IkeMarth

IkeMarth is the slash ship between Ike and Marth from the Fire Emblem and Super Smash Bros. fandoms.

Canon
Ikemarth was practically born from Super Smash Bros Brawl, Where they were featured as the only two Fire Emblem reps: and are fighting alongside eachother in the storymode cutscenes. With their odd yet iconic appearance--It's no denying that they were popularized from this game entry and have been a staple cult classic duo in Smash and the internet ever since.

Ike and Marth hail from different Fire Emblem games & continents, but meet eachother in other game series/universes: like Fire Emblem Heroes, but they are mostly known for being paired in the Smash Bros universe.

While the Ikemarth fandom has now kind of dwindled, they were extremely popular in the late 2000s and 10s and were all over the internet: whether it was a parody or not, and whether it was from the japanese or western side or not. They were embedded in anime/nerd/meme culture  (aswell as slash/BL culture) : spawning tons of fanart, animation fads, fics, etc--and despite that they're not as prelevant on the internet now, they still get matching merch & appearances till this day and it is possible to pair them up in Fire Emblem Heroes (FEH): romantically or not.

The two are the main blue haired protagonists of their own games, where they both live by the sword, are leaders of a ragtag band, and took over for their fathers business all too sudden and too soon. Even though the differences between them is that Ike is a commoner, while Marth is born with royalty and heir to his kingdom. The similarities between them is that both of them experience some sort of personal loss, and would rather not get into fighting, even though the reasons why they fight are different. Marth’s reason is to able to help out and trust others so they can fight with him. Ike’s reason for fighting is because on how he was raised, him being on battlefield lead him to grew more mature earlier on, with him protecting his friends. Along with both of them have passion on anything that kept them to motivate themselves to fight.

Similarities and Comparisons

 * While debuted in different SSB games, they became popular characters in the series and even in their own series.
 * They are the first and only FE lords (so far) to have a sequel/second game to their story. (Radiant Dawn & New Mystery of the Emblem.)
 * Both of their singer colors are dark blue, as it is the color of their hair and their main clothes, their cloths are also mixed with the two other similar colors of red and yellow with the blue.
 * They are hardworking and swift-like sword fighters, often underestimated by their enemies.
 * They both value their friends alot as they are like family they've found through harsh times.
 * Both their fathers have fallen through battle and their mothers are missing in their life.
 * They both end up relying on their sisters a lot.
 * They both get chased out their country as they get invaded by others, and both lead an makeshift army to take it back.
 * They both have a way with words and have strong conviction for justice.
 * As Ike is blunt yet passionate, he can easily earn the trust of Marth as Marth tends to trust people very easily.
 * They both look very stern and angsty in appearance, but are infact warm and rather quirky.
 * Their dynamic of commoner & royalty makes them an interesting match. Ike has been mistreated by arrogant nobles which makes him sour and gives him little regard to all of them, but someone as pure and honest as Marth could be an exception.
 * Ike's first and biggest client was a refugee noble: (Princess Elincia), which makes a bonding with Marth---who also had to flee, even more decisive.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Ike and Marth have met in the Super Smash Bros. Brawl where Marth was standing at a castle looking at the time bomb. He still looked at the time bomb ready to be in his way and then Meta Knight attacked him. They were clashing, until they met in common ground. Marth and Meta Knight tried to stop the Ancient Minister, until a sword appeared and Ike came screaming “Great Aether”, to put the stop to cause an another time bomb.


 * They are the only two Fire emblem reps in this game--as Roy, the FE rep for the previous Smash Bros (Melee) was cut due to either time constraints or by choice.
 * People found it funny&charming how Marth is still dubbed in japanese while Ike is in english.
 * The Subspace Emmisary storymode had spawned alot of fanart and screenshots of Ikemarth with Metaknight from the Kirby series.
 * The fans--(mostly the western ones) have memed about Roy being jealous of Ike and Ikemarth.

Super Smash Bros. 4 Wii U/3DS
People were worried that Ike was going to be cut from this entry and be replaced by the Awakening characters, but it turns out he's in and with an entire new look: his Radiant Dawn version. The fans truly rejoiced this moment.


 * Both shippers and non-shippers were amused by Ike's macho transformation in SSB4, as most of them didn't know about his RD version due to either not being localized in time or being released in low copies thus being rare.875.jpg
 * Marth's hair changed from teal to marine, and has been giving a softer, happier look. He can be seen smiling when you have take your snapshots sometimes.
 * Sakurai, the creator of Smash--posted a few promotional screenshots with Ike and Marth, and even one with them and Metaknight, as a callback to SSBB and a small nod to the fandom.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

 * Ike now has both his Path of Radiance ver and Radiant Dawn ver and Marth had gotten an english dubbed voice.
 * Ike also got a new voice actor, going from Jason to Greg Chun.

