Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
trying to make the index fixed
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Deleted line(s) 9,545 (click to see context) :
[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Trainee Classes]]
!!Trainee Classes
[[quoteright:160:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/echoes_villager_m_2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:160:Male Villagers in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
[[quoteright:128:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/echoes_villager_f_2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:128:Female Villagers in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
The "trainee classes" are a set of six classes which embody MagikarpPower. They start out much weaker than other classes, but have excellent potential for growth and have incredible versatility in their main draw: their ability to Class Change to a wide range of classes, allowing the player to bolster their forces specifically to their tastes.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'', the only trainee class is the '''Villager''', which has the ability to Class Change to any of five classes: Mercenary, Soldier, Archer, Mage, or Cavalier. If the Mercenary route is taken, the third-tier Dread Fighter class can Class Change right back around to Villager, allowing for an effective infinite stat-gain loop. Villagers start out wielding swords, though they will likely lose this proficiency depending on what they Class Change into. ''Shadows of Valentia'' introduced Faye, a female Villager. While Mage and Cavalier are unisex options, female Villagers swap out Mercenary, Soldier and Archer for Pegasus Knight and Cleric instead.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', there are three trainee classes, each exclusive to one ally character: the '''Pupil''', the '''Journeyman''', and the '''Recruit'''. Each has two Class Change options: the Pupil can go into Mage or Shaman, the Journeyman to Fighter or Pirate, and the Recruit to Cavalier or Knight. In accordance with the branched class progression system of ''The Sacred Stones'', each thus has three or four options for their final class.\\\
The Villager class returns in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', this time wielding lances. It oddly cannot Class Change in and of itself, instead relying on Second Seals to become another class.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Villager is a Hoshidan class that acts like any other in terms of Class Changing. They can go into '''Merchant''', which uses lances and bows and has a Skill that nets you extra gold, or branch into the '''Master of Arms''' class, a MightyGlacier that can use all three main weapon types.\\\
In ''Three Houses'', trainee classes return in both the '''Noble''' and '''Commoner''' classes. They can wield any weapon in the game and some magic.\\\
''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' features the '''Princess''' and '''Prince''' classes, unique to Lachesis and Leif, respectively. While they are not quite 'true' trainee classes, they fit a large majority of the tropes -- they start as very weak classes, but eventually promote into '''Master Knight''', which has access to every weapon type in the game other than dark magic.
->'''Playable characters of these classes:''' Tobin, Gray, Kliff, and Atlas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden/Shadows of Valentia]]''); Amelia, Ewan, and Ross (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Donnel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Mozu (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Faye (''Shadows of Valentia''); Byleth and every Academy student[[labelnote:Students including...]]Edelgard, Hubert, Ferdinand, Bernadetta, Linhardt, Caspar, Dimitri, Felix, Annette, Sylvain, Ingrid, Claude, Lorenz, Hilda, Marianne, Lysithea, Dorothea, Dedue, Ignatz, Mercedes, Raphael, Ashe, Petra, Leonie, Yuri, Balthus, Hapi, Constance, and Cyril[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
----
* BoringButPractical: Commoners and Nobles get HP +5 as their mastery skill, which is very valuable early-game as most of your units are not sturdy enough yet to survive hard hits, especially in Maddening where the enemy will always outpace you in damage.
* BucketHelmet: Male villagers in ''Awakening'' wear pots as makeshift helmets.
* {{Expy}}: Recruit, Amelia's trainee class in ''The Sacred Stones'', is a variant of the Soldier, and is even called ''Trainee Soldier'' in Japan.
* FireIceLightning: Pupils are aspiring mages that are capable of using anima magic, which are comprised of the three elements.
* HeroesPreferSwords: Villagers in ''Gaiden'' start out with swords.
* MagikarpPower: They start out weak, but they come with the Aptitude skill which increases their growth rates, or the ability to "gain" more levels than normal in one way or another, which give them more chances to proc their growth rates. Both cases increase their chances of capping more stats and/or become more powerful than the average ''FE'' unit does over the course of a game.
* NewGamePlus: Kind of. In ''The Sacred Stones'', once one completes both Eirika and Ephraim's stories at least once, the trainees have the option to class change to the trainee classes again and again. The final-tiered versions of these classes gain special bonuses; the super Journeyman and Recruit gain increased critical rates, while the super Pupil is the only class in the game which can normally[[note]]there's a [[GoodBadBugs bug]] in the game which allows any unit to be able to learn dark magic, and Sages in this game naturally learn both anima and light magic[[/note]] use all three types of offensive magic.
* PowerUpLetdown: Constitution is the only stat that doesn't grow with the Super Trainees, leaving them to be slowed down by the more powerful and heavier weapons. This particularly hurts the Journeyman, who not only uses the heaviest weapons in the game, but has a counterpart in the Berserker which has the necessary constitution and a similar critical hit bonus.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Soldier]]
!!Soldier
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/695g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Soldiers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fateslancerportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Spear Fighter in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesholylancerportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Spear Master in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesbasaraportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Basara in ''Fates'']]
Soldiers are lance-wielding footsoldiers that are typically treated as a {{mook|s}} class in most games. It makes its first appearance in ''Gaiden'', where they are the first tier class that can Class Change into the '''Knight''' class. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'', they are a proper player class that functions as the lance-wielding counterpart of the Fighter, Myrmidon, and Archer. There, they Class Change to the '''Halberdier''' class, then again in ''Radiant Dawn'' to the '''Sentinel''' class. Soldiers also return in ''Three Houses''.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', the Soldier class is called the '''Lancer''', is part of the Nohr kingdom, and is unplayable outside of using the Capture command. However, an expy of the playable version called a '''Spear Fighter''' appear as units from Hoshido, which Class Changes into '''Spear Master''' [[note]]Which shares the same name as the Sentinel's name, Holy Lancer, in the Japanese versions[[/note]] or branch into the '''Basara''' class, a class that relies on high skill activation rates and [[MagicKnight utilizes lances and tomes]].\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'', the Lance Fighter can class change into either Halberdier or the newly introduced '''Royal Knight''', a cavalry class that can use lances and staves.\\\
Related are the class families '''Sentinel''' and '''Picket''', exclusive to Timerra, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Lukas and Forsyth (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Nephenee and Devdan/Danved (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Aran (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Oboro and Shiro (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Timerra, Mauvier (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----
* ActionInitiative: Halberdiers in ''Engage'' gain the Pincer Attack skill at Level 5, where get a guarateed follow-up attack if they initiate combat against an adjacent enemy and there is an ally on the opposite of them.
* AlwaysMale: The Soldier line, which extends to the Knight and Baron class, is exclusive to males in ''Echoes''.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Halberdier's mastery skill, Luna, in ''Path of Radiance''.
* AscendedExtra: The class started off as the starting class for the Knight class in ''Gaiden'', and only appeared in a few games as generic enemy glasses. ''Path of Radiance'' and ''Radiant Dawn'' gives more spotlight to Soldiers, as not only are they a playable class again (for the first time since ''Gaiden''), but they have a unique class line. ''Fates'' would bring them back in full and make them a more fleshed-out class, as well as a counterpart to the Nohrian Knight class.
* CastFromHitpoints: Royal Knight's class skill, Reforge, allows the unit to remove an adjacent ally's broken status after combat at a cost of 10 of their own HP. However, they must have enough HP to actually remove the broken status.
* CriticalHit: The Sentinel's Impale mastery skill, which deals ''four'' times the damage.
* CriticalHitClass: Halberdiers and Sentinels in ''Radiant Dawn'' and Spear Masters in ''Fates'' gain a critical boost, while the latter also decreases enemy critical rate.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: The Spear Fighters in ''Fates'' have Seal Defense, which reduces the enemy's Defense by 6 after combat if they survive. The Spear Masters in ''Fates'' also have Seal Speed, which reduces the enemy's Speed by 6 as well.
* DemotedToExtra: Soldiers went from a mainline tier 1 class in ''Gaiden'' into an unplayable class in ''Mystery of the Emblem.'' ''Thracia 776'' even made them extremely weak, just like the Archer class, except Soldiers had no comparable player counterpart, as regular lance-using Armor Knights were unplayable.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: Started out as a 1st tier of the Knight class, they became a proper class in the Tellius games. ''Fates'' further separates Soldiers into the playable version in Hoshido & the mook version in Nohr. Since the Tellius games, they went from being MightyGlacier or StoneWall due to this, to being often JackOfAllStats or LightningBruiser depending on the stats and growths.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In ''Gaiden'', they're essentially Armor Knights, and are playable. While unplayable in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', they aren't any weaker than any other tier 1 class, and can even be powerful. In ''Genealogy of the Holy War''[='=]s DummiedOut data, the Soldier class was going to be included with an additional Lance variation with higher stats, as well as a Sword and Bow variation. The {{Mook}} type was introduced in ''Thracia 776''.
* {{Expy}}: The Spear Fighter is pretty much the Soldier except more eastern-themed.
* {{Foil}}: To Knights. Both classes are lance-wielding soldiers that serve as the backbone to the army of TheEmpire, but Soldiers are generalists in battle with slightly more speed and movement than Knights, who are a lot more durable and stronger than Soldiers.
* TheGoomba: Serves this role in some games, especially when they're enemy-exclusive. In these games, they have very low stats and their WeaponSpecialization is spears -- though those traits are also found on the superior knights and cavaliers. Additionally, they mainly serve to keep sword-locked characters in check, as well as give axe-wielders something to smash through. The ones that appear in the early chapters of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' have 0s in several of their stats, even on Hard Mode.
* JackOfAllStats: The playable versions, with generally a slightly higher focus on defense.
* MightyGlacier: Soldiers in ''Gaiden'' have stats geared towards defense, as they share the class line with the bulky armored Knights. As mentioned in JackofAllStats above, the other versions still have an unusually high defense compared to other infantry.
* {{Mook}}: Their role when unplayable is usually [[CannonFodder sparsely-trained and sparsely-equipped foot soldiers]] since ''Thracia 776.''
* NonIndicativeName: Even though the promoted variant of Soldier is called '''Halberd'''ier, they cannot wield Halberds due to them being classified as axes. (Incidentally, the Halberd is called the "Poleaxe" in every game that features Halberdiers, probably to avoid this exact confusion.)
* PutOnABus: For a long time, they were often pushed aside in favor of Knights, Trainees, or Cavaliers. It wasn't until the Tellius games that they reappeared, and they would sit on the side for a few more years before returning in ''Fates''.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Their skills ''Seal Defense'' and ''Seal Speed'', which reduces the enemy's defense and speed after battle, available for Spear Fighter and Spear Master, respectively.
* StoneWall: In most games where they were {{mook}}s, they have uncharacteristically high HP. In ''Three Houses'', they learn Defense +2 upon class mastery.
* TookALevelInBadass: Naturally, when they're playable and not just mere {{mook}}s. Soldiers have been buffed up and able to class change, so later on enemy Soldiers/Halberdiers/Sentinels remain as threatening as other enemies too.
* WeaponSpecialization: The pure-lance infantry class, much like Myrmidons are to swords. Spear Masters in ''Fates'' gain Lancefaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding lances.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Dark Mage/Shaman]]
!!Dark Mage/Shaman
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/803g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Mages in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/912g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/962g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
A somewhat uncommon offensive magic class, Dark Mages (also known as Shamans in the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance titles ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'') are a slower, somewhat bulkier counterpart to Mages that debuted in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''. They specialize in Dark magic, which is usually exclusive to them, but are also sometimes capable of using Anima magic. Originally an enemy-only class, Dark Mages became playable on a semi-recurring basis starting in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''.\\\
Dark Mages usually Class Change to '''Sorcerer''' ('''Druid''' in the GBA titles and ''Radiant Dawn''), while in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'', they can become '''Dark Bishop''' (only accessible in ''Three Houses''). They can also become the '''Summoner''' class in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', giving them the ability to wield staves and granting access to SummonMagic. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they can potentially Class Change into '''Dark Knight''', which [[MagicKnight allows them use of swords]] and grants them a mount at the cost of [[{{Irony}} losing their ability to use Dark magic]] (though their ability to use Anima magic remains intact).\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' and its remake, ''Shadows of Valentia'', an enemy-only variant of the class appears, called the '''Arcanist'''[[note]]known as Magician in the Japanese version[[/note]]; this class belongs to people who have sacrificed themselves to Duma in exchange for powerful dark magic. It also has a male-only variant, called the '''Cantor''', which is capable of conjuring forth many types of monsters, though what type of monsters are summoned is dependent on the Cantor in question.\\\
Related is the '''Dark Sage''', a second-tier class[[note]]presumably promoted from a "Dark Mage"[[/note]] which also wields thunder magic, exclusive to King Pelleas in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''; it Class Changes into a variant of the '''Arch Sage'''. Also related are the villain-exclusive dark spellcasting classes: '''Dark Prince''' Julius from ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', '''Dark Druid''' Nergal from ''The Blazing Blade'', '''Necromancer''' Lyon from ''The Sacred Stones'', and '''Agastya''', a class exclusive to Thales in ''Three Houses''. A Dark Knight variant also appears in ''Three Houses'' in the form of the '''Death Knight''', exclusive to the character with the same name as the class.\\\
This class is not to be confused with the '''Shaman''' class of ''Genealogy'', which is a light-wielding class exclusive to Deirdre and Julia, or with the third-tier '''Light Priestess''' class, which was called "Shaman" in the original Japanese version of ''Radiant Dawn''.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Salem (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Raigh, Sophia, Niime (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Canas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Knoll (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Pelleas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Etzel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Tharja, Henry, DLC Micaiah (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Odin, Nyx, Leo, Ophelia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Hubert, [[spoiler:Jeritza]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
----
* AlwaysMale: Dark Mages and Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' are male-only.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Luna spell in ''Blazing Blade'', ''Sacred Stones'', and ''Three Houses'' negates the enemy's resistance at the cost of fully requiring the unit's magic stat to be high in order to be effective, as the spell has minimal to no intrinsic might of its own (making it outclassed by literally any other dark tome when being used on enemies with low resistance, but absolutely invaluable to the point of being a GameBreaker against enemies with high resistance). Glower in ''New Mystery of the Emblem'' negates resistance instead of inflicting HPToOne.
* BlackKnight: The Dark Knight class, which is basically a new version of Mage Knight.
* CastingAShadow: Dark magic is essentially this. Also, while they have often been portrayed as the magical equivalent to axes[[note]]with light magic being comparable to swords and animals magic being comparable to lances; the three magic types even have an identical TacticalRockPaperScissors arrangement to their physical counterparts[[/note]], dark magic in the GBA games and in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' have effects on their general weapons[[note]]such as LifeDrain, ArmorPiercingAttack, PercentDamageAttack, and HPToOne[[/note]] that other magic will never have. Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Dark Tomefaire as a class skill, though they also gain Black Tomefaire as well.
* CoolHelmet: Dark Knights typically wear menacing-looking helmets. ''Awakening'' gives them a visor that resembles the Fell Dragon Grima, ''Fates'' gives them skull-faced helmets, and ''Three Houses'' features a four-horned demon on theirs.
* CoolMask: Dark Mages and Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' wear crow masks modelled after plague doctors.
* CriticalHitClass: In ''Fates'', Sorcerors have a small critical hit bonus.
* CriticalStatusBuff: The ''Vengeance'' skill, which increases the user's damage based on half of the user's missing HP, making it very powerful when the user is nearly dead. It also has the highest activation rate at Skill x2 (x1.5 in ''Fates''), so it is easy for it to activate.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: The mastery skill for Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'' is Seal Resisitance, which inflicts -6 Resistance to the enemy after combat if they attack and damage them during combat.
* DarkIsEvil: Commonly, the Dark Mage is used as an enemy-only class, like in ''Gaiden'', ''Mystery of the Emblem'', ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', and ''Thracia 776'', and many antagonists in the series are of the EvilSorcerer-type. Even in games where Dark Mages are playable, there is rarely more than one playable Dark Mage (''Binding Blade'', ''Awakening'', and ''Fates'' are the only exceptions), while the enemy faction will have no short supply of Dark Mages. In addition, the playable Dark Mages in ''Awakening'' are creepy {{Token Evil Teammate}}s.
* DarkIsNotEvil: And Canas ''will'' make a point of reminding you of that fact. However, Dark magic users still tend to be [[DarkIsEvil major]] [[EvilSorcerer enemies]] in several games in the series nonetheless. ''Gaiden'', both Jugdral games, ''Awakening'', and ''Three Houses'' feature an evil magic cult as one of the main antagonist factions. Furthermore, even if it's not inherently ''evil'', dark magic is frequently [[EvilIsNotAToy hazardous to its users in-universe if used improperly]] (as Canas's brothers and Brammimond could attest to if they weren't {{Empty Shell}}s).
* DealWithTheDevil: Often, to gain the ability to use dark magic, particularly if it's of the powerful kind, the user has to sacrifice something in return, often with severe consequences.
* DiscardAndDraw:
** Dark Mages promoting into Dark Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain the ability to use Swords, as well as gaining a horse mount for mobility, at the cost of (ironically) no longer able to use dark tomes.
** Compared to the Dark Knight, the Death Knight in ''Three Houses'' emphasizes more on its Lance rank, swapping out Black and Dark Tomefaire for Lancefaire. Mastering this class grants Counterattack (allows the user to counterattack regardless of range), further encouraging the usage of melee weapons.
* {{Expy}}: Dark Druid Nergal and Necromancer Lyon's classes are based upon the Druid and Summoner classes, respectively, but more powerful. Dark Druid also serves as an {{expy}} and {{foil}} to Athos's Archsage class.
* GatheringSteam: Dark Knight in ''Awakening'' has the skill Slow Burn, which gives them hit and avoid after a turn has pass, up to 15.
* HighCollarOfDoom: Dark Knights have these to add to their menacing appearances.
* HPToOne: Several dark magic across the series can cause this effect (sometimes from a very long range) -- namely Medusa, Dulam, Hel, Eclipse, and Bohr X. With the exception of Eclipse in ''Binding Blade'' (it was changed to a PercentDamageAttack for the rest of the GBA games), these spells are exclusive to the enemy.
* InTheHood: Almost every similar unit wears a heavy hood completely obscuring their face.
* LifeDrain:
** In the games where Nosferatu isn't Light magic, Dark Mages are instead able to wield it, enabling them to absorb their enemies' HP.
** Dark Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' and Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' get Lifetaker, which heals 50% of their HP after defeating an enemy.
* MightyGlacier: Dark Mages are significantly slower than Mages and have worse Skill, but generally have relatively equal magical attack and much better defense. Technically averted by Dark Mages in ''Fates'', where the class is basically just the Nohrian counterpart to the Diviner, itself an {{Expy}} of the standard Mage, with the added ability of wielding the game's sole dark magic tome, Nosferatu.
* NonindicativeName: Despite their name and appearance, Dark Knights are not actually capable of using dark magic unless they have the Shadowgift skill, instead being just another name for the Mage Knight. The only exception to this might be Leo, as his Brynhildr tome is stated to be dark magic, although he still can't use Nosferatu unless he reclasses into a Sorcerer. Finally remedied in ''Three Houses'' where Dark Knights has Dark Tomefaire as their class skill and dark magic is based on character instead of being restricted to the class itself.
* PoisonedWeapon:
** Jormungand in ''Thracia 776'' inflicts the target with the poison status, but only when used by enemies.
** Dark Mages in ''Three Houses'' learn Poison Strike upon mastering the class.
* PowerOfTheVoid:
** Apocalypse, one of the Divine Weapons of Elibe, emits a rune which summons a black hole.
** Ginnungagap in ''Fates'', where the spell [[YinYangBomb covers the enemy in a black vortex, then suffocates them with a blinding light]].
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is if a Dark Mage class changes into the [[MagicKnight Dark Knight]] class. Done weirdly with the Sorcerer from ''Awakening'' onward, who gets to use BlackMagic in addition to normal magic, but cannot use healing staves to differentiate themselves from Sages.
* ShouldersOfDoom: The pauldrons of the Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'' are not only large, but have large intimidating spikes on each of them.
* {{Stripperiffic}}: Dark Mages and Sorcerers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' wear some of the most revealing and downright skimpy outfits in the entire series.
* SummonMagic: The Cantor, Summoner, and the Necromancer can summon units to fight for them.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Seal Magic, which reduces the enemy's magic, is available to Dark Knights in ''Fates''. In ''Three Houses'', they instead learn Seal Resistance, and in Maddening Mode, enemy Dark Mages have Seal Strength by default.
* StatusBuff: Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' gain Fiendish Blow as a class skill, which increases their magic by 6 when initiating the attack. However, you cannot stack Fiendish Blow with another instance from mastering Mage, as the skill will just remove itself when two similar skills are included.
* UniqueEnemy:
** Inverted in ''Sacred Stones'', as you never encounter enemy Summoners. In addition, Necromancers (read: Lyon) never use their summon ability as enemies, while they can summon Phantoms in the player's hands.
** Zigzagged with ''Radiant Dawn'', as there are enemy-only Druids that appear sporadically in the game, usually Part 3 and 4. However, you can get Pelleas as one of two potential Dark Mages (that can only be playable in a second playthrough), though Pelleas is still of a separate class line from the Druid[[note]]and the second Dark Mage, [[spoiler:Lehran/]]Sephiran, is in yet another class tree that is more closely related to Clerics[[/note]].
** Zigzagged with the DS remakes, as while Etzel is a playable Sorcerer (the advanced version of Dark Mage), you never encounter a playable Dark Mage without reclassing one of your units. In addition, in ''Shadow Dragon'', you never encounter any enemy Dark Mages outside of side chapters, besides [[TheDragon Gharnef]].
* WeaponSpecialization: Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'' mainly focus on lances instead of swords, although they can still wield the latter.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Troubadour]]
!!Troubadour
[[quoteright:164:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_troubadour_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:164:Troubadours in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:141:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesmaidportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:141:Maids in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hvalkyrie.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Valkyries in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/974g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
A female-exclusive WhiteMage class introduced in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' which makes occasional, if inconsistent, appearances. The Troubadour is basically the mounted equivalent of the Priest with slightly lower stats to compensate for having higher movement.\\\
The Troubadour class is one of the most variable in the series in terms of Class Change progression and weaponry. In most games, they wield only staves and start off purely as a support class, but they additionally wield swords in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''. They normally Class Change into the '''Valkyrie''' like the Priest, which turns them into a CombatMedic that gains the ability to use offensive magic (Anima or Light depending on the game) in every game except ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''; in those games, where the class is exclusive to Mist, Valkyrie gains the ability to use swords. In ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'', Troubadour instead Class Changes into '''Paladin''' (not to be confused with the normal Paladin) and gains the ability to wield lances alongside swords and staves.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', they can choose to Class Change into the '''Mage Knight'''[[note]]not to be confused with the similarly-named class from Jugdral, which is an evolution of the unmounted Mage[[/note]], which is effectively a Valkyrie that uses Anima magic instead of Light magic[[note]]Valkyries use Light magic in ''Sacred Stones''[[/note]]. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', they can instead choose to discard their mount and Class Change into '''War Cleric''', which gains the use of axes. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Troubadours are unisexual[[note]]they were known as Rod Knight in the Japanese version[[/note]]. They Class Change into the '''Strategist''' class (effectively the Valkyrie with a different name to reflect the fact that they're no longer AlwaysFemale) or branch into the '''Maid/Butler''' class, which substitutes offensive magic for knives/shuriken, ditches the horse, and has the best staff rank in the game. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'', the Troubadour class itself is absent, but the master class, '''Holy Knight''', is reminiscent of ''The Sacred Stones''[='=] Valkyries and Jugdral Paladins. They specialize in Faith, Lances, and Riding. The Valkyrie class would later reappear in the game as part of the Wave 4 DLC, specializing in both Black and Dark magic alongside Riding.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Ethlyn, Nanna/Jeanne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Nanna, Amalda (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Clarine, Cecilia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Priscilla (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); L'Arachel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Maribelle (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Felicia, Jakob, Elise, Flora, Dwyer, Forrest (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Hapi (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
----
* AchillesHeel: Like Cavaliers, they are vulnerable to Horse-slaying weapons... except in ''Binding Blade'' and ''Path of Radiance'', where they are unaffected by Horse-slaying weapons, presumably due to an oversight.
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Valkryies in ''Three Houses'' gain ''Uncanny Blow'' upon mastering the class. It gives 30 extra hit when attacking.
* AlwaysFemale: Except in ''Fates'', all troubadours/valkyries were female. Female-exclusive Valkyries are entirely consistent with Norse mythology constantly referenced in the series, but "troubadour" was a name for a male bard historically.
* AutomatonHorses: Their horses are only seen in combat.
* BattleButler: The Butler class.
* BlackMage: Unlike most depictions of the class, ''Three Houses'' grants the class skills that focus on the strictly offensive black and dark magic spells. They can still use white magic and it is one of their proficiencies, but this incarnation is meant to be the offensive mage rider in contrast to the Holy Knight. Interestingly, this makes them a female counterpart to the Dark Knight, which also focuses on black and dark magic (the Tomefaire variants specifically).
* CastingAShadow: Of a sort. In a first for the series, ''Three Houses'' grants them a skill to extend the range of the user's dark magic spells, making them the only other class that females can access besides Gremory with some sort of dark magic skill.
* CombatMedic: Valkyries have offensive magic/the use of swords in addition to healing with staves. In the Jugdral games, troubadours can use swords from the start. In ''Fates'', they gain shuriken/daggers as their weapons as Maids and Butlers. In ''Three Houses'', Holy Knights can wield lances and have native access to White Tomefaire.
* CoolHorse: Troubadours are always mounted on them.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Resistance, a skill that boosts resistance by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Valkyries were called "Paladins" in Jugdral. They were wisely renamed Valkyries with the GBA installments to avoid confusion with regular Paladins, especially female ones like Midia.
* GenderBlenderName: Despite the class being all-female until ''Fates'', actual real-life troubadours (who were poets, not magical mounted staff users) were exclusively male, and the female term is Troubaritz. Strangely, these sorts of real-life Troubadours ''actually exist'' in the ''Fire Emblem'' universe as well, at least in the Tellius series[[note]]which lacks the unprompted Troubadour class; its sole Valkyrie, Mist, starts out as a Cleric[[/note]], as the ending of ''Path of Radiance'' mentions troubadours and one of the early chapter narrations for ''Radiant Dawn'' includes the phrase "or so the troubadours sing".
* HitAndRunTactics: Troubadours and Valkyries in the Jugdral and Tellius games can attack or heal and then move again with their remaining movement. Troubadours in the GBA games can only move again if they use a non-attacking or non-healing command.
* LightEmUp: The Valkyries in ''Sacred Stones'' and Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' excel in light magic. Holy Knights are highly specialized in Faith magic, as they can gain White Tomefaire, which increases their damage by 5.
* MageKiller: Their high Resistance stat allows them to deal with enemy mages. Maids and Butlers get the Tomebreaker skill and the ability to use shuriken/daggers, the latter being effective against tomes in ''Fates''[='=] Weapon Triangle[[note]]tomes share their place with swords, while hidden weapons share their place with lances[[/note]] and targets [[SquishyWizard their usually weak defense stat]].
* MagicKnight: The Holy Knights excel in faith magic and lances. In addition, they have White Tomefaire as their class skill, increasing their damage by 5 when using faith magic like Nosferatu and Aura.
* TheMedic: Their main battlefield role.
* NinjaMaid: The Maid class, exemplified with their combat style and shurikens as their weapons.
* ThePaladin: An ''actual'' depiction of the Paladin in the form of the Holy Knight, who are horse-riding knights that specialize in Faith (white magic).
* RedMage: Typically becomes a mounted version after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is if you class change into a [[CombatMedic War Cleric or Maid/Butler]], which lose the horse and use physical weapons rather than offensive magic.
* SquishyWizard: They have high Magic and Luck to aid in their healing abilities, but they're defensively weak physically and typically can't fight back at first.
* StatusBuff:
** Troubadours have Demoiselle for females in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', and Gentilhomme for males in ''Fates''; Demoiselle in ''Awakening'' grants all males within 3 tiles of the user +10 Avoid and Critical Dodge, and both skills in ''Fates'' grant -2 damage taken to all allies within 2 spaces, depending on what skill is equipped and the recipient's gender.
** Valkyries in ''Awakening'' and Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Rally Resistance, which gives a boost to resistance to allies when commanded.
** Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Inspiration, which grants all allies within 2 tiles of the user +2 damage given and -2 damage taken.
* SupportPartyMember: While they were originally sword-wielders in their first tier, later games relegated them solely to healing and buffing allies before class change.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. There are no enemy Butlers in ''Fates'', making Butler a player-only class.
* WhiteMagicianGirl: This is a very common archetype for the class.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Dancer]]
!!Dancer and variants
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/998g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dancers in ''Three Houses'']]
The Dancer is a recurring [[UtilityPartyMember utility]] and [[SupportPartyMember support]] class that puts on a magical performances to [[ExtraTurn allow adjacent units which have already moved in a turn to move again]]. The most common iteration is a female dancer, hence the name, with variants including Bards (males that play musical instruments) from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'', the Heron laguz (BirdPeople of either gender that can sing MagicMusic called galdrar) in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'', and the Songstress (a female singer) in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. Outside of their unique ability to provide {{Extra Turn}}s, Dancers are notable for being one of the few classes exclusive to the player in most games they appear in.\\\
The Dancer and its variants tend to either be completely unarmed or are lacking in combat prowess due to their focus on being support, though when they can fight, they almost always use swords. As far as stats go, [[FragileSpeedster they tend to be on the frailer side, but make up for it with high Speed and Luck stats to help them dodge attacks]].\\\
If a game has multiple Dancers, only one of these characters will usable at any given time for balance reasons. This is because having two of them on one map would allow them to continuously grind for experience and potentially reach anywhere on the map in a single turn by being able to indefinitely dance for each other.\\\
The Bard class mentioned here is not to be confused with the Bard from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'', which is a magic-wielding class exclusive to Lewyn and Homer in their respective games. Dancers exist in their normal function in those games, though.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Phina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Sylvia and Lene/Laylea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Lara[[note]]She starts as a Thief and only becomes a Dancer by activating a special event.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Elphin and Lalum (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Nils and Ninian (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Tethys (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Reyson, Rafiel, and Leanne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''[[note]]Reyson only[[/note]] and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Olivia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Azura (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Dorothea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Seadall (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----
* AlwaysFemale: The default Dancer class has almost always been female-only. ''Three Houses'' is the first game in the series where the Dancer is available to both males and females. Averted in ''Engage'' where Seadall, the game's dancer, is a man.
* DanceBattler: In the Jugdral and Archanea games and ''Awakening'', in which they also wield swords... just not very well. The ''Fates'' version, the Songstress, wields lances/naginata instead. The ''Engage'' version uses body arts instead.
* ExtraTurn: Their abilities grant units that have already acted during their phase a second action in the same phase.
* FragileSpeedster: Dancers are characterized as fast and dodgy with their best stats being speed and luck. However, because of their nature as support units, their terrible durability, and, in some games, inability to fight, they must be protected and should not be in the front line.
* MagicDance: Averted; the ability of Dancers to grant other units an extra turn is mundane, although it functions like magic. The only exception is Ninian.
* MagicKnight: Dancers in ''Three Houses'' use swords and magic.
* MagicMusic: Nils, the Heron Laguz, and Azura can all play MagicMusic. Although Elphin plays music as well, he's more like other dancers in that he has no magical ability.
* MsFanservice: Dancers tend to be this to some extent, thanks to their minimal clothing and sultry dances. The only one who doesn't solidly fit this description is Ninian and [[MrFanservice Seadall]].
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: If there is more than one Dancer in a single game, circumstances will conspire to ensure that they can never be in the party at the same time. The sole exception, ''Fire Emblem Heroes'', has an ObviousRulePatch to have them unable to refresh each other if the other unit has Dance or Sing equipped. Subverted in ''Three Houses'' where they can be refreshed with a Dancer Battalion, but it only works once per map, and in ''Engage'', where they can be refreshed with Emblem Byleth's Goddess Dance and Emblem Veronica's Contract, but the former only works once per engage and the latter, beside being unable to move for the duration of the extra action, has the Dance option disabled for that action's duration.
* QuirkyBard: Actually not ''that'' spoony. It's true that they have (depending on the game) little or no means to defend themselves and low-to-average defense/HP, but a well-trained character of this class can have ''massive'' Speed and Luck, thus they will dodge a good part of the attacks thrown at them. (Additionally, Tethys has good HP growths.)
* SpearCounterpart: In ''Binding Blade'' and ''Blazing Blade'', you get the Bard class, which are male dancers with the same ability to "sing" which refreshes an ally like Dancers. Though the Bard class exists in the Jugdral games, there are just glorified version of Mages.
* StatusBuff:
** In ''Blazing Blade'', there are special rings that can raises a unit's stat by 10 for a single turn. Filla's Might increases attack, Ninis's Grace increases defensive stats, Thor's Ire increases critical, and Set's Litany increases avoid.
** In ''Radiant Dawn'', Herons has five different galdrar which are gain through level ups. Vigor functions like dancing (which they start by default but its effect differs for each Heron), Bliss raises the unit's biorhythm to its highest while Sorrow lowers enemy's biorhythm to its worst, Valor instantly raise Laguz's transformation gauge to its maximum, and Recovery instantly restores HP and remove conditions.
** ''Awakening'' onwards has a skill called Special Dance, though in ''Fates'', it is called Inspiring Song. In ''Awakening'', Special Dance increases +2 to Strength/Magic/Defense/Resistance while ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses'' increases +3/+4 to Skill/Speed/Luck. Unlike the earlier examples, the stat buffs stack with giving other units ExtraTurn instead of being mutually exclusive.
* SultryBellyDancer: Dancers tend to dress in fanservice-y belly dancer outfits that leave little to the imagination regarding their figures.
* SupportPartyMember: Dancer variants from the GBA and Tellius games can't attack enemies at all, and rely solely on their refreshing abilities. And even in the games where they are capable of fighting, their refreshing ability is so valuable that they'll rarely see combat.
* WanderingMinstrel: Most of them come across as this initially.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Witch]]
!!Witch
[[quoteright:228:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/witch_echoes_portrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:228:Witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/994g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Gremories in ''Three Houses'']]
The Witch is a very rare class, only appearing in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' (and ''Shadows of Valentia'' by extension) and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. They are powerful female spellcasters that have the unique Warp ability, which allows them to instantly travel anywhere on the map (''Gaiden'') or teleport adjacent to any ally (''Fates'').\\\
In ''Gaiden'' and ''Shadows of Valentia'', Witches are exclusively [=NPCs=]. Here, they are said to be women who sacrificed themselves to Duma for power, either willingly or unwillingly, which also gives them a pale complexion. ''SOV'' also introduces the similarly-themed '''Vestal''' class, which are flaming spirits.\\\
In ''Fates'', the Witch is a special playable class only obtainable via DLC. Using an item called a Witch's Mark, any female character is able to Class Change into one. They can use Dark Magic (otherwise exclusive to Dark Mages and Sorcerers) via the "Shadowgift" Skill and are capable of getting S-Rank in Tomes/Scrolls.\\\
While the Witch class does not return in ''Three Houses'', it introduces the '''Gremory''' class, which shares traits of the Witch class, including being exclusive to female units and the use of Dark and Black Magic (along with White Magic).
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Lysithea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
----
* AlwaysFemale: Witch is a female-only class.
* ArtificialStupidity: Witches' behaviors in ''Gaiden'' are... sporadic to say the least. This is a case of AcceptableBreaksFromReality as making them "smarter" on top of having the ability to move anywhere at will would make them very unbearable to face.
* DealWithTheDevil: In ''Gaiden'', Witches are the result of women sacrificing themselves to Duma for power. [[spoiler:Not always, some of them (Rinea, Sonya's sisters, Delthea, and Celica) didn't necessarily exactly want to become such.]]
* EmptyShell: In ''Gaiden'''s lore, Witches are women who offered their souls to Duma in exchange for great magical power, but lost their free will and became living husks.
* EvilRedhead: In ''Gaiden'', with the exception of the brainwashed Delthea, all Witches are redheads and happen to be antagonistic.
* FacelessGoons: Generic Gremories in ''Three Houses'' have veils covering their faces.
* FanDisservice: The Witches from ''Shadows of Valentia'' are beautiful women whose looks appeal to many fetishes, but their actual situations make them less appealing.
* {{Nerf}}: In ''Gaiden'', their signature Warp ability lets them travel to any spot on the map. ''Fates'' changes it so they can only teleport to squares cardinally adjacent to allies.
* PowerCrutch: In ''Fates'', Witches channel their magic through a lantern instead of having their equipped tomes visible in their battle model.
* PowerFloats: The witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'' are seen levitating to show their power given to them by Duma.
* RedMage: Gremories are skilled in both offensive and supportive magic.
* RobeAndWizardHat: While in ''Gaiden'' they were just recolored female mages, their outfit in ''Fates'' gives them a large pointed hat and a sleek robe.
* SquishyWizard: The Witch is the strongest magic-using class in ''Fates'', though its Defense is also less than stellar. This is especially prevalent in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, where they also have extremely low HP and can often be downed in a single physical attack.
* StatusInflictionAttack: ''Fates''[='=] Witches get the skill Toxic Brew, which has a chance of 1.5% times the Skill stat to freeze an enemy unit in place for a turn whenever the skill's wielder initiates an attack.
* TeleportSpam: Witches have this as a a SignatureMove, enabling them to warp to any tile on the map, making them extremely dangerous to units with low resistance. Their playable incarnation can only warp to tiles adjacent to allies, however.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Dread Fighter]]
!!Dread Fighter
[[quoteright:234:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dread_fighter_echoes_portrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:234:Dread Fighters in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
Dread Fighter is one of the rarer classes, only appearing in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'', its remake ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. It is part of the Mercenary line in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, acting as the line's third and final Class Change before allowing a loop back into Villager. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Dread Fighter is a standalone class that is only available via DLC. ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'' adds an Overclass called Yasha, which is also only available via DLC. Most incarnations are exclusive to male characters.\\\
Dread Fighter is defined by its {{ninja}}-esque costume design and [[MageKiller anti-magic build]]. The class sports Skills designed to mitigate magical damage, allowing for safe approaches against mages.\\\
For weapon specializations, Dread Fighter only has access to swords in ''Gaiden'' and its remake. ''Awakening'' adds axes and tomes, while ''Fates'' replaces tomes with knives/shuriken.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' DLC Alm (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'')
----
* AlwaysMale: Outside of ''Fates'', Dread Fighter is exclusive to male characters.
* DeviousDaggers: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' uses knives instead of tomes to go with their ninja motif. Fittingly, knives and shuriken beats tomes in the game's version of the weapon triangle.
* MageKiller: They are designed to take little damage from magical sources and slay magic users.
** ''Awakening'' gives a massive boost to their Resistance with the Resistance+10 skill.
** ''Fates'' has Iron Will-which causes them to receive 4 less damage from magic attacks when attacked, and Even Keel-where the user receive 4 less damage from magic attacks during even-numbered turns.
** ''Shadows of Valentia'' provides the class with Resistance+5 and Apotrope skills. Apotrope is a more powerful version of Iron Will, as it halves damage taken from magic attacks.
* MagicKnight: Dread Fighters in ''Awakening'' use tomes in addition to swords and axes.
* {{Ninja}}: They appear to have ninja-like aesthetics, and even fight like them with TeleportSpam and {{Flash Step}}s.
* ReverseGrip: While in ''Fates'' they wield swords and daggers like the Ninjas and Master Ninjas, they also wield ''axes'' and ''clubs'' in the same way.
* SwordAndFist: Dread Fighters in ''Shadows of Valentia'' have them incorporate kicks alongside their sword strikes against the enemy.
* WalkingArmory: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' use swords, axes, and knives, allowing them to fully cover the weapon triangle (with knives sharing their spot with lances).
