Those invested in the world of Intelligent Systems' Fire Emblem Engage found out a few months ago that the game's four-part DLC Expansion Pass would end with an entirely new campaign. However, details about this "story scenario" called the Fell Xenologue remained hidden until Nintendo released a trailer last week ahead of its April 5 launch. Fell Xenologue will be a culmination of prior DLC by weaving its narrative around Emblem Bracelet characters like Chrom, Soren, and Tiki, but it also introduces new units including siblings Nil and Nel.
This campaign acts as a sort of bizarro take on the original story, one where the four nations of Elyos are twisted and player-character protagonist Alear instead teams up with former antagonists (under different names as the "Four Winds"). The trailer says this version of events will bring Alear into conflict with "people who resemble your own friends and allies," like Diamant and Alcryst with their confidences reversed. Nil and Nel take the place of Clanne and Framme as the twins who first meet Alear, but their draconic nature draws a particular comparison to the Manakete Nils from Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade.
Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade's Twin Dragons Ninian and Nils
The Blazing Blade, the series' first entry to be released outside of Japan in 2003 (simply named Fire Emblem abroad), will once again take center stage as one of the early additions to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack's GBA library. As players once again journey across the continent of Elibe with Eliwood, Lyn, and Hector, they will encounter the siblings Ninian and Nils. Both are Manaketes, the Fire Emblem series' recurring race of dragon people who can shift between humanoid and draconic forms, and they both fill the "dancer" archetype that can help an adjacent unit move again. Ninian is a traditional dancer, whereas Nils is bard.
These siblings play an important part in The Blazing Blade's narrative, having connections with the playable cast, the game's ultimate antagonist Nergal, and Elibe's history - particularly an ancient war between humans and dragons known as The Scouring. Given The Blazing Blade is a prequel to Roy's adventure in The Binding Blade, they can also have varying effects on the overall narrative. For example, Eliwood and Ninian are implied to be the canonical parents of Roy, but players are not required to pair them on the battlefield.
How Fire Emblem Engage's Nil Could Draw Comparisons to The Blazing Blade
Not a lot is currently known about how Nil and Nel play into Fire Emblem Engage's narrative, but it's hard not to draw parallels with Ninian and Nils. From a surface-level perspective, Nil and Nils have near-identical names - a rare occurrence even in Intelligent Systems' long-running RPG franchise that's known for personifying dozens of characters in every title. Prior examples include Hilda from Genealogy of the Holy War and Three Houses, as well as Selena from The Sacred Stones and Fates (in the later case, Fates' Selena is a cover name for Awakening's Severa).
However, the shared character between Blazing Blade and Fell Xenologue feels like less of a coincidence given "Nil" is not a common English name. Other similarities between the characters draw this comparison into focus, as Nil is Nel's younger brother, and both are Manakete children of the Fell Dragon. Fire Emblem Engage's Wave 4 DLC is introducing new unit classes, which include both Nil and Nel being able to attack as blue variants of Sombron's rattlesnake dragon form.
There are differences to consider too, such as both Nil and Nel using weapons - axes and lances, respectively. But with Fire Emblem Engage centering its narrative around nostalgic callbacks to older entries through Emblem Rings that carry the spirits of lords such as Marth and Roy, it's not unreasonable to think this Blazing Blade connection is intentional. Fans will have to wait and see how Intelligent Systems handles this upon release, but luckily they'll have answers early next month.
Fire Emblem Engage is available now on Nintendo Switch.