Awakening (FE11)
Ike and Marth were known by the Awakening characters as "The Radiant Hero" and "The Hero King". They predominantly are the only lords to be consistently refered to with such mighty titles. This fact carries into SSB4 and FEH.

FEH (Fire Emblem Heroes)

 * You are able to make them get an S-Support level and watch several lovey-dovey animations and interactions with them.
 * You can give them matching accessories and set them in a team with the same units or variants of them.
 * Their first seasonal alt were both love-themed, Marth with a Groom alt while Ike with a Valentines alt.
 * Their Choose Your Legends/Brave alt. Were both drawn by the artist from Ike's games: Senri Kita.
 * Their FEH pass alt. contrast with eachother: Ike wears dark clothes while Marth wears white clothes. They both have feathers coming underneath their shoulderpads however.

New Mystery of the Emblem
You can give your Avatar Ike's hairstyle and get a headband for him later in the story. You can even name your character Ike, giving full reign to imagine that he lives in Marth's universe as his royal guard.

Merch.

 * Plushies by Banpresto, released in ___
 * Chibi LINE Stickers and Chibi metal buttons (large) released in ___
 * Jewelry (of their swords) and themed-backpacks released in ___
 * Cipher illust merch: artbooks, tapestry, playmats,
 * FE Expo / Orchestra released in ___
 * PVC Scale Figures announced in ___ revealed in ___

Fanon
Ikemarth is practically built on fanon. Because of the few interactions from the Super Smash Bros. Brawl, people who like the interaction thought that Ike and Marth are good together. It also doesn't help that they were the only Fire Emblem reps together and that their grungy anime-style stood out from any other Smash Fighters. Many people thought it would be a good pair.

At the time, Fire Emblem was exclusive to japan, so fans didn't really know much about Marth aside from Smash, and had to make up their own portrayal from what info that Smash gave them. They had the Subspace Emmisary storymode cutscenes, Trophy descriptions, screenshots, and the internet fandom to work with. Many saw Marth as a submissive type due to his rather feminine appearance, and Ike being the hero who would save Marth in dangerous situations. Some also saw Marth as a cool high & mighty prince who is either sassy/bossy--or either a very happy-go-lucky flamboyant boy, while Ike is either the himbo hooligan or the more laidback yet intimidating jock--who is mostly always seen carrying a huge meatstick for him to eat. Eventually, Marth's games were localized and renewed, and their portrayal slowly became to change within the fandom.

Nowadays, fans enjoy Ikemarth for either nostalgic 2000s internet reasons or just the appeal of a royal x commoner dynamic, and perhaps even a dynamic where Ike is a hire-in mercenary bodyguard for Marth.

Though content is still quite booming on the JP side of the fandom, getting fanart & mangas even till now.

On AO3, the ship only has over 90 fanfics. While Fanfiction.net currently has 54 in total, 3 in the Fire Emblem category and 51 among its Super Smash Bros. fanfics. Wattpad also has 3 fanfics of the ship.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * (Fire Emblem) tag on FanFiction.net
 * Ike/Marth (Super Smash Brothers) tag on FanFiction.net
 * Ike/Marth (Super Smash Brothers) tag on FanFiction.net

FAN ART

TUMBLR

Trivia

 * Ike's game (Path Of Radiance) was released on the same day as the Marth's: 20th april.
 * When Fire Emblem released merch plushies of the lords for the first time, Ike and Marth were in it.
 * PVC Figures of Ike and Marth were announced and released around the same time. They are both very large-sized too.
 * The artist for Ike's games (Senri Kita) has drawn Marth a few times in Fire Emblem Cipher and Fire Emblem Heroes.
 * The co-artist for Marth's games (Daisuke) has drawn PoR Ike (Lord/General ver) in a FE Cipher illustration.
 * For the promo-art of the first FE expo (in japan) Ike was put in the forefront together with Marth, and showed a rare smile.
 * The internet spawned many fads/MADS featuring ikemarth like Caramell Dansen and Caipirinhna.
 * The early fandom liked to include Roy into their Ikemarth content. They either memed about Roy being upset and jealous about getting cut from SSBB and/or created a love triangle between the three. Other times he's portrayed as just their best friend and/or wingman. He also is included in early internet animation memes.
 * Theres alot of Ikemarth fanart with Metaknight because of the storymode in SSBB. They mostly come from the JP fandom, though westerners enjoy this trio too.
 * JP artists liked to draw "Donut Ike": basically a funny looking Ike with a giant chocolate donut for a head which was based on a SSBB screenshot. Donut Ike is featured in fanarts and videos, and some western artists started drawing him too.
 * In a western fanmade liveaction movie series called "There Will Be Brawl": Ike and Marth are portrayed as gay policemen that are dating eachother. (They can even be spotted in the background at a stripclub/gaybar scene.)