I’ve been enamored by Python for so long I even ship myself with him (that’s not important though). Something that I find frustrating is that he’s a side-character and there’s just not enough back-story around (we have the drama CDs and the accordion book but let’s be real… I am greedy and God has cursed me with insatiability.)
Playing the game and reading the accordion’s translations I’ve noticed that Python, Forsyth, and Lukas have something similar, their mothers aren’t mentioned. Did their moms die because Fire Emblem cannot create interesting characters without making them suffer traumatic parental death? (Polygon’s BDG, 2019) Or the writers intentionally left those parts blank so people like me can fill the void? I’d like to think it’s the latter. For this round, I want to focus on my favorite blue lazy archer and my different addendums to his back-story.
I want to start with I don’t think “Python” is Python’s given name. In my humble opinion, “Python” is a nickname he gave himself, only Forsyth and Lukas know his given name. The back story that I created for this is Python’s given name is either very similar to his father’s or his old man was responsible for naming him. Based on all the material available to my knowledge, Python has a very complicated relationship with his father and wants nothing to do with or deal with anything connected with his dad.
Moving on, something that’s always piqued my curiosity is Python’s mom. I’ve written up a few versions that I want to share, each a tragedy to stay true to Fire Emblem fashion. In the first version, his mom died due to starvation, freezing to death, or illness because of their living condition. Now, this version develops into two different takes so let’s name one V1.1. For V1.1, Python’s father was already an irresponsible alcoholic while his mother tried desperately to keep her family alive, her self-sacrifice compromised her health and lead to her demise. On the other hand in V1.2, the mother’s death triggers the alcoholism and change in the father’s behavior. In my opinion, this version could explain why Python would rather be responsible for only himself or why he always cautions Forsyth to be less self-sacrificing. Python’s seen it happen before and it doesn’t end well. (Yes, I am aware of the social disparity between nobility and the common folk but I WANT TO ADD things.)
Now we have the second version where Python’s mother leaves her family because she’s had enough. She can’t handle her husband’s alcoholism, she can’t handle living poor, she can’t handle taking care of her son, and in a selfish act, leaves her family (if you want to add more drama, she ran away with another man). This version could be one of the driving factors for Python’s cynicism (aside from the class struggle). Nobles screw with the poor, his father is a dead-beat (and probably abusive) alcoholic, and his mother abandoned him, Python’s seen just how selfish people can be, Noble or not.
TL;DR
• “Python” is a nickname, only Lukas and Forsyth know his given name because of daddy-issues
• Python’s mother, a tragedy with a few versions
She died because her dead-beat alcoholic husband couldn’t provide for them and she succumbs to overexerting herself
She died because of their poor financial situation driving her widowed husband into depression and alcoholism
She abandoned her family because she was tired of her husband’s alcoholism, her family’s way of living, and the responsibility of taking care of her son