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: They have a tendency to rest their weapons on their shoulders.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tactician/Grandmaster]]
!!Tactician and Grandmaster
The Tactician and its Class Change, Grandmaster, are a class line introduced in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''. They are more or less made specifically for the Avatar of ''Awakening'' and their children, though [=SpotPass=], [=StreetPass=], and DLC characters are capable of using Second Seals to reclass into the line. The Tactician and Grandmaster are powerful {{Magic Knight}}s that use swords and tomes, have overall high stats, and can support allies thanks to a couple of exclusive support Skills such as "Solidarity" and "Rally Spectrum".\\\
The Grandmaster returns in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' as a special class obtained by using a Fell Brand (received from completing ''Hidden Truths 1'' DLC or using the Robin Toys/{{amiibo}}) on a male unit. It does not Class Change to or from anything, but otherwise functions the same as it did in ''Awakening''.\\\
It returns once again in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'' as Céline's version of the '''Noble''' class: while it no longer has any of its support skills as a result of being standardized to be more in line with the rest of the game's classes, its promotion into '''Vidame''' grants access to staves.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Robin, Morgan [[note]]Morgan needs to have specific mothers/fathers to start out as Tactician, otherwise they will join as a different class (based on their non-Robin parent) and need to reclass into it.[[/note]], DLC Katarina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Toys/{{amiibo}} Robin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''), Céline (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----
* AlwaysMale: In ''Fates'', Grandmaster is a male-only class.
* JackOfAllStats: Somewhere between this and MasterOfAll in ''Awakening'', where their stats are generally high in all areas but not necessarily the best possible. They're straighter examples in their subsequent appearances [[ProtagonistPowerUpPrivileges where the class is no longer attached to the main character]].
* MagicKnight: They use both swords and tomes and have good Strength and Magic. In ''Awakening'' they are equally proficient with Swords and Tomes (both top at "A"), while the ''Fates'' Grandmaster and ''Engage'' Vidame lean more on the Magic side with a higher max Tome rank (Swords go to "B" while Tomes go to "A").
* RedMage: As a Vidame, Céline can use staves in addition to swords and tomes.
* SpellBlade: In all of its appearances, the class line is capable of learning [[PlayingWithFire Ignis]], a skill that uses half of their Strength or Magic to boost the other stat when they attack, depending on whether they're using a physical or magical attack.
* StatusBuff: Their "Rally Spectrum" Skill gives a one-turn boost to all stats for every ally within 3 (''Awakening'') or 4 (''Fates'') spaces.
* SupportPartyMember: They get a number of Skills to buff or otherwise assist allies. "Solidarity" increases Crit rate and Dodge by 10 for adjacent allies, "Tactical Advice" provides a Hit rate bonus for the lead unit of an Attack Stance, and "Rally Spectrum" provides a one-turn StatusBuff to all allies within 3/4 spaces.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Brawler]]
!!Brawler
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/783g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Brawlers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/892g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Grapplers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/986g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:War Master in ''Three Houses'']]
A new class series introduced in ''Three Houses''. Brawlers and their Advanced and Master Class promotions, the '''Grappler''' and '''War Master''', primarily use axes and gauntlets.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Raphael, Balthus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
----
* ActionInitiative: Upon mastering War Master, they gain Quick Riposte, allowing them to deal follow-up attacks if they are attacked and above their HP threshold. Also, unlike in ''Heroes'', the attacker will not follow-up attack if the unit is equipped with Quick Riposte.
* AlwaysMale: Brawlers, Grapplers and War Masters are male-only.
* BareFistedMonk: Their primary weapon as indicated by the skill "Unarmed Combat". Grapplers also gain the skill Fistfaire, which increases their damage when wielding gauntlets.
* ChainedByFashion: Grapplers in ''Three Houses'' have chains attached to their armor.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Brawlers and War Masters can use axes and gauntlets.
* CriticalHitClass: War Masters get Crit+20 as their class ability. As they are proficient in axes, this makes them very similar to Berserkers in the other games.
* LightningBruiser: War Masters have stats and growths on par with Wyvern Riders, paired with an addition of a Crit+20, making them one of the more dangerous footlocked units. Fighting one with Killer Knuckles is just asking for trouble.
* MageKiller: While the class does not offer Resistance growth bonuses, Grapplers can learn Tomebreaker, which increases their Hit and Avoid against Tome-wielding users.
* SecretArt:
** Grapplers have Fierce Iron Fist, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to them, where they deal three consecutive attacks.
** War Master's Strike, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to War Masters. It grants effective bonus damage against all foes.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Beasts]]
!!Beasts
[[quoteright:223:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesyoukoportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:223:Kitsune in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesninetailedfoxportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Ninetails in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesgarouportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:255:Wolfskins in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_wolfssegner_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Wolfsegnar in ''Fates'']]
When Manaketes were re-imagined as Dragon Laguz in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'', other similar tribes of animal shapeshifters were introduced.\\\
In new titles since, these units use Beaststones to transform in contrast to the Manaketes' Dragonstone, and can be seen as a counterpart to the class.\\\
So far, beasts of this kind have included Lions, Tigers, Cats, Wolves, Hawks, Ravens, Rabbits (Taguel), Foxes (Kitsune), and Werewolves (Wolfskins). Dragon Tribe Laguz are covered by the Manaketes, and Heron Laguz function as Bards/Dancers.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class:''' Lethe, Ranulf, Mordecai, Muarim, Giffca, Janaff, Ulki, Tibarn and Naesala (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Lyre, Kyza, Skrimir, Vika, Nealuchi, Volug and Nailah (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' only); Panne and Yarne [[note]](a Morgan born from any of them will have access to the class)[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Kaden, Keaton, Selkie and Velouria [[note]]Kana and Shigure born from any of them will have access to the class[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'')
----
* AchillesHeel: Laguz are weak to anti-Laguz weapons and Fire/Wind magic. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', they are weak to anti-beast weapons and skills, even when outside of their beast class.
* {{Animorphism}}: Using beaststones, or the natural ability of the Laguz, they can take on an animal form for combat.
* AsianFoxSpirit: The Kitsune and Ninetails class. They also have foxfires that surround them when transformed.
* DireBeast: Their animal forms are huge compared to regular animals. Small Cat laguz are the size of real life Big Cats. Lions and Hawks tower over human beings. Rabbits are similarly the size of Big Cats, and it's taken to the extreme with Wolfskins, who are literal monsters.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution:
** In games where multiple types of beast units exist, they typically are given differences to make them each distinct from each other.
** In the Tellius games, the Beast tribes are split between the Cat, Tiger, Lion, and Wolf. The Cat is a FragileSpeedster, the Tiger is a MightyGlacier, the Lion is a LightningBruiser, and the Wolves are more of a JackOfAllStats.
** Also in the Tellius games, the Bird tribes are split between the Hawks, Ravens, and Herons. The Hawks are more akin to LightningBruiser, the Ravens are FragileSpeedster, while the Herons are Dancers.
* DyingRace: The Wolf Tribe in the Tellius games have lost much of their numbers; nevertheless, they recover in the epilogue. The Heron Laguz are even worse, since the few remaining ones are the LastOfTheirKind. The Taguel are also the LastOfTheirKind, with only one full-blooded Taguel (Panne) left.[[note]](The half-blooded Taguel Yarne is specifically said to have much stronger Taguel genes, while a Morgan parented by either of them has stronger human ones.)[[/note]]
* {{Expy}}: The Tellius games make the various species of Laguz effectively animal copies of their Human counterparts in terms of class. To elaborate:
** Beast Tribe: Cats are essentially Myrmidons (high Speed and Luck but almost no bulk), Tigers are either Fighters (high Strength and HP, but lower Defense), or Knights (high HP, Strength, and Defense, but slow), Lions are similar to Paladins (use virtually all physical related stats well with high damage), and Wolves are Mercenaries (balanced offensive stats, with solid bulk).
** Bird Tribes: The Bird Tribes are airborne and can also move after attacking, making them similar to the flying classes. Hawks are essentially faster Wyvern Riders (focus on strength with average physical bulk), Ravens are essentially Pegasus Knights (High Speed, Resistance, and Luck but low bulk and Strength), while Herons are Dancers.
* HitAndRunTactics: The Bird Tribe in ''Radiant Dawn'' can move again after attacking or singing. The exception is Rafiel as he is grounded by his clipped wings.
* LightningBruiser: While they have different specialties depending on species, compared to human units, they are all extremely fast and strong. The Tiger Laguz are the only ones lacking in this area.
* LittleBitBeastly: They all exhibit some traits of their beast form even in human form. Usually [[CatGirl ears and tails]], or [[WingedHumanoid wings]] in the case of the bird tribes. Dragons/manaketes in contrast are usually much more subtle.
* LongLived: [[DownplayedTrope To a lesser extent]] compared to Manaketes (who's life expectancy is in the ''plural'' of thousands), but beastfolk often tend to have very long life-spans in spite of such. The shortest lived among the Laguz, the Lions, live for ''180 years on average'', with class blurbs like the Kitsune in ''Fates'' outright noting the species has a long live span even compared to other beastfolk due to their spirit magic and beast heritage.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Beasts are more physically-oriented, while their dragon counterparts have better magic stats. This translate into almost all Beast units, save the Kitsune, having poor Resistance stats.
* NaturalWeapon: The Laguz uses their own claw, talons, and beaks when fighting in their beast forms. In ''Radiant Dawn'', they have a special weapon rank called Strike which improves their attacks upon raising their weapon rank. {{Avert}}ed with Beast classes since ''Awakening'' as they wield Stones like Manaketes.
* NoSell: The Hawk Laguz's mastery skill in Path of Radiance was Cancel (or Wing Guard), which lets them nullify damage based on their skill.
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: The Wolfskin and Wolfsegner look less like wolves and more like gorillas with koala and wolf traits.
* PantheraAwesome: The Tiger and the Lion Laguz of the Beast Tribe, especially the Lion Laguz as one is their king.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Emperor]]
!!Emperor (and variants)
If the final boss isn't a dark magician, a dragon, or a god, this is what they'll be -- a king decked out in enormous armour or finery, dwarfing every other unit (except maybe Manaketes/laguz) in sheer size, wielding a huge AncestralWeapon, and possessing astronomical physical stats. More often than not, though, there'll be a TrueFinalBoss after them. Specifically, this refers to '''Emperor''' Hardin of ''Mystery of the Emblem'', '''Emperor''' Arvis of ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', '''Baron''' Raydrik of ''Thracia 776'', '''King''' Zephiel of ''The Binding Blade'', Ashnard, '''King Daein''', of ''Path of Radiance'' (who is also similar to a Dragon Rider), Walhart the '''Conqueror''' of ''Awakening'', '''Nohrian King''' Garon in ''Fates'', and '''[[SheIsTheKing Emperor]]''' Edelgard of ''Three Houses''.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class:''' Walhart (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Edelgard (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
----
* AncestralWeapon: All of them wield personal weapons.
* ArmorAndMagicDontMix: Inverted with The Baron class and Jugdral Emperor class. Both classes are even more armored than the General class, they also have the most powerful magic abilities around.
* {{BFS}}: As fitting their position, their weapons are often very large. Averted by Arvis, who uses the magic tome [[PlayingWithFire Valflame]] instead (though he ''does'' have a Silver Blade, the strongest non-legendary sword, [[OrnamentalWeapon in his inventory]], even if he was hacked to not be able to use Valflame, Arvis will not use the Silver Blade).
* ContractualBossImmunity: To prevent them from being easily defeated, they usually have skills that negate weapon effectiveness against their movement type, or their personal classes don't have those weaknesses in the first place.
* DegradedBoss: Barons are encountered as generic enemies in the final chapter of ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' after the more powerful Emperor class is introduced in the story. The final arena opponent of the same chapter belongs to the Emperor class as well.
* TheEmperor: The majority of character in these classes are the ruler of a hostile empire or kingdom.
* {{Expy}}: Much like the Lords, they have unique classes that are basically based off of existing classes, but individualized to fit the character using the class.
** King Zephiel, Emperor Hardin, Nohrian King Garon, and Emperor Edelgard all have similarities to the General class, be it through similar stat lines, being armored, or both. Zephiel uses a sword while Generals in his game can't, while the Black Knight is also related to the third tier Marshall class by proxy.
** Emperor Arvis is basically a souped up Baron class. The Baron class itself is also similar to the General class but with access to magic, and is used by Raydrik.
** King Ashnard is essentially a better version of the Wyvern Lord class, but Ashnard uses a sword rather than a lance.
** Walhart the Conqueror is very similar to the Great Knight class.
* FinalBoss: Often your last opponent, but there'll frequently be a TrueFinalBoss after them.
* {{Foil}}: Essentially the opposite of the Lord class, being classes that are mostly exclusive to one particular character in the games they appear in, gets unique (possibly legendary) weapons to wield, and is the leader of their army, but the Lord class belongs to the main playable character while the Emperor class belongs to the game's main villain (or one of them, though typically one that is working in the foreground).
* LargeAndInCharge: Their sprites tend to dwarf the others in the game. Usually, this is a product of having bulky, intimidating armor.
* LightningBruiser: They have fantastic, if not outright maxed, stats across the board. This includes Speed, in spite of their huge size and heavy armor.
* MagicKnight: Barons and Jugdral's Emperors can use anima magic in addition to all physical weapons.
* PromotedToPlayable: Twice, first with Walhart in ''Awakening'', then Edelgard in ''Three Houses''.
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: The majority of them are authority figures who are much more powerful then their troops.
* TinTyrant: They're almost always covered in armor.
* WalkingArmory: Arvis can use all weapon types but Dark and Light Magic.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Monsters]]
!!Monsters
In addition to the usual human and draconic enemies, ''Gaiden'', ''The Sacred Stones'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' contain a wide variety of monstrous enemies. They come in the following types:
!! Introduced in ''Gaiden'' and ''Shadows of Valentia''
* Revenants/Entombed: Zombie-like creatures that attack with claws. They have high HP but extremely low stats otherwise. In addition to appearing in both ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones'', they reappeared in ''Fire Emblem Awakening'' as a type of Risen and the only monster class in that game. ''Echoes'' introduces a stronger [[EvilIsBigger and bigger]] variant for the Revenant known as a Dracul and what has to be the monster equivalent of an overclass for the Entombed called the Tomb Lord.
* Bonewalkers: Skeletal soldiers that wield a variety of weapon types. Their advanced equivalent is known as the Lich in ''Gaiden'' and the Wight in ''Sacred Stones''. ''Echoes'' additionally introduces two stronger variants: the Titan (a giant and stronger axe-wielding version of the Lich) and the Deimos (an axe-wielding shaman arisen that wields potent purging fire).
* Mogalls (Bigls in the Japanese version): Small [[{{Oculothorax}} floating eyes]] that wield Dark magic. In ''Sacred Stones'' they have an advanced version called Arch Mogalls and in ''Echoes'' the Balor appears in the former's place.
* Fiends: Demonic Barons exclusive to ''Gaiden'' and its remake. The Guardian introduced in Echoes is a redder, more powerful variant of the Fiend.
* Gargoyles: Flying creatures wielding lances. Their advanced equivalent is the Balrog in ''Gaiden'' and the Deathgoyle in ''Sacred Stones''. Stronger than even the Deathgoyle is the Garuda introduced in ''Echoes''.
!! Introduced in ''The Sacred Stones''
* Baels/Elder Baels: Spiderlike creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. They attack with deadly claws that may sometimes be poisoned.
* Tarvos/Maelduins: Centaurlike creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. They wield axes, and the "advanced" Maelduins also use bows.
* Mauthe Doogs/Gwyllgis: Speedy demon dogs that attack with fangs. Exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''.
* Gorgons: Scaly creatures hatching from eggs that wield a variety of nasty dark magic spells. Exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''.
* Cyclopes: Massive axe-wielding creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. Their HP cap is higher than that of other units.
* Draco Zombies (Dragon Zombies in the Japanese version, Necrodragons in ''Shadows of Valentia''): [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Like dragons, only deader]]. In ''Gaiden'' and its remake, they have a "advanced" version called White Dragons. ''Echoes'' further introduces the Fafnir, a monstrous, ancient dragon that has survived since antiquity.
* Phantom (Spirit Warriors in the Japanese version): A spirit exclusive to ''Sacred Stones'', they are summoned by a Summoner or Necromancer.
!! Introduced in ''Fates''
* Faceless: Humanoid creatures made from dark magic, debuting in ''Fates''. In contrast to the Revenants[=/=]Entombed, they are rather large and bulky, and attack with their fists instead of their claws.
* Stoneborn: Moving statues who debuted in ''Fates''. They attack by launching rocks from afar.
* Automaton: Puppets moving by clockwork who debuted in ''Fates''. They attack with saws and yumi (eastern bows) and is the first monster class capable of using both normal and monster weapons.
* Empty Vessel: [[spoiler:Garon]]'s true form in ''Conquest'', it is a slime monster made of water that attacks with axes. Debuting in ''Fates'', it is the first monster class seen since ''Sacred Stones'' to only use a normal weapon instead of an enemy-only monster weapon.
!! Introduced in ''Three Houses''
* Black Beast: A crazed [[spoiler:transformed Miklan when the Lance of Ruin's crest stone consumed him for his lack of a crest]].
* Wandering Beast: A mad creature that lurks in the wild. [[spoiler:A bestial form of Maurice, a forgotten Elite.]]
* Hegemon Husk: An emperor's corpse hellbent on world conquest. [[spoiler:Edelgard's OneWingedAngel transformation on Azure Moon, utilizing her twin crests to their fullest extent.]]
* Wild Demonic Beasts: A feral Demonic Beast spotted in the wilds. Can breathes poisonous breath.
* Experimental Demonic Beast: [[spoiler:A human-transformed Beast by the power of crest stones embedded on their forehead.]]
* Demonic Beast: Demonic Beasts under the control of the [[spoiler:Imperial]] army. Upgrades of the Experimental Demonic Beast.
* Flying Demonic Beast: Agile flying Demonic Beasts.
* Altered Demonic Beast: Demonic Beasts with an anti-magic armor, granting them immunity to magic damage.
* Giant Demonic Beast: A gigantic version of human-transformed beasts. [[spoiler:Dedue]] takes on this form in the Crimson Flower route.
* Umbral Beast: A powerful monster created by the Chalice of Beginnings in the ''Cindered Shadows'' expansion. [[spoiler:Aelfric's transformation after he is absorbed by the Chalice and fused with Sitri's corpse.]]
* Golem: Mechanized automatons in the service of the Church of Seiros.
* Altered Golem: Stronger golems wield by the Church of Seiros. They are immune to magic.
* Guardian Golem: A unique golem tasked with protecting the Chalice of Beginnings in the ''Cindered Shadows'' expansion.
* Titanus: A mechanized weapon created by Agarthan technology.
* White Beast: [[spoiler:Cardinals of the Church transformed by the will of the Immaculate One]].
* Lord of the Lake: A giant tortoise-like monster that lives in the lake. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Indech]].
* Lord of the Desert: A giant bird-like monster that lives in the desert. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Macuil]].
* The Immaculate One: A giant white-dragon revered in the teachings of the Church of Seiros. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Seiros/Rhea]].
* Giant Bird: A bird that grew enormous due to magic.
* Giant Crawler: A worm that grew enormous due to magic.
* Giant Wolf: A wolf that grew enormous due to magic.
!! Introduced in ''Engage''
All three of these types have a Fabrication[[note]]Refered to as Phantom ingame[[/note]] variant, which are aligned with the Divine Dragons and Emblems, and a Corrupted variant, which are aligned with the Fell Dragons.
* Wyrm: Large but slow-moving, draconic creatures that have a large attack range that allows them to shoot breaths from afar.
* Wyvern: DLC-Exclusive. They are undead wyverns that spit out powerful breaths. They also change the terrain of their surroundings, with the Fabrication variant creating frost, and the Corrupted variant creating miasma. The corrupted variant also have a wider attack range than its Fabrication counterpart.
* Wolf: DLC-Exclusive. They are undead wolves that bite with poisonous fangs and, like ordinary wolves, fight in packs.
----
* AchillesHeel: All monsters are weak against the Bishop's Slayer skill, the Falcon Knight's Banish skill, and the Sacred Twin weapons (except for Gleipnir). Giant Crawlers are able to negate this weakness as a latent ability when down to their last healthbars [[spoiler:and Hegemon Husk Edelgard negates her monster weakness from the outset of fighting her.]] In addition, Gargoyles/Deathgoyles/Garuda, Draco Zombies/White Dragons/Fafnirs, Giant Birds,and White Beasts are treated as flying units and are thereby weak to bows and the Wind Sword, and Tarvos/Maelduins are treated as mounted units and are weak to weapons that do additional damage to them. Lastly, all Demonic Beast variants (wild, exp. base, winged, and giant), the Lord of the Lake, Lord of the Desert, White Beasts, and The Immaculate One are all dragons meaning they also share a weakness to anti-dragon weaponry and abilities.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: Dracozombie's attacks completely ignore defense so watch your units that have less HP than their attack. [[spoiler:The Immaculate One's Staggering Blow in Silver Snow, Hoarfrost, completely ignore any defenses.]]
* {{BFS}}: A Titanus carries one called a Giant Katar, wielding it in one hand and it's capable of firing [[SwordBeam energy beams]] from it for ranged combat.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Baels and Elder Baels, which are absolutely ''huge'' spiders.
* BlowYouAway: The Lord of the Desert utilizes magical wind to attack his foes, with his bird-like design helping the mofit. Giant Wolves and Giant Crawlers will also make use of this for their staggering blows--quickly spinning or sweeping in place to generate a harsh gust of wind, and Winged Demonic Beasts generate sharp wind crescents for ranged combat.
* BossInMookClothing: Draco Zombies (and White Dragons in ''Gaiden''). In fact, unless you do [[BonusDungeon the Lagdou Ruins]] in their entirety ''as soon'' as they become available, the first one you encounter in ''Sacred Stones'' will actually ''be'' a boss, complete with unique sprite! [[spoiler:Technically speaking, though, his class is still listed as Manakete...]]
* BreathWeapon: Draco Zombies usually attack with a dark breath. In ''Three Houses'', all Demonic Beast variants save for the Giant Demonic Beasts are capable of breathing fire (or poison for the Wild Demonic Beasts), and White Beasts on the other hand sport magic, holy blue flames instead.[[spoiler:The Immaculate One can also exple holy blue flames or a vaporizing beam of light).]]
* CastingAShadow: Mogalls/Arch Mogalls and Gorgons. Draco Zombies also have wretched air, a stream of fetid dark flames spewed at their target.
* {{Cyclops}}: The fittingly named [[ClassicalCyclops Cyclops]] in ''Sacred Stones'', which is one of the more powerful monsters. ''Echoes'' redesigns the Lich as well as introduces the Titan and Deimos to have this look; the artbook suggests that the Lich and Titan respectively had the heads of one-eyed goats or bulls while the Deimos wore a sone-eyed monster's skull for a mask.
* DamageReduction: The Titanus and the Lord of the Lake are both outfitted with Pavise and Aegis as long as their barriers are up, making it even more difficult to take them down.
* DracoLich: The fittingly named Draco Zombies are among the toughest foes in all three of their appearances which consist of ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* DishingOutDirt: A Stoneborn attacks by hurling out giant boulders from the cavity under its mask. Giant Crawlers, Giant Wolves, and Giant Demonic Beasts will also pick up giant rocks and hurl them at their enemies as ranged attacks.
* EvilCounterpart: Several Monster classes have human counterparts. The Titanus can function as one to the Golem and Altered Golem, with the latter two having close ties to the Chruch of Seiros while the former is employed by one of the two church's enemy factions[[spoiler:--Those who Slither in the Dark]]. In ''Engage'', the Fell-Dragon aligned corrupted variants of this game's monsters serve as this to the fabrication variants of them, as the latter are created by the Divine Dragons and Emblems.
* FeatherFlechettes: Giant Birds will fire off their feathers as their ranged attack and also [[FlechetteStorm unleash a barrage of them]] as their staggering blow.
* FragileSpeedster: Mauthe Doogs and Gwyllgis are the monster counterparts to the Myrmidon line. Also, the giant animals in ''Three Houses'' are considerably faster and harder to hit compared to most other monsters of the Demonic Beast build, but their barriers are more easily broken and they typically do not hit as hard.
* GeoEffects: Phantoms completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties because they are ethereal beings with no solid, tangible forms.
* GiantMook: Monsters in ''Three Houses'' are large, take up to at least 4 spaces rather than 1 space like most units. Their giant size can either block or be blocked by units, they can be roadblocked by obstacles or units that have only one space gap. [[spoiler:Hegemon Husk Edelgard is the exception to this trope, being no bigger than a regular unit map-wise.]]
* HealingFactor: The Lord of the Lake possesses this ability in addition to its myriad of defensive skills and the [[LastChanceHitPoint Miracle]] ability.
* {{Hellhound}}: The Mauthe Doogs and the Gwyllgis in ''Sacred Stones''. The latter had three heads instead of one and were even called Cerberus in the Japanese version.
* HumongousMecha: The Golems, Altered Golems, and Titanuses are massive automatons with equally large armaments (lances of light for the golems and giant katars for the Titanuses).
* IFightForTheStrongestSide: Faceless are created with no minds of their own and simply act on primal bestial instinct to attack others. Practitioners of Dark Magic are able to bend and enslave them to their will. Such people include Iago, Leo, and Rhajat.
* LastChanceHitPoint: The Lord of the Lake and White Beasts possess Miracle which may save them from an otherwise fatal blow, ensuring that they will not be easy to take down )especially the White Beasts with their high Luck stat factoring into it).
* TheLegionsOfHell: Dolth, a boss in the original ''Gaiden'' says in his MagicalIncantation that he's summoning the Dracozombies from Hell. Fiends are described as from the nether realm in ''Shadows of Valentia''.
* LightIsNotGood: The White Beasts are frenzied dragons that expel holy blue flames as their attack. The same can be said of the Golems and Altered Golems [[spoiler:should Rhea descend into insanity]]. [[spoiler:The Immaculate One, whether willingly antagonistic or degenerated, also counts with both the holy blue flames or her vaporizing light breath.]]
* MakingASplash: The Lord of the Lake utilizes magic water to attack foes and is suitably designed after a turtle, a potentially aquatic creature.
* MightyGlacier: Cyclopes, who wield strong axes and has high defenses and bloated HP, they are very slow to which they can be compared to Knights. Although their stat caps tend towards LightningBruiser with high Speed and Skill, few Cyclops enemies get close to those caps. The majority of monsters in ''Three Houses'' besides the giant animals are typically like this.
* MultipleLifeBars: The monsters in ''Three Houses'' have several health bars. With each depleted bar, they may gain stat boosts and an additional skill.
* NoSell: Altered Demonic Beasts and Altered Golems have armor that grants them complete immunity to magic damage until the armor breaks.
* NotUsingTheZWord: Averted in the Japanese version, where Revenants are called Zombies.
* {{Oculothorax}}: Mogalls, Arch Mogalls, and Balors are giant eyeballs with tentacles.
* OneHitPointWonder: Phantoms have only 1 HP. If they are summoned with a Devil Axe equipped, it is possible for it to die attacking before an enemy attacks.
* OurCentaursAreDifferent: Tarvos and Maelduin appear like traditional savage centaurs except with dark grey/black skin. They use axes and bows.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The Demonic Beasts are dragon-like creatures, thus vulnerable to anti-dragon attacks. [[spoiler:Indech and Macuil's dragon form is based on a turtle and bird, respectively.]]
* OurMonstersAreDifferent: They appear to lack sentience of their own, and mindlessly carry out the bidding of their summoner.
* PermanentlyMissableContent: Phantoms cannot trade, so if it kills an enemy and obtains an item from it, the item will be inaccessible to other units.
* PinataEnemy: Revenants and Entombed are fairly unimposing aside from their large stores of HP, but give out great amounts of EXP -- the latter is pretty much a guaranteed level-up for an base-class unit. (This has carried over to ''Awakening''.) Also, Gorgon Eggs are immobile and incapable of attacking and give out exactly 50 EXP when destroyed regardless of the attacking unit's level. Also, they start out with only a few HP and start healing every turn at a certain point, and if allowed to heal to full, they turn into [[GoddamnedBats Gorgons.]] Tomb Lords, introduced in ''Echoes'', are more of a downplayed example as while they do give out large amounts of EXP, they're also difficult to take down and are easily capable of killing just about anyone.
* PoisonousPerson: Wild Demonic Beasts are poisonous creatures, they have the Poison and Poison Strike skills. Some Tomb Lords may also possess venin claws, which on top of their scary strength makes them more dangerous.
* RoarBeforeBeating: Monster units in ''Three Houses'' do this as they prepare their Staggering Blow--a meaty {{area of effect}} attack that can hit from 8, 10, or 12 squares in two rows of four/five or three rows of four up in front of it and cannot be countered, typically reducing the victims' stats and inflicting various status effects (including against allied units). All opposing factions had best fell the monster, break its barries, or get out of dodge before then.
* SandWorm: The Giant Crawlers are earthworms jacked up to a huge size and are capable of moving through the much-maligned desert tiles with no issue.
* SelfDuplication: Mogalls and Balors possess the ability to make copies of themselves in ''Gaiden'' and ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia''.
* SinisterScimitar: Melee Bonewalkers use this in both ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* SinisterScythe: Gargoyles and their relatives wield scythes in ''Gaiden''.
* SquishyWizard: Mogalls and Arch Mogalls.
* SummonMagic: Phantoms can be summoned by the Summoner and Necromancer Classes in ''Sacred Stones''. Certain player and enemy units could also summon units as AI allies.
* SuperToughness: The Lord of the Lake and the Lord of the Desert (as well as The Immaculate One) possess Ancient Dragonskin, naturally halving all incoming damage, and so long as their barriers are up they have access to Dragon-Scale Wall that reduces the damage even further by a whopping ''70%''.
* TakenForGranite: Gorgon enemies can cast a spell called "Stone" which petrifies your units. Petrified units cannot move and any attack against them will have a 100% chance of hitting and a 30% chance of being a critical hit.
* WasOnceAMan: Many of the monster classes in ''Three Houses'' [[spoiler:were humans transformed by crest stones. Especially, the Black Beast from Miklan, the Wandering Beast from Maurice, the Giant Demonic Beast from Dedue, the cardinals turned White Beasts, and Edelgard as the Hegemon Husk.]]
* WolfpackBoss: The Lagdou Ruins end with a stage containing eight Draco Zombies and no other enemies.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Overclasses]]
!!Overclasses
Overclasses are a new tier of classes available as DLC for ''Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'', accessible when units are at their most powerful: in the highest-tier available class and at Level 20. Among them are:
* Conqueror: An advanced-tier for the Hero class, thus making it exclusive to Alm.
* Rigain: An advanced-tier for the Princess class, thus making it exclusive to Celica.
* Spartan: An advanced-tier for the Baron. The class is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: a warrior wearing armor based on what the Spartans wore.
* Enchantress: An advanced-tier for the Priestess class.
* Skogul: An advanced-tier for the Gold Knight class.
* Yasha: An advanced-tier for the Dread Fighter class.
* Harrier: An advanced-tier for the Falcon Knight class.
* Exemplar: An advanced-tier for the Saint class.
* Guru: An advanced-tier for the Sage class.
* Oliphantier: An advanced-tier for the Bow Knight class.
----
* AnimalMotifs: Oliphantiers's horse mounts are fitted with pieces of armor that make them resemble elephants, adding to the elephant archer aesthetic the class goes for.
* BadassCape: All of the Overclasses except for the Oliphantier have a cape.
* BlingOfWar: They all have gold or silver accents in some shape, form, or fashion.
* BribingYourWayToVictory: They're DLC classes. Granted, the fact that you need to have a character at level 20 and at the highest tier of their class means you'd have to grind to be able to use them.
* CallForward: The Alm exclusive Conqueror class shares its name with that of his descendant Walhart's personal class (though Walhart's version is closer to the Emperor class in spirit and in gameplay functions more like an improved Great Knight than a Lord), and even has horns on it's headgear, a feature that Walhart takes to an exaggerated level.
* DarkIsNotEvil: The Enchantress can learn Death and Mire, which are exclusive to enemy mages, the Harrier rides a dark horse and the Guru can summon Terrors.
* EasterEgg: The pattern on the Enchantress's cape is derived from Celtic knots, a design motif prominent in ''Fire Emblem Heroes''.
* HolyHandGrenade: Rigain grants Celica the Aura spell when she class changes to it.
* MagicKnight: Aside from the Rigain and the Enchantress who already class changed from one, the Harrier can learn spells and use their spears in tandem, just like Dark Fliers.
* MeaningfulName: "Rigain" is Old Irish for queen.
* NavelDeepNeckline: The Harrier's uniform has one going past their navel.
* {{Necromancer}}: Gurus can learn Lemegeton, allowing them to conjure Terrors of their own.
* NoSell: The Phalanx skill on Spartans allow the user to have a chance to negate damage taken equal to their Defense/2%, which can also be multiplied for every adjacent ally.
* PoisonedWeapons: The Yasha's skill Tri-Affliction gives them a chance to poison enemies on hit.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: The Spartan's skill Phalanx allows him to negate all damage, the odds of it triggering increasing the more allies are nearby.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Trainee Classes]]
!!Trainee Classes
[[quoteright:160:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/echoes_villager_m_2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:160:Male Villagers in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
[[quoteright:128:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/echoes_villager_f_2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:128:Female Villagers in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
The "trainee classes" are a set of six classes which embody MagikarpPower. They start out much weaker than other classes, but have excellent potential for growth and have incredible versatility in their main draw: their ability to Class Change to a wide range of classes, allowing the player to bolster their forces specifically to their tastes.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'', the only trainee class is the '''Villager''', which has the ability to Class Change to any of five classes: Mercenary, Soldier, Archer, Mage, or Cavalier. If the Mercenary route is taken, the third-tier Dread Fighter class can Class Change right back around to Villager, allowing for an effective infinite stat-gain loop. Villagers start out wielding swords, though they will likely lose this proficiency depending on what they Class Change into. ''Shadows of Valentia'' introduced Faye, a female Villager. While Mage and Cavalier are unisex options, female Villagers swap out Mercenary, Soldier and Archer for Pegasus Knight and Cleric instead.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', there are three trainee classes, each exclusive to one ally character: the '''Pupil''', the '''Journeyman''', and the '''Recruit'''. Each has two Class Change options: the Pupil can go into Mage or Shaman, the Journeyman to Fighter or Pirate, and the Recruit to Cavalier or Knight. In accordance with the branched class progression system of ''The Sacred Stones'', each thus has three or four options for their final class.\\\
The Villager class returns in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', this time wielding lances. It oddly cannot Class Change in and of itself, instead relying on Second Seals to become another class.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Villager is a Hoshidan class that acts like any other in terms of Class Changing. They can go into '''Merchant''', which uses lances and bows and has a Skill that nets you extra gold, or branch into the '''Master of Arms''' class, a MightyGlacier that can use all three main weapon types.\\\
In ''Three Houses'', trainee classes return in both the '''Noble''' and '''Commoner''' classes. They can wield any weapon in the game and some magic.\\\
''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' features the '''Princess''' and '''Prince''' classes, unique to Lachesis and Leif, respectively. While they are not quite 'true' trainee classes, they fit a large majority of the tropes -- they start as very weak classes, but eventually promote into '''Master Knight''', which has access to every weapon type in the game other than dark magic.
->'''Playable characters of these classes:''' Tobin, Gray, Kliff, and Atlas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden/Shadows of Valentia]]''); Amelia, Ewan, and Ross (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Donnel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Mozu (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Faye (''Shadows of Valentia''); Byleth and every Academy student[[labelnote:Students including...]]Edelgard, Hubert, Ferdinand, Bernadetta, Linhardt, Caspar, Dimitri, Felix, Annette, Sylvain, Ingrid, Claude, Lorenz, Hilda, Marianne, Lysithea, Dorothea, Dedue, Ignatz, Mercedes, Raphael, Ashe, Petra, Leonie, Yuri, Balthus, Hapi, Constance, and Cyril[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
----
* BoringButPractical: Commoners and Nobles get HP +5 as their mastery skill, which is very valuable early-game as most of your units are not sturdy enough yet to survive hard hits, especially in Maddening where the enemy will always outpace you in damage.
* BucketHelmet: Male villagers in ''Awakening'' wear pots as makeshift helmets.
* {{Expy}}: Recruit, Amelia's trainee class in ''The Sacred Stones'', is a variant of the Soldier, and is even called ''Trainee Soldier'' in Japan.
* FireIceLightning: Pupils are aspiring mages that are capable of using anima magic, which are comprised of the three elements.
* HeroesPreferSwords: Villagers in ''Gaiden'' start out with swords.
* MagikarpPower: They start out weak, but they come with the Aptitude skill which increases their growth rates, or the ability to "gain" more levels than normal in one way or another, which give them more chances to proc their growth rates. Both cases increase their chances of capping more stats and/or become more powerful than the average ''FE'' unit does over the course of a game.
* NewGamePlus: Kind of. In ''The Sacred Stones'', once one completes both Eirika and Ephraim's stories at least once, the trainees have the option to class change to the trainee classes again and again. The final-tiered versions of these classes gain special bonuses; the super Journeyman and Recruit gain increased critical rates, while the super Pupil is the only class in the game which can normally[[note]]there's a [[GoodBadBugs bug]] in the game which allows any unit to be able to learn dark magic, and Sages in this game naturally learn both anima and light magic[[/note]] use all three types of offensive magic.
* PowerUpLetdown: Constitution is the only stat that doesn't grow with the Super Trainees, leaving them to be slowed down by the more powerful and heavier weapons. This particularly hurts the Journeyman, who not only uses the heaviest weapons in the game, but has a counterpart in the Berserker which has the necessary constitution and a similar critical hit bonus.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Soldier]]
!!Soldier
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/695g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Soldiers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fateslancerportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Spear Fighter in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesholylancerportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Spear Master in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesbasaraportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Basara in ''Fates'']]
Soldiers are lance-wielding footsoldiers that are typically treated as a {{mook|s}} class in most games. It makes its first appearance in ''Gaiden'', where they are the first tier class that can Class Change into the '''Knight''' class. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'', they are a proper player class that functions as the lance-wielding counterpart of the Fighter, Myrmidon, and Archer. There, they Class Change to the '''Halberdier''' class, then again in ''Radiant Dawn'' to the '''Sentinel''' class. Soldiers also return in ''Three Houses''.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', the Soldier class is called the '''Lancer''', is part of the Nohr kingdom, and is unplayable outside of using the Capture command. However, an expy of the playable version called a '''Spear Fighter''' appear as units from Hoshido, which Class Changes into '''Spear Master''' [[note]]Which shares the same name as the Sentinel's name, Holy Lancer, in the Japanese versions[[/note]] or branch into the '''Basara''' class, a class that relies on high skill activation rates and [[MagicKnight utilizes lances and tomes]].\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'', the Lance Fighter can class change into either Halberdier or the newly introduced '''Royal Knight''', a cavalry class that can use lances and staves.\\\
Related are the class families '''Sentinel''' and '''Picket''', exclusive to Timerra, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Lukas and Forsyth (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Nephenee and Devdan/Danved (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Aran (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Oboro and Shiro (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Timerra, Mauvier (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----
* ActionInitiative: Halberdiers in ''Engage'' gain the Pincer Attack skill at Level 5, where get a guarateed follow-up attack if they initiate combat against an adjacent enemy and there is an ally on the opposite of them.
* AlwaysMale: The Soldier line, which extends to the Knight and Baron class, is exclusive to males in ''Echoes''.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Halberdier's mastery skill, Luna, in ''Path of Radiance''.
* AscendedExtra: The class started off as the starting class for the Knight class in ''Gaiden'', and only appeared in a few games as generic enemy glasses. ''Path of Radiance'' and ''Radiant Dawn'' gives more spotlight to Soldiers, as not only are they a playable class again (for the first time since ''Gaiden''), but they have a unique class line. ''Fates'' would bring them back in full and make them a more fleshed-out class, as well as a counterpart to the Nohrian Knight class.
* CastFromHitpoints: Royal Knight's class skill, Reforge, allows the unit to remove an adjacent ally's broken status after combat at a cost of 10 of their own HP. However, they must have enough HP to actually remove the broken status.
* CriticalHit: The Sentinel's Impale mastery skill, which deals ''four'' times the damage.
