Remember when Nintendo of America censored the character Tharja in the Fire Emblem: Awakening DLC? If rumour is to be believed — and we should stress that this is very much a rumour — then the same thing has happened in Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 3DS.
Tharja was apparently supposed to be in the game as a trophy, and pre-release screenshots have been found online — apparently leaked by the ESRB (and shown below) — which back up this claim. However, the game is now available in Japan, North America and Europe, and none of those versions contain any trace of the aforementioned trophy.
Conjecture suggests that Nintendo removed Tharja because her clothing is too revealing and would have forced the game into a higher age rating bracket, thus limiting the total audience it could potentially reach. We're not sure we totally buy this story, as some of the other female characters in the game are arguably just as scantily-clad.
We really can't stress enough that this is all unconfirmed speculation at this stage — but what are your thoughts? If this is true, why is Nintendo treating Tharja in such a shoddy fashion? Sound off in the comments below.
Thanks to Eiffel65 for sending this in.
Comments 144
Figures. This is the character I wanted to see most from Fire Emblem: Awakening.
I doubt It's true, they could have modified her clothes to not be too revealing if they really wanted her in the game.
Yeah doubt it was because of her clothes, considering Samus got her zero suit bikini version or whatever you wanna call it approved.
They wanted to avoid the T for Teen rating like the past two games have gotten?
@Gelantious comparatively Wii fit trainer got approved as well, but let's be honest, Tharja is 10x more revealing than ZSS sports clothing.
but it was only thong butt and that is nowhere near bear butt i tell you!
@KHaceattorney
The only difference in my eyes is that Tharja shows some "side donkey cheeks". Which really isn't dangerous at all, hell kids will see that at the beach or the pool. But if it had been that then they could have easily changed it into more of a shorts style like Samus has.
they... could have given her a bit less revealing clothing... but at the same time.. you have Shulk wearing his boxers so..... I don't know.
Is this the only trophy to be unavailable? If there are others it could be an unlock for doing Wii U link up, like how two Melee trophies were obtained by inserting your memory card into a demo unit.
HAHAHA WOW...
@Gelantious I'm pretty sure they wanted to stay game accurate. That's all I can say though.
Darn. I actually married Tharja in Awakening, would have been nice to see her represented.
And yet the Samus workout outfit is okay? Both are skimpy and basically swimwear.
@ikki5 Not even that, actually. They could've just used the cape to wrap around her a bit more if Nintendo was actually willing to get her trophy in the game.
Yet, underwear Shulk is still in the game. GG ESRB.
I bet the data for this trophy is still on the cartridge though. Should be obtainable through hacking, I imagine. ..not that I support hacking, but, y'know.
She seems like a minor character to include as a trophy in SSB. I never got into awakening the way I did other FE though so maybe I'm missing something. I guess they could also be thinking of doing a follow up to Awakening using her the same way they used Sothe in Radiant Dawn?
But why Tharja? Plenty of characters to choose from. Miriel or whatever her name is.
And the fear of female anatomy wins again...
@Gerbwmu She's popular because she is a complete contrast from what you would expect from a Fire Emblem character. Moody, twisted, cruel, creepy and somewhat evil....was a recruitable character in the first arc. She even used her own daughter as a guinea pig for her magical experiments. Not to mention that she is just simply weird. (Try to get an S rank with her. You will see what I mean)
@MetalK9 because she won the popularity poll when it came to parents characters.
That's bang out of order they should bring out an 18s edition
They didn't want to get a T for Teen rating like the last two installments had? Okay....
@SamirMalik Won a poll of Parent characters!? You kidding me? What she does to her future child and use her as a lab rat while acting Dk bananas and people want to be a dad with her?
That's no fun! Darn rating boards being too strict &/or Nintendo being to conservative...
@SamirMalik - I'm slowly playing through my 2nd time so maybe I will feel different about her character when I finish this time (and the game in general). The characters/story in Awakening have never caught my interest though so maybe she can be a standout in what I consider a lesser FE game.
