This information was submitted via email (two separate people). We have included the links we were provided, but if you have additional details please let us know.

Leon is an openly gay playable character in Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, which is a remake of Fire Emblem Gaiden. As indicated by one reader, however, he is not presented as gay in the original game. He loves his companion Valbar, a married, heterosexual male character. This is supported through various conversations and “in-town” dialogues (here and here). Some transcripts of this dialogue appear below and were provided by the person who emailed us:

“When I was a kid, there was this guy that I was head over heels for. He’s the reason I enlisted, actually. Just so I could stay close to him. He died in the first battle we fought. I cried so hard, I thought my eyes were going to float clean out of my skull.

“Valbar saved me from that. Every time he saw me, he’d take the time to say something. Cheer me up. What can you do with a man like that but fall in love?

“You’re thinking I’m a tramp, aren’t you? Well, I’m not. It’s hardly my fault that the world is full of wonderful, lovable people. Such a thing really motivates one to get out there and save it.”

According to this article, he is the first openly and explicitly gay character in the series.

LGBTQ references in this game series:

Fire Emblem: Thracia 776 (1999): Marty and Dagdar

Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade (2003): Bramimond; Florina and Lyndis; Legault; Lucius and Raven

Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones (2004): Ephraim and Lyon; Joshua and Gerik

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (2005): Ike and Soren; Jill and Mist; Reyson and Tibarn; Sigrun and Tanith

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (2007): Elincia and Lucia; Heather; Jill and Mist; Joke about Ike and Sothe; Kyza; Ranulf

Fire Emblem Awakening (2012): Gay Jokes and Queerness; Same-Sex Relationship Hack; The Hubba Tester

Fire Emblem Fates (2015): Forrest; Nina; Romance options; Same-Sex Relationship Hack; Skinshipping; Soleil; The Hubba Tester

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia (2017): Leon; Lukas; Queer Readings

Fire Emblem Heroes (2017): Ally Support; Loki; Sharena

Fire Emblem: Three Houses (2019-2020): Byleth Pairings and Controversy; Non-Byleth Pairings

See also QRM’s entry for this game series

Citations:

1. Hadfield, N. (2017, June 30). Fire Emblem Echoes signals a change in how Nintendo writes gay characters. Medium. Retrieved from https://medium.com/takes/fire-emblem-echoes-signals-a-change-in-how-nintendo-writes-gay-characters-29a16c0cc16b
2. Justonegamer. (2017, May 22). Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia- Leon & Valbar Support Conversations. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kksMkmL702E
3. Justonegamer. (2017, May 22). Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia- Kamui & Leon Support Conversations. YouTube. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSOre10lEHs
4. Leon (n.d.) Fire Emblem Wiki. Retrieved from http://fireemblem.wikia.com/wiki/Leon