* CriticalHitClass: Halberdiers and Sentinels in ''Radiant Dawn'' and Spear Masters in ''Fates'' gain a critical boost, while the latter also decreases enemy critical rate.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: The Spear Fighters in ''Fates'' have Seal Defense, which reduces the enemy's Defense by 6 after combat if they survive. The Spear Masters in ''Fates'' also have Seal Speed, which reduces the enemy's Speed by 6 as well.
* DemotedToExtra: Soldiers went from a mainline tier 1 class in ''Gaiden'' into an unplayable class in ''Mystery of the Emblem.'' ''Thracia 776'' even made them extremely weak, just like the Archer class, except Soldiers had no comparable player counterpart, as regular lance-using Armor Knights were unplayable.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: Started out as a 1st tier of the Knight class, they became a proper class in the Tellius games. ''Fates'' further separates Soldiers into the playable version in Hoshido & the mook version in Nohr. Since the Tellius games, they went from being MightyGlacier or StoneWall due to this, to being often JackOfAllStats or LightningBruiser depending on the stats and growths.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In ''Gaiden'', they're essentially Armor Knights, and are playable. While unplayable in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', they aren't any weaker than any other tier 1 class, and can even be powerful. In ''Genealogy of the Holy War''[='=]s DummiedOut data, the Soldier class was going to be included with an additional Lance variation with higher stats, as well as a Sword and Bow variation. The {{Mook}} type was introduced in ''Thracia 776''.
* {{Expy}}: The Spear Fighter is pretty much the Soldier except more eastern-themed.
* {{Foil}}: To Knights. Both classes are lance-wielding soldiers that serve as the backbone to the army of TheEmpire, but Soldiers are generalists in battle with slightly more speed and movement than Knights, who are a lot more durable and stronger than Soldiers.
* TheGoomba: Serves this role in some games, especially when they're enemy-exclusive. In these games, they have very low stats and their WeaponSpecialization is spears -- though those traits are also found on the superior knights and cavaliers. Additionally, they mainly serve to keep sword-locked characters in check, as well as give axe-wielders something to smash through. The ones that appear in the early chapters of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' have 0s in several of their stats, even on Hard Mode.
* JackOfAllStats: The playable versions, with generally a slightly higher focus on defense.
* MightyGlacier: Soldiers in ''Gaiden'' have stats geared towards defense, as they share the class line with the bulky armored Knights. As mentioned in JackofAllStats above, the other versions still have an unusually high defense compared to other infantry.
* {{Mook}}: Their role when unplayable is usually [[CannonFodder sparsely-trained and sparsely-equipped foot soldiers]] since ''Thracia 776.''
* NonIndicativeName: Even though the promoted variant of Soldier is called '''Halberd'''ier, they cannot wield Halberds due to them being classified as axes. (Incidentally, the Halberd is called the "Poleaxe" in every game that features Halberdiers, probably to avoid this exact confusion.)
* PutOnABus: For a long time, they were often pushed aside in favor of Knights, Trainees, or Cavaliers. It wasn't until the Tellius games that they reappeared, and they would sit on the side for a few more years before returning in ''Fates''.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Their skills ''Seal Defense'' and ''Seal Speed'', which reduces the enemy's defense and speed after battle, available for Spear Fighter and Spear Master, respectively.
* StoneWall: In most games where they were {{mook}}s, they have uncharacteristically high HP. In ''Three Houses'', they learn Defense +2 upon class mastery.
* TookALevelInBadass: Naturally, when they're playable and not just mere {{mook}}s. Soldiers have been buffed up and able to class change, so later on enemy Soldiers/Halberdiers/Sentinels remain as threatening as other enemies too.
* WeaponSpecialization: The pure-lance infantry class, much like Myrmidons are to swords. Spear Masters in ''Fates'' gain Lancefaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding lances.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Dark Mage/Shaman]]
!!Dark Mage/Shaman
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/803g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Mages in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/912g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/962g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
A somewhat uncommon offensive magic class, Dark Mages (also known as Shamans in the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance titles ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'') are a slower, somewhat bulkier counterpart to Mages that debuted in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''. They specialize in Dark magic, which is usually exclusive to them, but are also sometimes capable of using Anima magic. Originally an enemy-only class, Dark Mages became playable on a semi-recurring basis starting in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''.\\\
Dark Mages usually Class Change to '''Sorcerer''' ('''Druid''' in the GBA titles and ''Radiant Dawn''), while in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'', they can become '''Dark Bishop''' (only accessible in ''Three Houses''). They can also become the '''Summoner''' class in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', giving them the ability to wield staves and granting access to SummonMagic. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they can potentially Class Change into '''Dark Knight''', which [[MagicKnight allows them use of swords]] and grants them a mount at the cost of [[{{Irony}} losing their ability to use Dark magic]] (though their ability to use Anima magic remains intact).\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' and its remake, ''Shadows of Valentia'', an enemy-only variant of the class appears, called the '''Arcanist'''[[note]]known as Magician in the Japanese version[[/note]]; this class belongs to people who have sacrificed themselves to Duma in exchange for powerful dark magic. It also has a male-only variant, called the '''Cantor''', which is capable of conjuring forth many types of monsters, though what type of monsters are summoned is dependent on the Cantor in question.\\\
Related is the '''Dark Sage''', a second-tier class[[note]]presumably promoted from a "Dark Mage"[[/note]] which also wields thunder magic, exclusive to King Pelleas in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''; it Class Changes into a variant of the '''Arch Sage'''. Also related are the villain-exclusive dark spellcasting classes: '''Dark Prince''' Julius from ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', '''Dark Druid''' Nergal from ''The Blazing Blade'', '''Necromancer''' Lyon from ''The Sacred Stones'', and '''Agastya''', a class exclusive to Thales in ''Three Houses''. A Dark Knight variant also appears in ''Three Houses'' in the form of the '''Death Knight''', exclusive to the character with the same name as the class.\\\
This class is not to be confused with the '''Shaman''' class of ''Genealogy'', which is a light-wielding class exclusive to Deirdre and Julia, or with the third-tier '''Light Priestess''' class, which was called "Shaman" in the original Japanese version of ''Radiant Dawn''.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Salem (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Raigh, Sophia, Niime (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Canas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Knoll (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Pelleas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Etzel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Tharja, Henry, DLC Micaiah (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Odin, Nyx, Leo, Ophelia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Hubert, [[spoiler:Jeritza]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
----
* AlwaysMale: Dark Mages and Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' are male-only.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Luna spell in ''Blazing Blade'', ''Sacred Stones'', and ''Three Houses'' negates the enemy's resistance at the cost of fully requiring the unit's magic stat to be high in order to be effective, as the spell has minimal to no intrinsic might of its own (making it outclassed by literally any other dark tome when being used on enemies with low resistance, but absolutely invaluable to the point of being a GameBreaker against enemies with high resistance). Glower in ''New Mystery of the Emblem'' negates resistance instead of inflicting HPToOne.
* BlackKnight: The Dark Knight class, which is basically a new version of Mage Knight.
* CastingAShadow: Dark magic is essentially this. Also, while they have often been portrayed as the magical equivalent to axes[[note]]with light magic being comparable to swords and animals magic being comparable to lances; the three magic types even have an identical TacticalRockPaperScissors arrangement to their physical counterparts[[/note]], dark magic in the GBA games and in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' have effects on their general weapons[[note]]such as LifeDrain, ArmorPiercingAttack, PercentDamageAttack, and HPToOne[[/note]] that other magic will never have. Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Dark Tomefaire as a class skill, though they also gain Black Tomefaire as well.
* CoolHelmet: Dark Knights typically wear menacing-looking helmets. ''Awakening'' gives them a visor that resembles the Fell Dragon Grima, ''Fates'' gives them skull-faced helmets, and ''Three Houses'' features a four-horned demon on theirs.
* CoolMask: Dark Mages and Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' wear crow masks modelled after plague doctors.
* CriticalHitClass: In ''Fates'', Sorcerors have a small critical hit bonus.
* CriticalStatusBuff: The ''Vengeance'' skill, which increases the user's damage based on half of the user's missing HP, making it very powerful when the user is nearly dead. It also has the highest activation rate at Skill x2 (x1.5 in ''Fates''), so it is easy for it to activate.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: The mastery skill for Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'' is Seal Resisitance, which inflicts -6 Resistance to the enemy after combat if they attack and damage them during combat.
* DarkIsEvil: Commonly, the Dark Mage is used as an enemy-only class, like in ''Gaiden'', ''Mystery of the Emblem'', ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', and ''Thracia 776'', and many antagonists in the series are of the EvilSorcerer-type. Even in games where Dark Mages are playable, there is rarely more than one playable Dark Mage (''Binding Blade'', ''Awakening'', and ''Fates'' are the only exceptions), while the enemy faction will have no short supply of Dark Mages. In addition, the playable Dark Mages in ''Awakening'' are creepy {{Token Evil Teammate}}s.
* DarkIsNotEvil: And Canas ''will'' make a point of reminding you of that fact. However, Dark magic users still tend to be [[DarkIsEvil major]] [[EvilSorcerer enemies]] in several games in the series nonetheless. ''Gaiden'', both Jugdral games, ''Awakening'', and ''Three Houses'' feature an evil magic cult as one of the main antagonist factions. Furthermore, even if it's not inherently ''evil'', dark magic is frequently [[EvilIsNotAToy hazardous to its users in-universe if used improperly]] (as Canas's brothers and Brammimond could attest to if they weren't {{Empty Shell}}s).
* DealWithTheDevil: Often, to gain the ability to use dark magic, particularly if it's of the powerful kind, the user has to sacrifice something in return, often with severe consequences.
* DiscardAndDraw:
** Dark Mages promoting into Dark Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain the ability to use Swords, as well as gaining a horse mount for mobility, at the cost of (ironically) no longer able to use dark tomes.
** Compared to the Dark Knight, the Death Knight in ''Three Houses'' emphasizes more on its Lance rank, swapping out Black and Dark Tomefaire for Lancefaire. Mastering this class grants Counterattack (allows the user to counterattack regardless of range), further encouraging the usage of melee weapons.
* {{Expy}}: Dark Druid Nergal and Necromancer Lyon's classes are based upon the Druid and Summoner classes, respectively, but more powerful. Dark Druid also serves as an {{expy}} and {{foil}} to Athos's Archsage class.
* GatheringSteam: Dark Knight in ''Awakening'' has the skill Slow Burn, which gives them hit and avoid after a turn has pass, up to 15.
* HighCollarOfDoom: Dark Knights have these to add to their menacing appearances.
* HPToOne: Several dark magic across the series can cause this effect (sometimes from a very long range) -- namely Medusa, Dulam, Hel, Eclipse, and Bohr X. With the exception of Eclipse in ''Binding Blade'' (it was changed to a PercentDamageAttack for the rest of the GBA games), these spells are exclusive to the enemy.
* InTheHood: Almost every similar unit wears a heavy hood completely obscuring their face.
* LifeDrain:
** In the games where Nosferatu isn't Light magic, Dark Mages are instead able to wield it, enabling them to absorb their enemies' HP.
** Dark Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' and Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' get Lifetaker, which heals 50% of their HP after defeating an enemy.
* MightyGlacier: Dark Mages are significantly slower than Mages and have worse Skill, but generally have relatively equal magical attack and much better defense. Technically averted by Dark Mages in ''Fates'', where the class is basically just the Nohrian counterpart to the Diviner, itself an {{Expy}} of the standard Mage, with the added ability of wielding the game's sole dark magic tome, Nosferatu.
* NonindicativeName: Despite their name and appearance, Dark Knights are not actually capable of using dark magic unless they have the Shadowgift skill, instead being just another name for the Mage Knight. The only exception to this might be Leo, as his Brynhildr tome is stated to be dark magic, although he still can't use Nosferatu unless he reclasses into a Sorcerer. Finally remedied in ''Three Houses'' where Dark Knights has Dark Tomefaire as their class skill and dark magic is based on character instead of being restricted to the class itself.
* PoisonedWeapon:
** Jormungand in ''Thracia 776'' inflicts the target with the poison status, but only when used by enemies.
** Dark Mages in ''Three Houses'' learn Poison Strike upon mastering the class.
* PowerOfTheVoid:
** Apocalypse, one of the Divine Weapons of Elibe, emits a rune which summons a black hole.
** Ginnungagap in ''Fates'', where the spell [[YinYangBomb covers the enemy in a black vortex, then suffocates them with a blinding light]].
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is if a Dark Mage class changes into the [[MagicKnight Dark Knight]] class. Done weirdly with the Sorcerer from ''Awakening'' onward, who gets to use BlackMagic in addition to normal magic, but cannot use healing staves to differentiate themselves from Sages.
* ShouldersOfDoom: The pauldrons of the Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'' are not only large, but have large intimidating spikes on each of them.
* {{Stripperiffic}}: Dark Mages and Sorcerers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' wear some of the most revealing and downright skimpy outfits in the entire series.
* SummonMagic: The Cantor, Summoner, and the Necromancer can summon units to fight for them.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Seal Magic, which reduces the enemy's magic, is available to Dark Knights in ''Fates''. In ''Three Houses'', they instead learn Seal Resistance, and in Maddening Mode, enemy Dark Mages have Seal Strength by default.
* StatusBuff: Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' gain Fiendish Blow as a class skill, which increases their magic by 6 when initiating the attack. However, you cannot stack Fiendish Blow with another instance from mastering Mage, as the skill will just remove itself when two similar skills are included.
* UniqueEnemy:
** Inverted in ''Sacred Stones'', as you never encounter enemy Summoners. In addition, Necromancers (read: Lyon) never use their summon ability as enemies, while they can summon Phantoms in the player's hands.
** Zigzagged with ''Radiant Dawn'', as there are enemy-only Druids that appear sporadically in the game, usually Part 3 and 4. However, you can get Pelleas as one of two potential Dark Mages (that can only be playable in a second playthrough), though Pelleas is still of a separate class line from the Druid[[note]]and the second Dark Mage, [[spoiler:Lehran/]]Sephiran, is in yet another class tree that is more closely related to Clerics[[/note]].
** Zigzagged with the DS remakes, as while Etzel is a playable Sorcerer (the advanced version of Dark Mage), you never encounter a playable Dark Mage without reclassing one of your units. In addition, in ''Shadow Dragon'', you never encounter any enemy Dark Mages outside of side chapters, besides [[TheDragon Gharnef]].
* WeaponSpecialization: Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'' mainly focus on lances instead of swords, although they can still wield the latter.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Troubadour]]
!!Troubadour
[[quoteright:164:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_troubadour_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:164:Troubadours in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:141:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesmaidportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:141:Maids in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hvalkyrie.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Valkyries in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/974g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
A female-exclusive WhiteMage class introduced in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' which makes occasional, if inconsistent, appearances. The Troubadour is basically the mounted equivalent of the Priest with slightly lower stats to compensate for having higher movement.\\\
The Troubadour class is one of the most variable in the series in terms of Class Change progression and weaponry. In most games, they wield only staves and start off purely as a support class, but they additionally wield swords in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''. They normally Class Change into the '''Valkyrie''' like the Priest, which turns them into a CombatMedic that gains the ability to use offensive magic (Anima or Light depending on the game) in every game except ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''; in those games, where the class is exclusive to Mist, Valkyrie gains the ability to use swords. In ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'', Troubadour instead Class Changes into '''Paladin''' (not to be confused with the normal Paladin) and gains the ability to wield lances alongside swords and staves.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', they can choose to Class Change into the '''Mage Knight'''[[note]]not to be confused with the similarly-named class from Jugdral, which is an evolution of the unmounted Mage[[/note]], which is effectively a Valkyrie that uses Anima magic instead of Light magic[[note]]Valkyries use Light magic in ''Sacred Stones''[[/note]]. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', they can instead choose to discard their mount and Class Change into '''War Cleric''', which gains the use of axes. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Troubadours are unisexual[[note]]they were known as Rod Knight in the Japanese version[[/note]]. They Class Change into the '''Strategist''' class (effectively the Valkyrie with a different name to reflect the fact that they're no longer AlwaysFemale) or branch into the '''Maid/Butler''' class, which substitutes offensive magic for knives/shuriken, ditches the horse, and has the best staff rank in the game. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'', the Troubadour class itself is absent, but the master class, '''Holy Knight''', is reminiscent of ''The Sacred Stones''[='=] Valkyries and Jugdral Paladins. They specialize in Faith, Lances, and Riding. The Valkyrie class would later reappear in the game as part of the Wave 4 DLC, specializing in both Black and Dark magic alongside Riding.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Ethlyn, Nanna/Jeanne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Nanna, Amalda (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Clarine, Cecilia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Priscilla (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); L'Arachel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Maribelle (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Felicia, Jakob, Elise, Flora, Dwyer, Forrest (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Hapi (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
----
* AchillesHeel: Like Cavaliers, they are vulnerable to Horse-slaying weapons... except in ''Binding Blade'' and ''Path of Radiance'', where they are unaffected by Horse-slaying weapons, presumably due to an oversight.
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Valkryies in ''Three Houses'' gain ''Uncanny Blow'' upon mastering the class. It gives 30 extra hit when attacking.
* AlwaysFemale: Except in ''Fates'', all troubadours/valkyries were female. Female-exclusive Valkyries are entirely consistent with Norse mythology constantly referenced in the series, but "troubadour" was a name for a male bard historically.
* AutomatonHorses: Their horses are only seen in combat.
* BattleButler: The Butler class.
* BlackMage: Unlike most depictions of the class, ''Three Houses'' grants the class skills that focus on the strictly offensive black and dark magic spells. They can still use white magic and it is one of their proficiencies, but this incarnation is meant to be the offensive mage rider in contrast to the Holy Knight. Interestingly, this makes them a female counterpart to the Dark Knight, which also focuses on black and dark magic (the Tomefaire variants specifically).
* CastingAShadow: Of a sort. In a first for the series, ''Three Houses'' grants them a skill to extend the range of the user's dark magic spells, making them the only other class that females can access besides Gremory with some sort of dark magic skill.
* CombatMedic: Valkyries have offensive magic/the use of swords in addition to healing with staves. In the Jugdral games, troubadours can use swords from the start. In ''Fates'', they gain shuriken/daggers as their weapons as Maids and Butlers. In ''Three Houses'', Holy Knights can wield lances and have native access to White Tomefaire.
* CoolHorse: Troubadours are always mounted on them.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Resistance, a skill that boosts resistance by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Valkyries were called "Paladins" in Jugdral. They were wisely renamed Valkyries with the GBA installments to avoid confusion with regular Paladins, especially female ones like Midia.
* GenderBlenderName: Despite the class being all-female until ''Fates'', actual real-life troubadours (who were poets, not magical mounted staff users) were exclusively male, and the female term is Troubaritz. Strangely, these sorts of real-life Troubadours ''actually exist'' in the ''Fire Emblem'' universe as well, at least in the Tellius series[[note]]which lacks the unprompted Troubadour class; its sole Valkyrie, Mist, starts out as a Cleric[[/note]], as the ending of ''Path of Radiance'' mentions troubadours and one of the early chapter narrations for ''Radiant Dawn'' includes the phrase "or so the troubadours sing".
* HitAndRunTactics: Troubadours and Valkyries in the Jugdral and Tellius games can attack or heal and then move again with their remaining movement. Troubadours in the GBA games can only move again if they use a non-attacking or non-healing command.
* LightEmUp: The Valkyries in ''Sacred Stones'' and Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' excel in light magic. Holy Knights are highly specialized in Faith magic, as they can gain White Tomefaire, which increases their damage by 5.
* MageKiller: Their high Resistance stat allows them to deal with enemy mages. Maids and Butlers get the Tomebreaker skill and the ability to use shuriken/daggers, the latter being effective against tomes in ''Fates''[='=] Weapon Triangle[[note]]tomes share their place with swords, while hidden weapons share their place with lances[[/note]] and targets [[SquishyWizard their usually weak defense stat]].
* MagicKnight: The Holy Knights excel in faith magic and lances. In addition, they have White Tomefaire as their class skill, increasing their damage by 5 when using faith magic like Nosferatu and Aura.
* TheMedic: Their main battlefield role.
* NinjaMaid: The Maid class, exemplified with their combat style and shurikens as their weapons.
* ThePaladin: An ''actual'' depiction of the Paladin in the form of the Holy Knight, who are horse-riding knights that specialize in Faith (white magic).
* RedMage: Typically becomes a mounted version after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is if you class change into a [[CombatMedic War Cleric or Maid/Butler]], which lose the horse and use physical weapons rather than offensive magic.
* SquishyWizard: They have high Magic and Luck to aid in their healing abilities, but they're defensively weak physically and typically can't fight back at first.
* StatusBuff:
** Troubadours have Demoiselle for females in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', and Gentilhomme for males in ''Fates''; Demoiselle in ''Awakening'' grants all males within 3 tiles of the user +10 Avoid and Critical Dodge, and both skills in ''Fates'' grant -2 damage taken to all allies within 2 spaces, depending on what skill is equipped and the recipient's gender.
** Valkyries in ''Awakening'' and Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Rally Resistance, which gives a boost to resistance to allies when commanded.
** Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Inspiration, which grants all allies within 2 tiles of the user +2 damage given and -2 damage taken.
* SupportPartyMember: While they were originally sword-wielders in their first tier, later games relegated them solely to healing and buffing allies before class change.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. There are no enemy Butlers in ''Fates'', making Butler a player-only class.
* WhiteMagicianGirl: This is a very common archetype for the class.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Dancer]]
!!Dancer and variants
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/998g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dancers in ''Three Houses'']]
The Dancer is a recurring [[UtilityPartyMember utility]] and [[SupportPartyMember support]] class that puts on a magical performances to [[ExtraTurn allow adjacent units which have already moved in a turn to move again]]. The most common iteration is a female dancer, hence the name, with variants including Bards (males that play musical instruments) from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'', the Heron laguz (BirdPeople of either gender that can sing MagicMusic called galdrar) in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'', and the Songstress (a female singer) in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. Outside of their unique ability to provide {{Extra Turn}}s, Dancers are notable for being one of the few classes exclusive to the player in most games they appear in.\\\
The Dancer and its variants tend to either be completely unarmed or are lacking in combat prowess due to their focus on being support, though when they can fight, they almost always use swords. As far as stats go, [[FragileSpeedster they tend to be on the frailer side, but make up for it with high Speed and Luck stats to help them dodge attacks]].\\\
If a game has multiple Dancers, only one of these characters will usable at any given time for balance reasons. This is because having two of them on one map would allow them to continuously grind for experience and potentially reach anywhere on the map in a single turn by being able to indefinitely dance for each other.\\\
The Bard class mentioned here is not to be confused with the Bard from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'', which is a magic-wielding class exclusive to Lewyn and Homer in their respective games. Dancers exist in their normal function in those games, though.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Phina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Sylvia and Lene/Laylea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Lara[[note]]She starts as a Thief and only becomes a Dancer by activating a special event.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Elphin and Lalum (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Nils and Ninian (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Tethys (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Reyson, Rafiel, and Leanne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''[[note]]Reyson only[[/note]] and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Olivia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Azura (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Dorothea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Seadall (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----
* AlwaysFemale: The default Dancer class has almost always been female-only. ''Three Houses'' is the first game in the series where the Dancer is available to both males and females. Averted in ''Engage'' where Seadall, the game's dancer, is a man.
* DanceBattler: In the Jugdral and Archanea games and ''Awakening'', in which they also wield swords... just not very well. The ''Fates'' version, the Songstress, wields lances/naginata instead. The ''Engage'' version uses body arts instead.
* ExtraTurn: Their abilities grant units that have already acted during their phase a second action in the same phase.
* FragileSpeedster: Dancers are characterized as fast and dodgy with their best stats being speed and luck. However, because of their nature as support units, their terrible durability, and, in some games, inability to fight, they must be protected and should not be in the front line.
* MagicDance: Averted; the ability of Dancers to grant other units an extra turn is mundane, although it functions like magic. The only exception is Ninian.
* MagicKnight: Dancers in ''Three Houses'' use swords and magic.
* MagicMusic: Nils, the Heron Laguz, and Azura can all play MagicMusic. Although Elphin plays music as well, he's more like other dancers in that he has no magical ability.
* MsFanservice: Dancers tend to be this to some extent, thanks to their minimal clothing and sultry dances. The only one who doesn't solidly fit this description is Ninian and [[MrFanservice Seadall]].
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: If there is more than one Dancer in a single game, circumstances will conspire to ensure that they can never be in the party at the same time. The sole exception, ''Fire Emblem Heroes'', has an ObviousRulePatch to have them unable to refresh each other if the other unit has Dance or Sing equipped. Subverted in ''Three Houses'' where they can be refreshed with a Dancer Battalion, but it only works once per map, and in ''Engage'', where they can be refreshed with Emblem Byleth's Goddess Dance and Emblem Veronica's Contract, but the former only works once per engage and the latter, beside being unable to move for the duration of the extra action, has the Dance option disabled for that action's duration.
* QuirkyBard: Actually not ''that'' spoony. It's true that they have (depending on the game) little or no means to defend themselves and low-to-average defense/HP, but a well-trained character of this class can have ''massive'' Speed and Luck, thus they will dodge a good part of the attacks thrown at them. (Additionally, Tethys has good HP growths.)
* SpearCounterpart: In ''Binding Blade'' and ''Blazing Blade'', you get the Bard class, which are male dancers with the same ability to "sing" which refreshes an ally like Dancers. Though the Bard class exists in the Jugdral games, there are just glorified version of Mages.
* StatusBuff:
** In ''Blazing Blade'', there are special rings that can raises a unit's stat by 10 for a single turn. Filla's Might increases attack, Ninis's Grace increases defensive stats, Thor's Ire increases critical, and Set's Litany increases avoid.
** In ''Radiant Dawn'', Herons has five different galdrar which are gain through level ups. Vigor functions like dancing (which they start by default but its effect differs for each Heron), Bliss raises the unit's biorhythm to its highest while Sorrow lowers enemy's biorhythm to its worst, Valor instantly raise Laguz's transformation gauge to its maximum, and Recovery instantly restores HP and remove conditions.
** ''Awakening'' onwards has a skill called Special Dance, though in ''Fates'', it is called Inspiring Song. In ''Awakening'', Special Dance increases +2 to Strength/Magic/Defense/Resistance while ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses'' increases +3/+4 to Skill/Speed/Luck. Unlike the earlier examples, the stat buffs stack with giving other units ExtraTurn instead of being mutually exclusive.
* SultryBellyDancer: Dancers tend to dress in fanservice-y belly dancer outfits that leave little to the imagination regarding their figures.
* SupportPartyMember: Dancer variants from the GBA and Tellius games can't attack enemies at all, and rely solely on their refreshing abilities. And even in the games where they are capable of fighting, their refreshing ability is so valuable that they'll rarely see combat.
* WanderingMinstrel: Most of them come across as this initially.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Witch]]
!!Witch
[[quoteright:228:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/witch_echoes_portrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:228:Witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/994g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Gremories in ''Three Houses'']]
The Witch is a very rare class, only appearing in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' (and ''Shadows of Valentia'' by extension) and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. They are powerful female spellcasters that have the unique Warp ability, which allows them to instantly travel anywhere on the map (''Gaiden'') or teleport adjacent to any ally (''Fates'').\\\
In ''Gaiden'' and ''Shadows of Valentia'', Witches are exclusively [=NPCs=]. Here, they are said to be women who sacrificed themselves to Duma for power, either willingly or unwillingly, which also gives them a pale complexion. ''SOV'' also introduces the similarly-themed '''Vestal''' class, which are flaming spirits.\\\
In ''Fates'', the Witch is a special playable class only obtainable via DLC. Using an item called a Witch's Mark, any female character is able to Class Change into one. They can use Dark Magic (otherwise exclusive to Dark Mages and Sorcerers) via the "Shadowgift" Skill and are capable of getting S-Rank in Tomes/Scrolls.\\\
While the Witch class does not return in ''Three Houses'', it introduces the '''Gremory''' class, which shares traits of the Witch class, including being exclusive to female units and the use of Dark and Black Magic (along with White Magic).
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Lysithea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
----
* AlwaysFemale: Witch is a female-only class.
* ArtificialStupidity: Witches' behaviors in ''Gaiden'' are... sporadic to say the least. This is a case of AcceptableBreaksFromReality as making them "smarter" on top of having the ability to move anywhere at will would make them very unbearable to face.
* DealWithTheDevil: In ''Gaiden'', Witches are the result of women sacrificing themselves to Duma for power. [[spoiler:Not always, some of them (Rinea, Sonya's sisters, Delthea, and Celica) didn't necessarily exactly want to become such.]]
* EmptyShell: In ''Gaiden'''s lore, Witches are women who offered their souls to Duma in exchange for great magical power, but lost their free will and became living husks.
* EvilRedhead: In ''Gaiden'', with the exception of the brainwashed Delthea, all Witches are redheads and happen to be antagonistic.
* FacelessGoons: Generic Gremories in ''Three Houses'' have veils covering their faces.
* FanDisservice: The Witches from ''Shadows of Valentia'' are beautiful women whose looks appeal to many fetishes, but their actual situations make them less appealing.
* {{Nerf}}: In ''Gaiden'', their signature Warp ability lets them travel to any spot on the map. ''Fates'' changes it so they can only teleport to squares cardinally adjacent to allies.
* PowerCrutch: In ''Fates'', Witches channel their magic through a lantern instead of having their equipped tomes visible in their battle model.
* PowerFloats: The witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'' are seen levitating to show their power given to them by Duma.
* RedMage: Gremories are skilled in both offensive and supportive magic.
* RobeAndWizardHat: While in ''Gaiden'' they were just recolored female mages, their outfit in ''Fates'' gives them a large pointed hat and a sleek robe.
* SquishyWizard: The Witch is the strongest magic-using class in ''Fates'', though its Defense is also less than stellar. This is especially prevalent in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, where they also have extremely low HP and can often be downed in a single physical attack.
* StatusInflictionAttack: ''Fates''[='=] Witches get the skill Toxic Brew, which has a chance of 1.5% times the Skill stat to freeze an enemy unit in place for a turn whenever the skill's wielder initiates an attack.
* TeleportSpam: Witches have this as a a SignatureMove, enabling them to warp to any tile on the map, making them extremely dangerous to units with low resistance. Their playable incarnation can only warp to tiles adjacent to allies, however.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Dread Fighter]]
!!Dread Fighter
[[quoteright:234:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dread_fighter_echoes_portrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:234:Dread Fighters in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
Dread Fighter is one of the rarer classes, only appearing in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'', its remake ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. It is part of the Mercenary line in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, acting as the line's third and final Class Change before allowing a loop back into Villager. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Dread Fighter is a standalone class that is only available via DLC. ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'' adds an Overclass called Yasha, which is also only available via DLC. Most incarnations are exclusive to male characters.\\\
Dread Fighter is defined by its {{ninja}}-esque costume design and [[MageKiller anti-magic build]]. The class sports Skills designed to mitigate magical damage, allowing for safe approaches against mages.\\\
For weapon specializations, Dread Fighter only has access to swords in ''Gaiden'' and its remake. ''Awakening'' adds axes and tomes, while ''Fates'' replaces tomes with knives/shuriken.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' DLC Alm (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'')
----
* AlwaysMale: Outside of ''Fates'', Dread Fighter is exclusive to male characters.
* DeviousDaggers: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' uses knives instead of tomes to go with their ninja motif. Fittingly, knives and shuriken beats tomes in the game's version of the weapon triangle.
* MageKiller: They are designed to take little damage from magical sources and slay magic users.
** ''Awakening'' gives a massive boost to their Resistance with the Resistance+10 skill.
** ''Fates'' has Iron Will-which causes them to receive 4 less damage from magic attacks when attacked, and Even Keel-where the user receive 4 less damage from magic attacks during even-numbered turns.
** ''Shadows of Valentia'' provides the class with Resistance+5 and Apotrope skills. Apotrope is a more powerful version of Iron Will, as it halves damage taken from magic attacks.
* MagicKnight: Dread Fighters in ''Awakening'' use tomes in addition to swords and axes.
* {{Ninja}}: They appear to have ninja-like aesthetics, and even fight like them with TeleportSpam and {{Flash Step}}s.
* ReverseGrip: While in ''Fates'' they wield swords and daggers like the Ninjas and Master Ninjas, they also wield ''axes'' and ''clubs'' in the same way.
* SwordAndFist: Dread Fighters in ''Shadows of Valentia'' have them incorporate kicks alongside their sword strikes against the enemy.
* WalkingArmory: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' use swords, axes, and knives, allowing them to fully cover the weapon triangle (with knives sharing their spot with lances).
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: They have a tendency to rest their weapons on their shoulders.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tactician/Grandmaster]]
!!Tactician and Grandmaster
The Tactician and its Class Change, Grandmaster, are a class line introduced in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''. They are more or less made specifically for the Avatar of ''Awakening'' and their children, though [=SpotPass=], [=StreetPass=], and DLC characters are capable of using Second Seals to reclass into the line. The Tactician and Grandmaster are powerful {{Magic Knight}}s that use swords and tomes, have overall high stats, and can support allies thanks to a couple of exclusive support Skills such as "Solidarity" and "Rally Spectrum".\\\
The Grandmaster returns in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' as a special class obtained by using a Fell Brand (received from completing ''Hidden Truths 1'' DLC or using the Robin Toys/{{amiibo}}) on a male unit. It does not Class Change to or from anything, but otherwise functions the same as it did in ''Awakening''.\\\
It returns once again in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'' as Céline's version of the '''Noble''' class: while it no longer has any of its support skills as a result of being standardized to be more in line with the rest of the game's classes, its promotion into '''Vidame''' grants access to staves.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Robin, Morgan [[note]]Morgan needs to have specific mothers/fathers to start out as Tactician, otherwise they will join as a different class (based on their non-Robin parent) and need to reclass into it.[[/note]], DLC Katarina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Toys/{{amiibo}} Robin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''), Céline (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----
* AlwaysMale: In ''Fates'', Grandmaster is a male-only class.
* JackOfAllStats: Somewhere between this and MasterOfAll in ''Awakening'', where their stats are generally high in all areas but not necessarily the best possible. They're straighter examples in their subsequent appearances [[ProtagonistPowerUpPrivileges where the class is no longer attached to the main character]].
* MagicKnight: They use both swords and tomes and have good Strength and Magic. In ''Awakening'' they are equally proficient with Swords and Tomes (both top at "A"), while the ''Fates'' Grandmaster and ''Engage'' Vidame lean more on the Magic side with a higher max Tome rank (Swords go to "B" while Tomes go to "A").
* RedMage: As a Vidame, Céline can use staves in addition to swords and tomes.
* SpellBlade: In all of its appearances, the class line is capable of learning [[PlayingWithFire Ignis]], a skill that uses half of their Strength or Magic to boost the other stat when they attack, depending on whether they're using a physical or magical attack.
* StatusBuff: Their "Rally Spectrum" Skill gives a one-turn boost to all stats for every ally within 3 (''Awakening'') or 4 (''Fates'') spaces.
* SupportPartyMember: They get a number of Skills to buff or otherwise assist allies. "Solidarity" increases Crit rate and Dodge by 10 for adjacent allies, "Tactical Advice" provides a Hit rate bonus for the lead unit of an Attack Stance, and "Rally Spectrum" provides a one-turn StatusBuff to all allies within 3/4 spaces.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Brawler]]
!!Brawler
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/783g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Brawlers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/892g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Grapplers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/986g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:War Master in ''Three Houses'']]
A new class series introduced in ''Three Houses''. Brawlers and their Advanced and Master Class promotions, the '''Grappler''' and '''War Master''', primarily use axes and gauntlets.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Raphael, Balthus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
----
* ActionInitiative: Upon mastering War Master, they gain Quick Riposte, allowing them to deal follow-up attacks if they are attacked and above their HP threshold. Also, unlike in ''Heroes'', the attacker will not follow-up attack if the unit is equipped with Quick Riposte.
* AlwaysMale: Brawlers, Grapplers and War Masters are male-only.
* BareFistedMonk: Their primary weapon as indicated by the skill "Unarmed Combat". Grapplers also gain the skill Fistfaire, which increases their damage when wielding gauntlets.
* ChainedByFashion: Grapplers in ''Three Houses'' have chains attached to their armor.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Brawlers and War Masters can use axes and gauntlets.
* CriticalHitClass: War Masters get Crit+20 as their class ability. As they are proficient in axes, this makes them very similar to Berserkers in the other games.
* LightningBruiser: War Masters have stats and growths on par with Wyvern Riders, paired with an addition of a Crit+20, making them one of the more dangerous footlocked units. Fighting one with Killer Knuckles is just asking for trouble.
* MageKiller: While the class does not offer Resistance growth bonuses, Grapplers can learn Tomebreaker, which increases their Hit and Avoid against Tome-wielding users.
* SecretArt:
** Grapplers have Fierce Iron Fist, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to them, where they deal three consecutive attacks.
** War Master's Strike, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to War Masters. It grants effective bonus damage against all foes.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Beasts]]
!!Beasts
[[quoteright:223:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesyoukoportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:223:Kitsune in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesninetailedfoxportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Ninetails in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesgarouportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:255:Wolfskins in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_wolfssegner_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Wolfsegnar in ''Fates'']]
When Manaketes were re-imagined as Dragon Laguz in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'', other similar tribes of animal shapeshifters were introduced.\\\
In new titles since, these units use Beaststones to transform in contrast to the Manaketes' Dragonstone, and can be seen as a counterpart to the class.\\\
So far, beasts of this kind have included Lions, Tigers, Cats, Wolves, Hawks, Ravens, Rabbits (Taguel), Foxes (Kitsune), and Werewolves (Wolfskins). Dragon Tribe Laguz are covered by the Manaketes, and Heron Laguz function as Bards/Dancers.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class:''' Lethe, Ranulf, Mordecai, Muarim, Giffca, Janaff, Ulki, Tibarn and Naesala (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Lyre, Kyza, Skrimir, Vika, Nealuchi, Volug and Nailah (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' only); Panne and Yarne [[note]](a Morgan born from any of them will have access to the class)[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Kaden, Keaton, Selkie and Velouria [[note]]Kana and Shigure born from any of them will have access to the class[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'')
----
* AchillesHeel: Laguz are weak to anti-Laguz weapons and Fire/Wind magic. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', they are weak to anti-beast weapons and skills, even when outside of their beast class.
* {{Animorphism}}: Using beaststones, or the natural ability of the Laguz, they can take on an animal form for combat.
* AsianFoxSpirit: The Kitsune and Ninetails class. They also have foxfires that surround them when transformed.
* DireBeast: Their animal forms are huge compared to regular animals. Small Cat laguz are the size of real life Big Cats. Lions and Hawks tower over human beings. Rabbits are similarly the size of Big Cats, and it's taken to the extreme with Wolfskins, who are literal monsters.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution:
** In games where multiple types of beast units exist, they typically are given differences to make them each distinct from each other.
** In the Tellius games, the Beast tribes are split between the Cat, Tiger, Lion, and Wolf. The Cat is a FragileSpeedster, the Tiger is a MightyGlacier, the Lion is a LightningBruiser, and the Wolves are more of a JackOfAllStats.
** Also in the Tellius games, the Bird tribes are split between the Hawks, Ravens, and Herons. The Hawks are more akin to LightningBruiser, the Ravens are FragileSpeedster, while the Herons are Dancers.
* DyingRace: The Wolf Tribe in the Tellius games have lost much of their numbers; nevertheless, they recover in the epilogue. The Heron Laguz are even worse, since the few remaining ones are the LastOfTheirKind. The Taguel are also the LastOfTheirKind, with only one full-blooded Taguel (Panne) left.[[note]](The half-blooded Taguel Yarne is specifically said to have much stronger Taguel genes, while a Morgan parented by either of them has stronger human ones.)[[/note]]
* {{Expy}}: The Tellius games make the various species of Laguz effectively animal copies of their Human counterparts in terms of class. To elaborate:
** Beast Tribe: Cats are essentially Myrmidons (high Speed and Luck but almost no bulk), Tigers are either Fighters (high Strength and HP, but lower Defense), or Knights (high HP, Strength, and Defense, but slow), Lions are similar to Paladins (use virtually all physical related stats well with high damage), and Wolves are Mercenaries (balanced offensive stats, with solid bulk).