And yet you can play as shulk in a bathing suit...
She should be a playable character!
@ikki5 @ZeroZX_Dev Underwear Shulk is indeed a perfect comparison and excuse for keeping swimwear samus in, however, Tharga is a different story. The model used for the trophy is highly provocative, with purposefully suggestive clothing and Tharga pulling a suggestive pose. Whereas Shulk is in a common outfit (swimshorts and no shirt) that is accepted as implying no sexual connotations, same with Samus in her 'workout' suit.
Assuming those "screens" are real, I can understand why Nintendo would do this. Yet, I also can only assume that this is something that NoA would have done, to maintain image, more/rather than consistent rating, unless outfits like the one in these "screens" automatically constitute an M rating from the ESRB; they very well could. & again, these "screens" could be fake. Lastly, it is possible for these to be legit, as Nintendo probably would have had enough time to remove the trophy, & even most, if not all, of it's data, from the final build of the game, before game manufacturing.
Ok Nintendo we get it. She's hot and he beauty isn't fit in the Smash. Sheesh!
That said though, Why no one complains the same about Samus seeing her fusion real suit? I seriously think that NOA really needs to stop censoring these minor things as it really doesn't do much in the long run though I'll admit, she REALLY is hot!
@MetalK9 but none of that matters when your buns are big enough to OHKO Grima
Isn't it already rated T? Why would some bikini briefs push a game into M territory?
I call baloney.
This was maybe done in Japan. FEA is rated B while Smash is rated A there. I believe the other Smash games are rated A, so I guess NOJ didn't want to bump up the agr rating there.
I thought it meant she was supposed to be playable... but well anyway, lame. But there's a lot of other characters too.. why they didn't replace her?
We may never know. What's interesting is the implication that a minor amount of female flesh outweighs the gratuitous, cartoonish violence of a fighting game when considering age-appropriateness...
@Dipper723 The rumour suggests that the ESRB leaked the images. That's the North American ratings board.
This would have made no difference here in Europe. The game is 12 here, as was Fire Emblem: Awakening. Why should we get punished because another country takes offence to something so stupid?
They should've made a Sumia trophy if they were going to remove the Tharja one. [If there is a Sumia one, I'd like to know since I only got a Lissa trophy]
And we all know that people pay attention to age ratings.
If this rumour is true I can understand Nintendo's decision from a business point of view, it's just (rather unfortunately), the very people they keep the age rating down for tend to have parents who couldn't give two schticks on what the age rating is when they buy the game for them.
So it's more like they did it to keep in line with their own convictions than to really reach a wider audience.
I don't get them sometimes...
@SpookyMeths Nope, it's rated E10+ in NA.
While it sucks I do understand why they did it. While it probably wouldn't have pushed the age rating up, she does kinda stick out like a sore thumb due to the sexualization of her character and parents probably wouldn't have been too happy. Probably the same reason Bayonetta didn't make it in.
@Gelantious really, ZSS is just wearing shorts and a sports bra-shirt thing.
Tharja is wearing a literal swimsuit and a black transparent film-thing, with a cape.
Still not something I would consider "adult themes", but, I can see the ERSB complaining about the trophy.
This is so dumb. Parent should just freaking do their jobs so companies wouldn't have to deal with overly zealous rating agencies and crap like this.
Tharja you will be missed.
The need for not hitting the T rating is due to the 3ds. They couldn't market the game for "everyone" and would be limiting the massive 3ds audience. Remember, violence is ok but sex is a nono. You can beat a dog and a duck with a giant club but no butt cheeks. You can blow up a Princess in a house built by raccoons but a thong is out of the question!
That sucks if that's true. Well, they did remove Peach's underwear and replaced it with some dark void in her dress. It makes Peach seem weird IMO. But, Nintendo probably did that for hardware limitations, who knows.
