Like its predecessor, 2019 main series title Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Three Hopes will feature three branching routes, allowing players to choose between siding with the Black Eagles, Blue Lions, or Golden Deer. Each house features eight playable students, representing classic Fire Emblem classes including Cavalier, Mage, Swordmaster, and Archer. One student, Ignatz Victor from the Golden Deer house, fights using a completely original take on the Archer class that has quickly become popular with fans.

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Who Is Ignatz Victor in Fire Emblem: Three Houses?

Ignatz Victor is one of the eight students enrolled in the Golden Deer house of Garreg Mach Officer’s Academy. Ignatz is the son of merchants from the Leicester Alliance and has a contentious relationship with his parents. His parents want him to study at the Officer’s Academy to become a knight, as he is the second son of their family and will not inherit the family business. However, Ignatz loves to paint and secretly wants to become an artist. Ignatz specialized in archery and could succeed in a number of classes such as Sniper and Bow Knight. In most of his character endings in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, Ignatz was able to achieve his dream and pursue art, often becoming a famous painter.

Ignatz Fights Using Paint in Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes

In a recent trailer showcasing the members of the Golden Deer house, fans were not surprised to see Ignatz once again representing the Archer class. However, what did surprise viewers was the character’s unique, re-imagined version of the class. In addition to standard arrows, the swift-moving Ignatz is able to shoot paint at his enemies, which will cover the opponents in paint and scatter paint around the battlefield. This paint will deal elemental damage such as wind, ice, or lightning to any foe that touches it. The type of damage dealt will depend on the color of the paint. Green, blue, yellow, and purple paint were featured in the trailer, but it is not confirmed exactly how many colors Ignatz can access.

In addition to utilizing paint in his basic attacks, Ignatz has a personalized special attack that traps enemies in a large field of paint. Enemies caught in this paint cannot move for several seconds, allowing Ignatz, as a naturally speedy unit, to wipe out tons of enemies in a short period of time. While other characters were shown using bows in combat, including Ashe from the Blue Lions house and Bernadetta from the Black Eagles house, none of them possessed Ignatz’s unique paint-based abilities.

Ignatz’s Abilities Show Splatoon Inspiration

Fans were quick to compare Ignatz’s use of paint during combat to Splatoon, the third-person shooter series also published by Nintendo. Playable characters in Splatoon, known as Inklings and Octolings, use a variety of weapons to shoot paint at each other in battle. In particular, Ignatz’s final attack, in which he traps opponents in a large puddle of paint and restricts their movement, was compared to Splatoon characters’ ability to cover their surrounding environment with paint, which allows their own team to move around more easily while limiting the movement of the opposing team. Since Nintendo produces both series, it is definitely possible that Splatoon was considered when designing Ignatz’s Three Hopes move set.

Fans responded to the comparison by sharing memes and fanart of Ignatz and his fellow Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes characters transformed into Inklings or visiting the world of Splatoon. Fan discussion has also sparked regarding the individuality of characters’ play styles, something which the first Fire Emblem Warriors title was criticized for lacking. Besides Ignatz, other characters with unique abilities tied to their personality and history are Dorothea, a former opera star who can attack using orbs of music, and Lorenz, whose fondness for roses manifests in the storm of petals he can summon in battle. New classes absent from the first Fire Emblem Warriors will also be present in Three Hopes, including the Brawler and Armored Lord classes.

It is unknown whether any more trailers will be revealed prior to the release of Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, as the Blue Lions, Black Eagles, and Golden Deer have all appeared in spotlight trailers. However, fans are currently hoping for more information regarding the special abilities of Ignatz and his classmates.

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes will release on June 24, 2022 for the Nintendo Switch.

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