** Bird Tribes: The Bird Tribes are airborne and can also move after attacking, making them similar to the flying classes. Hawks are essentially faster Wyvern Riders (focus on strength with average physical bulk), Ravens are essentially Pegasus Knights (High Speed, Resistance, and Luck but low bulk and Strength), while Herons are Dancers.
* HitAndRunTactics: The Bird Tribe in ''Radiant Dawn'' can move again after attacking or singing. The exception is Rafiel as he is grounded by his clipped wings.
* LightningBruiser: While they have different specialties depending on species, compared to human units, they are all extremely fast and strong. The Tiger Laguz are the only ones lacking in this area.
* LittleBitBeastly: They all exhibit some traits of their beast form even in human form. Usually [[CatGirl ears and tails]], or [[WingedHumanoid wings]] in the case of the bird tribes. Dragons/manaketes in contrast are usually much more subtle.
* LongLived: [[DownplayedTrope To a lesser extent]] compared to Manaketes (who's life expectancy is in the ''plural'' of thousands), but beastfolk often tend to have very long life-spans in spite of such. The shortest lived among the Laguz, the Lions, live for ''180 years on average'', with class blurbs like the Kitsune in ''Fates'' outright noting the species has a long live span even compared to other beastfolk due to their spirit magic and beast heritage.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Beasts are more physically-oriented, while their dragon counterparts have better magic stats. This translate into almost all Beast units, save the Kitsune, having poor Resistance stats.
* NaturalWeapon: The Laguz uses their own claw, talons, and beaks when fighting in their beast forms. In ''Radiant Dawn'', they have a special weapon rank called Strike which improves their attacks upon raising their weapon rank. {{Avert}}ed with Beast classes since ''Awakening'' as they wield Stones like Manaketes.
* NoSell: The Hawk Laguz's mastery skill in Path of Radiance was Cancel (or Wing Guard), which lets them nullify damage based on their skill.
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: The Wolfskin and Wolfsegner look less like wolves and more like gorillas with koala and wolf traits.
* PantheraAwesome: The Tiger and the Lion Laguz of the Beast Tribe, especially the Lion Laguz as one is their king.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Emperor]]
!!Emperor (and variants)
If the final boss isn't a dark magician, a dragon, or a god, this is what they'll be -- a king decked out in enormous armour or finery, dwarfing every other unit (except maybe Manaketes/laguz) in sheer size, wielding a huge AncestralWeapon, and possessing astronomical physical stats. More often than not, though, there'll be a TrueFinalBoss after them. Specifically, this refers to '''Emperor''' Hardin of ''Mystery of the Emblem'', '''Emperor''' Arvis of ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', '''Baron''' Raydrik of ''Thracia 776'', '''King''' Zephiel of ''The Binding Blade'', Ashnard, '''King Daein''', of ''Path of Radiance'' (who is also similar to a Dragon Rider), Walhart the '''Conqueror''' of ''Awakening'', '''Nohrian King''' Garon in ''Fates'', and '''[[SheIsTheKing Emperor]]''' Edelgard of ''Three Houses''.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class:''' Walhart (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Edelgard (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
----
* AncestralWeapon: All of them wield personal weapons.
* ArmorAndMagicDontMix: Inverted with The Baron class and Jugdral Emperor class. Both classes are even more armored than the General class, they also have the most powerful magic abilities around.
* {{BFS}}: As fitting their position, their weapons are often very large. Averted by Arvis, who uses the magic tome [[PlayingWithFire Valflame]] instead (though he ''does'' have a Silver Blade, the strongest non-legendary sword, [[OrnamentalWeapon in his inventory]], even if he was hacked to not be able to use Valflame, Arvis will not use the Silver Blade).
* ContractualBossImmunity: To prevent them from being easily defeated, they usually have skills that negate weapon effectiveness against their movement type, or their personal classes don't have those weaknesses in the first place.
* DegradedBoss: Barons are encountered as generic enemies in the final chapter of ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' after the more powerful Emperor class is introduced in the story. The final arena opponent of the same chapter belongs to the Emperor class as well.
* TheEmperor: The majority of character in these classes are the ruler of a hostile empire or kingdom.
* {{Expy}}: Much like the Lords, they have unique classes that are basically based off of existing classes, but individualized to fit the character using the class.
** King Zephiel, Emperor Hardin, Nohrian King Garon, and Emperor Edelgard all have similarities to the General class, be it through similar stat lines, being armored, or both. Zephiel uses a sword while Generals in his game can't, while the Black Knight is also related to the third tier Marshall class by proxy.
** Emperor Arvis is basically a souped up Baron class. The Baron class itself is also similar to the General class but with access to magic, and is used by Raydrik.
** King Ashnard is essentially a better version of the Wyvern Lord class, but Ashnard uses a sword rather than a lance.
** Walhart the Conqueror is very similar to the Great Knight class.
* FinalBoss: Often your last opponent, but there'll frequently be a TrueFinalBoss after them.
* {{Foil}}: Essentially the opposite of the Lord class, being classes that are mostly exclusive to one particular character in the games they appear in, gets unique (possibly legendary) weapons to wield, and is the leader of their army, but the Lord class belongs to the main playable character while the Emperor class belongs to the game's main villain (or one of them, though typically one that is working in the foreground).
* LargeAndInCharge: Their sprites tend to dwarf the others in the game. Usually, this is a product of having bulky, intimidating armor.
* LightningBruiser: They have fantastic, if not outright maxed, stats across the board. This includes Speed, in spite of their huge size and heavy armor.
* MagicKnight: Barons and Jugdral's Emperors can use anima magic in addition to all physical weapons.
* PromotedToPlayable: Twice, first with Walhart in ''Awakening'', then Edelgard in ''Three Houses''.
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: The majority of them are authority figures who are much more powerful then their troops.
* TinTyrant: They're almost always covered in armor.
* WalkingArmory: Arvis can use all weapon types but Dark and Light Magic.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Monsters]]
!!Monsters
In addition to the usual human and draconic enemies, ''Gaiden'', ''The Sacred Stones'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' contain a wide variety of monstrous enemies. They come in the following types:
!! Introduced in ''Gaiden'' and ''Shadows of Valentia''
* Revenants/Entombed: Zombie-like creatures that attack with claws. They have high HP but extremely low stats otherwise. In addition to appearing in both ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones'', they reappeared in ''Fire Emblem Awakening'' as a type of Risen and the only monster class in that game. ''Echoes'' introduces a stronger [[EvilIsBigger and bigger]] variant for the Revenant known as a Dracul and what has to be the monster equivalent of an overclass for the Entombed called the Tomb Lord.
* Bonewalkers: Skeletal soldiers that wield a variety of weapon types. Their advanced equivalent is known as the Lich in ''Gaiden'' and the Wight in ''Sacred Stones''. ''Echoes'' additionally introduces two stronger variants: the Titan (a giant and stronger axe-wielding version of the Lich) and the Deimos (an axe-wielding shaman arisen that wields potent purging fire).
* Mogalls (Bigls in the Japanese version): Small [[{{Oculothorax}} floating eyes]] that wield Dark magic. In ''Sacred Stones'' they have an advanced version called Arch Mogalls and in ''Echoes'' the Balor appears in the former's place.
* Fiends: Demonic Barons exclusive to ''Gaiden'' and its remake. The Guardian introduced in Echoes is a redder, more powerful variant of the Fiend.
* Gargoyles: Flying creatures wielding lances. Their advanced equivalent is the Balrog in ''Gaiden'' and the Deathgoyle in ''Sacred Stones''. Stronger than even the Deathgoyle is the Garuda introduced in ''Echoes''.
!! Introduced in ''The Sacred Stones''
* Baels/Elder Baels: Spiderlike creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. They attack with deadly claws that may sometimes be poisoned.
* Tarvos/Maelduins: Centaurlike creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. They wield axes, and the "advanced" Maelduins also use bows.
* Mauthe Doogs/Gwyllgis: Speedy demon dogs that attack with fangs. Exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''.
* Gorgons: Scaly creatures hatching from eggs that wield a variety of nasty dark magic spells. Exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''.
* Cyclopes: Massive axe-wielding creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. Their HP cap is higher than that of other units.
* Draco Zombies (Dragon Zombies in the Japanese version, Necrodragons in ''Shadows of Valentia''): [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Like dragons, only deader]]. In ''Gaiden'' and its remake, they have a "advanced" version called White Dragons. ''Echoes'' further introduces the Fafnir, a monstrous, ancient dragon that has survived since antiquity.
* Phantom (Spirit Warriors in the Japanese version): A spirit exclusive to ''Sacred Stones'', they are summoned by a Summoner or Necromancer.
!! Introduced in ''Fates''
* Faceless: Humanoid creatures made from dark magic, debuting in ''Fates''. In contrast to the Revenants[=/=]Entombed, they are rather large and bulky, and attack with their fists instead of their claws.
* Stoneborn: Moving statues who debuted in ''Fates''. They attack by launching rocks from afar.
* Automaton: Puppets moving by clockwork who debuted in ''Fates''. They attack with saws and yumi (eastern bows) and is the first monster class capable of using both normal and monster weapons.
* Empty Vessel: [[spoiler:Garon]]'s true form in ''Conquest'', it is a slime monster made of water that attacks with axes. Debuting in ''Fates'', it is the first monster class seen since ''Sacred Stones'' to only use a normal weapon instead of an enemy-only monster weapon.
!! Introduced in ''Three Houses''
* Black Beast: A crazed [[spoiler:transformed Miklan when the Lance of Ruin's crest stone consumed him for his lack of a crest]].
* Wandering Beast: A mad creature that lurks in the wild. [[spoiler:A bestial form of Maurice, a forgotten Elite.]]
* Hegemon Husk: An emperor's corpse hellbent on world conquest. [[spoiler:Edelgard's OneWingedAngel transformation on Azure Moon, utilizing her twin crests to their fullest extent.]]
* Wild Demonic Beasts: A feral Demonic Beast spotted in the wilds. Can breathes poisonous breath.
* Experimental Demonic Beast: [[spoiler:A human-transformed Beast by the power of crest stones embedded on their forehead.]]
* Demonic Beast: Demonic Beasts under the control of the [[spoiler:Imperial]] army. Upgrades of the Experimental Demonic Beast.
* Flying Demonic Beast: Agile flying Demonic Beasts.
* Altered Demonic Beast: Demonic Beasts with an anti-magic armor, granting them immunity to magic damage.
* Giant Demonic Beast: A gigantic version of human-transformed beasts. [[spoiler:Dedue]] takes on this form in the Crimson Flower route.
* Umbral Beast: A powerful monster created by the Chalice of Beginnings in the ''Cindered Shadows'' expansion. [[spoiler:Aelfric's transformation after he is absorbed by the Chalice and fused with Sitri's corpse.]]
* Golem: Mechanized automatons in the service of the Church of Seiros.
* Altered Golem: Stronger golems wield by the Church of Seiros. They are immune to magic.
* Guardian Golem: A unique golem tasked with protecting the Chalice of Beginnings in the ''Cindered Shadows'' expansion.
* Titanus: A mechanized weapon created by Agarthan technology.
* White Beast: [[spoiler:Cardinals of the Church transformed by the will of the Immaculate One]].
* Lord of the Lake: A giant tortoise-like monster that lives in the lake. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Indech]].
* Lord of the Desert: A giant bird-like monster that lives in the desert. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Macuil]].
* The Immaculate One: A giant white-dragon revered in the teachings of the Church of Seiros. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Seiros/Rhea]].
* Giant Bird: A bird that grew enormous due to magic.
* Giant Crawler: A worm that grew enormous due to magic.
* Giant Wolf: A wolf that grew enormous due to magic.
!! Introduced in ''Engage''
All three of these types have a Fabrication[[note]]Refered to as Phantom ingame[[/note]] variant, which are aligned with the Divine Dragons and Emblems, and a Corrupted variant, which are aligned with the Fell Dragons.
* Wyrm: Large but slow-moving, draconic creatures that have a large attack range that allows them to shoot breaths from afar.
* Wyvern: DLC-Exclusive. They are undead wyverns that spit out powerful breaths. They also change the terrain of their surroundings, with the Fabrication variant creating frost, and the Corrupted variant creating miasma. The corrupted variant also have a wider attack range than its Fabrication counterpart.
* Wolf: DLC-Exclusive. They are undead wolves that bite with poisonous fangs and, like ordinary wolves, fight in packs.
----
* AchillesHeel: All monsters are weak against the Bishop's Slayer skill, the Falcon Knight's Banish skill, and the Sacred Twin weapons (except for Gleipnir). Giant Crawlers are able to negate this weakness as a latent ability when down to their last healthbars [[spoiler:and Hegemon Husk Edelgard negates her monster weakness from the outset of fighting her.]] In addition, Gargoyles/Deathgoyles/Garuda, Draco Zombies/White Dragons/Fafnirs, Giant Birds,and White Beasts are treated as flying units and are thereby weak to bows and the Wind Sword, and Tarvos/Maelduins are treated as mounted units and are weak to weapons that do additional damage to them. Lastly, all Demonic Beast variants (wild, exp. base, winged, and giant), the Lord of the Lake, Lord of the Desert, White Beasts, and The Immaculate One are all dragons meaning they also share a weakness to anti-dragon weaponry and abilities.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: Dracozombie's attacks completely ignore defense so watch your units that have less HP than their attack. [[spoiler:The Immaculate One's Staggering Blow in Silver Snow, Hoarfrost, completely ignore any defenses.]]
* {{BFS}}: A Titanus carries one called a Giant Katar, wielding it in one hand and it's capable of firing [[SwordBeam energy beams]] from it for ranged combat.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Baels and Elder Baels, which are absolutely ''huge'' spiders.
* BlowYouAway: The Lord of the Desert utilizes magical wind to attack his foes, with his bird-like design helping the mofit. Giant Wolves and Giant Crawlers will also make use of this for their staggering blows--quickly spinning or sweeping in place to generate a harsh gust of wind, and Winged Demonic Beasts generate sharp wind crescents for ranged combat.
* BossInMookClothing: Draco Zombies (and White Dragons in ''Gaiden''). In fact, unless you do [[BonusDungeon the Lagdou Ruins]] in their entirety ''as soon'' as they become available, the first one you encounter in ''Sacred Stones'' will actually ''be'' a boss, complete with unique sprite! [[spoiler:Technically speaking, though, his class is still listed as Manakete...]]
* BreathWeapon: Draco Zombies usually attack with a dark breath. In ''Three Houses'', all Demonic Beast variants save for the Giant Demonic Beasts are capable of breathing fire (or poison for the Wild Demonic Beasts), and White Beasts on the other hand sport magic, holy blue flames instead.[[spoiler:The Immaculate One can also exple holy blue flames or a vaporizing beam of light).]]
* CastingAShadow: Mogalls/Arch Mogalls and Gorgons. Draco Zombies also have wretched air, a stream of fetid dark flames spewed at their target.
* {{Cyclops}}: The fittingly named [[ClassicalCyclops Cyclops]] in ''Sacred Stones'', which is one of the more powerful monsters. ''Echoes'' redesigns the Lich as well as introduces the Titan and Deimos to have this look; the artbook suggests that the Lich and Titan respectively had the heads of one-eyed goats or bulls while the Deimos wore a sone-eyed monster's skull for a mask.
* DamageReduction: The Titanus and the Lord of the Lake are both outfitted with Pavise and Aegis as long as their barriers are up, making it even more difficult to take them down.
* DracoLich: The fittingly named Draco Zombies are among the toughest foes in all three of their appearances which consist of ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* DishingOutDirt: A Stoneborn attacks by hurling out giant boulders from the cavity under its mask. Giant Crawlers, Giant Wolves, and Giant Demonic Beasts will also pick up giant rocks and hurl them at their enemies as ranged attacks.
* EvilCounterpart: Several Monster classes have human counterparts. The Titanus can function as one to the Golem and Altered Golem, with the latter two having close ties to the Chruch of Seiros while the former is employed by one of the two church's enemy factions[[spoiler:--Those who Slither in the Dark]]. In ''Engage'', the Fell-Dragon aligned corrupted variants of this game's monsters serve as this to the fabrication variants of them, as the latter are created by the Divine Dragons and Emblems.
* FeatherFlechettes: Giant Birds will fire off their feathers as their ranged attack and also [[FlechetteStorm unleash a barrage of them]] as their staggering blow.
* FragileSpeedster: Mauthe Doogs and Gwyllgis are the monster counterparts to the Myrmidon line. Also, the giant animals in ''Three Houses'' are considerably faster and harder to hit compared to most other monsters of the Demonic Beast build, but their barriers are more easily broken and they typically do not hit as hard.
* GeoEffects: Phantoms completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties because they are ethereal beings with no solid, tangible forms.
* GiantMook: Monsters in ''Three Houses'' are large, take up to at least 4 spaces rather than 1 space like most units. Their giant size can either block or be blocked by units, they can be roadblocked by obstacles or units that have only one space gap. [[spoiler:Hegemon Husk Edelgard is the exception to this trope, being no bigger than a regular unit map-wise.]]
* HealingFactor: The Lord of the Lake possesses this ability in addition to its myriad of defensive skills and the [[LastChanceHitPoint Miracle]] ability.
* {{Hellhound}}: The Mauthe Doogs and the Gwyllgis in ''Sacred Stones''. The latter had three heads instead of one and were even called Cerberus in the Japanese version.
* HumongousMecha: The Golems, Altered Golems, and Titanuses are massive automatons with equally large armaments (lances of light for the golems and giant katars for the Titanuses).
* IFightForTheStrongestSide: Faceless are created with no minds of their own and simply act on primal bestial instinct to attack others. Practitioners of Dark Magic are able to bend and enslave them to their will. Such people include Iago, Leo, and Rhajat.
* LastChanceHitPoint: The Lord of the Lake and White Beasts possess Miracle which may save them from an otherwise fatal blow, ensuring that they will not be easy to take down )especially the White Beasts with their high Luck stat factoring into it).
* TheLegionsOfHell: Dolth, a boss in the original ''Gaiden'' says in his MagicalIncantation that he's summoning the Dracozombies from Hell. Fiends are described as from the nether realm in ''Shadows of Valentia''.
* LightIsNotGood: The White Beasts are frenzied dragons that expel holy blue flames as their attack. The same can be said of the Golems and Altered Golems [[spoiler:should Rhea descend into insanity]]. [[spoiler:The Immaculate One, whether willingly antagonistic or degenerated, also counts with both the holy blue flames or her vaporizing light breath.]]
* MakingASplash: The Lord of the Lake utilizes magic water to attack foes and is suitably designed after a turtle, a potentially aquatic creature.
* MightyGlacier: Cyclopes, who wield strong axes and has high defenses and bloated HP, they are very slow to which they can be compared to Knights. Although their stat caps tend towards LightningBruiser with high Speed and Skill, few Cyclops enemies get close to those caps. The majority of monsters in ''Three Houses'' besides the giant animals are typically like this.
* MultipleLifeBars: The monsters in ''Three Houses'' have several health bars. With each depleted bar, they may gain stat boosts and an additional skill.
* NoSell: Altered Demonic Beasts and Altered Golems have armor that grants them complete immunity to magic damage until the armor breaks.
* NotUsingTheZWord: Averted in the Japanese version, where Revenants are called Zombies.
* {{Oculothorax}}: Mogalls, Arch Mogalls, and Balors are giant eyeballs with tentacles.
* OneHitPointWonder: Phantoms have only 1 HP. If they are summoned with a Devil Axe equipped, it is possible for it to die attacking before an enemy attacks.
* OurCentaursAreDifferent: Tarvos and Maelduin appear like traditional savage centaurs except with dark grey/black skin. They use axes and bows.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The Demonic Beasts are dragon-like creatures, thus vulnerable to anti-dragon attacks. [[spoiler:Indech and Macuil's dragon form is based on a turtle and bird, respectively.]]
* OurMonstersAreDifferent: They appear to lack sentience of their own, and mindlessly carry out the bidding of their summoner.
* PermanentlyMissableContent: Phantoms cannot trade, so if it kills an enemy and obtains an item from it, the item will be inaccessible to other units.
* PinataEnemy: Revenants and Entombed are fairly unimposing aside from their large stores of HP, but give out great amounts of EXP -- the latter is pretty much a guaranteed level-up for an base-class unit. (This has carried over to ''Awakening''.) Also, Gorgon Eggs are immobile and incapable of attacking and give out exactly 50 EXP when destroyed regardless of the attacking unit's level. Also, they start out with only a few HP and start healing every turn at a certain point, and if allowed to heal to full, they turn into [[GoddamnedBats Gorgons.]] Tomb Lords, introduced in ''Echoes'', are more of a downplayed example as while they do give out large amounts of EXP, they're also difficult to take down and are easily capable of killing just about anyone.
* PoisonousPerson: Wild Demonic Beasts are poisonous creatures, they have the Poison and Poison Strike skills. Some Tomb Lords may also possess venin claws, which on top of their scary strength makes them more dangerous.
* RoarBeforeBeating: Monster units in ''Three Houses'' do this as they prepare their Staggering Blow--a meaty {{area of effect}} attack that can hit from 8, 10, or 12 squares in two rows of four/five or three rows of four up in front of it and cannot be countered, typically reducing the victims' stats and inflicting various status effects (including against allied units). All opposing factions had best fell the monster, break its barries, or get out of dodge before then.
* SandWorm: The Giant Crawlers are earthworms jacked up to a huge size and are capable of moving through the much-maligned desert tiles with no issue.
* SelfDuplication: Mogalls and Balors possess the ability to make copies of themselves in ''Gaiden'' and ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia''.
* SinisterScimitar: Melee Bonewalkers use this in both ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* SinisterScythe: Gargoyles and their relatives wield scythes in ''Gaiden''.
* SquishyWizard: Mogalls and Arch Mogalls.
* SummonMagic: Phantoms can be summoned by the Summoner and Necromancer Classes in ''Sacred Stones''. Certain player and enemy units could also summon units as AI allies.
* SuperToughness: The Lord of the Lake and the Lord of the Desert (as well as The Immaculate One) possess Ancient Dragonskin, naturally halving all incoming damage, and so long as their barriers are up they have access to Dragon-Scale Wall that reduces the damage even further by a whopping ''70%''.
* TakenForGranite: Gorgon enemies can cast a spell called "Stone" which petrifies your units. Petrified units cannot move and any attack against them will have a 100% chance of hitting and a 30% chance of being a critical hit.
* WasOnceAMan: Many of the monster classes in ''Three Houses'' [[spoiler:were humans transformed by crest stones. Especially, the Black Beast from Miklan, the Wandering Beast from Maurice, the Giant Demonic Beast from Dedue, the cardinals turned White Beasts, and Edelgard as the Hegemon Husk.]]
* WolfpackBoss: The Lagdou Ruins end with a stage containing eight Draco Zombies and no other enemies.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Overclasses]]
!!Overclasses
Overclasses are a new tier of classes available as DLC for ''Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'', accessible when units are at their most powerful: in the highest-tier available class and at Level 20. Among them are:
* Conqueror: An advanced-tier for the Hero class, thus making it exclusive to Alm.
* Rigain: An advanced-tier for the Princess class, thus making it exclusive to Celica.
* Spartan: An advanced-tier for the Baron. The class is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: a warrior wearing armor based on what the Spartans wore.
* Enchantress: An advanced-tier for the Priestess class.
* Skogul: An advanced-tier for the Gold Knight class.
* Yasha: An advanced-tier for the Dread Fighter class.
* Harrier: An advanced-tier for the Falcon Knight class.
* Exemplar: An advanced-tier for the Saint class.
* Guru: An advanced-tier for the Sage class.
* Oliphantier: An advanced-tier for the Bow Knight class.
----
* AnimalMotifs: Oliphantiers's horse mounts are fitted with pieces of armor that make them resemble elephants, adding to the elephant archer aesthetic the class goes for.
* BadassCape: All of the Overclasses except for the Oliphantier have a cape.
* BlingOfWar: They all have gold or silver accents in some shape, form, or fashion.
* BribingYourWayToVictory: They're DLC classes. Granted, the fact that you need to have a character at level 20 and at the highest tier of their class means you'd have to grind to be able to use them.
* CallForward: The Alm exclusive Conqueror class shares its name with that of his descendant Walhart's personal class (though Walhart's version is closer to the Emperor class in spirit and in gameplay functions more like an improved Great Knight than a Lord), and even has horns on it's headgear, a feature that Walhart takes to an exaggerated level.
* DarkIsNotEvil: The Enchantress can learn Death and Mire, which are exclusive to enemy mages, the Harrier rides a dark horse and the Guru can summon Terrors.
* EasterEgg: The pattern on the Enchantress's cape is derived from Celtic knots, a design motif prominent in ''Fire Emblem Heroes''.
* HolyHandGrenade: Rigain grants Celica the Aura spell when she class changes to it.
* MagicKnight: Aside from the Rigain and the Enchantress who already class changed from one, the Harrier can learn spells and use their spears in tandem, just like Dark Fliers.
* MeaningfulName: "Rigain" is Old Irish for queen.
* NavelDeepNeckline: The Harrier's uniform has one going past their navel.
* {{Necromancer}}: Gurus can learn Lemegeton, allowing them to conjure Terrors of their own.
* NoSell: The Phalanx skill on Spartans allow the user to have a chance to negate damage taken equal to their Defense/2%, which can also be multiplied for every adjacent ally.
* PoisonedWeapons: The Yasha's skill Tri-Affliction gives them a chance to poison enemies on hit.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: The Spartan's skill Phalanx allows him to negate all damage, the odds of it triggering increasing the more allies are nearby.
[[/folder]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 205,224 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Pegasus Knight]]
!!Pegasus Knight
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/852g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/929g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hdarkflier.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Fliers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:185:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_kinshi_knight_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:185:Kinshi Knights in ''Fates'']]
One of the two flying mounted classes, Pegasus Knights are [[AlwaysFemale female-only]] knights who fly on pegasi. They're defined by their excellent Speed and Resistance at the cost of having pathetic Defense and HP; they're generally [[MageKiller great for eliminating mages]]. They usually Class Change into the '''Falcon Knight''' class, which adds the ability to use either swords or staves depending on the game, and in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' Class Changes further to the '''Seraph Knight'''. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', Pegasus Knights gain the alternate Class Change opition of '''Dark Flier''', which allows them to use magic. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', they had the alternate Class Change option of '''Wyvern Knight''' (see below): in the Archanea games, '''Dracoknights''' were their only advance class (though the remakes allowed them to class change to Falcon Knights through a DLC item). In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they were changed into the unisex '''Sky Knight''', which class change into the '''Falcon Knight''' or '''Kinshi Knight''', the first aerial class that can use Bows. The Dark Flier reappears as its own separate class in ''Fates'' renamed '''Dark Falcon''', accessible via an item that can be obtained either by owning all three campaigns or as a reward from a DLC map.\\\
''Engage'' makes pegasus riders the sole basic flying class separated by weapon types: '''Sword Flier''', '''Lance Flier''', and '''Axe Flier'''. They can either class change into '''Griffin Knight''', which adds staves to their arsenal, or '''Wyvern Knight''', which gives them another weapon rank.\\\
Pegasus Knights can be considered among the most iconic classes in the series, and Intelligent Systems [[DisneyOwnsThisTrope currently has their name trademarked]].\\\
Related are the '''Princess Crimea''' and '''Queen''' classes, exclusive to Elincia in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''Radiant Dawn'', respectively, both classes wield swords and staves, but are otherwise identical to the normal pegasus classes, and '''Wing Tamer''' and '''Sleipnir Rider''', exclusive to Hortensia in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'', both classes that wields magic and staves.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Caeda, Palla, Catria, Est (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and The Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of The Emblem]]''); Clair, Palla, Catria, Est (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Erinys, Fee/Hermina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''), Karin and Misha (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Shanna, Thea, Juno (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Florina, Fiora, Farina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''), Vanessa, Tana, Syrene (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Marcia, Tanith, Elincia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Sigrun (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Sumia, Cordelia, Cynthia, Aversa (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Subaki, Hinoka, Reina, Shigure, Caeldori (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Ingrid, Constance (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Chloé, Hortensia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Pegasus Knight
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/852g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/929g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hdarkflier.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Fliers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:185:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_kinshi_knight_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:185:Kinshi Knights in ''Fates'']]
One of the two flying mounted classes, Pegasus Knights are [[AlwaysFemale female-only]] knights who fly on pegasi. They're defined by their excellent Speed and Resistance at the cost of having pathetic Defense and HP; they're generally [[MageKiller great for eliminating mages]]. They usually Class Change into the '''Falcon Knight''' class, which adds the ability to use either swords or staves depending on the game, and in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' Class Changes further to the '''Seraph Knight'''. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', Pegasus Knights gain the alternate Class Change opition of '''Dark Flier''', which allows them to use magic. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', they had the alternate Class Change option of '''Wyvern Knight''' (see below): in the Archanea games, '''Dracoknights''' were their only advance class (though the remakes allowed them to class change to Falcon Knights through a DLC item). In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they were changed into the unisex '''Sky Knight''', which class change into the '''Falcon Knight''' or '''Kinshi Knight''', the first aerial class that can use Bows. The Dark Flier reappears as its own separate class in ''Fates'' renamed '''Dark Falcon''', accessible via an item that can be obtained either by owning all three campaigns or as a reward from a DLC map.\\\
''Engage'' makes pegasus riders the sole basic flying class separated by weapon types: '''Sword Flier''', '''Lance Flier''', and '''Axe Flier'''. They can either class change into '''Griffin Knight''', which adds staves to their arsenal, or '''Wyvern Knight''', which gives them another weapon rank.\\\
Pegasus Knights can be considered among the most iconic classes in the series, and Intelligent Systems [[DisneyOwnsThisTrope currently has their name trademarked]].\\\
Related are the '''Princess Crimea''' and '''Queen''' classes, exclusive to Elincia in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''Radiant Dawn'', respectively, both classes wield swords and staves, but are otherwise identical to the normal pegasus classes, and '''Wing Tamer''' and '''Sleipnir Rider''', exclusive to Hortensia in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'', both classes that wields magic and staves.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Caeda, Palla, Catria, Est (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and The Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of The Emblem]]''); Clair, Palla, Catria, Est (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Erinys, Fee/Hermina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''), Karin and Misha (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Shanna, Thea, Juno (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Florina, Fiora, Farina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''), Vanessa, Tana, Syrene (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Marcia, Tanith, Elincia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Sigrun (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Sumia, Cordelia, Cynthia, Aversa (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Subaki, Hinoka, Reina, Shigure, Caeldori (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Ingrid, Constance (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Chloé, Hortensia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Pegasus Knight
!!Dancer and variants
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[caption-width-right:350:Pegasus Knights
[[caption-width-right:350:Dancers in ''Three
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/929g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hdarkflier.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Fliers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:185:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_kinshi_knight_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:185:Kinshi Knights in ''Fates'']]
One of the two flying mounted classes, Pegasus Knights are [[AlwaysFemale female-only]] knights who fly on pegasi. They're defined by their excellent Speed
The Dancer is a recurring [[UtilityPartyMember utility]] and
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''
Changed line(s) 226,258 (click to see context) from:
* AchillesHeel: Pegasus Knights [[AntiAir suffer additional damage from bows and (sometimes) wind magic]] due to their status as flying units. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', they are also weak to anti-beast weapons.
* AlwaysFemale: Playable Pegasus Knights are always female, though as mentioned in EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, enemy ones were male in ''Mystery''. ''Fates'' averts this, although the explanation is different depending on the version of the game: the Japanese version calls them Tenma (the Japanese word for Pegasus, confusingly used for regular Pegasi in the past), while the English version simply says that they are a different breed from the traditional depiction. However, it's still played with, as the men who have this class, Subaki and Shigure, are known to be very pretty. Pegasus Knights go back to being female-only in ''Three Houses''. Notably pegasi are known to accept a man as an additional passenger to a female rider (as seen when Sumia rescues Chrom in ''Awakening''), and may carry a man they trust (by picking him up with their mouth as seen in the ''Three Hopes'' support conversation between Ignatz and Marianne), they just draw the line at the man riding on their back and directing them.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Falcon Knights in most games can use swords and lances.
* CombatMedic: Falcon Knights in the Jugdral games, ''Awakening'', and ''Fates'' can use healing staves.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Avoid, a skill that boosts avoid by 30 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DamageReduction: Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts Resistance by 20 if the user initiates combat.
* DifficultButAwesome: Pegasus Knights are among the (physically] squishiest classes in the series, which gives them relatively poor matchups against most other physical units (''especially'' archers), but any seasoned veteran will tell you that they are worth the effort of training, as flying mobility is more often than not the best type of mobility and their high speed rates make up for their occasionally lacking strength and durability, not to mention the rescue and pair-up shenanigans that one can perform with them.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Pegasi become dragons in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', in contrast to the two classes being foils to each other later on. It's {{Hand Wave}}d in some supports of ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', where Minerva releases her old pegasus for a more powerful wyvern mount. In addition, the DS remakes have the Elysian Whip, which allows Pegasus Knights to Class Change into Falcon Knights.
** Pegasus Knight {{Mook}}s were male in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. The stat interface also suggests that they're male in the GBA installments as well, as their "Rescue" stat (which is pretty much irrelevant to enemy units since they never use the rescue command unless you use the enemy control glitch to take control of them) is 25 minus their Constitution (same as your male mounted units; your female ones are only 20 minus their Con).
** Pegasus Knights could use both swords and lances at base in the earlier games, a trait that was given to Falcon Knights in the GBA games, Tellius games, the DS remake, and ''Three Houses''.
* EnergyAbsorption: Dark Fliers in ''Three Houses'' have the skill Transmute, which grants them boosts to all stats when hit by magic attacks during the enemy's phase. The stat buffs last until the end of the user's next phase.
* ExtraTurn: The Galeforce skill exclusive to Dark Fliers allows the user to take another action upon initiating an attack that defeats an enemy unit. ''Fates'' nerfed the skill so that it only activates when the user isn't supported by Attack and Guard Stances.
* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: As a result of being female-exclusive classes and the series lacking in high-ranking female villains[[note]]and even if they do, they are rarely going to be of this class[[/note]], Pegasus Knight factions are usually depicted more sympathetically and protagonist-friendly. The few times they are assigned to antagonize the players, it is usually fringe rebels revolting against their own respective kingdoms (Silesse and Ilia) or the players are intended to conquer them (Hoshido in ''Conquest''). ''Three Houses'', ironically, makes the Pegasus Knights the go-to enemy flier used by the Adrestian Empire, as Wyvern Riders are largely associated with the foreign Almyra.
* FragileFlyer: Their high Speed typically allows them to get in at least two hits. However, they're vulnerable to arrows and wind-related magic.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* HitAndRunTactics: Pegasus Knights in the Jugdral and Tellius games can move again after attacking, moving them to a safe distance to compensate for their low durability. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* HunterOfTheirOwnKind: Kinshi Knights are specialized in attacking other flying units, because they can wield bows and have the skill ''Air Superiority'', which gives them a hit/avoid boost against flying units.
* InconsistentSpelling: "Falcon Knight" has been variously rendered as "Falcoknight", "Falconknight", and "Falcon Knight" in the English games.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: In many games, there are shield items which, when held by a flyer, negates their weakness to bows. In ''Awakening'', Iote's Shield is a skill instead, acquired through clearing the Smash Brethren 3 [[DownloadableContent DLC]]. ''Fates'' has the same skill under the name Wing Shield, which is exclusive to Hinoka as an enemy in the ''Conquest'' route.
* JoustingLance: The starting and main weapon for Pegasus Knights are lances. Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' gain Lancefaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding lances.
* MageKiller: They're frequently lauded as such, given their high Resistance and access to physical weapons. Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts their Resistance by 20 when they initiate an attack.
* MagicKnight: Dark Fliers use offensive magic and lances.
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Falcoknight with an Elysian Whip, she is unable to reclass into Dracoknight.
* NobleBirdOfPrey: Kinshi Knights ditch the pegasus for a gigantic mythical bird known as a Kinshi.
* NonindicativeName: Like Dark Knight, Dark Fliers cannot use dark magic, despite their name, with the exception of Aversa, who has an exclusive skill named Shadowgift. This is remedied in ''Three Houses'', as dark magic is not locked in class, but they don't have Dark Tomefaire as one of their innate skills.
* TheParalyzer: Falcon Knights and Seraph Knights in the Tellius games have the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn (if they survive).
* {{Pegasus}}: They come in two different species as well. The one commonly seen in the series are known as Pegasus, but incorporate an aspect of the unicorn: the myth that unicorns would only accept pure-hearted maidens as their riders, though [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness this isn't the case]] in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. A support in ''Fates'' claims that the Pegasi in the game are actually [[Myth/ChineseMythology Tenma]], which are similar in appearance but do not care about gender (despite ''[=FE3=]'' depicting male Pegasus Knights). Though this is made confusing, as past games in Japan have used ''Tenma'' to refer to regular Pegasi. The English version of the same conversation changes this, saying that the Pegasi of ''Fates'' are a different breed.
* {{Retcon}}: Male Pegasus Knights may have been retconned as impossible based on a Support in ''Fates''. In the original ''Mystery of the Emblem'', enemy Pegasus Knights were explicitly male and Karin's explanation in ''Thracia 776'' left elbow room for potential exceptions.
* RuleOfThree: Traditionally, there are three available pegasus-riding units, often related to each other either through family or through job, who can execute a "Triangle Attack" when together. The Jugdral games are the only exceptions; the player never gets more than two Pegasus Knights in the same game, and in ''Genealogy'', the two are in different generations. ''Genealogy'' actually has a trio of ''enemy'' Falcon Knights who can Triangle Attack! The attack was absent in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', but was brought back in ''Shadows of Valentia'', albeit as a combat art. Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'' can get the Triangle Attack Combat Art when mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Rally Speed, which gives a boost to allies' Speed when commanded.
* WhiteStallion: Their pegasi almost always have marble white coat, with the obvious exception of the Dark Fliers.
* WingedUnicorn: Normally, their mounts look like this after class changing to Falcon Knight, though it's entirely possible that the horn is just part of the pegasus' head armor. In ''Three Hopes'' it is made clear that at least their version of promoted pegasi have a real horn growing from their forehead, as promoted pegasi without their battle armor can be seen in the stables of the army base camp.
* AlwaysFemale: Playable Pegasus Knights are always female, though as mentioned in EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, enemy ones were male in ''Mystery''. ''Fates'' averts this, although the explanation is different depending on the version of the game: the Japanese version calls them Tenma (the Japanese word for Pegasus, confusingly used for regular Pegasi in the past), while the English version simply says that they are a different breed from the traditional depiction. However, it's still played with, as the men who have this class, Subaki and Shigure, are known to be very pretty. Pegasus Knights go back to being female-only in ''Three Houses''. Notably pegasi are known to accept a man as an additional passenger to a female rider (as seen when Sumia rescues Chrom in ''Awakening''), and may carry a man they trust (by picking him up with their mouth as seen in the ''Three Hopes'' support conversation between Ignatz and Marianne), they just draw the line at the man riding on their back and directing them.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Falcon Knights in most games can use swords and lances.
* CombatMedic: Falcon Knights in the Jugdral games, ''Awakening'', and ''Fates'' can use healing staves.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Avoid, a skill that boosts avoid by 30 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DamageReduction: Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts Resistance by 20 if the user initiates combat.
* DifficultButAwesome: Pegasus Knights are among the (physically] squishiest classes in the series, which gives them relatively poor matchups against most other physical units (''especially'' archers), but any seasoned veteran will tell you that they are worth the effort of training, as flying mobility is more often than not the best type of mobility and their high speed rates make up for their occasionally lacking strength and durability, not to mention the rescue and pair-up shenanigans that one can perform with them.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Pegasi become dragons in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', in contrast to the two classes being foils to each other later on. It's {{Hand Wave}}d in some supports of ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', where Minerva releases her old pegasus for a more powerful wyvern mount. In addition, the DS remakes have the Elysian Whip, which allows Pegasus Knights to Class Change into Falcon Knights.
** Pegasus Knight {{Mook}}s were male in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. The stat interface also suggests that they're male in the GBA installments as well, as their "Rescue" stat (which is pretty much irrelevant to enemy units since they never use the rescue command unless you use the enemy control glitch to take control of them) is 25 minus their Constitution (same as your male mounted units; your female ones are only 20 minus their Con).