2 much booty
@MetalK9 It's a video game. Not reality. And she's not THAT bananas. Oh, I forgot to mention that she's unhealthily obsessed with Robin even when you are ♀Robin. Hilarity ensues.
Boo! I was rather hoping she'd be a trophy.
That said, the game is so overstuffed already, taking some things out is fine by me. Wii Fit Trainer should have been left out instead!
@Vineleaf How about no.
It's more than just conjecture. There was a data dump of the 3DS cartridge which reveals that a Fire Emblem trophy was deleted, the space for it still remains, but it's blank.
Also, while Nintendo has always gone for the "family friendly" approach, it is very debatable if having a lower age rating actually increases sales. Some of the most successful games in recent history are intentionally marketed at an older audience, and still played and enjoyed by many young gamers, so the "younger" demographic is still not lost regardless, the only difference is the "child" could not purchase the game themselves, which for arguably most children, they would have gone shopping with their parents anyway, and only the most uninformed parents, and arguably overprotective parents, would discern between an "E" and a "T".
Also let it be known that both Brawl and Melee had a "T" rating, and there is no evidence that the rating detracted from both game's huge sales successes. Lower age ratings does not = more sales.
It doesnt make sense. What does a T rating has in problem.
Its not like anyone takes the ESRB rating in account anyway :>
(million of kids playing COD)
Wolf Whistle..What a shame.
Although I have to agree with the people that are saying that it isn't any worse than Shulk fighting in his undies. It isn't like a single trophy is going to be much of a point of focus anyway...better to avoid the potential uproar from the uptights though.
I didn't use Tharja cause she was mentally unstable
What's up with Nintendo acting like that.. They ever put a weird gay leprecon (Tingle) in the Zelda series and found that normal..
Tharja died very quickly in my FE:A playthrough, so I never got to really know the character. I need to play the game a second time one of these days.
@Senario Any chance male Robin and Chrom are top 2 for male characters hence confirming why the characters were chosen for Smash?
LOL! Poor Tharja
Rumor: Nintendo removed Tharja because she looks ridiculous.
My character married Tharja in my first playthrough... because he liked her personality. STOP JUDGING ME!
Haha, I could totally see this being true. I would've loved to have her as a playable character! Robin fills her void, I suppose
Is there a need to always make a big deal about everything? You even asked a question that you already answered!
"If this is true, why is Nintendo treating Tharja in such a shoddy fashion?"
"Conjecture suggests that Nintendo removed Tharja because her clothing is too revealing and would have forced the game into a higher age rating bracket,"
Also, ERSB is to blame for Tharja being removed. If they received a version with her, then it's their fault that she isn't in the final version.
I wanted my avatar to marry Tharja in Awakening but the game wouldn't let me because I'm a girl V_V
I want her trophy...
She's dope! Who is this gothic looking maiden? She can't be a Nintendo character. Seriously Nintendo these kids see way more than this on they're high tech toys.
censorship stifles creativity. This is why I don't like the esrb or other rating systems they force censorship.
This was part of the esrb leaks from imgur that showed us all 3DS info months before release
@Azaris How many games on Nintendo systems were censored before the ESRB? A lot. How many games on Nintendo systems were censored after the ESRB? Not many. Therefore the ESRB does not force censorship. Plus this is a rumor.
And that's why Bayonetta stormed off during the Super Smash Bros. auditions, smacking Yoshi out the way, and flicking Mario off while getting in her Mercedes Benz.
Damn Nintendo... you cold.
I call BS on that one from ESRB. It probably has more to do with Nintendo not wanting any more flack from people who will decry 'sexism'. Just look at what happened to ZSS. People were screaming it was sexist and a lot sites pandered on with that idea, but when Shulk was introduced just in boxer shorts, everything was suddenly quiet and you could hear crickets chirping with it. Nintendo didn't want that because well, because they don't want any controversial flack any more than necessary when it concerns their works ever since Tomodachi Life.
