Humans and dragons once coexisted peacefully on the continent of Elibe. A thousand years ago, however, there was a brutal conflict between the two, known as the Scouring, which drove the dragons out. 
Nearly a millennium later, two great human kingdoms maintain a delicate balance of power on Elibe: Etruria in the west, and Bern in the east. This balance is broken when Zephiel, the king of Bern, begins invading neighboring countries with a powerful army augmented by the very dragons that many presumed to be extinct. Powerless to resist this aggression, Bern's neighbors begin to fall one by one to Zephiel's control. In the south, the Lycian League raises an army to defend against Bern's coming invasion. That force includes a young noble of Pherae, named Roy, who has just stepped in to take the place of his ailing father. The conflict rages on, and Zephiel's younger sister, Guinivere, entrusts Roy with Bern's greatest treasure, the Fire Emblem. And Roy comes ever closer to learning the true meaning of the Scouring.

This game introduces the tiered support conversations that are now a hallmark of the series. By nurturing the developing bonds between units, players unlock new scenes to view, which in turn leads to lasting changes in their relationships and even their endings in the epilogue.