** Pegasus Knights could use both swords and lances at base in the earlier games, a trait that was given to Falcon Knights in the GBA games, Tellius games, the DS remake, and ''Three Houses''.
* EnergyAbsorption: Dark Fliers in ''Three Houses'' have the skill Transmute, which grants them boosts to all stats when hit by magic attacks during the enemy's phase. The stat buffs last until the end of the user's next phase.
* ExtraTurn: The Galeforce skill exclusive to Dark Fliers allows the user to take another action upon initiating an attack that defeats an enemy unit. ''Fates'' nerfed the skill so that it only activates when the user isn't supported by Attack and Guard Stances.
* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: As a result of being female-exclusive classes and the series lacking in high-ranking female villains[[note]]and even if they do, they are rarely going to be of this class[[/note]], Pegasus Knight factions are usually depicted more sympathetically and protagonist-friendly. The few times they are assigned to antagonize the players, it is usually fringe rebels revolting against their own respective kingdoms (Silesse and Ilia) or the players are intended to conquer them (Hoshido in ''Conquest''). ''Three Houses'', ironically, makes the Pegasus Knights the go-to enemy flier used by the Adrestian Empire, as Wyvern Riders are largely associated with the foreign Almyra.
* FragileFlyer: Their high Speed typically allows them to get in at least two hits. However, they're vulnerable to arrows and wind-related magic.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* HitAndRunTactics: Pegasus Knights in the Jugdral and Tellius games can move again after attacking, moving them to a safe distance to compensate for their low durability. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* HunterOfTheirOwnKind: Kinshi Knights are specialized in attacking other flying units, because they can wield bows and have the skill ''Air Superiority'', which gives them a hit/avoid boost against flying units.
* InconsistentSpelling: "Falcon Knight" has been variously rendered as "Falcoknight", "Falconknight", and "Falcon Knight" in the English games.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: In many games, there are shield items which, when held by a flyer, negates their weakness to bows. In ''Awakening'', Iote's Shield is a skill instead, acquired through clearing the Smash Brethren 3 [[DownloadableContent DLC]]. ''Fates'' has the same skill under the name Wing Shield, which is exclusive to Hinoka as an enemy in the ''Conquest'' route.
* JoustingLance: The starting and main weapon for Pegasus Knights are lances. Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' gain Lancefaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding lances.
* MageKiller: They're frequently lauded as such, given their high Resistance and access to physical weapons. Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts their Resistance by 20 when they initiate an attack.
* MagicKnight: Dark Fliers use offensive magic and lances.
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Falcoknight with an Elysian Whip, she is unable to reclass into Dracoknight.
* NobleBirdOfPrey: Kinshi Knights ditch the pegasus for a gigantic mythical bird known as a Kinshi.
* NonindicativeName: Like Dark Knight, Dark Fliers cannot use dark magic, despite their name, with the exception of Aversa, who has an exclusive skill named Shadowgift. This is remedied in ''Three Houses'', as dark magic is not locked in class, but they don't have Dark Tomefaire as one of their innate skills.
* TheParalyzer: Falcon Knights and Seraph Knights in the Tellius games have the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn (if they survive).
* {{Pegasus}}: They come in two different species as well. The one commonly seen in the series are known as Pegasus, but incorporate an aspect of the unicorn: the myth that unicorns would only accept pure-hearted maidens as their riders, though [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness this isn't the case]] in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. A support in ''Fates'' claims that the Pegasi in the game are actually [[Myth/ChineseMythology Tenma]], which are similar in appearance but do not care about gender (despite ''[=FE3=]'' depicting male Pegasus Knights). Though this is made confusing, as past games in Japan have used ''Tenma'' to refer to regular Pegasi. The English version of the same conversation changes this, saying that the Pegasi of ''Fates'' are a different breed.
* {{Retcon}}: Male Pegasus Knights may have been retconned as impossible based on a Support in ''Fates''. In the original ''Mystery of the Emblem'', enemy Pegasus Knights were explicitly male and Karin's explanation in ''Thracia 776'' left elbow room for potential exceptions.
* RuleOfThree: Traditionally, there are three available pegasus-riding units, often related to each other either through family or through job, who can execute a "Triangle Attack" when together. The Jugdral games are the only exceptions; the player never gets more than two Pegasus Knights in the same game, and in ''Genealogy'', the two are in different generations. ''Genealogy'' actually has a trio of ''enemy'' Falcon Knights who can Triangle Attack! The attack was absent in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', but was brought back in ''Shadows of Valentia'', albeit as a combat art. Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'' can get the Triangle Attack Combat Art when mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Rally Speed, which gives a boost to allies' Speed when commanded.
* WhiteStallion: Their pegasi almost always have marble white coat, with the obvious exception of the Dark Fliers.
* WingedUnicorn: Normally, their mounts look like this after class changing to Falcon Knight, though it's entirely possible that the horn is just part of the pegasus' head armor. In ''Three Hopes'' it is made clear that at least their version of promoted pegasi have a real horn growing from their forehead, as promoted pegasi without their battle armor can be seen in the stables of the army base camp.
to:
* AchillesHeel: Pegasus Knights [[AntiAir suffer additional damage from bows AlwaysFemale: The default Dancer class has almost always been female-only. ''Three Houses'' is the first game in the series where the Dancer is available to both males and (sometimes) wind magic]] due to their status as flying units. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', they are also weak to anti-beast weapons.females. Averted in ''Engage'' where Seadall, the game's dancer, is a man.
*AlwaysFemale: Playable Pegasus Knights are always female, though as mentioned in EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, enemy ones were male in ''Mystery''. ''Fates'' averts this, although the explanation is different depending on the version of the game: the Japanese version calls them Tenma (the Japanese word for Pegasus, confusingly used for regular Pegasi in the past), while the English version simply says that they are a different breed from the traditional depiction. However, it's still played with, as the men who have this class, Subaki and Shigure, are known to be very pretty. Pegasus Knights go back to being female-only in ''Three Houses''. Notably pegasi are known to accept a man as an additional passenger to a female rider (as seen when Sumia rescues Chrom in ''Awakening''), and may carry a man they trust (by picking him up with their mouth as seen in the ''Three Hopes'' support conversation between Ignatz and Marianne), they just draw the line at the man riding on their back and directing them.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Falcon Knights in most games can use swords and lances.
* CombatMedic: Falcon Knights inDanceBattler: In the Jugdral games, and Archanea games and ''Awakening'', and in which they also wield swords... just not very well. The ''Fates'' can use healing staves.
version, the Songstress, wields lances/naginata instead. The ''Engage'' version uses body arts instead.
*CriticalStatusBuff: Falcon Knights ExtraTurn: Their abilities grant units that have already acted during their phase a second action in the same phase.
* FragileSpeedster: Dancers are characterized as fast and dodgy with their best stats being speed and luck. However, because of their nature as support units, their terrible durability, and, in some games, inability to fight, they must be protected and should not be in the front line.
* MagicDance: Averted; the ability of Dancers to grant other units an extra turn is mundane, although it functions like magic. The only exception is Ninian.
* MagicKnight: Dancers in ''Three Houses''gain Defiant Avoid, a skill that boosts avoid by 30 while under 25% HP, upon mastering use swords and magic.
* MagicMusic: Nils, theclass.
* DamageReduction: Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts Resistance by 20 if the user initiates combat.
* DifficultButAwesome: Pegasus Knights are among the (physically] squishiest classes in the series, which gives them relatively poor matchups against mostHeron Laguz, and Azura can all play MagicMusic. Although Elphin plays music as well, he's more like other physical units (''especially'' archers), but any seasoned veteran dancers in that he has no magical ability.
* MsFanservice: Dancers tend to be this to some extent, thanks to their minimal clothing and sultry dances. The only one who doesn't solidly fit this description is Ninian and [[MrFanservice Seadall]].
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: If there is more than one Dancer in a single game, circumstances willtell you conspire to ensure that they are worth can never be in the effort of training, as flying mobility is more often than not party at the best type of mobility and their high speed rates make up for their occasionally lacking strength and durability, not same time. The sole exception, ''Fire Emblem Heroes'', has an ObviousRulePatch to mention the rescue and pair-up shenanigans that one can perform with them.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Pegasi become dragons in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', in contrasthave them unable to the two classes being foils to refresh each other later on. It's {{Hand Wave}}d in some supports of ''New Mystery of if the Emblem'', where Minerva releases her old pegasus for a more powerful wyvern mount. In addition, the DS remakes have the Elysian Whip, which allows Pegasus Knights to Class Change into Falcon Knights.
** Pegasus Knight {{Mook}}s were male in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. The stat interface also suggests that they're male in the GBA installments as well, as their "Rescue" stat (which is pretty much irrelevant to enemy units since they never use the rescue command unless you use the enemy control glitch to take control of them) is 25 minus their Constitution (same as your male mounted units; your female ones are only 20 minus their Con).
** Pegasus Knights could use both swords and lances at base in the earlier games, a trait that was given to Falcon Knights in the GBA games, Tellius games, the DS remake, and ''Three Houses''.
* EnergyAbsorption: Dark Fliersother unit has Dance or Sing equipped. Subverted in ''Three Houses'' where they can be refreshed with a Dancer Battalion, but it only works once per map, and in ''Engage'', where they can be refreshed with Emblem Byleth's Goddess Dance and Emblem Veronica's Contract, but the former only works once per engage and the latter, beside being unable to move for the duration of the extra action, has the Dance option disabled for that action's duration.
* QuirkyBard: Actually not ''that'' spoony. It's true that they have (depending on theskill Transmute, which grants them boosts game) little or no means to all stats when hit by magic defend themselves and low-to-average defense/HP, but a well-trained character of this class can have ''massive'' Speed and Luck, thus they will dodge a good part of the attacks during thrown at them. (Additionally, Tethys has good HP growths.)
* SpearCounterpart: In ''Binding Blade'' and ''Blazing Blade'', you get theenemy's phase. The stat buffs last until the end of the user's next phase.
* ExtraTurn: The Galeforce skill exclusive to Dark Fliers allows the user to take another action upon initiating an attack that defeats an enemy unit. ''Fates'' nerfed the skill so that it only activates when the user isn't supported by Attack and Guard Stances.
* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: As a result of being female-exclusive classes and the series lacking in high-ranking female villains[[note]]and even if they do, theyBard class, which are rarely going to be of this class[[/note]], Pegasus Knight factions are usually depicted more sympathetically and protagonist-friendly. The few times they are assigned to antagonize the players, it is usually fringe rebels revolting against their own respective kingdoms (Silesse and Ilia) or the players are intended to conquer them (Hoshido in ''Conquest''). ''Three Houses'', ironically, makes the Pegasus Knights the go-to enemy flier used by the Adrestian Empire, as Wyvern Riders are largely associated male dancers with the foreign Almyra.
* FragileFlyer: Their high Speed typically allows themsame ability to get in at least two hits. However, they're vulnerable to arrows and wind-related magic.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* HitAndRunTactics: Pegasus Knights"sing" which refreshes an ally like Dancers. Though the Bard class exists in the Jugdral and Tellius games can move again after attacking, moving them to a safe distance to compensate for their low durability. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* HunterOfTheirOwnKind: Kinshi Knights are specialized in attacking other flying units, because they can wield bows and have the skill ''Air Superiority'', which gives them a hit/avoid boost against flying units.
* InconsistentSpelling: "Falcon Knight" has been variously rendered as "Falcoknight", "Falconknight", and "Falcon Knight" in the English games.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: In manygames, there are shield items which, when held just glorified version of Mages.
* StatusBuff:
** In ''Blazing Blade'', there are special rings that can raises a unit's stat by 10 for aflyer, negates their weakness single turn. Filla's Might increases attack, Ninis's Grace increases defensive stats, Thor's Ire increases critical, and Set's Litany increases avoid.
** In ''Radiant Dawn'', Herons has five different galdrar which are gain through level ups. Vigor functions like dancing (which they start by default but its effect differs for each Heron), Bliss raises the unit's biorhythm tobows. its highest while Sorrow lowers enemy's biorhythm to its worst, Valor instantly raise Laguz's transformation gauge to its maximum, and Recovery instantly restores HP and remove conditions.
** ''Awakening'' onwards has a skill called Special Dance, though in ''Fates'', it is called Inspiring Song. In ''Awakening'',Iote's Shield is a skill instead, acquired through clearing the Smash Brethren 3 [[DownloadableContent DLC]]. Special Dance increases +2 to Strength/Magic/Defense/Resistance while ''Fates'' has the same skill under the name Wing Shield, which is exclusive to Hinoka as an enemy in the ''Conquest'' route.
* JoustingLance: The starting and main weapon for Pegasus Knights are lances. Falcon Knights in ''Awakening''and ''Three Houses'' gain Lancefaire, which boosts increases +3/+4 to Skill/Speed/Luck. Unlike the earlier examples, the stat buffs stack with giving other units ExtraTurn instead of being mutually exclusive.
* SultryBellyDancer: Dancers tend to dress in fanservice-y belly dancer outfits that leave little to the imagination regarding theirdamage output for wielding lances.
figures.
*MageKiller: They're frequently lauded as such, given their high Resistance SupportPartyMember: Dancer variants from the GBA and access to physical weapons. Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts their Resistance by 20 when they initiate an attack.
* MagicKnight: Dark Fliers use offensive magic and lances.
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Falcoknight with an Elysian Whip, she is unable to reclass into Dracoknight.
* NobleBirdOfPrey: Kinshi Knights ditch the pegasus for a gigantic mythical bird known as a Kinshi.
* NonindicativeName: Like Dark Knight, Dark Fliers cannot use dark magic, despite their name, with the exception of Aversa, who has an exclusive skill named Shadowgift. This is remedied in ''Three Houses'', as dark magic is not locked in class, but they don't have Dark Tomefaire as one of their innate skills.
* TheParalyzer: Falcon Knights and Seraph Knights in theTellius games have the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn (if they survive).
* {{Pegasus}}: They come in two different species as well. The one commonly seencan't attack enemies at all, and rely solely on their refreshing abilities. And even in the series games where they are known as Pegasus, but incorporate an aspect capable of the unicorn: the myth that unicorns would only accept pure-hearted maidens as fighting, their riders, though [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness refreshing ability is so valuable that they'll rarely see combat.
* WanderingMinstrel: Most of them come across as thisisn't the case]] in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. A support in ''Fates'' claims that the Pegasi in the game are actually [[Myth/ChineseMythology Tenma]], which are similar in appearance but do not care about gender (despite ''[=FE3=]'' depicting male Pegasus Knights). Though this is made confusing, as past games in Japan have used ''Tenma'' to refer to regular Pegasi. The English version of the same conversation changes this, saying that the Pegasi of ''Fates'' are a different breed.
* {{Retcon}}: Male Pegasus Knights may have been retconned as impossible based on a Support in ''Fates''. In the original ''Mystery of the Emblem'', enemy Pegasus Knights were explicitly male and Karin's explanation in ''Thracia 776'' left elbow room for potential exceptions.
* RuleOfThree: Traditionally, there are three available pegasus-riding units, often related to each other either through family or through job, who can execute a "Triangle Attack" when together. The Jugdral games are the only exceptions; the player never gets more than two Pegasus Knights in the same game, and in ''Genealogy'', the two are in different generations. ''Genealogy'' actually has a trio of ''enemy'' Falcon Knights who can Triangle Attack! The attack was absent in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', but was brought back in ''Shadows of Valentia'', albeit as a combat art. Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'' can get the Triangle Attack Combat Art when mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Rally Speed, which gives a boost to allies' Speed when commanded.
* WhiteStallion: Their pegasi almost always have marble white coat, with the obvious exception of the Dark Fliers.
* WingedUnicorn: Normally, their mounts look like this after class changing to Falcon Knight, though it's entirely possible that the horn is just part of the pegasus' head armor. In ''Three Hopes'' it is made clear that at least their version of promoted pegasi have a real horn growing from their forehead, as promoted pegasi without their battle armor can be seen in the stables of the army base camp.initially.
*
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Falcon Knights in most games can use swords and lances.
* CombatMedic: Falcon Knights in
*
* FragileSpeedster: Dancers are characterized as fast and dodgy with their best stats being speed and luck. However, because of their nature as support units, their terrible durability, and, in some games, inability to fight, they must be protected and should not be in the front line.
* MagicDance: Averted; the ability of Dancers to grant other units an extra turn is mundane, although it functions like magic. The only exception is Ninian.
* MagicKnight: Dancers in ''Three Houses''
* MagicMusic: Nils, the
* DamageReduction: Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts Resistance by 20 if the user initiates combat.
* DifficultButAwesome: Pegasus Knights are among the (physically] squishiest classes in the series, which gives them relatively poor matchups against most
* MsFanservice: Dancers tend to be this to some extent, thanks to their minimal clothing and sultry dances. The only one who doesn't solidly fit this description is Ninian and [[MrFanservice Seadall]].
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: If there is more than one Dancer in a single game, circumstances will
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Pegasi become dragons in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', in contrast
** Pegasus Knight {{Mook}}s were male in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. The stat interface also suggests that they're male in the GBA installments as well, as their "Rescue" stat (which is pretty much irrelevant to enemy units since they never use the rescue command unless you use the enemy control glitch to take control of them) is 25 minus their Constitution (same as your male mounted units; your female ones are only 20 minus their Con).
** Pegasus Knights could use both swords and lances at base in the earlier games, a trait that was given to Falcon Knights in the GBA games, Tellius games, the DS remake, and ''Three Houses''.
* EnergyAbsorption: Dark Fliers
* QuirkyBard: Actually not ''that'' spoony. It's true that they have (depending on the
* SpearCounterpart: In ''Binding Blade'' and ''Blazing Blade'', you get the
* ExtraTurn: The Galeforce skill exclusive to Dark Fliers allows the user to take another action upon initiating an attack that defeats an enemy unit. ''Fates'' nerfed the skill so that it only activates when the user isn't supported by Attack and Guard Stances.
* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: As a result of being female-exclusive classes and the series lacking in high-ranking female villains[[note]]and even if they do, they
* FragileFlyer: Their high Speed typically allows them
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* HitAndRunTactics: Pegasus Knights
* HunterOfTheirOwnKind: Kinshi Knights are specialized in attacking other flying units, because they can wield bows and have the skill ''Air Superiority'', which gives them a hit/avoid boost against flying units.
* InconsistentSpelling: "Falcon Knight" has been variously rendered as "Falcoknight", "Falconknight", and "Falcon Knight" in the English games.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: In many
* StatusBuff:
** In ''Blazing Blade'', there are special rings that can raises a unit's stat by 10 for a
** In ''Radiant Dawn'', Herons has five different galdrar which are gain through level ups. Vigor functions like dancing (which they start by default but its effect differs for each Heron), Bliss raises the unit's biorhythm to
** ''Awakening'' onwards has a skill called Special Dance, though in ''Fates'', it is called Inspiring Song. In ''Awakening'',
* JoustingLance: The starting and main weapon for Pegasus Knights are lances. Falcon Knights in ''Awakening''
* SultryBellyDancer: Dancers tend to dress in fanservice-y belly dancer outfits that leave little to the imagination regarding their
*
* MagicKnight: Dark Fliers use offensive magic and lances.
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Falcoknight with an Elysian Whip, she is unable to reclass into Dracoknight.
* NobleBirdOfPrey: Kinshi Knights ditch the pegasus for a gigantic mythical bird known as a Kinshi.
* NonindicativeName: Like Dark Knight, Dark Fliers cannot use dark magic, despite their name, with the exception of Aversa, who has an exclusive skill named Shadowgift. This is remedied in ''Three Houses'', as dark magic is not locked in class, but they don't have Dark Tomefaire as one of their innate skills.
* TheParalyzer: Falcon Knights and Seraph Knights in the
* {{Pegasus}}: They come in two different species as well. The one commonly seen
* WanderingMinstrel: Most of them come across as this
* {{Retcon}}: Male Pegasus Knights may have been retconned as impossible based on a Support in ''Fates''. In the original ''Mystery of the Emblem'', enemy Pegasus Knights were explicitly male and Karin's explanation in ''Thracia 776'' left elbow room for potential exceptions.
* RuleOfThree: Traditionally, there are three available pegasus-riding units, often related to each other either through family or through job, who can execute a "Triangle Attack" when together. The Jugdral games are the only exceptions; the player never gets more than two Pegasus Knights in the same game, and in ''Genealogy'', the two are in different generations. ''Genealogy'' actually has a trio of ''enemy'' Falcon Knights who can Triangle Attack! The attack was absent in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', but was brought back in ''Shadows of Valentia'', albeit as a combat art. Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'' can get the Triangle Attack Combat Art when mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Rally Speed, which gives a boost to allies' Speed when commanded.
* WhiteStallion: Their pegasi almost always have marble white coat, with the obvious exception of the Dark Fliers.
* WingedUnicorn: Normally, their mounts look like this after class changing to Falcon Knight, though it's entirely possible that the horn is just part of the pegasus' head armor. In ''Three Hopes'' it is made clear that at least their version of promoted pegasi have a real horn growing from their forehead, as promoted pegasi without their battle armor can be seen in the stables of the army base camp.
Changed line(s) 261,278 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Wyvern Rider/Dracoknight (''Dragon Knight'')]]
!!Wyvern Rider/Dracoknight (''Dragon Knight'')
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/856g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Wyvern Rider in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/933g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Wyvern Lords in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/revenant_knight.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Malig Knights in ''Fates'']]
Wyvern Riders (sometimes known instead as Dracoknight) are the second of the two recurring flying mounted classes, this time riding into battle on the backs of dragons. Originating as the Class Change for Pegasus Knights in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', Wyvern Riders were later were spun off into their own entirely separate class family, starting in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''. Compared to their pegasus counterparts, they tend toward hardier, bulkier compositions at the expense of Speed and Resistance, with a weakness to anti-dragon weaponry on top of the standard flier weakness to bows. The Wyvern Rider's weapon selection has varied over the course of the series, having used all three main weapon types at different points, though from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' onward, they primarily use axes.\\\
Wyvern Riders generally Class Change into the '''Wyvern Lord''' ('''Dragon Master''' in Japanese), which usually gives them access to a secondary melee weapon. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', they can alternatively Class Change into the '''Wyvern Knight''', which only wields lances, but compensates for the lack of weapon diversity with [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer raw offensive stats]] and [[ArmorPiercingAttack a unique skill]]. In ''Radiant Dawn'', they can Class Change again into the third-tier '''Dragonlord''' class ('''Lindwurm''' in Japanese). The Jugdral games feature the weaker '''Dragon Rider''' class, which was made the first tier to the (now second-tier) Dragon Knight in ''Thracia 776''. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', they gain the alternate Class Change of '''Griffon Rider''', a [[JackOfAllStats generally well-balanced class]]. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they gain the alternate Class Change of '''Malig Knight''', a MagicKnight class that uses axes and tomes.\\\
Related is the '''King Daein''' class, exclusive to Ashnard in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'', the class family '''Wyvern Master''' and '''Barbarossa''', exclusive to Claude in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'', which primarily wields bows, and the class family '''Wing Tamer''' and '''Lindwurm''', exclusive to Ivy, which wields tomes and staves, and '''Melusine''', exclusive to Zephia/Zelestia, which wields swords and tomes, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''.\\\
Not to be confused with the "normal" dragons which figure heavily into the plots of most games, though in Archanea, ''these'' dragons are degenerate wild relatives of ''those'' dragons called Wyverns.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Minerva (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade Of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Altena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Dean and Eda (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Miledy and Zeiss (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Heath and Vaida (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Cormag (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Jill and Haar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Michalis (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Cherche and Gerome (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Camilla, Beruka, Scarlet and Percy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Cyril, Seteth (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Ivy, Rosado, Zelestia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Wyvern Rider/Dracoknight (''Dragon Knight'')
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/856g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Wyvern Rider in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/933g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Wyvern Lords in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/revenant_knight.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Malig Knights in ''Fates'']]
Wyvern Riders (sometimes known instead as Dracoknight) are the second of the two recurring flying mounted classes, this time riding into battle on the backs of dragons. Originating as the Class Change for Pegasus Knights in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', Wyvern Riders were later were spun off into their own entirely separate class family, starting in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''. Compared to their pegasus counterparts, they tend toward hardier, bulkier compositions at the expense of Speed and Resistance, with a weakness to anti-dragon weaponry on top of the standard flier weakness to bows. The Wyvern Rider's weapon selection has varied over the course of the series, having used all three main weapon types at different points, though from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' onward, they primarily use axes.\\\
Wyvern Riders generally Class Change into the '''Wyvern Lord''' ('''Dragon Master''' in Japanese), which usually gives them access to a secondary melee weapon. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', they can alternatively Class Change into the '''Wyvern Knight''', which only wields lances, but compensates for the lack of weapon diversity with [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer raw offensive stats]] and [[ArmorPiercingAttack a unique skill]]. In ''Radiant Dawn'', they can Class Change again into the third-tier '''Dragonlord''' class ('''Lindwurm''' in Japanese). The Jugdral games feature the weaker '''Dragon Rider''' class, which was made the first tier to the (now second-tier) Dragon Knight in ''Thracia 776''. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', they gain the alternate Class Change of '''Griffon Rider''', a [[JackOfAllStats generally well-balanced class]]. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they gain the alternate Class Change of '''Malig Knight''', a MagicKnight class that uses axes and tomes.\\\
Related is the '''King Daein''' class, exclusive to Ashnard in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'', the class family '''Wyvern Master''' and '''Barbarossa''', exclusive to Claude in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'', which primarily wields bows, and the class family '''Wing Tamer''' and '''Lindwurm''', exclusive to Ivy, which wields tomes and staves, and '''Melusine''', exclusive to Zephia/Zelestia, which wields swords and tomes, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''.\\\
Not to be confused with the "normal" dragons which figure heavily into the plots of most games, though in Archanea, ''these'' dragons are degenerate wild relatives of ''those'' dragons called Wyverns.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Minerva (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade Of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Altena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Dean and Eda (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Miledy and Zeiss (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Heath and Vaida (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Cormag (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Jill and Haar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Michalis (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Cherche and Gerome (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Camilla, Beruka, Scarlet and Percy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Cyril, Seteth (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Ivy, Rosado, Zelestia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Wyvern Rider/Dracoknight (''Dragon Knight'')
!!Witch
[[quoteright:228:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/witch_echoes_portrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:228:Witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/933g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Wyvern Lords
The Witch is a very rare class, only appearing in
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/revenant_knight.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Malig Knights in ''Fates'']]
Wyvern Riders (sometimes known instead as Dracoknight)
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''
Changed line(s) 280,323 (click to see context) from:
* AchillesHeel:
** Just like the other flying units, Wyvern classes are [[AntiAir weak to Bows]]. The sole exception being ''Radiant Dawn''
** In many games, Wyvern classes are specifically weak to wind magic, [[AntiAir being flying units]] or any other anti-Dragon weapons. ''Radiant Dawn'' changed their weakness wind magic to thunder magic, the same weakness as Dragon Laguz.
** In some games, , Wyvern riding classes take extra Wyrmslayers and other dragon slaying weapons.
** Wyvern riding classes always have a terrible resistance stat. In most games, Wyvern classes have the worst resistance stat around, outside of GlassCannon classes.
* AntiInfantry: The Malig Knight's Trample skill deals 5 bonus damage to unmounted enemies.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Wyvern Knight's skill, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pierce]], in ''The Sacred Stones''. Its usefulness is offset by being linked to [[GameBreakingBug a nasty glitch]] which locks up the game under certain (rare) circumstances which, oddly enough, only occurs in English copies of the game.
* BreathWeapon:
** Averted; most of the time the wyverns do not breathe fire. It becomes odd when fighting against feral wyverns in ''Mystery of the Emblem'' which breathe fire, implying that they lost their ability to breathe fire to domestication.
** Played straight with Malig Knights in ''Fates''. They learn Savage Blow, which was called Deathly Breath in the Japanese version, which implies that the undead wyvern is exhaling a poisonous gas.
** In ''Three Houses'' only certain, special wyverns (namely the white variety Claude uses for his unique classes) are shown to be able to breathe fire.
* CoolHelmet: Wyvern Lords and Malig Knights wear helmets that resemble dragons, while Griffon Riders wear helmets resembling a griffon.
* CoolMask: The Wyvern Riders in ''Awakening'' wear masks that resemble a dragon's jaws on the lower halves of their faces.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Wyvern Lord in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Critical, a skill that boosts critical hit rate by 50% while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DependingOnTheArtist: There's pretty much no consistency with the appearance of the dragon mounts between games; it's pretty much justified by the different universes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The dragon-riding family slowly evolved from the pegasus family into the distinct class tree with different strengths it is today.
* {{Dracolich}}: Malig Knights ride on undead wyverns.
* DragonRider:
** You don't say. The Wyvern mount is almost never seen attacking directly, outside of ading momentum to their rider's attacks. That said many of the games with dismounting show Wyvern riding characters lose alot of strength and defense when they dismount their wyvern.
** Averted with the Griffon Rider in ''Awakening''.
* FragileSpeedster: The Wyvern Knight from ''Sacred Stones'', being accessible from both the pegasus and wyvern lines, takes after pegasi in the speed department while also having the Constitution of a wyvern to be lightning fast all-around - to compensate, however, it has less HP and also inherits the weaker defense and resistance of both, and being locked to lances means it always has to remain cautious around the hard-hitting axe users that most classes would normally shrug off by the point in the game you get your first Wyvern Knight.
* GatheringSteam: Inverted for the Wyvern Lord in ''Awakening'', as they get the skill Quick Burn, which gives them 15 hit and avoid at the start of the battle but loses effect for each turn.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* GiantFlyer: In the SNES, GBA games and ''Radiant Dawn'' in particular, they're downright enormous.
* HeelFaceTurn: Typically, the dragon mount species is associated with an/the enemy kingdom (Macedon, Thracia, Bern, Grado, Daein, Nohr) and dragon riders are a mainstay of the respective army, and so almost every allied Dragon Rider is recruited from the enemy. The only exceptions to this in the series are in the Archanea games and ''The Sacred Stones'', where your Pegasus Knights can class change into them, and ''Awakening'', where the "recruited" dragon rider is from a different nation than the "enemy" dragon riders earlier in the game. In cases like Macedon and Begnion where they have both pegasus and wyvern armies, there is a notable infighting between the two and the wyvern side would be the more hostile one. ''Three Houses'' also subverts the antagonistic role, as Wyvern Riders are rare among the Imperial ranks and "those who slither in the dark", though the one nation that specializes in wyverns is Almyra, a nation neighboring Fodlan with minimal involvement in the conflict (though it does have a history of [[BloodKnight picking fights with Fódlan for fun]]) and was the home of Cyril and [[spoiler:Claude]].
* HerdHittingAttack: Malig Knights can learn the Savage Blow skill, which applies a 20% HP reduction to all units that were within 2 spaces of their range.
* HitAndRunTactics: Like Pegasus Knights, they can move again to a safe distance in the Jugdral and Tellius games. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* InconsistentSpelling:
** There is one hell of a naming inconsistency with this class family. For ''The Blazing Blade'', the first English release, they were renamed "Wyvern Rider" and "Wyvern Lord" to distinguish them from the proper dragons that are not domesticated as mounts and figured heavily into the plot of the game; ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Path of Radiance'' stuck to this. The Japanese version of ''The Sacred Stones'' introduced the "Wyvern Knight" class, part of the Wyvern family of dragons, and looking more like traditional wyverns from ''Mystery of the Emblem''; they were still called "Wyvern Knights" in the English version and the matter of their physical difference wasn't addressed. ''Radiant Dawn''[='s=] translation discarded the "wyvern" name for the classes themselves, going with variations of "Dracoknight"; however, in dialogue, the species are still called wyverns, again to differentiate from the game's fairly important actual dragons. This remained the case for ''Shadow Dragon'', though the [[NoExportForYou Japan only]] remake of the sequel shows the dragon mounts are indeed named Wyverns. Then in ''Awakening'', it's back to Wyvern Rider and Wyvern Lord. The Switch port for ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' then renames it "Wyvern Knight".
** The Japanese version alone isn't much better. The base class is called Dragon Rider in most games, but the Jugdral games and ''Radiant Dawn'' call it Dragon Knight. The advanced class is called either Dragon Master or Dragon Lord depending on the game, which becomes really confusing when you consider the name of the third-tier advanced class from ''Radiant Dawn'': Dragonlord (Lindwurm in Japanese).
* IWorkAlone: Only in ''Awakening'', but Wyvern Riders gain the skill Tantivy, which grants the user +10 Hit and Evasion if there are no allies within 3 spaces of them.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: They can remove their weaknesses to bows by equipping specific shields if there is any. Averted, however, against anti-dragon weapons save for the Full Guard in ''Path of Radiance''.
* LightningBruiser: They are one of the strongest physical classes thanks to their high Strength, Skill, Defense, and movement range. This is particularly true in the NES/SNES Archanea duology (which lacked stat caps), as well as ''Three Houses'', where they have high Speed caps. Enemy factions would sporadically deploy them early-game to serve as BossInMookClothing, and then field even more of them in the late-game chapters. Most playable Wyvern Riders join mid-to-late game because of their powerhouse status.
* MagicKnight: Malig Knights specialize in both axes and tomes, in addition to their magic stats. It is one of the few classes that can reliably use the Bolt Axe.
* MightyGlacier: What the class is almost always in game with class specific caps. While in their earlier incarnations, they were basically stronger Pegasus Knights but without their MageKiller capabilities, starting with ''Genealogy Of the Holy War'' have settled for making them aerial tanks with high Attack and Defense but low Speed and Resistance, in order to make them more of a {{Foil}} to the [[FragileSpeedster Pegasus Knights]]. In ''Radiant Dawn'', Dragonlord's speed cap is even worse than Marshall. The only exception is in ''Three Houses'', where Wyvern Lords have the stats of a LightningBruiser
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Dracoknight with a Master Seal, she is unable to reclass into Falcoknight.
* MythologyGag: The Wyvern Knight class in ''[=FE8=]'' rides a mount identical to the [=DracoKnights=] of ''[=FE3=]'' and can be class changed from Pegasus Knights.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The appearance of the Dragon/Wyvern Mounts vary wildly across different universes. What varies most are whether they stand on two legs or four and if they have no arms like a wyvern or their arms are like a western dragon.
* OurGryphonsAreDifferent: The Griffon Riders that appear in ''Awakening''.
* TheParalyzer: Wyvern Lords and Dragonlords in the Tellius games has the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Wyvern Riders in ''Three Houses'' learn Seal Defense, a skill that reduces the enemy's defense by 6 after combat, upon mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Wyvern Lords in ''Fates'' gain Rally Defense, which gives a boost to defense to allies when commanded.
* WeakToMagic: In contrast to [[MageKiller Pegasus Knights]], Wyvern Riders tend to have a high Defense but the worst Resistance around, tied with Warriors. In some games, wyvern riders are also weak to wind or thunder magic.
* WeaponSpecialization: Traditionally, lances and axes are the family's primary weapon.
** Just like the other flying units, Wyvern classes are [[AntiAir weak to Bows]]. The sole exception being ''Radiant Dawn''
** In many games, Wyvern classes are specifically weak to wind magic, [[AntiAir being flying units]] or any other anti-Dragon weapons. ''Radiant Dawn'' changed their weakness wind magic to thunder magic, the same weakness as Dragon Laguz.
** In some games, , Wyvern riding classes take extra Wyrmslayers and other dragon slaying weapons.
** Wyvern riding classes always have a terrible resistance stat. In most games, Wyvern classes have the worst resistance stat around, outside of GlassCannon classes.
* AntiInfantry: The Malig Knight's Trample skill deals 5 bonus damage to unmounted enemies.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Wyvern Knight's skill, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pierce]], in ''The Sacred Stones''. Its usefulness is offset by being linked to [[GameBreakingBug a nasty glitch]] which locks up the game under certain (rare) circumstances which, oddly enough, only occurs in English copies of the game.
* BreathWeapon:
** Averted; most of the time the wyverns do not breathe fire. It becomes odd when fighting against feral wyverns in ''Mystery of the Emblem'' which breathe fire, implying that they lost their ability to breathe fire to domestication.
** Played straight with Malig Knights in ''Fates''. They learn Savage Blow, which was called Deathly Breath in the Japanese version, which implies that the undead wyvern is exhaling a poisonous gas.
** In ''Three Houses'' only certain, special wyverns (namely the white variety Claude uses for his unique classes) are shown to be able to breathe fire.
* CoolHelmet: Wyvern Lords and Malig Knights wear helmets that resemble dragons, while Griffon Riders wear helmets resembling a griffon.
* CoolMask: The Wyvern Riders in ''Awakening'' wear masks that resemble a dragon's jaws on the lower halves of their faces.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Wyvern Lord in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Critical, a skill that boosts critical hit rate by 50% while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DependingOnTheArtist: There's pretty much no consistency with the appearance of the dragon mounts between games; it's pretty much justified by the different universes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The dragon-riding family slowly evolved from the pegasus family into the distinct class tree with different strengths it is today.
* {{Dracolich}}: Malig Knights ride on undead wyverns.
* DragonRider:
** You don't say. The Wyvern mount is almost never seen attacking directly, outside of ading momentum to their rider's attacks. That said many of the games with dismounting show Wyvern riding characters lose alot of strength and defense when they dismount their wyvern.
** Averted with the Griffon Rider in ''Awakening''.
* FragileSpeedster: The Wyvern Knight from ''Sacred Stones'', being accessible from both the pegasus and wyvern lines, takes after pegasi in the speed department while also having the Constitution of a wyvern to be lightning fast all-around - to compensate, however, it has less HP and also inherits the weaker defense and resistance of both, and being locked to lances means it always has to remain cautious around the hard-hitting axe users that most classes would normally shrug off by the point in the game you get your first Wyvern Knight.
* GatheringSteam: Inverted for the Wyvern Lord in ''Awakening'', as they get the skill Quick Burn, which gives them 15 hit and avoid at the start of the battle but loses effect for each turn.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* GiantFlyer: In the SNES, GBA games and ''Radiant Dawn'' in particular, they're downright enormous.
* HeelFaceTurn: Typically, the dragon mount species is associated with an/the enemy kingdom (Macedon, Thracia, Bern, Grado, Daein, Nohr) and dragon riders are a mainstay of the respective army, and so almost every allied Dragon Rider is recruited from the enemy. The only exceptions to this in the series are in the Archanea games and ''The Sacred Stones'', where your Pegasus Knights can class change into them, and ''Awakening'', where the "recruited" dragon rider is from a different nation than the "enemy" dragon riders earlier in the game. In cases like Macedon and Begnion where they have both pegasus and wyvern armies, there is a notable infighting between the two and the wyvern side would be the more hostile one. ''Three Houses'' also subverts the antagonistic role, as Wyvern Riders are rare among the Imperial ranks and "those who slither in the dark", though the one nation that specializes in wyverns is Almyra, a nation neighboring Fodlan with minimal involvement in the conflict (though it does have a history of [[BloodKnight picking fights with Fódlan for fun]]) and was the home of Cyril and [[spoiler:Claude]].
* HerdHittingAttack: Malig Knights can learn the Savage Blow skill, which applies a 20% HP reduction to all units that were within 2 spaces of their range.
* HitAndRunTactics: Like Pegasus Knights, they can move again to a safe distance in the Jugdral and Tellius games. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* InconsistentSpelling:
** There is one hell of a naming inconsistency with this class family. For ''The Blazing Blade'', the first English release, they were renamed "Wyvern Rider" and "Wyvern Lord" to distinguish them from the proper dragons that are not domesticated as mounts and figured heavily into the plot of the game; ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Path of Radiance'' stuck to this. The Japanese version of ''The Sacred Stones'' introduced the "Wyvern Knight" class, part of the Wyvern family of dragons, and looking more like traditional wyverns from ''Mystery of the Emblem''; they were still called "Wyvern Knights" in the English version and the matter of their physical difference wasn't addressed. ''Radiant Dawn''[='s=] translation discarded the "wyvern" name for the classes themselves, going with variations of "Dracoknight"; however, in dialogue, the species are still called wyverns, again to differentiate from the game's fairly important actual dragons. This remained the case for ''Shadow Dragon'', though the [[NoExportForYou Japan only]] remake of the sequel shows the dragon mounts are indeed named Wyverns. Then in ''Awakening'', it's back to Wyvern Rider and Wyvern Lord. The Switch port for ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' then renames it "Wyvern Knight".