Do I think it's a cowardly thing to do? I would answer maybe. But do I think this is a sound business decision? It probably won't be necessary as a trophy or two missing is not something that would affect gameplay.
Makes sense, but Zero Suit Smaus alternate costume. Granted, it's not THAT revealing, but still.......
If it is true, I'm glad it got removed, the alternative samus suit was too much as it is.
As a trophy, this seems believable. Although, there is no way she was a playable character.
I'm doubtful; Nintendo isn't going to alter the content of the Japanese version based upon conservative Western hangups. Also, who is to say she won't show up as DLC?
I don't buy this either, just look at one of Shulk's skins.
wow. nice going nintendo. ENOUGH WITH THE CENSORSHIP ALREADY!! ITS NOT THE 90s ANYMORE,you can stop...
also i love how this got cut, but ZSS alternatate costumes didn't
A T rated Smsh game is no problem, took me a while to learn that Smash 3ds is E10+
My favorite character in Fire Emblem, whom my avatar got married to. Would loved using the Nosferatu spell or Aversa's Night. A shame she wasn't included, as they could've easily altered her costume. They should at least offer her as dlc.
I have a feeling this is less censorship and more so trying to avoid criticism from SJWs. After Tomodachi Life they don't really need anymore than is necessary, given their current position with Wii U sales. Of course, Sakurai kinda gave the SJWs the middle finger with the alt costumes for ZSS and Shulk.
B-b-but Tharja is the best waifu...
God I hope they put her back in the Wii U version, please. She is THE most popular female in the game.
...oh and I married her.
The previous games were Teen rated, I don't understand why they'd want to avoid that this time around. Also, is her ass really that threatening? Honestly, now.
It's not just a rumor.
This "alleged" ESRB leak was the same one that confirmed Duck Hunt, Bowser Jr, and Dr Mario. And it included several other trophies un-revealed at the time, that do match the ones in the game. Why you think there is any chance that the leaker forged a trophy to throw into the mix is beyond me.
I've nothing against healthy skepticism, but saying this is a rumor baffles me.
And meh, don't care about Fire Emblem, and if you're that bothered about one trophy being cut from the game, then your priorities are all out of wack!
If it were removed, it'd be very disappointing. Obviously the ESRB rating system is flawed because of the people that work there. I bet people who rate games also rate movies. They are straight forward with what they want changed or removed, but they aren't straight forward with why.
@DarkKirby Lower age rating often equals higher sales when it comes to movies, anyway. But MPAA is even more corrupt and inconsistent than the ESRB, and large companies can basically lower the rating with more money.
I'm surprised at how many people assumed Tharja was a playable character in SSB4. Clearly they just read the title and nothing else. She was a trophy, people. Just a trophy, and nothing else. It's in the article you didn't read.
Why some people dont read the article ? it was a damn trophy
please, put that in the title too
@PvtOttobot Then change the pose and/or the outfit. it is really stupid to take the time and effort to have the model in and then just remove it instead of making a few minor changes that would take probably a days work.... if even that for it only being a trophy.
@MrAmanojaku Ummm... Bravely Default. Granted it was SQUARE ENIX but still...
As somebody who grew up with Nintendo and is now 27 I find this a little ridiculous. There are plenty of gamers out there who are not 5 years old. I think we can handle a character like this in Smash Bros.
And besides, Melee had a T rating. I don't really think that title was hurt by that.
Also, how is having Samus battling in short-shorts and a bra not worse than this?? Stupid.
@Leonn Sir Hiss: "Sire... it's just bare skin. There's no need to--oh, please don't suck your thumb again!"
i wouldn't mind a t rated smash bros cuz brawl was t and im ok with it
@ikki5 I actually wasn't making a comment on Nintendo's 'decision', (seeing as it's just a rumour atcm) I was simply discrediting the comparison to Shulk's underwear costume. I don't have an opinion on her apparent omission, so go rant somewhere else.
Too much side butt for Nintendo
Kids probably wouldn't even notice it, why make it E10+ anyway?
