Summary
- Anna, a recurring character in the Fire Emblem series, maintains a consistent appearance and role across various timelines and realms.
- In games such as Awakening, Fates, and Three Houses, Anna takes on new roles and can be playable, bridging different worlds.
- Anna’s diverse appearances as a merchant, convoy controller, and tutorial host showcase her flexibility as a character throughout the series.
Anna is a name that should be recognizable to almost any Fire Emblem fan. This red-headed young woman who typically touches her chin with a finger has appeared in a number of installments throughout the series and eventually transformed into something of a mascot for it. Originally, a merchant running a number of secret shops in the first incarnation of Fire Emblem (and its supplementary materials), like most involved in marketing, Anna eventually diversified.
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Her appearance remains roughly the same across multiple timelines, realities, and other realms, to the point where the uninitiated might become confused. This list will examine Anna as she appears throughout the series and the truth behind her seemingly simultaneous existence in the various realities present throughout the series. To clarify, these appearances will be limited to games with the Fire Emblem title, as crossover games involving the series typically draw from established versions of her listed here.
12
Archanea Saga
The Secret Seller
Anna’s primary role in this game was running the secret shops, a set of map tiles that are actually shops possessing limited amounts of rare items. These shops do not appear to the player unless the character on said tile holds the “Member Card.” Anna’s role as a merchant in this game was an established trait that was variably kept throughout a lot of her subsequent appearances.
She was also the girlfriend of Jake, a Grustian soldier who operated a moving Ballista. If a unit visits the village with Anna, she will ask them to talk to Jake. Once this visit has occurred, Caeda can perform this action, adding Jake’s might to the Archanean League. After the war, the pair proceeded to travel the world together.
She has a slightly expanded role in New Mystery of the Emblem, where she also guides the player through the character creation screen. As the series continued, she consistently had roles in this vein, presumably to align with her mascot status.
11
Jugdral Saga
Convoy Controller
- Genealogy of the Holy War & Thracia 776
Anna is in charge of the supplies in Genealogy of the Holy War. She can also be involved in various events which are only possible if certain first-generation units didn’t have children, as they specifically require the replacement units that appear in this context.
One of these events involves Jake returning to her after attempting to join Seliph’s army and failing. Jake, in most appearances, has a different design, in line with that of a generic villager. If Jake is properly redirected, he will gift amulets that boost stats to Amid and Linda, two of the replacement children. The frequent trade-off for these replacements is a lack of inherited stats and weapons from their parents (hence the game’s title.)
Anna also appears in Thracia 776, a spinoff to Genealogy, starring Selpih’s cousin, Leif. She can be seen when the player chooses to suspend the game, asking if they wish to do so.
10
Elibe Saga
A Secret Seller Once More
- Binding Blade & Blazing Blade
Anna is once again a secret shopkeeper in Binding Blade, reverting to roughly the same role of older incarnations. She also runs the Link Arena mode and asks if the player wishes to suspend the game or delete their save data when they pick these options.
She also holds these roles in its prequel, Blazing Blade. Additionally, there is a special event one can trigger where, prior to the pirate ship chapter, the player can talk to Anna, who gives some advice regarding the pirate ship. This leads to Jake, rather than Dart, speaking with the group before the subsequent chapter initiates. This is Jake’s last appearance, save for the remakes.
9
Sacred Stones
Second Verse Same As The First
Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones
- Released
-
October 7, 2004
- Publisher(s)
-
Nintendo
As Sacred Stones is a GBA title, it makes sense that Anna has a roughly identical role within it to its previous counterparts. That said, there are special events with her or no mention of Jake.
8
Tellius Saga
Tutorial Host
- Path of Radiance & Radiant Dawn
Unlike most other Fire Emblem games, the Tellius Saga features a recurring caravan of traveling merchants. This limits Anna’s potential appearances from the jump. Instead, she took over the tutorial, giving advice to the player in regard to how to play each game.
7
Awakening
Annas Everywhere
- Released
-
February 4, 2013
- Publisher(s)
-
Nintendo
Awakening made an active effort to clear up the Anna situation across the past several games. Anna is understood as a group of sisters (and potentially other relatives) who tend to cross realms through the Outrealm Gate. This presumably accounts for every previous incarnation of Anna that has been seen across the series. Anna resumes her role as a traveling merchant but also appears in multiple paralogues, where one version of her is saved, and then another is rescued later on, clarifying the existence of several different Annas, all with the same name.
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The playable Anna is a trickster (a promoted thief who can use staves in addition to swords) and can even marry a male Robin, and subsequently bear his daughter, Morgan. Nonetheless, she clarifies to Robin that she loves money more than him. The DLC also heavily involves Anna, with a version of her hosting various events. There are multiple Annas endangered in Five-Anna Firefight, who can grant great rewards upon their rescue. The final DLC chapter, Apotheosis, has an extremely powerful version of Anna as its boss.
6
Fates
Playable Once More
- Released
-
February 19, 2016
- Publisher(s)
-
Nintendo
Anna is an outlaw (an archer with thieving abilities) in Fates. She is specifically connected to the DLC in Fates, as she is recruited in Anna on the Run, one such downloadable chapter. She is also in charge of the Dragon’s Gate, through which DLC is purchased and accessed. Anna can marry a male Corrin, and birth give birth to Kanna. However, he will once again come second to her money. Anna’s sisters are discussed, but not seen, in this version of the game. Anna’s parents apparently have a different way of pronouncing each sister’s name, despite all of them being spelled as “Anna.” Likely as an error, this version of Anna has six fingers on her portrait, with one below being carefully masked by a shadow. To date, this is the final version of Anna to be both romanceable and the mother of an avatar’s children. Though the latter distinction is inevitable, due to future installments phasing out the child system.