** The Japanese version alone isn't much better. The base class is called Dragon Rider in most games, but the Jugdral games and ''Radiant Dawn'' call it Dragon Knight. The advanced class is called either Dragon Master or Dragon Lord depending on the game, which becomes really confusing when you consider the name of the third-tier advanced class from ''Radiant Dawn'': Dragonlord (Lindwurm in Japanese).
* IWorkAlone: Only in ''Awakening'', but Wyvern Riders gain the skill Tantivy, which grants the user +10 Hit and Evasion if there are no allies within 3 spaces of them.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: They can remove their weaknesses to bows by equipping specific shields if there is any. Averted, however, against anti-dragon weapons save for the Full Guard in ''Path of Radiance''.
* LightningBruiser: They are one of the strongest physical classes thanks to their high Strength, Skill, Defense, and movement range. This is particularly true in the NES/SNES Archanea duology (which lacked stat caps), as well as ''Three Houses'', where they have high Speed caps. Enemy factions would sporadically deploy them early-game to serve as BossInMookClothing, and then field even more of them in the late-game chapters. Most playable Wyvern Riders join mid-to-late game because of their powerhouse status.
* MagicKnight: Malig Knights specialize in both axes and tomes, in addition to their magic stats. It is one of the few classes that can reliably use the Bolt Axe.
* MightyGlacier: What the class is almost always in game with class specific caps. While in their earlier incarnations, they were basically stronger Pegasus Knights but without their MageKiller capabilities, starting with ''Genealogy Of the Holy War'' have settled for making them aerial tanks with high Attack and Defense but low Speed and Resistance, in order to make them more of a {{Foil}} to the [[FragileSpeedster Pegasus Knights]]. In ''Radiant Dawn'', Dragonlord's speed cap is even worse than Marshall. The only exception is in ''Three Houses'', where Wyvern Lords have the stats of a LightningBruiser
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Dracoknight with a Master Seal, she is unable to reclass into Falcoknight.
* MythologyGag: The Wyvern Knight class in ''[=FE8=]'' rides a mount identical to the [=DracoKnights=] of ''[=FE3=]'' and can be class changed from Pegasus Knights.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The appearance of the Dragon/Wyvern Mounts vary wildly across different universes. What varies most are whether they stand on two legs or four and if they have no arms like a wyvern or their arms are like a western dragon.
* OurGryphonsAreDifferent: The Griffon Riders that appear in ''Awakening''.
* TheParalyzer: Wyvern Lords and Dragonlords in the Tellius games has the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Wyvern Riders in ''Three Houses'' learn Seal Defense, a skill that reduces the enemy's defense by 6 after combat, upon mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Wyvern Lords in ''Fates'' gain Rally Defense, which gives a boost to defense to allies when commanded.
* WeakToMagic: In contrast to [[MageKiller Pegasus Knights]], Wyvern Riders tend to have a high Defense but the worst Resistance around, tied with Warriors. In some games, wyvern riders are also weak to wind or thunder magic.
* WeaponSpecialization: Traditionally, lances and axes are the family's primary weapon.
to:
* AchillesHeel:
** Just likeAlwaysFemale: Witch is a female-only class.
* ArtificialStupidity: Witches' behaviors in ''Gaiden'' are... sporadic to say theother flying units, Wyvern classes least. This is a case of AcceptableBreaksFromReality as making them "smarter" on top of having the ability to move anywhere at will would make them very unbearable to face.
* DealWithTheDevil: In ''Gaiden'', Witches are[[AntiAir weak the result of women sacrificing themselves to Bows]]. The sole exception being ''Radiant Dawn''
**Duma for power. [[spoiler:Not always, some of them (Rinea, Sonya's sisters, Delthea, and Celica) didn't necessarily exactly want to become such.]]
* EmptyShell: Inmany games, Wyvern classes ''Gaiden'''s lore, Witches are specifically weak to wind magic, [[AntiAir being flying units]] or any other anti-Dragon weapons. ''Radiant Dawn'' changed women who offered their weakness wind magic souls to thunder magic, the same weakness as Dragon Laguz.
** In some games, , Wyvern riding classes take extra Wyrmslayers and other dragon slaying weapons.
** Wyvern riding classes always have a terrible resistance stat. In most games, Wyvern classes have the worst resistance stat around, outside of GlassCannon classes.
* AntiInfantry: The Malig Knight's Trample skill deals 5 bonus damage to unmounted enemies.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Wyvern Knight's skill, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pierce]],Duma in ''The Sacred Stones''. Its usefulness is offset by being linked to [[GameBreakingBug a nasty glitch]] which locks up the game under certain (rare) circumstances which, oddly enough, only occurs in English copies of the game.
* BreathWeapon:
** Averted; most of the time the wyverns do not breathe fire. It becomes odd when fighting against feral wyverns in ''Mystery of the Emblem'' which breathe fire, implying that theyexchange for great magical power, but lost their ability to breathe fire to domestication.
** Played straightfree will and became living husks.
* EvilRedhead: In ''Gaiden'', withMalig Knights in ''Fates''. They learn Savage Blow, which was called Deathly Breath in the Japanese version, which implies that exception of the undead wyvern is exhaling a poisonous gas.
** In ''Three Houses'' only certain, special wyverns (namely the white variety Claude uses for his unique classes)brainwashed Delthea, all Witches are shown redheads and happen to be able to breathe fire.
antagonistic.
*CoolHelmet: Wyvern Lords and Malig Knights wear helmets that resemble dragons, while Griffon Riders wear helmets resembling a griffon.
* CoolMask: The Wyvern Riders in ''Awakening'' wear masks that resemble a dragon's jaws on the lower halves of their faces.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Wyvern LordFacelessGoons: Generic Gremories in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Critical, a skill that boosts critical hit rate by 50% while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DependingOnTheArtist: There's pretty much no consistency with the appearance of the dragon mounts between games; it's pretty much justified by the different universes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The dragon-riding family slowly evolved from the pegasus family into the distinct class tree with different strengths it is today.
* {{Dracolich}}: Malig Knights ride on undead wyverns.
* DragonRider:
** You don't say. The Wyvern mount is almost never seen attacking directly, outside of ading momentum tohave veils covering their rider's attacks. That said faces.
* FanDisservice: The Witches from ''Shadows of Valentia'' are beautiful women whose looks appeal to manyof the games with dismounting show Wyvern riding characters lose alot of strength and defense when they dismount fetishes, but their wyvern.
** Averted with the Griffon Rider in ''Awakening''.
* FragileSpeedster: The Wyvern Knight from ''Sacred Stones'', being accessible from both the pegasus and wyvern lines, takes after pegasi in the speed department while also having the Constitution of a wyvern to be lightning fast all-around - to compensate, however, it hasactual situations make them less HP and also inherits the weaker defense and resistance of both, and being locked to lances means it always has to remain cautious around the hard-hitting axe users that most classes would normally shrug off by the point in the game you get your first Wyvern Knight.
appealing.
*GatheringSteam: Inverted for the Wyvern Lord in ''Awakening'', as they get the skill Quick Burn, which gives {{Nerf}}: In ''Gaiden'', their signature Warp ability lets them 15 hit and avoid at travel to any spot on the start of the battle but loses effect for each turn.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all,map. ''Fates'' changes it so they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* GiantFlyer: In the SNES, GBA games and ''Radiant Dawn'' in particular, they're downright enormous.
* HeelFaceTurn: Typically, the dragon mount species is associated with an/the enemy kingdom (Macedon, Thracia, Bern, Grado, Daein, Nohr) and dragon riders are a mainstay of the respective army, and so almost every allied Dragon Rider is recruited from the enemy. Theonly exceptions teleport to this in the series are in the Archanea games and ''The Sacred Stones'', where your Pegasus Knights can class change into them, and ''Awakening'', where the "recruited" dragon rider is from a different nation than the "enemy" dragon riders earlier in the game. squares cardinally adjacent to allies.
* PowerCrutch: Incases like Macedon and Begnion where they have both pegasus and wyvern armies, there is a notable infighting between the two and the wyvern side would be the more hostile one. ''Three Houses'' also subverts the antagonistic role, as Wyvern Riders are rare among the Imperial ranks and "those who slither in the dark", though the one nation that specializes in wyverns is Almyra, a nation neighboring Fodlan with minimal involvement in the conflict (though it does have a history of [[BloodKnight picking fights with Fódlan for fun]]) and was the home of Cyril and [[spoiler:Claude]].
* HerdHittingAttack: Malig Knights can learn the Savage Blow skill, which applies a 20% HP reduction to all units that were within 2 spaces of their range.
* HitAndRunTactics: Like Pegasus Knights, they can move again to a safe distance in the Jugdral and Tellius games. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* InconsistentSpelling:
** There is one hell of a naming inconsistency with this class family. For ''The Blazing Blade'', the first English release, they were renamed "Wyvern Rider" and "Wyvern Lord" to distinguish them from the proper dragons that are not domesticated as mounts and figured heavily into the plot of the game; ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Path of Radiance'' stuck to this. The Japanese version of ''The Sacred Stones'' introduced the "Wyvern Knight" class, part of the Wyvern family of dragons, and looking more like traditional wyverns from ''Mystery of the Emblem''; they were still called "Wyvern Knights" in the English version and the matter of their physical difference wasn't addressed. ''Radiant Dawn''[='s=] translation discarded the "wyvern" name for the classes themselves, going with variations of "Dracoknight"; however, in dialogue, the species are still called wyverns, again to differentiate from the game's fairly important actual dragons. This remained the case for ''Shadow Dragon'', though the [[NoExportForYou Japan only]] remake of the sequel shows the dragon mounts are indeed named Wyverns. Then in ''Awakening'', it's back to Wyvern Rider and Wyvern Lord. The Switch port for ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' then renames it "Wyvern Knight".
** The Japanese version alone isn't much better. The base class is called Dragon Rider in most games, but the Jugdral games and ''Radiant Dawn'' call it Dragon Knight. The advanced class is called either Dragon Master or Dragon Lord depending on the game, which becomes really confusing when you consider the name of the third-tier advanced class from ''Radiant Dawn'': Dragonlord (Lindwurm in Japanese).
* IWorkAlone: Only in ''Awakening'', but Wyvern Riders gain the skill Tantivy, which grants the user +10 Hit and Evasion if there are no allies within 3 spaces of them.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: They can remove their weaknesses to bows by equipping specific shields if there is any. Averted, however, against anti-dragon weapons save for the Full Guard in ''Path of Radiance''.
* LightningBruiser: They are one of the strongest physical classes thanks to their high Strength, Skill, Defense, and movement range. This is particularly true in the NES/SNES Archanea duology (which lacked stat caps), as well as ''Three Houses'', where they have high Speed caps. Enemy factions would sporadically deploy them early-game to serve as BossInMookClothing, and then field even more of them in the late-game chapters. Most playable Wyvern Riders join mid-to-late game because of their powerhouse status.
* MagicKnight: Malig Knights specialize in both axes and tomes, in addition to''Fates'', Witches channel their magic stats. It is one through a lantern instead of the few classes that can reliably use the Bolt Axe.
* MightyGlacier: What the class is almost alwayshaving their equipped tomes visible in game with class specific caps. their battle model.
* PowerFloats: The witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'' are seen levitating to show their power given to them by Duma.
* RedMage: Gremories are skilled in both offensive and supportive magic.
* RobeAndWizardHat: While intheir earlier incarnations, ''Gaiden'' they were basically stronger Pegasus Knights but without just recolored female mages, their MageKiller capabilities, starting with ''Genealogy Of the Holy War'' have settled for making them aerial tanks with high Attack and Defense but low Speed and Resistance, in order to make them more of a {{Foil}} to the [[FragileSpeedster Pegasus Knights]]. In ''Radiant Dawn'', Dragonlord's speed cap is even worse than Marshall. The only exception is in ''Three Houses'', where Wyvern Lords have the stats of a LightningBruiser
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Dracoknight with a Master Seal, she is unable to reclass into Falcoknight.
* MythologyGag: The Wyvern Knight class in ''[=FE8=]'' rides a mount identical to the [=DracoKnights=] of ''[=FE3=]'' and can be class changed from Pegasus Knights.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The appearance of the Dragon/Wyvern Mounts vary wildly across different universes. What varies most are whether they stand on two legs or four and if they have no arms like a wyvern or their arms are like a western dragon.
* OurGryphonsAreDifferent: The Griffon Riders that appear in ''Awakening''.
* TheParalyzer: Wyvern Lords and Dragonlords in the Tellius games has the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Wyvern Riders in ''Three Houses'' learn Seal Defense, a skill that reduces the enemy's defense by 6 after combat, upon mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Wyvern Lordsoutfit in ''Fates'' gain Rally Defense, which gives them a boost to defense to allies when commanded.
large pointed hat and a sleek robe.
*WeakToMagic: In contrast to [[MageKiller Pegasus Knights]], Wyvern Riders tend to have a high SquishyWizard: The Witch is the strongest magic-using class in ''Fates'', though its Defense but is also less than stellar. This is especially prevalent in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, where they also have extremely low HP and can often be downed in a single physical attack.
* StatusInflictionAttack: ''Fates''[='=] Witches get theworst Resistance around, tied skill Toxic Brew, which has a chance of 1.5% times the Skill stat to freeze an enemy unit in place for a turn whenever the skill's wielder initiates an attack.
* TeleportSpam: Witches have this as a a SignatureMove, enabling them to warp to any tile on the map, making them extremely dangerous to units withWarriors. In some games, wyvern riders are also weak low resistance. Their playable incarnation can only warp to wind or thunder magic.
* WeaponSpecialization: Traditionally, lances and axes are the family's primary weapon.tiles adjacent to allies, however.
** Just like
* ArtificialStupidity: Witches' behaviors in ''Gaiden'' are... sporadic to say the
* DealWithTheDevil: In ''Gaiden'', Witches are
**
* EmptyShell: In
** In some games, , Wyvern riding classes take extra Wyrmslayers and other dragon slaying weapons.
** Wyvern riding classes always have a terrible resistance stat. In most games, Wyvern classes have the worst resistance stat around, outside of GlassCannon classes.
* AntiInfantry: The Malig Knight's Trample skill deals 5 bonus damage to unmounted enemies.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Wyvern Knight's skill, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pierce]],
* BreathWeapon:
** Averted; most of the time the wyverns do not breathe fire. It becomes odd when fighting against feral wyverns in ''Mystery of the Emblem'' which breathe fire, implying that they
** Played straight
* EvilRedhead: In ''Gaiden'', with
** In ''Three Houses'' only certain, special wyverns (namely the white variety Claude uses for his unique classes)
*
* CoolMask: The Wyvern Riders in ''Awakening'' wear masks that resemble a dragon's jaws on the lower halves of their faces.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Wyvern Lord
* DependingOnTheArtist: There's pretty much no consistency with the appearance of the dragon mounts between games; it's pretty much justified by the different universes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The dragon-riding family slowly evolved from the pegasus family into the distinct class tree with different strengths it is today.
* {{Dracolich}}: Malig Knights ride on undead wyverns.
* DragonRider:
** You don't say. The Wyvern mount is almost never seen attacking directly, outside of ading momentum to
* FanDisservice: The Witches from ''Shadows of Valentia'' are beautiful women whose looks appeal to many
** Averted with the Griffon Rider in ''Awakening''.
* FragileSpeedster: The Wyvern Knight from ''Sacred Stones'', being accessible from both the pegasus and wyvern lines, takes after pegasi in the speed department while also having the Constitution of a wyvern to be lightning fast all-around - to compensate, however, it has
*
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all,
* GiantFlyer: In the SNES, GBA games and ''Radiant Dawn'' in particular, they're downright enormous.
* HeelFaceTurn: Typically, the dragon mount species is associated with an/the enemy kingdom (Macedon, Thracia, Bern, Grado, Daein, Nohr) and dragon riders are a mainstay of the respective army, and so almost every allied Dragon Rider is recruited from the enemy. The
* PowerCrutch: In
* HerdHittingAttack: Malig Knights can learn the Savage Blow skill, which applies a 20% HP reduction to all units that were within 2 spaces of their range.
* HitAndRunTactics: Like Pegasus Knights, they can move again to a safe distance in the Jugdral and Tellius games. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* InconsistentSpelling:
** There is one hell of a naming inconsistency with this class family. For ''The Blazing Blade'', the first English release, they were renamed "Wyvern Rider" and "Wyvern Lord" to distinguish them from the proper dragons that are not domesticated as mounts and figured heavily into the plot of the game; ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Path of Radiance'' stuck to this. The Japanese version of ''The Sacred Stones'' introduced the "Wyvern Knight" class, part of the Wyvern family of dragons, and looking more like traditional wyverns from ''Mystery of the Emblem''; they were still called "Wyvern Knights" in the English version and the matter of their physical difference wasn't addressed. ''Radiant Dawn''[='s=] translation discarded the "wyvern" name for the classes themselves, going with variations of "Dracoknight"; however, in dialogue, the species are still called wyverns, again to differentiate from the game's fairly important actual dragons. This remained the case for ''Shadow Dragon'', though the [[NoExportForYou Japan only]] remake of the sequel shows the dragon mounts are indeed named Wyverns. Then in ''Awakening'', it's back to Wyvern Rider and Wyvern Lord. The Switch port for ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' then renames it "Wyvern Knight".
** The Japanese version alone isn't much better. The base class is called Dragon Rider in most games, but the Jugdral games and ''Radiant Dawn'' call it Dragon Knight. The advanced class is called either Dragon Master or Dragon Lord depending on the game, which becomes really confusing when you consider the name of the third-tier advanced class from ''Radiant Dawn'': Dragonlord (Lindwurm in Japanese).
* IWorkAlone: Only in ''Awakening'', but Wyvern Riders gain the skill Tantivy, which grants the user +10 Hit and Evasion if there are no allies within 3 spaces of them.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: They can remove their weaknesses to bows by equipping specific shields if there is any. Averted, however, against anti-dragon weapons save for the Full Guard in ''Path of Radiance''.
* LightningBruiser: They are one of the strongest physical classes thanks to their high Strength, Skill, Defense, and movement range. This is particularly true in the NES/SNES Archanea duology (which lacked stat caps), as well as ''Three Houses'', where they have high Speed caps. Enemy factions would sporadically deploy them early-game to serve as BossInMookClothing, and then field even more of them in the late-game chapters. Most playable Wyvern Riders join mid-to-late game because of their powerhouse status.
* MagicKnight: Malig Knights specialize in both axes and tomes, in addition to
* MightyGlacier: What the class is almost always
* PowerFloats: The witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'' are seen levitating to show their power given to them by Duma.
* RedMage: Gremories are skilled in both offensive and supportive magic.
* RobeAndWizardHat: While in
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Dracoknight with a Master Seal, she is unable to reclass into Falcoknight.
* MythologyGag: The Wyvern Knight class in ''[=FE8=]'' rides a mount identical to the [=DracoKnights=] of ''[=FE3=]'' and can be class changed from Pegasus Knights.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The appearance of the Dragon/Wyvern Mounts vary wildly across different universes. What varies most are whether they stand on two legs or four and if they have no arms like a wyvern or their arms are like a western dragon.
* OurGryphonsAreDifferent: The Griffon Riders that appear in ''Awakening''.
* TheParalyzer: Wyvern Lords and Dragonlords in the Tellius games has the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Wyvern Riders in ''Three Houses'' learn Seal Defense, a skill that reduces the enemy's defense by 6 after combat, upon mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Wyvern Lords
*
* StatusInflictionAttack: ''Fates''[='=] Witches get the
* TeleportSpam: Witches have this as a a SignatureMove, enabling them to warp to any tile on the map, making them extremely dangerous to units with
* WeaponSpecialization: Traditionally, lances and axes are the family's primary weapon.
Changed line(s) 326,339 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Dancer]]
!!Dancer and variants
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/998g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dancers in ''Three Houses'']]
The Dancer is a recurring [[UtilityPartyMember utility]] and [[SupportPartyMember support]] class that puts on a magical performances to [[ExtraTurn allow adjacent units which have already moved in a turn to move again]]. The most common iteration is a female dancer, hence the name, with variants including Bards (males that play musical instruments) from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'', the Heron laguz (BirdPeople of either gender that can sing MagicMusic called galdrar) in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'', and the Songstress (a female singer) in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. Outside of their unique ability to provide {{Extra Turn}}s, Dancers are notable for being one of the few classes exclusive to the player in most games they appear in.\\\
The Dancer and its variants tend to either be completely unarmed or are lacking in combat prowess due to their focus on being support, though when they can fight, they almost always use swords. As far as stats go, [[FragileSpeedster they tend to be on the frailer side, but make up for it with high Speed and Luck stats to help them dodge attacks]].\\\
If a game has multiple Dancers, only one of these characters will usable at any given time for balance reasons. This is because having two of them on one map would allow them to continuously grind for experience and potentially reach anywhere on the map in a single turn by being able to indefinitely dance for each other.\\\
The Bard class mentioned here is not to be confused with the Bard from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'', which is a magic-wielding class exclusive to Lewyn and Homer in their respective games. Dancers exist in their normal function in those games, though.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Phina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Sylvia and Lene/Laylea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Lara[[note]]She starts as a Thief and only becomes a Dancer by activating a special event.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Elphin and Lalum (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Nils and Ninian (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Tethys (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Reyson, Rafiel, and Leanne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''[[note]]Reyson only[[/note]] and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Olivia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Azura (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Dorothea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Seadall (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Dancer and variants
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/998g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dancers in ''Three Houses'']]
The Dancer is a recurring [[UtilityPartyMember utility]] and [[SupportPartyMember support]] class that puts on a magical performances to [[ExtraTurn allow adjacent units which have already moved in a turn to move again]]. The most common iteration is a female dancer, hence the name, with variants including Bards (males that play musical instruments) from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'', the Heron laguz (BirdPeople of either gender that can sing MagicMusic called galdrar) in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'', and the Songstress (a female singer) in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. Outside of their unique ability to provide {{Extra Turn}}s, Dancers are notable for being one of the few classes exclusive to the player in most games they appear in.\\\
The Dancer and its variants tend to either be completely unarmed or are lacking in combat prowess due to their focus on being support, though when they can fight, they almost always use swords. As far as stats go, [[FragileSpeedster they tend to be on the frailer side, but make up for it with high Speed and Luck stats to help them dodge attacks]].\\\
If a game has multiple Dancers, only one of these characters will usable at any given time for balance reasons. This is because having two of them on one map would allow them to continuously grind for experience and potentially reach anywhere on the map in a single turn by being able to indefinitely dance for each other.\\\
The Bard class mentioned here is not to be confused with the Bard from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'', which is a magic-wielding class exclusive to Lewyn and Homer in their respective games. Dancers exist in their normal function in those games, though.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Phina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Sylvia and Lene/Laylea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Lara[[note]]She starts as a Thief and only becomes a Dancer by activating a special event.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Elphin and Lalum (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Nils and Ninian (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Tethys (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Reyson, Rafiel, and Leanne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''[[note]]Reyson only[[/note]] and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Olivia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Azura (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Dorothea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Seadall (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Dancer and variants
[[quoteright:350:https://static.
!!Dread Fighter
[[quoteright:234:https://static.tvtropes.
The Dancer
Dread Fighter is
Dread Fighter is defined by its {{ninja}}-esque costume design and [[MageKiller anti-magic build]]. The
Changed line(s) 341,358 (click to see context) from:
* AlwaysFemale: The default Dancer class has almost always been female-only. ''Three Houses'' is the first game in the series where the Dancer is available to both males and females. Averted in ''Engage'' where Seadall, the game's dancer, is a man.
* DanceBattler: In the Jugdral and Archanea games and ''Awakening'', in which they also wield swords... just not very well. The ''Fates'' version, the Songstress, wields lances/naginata instead. The ''Engage'' version uses body arts instead.
* ExtraTurn: Their abilities grant units that have already acted during their phase a second action in the same phase.
* FragileSpeedster: Dancers are characterized as fast and dodgy with their best stats being speed and luck. However, because of their nature as support units, their terrible durability, and, in some games, inability to fight, they must be protected and should not be in the front line.
* MagicDance: Averted; the ability of Dancers to grant other units an extra turn is mundane, although it functions like magic. The only exception is Ninian.
* MagicKnight: Dancers in ''Three Houses'' use swords and magic.
* MagicMusic: Nils, the Heron Laguz, and Azura can all play MagicMusic. Although Elphin plays music as well, he's more like other dancers in that he has no magical ability.
* MsFanservice: Dancers tend to be this to some extent, thanks to their minimal clothing and sultry dances. The only one who doesn't solidly fit this description is Ninian and [[MrFanservice Seadall]].
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: If there is more than one Dancer in a single game, circumstances will conspire to ensure that they can never be in the party at the same time. The sole exception, ''Fire Emblem Heroes'', has an ObviousRulePatch to have them unable to refresh each other if the other unit has Dance or Sing equipped. Subverted in ''Three Houses'' where they can be refreshed with a Dancer Battalion, but it only works once per map, and in ''Engage'', where they can be refreshed with Emblem Byleth's Goddess Dance and Emblem Veronica's Contract, but the former only works once per engage and the latter, beside being unable to move for the duration of the extra action, has the Dance option disabled for that action's duration.
* QuirkyBard: Actually not ''that'' spoony. It's true that they have (depending on the game) little or no means to defend themselves and low-to-average defense/HP, but a well-trained character of this class can have ''massive'' Speed and Luck, thus they will dodge a good part of the attacks thrown at them. (Additionally, Tethys has good HP growths.)
* SpearCounterpart: In ''Binding Blade'' and ''Blazing Blade'', you get the Bard class, which are male dancers with the same ability to "sing" which refreshes an ally like Dancers. Though the Bard class exists in the Jugdral games, there are just glorified version of Mages.
* StatusBuff:
** In ''Blazing Blade'', there are special rings that can raises a unit's stat by 10 for a single turn. Filla's Might increases attack, Ninis's Grace increases defensive stats, Thor's Ire increases critical, and Set's Litany increases avoid.
** In ''Radiant Dawn'', Herons has five different galdrar which are gain through level ups. Vigor functions like dancing (which they start by default but its effect differs for each Heron), Bliss raises the unit's biorhythm to its highest while Sorrow lowers enemy's biorhythm to its worst, Valor instantly raise Laguz's transformation gauge to its maximum, and Recovery instantly restores HP and remove conditions.
** ''Awakening'' onwards has a skill called Special Dance, though in ''Fates'', it is called Inspiring Song. In ''Awakening'', Special Dance increases +2 to Strength/Magic/Defense/Resistance while ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses'' increases +3/+4 to Skill/Speed/Luck. Unlike the earlier examples, the stat buffs stack with giving other units ExtraTurn instead of being mutually exclusive.
* SultryBellyDancer: Dancers tend to dress in fanservice-y belly dancer outfits that leave little to the imagination regarding their figures.
* SupportPartyMember: Dancer variants from the GBA and Tellius games can't attack enemies at all, and rely solely on their refreshing abilities. And even in the games where they are capable of fighting, their refreshing ability is so valuable that they'll rarely see combat.
* WanderingMinstrel: Most of them come across as this initially.
* DanceBattler: In the Jugdral and Archanea games and ''Awakening'', in which they also wield swords... just not very well. The ''Fates'' version, the Songstress, wields lances/naginata instead. The ''Engage'' version uses body arts instead.
* ExtraTurn: Their abilities grant units that have already acted during their phase a second action in the same phase.
* FragileSpeedster: Dancers are characterized as fast and dodgy with their best stats being speed and luck. However, because of their nature as support units, their terrible durability, and, in some games, inability to fight, they must be protected and should not be in the front line.
* MagicDance: Averted; the ability of Dancers to grant other units an extra turn is mundane, although it functions like magic. The only exception is Ninian.
* MagicKnight: Dancers in ''Three Houses'' use swords and magic.
* MagicMusic: Nils, the Heron Laguz, and Azura can all play MagicMusic. Although Elphin plays music as well, he's more like other dancers in that he has no magical ability.
* MsFanservice: Dancers tend to be this to some extent, thanks to their minimal clothing and sultry dances. The only one who doesn't solidly fit this description is Ninian and [[MrFanservice Seadall]].
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: If there is more than one Dancer in a single game, circumstances will conspire to ensure that they can never be in the party at the same time. The sole exception, ''Fire Emblem Heroes'', has an ObviousRulePatch to have them unable to refresh each other if the other unit has Dance or Sing equipped. Subverted in ''Three Houses'' where they can be refreshed with a Dancer Battalion, but it only works once per map, and in ''Engage'', where they can be refreshed with Emblem Byleth's Goddess Dance and Emblem Veronica's Contract, but the former only works once per engage and the latter, beside being unable to move for the duration of the extra action, has the Dance option disabled for that action's duration.
* QuirkyBard: Actually not ''that'' spoony. It's true that they have (depending on the game) little or no means to defend themselves and low-to-average defense/HP, but a well-trained character of this class can have ''massive'' Speed and Luck, thus they will dodge a good part of the attacks thrown at them. (Additionally, Tethys has good HP growths.)
* SpearCounterpart: In ''Binding Blade'' and ''Blazing Blade'', you get the Bard class, which are male dancers with the same ability to "sing" which refreshes an ally like Dancers. Though the Bard class exists in the Jugdral games, there are just glorified version of Mages.
* StatusBuff:
** In ''Blazing Blade'', there are special rings that can raises a unit's stat by 10 for a single turn. Filla's Might increases attack, Ninis's Grace increases defensive stats, Thor's Ire increases critical, and Set's Litany increases avoid.
** In ''Radiant Dawn'', Herons has five different galdrar which are gain through level ups. Vigor functions like dancing (which they start by default but its effect differs for each Heron), Bliss raises the unit's biorhythm to its highest while Sorrow lowers enemy's biorhythm to its worst, Valor instantly raise Laguz's transformation gauge to its maximum, and Recovery instantly restores HP and remove conditions.
** ''Awakening'' onwards has a skill called Special Dance, though in ''Fates'', it is called Inspiring Song. In ''Awakening'', Special Dance increases +2 to Strength/Magic/Defense/Resistance while ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses'' increases +3/+4 to Skill/Speed/Luck. Unlike the earlier examples, the stat buffs stack with giving other units ExtraTurn instead of being mutually exclusive.
* SultryBellyDancer: Dancers tend to dress in fanservice-y belly dancer outfits that leave little to the imagination regarding their figures.
* SupportPartyMember: Dancer variants from the GBA and Tellius games can't attack enemies at all, and rely solely on their refreshing abilities. And even in the games where they are capable of fighting, their refreshing ability is so valuable that they'll rarely see combat.
* WanderingMinstrel: Most of them come across as this initially.
to:
* AlwaysFemale: The default Dancer class has almost always been female-only. ''Three Houses'' AlwaysMale: Outside of ''Fates'', Dread Fighter is the first game exclusive to male characters.
* DeviousDaggers: Dread Fighters inthe series where the Dancer is available ''Fates'' uses knives instead of tomes to both males go with their ninja motif. Fittingly, knives and females. Averted shuriken beats tomes in ''Engage'' where Seadall, the game's dancer, is a man.version of the weapon triangle.
* MageKiller: They are designed to take little damage from magical sources and slay magic users.
* DanceBattler: In the Jugdral and Archanea games and ''Awakening'', in which they also wield swords... just not very well. The ''Fates'' version, the Songstress, wields lances/naginata instead. The ''Engage'' version uses body arts instead.
* ExtraTurn: Their abilities grant units that have already acted during their phase a second action in the same phase.
* FragileSpeedster: Dancers are characterized as fast and dodgy with their best stats being speed and luck. However, because of their nature as support units, their terrible durability, and, in some games, inability to fight, they must be protected and should not be in the front line.
* MagicDance: Averted; the ability of Dancers to grant other units an extra turn is mundane, although it functions like magic. The only exception is Ninian.
* MagicKnight: Dancers in ''Three Houses'' use swords and magic.
* MagicMusic: Nils, the Heron Laguz, and Azura can all play MagicMusic. Although Elphin plays music as well, he's more like other dancers in that he has no magical ability.
* MsFanservice: Dancers tend to be this to some extent, thanks to their minimal clothing and sultry dances. The only one who doesn't solidly fit this description is Ninian and [[MrFanservice Seadall]].
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: If there is more than one Dancer in a single game, circumstances will conspire to ensure that they can never be in the party at the same time. The sole exception, ''Fire Emblem Heroes'', has an ObviousRulePatch to have them unable to refresh each other if the other unit has Dance or Sing equipped. Subverted in ''Three Houses'' where they can be refreshed with a Dancer Battalion, but it only works once per map, and in ''Engage'', where they can be refreshed with Emblem Byleth's Goddess Dance and Emblem Veronica's Contract, but the former only works once per engage and the latter, beside being unable to move for the duration of the extra action, has the Dance option disabled for that action's duration.
* QuirkyBard: Actually not ''that'' spoony. It's true that they have (depending on the game) little or no means to defend themselves and low-to-average defense/HP, but a well-trained character of this class can have ''massive'' Speed and Luck, thus they will dodge a good part of the attacks thrown at them. (Additionally, Tethys has good HP growths.)
* SpearCounterpart: In ''Binding Blade'' and ''Blazing Blade'', you get the Bard class, which are male dancers with the same ability to "sing" which refreshes an ally like Dancers. Though the Bard class exists in the Jugdral games, there are just glorified version of Mages.
* StatusBuff:
** In ''Blazing Blade'', there are special rings that can raises a unit's stat by 10 for a single turn. Filla's Might increases attack, Ninis's Grace increases defensive stats, Thor's Ire increases critical, and Set's Litany increases avoid.
** In ''Radiant Dawn'', Herons has five different galdrar which are gain through level ups. Vigor functions like dancing (which they start by default but its effect differs for each Heron), Bliss raises the unit's biorhythm to its highest while Sorrow lowers enemy's biorhythm to its worst, Valor instantly raise Laguz's transformation gauge to its maximum, and Recovery instantly restores HP and remove conditions.
** ''Awakening'' onwards has gives a skill called Special Dance, though in ''Fates'', it is called Inspiring Song. In ''Awakening'', Special Dance increases +2 massive boost to Strength/Magic/Defense/Resistance while their Resistance with the Resistance+10 skill.
** ''Fates'' has Iron Will-which causes them to receive 4 less damage from magic attacks when attacked, and''Three Houses'' increases +3/+4 to Skill/Speed/Luck. Unlike Even Keel-where the earlier examples, user receive 4 less damage from magic attacks during even-numbered turns.
** ''Shadows of Valentia'' provides thestat buffs stack class with giving other units ExtraTurn instead Resistance+5 and Apotrope skills. Apotrope is a more powerful version of being mutually exclusive.
Iron Will, as it halves damage taken from magic attacks.
*SultryBellyDancer: Dancers tend MagicKnight: Dread Fighters in ''Awakening'' use tomes in addition to dress swords and axes.
* {{Ninja}}: They appear to have ninja-like aesthetics, and even fight like them with TeleportSpam and {{Flash Step}}s.
* ReverseGrip: While infanservice-y belly dancer outfits that leave little to ''Fates'' they wield swords and daggers like the imagination regarding Ninjas and Master Ninjas, they also wield ''axes'' and ''clubs'' in the same way.
* SwordAndFist: Dread Fighters in ''Shadows of Valentia'' have them incorporate kicks alongside theirfigures.
* SupportPartyMember: Dancer variants fromsword strikes against the GBA enemy.
* WalkingArmory: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' use swords, axes, andTellius games can't attack enemies at all, and rely solely knives, allowing them to fully cover the weapon triangle (with knives sharing their spot with lances).
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: They have a tendency to rest their weapons on theirrefreshing abilities. And even in the games where they are capable of fighting, their refreshing ability is so valuable that they'll rarely see combat.
* WanderingMinstrel: Most of them come across as this initially.shoulders.
* DeviousDaggers: Dread Fighters in
* MageKiller: They are designed to take little damage from magical sources and slay magic users.
* ExtraTurn: Their abilities grant units that have already acted during their phase a second action in the same phase.
* FragileSpeedster: Dancers are characterized as fast and dodgy with their best stats being speed and luck. However, because of their nature as support units, their terrible durability, and, in some games, inability to fight, they must be protected and should not be in the front line.
* MagicDance: Averted; the ability of Dancers to grant other units an extra turn is mundane, although it functions like magic. The only exception is Ninian.
* MagicKnight: Dancers in ''Three Houses'' use swords and magic.
* MagicMusic: Nils, the Heron Laguz, and Azura can all play MagicMusic. Although Elphin plays music as well, he's more like other dancers in that he has no magical ability.
* MsFanservice: Dancers tend to be this to some extent, thanks to their minimal clothing and sultry dances. The only one who doesn't solidly fit this description is Ninian and [[MrFanservice Seadall]].
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: If there is more than one Dancer in a single game, circumstances will conspire to ensure that they can never be in the party at the same time. The sole exception, ''Fire Emblem Heroes'', has an ObviousRulePatch to have them unable to refresh each other if the other unit has Dance or Sing equipped. Subverted in ''Three Houses'' where they can be refreshed with a Dancer Battalion, but it only works once per map, and in ''Engage'', where they can be refreshed with Emblem Byleth's Goddess Dance and Emblem Veronica's Contract, but the former only works once per engage and the latter, beside being unable to move for the duration of the extra action, has the Dance option disabled for that action's duration.
* QuirkyBard: Actually not ''that'' spoony. It's true that they have (depending on the game) little or no means to defend themselves and low-to-average defense/HP, but a well-trained character of this class can have ''massive'' Speed and Luck, thus they will dodge a good part of the attacks thrown at them. (Additionally, Tethys has good HP growths.)
* SpearCounterpart: In ''Binding Blade'' and ''Blazing Blade'', you get the Bard class, which are male dancers with the same ability to "sing" which refreshes an ally like Dancers. Though the Bard class exists in the Jugdral games, there are just glorified version of Mages.
* StatusBuff:
** In ''Blazing Blade'', there are special rings that can raises a unit's stat by 10 for a single turn. Filla's Might increases attack, Ninis's Grace increases defensive stats, Thor's Ire increases critical, and Set's Litany increases avoid.
** In ''Radiant Dawn'', Herons has five different galdrar which are gain through level ups. Vigor functions like dancing (which they start by default but its effect differs for each Heron), Bliss raises the unit's biorhythm to its highest while Sorrow lowers enemy's biorhythm to its worst, Valor instantly raise Laguz's transformation gauge to its maximum, and Recovery instantly restores HP and remove conditions.
** ''Fates'' has Iron Will-which causes them to receive 4 less damage from magic attacks when attacked, and
** ''Shadows of Valentia'' provides the
*
* {{Ninja}}: They appear to have ninja-like aesthetics, and even fight like them with TeleportSpam and {{Flash Step}}s.
* ReverseGrip: While in
* SwordAndFist: Dread Fighters in ''Shadows of Valentia'' have them incorporate kicks alongside their
* SupportPartyMember: Dancer variants from
* WalkingArmory: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' use swords, axes, and
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: They have a tendency to rest their weapons on their
* WanderingMinstrel: Most of them come across as this initially.