My waifu, such a shame they did this.
@MagicEmperor it isn't about sexism, or simply showing skin, it's called wrong. This generation does nothing but sexualized everything, and that's wrong. It encourages p**n, lust, imodesty, all of which leads to people treating women as toys or mere things. Not to mention the game is supposed to be for everyone, not everyone approves of that.
Am I the only one who thinks this is bulldoggeypoopiepoodlepoopie? We let our kids play violent games like GTA V, Call of Duty, etc where you kill people for points, but forbid that our children see parts of a female human (cartoon-like) body. Our society really is loved up.
@Leonn I agree with you, but I can't say that you can blame just one generation. Women have been sexualized throughout most of human civilization
I love Tharja in Fire Emblem. I would've really liked to at least see the description they had for her, but it's not like it's really a big deal.
@Gelantious just what I was thinking.
Damnit ESRB
@Gelantious @Diddy_kong it isn't a bikini nor is is provocative, it is a sports top and shorts. the kind of stuff athletic women wear. don't over exaggerate.
Now i will understand if Cia never gets a trophy in the Wiiu version of smash bros.And Nintendo where is my human form Midna trophy? Is not fair her Imp form gets the most attention.
@drewber2814 Your comment is baffling on so many levels. Who is this "we" or "society" you speak of? Anyway, CoD is rated M, so ESRB doesn't "let kids" play it.
She's fully clothed, so I don't think it was an issue. Come on, DLC!
So wait... Palutena can show some leg and Zero Suit Samus has her outfits, but Tharja can't be shown? Alrighty then..
To the poeple saying a T rating wouldn't hurt, you're forgetting, those games were rated T for cartoon violence, it would be different it got rated for a scanty outfit. That being said, I don't think this is legit, Nintendo could have easily made the cloth on her thicker, solving the problem. Which frankly, would be what I would want them to do. I wouldn't mind her as a playable character either, Tharja's awesome.
And this, friends, is why Fatal Frame will NEVER come out for Wii U outside Japan. Nintendo are a bunch of Puritan prudes.
Just about finished supporting this company. I imported games for decades because I hate censorship in video games. With region lock, censorship of anything remotely sexual (Bayonetta 2 must have Iwata gritting his teeth), and basically being the laughingstock of the industry, I'll just say it: Nintendo is everything wrong with video games, and deserves to fail.
@Technosphile Did you purposely ignore Bayonetta or did I miss something?
Also, I'd like to disagree with your comment a bit. Nintendo doesn't force reviewers to praise their games with contracts. Nintendo doesn't force microtransactions in their games, etc. etc. But if you think that censorship is the only thing wrong with video games, you might want to do some more research.
@WaLzgi try reading.
And if "gamergate" nonsense is a big deal to you, you might want to grow up.
seriously really dumb
2sexyforNintendo.
@Rezalack Would she be OP like in Fire Emblem? If only, she reminded me of Trevor Phillips from Grand Theft Auto too. The sociopathic tendencies and unpredictable behavior of both of them always gave me a good laugh.
@nessisonett That's every reason why I used her.
So many people are butthurt about this.
Let's ignore censorship or morals.
Think about this: how long does a player look at trophies in Smash Brothers? Does anyone buy Smash Brothers just to gawk at trophies? Would it kill the game experience if a trophy is removed?
@Technosphile
Something tells me you don't know what Gamergate is actually about. Hint: its nothing to do with anything @WaLzgi brought up. I don't agree with this either, but Nintendo definitely isn't "everything wrong with video games".
@Zombie_Barioth well what it's actually "about" is a bunch of fat manchildren furious that a girl got laid. But the line is something about paid reviews, or certain benefits for a positive review, which is exactly what he said.
Hint: don't fight other people's battles. Especially when you have no clue what you're blathering about.
