conveying that despite you being the protagonist, they just aren’t attracted to you like that. That or Dorothea has so much bisexual energy she can make anyone fall in love with her. I can believe that.
It’s up to you on whether Fire Emblem Three Houses is sufficiently gay enough for you, but for me? It’s a great game, and if you’re looking for something to keep you on your toes, this is the game you need to play.
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