Changed line(s) 361,380 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Thief]]
!!Thief
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/743g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Thieves in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/836g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Assassins in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/78001.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Tricksters in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ninja.png]]
[[caption-width-right:255:Ninja in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elite_ninja.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Master Ninja in ''Fates'']]
A class specializing in stealing things. Generally not too impressive in combat, [[UtilityPartyMember they are designed to be used for their utility]]; Thieves can unlock chests and doors with lockpicks (or sometimes a Skill) instead of keys and occasionally have the ability to steal items right off of enemy units. If they do get caught in a fight, they'll defend themselves with swords or occasionally knives[[note]]Many games depict them wielding knives in the combat animations despite having a sword equipped, though this is purely aesthetic.[[/note]].\\\
The Thief's options for Class Changing have varied over the course of the series. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'' they Class Change into the '''Thief Fighter''' (though Lara can optionally Class Change into Dancer in ''Thracia 776''), which upgrades their combat prowess. Many games from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'' onward allow them to become the '''Assassin''', turning them into a powerful offensive class that has a chance to OneHitKill enemies with the Lethality skill often at the cost of becoming unable to steal from enemies. ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' alternatively have the '''Rogue''', which bumps up their combat ability slightly without losing the capability to steal. In ''Radiant Dawn'' they can Class Change once again into the third-tier '''Whisper''' class that once again boosts their combat prowess, while Assassins are treated as a separate third-tier class exclusive to one character. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' they gain the alternate Class Change option of '''Trickster''', which gives them the ability to use staves. The Trickster class makes a return in ''Three Houses'' as part of the Wave 4 DLC, which allows them to use some Reason and Faith magic.\\\
''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' split and retooled the Thief into counterparts of the Archer and Cavalier classes. The Archer counterpart, found in Nohr, is referred to as the '''Outlaw''' and uses bows instead of swords. They can Class Change into '''Bow Knight''' and '''Adventurer''', with the former gaining a mount and the ability to use swords and the latter gaining the ability to use staves. The Cavalier counterpart is called '''Ninja''' as a result of Hoshido having a strong oriental theme: Ninjas play more like the classic Thieves with the ability to use knives/shuriken similar to their Tellius incarnations. They can class change into '''Master Ninjas''' (''Fates''[='=] Assassin) and '''Mechanist''', which gains bows and a mount.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Julian, Rickard (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Dew, Patty/Daisy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Lifis, Lara, Perne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Chad, Astol, Cath (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Matthew, Legault, Jaffar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Colm, Rennac (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Volke, Sothe (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Heather (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Anna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Gaius, Gangrel, Leif (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Kaze, Saizo, Kagero, Niles, Shura, Asugi, Nina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Petra, Yuri (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Yunaka, Zelkov (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Thief
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/743g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Thieves in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/836g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Assassins in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/78001.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Tricksters in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ninja.png]]
[[caption-width-right:255:Ninja in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elite_ninja.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Master Ninja in ''Fates'']]
A class specializing in stealing things. Generally not too impressive in combat, [[UtilityPartyMember they are designed to be used for their utility]]; Thieves can unlock chests and doors with lockpicks (or sometimes a Skill) instead of keys and occasionally have the ability to steal items right off of enemy units. If they do get caught in a fight, they'll defend themselves with swords or occasionally knives[[note]]Many games depict them wielding knives in the combat animations despite having a sword equipped, though this is purely aesthetic.[[/note]].\\\
The Thief's options for Class Changing have varied over the course of the series. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'' they Class Change into the '''Thief Fighter''' (though Lara can optionally Class Change into Dancer in ''Thracia 776''), which upgrades their combat prowess. Many games from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'' onward allow them to become the '''Assassin''', turning them into a powerful offensive class that has a chance to OneHitKill enemies with the Lethality skill often at the cost of becoming unable to steal from enemies. ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' alternatively have the '''Rogue''', which bumps up their combat ability slightly without losing the capability to steal. In ''Radiant Dawn'' they can Class Change once again into the third-tier '''Whisper''' class that once again boosts their combat prowess, while Assassins are treated as a separate third-tier class exclusive to one character. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' they gain the alternate Class Change option of '''Trickster''', which gives them the ability to use staves. The Trickster class makes a return in ''Three Houses'' as part of the Wave 4 DLC, which allows them to use some Reason and Faith magic.\\\
''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' split and retooled the Thief into counterparts of the Archer and Cavalier classes. The Archer counterpart, found in Nohr, is referred to as the '''Outlaw''' and uses bows instead of swords. They can Class Change into '''Bow Knight''' and '''Adventurer''', with the former gaining a mount and the ability to use swords and the latter gaining the ability to use staves. The Cavalier counterpart is called '''Ninja''' as a result of Hoshido having a strong oriental theme: Ninjas play more like the classic Thieves with the ability to use knives/shuriken similar to their Tellius incarnations. They can class change into '''Master Ninjas''' (''Fates''[='=] Assassin) and '''Mechanist''', which gains bows and a mount.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Julian, Rickard (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Dew, Patty/Daisy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Lifis, Lara, Perne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Chad, Astol, Cath (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Matthew, Legault, Jaffar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Colm, Rennac (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Volke, Sothe (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Heather (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Anna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Gaius, Gangrel, Leif (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Kaze, Saizo, Kagero, Niles, Shura, Asugi, Nina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Petra, Yuri (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Yunaka, Zelkov (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Thief
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/743g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Thieves in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/836g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Assassins in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/78001.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Tricksters in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ninja.png]]
[[caption-width-right:255:Ninja in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elite_ninja.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Master Ninja in ''Fates'']]
A
!!Tactician and Grandmaster
The Tactician and its Class Change, Grandmaster, are a class
The
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''
Changed line(s) 382,424 (click to see context) from:
* AchillesHeel:
** As a "criminal" class, thieves suffer effective damage when hit by the Ladyblade in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. This effect never appears again, note even in the remake of ''Mystery of the Emblem''.
** In ''The Sacred Stones'', Thieves, Rogues and Assassins all take effective damage from the Swordslayer axe.
* AllSwordsAreTheSame: A particularly amusing exaggeration: in the Archanea[[note]]NES version[[/note]], Jugdral[[note]]in the map animations[[/note]], and GBA games, all swords look like ''knives'' when used by members of the Thief class family!
* AnimalMotifs: Assassins in ''Three Houses'' wear [[ScaryScorpions scorpion-themed]] outfits reflecting their stealth and efficiency as surprise killers.
* ArmCannon: Not in the conventional sense, but to go along with launching magic with {{Finger Gun}}s, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' have their critical animation use their right arm ending in a fist as one to fire off magic as well.
* BanditMook: When they're enemies. Usually they target treasure chests, though in some games they can destroy villages which give out items and money, which is a role sometimes shared with Brigands/Pirates/Barbarians.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: ''Awakening''[='=]s Assassins has three blades attached on each arm. Ninjas have one on every wrist, and Master Ninjas attach them all over their arms; from shoulder to wrist.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: Assassins in ''Awakening'' and Bow Knights in ''Fates''. Thieves in ''Three Houses'' also wield bows and swords.
* CombatMedic: Tricksters and Adventurers gain the use of staves with swords and bows respectively.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: In ''Fates'', all knives and shurikens have the added effect of lowering the target's defensive stats.
* DeepCoverAgent: The thieves which are not [[GentlemanThief Gentleman Thieves]] or {{Classy Cat Burglar}}s tend to be working for some noble family.
* DefogOfWar: With the exception of ''Thracia 776'' ([[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the first game to introduce fog of war, mind you]]), ''Path of Radiance'', the DS remakes, and ''Three Houses'', thieves have really high vision in fog of war, making them good asset to bring them in. Combine it with the Torch item, they'll likely uncover most of the map.
* DeviousDaggers: Almost every one of their appearances draws their swords as knives for some reason; they didn't become full-fledged knife-wielders until Tellius, when knives became a weapon type. Master Ninja in ''Fates'' gain Shurikenfaire, which boost their damage output for wielding shuriken/daggers. ''Heroes'' has a tendency to change sword-wielding Thieves and Assassins to using daggers.
* ExperienceBooster: Interestingly, they're on the giving ''and'' receiving end of this trope in some games, where they receive extra experience from combat due to being considered a "low-power" class (on the same level as [[TheGoomba Soldiers]] and [[SupportPartyMember Clerics]], for example), but to compensate for the player, enemy Thieves have a flat bonus to experience given - which typically results in them actually giving out ''more'' experience than other enemies. Also, whenever Lethality is activated in the GBA games, you gain double the amount of experience.
* FingerGun: For some inexplicable reason, Tricksters do this in ''Three Houses'' for some of their magic casting (as far as anyone can tell you firearms have yet to see the light of day in the franchise)[[note]]Ship cannons are seen on the Almyran ships in the Derdriu map in ''Three Houses'', but are never seen being used at all, hinting that there are firearms outside of Fódlan, and while there are usable cannons in ''Engage'', the ones wielded by Mage Cannoneers are more magical in nature and the statonary ones that launches fire are more likely propelled by fire itself and not gunpowder[[/note]]. Heck, even their critical animation fires off spells as if they have an ArmCannon.
* FlashStep: Assassins and Ninjas are practitioners of this art.
* FragileSpeedster: Thieves have horribly lackluster defenses, but make up for it with their immense Speed, allowing them to dodge practically everything not backed by a weapon triangle or terrain advantage.
** In addition, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn ''Duelist's Blow'' upon mastering the class. Duelist's Blow raise evasion by 20 when attacking.
* GentlemanThief: Most allied thieves tend toward this (except for Heather, who's more of a ClassyCatBurglar); the only real exception is [[{{Jerkass}} Lifis]].
* HPToOne: Bane, the mastery skill of Whispers.
* KleptomaniacHero: When allied.
* InstakillMook: Averted. Throughout the series, the developers went out of their way to make sure enemy Assassins ''never'' have Lethality. In ''Blazing Blade'', the only Assassin boss has magic swords that prevent him from dealing critical hits and, in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', generic Assassins are programmed to never randomly generate the Lethality skill, no matter how the RNG rolls. This is because having an enemy that could randomly kill your units in [[{{Permadeath}} Classic]] mode is completely unfair. The only time enemy Assassins have Lethality is [[spoiler:one paralogue in ''Awakening'' but because the enemy is copied from your party, you can control whether the enemy has Lethality or not. In turn, Jaffar having it in Rogues & Redeemers is for the challenge]].
* LuckySeven: The Trickster in ''Awakening'' and Adventurer in ''Fates'' get the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Lucky Seven]] skill at Level 5. The skill gives them +20 Hit and Avoid for the first 7 turns. In ''Three Houses'', Lucky Seven became the Trickster's class skill and it functions differently. It increases one of seven stats by 5: Strength, Magic, Speed, Defense, Resistance, or Hit and Avoid, at the start of the unit's turn.
* MageKiller: Ninja in ''Fates'' have high Resistance to complement the modified weapon triangle, in which knives/shuriken are effective against tomes, making them even more effective than Sky Knights in this role.
* MagicKnight: Tricksters can use magic staves in ''Awakening'', allowing them to function as a CombatMedic of sorts. In ''Three Houses'', they can use a slew of Faith and Reason magic spells, making them more akin to a RedMage.
* MagikarpPower: You'd be mad to put a thief in the thick of combat. Then they become Assassins. Shit starts dying en masse. Averted in ''Fates''. Ninja are fast and extremely useful debuffers throughout the game, while Outlaws are the only unpromoted Nohrian unit type that can use bows.
* MasterOfUnlocking: Locktouch, their innate skill, allows them to unlock doors and chests without the use of keys. In ''Path of Radiance'' and onward, there are no Lockpicks and they can instead open doors and chests as a passive ability.
* {{Ninja}}: The Ninja/Master Ninja class in ''Fates''.
* OneHitKill: Lethality, the mastery skill of Assassins and Master Ninja, and also Assassinate, the mastery Combat Art of Assassins in ''Three Houses''. However, its activation rate is lower compared to other skills.[[note]]Half the CriticalHit rate in ''Blazing Blade'', ''Sacred Stones'', and ''Path of Radiance''; Skill divided by 2 in ''Radiant Dawn''; Skill divided by 4 in ''Awakening'', ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses''.[[/note]]
** Noteworthy is that enemy Assassins or Master Ninja will never have Lethality, [[spoiler:with exception of four maps in ''Awakening'']] and in ''Blazing Blade'', an Assassin boss always carries a magic sword which can never deal critical hits. This is so that these enemies doesn't kill your unit in one hit in a game with permadeath.
* PhantomThief: Trickster in ''Awakening'' is literally described as a glamorous phantom thief.
* PoisonedWeapons:
** The Poison Strike skill learned by the Ninja class inflicts damage equal to 20% of the enemy's maximum HP after every combat should the skill's wielder survive, regardless if the attack hits or not.
** In ''Three Houses'', Assassins in Maddening Mode will have the Poison skill, which may let them inflict poison to your units.
* ReverseGrip: They typically wield their bladed weapons like this, from daggers to swords.
* SecretArt: [[OneHitKill Lethality]].
* StatusBuff: In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Bow Knights gain Rally Skill.
* SwapTeleportation: Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn the Foul Play combat art upon mastering the class. Foul Play allow the Trickster to swap positions with an ally within 1 to 5 range. This combat art is exclusive to Tricksters.
* ThiefBag: The Thief and Rogue sprites in the GBA games are depicted carrying sacks.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. Assassins in the GBA games and the Tellius games are exclusively a player-only class, because having an enemy class that can one-shot your units can be very unfair. Averted with ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' as Assassins are used but will never generate Lethality (or Assassinate in ''Three Houses'').
* VideoGameStealing: Depends on the game, but they can typically steal either gear or gold from enemies. But in all of the games, they have the ability to open chests and steal their contents.
* WeakButSkilled: They usually have very low Strength which makes them not great for combat, but they typically have very high Skill which, coupled with their equally high Speed, can make them quite deadly if properly trained.
** As a "criminal" class, thieves suffer effective damage when hit by the Ladyblade in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. This effect never appears again, note even in the remake of ''Mystery of the Emblem''.
** In ''The Sacred Stones'', Thieves, Rogues and Assassins all take effective damage from the Swordslayer axe.
* AllSwordsAreTheSame: A particularly amusing exaggeration: in the Archanea[[note]]NES version[[/note]], Jugdral[[note]]in the map animations[[/note]], and GBA games, all swords look like ''knives'' when used by members of the Thief class family!
* AnimalMotifs: Assassins in ''Three Houses'' wear [[ScaryScorpions scorpion-themed]] outfits reflecting their stealth and efficiency as surprise killers.
* ArmCannon: Not in the conventional sense, but to go along with launching magic with {{Finger Gun}}s, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' have their critical animation use their right arm ending in a fist as one to fire off magic as well.
* BanditMook: When they're enemies. Usually they target treasure chests, though in some games they can destroy villages which give out items and money, which is a role sometimes shared with Brigands/Pirates/Barbarians.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: ''Awakening''[='=]s Assassins has three blades attached on each arm. Ninjas have one on every wrist, and Master Ninjas attach them all over their arms; from shoulder to wrist.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: Assassins in ''Awakening'' and Bow Knights in ''Fates''. Thieves in ''Three Houses'' also wield bows and swords.
* CombatMedic: Tricksters and Adventurers gain the use of staves with swords and bows respectively.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: In ''Fates'', all knives and shurikens have the added effect of lowering the target's defensive stats.
* DeepCoverAgent: The thieves which are not [[GentlemanThief Gentleman Thieves]] or {{Classy Cat Burglar}}s tend to be working for some noble family.
* DefogOfWar: With the exception of ''Thracia 776'' ([[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the first game to introduce fog of war, mind you]]), ''Path of Radiance'', the DS remakes, and ''Three Houses'', thieves have really high vision in fog of war, making them good asset to bring them in. Combine it with the Torch item, they'll likely uncover most of the map.
* DeviousDaggers: Almost every one of their appearances draws their swords as knives for some reason; they didn't become full-fledged knife-wielders until Tellius, when knives became a weapon type. Master Ninja in ''Fates'' gain Shurikenfaire, which boost their damage output for wielding shuriken/daggers. ''Heroes'' has a tendency to change sword-wielding Thieves and Assassins to using daggers.
* ExperienceBooster: Interestingly, they're on the giving ''and'' receiving end of this trope in some games, where they receive extra experience from combat due to being considered a "low-power" class (on the same level as [[TheGoomba Soldiers]] and [[SupportPartyMember Clerics]], for example), but to compensate for the player, enemy Thieves have a flat bonus to experience given - which typically results in them actually giving out ''more'' experience than other enemies. Also, whenever Lethality is activated in the GBA games, you gain double the amount of experience.
* FingerGun: For some inexplicable reason, Tricksters do this in ''Three Houses'' for some of their magic casting (as far as anyone can tell you firearms have yet to see the light of day in the franchise)[[note]]Ship cannons are seen on the Almyran ships in the Derdriu map in ''Three Houses'', but are never seen being used at all, hinting that there are firearms outside of Fódlan, and while there are usable cannons in ''Engage'', the ones wielded by Mage Cannoneers are more magical in nature and the statonary ones that launches fire are more likely propelled by fire itself and not gunpowder[[/note]]. Heck, even their critical animation fires off spells as if they have an ArmCannon.
* FlashStep: Assassins and Ninjas are practitioners of this art.
* FragileSpeedster: Thieves have horribly lackluster defenses, but make up for it with their immense Speed, allowing them to dodge practically everything not backed by a weapon triangle or terrain advantage.
** In addition, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn ''Duelist's Blow'' upon mastering the class. Duelist's Blow raise evasion by 20 when attacking.
* GentlemanThief: Most allied thieves tend toward this (except for Heather, who's more of a ClassyCatBurglar); the only real exception is [[{{Jerkass}} Lifis]].
* HPToOne: Bane, the mastery skill of Whispers.
* KleptomaniacHero: When allied.
* InstakillMook: Averted. Throughout the series, the developers went out of their way to make sure enemy Assassins ''never'' have Lethality. In ''Blazing Blade'', the only Assassin boss has magic swords that prevent him from dealing critical hits and, in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', generic Assassins are programmed to never randomly generate the Lethality skill, no matter how the RNG rolls. This is because having an enemy that could randomly kill your units in [[{{Permadeath}} Classic]] mode is completely unfair. The only time enemy Assassins have Lethality is [[spoiler:one paralogue in ''Awakening'' but because the enemy is copied from your party, you can control whether the enemy has Lethality or not. In turn, Jaffar having it in Rogues & Redeemers is for the challenge]].
* LuckySeven: The Trickster in ''Awakening'' and Adventurer in ''Fates'' get the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Lucky Seven]] skill at Level 5. The skill gives them +20 Hit and Avoid for the first 7 turns. In ''Three Houses'', Lucky Seven became the Trickster's class skill and it functions differently. It increases one of seven stats by 5: Strength, Magic, Speed, Defense, Resistance, or Hit and Avoid, at the start of the unit's turn.
* MageKiller: Ninja in ''Fates'' have high Resistance to complement the modified weapon triangle, in which knives/shuriken are effective against tomes, making them even more effective than Sky Knights in this role.
* MagicKnight: Tricksters can use magic staves in ''Awakening'', allowing them to function as a CombatMedic of sorts. In ''Three Houses'', they can use a slew of Faith and Reason magic spells, making them more akin to a RedMage.
* MagikarpPower: You'd be mad to put a thief in the thick of combat. Then they become Assassins. Shit starts dying en masse. Averted in ''Fates''. Ninja are fast and extremely useful debuffers throughout the game, while Outlaws are the only unpromoted Nohrian unit type that can use bows.
* MasterOfUnlocking: Locktouch, their innate skill, allows them to unlock doors and chests without the use of keys. In ''Path of Radiance'' and onward, there are no Lockpicks and they can instead open doors and chests as a passive ability.
* {{Ninja}}: The Ninja/Master Ninja class in ''Fates''.
* OneHitKill: Lethality, the mastery skill of Assassins and Master Ninja, and also Assassinate, the mastery Combat Art of Assassins in ''Three Houses''. However, its activation rate is lower compared to other skills.[[note]]Half the CriticalHit rate in ''Blazing Blade'', ''Sacred Stones'', and ''Path of Radiance''; Skill divided by 2 in ''Radiant Dawn''; Skill divided by 4 in ''Awakening'', ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses''.[[/note]]
** Noteworthy is that enemy Assassins or Master Ninja will never have Lethality, [[spoiler:with exception of four maps in ''Awakening'']] and in ''Blazing Blade'', an Assassin boss always carries a magic sword which can never deal critical hits. This is so that these enemies doesn't kill your unit in one hit in a game with permadeath.
* PhantomThief: Trickster in ''Awakening'' is literally described as a glamorous phantom thief.
* PoisonedWeapons:
** The Poison Strike skill learned by the Ninja class inflicts damage equal to 20% of the enemy's maximum HP after every combat should the skill's wielder survive, regardless if the attack hits or not.
** In ''Three Houses'', Assassins in Maddening Mode will have the Poison skill, which may let them inflict poison to your units.
* ReverseGrip: They typically wield their bladed weapons like this, from daggers to swords.
* SecretArt: [[OneHitKill Lethality]].
* StatusBuff: In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Bow Knights gain Rally Skill.
* SwapTeleportation: Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn the Foul Play combat art upon mastering the class. Foul Play allow the Trickster to swap positions with an ally within 1 to 5 range. This combat art is exclusive to Tricksters.
* ThiefBag: The Thief and Rogue sprites in the GBA games are depicted carrying sacks.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. Assassins in the GBA games and the Tellius games are exclusively a player-only class, because having an enemy class that can one-shot your units can be very unfair. Averted with ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' as Assassins are used but will never generate Lethality (or Assassinate in ''Three Houses'').
* VideoGameStealing: Depends on the game, but they can typically steal either gear or gold from enemies. But in all of the games, they have the ability to open chests and steal their contents.
* WeakButSkilled: They usually have very low Strength which makes them not great for combat, but they typically have very high Skill which, coupled with their equally high Speed, can make them quite deadly if properly trained.
to:
* AchillesHeel:
** As a "criminal" class, thieves suffer effective damage when hit by the Ladyblade in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. This effect never appears again, note even in the remake of ''Mystery of the Emblem''.
** In ''The Sacred Stones'', Thieves, Rogues and Assassins all take effective damage from the Swordslayer axe.
* AllSwordsAreTheSame: A particularly amusing exaggeration: in the Archanea[[note]]NES version[[/note]], Jugdral[[note]]in the map animations[[/note]], and GBA games, all swords look like ''knives'' when used by members of the Thief class family!
* AnimalMotifs: Assassins in ''Three Houses'' wear [[ScaryScorpions scorpion-themed]] outfits reflecting their stealth and efficiency as surprise killers.
* ArmCannon: Not in the conventional sense, but to go along with launching magic with {{Finger Gun}}s, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' have their critical animation use their right arm ending in a fist as one to fire off magic as well.
* BanditMook: When they're enemies. Usually they target treasure chests, though in some games they can destroy villages which give out items and money, which is a role sometimes shared with Brigands/Pirates/Barbarians.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: ''Awakening''[='=]s Assassins has three blades attached on each arm. Ninjas have one on every wrist, and Master Ninjas attach them all over their arms; from shoulder to wrist.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: Assassins in ''Awakening'' and Bow Knights in ''Fates''. Thieves in ''Three Houses'' also wield bows and swords.
* CombatMedic: Tricksters and Adventurers gain the use of staves with swords and bows respectively.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff:AlwaysMale: In ''Fates'', all knives and shurikens have the added effect of lowering the target's defensive stats.
Grandmaster is a male-only class.
*DeepCoverAgent: The thieves which are not [[GentlemanThief Gentleman Thieves]] or {{Classy Cat Burglar}}s tend to be working for some noble family.
* DefogOfWar: With the exception of ''Thracia 776'' ([[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the first game to introduce fog of war, mind you]]), ''Path of Radiance'', the DS remakes, and ''Three Houses'', thieves have really high vision in fog of war, making them good asset to bring them in. Combine it with the Torch item, they'll likely uncover most of the map.
* DeviousDaggers: Almost every one of their appearances draws their swords as knives for some reason; they didn't become full-fledged knife-wielders until Tellius, when knives became a weapon type. Master Ninja in ''Fates'' gain Shurikenfaire, which boost their damage output for wielding shuriken/daggers. ''Heroes'' has a tendency to change sword-wielding Thieves and Assassins to using daggers.
* ExperienceBooster: Interestingly, they're on the giving ''and'' receiving end ofJackOfAllStats: Somewhere between this trope in some games, where they receive extra experience from combat due to being considered a "low-power" class (on the same level as [[TheGoomba Soldiers]] and [[SupportPartyMember Clerics]], for example), but to compensate for the player, enemy Thieves have a flat bonus to experience given - which typically results in them actually giving out ''more'' experience than other enemies. Also, whenever Lethality is activated in the GBA games, you gain double the amount of experience.
* FingerGun: For some inexplicable reason, Tricksters do this in ''Three Houses'' for some of their magic casting (as far as anyone can tell you firearms have yet to see the light of day in the franchise)[[note]]Ship cannons are seen on the Almyran ships in the Derdriu map in ''Three Houses'', but are never seen being used at all, hinting that there are firearms outside of Fódlan, and while there are usable cannons in ''Engage'', the ones wielded by Mage Cannoneers are more magical in nature and the statonary ones that launches fire are more likely propelled by fire itself and not gunpowder[[/note]]. Heck, even their critical animation fires off spells as if they have an ArmCannon.
* FlashStep: Assassins and Ninjas are practitioners of this art.
* FragileSpeedster: Thieves have horribly lackluster defenses, but make up for it with their immense Speed, allowing them to dodge practically everything not backed by a weapon triangle or terrain advantage.
** In addition, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn ''Duelist's Blow'' upon mastering the class. Duelist's Blow raise evasion by 20 when attacking.
* GentlemanThief: Most allied thieves tend toward this (except for Heather, who's more of a ClassyCatBurglar); the only real exception is [[{{Jerkass}} Lifis]].
* HPToOne: Bane, the mastery skill of Whispers.
* KleptomaniacHero: When allied.
* InstakillMook: Averted. Throughout the series, the developers went out of their way to make sure enemy Assassins ''never'' have Lethality. In ''Blazing Blade'', the only Assassin boss has magic swords that prevent him from dealing critical hits and, in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', generic Assassins are programmed to never randomly generate the Lethality skill, no matter how the RNG rolls. This is because having an enemy that could randomly kill your units in [[{{Permadeath}} Classic]] mode is completely unfair. The only time enemy Assassins have Lethality is [[spoiler:one paralogue in ''Awakening'' but because the enemy is copied from your party, you can control whether the enemy has Lethality or not. In turn, Jaffar having it in Rogues & Redeemers is for the challenge]].
* LuckySeven: The Trickster in ''Awakening'' and Adventurer in ''Fates'' get the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Lucky Seven]] skill at Level 5. The skill gives them +20 Hit and Avoid for the first 7 turns. In ''Three Houses'', Lucky Seven became the Trickster's class skill and it functions differently. It increases one of seven stats by 5: Strength, Magic, Speed, Defense, Resistance, or Hit and Avoid, at the start of the unit's turn.
* MageKiller: Ninja in ''Fates'' have high Resistance to complement the modified weapon triangle, in which knives/shuriken are effective against tomes, making them even more effective than Sky Knights in this role.
* MagicKnight: Tricksters can use magic stavesMasterOfAll in ''Awakening'', allowing them to function as a CombatMedic of sorts. In ''Three Houses'', they can use a slew of Faith and Reason magic spells, making them more akin to a RedMage.
* MagikarpPower: You'd be mad to put a thief in the thick of combat. Then they become Assassins. Shit starts dying en masse. Averted in ''Fates''. Ninja are fast and extremely useful debuffers throughout the game, while Outlaws are the only unpromoted Nohrian unit type that can use bows.
* MasterOfUnlocking: Locktouch,where their innate skill, allows them to unlock doors and chests without stats are generally high in all areas but not necessarily the use of keys. In ''Path of Radiance'' and onward, there are no Lockpicks and they can instead open doors and chests as a passive ability.
* {{Ninja}}: The Ninja/Master Ninjabest possible. They're straighter examples in their subsequent appearances [[ProtagonistPowerUpPrivileges where the class in ''Fates''.
* OneHitKill: Lethality,is no longer attached to the mastery skill of Assassins main character]].
* MagicKnight: They use both swords andMaster Ninja, tomes and also Assassinate, the mastery Combat Art of Assassins in ''Three Houses''. However, its activation rate is lower compared to other skills.[[note]]Half the CriticalHit rate in ''Blazing Blade'', ''Sacred Stones'', and ''Path of Radiance''; Skill divided by 2 in ''Radiant Dawn''; Skill divided by 4 in ''Awakening'', ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses''.[[/note]]
** Noteworthy is that enemy Assassins or Master Ninja will neverhave Lethality, [[spoiler:with exception of four maps in ''Awakening'']] good Strength and in ''Blazing Blade'', an Assassin boss always carries a magic sword which can never deal critical hits. This is so that these enemies doesn't kill your unit in one hit in a game with permadeath.
* PhantomThief: Trickster in ''Awakening'' is literally described as a glamorous phantom thief.
* PoisonedWeapons:
** The Poison Strike skill learned by the Ninja class inflicts damage equal to 20% of the enemy's maximum HP after every combat should the skill's wielder survive, regardless if the attack hits or not.
** In ''Three Houses'', Assassins in Maddening Mode will have the Poison skill, which may let them inflict poison to your units.
* ReverseGrip: They typically wield their bladed weapons like this, from daggers to swords.
* SecretArt: [[OneHitKill Lethality]].
* StatusBuff:Magic. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Bow Knights gain Rally Skill.
* SwapTeleportation: Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn the Foul Play combat art upon mastering the class. Foul Play allow the Trickster to swap positionsthey are equally proficient with an Swords and Tomes (both top at "A"), while the ''Fates'' Grandmaster and ''Engage'' Vidame lean more on the Magic side with a higher max Tome rank (Swords go to "B" while Tomes go to "A").
* RedMage: As a Vidame, Céline can use staves in addition to swords and tomes.
* SpellBlade: In all of its appearances, the class line is capable of learning [[PlayingWithFire Ignis]], a skill that uses half of their Strength or Magic to boost the other stat when they attack, depending on whether they're using a physical or magical attack.
* StatusBuff: Their "Rally Spectrum" Skill gives a one-turn boost to all stats for every ally within1 to 5 range. This combat art is exclusive to Tricksters.
* ThiefBag: The Thief and Rogue sprites in the GBA games are depicted carrying sacks.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. Assassins in the GBA games and the Tellius games are exclusively a player-only class, because having an enemy class that can one-shot your units can be very unfair. Averted with ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' as Assassins are used but will never generate Lethality (or Assassinate in ''Three Houses'').
* VideoGameStealing: Depends on the game, but they can typically steal either gear3 (''Awakening'') or gold from enemies. But in all of the games, they have the ability to open chests and steal their contents.
4 (''Fates'') spaces.
*WeakButSkilled: SupportPartyMember: They usually have very low Strength which makes them not great get a number of Skills to buff or otherwise assist allies. "Solidarity" increases Crit rate and Dodge by 10 for combat, but they typically have very high Skill which, coupled with their equally high Speed, can make them quite deadly if properly trained.adjacent allies, "Tactical Advice" provides a Hit rate bonus for the lead unit of an Attack Stance, and "Rally Spectrum" provides a one-turn StatusBuff to all allies within 3/4 spaces.
** As a "criminal" class, thieves suffer effective damage when hit by the Ladyblade in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. This effect never appears again, note even in the remake of ''Mystery of the Emblem''.
** In ''The Sacred Stones'', Thieves, Rogues and Assassins all take effective damage from the Swordslayer axe.
* AllSwordsAreTheSame: A particularly amusing exaggeration: in the Archanea[[note]]NES version[[/note]], Jugdral[[note]]in the map animations[[/note]], and GBA games, all swords look like ''knives'' when used by members of the Thief class family!
* AnimalMotifs: Assassins in ''Three Houses'' wear [[ScaryScorpions scorpion-themed]] outfits reflecting their stealth and efficiency as surprise killers.
* ArmCannon: Not in the conventional sense, but to go along with launching magic with {{Finger Gun}}s, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' have their critical animation use their right arm ending in a fist as one to fire off magic as well.
* BanditMook: When they're enemies. Usually they target treasure chests, though in some games they can destroy villages which give out items and money, which is a role sometimes shared with Brigands/Pirates/Barbarians.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: ''Awakening''[='=]s Assassins has three blades attached on each arm. Ninjas have one on every wrist, and Master Ninjas attach them all over their arms; from shoulder to wrist.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: Assassins in ''Awakening'' and Bow Knights in ''Fates''. Thieves in ''Three Houses'' also wield bows and swords.
* CombatMedic: Tricksters and Adventurers gain the use of staves with swords and bows respectively.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff:
*
* DefogOfWar: With the exception of ''Thracia 776'' ([[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the first game to introduce fog of war, mind you]]), ''Path of Radiance'', the DS remakes, and ''Three Houses'', thieves have really high vision in fog of war, making them good asset to bring them in. Combine it with the Torch item, they'll likely uncover most of the map.
* DeviousDaggers: Almost every one of their appearances draws their swords as knives for some reason; they didn't become full-fledged knife-wielders until Tellius, when knives became a weapon type. Master Ninja in ''Fates'' gain Shurikenfaire, which boost their damage output for wielding shuriken/daggers. ''Heroes'' has a tendency to change sword-wielding Thieves and Assassins to using daggers.
* ExperienceBooster: Interestingly, they're on the giving ''and'' receiving end of
* FingerGun: For some inexplicable reason, Tricksters do this in ''Three Houses'' for some of their magic casting (as far as anyone can tell you firearms have yet to see the light of day in the franchise)[[note]]Ship cannons are seen on the Almyran ships in the Derdriu map in ''Three Houses'', but are never seen being used at all, hinting that there are firearms outside of Fódlan, and while there are usable cannons in ''Engage'', the ones wielded by Mage Cannoneers are more magical in nature and the statonary ones that launches fire are more likely propelled by fire itself and not gunpowder[[/note]]. Heck, even their critical animation fires off spells as if they have an ArmCannon.
* FlashStep: Assassins and Ninjas are practitioners of this art.
* FragileSpeedster: Thieves have horribly lackluster defenses, but make up for it with their immense Speed, allowing them to dodge practically everything not backed by a weapon triangle or terrain advantage.
** In addition, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn ''Duelist's Blow'' upon mastering the class. Duelist's Blow raise evasion by 20 when attacking.
* GentlemanThief: Most allied thieves tend toward this (except for Heather, who's more of a ClassyCatBurglar); the only real exception is [[{{Jerkass}} Lifis]].
* HPToOne: Bane, the mastery skill of Whispers.
* KleptomaniacHero: When allied.
* InstakillMook: Averted. Throughout the series, the developers went out of their way to make sure enemy Assassins ''never'' have Lethality. In ''Blazing Blade'', the only Assassin boss has magic swords that prevent him from dealing critical hits and, in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', generic Assassins are programmed to never randomly generate the Lethality skill, no matter how the RNG rolls. This is because having an enemy that could randomly kill your units in [[{{Permadeath}} Classic]] mode is completely unfair. The only time enemy Assassins have Lethality is [[spoiler:one paralogue in ''Awakening'' but because the enemy is copied from your party, you can control whether the enemy has Lethality or not. In turn, Jaffar having it in Rogues & Redeemers is for the challenge]].
* LuckySeven: The Trickster in ''Awakening'' and Adventurer in ''Fates'' get the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Lucky Seven]] skill at Level 5. The skill gives them +20 Hit and Avoid for the first 7 turns. In ''Three Houses'', Lucky Seven became the Trickster's class skill and it functions differently. It increases one of seven stats by 5: Strength, Magic, Speed, Defense, Resistance, or Hit and Avoid, at the start of the unit's turn.
* MageKiller: Ninja in ''Fates'' have high Resistance to complement the modified weapon triangle, in which knives/shuriken are effective against tomes, making them even more effective than Sky Knights in this role.
* MagicKnight: Tricksters can use magic staves
* MagikarpPower: You'd be mad to put a thief in the thick of combat. Then they become Assassins. Shit starts dying en masse. Averted in ''Fates''. Ninja are fast and extremely useful debuffers throughout the game, while Outlaws are the only unpromoted Nohrian unit type that can use bows.
* MasterOfUnlocking: Locktouch,
* {{Ninja}}: The Ninja/Master Ninja
* OneHitKill: Lethality,
* MagicKnight: They use both swords and
** Noteworthy is that enemy Assassins or Master Ninja will never
* PhantomThief: Trickster in ''Awakening'' is literally described as a glamorous phantom thief.
* PoisonedWeapons:
** The Poison Strike skill learned by the Ninja class inflicts damage equal to 20% of the enemy's maximum HP after every combat should the skill's wielder survive, regardless if the attack hits or not.
** In ''Three Houses'', Assassins in Maddening Mode will have the Poison skill, which may let them inflict poison to your units.
* ReverseGrip: They typically wield their bladed weapons like this, from daggers to swords.
* SecretArt: [[OneHitKill Lethality]].
* StatusBuff:
* SwapTeleportation: Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn the Foul Play combat art upon mastering the class. Foul Play allow the Trickster to swap positions
* RedMage: As a Vidame, Céline can use staves in addition to swords and tomes.
* SpellBlade: In all of its appearances, the class line is capable of learning [[PlayingWithFire Ignis]], a skill that uses half of their Strength or Magic to boost the other stat when they attack, depending on whether they're using a physical or magical attack.
* StatusBuff: Their "Rally Spectrum" Skill gives a one-turn boost to all stats for every ally within
* ThiefBag: The Thief and Rogue sprites in the GBA games are depicted carrying sacks.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. Assassins in the GBA games and the Tellius games are exclusively a player-only class, because having an enemy class that can one-shot your units can be very unfair. Averted with ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' as Assassins are used but will never generate Lethality (or Assassinate in ''Three Houses'').
* VideoGameStealing: Depends on the game, but they can typically steal either gear
*
Changed line(s) 427,442 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Witch]]
!!Witch
[[quoteright:228:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/witch_echoes_portrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:228:Witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/994g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Gremories in ''Three Houses'']]
The Witch is a very rare class, only appearing in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' (and ''Shadows of Valentia'' by extension) and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. They are powerful female spellcasters that have the unique Warp ability, which allows them to instantly travel anywhere on the map (''Gaiden'') or teleport adjacent to any ally (''Fates'').\\\
In ''Gaiden'' and ''Shadows of Valentia'', Witches are exclusively [=NPCs=]. Here, they are said to be women who sacrificed themselves to Duma for power, either willingly or unwillingly, which also gives them a pale complexion. ''SOV'' also introduces the similarly-themed '''Vestal''' class, which are flaming spirits.\\\
In ''Fates'', the Witch is a special playable class only obtainable via DLC. Using an item called a Witch's Mark, any female character is able to Class Change into one. They can use Dark Magic (otherwise exclusive to Dark Mages and Sorcerers) via the "Shadowgift" Skill and are capable of getting S-Rank in Tomes/Scrolls.\\\
While the Witch class does not return in ''Three Houses'', it introduces the '''Gremory''' class, which shares traits of the Witch class, including being exclusive to female units and the use of Dark and Black Magic (along with White Magic).
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Lysithea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
!!Witch
[[quoteright:228:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/witch_echoes_portrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:228:Witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/994g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Gremories in ''Three Houses'']]
The Witch is a very rare class, only appearing in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' (and ''Shadows of Valentia'' by extension) and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. They are powerful female spellcasters that have the unique Warp ability, which allows them to instantly travel anywhere on the map (''Gaiden'') or teleport adjacent to any ally (''Fates'').\\\
In ''Gaiden'' and ''Shadows of Valentia'', Witches are exclusively [=NPCs=]. Here, they are said to be women who sacrificed themselves to Duma for power, either willingly or unwillingly, which also gives them a pale complexion. ''SOV'' also introduces the similarly-themed '''Vestal''' class, which are flaming spirits.\\\
In ''Fates'', the Witch is a special playable class only obtainable via DLC. Using an item called a Witch's Mark, any female character is able to Class Change into one. They can use Dark Magic (otherwise exclusive to Dark Mages and Sorcerers) via the "Shadowgift" Skill and are capable of getting S-Rank in Tomes/Scrolls.\\\
While the Witch class does not return in ''Three Houses'', it introduces the '''Gremory''' class, which shares traits of the Witch class, including being exclusive to female units and the use of Dark and Black Magic (along with White Magic).
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Lysithea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
to:
!!Witch
[[quoteright:228:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/witch_echoes_portrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:228:Witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
!!Brawler
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/892g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Grapplers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/986g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:War Master in ''Three Houses'']]
In ''Fates'', the Witch is a special playable class only obtainable via DLC. Using an item called a Witch's Mark, any female character is able to Class Change into one. They can use Dark Magic (otherwise exclusive to Dark Mages and Sorcerers) via the "Shadowgift" Skill and are capable of getting S-Rank in Tomes/Scrolls.\\\
While the Witch class does not return in ''Three Houses'', it introduces the '''Gremory''' class, which shares traits of the Witch class, including being exclusive to female units and the use of Dark and Black Magic (along with White Magic).