Is this how you pronounce the name?: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exCYSfQod14
@Technosphile
Ironic, seeing as thats not what its about. What was that about not having a clue? Gamersgate isn't about Zoe Quine, although she sparked it, or even paid reviews. It stemmed from some DMCA takedowns and having entire threads deleted, and when confronted games "journalists" and developers banded together and started going after their critics.
It lead to fake DDOSing by Phil Fish and some more drama from Anita, now gamers are "worse than Isis" and anyone that goes again't them are "sexist" or "misogynists" ect. Essentially its become another mess like with Jack Thompson, but with feminism and SJWs.
I don't buy it. There's been far saucier stuff than her in the trophies, and my bet is there still is.
That said, Tharja is crazy, and I wouldn't want to be caught ogling her like that.
@Olaf
I certainly spent a LONG time looking at trophies in Melee, and to a lesser extent Brawl. But I work as a 3D character modeler, so there might be a connection.
Tharja does look like a nice model, and let's not forget that this time around, the trophies, viewed on the 3DS in 3D, are going to serve Nintendo the purpose of getting people excited about figurines, for when they roll out the Amiibos.
So as a 3D modeling enthusiast, I -am- slightly sad to see something like this be left out. Particularly when I know how many super boring trophies are going to be in there.
Oh the famous FE scandal, why'd they have to make her too sexy for Nintendo to handle?
No one gonna mention Palutena's Side Tuant?
At least she wasn't a playable character.
@Pro-N-Gamer That comparison was the biggest reach I've ever seen.
Yet the trophy for the grossly sexualized big-breasted monkey girl Candy Kong stayed in? SHENANIGANS!
So Nintendo created a sex symbol, and now they're afraid to market her. Genius.
If the trophy is of her in her normal Dark Mage ourfit she'd be no more scantily-clad than Zero Suit Samus! Heck, Zero Suit Samus in wearing a frickin' sports bra in one of her outfits.
Was looking forward to seeing mah waifu's trophy.
Aww well.
Funny though how people get mad over ZSS being "oversexualized", yet an equal amount of people get mad over Tharja getting removed because her outfit is too "revealing". You can't please anyone in this world. There's always going to be someone b**ching about something.
@May_Nyan I thought it was going to be an easter egg at first to allow them to get married given Tharja's dialogue even to FemRobin.
But that is the issue with games that allow for multiple genders that only remove dialogue and change pronoun usage. you get this really weird in the middle vibe. I had the same issue with Miranda in ME2...for a bit I totally thought she was going to jump my FemShep's bones.
I'll never understand why this kind of idiocy exists. Your typical kid would see even less clothing during a trip to the beach (Of course I'm assuming body length capes aren't going to be the next fashion fad). But I degress, the important message here from the higher powers that regulate the industry is that it's perfectly OK for a kid to beat the living snot out of people so long as they do so exposing as little skin as possible.
I'm calling BS. The past couple Smash Bros have gotten Teen ratings. There's nothing in those screenshots that couldn't be in a Teen rated game.
@Technosphile Actually my comment had nothing to do with Gamergate. I couldn't give two craps about that aside from the ridiculousness that people are capable of.
I for one am very disappointed at the lack of Tharja's butt. Oh well, at least I still get Wario's.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1LgMnHlm3o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oJfELtGuHg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDeLf5Netxo
Nintendo wouldn't have removed it from the Japanese version if that were the case.... The age rating would have only changed in EU/NA.
Btw, this is the reason why Nintendo does region locking, so each region will have a build of the game that keeps the age rating inline with their target demographic in all 3 regions.
Well , they have a point actually
Compare to Samus in the alternate suit , Tharja's looks really are... umm DANGEROUS , so that's my opinion
@link422007 Only the releases outside Japan of Bravely Default were censored. As far as we know, the Tharja trophie isn't in the Japanese game either. They aren't going to censor releases in Japan based on what the rest of the world is going to get.
@ZeroZX_Dev LOL
Quite easy to see why she was removed.
If its true, then its stupid.
A very old bump, but one that will note out the points right now.
Tharja could have made it.
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