5
Three Houses (and Warriors: Three Hopes)
Can’t Be Tied Down
- Released
-
July 26, 2019
- Publisher(s)
-
Nintendo
- OpenCritic Rating
-
Mighty
Anna is once again a merchant, running the shop that appears during preparations and the secret shop in Garreg Mach Monastery. She also has her own paralogue, the Secret Merchant. Anna is playable again, this time as a myrmidon (a swordsman who emphasizes agility), and even has the Crest of Ernest, which can prevent counterattacks when using a weapon. This version of Anna has no support conversations, not even with Byleth, meaning marriage and romance are off the table for her.
Anna appears once more in Warriors: Three Hopes, but like a couple of other characters from the game, she has been demoted to NPC. She does, however, stay onboard as a merchant, and involves herself in the support conversations of others, like she did in Three Houses. She also has a redesign closer to her playable counterpart in Awakening.
4
Engage
Li’l Merchant Anna
- Released
-
January 20, 2023
- Publisher(s)
-
Nintendo
- OpenCritic Rating
-
Strong
This version of Anna is distinctly younger than every other counterpart, being a child rather than a young woman. She is also an axe fighter, who can become playable after being recruited in the Mysterious Merchant paralogue. Although once again clarified to have identical relatives, this version of Anna is the only one seen, save for a bond ring based on her Heroes incarnation.
Anna has more support conversations than most incarnations of her possess. That said, as she is a child, it is understandable why romance is with the adult Alear off the table. Instead, her ring support with Alear bonds the pair together as business partners, with Alear sharing in the fortune she makes after the war. Anna’s ending CG shows her alongside two sisters, presumably those from Awakening and Fates, judging by their outfits.
Due to her appearance across a variety of realms, various Emblems, who take after heroes from the other series, recognize Anna, at least in the abstract, with many remarking on her similarity to other counterparts that they had previously met, if not identifying her by name.
3
Heroes
Even More Annas
- Released
-
February 2, 2017
- Publisher(s)
-
Nintendo
Unlike most incarnations, where Anna has little immediate relevance to the plot, she is a major character in Heroes. Specifically, she is the commander of the Order of Heroes, serving Sharena and Alphonse. While Sharena wields a lance and Alphonse, a sword, Anna rounds out the trio as their axe-wielder. This role is likely afforded due to her having appeared across the majority of the series, which allows her to serve as something of a connective agent. She is often a more serious character than most of her sisters, due to this role, but isn’t completely free of their scruples. However, the tradeoff for this relevancy is hampered by utility, as her base maximum stats are low, and she cannot be dismissed, duplicated, or traded for stat boosters.
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Other versions of Anna, both from Heroes, and other major appearances are also summonable as well. One example is a unit called Twice the Anna, which has the Awakening and Engage versions of her paired up and dressed as each other for Halloween. Another form of her based on her appearance as the boss in Apotheosis is also present. This game has possibly the most Annas in it, outside of Awakening.
2
Warriors
Yet Another Anna
- Released
-
September 29, 2017
- OpenCritic Rating
-
Strong
Anna is a bonus character in Warriors, who is not a part of the main story. Instead, she’s unlocked upon an illustration’s completion in History Mode, which adds a special mission that unlocks her. Her conversations clarify her to be a different Anna from any other version met thus far, who is upset by how her sisters seem to have met the army’s various units across their respective worlds, leading to her being no one’s “First Anna.” Like Anna from Awakening, she is a trickster, although this version makes use of bows instead of swords, much like its adventurer counterpart in Fates.
She also has an unusually high number of Support Conversations for Anna, likely owing to the different nature of Warriors and its narrative. When conversing with Caeda and Lyn, she is confused by the mention of Jake, as she does not know anyone with that name. In turn, Caeda and Lyn are confused about the existence of multiple Annas, as this was not an established fact until Awakening. Anna is notably excited upon encountering Celica from Gaiden and Echoes: Shadows of Valentia. This is because Celica has not encountered an Anna, as her games are the two thus far which do not have any version of Anna within them whatsoever. In gratitude, Anna promises to sell Celica discounted goods in Valentia.
1
Tokyo Mirage Sessions
An Unexpected Cameo
- Released
-
January 17, 2020
Tokyo Mirage Sessions is a crossover game that has a far different relationship with the lore of Fire Emblem than any other thus far. Here, members of a modern-day Japanese talent agency are partnered with persona-like beings called mirages, who take after various Fire Emblem characters, namely those from Shadow Dragon and Awakening. Together, they team up to defeat evil mirages, recruiting a few allies along the way, and helping each member of the talent agency realize their dreams.
With little actual Fire Emblem lore, the game was somewhat polarizing for fans of the series. That said, there still are certain references that have been modified for contemporary Japan. One is the distinctly odd appearance of a familiar red-haired salesclerk at the Hee Hoo Mart with a finger stuck on her face, as per usual. Although not officially named “Anna,” her design is distinctive enough that those familiar with the series will catch onto the reference. A similar-looking salesclerk with a Black Frost mask, later makes appearances, primarily running the station at the Hee Hoo Mart next to the original. This is likely a reference to the existence of multiple Annas. It is unclear if these are meant to be other Annas, but due to the tenuous connection to the source material, it is equally possible they are just a reference.
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