Changed line(s) 444,458 (click to see context) from:
* AlwaysFemale: Witch is a female-only class.
* ArtificialStupidity: Witches' behaviors in ''Gaiden'' are... sporadic to say the least. This is a case of AcceptableBreaksFromReality as making them "smarter" on top of having the ability to move anywhere at will would make them very unbearable to face.
* DealWithTheDevil: In ''Gaiden'', Witches are the result of women sacrificing themselves to Duma for power. [[spoiler:Not always, some of them (Rinea, Sonya's sisters, Delthea, and Celica) didn't necessarily exactly want to become such.]]
* EmptyShell: In ''Gaiden'''s lore, Witches are women who offered their souls to Duma in exchange for great magical power, but lost their free will and became living husks.
* EvilRedhead: In ''Gaiden'', with the exception of the brainwashed Delthea, all Witches are redheads and happen to be antagonistic.
* FacelessGoons: Generic Gremories in ''Three Houses'' have veils covering their faces.
* FanDisservice: The Witches from ''Shadows of Valentia'' are beautiful women whose looks appeal to many fetishes, but their actual situations make them less appealing.
* {{Nerf}}: In ''Gaiden'', their signature Warp ability lets them travel to any spot on the map. ''Fates'' changes it so they can only teleport to squares cardinally adjacent to allies.
* PowerCrutch: In ''Fates'', Witches channel their magic through a lantern instead of having their equipped tomes visible in their battle model.
* PowerFloats: The witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'' are seen levitating to show their power given to them by Duma.
* RedMage: Gremories are skilled in both offensive and supportive magic.
* RobeAndWizardHat: While in ''Gaiden'' they were just recolored female mages, their outfit in ''Fates'' gives them a large pointed hat and a sleek robe.
* SquishyWizard: The Witch is the strongest magic-using class in ''Fates'', though its Defense is also less than stellar. This is especially prevalent in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, where they also have extremely low HP and can often be downed in a single physical attack.
* StatusInflictionAttack: ''Fates''[='=] Witches get the skill Toxic Brew, which has a chance of 1.5% times the Skill stat to freeze an enemy unit in place for a turn whenever the skill's wielder initiates an attack.
* TeleportSpam: Witches have this as a a SignatureMove, enabling them to warp to any tile on the map, making them extremely dangerous to units with low resistance. Their playable incarnation can only warp to tiles adjacent to allies, however.
* ArtificialStupidity: Witches' behaviors in ''Gaiden'' are... sporadic to say the least. This is a case of AcceptableBreaksFromReality as making them "smarter" on top of having the ability to move anywhere at will would make them very unbearable to face.
* DealWithTheDevil: In ''Gaiden'', Witches are the result of women sacrificing themselves to Duma for power. [[spoiler:Not always, some of them (Rinea, Sonya's sisters, Delthea, and Celica) didn't necessarily exactly want to become such.]]
* EmptyShell: In ''Gaiden'''s lore, Witches are women who offered their souls to Duma in exchange for great magical power, but lost their free will and became living husks.
* EvilRedhead: In ''Gaiden'', with the exception of the brainwashed Delthea, all Witches are redheads and happen to be antagonistic.
* FacelessGoons: Generic Gremories in ''Three Houses'' have veils covering their faces.
* FanDisservice: The Witches from ''Shadows of Valentia'' are beautiful women whose looks appeal to many fetishes, but their actual situations make them less appealing.
* {{Nerf}}: In ''Gaiden'', their signature Warp ability lets them travel to any spot on the map. ''Fates'' changes it so they can only teleport to squares cardinally adjacent to allies.
* PowerCrutch: In ''Fates'', Witches channel their magic through a lantern instead of having their equipped tomes visible in their battle model.
* PowerFloats: The witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'' are seen levitating to show their power given to them by Duma.
* RedMage: Gremories are skilled in both offensive and supportive magic.
* RobeAndWizardHat: While in ''Gaiden'' they were just recolored female mages, their outfit in ''Fates'' gives them a large pointed hat and a sleek robe.
* SquishyWizard: The Witch is the strongest magic-using class in ''Fates'', though its Defense is also less than stellar. This is especially prevalent in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, where they also have extremely low HP and can often be downed in a single physical attack.
* StatusInflictionAttack: ''Fates''[='=] Witches get the skill Toxic Brew, which has a chance of 1.5% times the Skill stat to freeze an enemy unit in place for a turn whenever the skill's wielder initiates an attack.
* TeleportSpam: Witches have this as a a SignatureMove, enabling them to warp to any tile on the map, making them extremely dangerous to units with low resistance. Their playable incarnation can only warp to tiles adjacent to allies, however.
to:
* AlwaysFemale: Witch is a female-only class.
* ArtificialStupidity: Witches' behaviors in ''Gaiden'' are... sporadic to say the least. This is a case of AcceptableBreaksFromReality as makingActionInitiative: Upon mastering War Master, they gain Quick Riposte, allowing them "smarter" on top of having the ability to move anywhere at will would make them very unbearable to face.
* DealWithTheDevil: In ''Gaiden'', Witchesdeal follow-up attacks if they are the result of women sacrificing themselves to Duma for power. [[spoiler:Not always, some of them (Rinea, Sonya's sisters, Delthea, attacked and Celica) didn't necessarily exactly want to become such.]]
* EmptyShell: In ''Gaiden'''s lore, Witches are women who offeredabove their souls to Duma HP threshold. Also, unlike in exchange for great magical power, but lost ''Heroes'', the attacker will not follow-up attack if the unit is equipped with Quick Riposte.
* AlwaysMale: Brawlers, Grapplers and War Masters are male-only.
* BareFistedMonk: Their primary weapon as indicated by the skill "Unarmed Combat". Grapplers also gain the skill Fistfaire, which increases theirfree will and became living husks.
damage when wielding gauntlets.
*EvilRedhead: In ''Gaiden'', with the exception of the brainwashed Delthea, all Witches are redheads and happen to be antagonistic.
* FacelessGoons: Generic GremoriesChainedByFashion: Grapplers in ''Three Houses'' have veils covering chains attached to their faces.
armor.
*FanDisservice: The Witches from ''Shadows of Valentia'' are beautiful women whose looks appeal to many fetishes, but ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Brawlers and War Masters can use axes and gauntlets.
* CriticalHitClass: War Masters get Crit+20 as theiractual situations make them less appealing.
* {{Nerf}}: In ''Gaiden'', their signature Warp ability lets them travel to any spot on the map. ''Fates'' changes it so they can only teleport to squares cardinally adjacent to allies.
* PowerCrutch: In ''Fates'', Witches channel their magic through a lantern instead of having their equipped tomes visible in their battle model.
* PowerFloats: The witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'' are seen levitating to show their power given to them by Duma.
* RedMage: Gremories are skilled in both offensive and supportive magic.
* RobeAndWizardHat: While in ''Gaiden'' they were just recolored female mages, their outfit in ''Fates'' gives them a large pointed hat and a sleek robe.
* SquishyWizard: The Witch is the strongest magic-usingclass in ''Fates'', though its Defense is also less than stellar. This is especially prevalent in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, where ability. As they also are proficient in axes, this makes them very similar to Berserkers in the other games.
* LightningBruiser: War Masters haveextremely low HP stats and can often be downed in a single physical attack.
* StatusInflictionAttack: ''Fates''[='=] Witches get the skill Toxic Brew, which has a chancegrowths on par with Wyvern Riders, paired with an addition of 1.5% times the Skill stat to freeze an enemy unit in place for a turn whenever the skill's wielder initiates an attack.
* TeleportSpam: Witches have this as a a SignatureMove, enabling them to warp to any tile on the map,Crit+20, making them extremely one of the more dangerous to units footlocked units. Fighting one with low resistance. Their playable incarnation Killer Knuckles is just asking for trouble.
* MageKiller: While the class does not offer Resistance growth bonuses, Grapplers canonly warp learn Tomebreaker, which increases their Hit and Avoid against Tome-wielding users.
* SecretArt:
** Grapplers have Fierce Iron Fist, a mastery Combat Art exclusive totiles adjacent them, where they deal three consecutive attacks.
** War Master's Strike, a mastery Combat Art exclusive toallies, however.War Masters. It grants effective bonus damage against all foes.
* ArtificialStupidity: Witches' behaviors in ''Gaiden'' are... sporadic to say the least. This is a case of AcceptableBreaksFromReality as making
* DealWithTheDevil: In ''Gaiden'', Witches
* EmptyShell: In ''Gaiden'''s lore, Witches are women who offered
* AlwaysMale: Brawlers, Grapplers and War Masters are male-only.
* BareFistedMonk: Their primary weapon as indicated by the skill "Unarmed Combat". Grapplers also gain the skill Fistfaire, which increases their
*
* FacelessGoons: Generic Gremories
*
* CriticalHitClass: War Masters get Crit+20 as their
* {{Nerf}}: In ''Gaiden'', their signature Warp ability lets them travel to any spot on the map. ''Fates'' changes it so they can only teleport to squares cardinally adjacent to allies.
* PowerCrutch: In ''Fates'', Witches channel their magic through a lantern instead of having their equipped tomes visible in their battle model.
* PowerFloats: The witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'' are seen levitating to show their power given to them by Duma.
* RedMage: Gremories are skilled in both offensive and supportive magic.
* RobeAndWizardHat: While in ''Gaiden'' they were just recolored female mages, their outfit in ''Fates'' gives them a large pointed hat and a sleek robe.
* SquishyWizard: The Witch is the strongest magic-using
* LightningBruiser: War Masters have
* StatusInflictionAttack: ''Fates''[='=] Witches get the skill Toxic Brew, which has a chance
* TeleportSpam: Witches have this as a a SignatureMove, enabling them to warp to any tile on the map,
* MageKiller: While the class does not offer Resistance growth bonuses, Grapplers can
* SecretArt:
** Grapplers have Fierce Iron Fist, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to
** War Master's Strike, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to
Changed line(s) 461,472 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Dread Fighter]]
!!Dread Fighter
[[quoteright:234:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dread_fighter_echoes_portrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:234:Dread Fighters in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
Dread Fighter is one of the rarer classes, only appearing in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'', its remake ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. It is part of the Mercenary line in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, acting as the line's third and final Class Change before allowing a loop back into Villager. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Dread Fighter is a standalone class that is only available via DLC. ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'' adds an Overclass called Yasha, which is also only available via DLC. Most incarnations are exclusive to male characters.\\\
Dread Fighter is defined by its {{ninja}}-esque costume design and [[MageKiller anti-magic build]]. The class sports Skills designed to mitigate magical damage, allowing for safe approaches against mages.\\\
For weapon specializations, Dread Fighter only has access to swords in ''Gaiden'' and its remake. ''Awakening'' adds axes and tomes, while ''Fates'' replaces tomes with knives/shuriken.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' DLC Alm (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'')
!!Dread Fighter
[[quoteright:234:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dread_fighter_echoes_portrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:234:Dread Fighters in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
Dread Fighter is one of the rarer classes, only appearing in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'', its remake ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. It is part of the Mercenary line in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, acting as the line's third and final Class Change before allowing a loop back into Villager. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Dread Fighter is a standalone class that is only available via DLC. ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'' adds an Overclass called Yasha, which is also only available via DLC. Most incarnations are exclusive to male characters.\\\
Dread Fighter is defined by its {{ninja}}-esque costume design and [[MageKiller anti-magic build]]. The class sports Skills designed to mitigate magical damage, allowing for safe approaches against mages.\\\
For weapon specializations, Dread Fighter only has access to swords in ''Gaiden'' and its remake. ''Awakening'' adds axes and tomes, while ''Fates'' replaces tomes with knives/shuriken.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' DLC Alm (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'')
to:
!!Dread Fighter
[[quoteright:234:https://static.
!!Beasts
[[quoteright:223:https://static.tvtropes.
Dread Fighter is one of the rarer classes, only appearing
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesninetailedfoxportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Ninetails in
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesgarouportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:255:Wolfskins in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_wolfssegner_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Wolfsegnar in ''Fates'']]
When Manaketes were re-imagined as Dragon Laguz in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' and
->'''Playable characters of this
Changed line(s) 474,485 (click to see context) from:
* AlwaysMale: Outside of ''Fates'', Dread Fighter is exclusive to male characters.
* DeviousDaggers: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' uses knives instead of tomes to go with their ninja motif. Fittingly, knives and shuriken beats tomes in the game's version of the weapon triangle.
* MageKiller: They are designed to take little damage from magical sources and slay magic users.
** ''Awakening'' gives a massive boost to their Resistance with the Resistance+10 skill.
** ''Fates'' has Iron Will-which causes them to receive 4 less damage from magic attacks when attacked, and Even Keel-where the user receive 4 less damage from magic attacks during even-numbered turns.
** ''Shadows of Valentia'' provides the class with Resistance+5 and Apotrope skills. Apotrope is a more powerful version of Iron Will, as it halves damage taken from magic attacks.
* MagicKnight: Dread Fighters in ''Awakening'' use tomes in addition to swords and axes.
* {{Ninja}}: They appear to have ninja-like aesthetics, and even fight like them with TeleportSpam and {{Flash Step}}s.
* ReverseGrip: While in ''Fates'' they wield swords and daggers like the Ninjas and Master Ninjas, they also wield ''axes'' and ''clubs'' in the same way.
* SwordAndFist: Dread Fighters in ''Shadows of Valentia'' have them incorporate kicks alongside their sword strikes against the enemy.
* WalkingArmory: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' use swords, axes, and knives, allowing them to fully cover the weapon triangle (with knives sharing their spot with lances).
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: They have a tendency to rest their weapons on their shoulders.
* DeviousDaggers: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' uses knives instead of tomes to go with their ninja motif. Fittingly, knives and shuriken beats tomes in the game's version of the weapon triangle.
* MageKiller: They are designed to take little damage from magical sources and slay magic users.
** ''Awakening'' gives a massive boost to their Resistance with the Resistance+10 skill.
** ''Fates'' has Iron Will-which causes them to receive 4 less damage from magic attacks when attacked, and Even Keel-where the user receive 4 less damage from magic attacks during even-numbered turns.
** ''Shadows of Valentia'' provides the class with Resistance+5 and Apotrope skills. Apotrope is a more powerful version of Iron Will, as it halves damage taken from magic attacks.
* MagicKnight: Dread Fighters in ''Awakening'' use tomes in addition to swords and axes.
* {{Ninja}}: They appear to have ninja-like aesthetics, and even fight like them with TeleportSpam and {{Flash Step}}s.
* ReverseGrip: While in ''Fates'' they wield swords and daggers like the Ninjas and Master Ninjas, they also wield ''axes'' and ''clubs'' in the same way.
* SwordAndFist: Dread Fighters in ''Shadows of Valentia'' have them incorporate kicks alongside their sword strikes against the enemy.
* WalkingArmory: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' use swords, axes, and knives, allowing them to fully cover the weapon triangle (with knives sharing their spot with lances).
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: They have a tendency to rest their weapons on their shoulders.
to:
* AlwaysMale: Outside of ''Fates'', Dread Fighter is exclusive AchillesHeel: Laguz are weak to male characters.
* DeviousDaggers: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' uses knives instead of tomes to go with their ninja motif. Fittingly, knivesanti-Laguz weapons and shuriken beats tomes in the game's version of the weapon triangle.
* MageKiller: They are designed to take little damage from magical sources and slay magic users.
**Fire/Wind magic. In ''Awakening'' gives a massive boost and ''Fates'', they are weak to anti-beast weapons and skills, even when outside of their Resistance beast class.
* {{Animorphism}}: Using beaststones, or the natural ability of the Laguz, they can take on an animal form for combat.
* AsianFoxSpirit: The Kitsune and Ninetails class. They also have foxfires that surround them when transformed.
* DireBeast: Their animal forms are huge compared to regular animals. Small Cat laguz are the size of real life Big Cats. Lions and Hawks tower over human beings. Rabbits are similarly the size of Big Cats, and it's taken to the extreme with Wolfskins, who are literal monsters.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution:
** In games where multiple types of beast units exist, they typically are given differences to make them each distinct from each other.
** In theResistance+10 skill.
Tellius games, the Beast tribes are split between the Cat, Tiger, Lion, and Wolf. The Cat is a FragileSpeedster, the Tiger is a MightyGlacier, the Lion is a LightningBruiser, and the Wolves are more of a JackOfAllStats.
** Also in the Tellius games, the Bird tribes are split between the Hawks, Ravens, and Herons. The Hawks are more akin to LightningBruiser, the Ravens are FragileSpeedster, while the Herons are Dancers.
* DyingRace: The Wolf Tribe in the Tellius games have lost much of their numbers; nevertheless, they recover in the epilogue. The Heron Laguz are even worse, since the few remaining ones are the LastOfTheirKind. The Taguel are also the LastOfTheirKind, with only one full-blooded Taguel (Panne) left.[[note]](The half-blooded Taguel Yarne is specifically said to have much stronger Taguel genes, while a Morgan parented by either of them has stronger human ones.)[[/note]]
* {{Expy}}: The Tellius games make the various species of Laguz effectively animal copies of their Human counterparts in terms of class. To elaborate:
** Beast Tribe: Cats are essentially Myrmidons (high Speed and Luck but almost no bulk), Tigers are either Fighters (high Strength and HP, but lower Defense), or Knights (high HP, Strength, and Defense, but slow), Lions are similar to Paladins (use virtually all physical related stats well with high damage), and Wolves are Mercenaries (balanced offensive stats, with solid bulk).
** Bird Tribes: The Bird Tribes are airborne and can also move after attacking, making them similar to the flying classes. Hawks are essentially faster Wyvern Riders (focus on strength with average physical bulk), Ravens are essentially Pegasus Knights (High Speed, Resistance, and Luck but low bulk and Strength), while Herons are Dancers.
* HitAndRunTactics: The Bird Tribe in ''Radiant Dawn'' can move again after attacking or singing. The exception is Rafiel as he is grounded by his clipped wings.
* LightningBruiser: While they have different specialties depending on species, compared to human units, they are all extremely fast and strong. The Tiger Laguz are the only ones lacking in this area.
* LittleBitBeastly: They all exhibit some traits of their beast form even in human form. Usually [[CatGirl ears and tails]], or [[WingedHumanoid wings]] in the case of the bird tribes. Dragons/manaketes in contrast are usually much more subtle.
* LongLived: [[DownplayedTrope To a lesser extent]] compared to Manaketes (who's life expectancy is in the ''plural'' of thousands), but beastfolk often tend to have very long life-spans in spite of such. The shortest lived among the Laguz, the Lions, live for ''180 years on average'', with class blurbs like the Kitsune in ''Fates'' outright noting the species hasIron Will-which causes them a long live span even compared to receive 4 less damage from other beastfolk due to their spirit magic and beast heritage.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Beasts are more physically-oriented, while their dragon counterparts have better magic stats. This translate into almost all Beast units, save the Kitsune, having poor Resistance stats.
* NaturalWeapon: The Laguz uses their own claw, talons, and beaks when fighting in their beast forms. In ''Radiant Dawn'', they have a special weapon rank called Strike which improves their attackswhen attacked, and Even Keel-where the user receive 4 less damage from magic attacks during even-numbered turns.
** ''Shadows of Valentia'' provides the classupon raising their weapon rank. {{Avert}}ed with Resistance+5 and Apotrope skills. Apotrope is a more powerful version of Iron Will, as it halves damage taken from magic attacks.
* MagicKnight: Dread Fighters inBeast classes since ''Awakening'' use tomes in addition to swords and axes.
* {{Ninja}}: They appear to have ninja-like aesthetics, and even fight like them with TeleportSpam and {{Flash Step}}s.
* ReverseGrip: While in ''Fates''as they wield swords and daggers Stones like the Ninjas and Master Ninjas, they also wield ''axes'' and ''clubs'' Manaketes.
* NoSell: The Hawk Laguz's mastery skill inthe same way.
* SwordAndFist: Dread Fighters in ''ShadowsPath of Valentia'' have Radiance was Cancel (or Wing Guard), which lets them incorporate kicks alongside their sword strikes against the enemy.
* WalkingArmory: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' use swords, axes, and knives, allowing them to fully cover the weapon triangle (with knives sharing their spot with lances).
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: They have a tendency to rest their weaponsnullify damage based on their shoulders.skill.
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: The Wolfskin and Wolfsegner look less like wolves and more like gorillas with koala and wolf traits.
* PantheraAwesome: The Tiger and the Lion Laguz of the Beast Tribe, especially the Lion Laguz as one is their king.
* DeviousDaggers: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' uses knives instead of tomes to go with their ninja motif. Fittingly, knives
* MageKiller: They are designed to take little damage from magical sources and slay magic users.
**
* {{Animorphism}}: Using beaststones, or the natural ability of the Laguz, they can take on an animal form for combat.
* AsianFoxSpirit: The Kitsune and Ninetails class. They also have foxfires that surround them when transformed.
* DireBeast: Their animal forms are huge compared to regular animals. Small Cat laguz are the size of real life Big Cats. Lions and Hawks tower over human beings. Rabbits are similarly the size of Big Cats, and it's taken to the extreme with Wolfskins, who are literal monsters.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution:
** In games where multiple types of beast units exist, they typically are given differences to make them each distinct from each other.
** In the
** Also in the Tellius games, the Bird tribes are split between the Hawks, Ravens, and Herons. The Hawks are more akin to LightningBruiser, the Ravens are FragileSpeedster, while the Herons are Dancers.
* DyingRace: The Wolf Tribe in the Tellius games have lost much of their numbers; nevertheless, they recover in the epilogue. The Heron Laguz are even worse, since the few remaining ones are the LastOfTheirKind. The Taguel are also the LastOfTheirKind, with only one full-blooded Taguel (Panne) left.[[note]](The half-blooded Taguel Yarne is specifically said to have much stronger Taguel genes, while a Morgan parented by either of them has stronger human ones.)[[/note]]
* {{Expy}}: The Tellius games make the various species of Laguz effectively animal copies of their Human counterparts in terms of class. To elaborate:
** Beast Tribe: Cats are essentially Myrmidons (high Speed and Luck but almost no bulk), Tigers are either Fighters (high Strength and HP, but lower Defense), or Knights (high HP, Strength, and Defense, but slow), Lions are similar to Paladins (use virtually all physical related stats well with high damage), and Wolves are Mercenaries (balanced offensive stats, with solid bulk).
** Bird Tribes: The Bird Tribes are airborne and can also move after attacking, making them similar to the flying classes. Hawks are essentially faster Wyvern Riders (focus on strength with average physical bulk), Ravens are essentially Pegasus Knights (High Speed, Resistance, and Luck but low bulk and Strength), while Herons are Dancers.
* HitAndRunTactics: The Bird Tribe in ''Radiant Dawn'' can move again after attacking or singing. The exception is Rafiel as he is grounded by his clipped wings.
* LightningBruiser: While they have different specialties depending on species, compared to human units, they are all extremely fast and strong. The Tiger Laguz are the only ones lacking in this area.
* LittleBitBeastly: They all exhibit some traits of their beast form even in human form. Usually [[CatGirl ears and tails]], or [[WingedHumanoid wings]] in the case of the bird tribes. Dragons/manaketes in contrast are usually much more subtle.
* LongLived: [[DownplayedTrope To a lesser extent]] compared to Manaketes (who's life expectancy is in the ''plural'' of thousands), but beastfolk often tend to have very long life-spans in spite of such. The shortest lived among the Laguz, the Lions, live for ''180 years on average'', with class blurbs like the Kitsune in ''Fates'' outright noting the species has
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Beasts are more physically-oriented, while their dragon counterparts have better magic stats. This translate into almost all Beast units, save the Kitsune, having poor Resistance stats.
* NaturalWeapon: The Laguz uses their own claw, talons, and beaks when fighting in their beast forms. In ''Radiant Dawn'', they have a special weapon rank called Strike which improves their attacks
** ''Shadows of Valentia'' provides the class
* MagicKnight: Dread Fighters in
* {{Ninja}}: They appear to have ninja-like aesthetics, and even fight like them with TeleportSpam and {{Flash Step}}s.
* ReverseGrip: While in ''Fates''
* NoSell: The Hawk Laguz's mastery skill in
* SwordAndFist: Dread Fighters in ''Shadows
* WalkingArmory: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' use swords, axes, and knives, allowing them to fully cover the weapon triangle (with knives sharing their spot with lances).
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: They have a tendency to rest their weapons
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: The Wolfskin and Wolfsegner look less like wolves and more like gorillas with koala and wolf traits.
* PantheraAwesome: The Tiger and the Lion Laguz of the Beast Tribe, especially the Lion Laguz as one is their king.
Changed line(s) 488,496 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Tactician/Grandmaster]]
!!Tactician and Grandmaster
The Tactician and its Class Change, Grandmaster, are a class line introduced in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''. They are more or less made specifically for the Avatar of ''Awakening'' and their children, though [=SpotPass=], [=StreetPass=], and DLC characters are capable of using Second Seals to reclass into the line. The Tactician and Grandmaster are powerful {{Magic Knight}}s that use swords and tomes, have overall high stats, and can support allies thanks to a couple of exclusive support Skills such as "Solidarity" and "Rally Spectrum".\\\
The Grandmaster returns in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' as a special class obtained by using a Fell Brand (received from completing ''Hidden Truths 1'' DLC or using the Robin Toys/{{amiibo}}) on a male unit. It does not Class Change to or from anything, but otherwise functions the same as it did in ''Awakening''.\\\
It returns once again in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'' as Céline's version of the '''Noble''' class: while it no longer has any of its support skills as a result of being standardized to be more in line with the rest of the game's classes, its promotion into '''Vidame''' grants access to staves.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Robin, Morgan [[note]]Morgan needs to have specific mothers/fathers to start out as Tactician, otherwise they will join as a different class (based on their non-Robin parent) and need to reclass into it.[[/note]], DLC Katarina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Toys/{{amiibo}} Robin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''), Céline (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Tactician and Grandmaster
The Tactician and its Class Change, Grandmaster, are a class line introduced in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''. They are more or less made specifically for the Avatar of ''Awakening'' and their children, though [=SpotPass=], [=StreetPass=], and DLC characters are capable of using Second Seals to reclass into the line. The Tactician and Grandmaster are powerful {{Magic Knight}}s that use swords and tomes, have overall high stats, and can support allies thanks to a couple of exclusive support Skills such as "Solidarity" and "Rally Spectrum".\\\
The Grandmaster returns in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' as a special class obtained by using a Fell Brand (received from completing ''Hidden Truths 1'' DLC or using the Robin Toys/{{amiibo}}) on a male unit. It does not Class Change to or from anything, but otherwise functions the same as it did in ''Awakening''.\\\
It returns once again in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'' as Céline's version of the '''Noble''' class: while it no longer has any of its support skills as a result of being standardized to be more in line with the rest of the game's classes, its promotion into '''Vidame''' grants access to staves.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Robin, Morgan [[note]]Morgan needs to have specific mothers/fathers to start out as Tactician, otherwise they will join as a different class (based on their non-Robin parent) and need to reclass into it.[[/note]], DLC Katarina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Toys/{{amiibo}} Robin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''), Céline (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Tactician
!!Emperor (and variants)
If the final boss isn't a dark magician, a dragon, or a god, this is what they'll be -- a king decked out in enormous armour or finery, dwarfing every other unit (except maybe Manaketes/laguz) in sheer size, wielding a huge AncestralWeapon, and
The Tactician and its Class Change, Grandmaster, are
It returns once again in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'' as Céline's version of the '''Noble''' class: while it no longer has any of its support skills as a result of being standardized to be more in line with the rest of the game's classes, its promotion into '''Vidame''' grants access to staves.
Changed line(s) 498,504 (click to see context) from:
* AlwaysMale: In ''Fates'', Grandmaster is a male-only class.
* JackOfAllStats: Somewhere between this and MasterOfAll in ''Awakening'', where their stats are generally high in all areas but not necessarily the best possible. They're straighter examples in their subsequent appearances [[ProtagonistPowerUpPrivileges where the class is no longer attached to the main character]].
* MagicKnight: They use both swords and tomes and have good Strength and Magic. In ''Awakening'' they are equally proficient with Swords and Tomes (both top at "A"), while the ''Fates'' Grandmaster and ''Engage'' Vidame lean more on the Magic side with a higher max Tome rank (Swords go to "B" while Tomes go to "A").
* RedMage: As a Vidame, Céline can use staves in addition to swords and tomes.
* SpellBlade: In all of its appearances, the class line is capable of learning [[PlayingWithFire Ignis]], a skill that uses half of their Strength or Magic to boost the other stat when they attack, depending on whether they're using a physical or magical attack.
* StatusBuff: Their "Rally Spectrum" Skill gives a one-turn boost to all stats for every ally within 3 (''Awakening'') or 4 (''Fates'') spaces.
* SupportPartyMember: They get a number of Skills to buff or otherwise assist allies. "Solidarity" increases Crit rate and Dodge by 10 for adjacent allies, "Tactical Advice" provides a Hit rate bonus for the lead unit of an Attack Stance, and "Rally Spectrum" provides a one-turn StatusBuff to all allies within 3/4 spaces.
* JackOfAllStats: Somewhere between this and MasterOfAll in ''Awakening'', where their stats are generally high in all areas but not necessarily the best possible. They're straighter examples in their subsequent appearances [[ProtagonistPowerUpPrivileges where the class is no longer attached to the main character]].
* MagicKnight: They use both swords and tomes and have good Strength and Magic. In ''Awakening'' they are equally proficient with Swords and Tomes (both top at "A"), while the ''Fates'' Grandmaster and ''Engage'' Vidame lean more on the Magic side with a higher max Tome rank (Swords go to "B" while Tomes go to "A").
* RedMage: As a Vidame, Céline can use staves in addition to swords and tomes.
* SpellBlade: In all of its appearances, the class line is capable of learning [[PlayingWithFire Ignis]], a skill that uses half of their Strength or Magic to boost the other stat when they attack, depending on whether they're using a physical or magical attack.
* StatusBuff: Their "Rally Spectrum" Skill gives a one-turn boost to all stats for every ally within 3 (''Awakening'') or 4 (''Fates'') spaces.
* SupportPartyMember: They get a number of Skills to buff or otherwise assist allies. "Solidarity" increases Crit rate and Dodge by 10 for adjacent allies, "Tactical Advice" provides a Hit rate bonus for the lead unit of an Attack Stance, and "Rally Spectrum" provides a one-turn StatusBuff to all allies within 3/4 spaces.
to:
* AlwaysMale: In ''Fates'', Grandmaster AncestralWeapon: All of them wield personal weapons.
* ArmorAndMagicDontMix: Inverted with The Baron class and Jugdral Emperor class. Both classes are even more armored than the General class, they also have the most powerful magic abilities around.
* {{BFS}}: As fitting their position, their weapons are often very large. Averted by Arvis, who uses the magic tome [[PlayingWithFire Valflame]] instead (though he ''does'' have a Silver Blade, the strongest non-legendary sword, [[OrnamentalWeapon in his inventory]], even if he was hacked to not be able to use Valflame, Arvis will not use the Silver Blade).
* ContractualBossImmunity: To prevent them from being easily defeated, they usually have skills that negate weapon effectiveness against their movement type, or their personal classes don't have those weaknesses in the first place.
* DegradedBoss: Barons are encountered as generic enemies in the final chapter of ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' after the more powerful Emperor class is introduced in the story. The final arena opponent of the same chapter belongs to the Emperor class as well.
* TheEmperor: The majority of character in these classes are the ruler of amale-only hostile empire or kingdom.
* {{Expy}}: Much like the Lords, they have unique classes that are basically based off of existing classes, but individualized to fit the character using the class.
** King Zephiel, Emperor Hardin, Nohrian King Garon, and Emperor Edelgard all have similarities to the General class, be it through similar stat lines, being armored, or both. Zephiel uses a sword while Generals in his game can't, while the Black Knight is also related to the third tier Marshall class by proxy.
** Emperor Arvis is basically a souped up Baron class. The Baron class itself is also similar to the General class but with access to magic, and is used by Raydrik.
** King Ashnard is essentially a better version of the Wyvern Lord class, but Ashnard uses a sword rather than a lance.
** Walhart the Conqueror is very similar to the Great Knight class.
*JackOfAllStats: Somewhere between FinalBoss: Often your last opponent, but there'll frequently be a TrueFinalBoss after them.
* {{Foil}}: Essentially the opposite of the Lord class, being classes that are mostly exclusive to one particular character in the games they appear in, gets unique (possibly legendary) weapons to wield, and is the leader of their army, but the Lord class belongs to the main playable character while the Emperor class belongs to the game's main villain (or one of them, though typically one that is working in the foreground).
* LargeAndInCharge: Their sprites tend to dwarf the others in the game. Usually, this is a product of having bulky, intimidating armor.
* LightningBruiser: They have fantastic, if not outright maxed, stats across the board. This includes Speed, in spite of their huge size andMasterOfAll heavy armor.
* MagicKnight: Barons and Jugdral's Emperors can use anima magic in addition to all physical weapons.
* PromotedToPlayable: Twice, first with Walhart in ''Awakening'',where then Edelgard in ''Three Houses''.
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: The majority of them are authority figures who are much more powerful then theirstats are generally high in all areas but not necessarily the best possible. troops.
* TinTyrant: They'restraighter examples almost always covered in their subsequent appearances [[ProtagonistPowerUpPrivileges where the class is no longer attached to the main character]].
armor.
*MagicKnight: They use both swords and tomes and have good Strength and Magic. In ''Awakening'' they are equally proficient with Swords and Tomes (both top at "A"), while the ''Fates'' Grandmaster and ''Engage'' Vidame lean more on the Magic side with a higher max Tome rank (Swords go to "B" while Tomes go to "A").
* RedMage: As a Vidame, CélineWalkingArmory: Arvis can use staves in addition to swords all weapon types but Dark and tomes.
* SpellBlade: In all of its appearances, the class line is capable of learning [[PlayingWithFire Ignis]], a skill that uses half of their Strength or Magic to boost the other stat when they attack, depending on whether they're using a physical or magical attack.
* StatusBuff: Their "Rally Spectrum" Skill gives a one-turn boost to all stats for every ally within 3 (''Awakening'') or 4 (''Fates'') spaces.
* SupportPartyMember: They get a number of Skills to buff or otherwise assist allies. "Solidarity" increases Crit rate and Dodge by 10 for adjacent allies, "Tactical Advice" provides a Hit rate bonus for the lead unit of an Attack Stance, and "Rally Spectrum" provides a one-turn StatusBuff to all allies within 3/4 spaces.Light Magic.
* ArmorAndMagicDontMix: Inverted with The Baron class and Jugdral Emperor class. Both classes are even more armored than the General class, they also have the most powerful magic abilities around.
* {{BFS}}: As fitting their position, their weapons are often very large. Averted by Arvis, who uses the magic tome [[PlayingWithFire Valflame]] instead (though he ''does'' have a Silver Blade, the strongest non-legendary sword, [[OrnamentalWeapon in his inventory]], even if he was hacked to not be able to use Valflame, Arvis will not use the Silver Blade).
* ContractualBossImmunity: To prevent them from being easily defeated, they usually have skills that negate weapon effectiveness against their movement type, or their personal classes don't have those weaknesses in the first place.
* DegradedBoss: Barons are encountered as generic enemies in the final chapter of ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' after the more powerful Emperor class is introduced in the story. The final arena opponent of the same chapter belongs to the Emperor class as well.
* TheEmperor: The majority of character in these classes are the ruler of a
* {{Expy}}: Much like the Lords, they have unique classes that are basically based off of existing classes, but individualized to fit the character using the class.
** King Zephiel, Emperor Hardin, Nohrian King Garon, and Emperor Edelgard all have similarities to the General class, be it through similar stat lines, being armored, or both. Zephiel uses a sword while Generals in his game can't, while the Black Knight is also related to the third tier Marshall class by proxy.
** Emperor Arvis is basically a souped up Baron class. The Baron class itself is also similar to the General class but with access to magic, and is used by Raydrik.
** King Ashnard is essentially a better version of the Wyvern Lord class, but Ashnard uses a sword rather than a lance.
** Walhart the Conqueror is very similar to the Great Knight class.
*
* {{Foil}}: Essentially the opposite of the Lord class, being classes that are mostly exclusive to one particular character in the games they appear in, gets unique (possibly legendary) weapons to wield, and is the leader of their army, but the Lord class belongs to the main playable character while the Emperor class belongs to the game's main villain (or one of them, though typically one that is working in the foreground).
* LargeAndInCharge: Their sprites tend to dwarf the others in the game. Usually, this is a product of having bulky, intimidating armor.
* LightningBruiser: They have fantastic, if not outright maxed, stats across the board. This includes Speed, in spite of their huge size and
* MagicKnight: Barons and Jugdral's Emperors can use anima magic in addition to all physical weapons.
* PromotedToPlayable: Twice, first with Walhart in ''Awakening'',
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: The majority of them are authority figures who are much more powerful then their
* TinTyrant: They're
*
* RedMage: As a Vidame, Céline
* SpellBlade: In all of its appearances, the class line is capable of learning [[PlayingWithFire Ignis]], a skill that uses half of their Strength or Magic to boost the other stat when they attack, depending on whether they're using a physical or magical attack.
* StatusBuff: Their "Rally Spectrum" Skill gives a one-turn boost to all stats for every ally within 3 (''Awakening'') or 4 (''Fates'') spaces.
* SupportPartyMember: They get a number of Skills to buff or otherwise assist allies. "Solidarity" increases Crit rate and Dodge by 10 for adjacent allies, "Tactical Advice" provides a Hit rate bonus for the lead unit of an Attack Stance, and "Rally Spectrum" provides a one-turn StatusBuff to all allies within 3/4 spaces.
Changed line(s) 507,518 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Brawler]]
!!Brawler
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/783g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Brawlers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/892g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Grapplers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/986g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:War Master in ''Three Houses'']]
A new class series introduced in ''Three Houses''. Brawlers and their Advanced and Master Class promotions, the '''Grappler''' and '''War Master''', primarily use axes and gauntlets.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Raphael, Balthus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
!!Brawler
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/783g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Brawlers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/892g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Grapplers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/986g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:War Master in ''Three Houses'']]
A new class series introduced in ''Three Houses''. Brawlers and their Advanced and Master Class promotions, the '''Grappler''' and '''War Master''', primarily use axes and gauntlets.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Raphael, Balthus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
to:
!!Brawler
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/783g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Brawlers
!!Monsters
In addition to the usual human and draconic enemies, ''Gaiden'', ''The Sacred Stones'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' contain a wide variety of monstrous enemies. They come in the following types:
!! Introduced in ''Gaiden'' and ''Shadows of Valentia''
* Revenants/Entombed: Zombie-like creatures that attack with claws. They have high HP but extremely low stats otherwise. In addition to appearing in both ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones'', they reappeared in ''Fire Emblem Awakening'' as a type of Risen and the only monster class in that game. ''Echoes'' introduces a stronger [[EvilIsBigger and bigger]] variant for the Revenant known as a Dracul and what has to be the monster equivalent of an overclass for the Entombed called the Tomb Lord.
* Bonewalkers: Skeletal soldiers that wield a variety of weapon types. Their advanced equivalent is known as the Lich in ''Gaiden'' and the Wight in ''Sacred Stones''. ''Echoes'' additionally introduces two stronger variants: the Titan (a giant and stronger axe-wielding version of the Lich) and the Deimos (an axe-wielding shaman arisen that wields potent purging fire).
* Mogalls (Bigls in the Japanese version): Small [[{{Oculothorax}} floating eyes]] that wield Dark magic. In ''Sacred Stones'' they have an advanced version called Arch Mogalls and in ''Echoes'' the Balor appears in the former's place.
* Fiends: Demonic Barons exclusive to ''Gaiden'' and its remake. The Guardian introduced in Echoes is a redder, more powerful variant of the Fiend.
* Gargoyles: Flying creatures wielding lances. Their advanced equivalent is the Balrog in ''Gaiden'' and the Deathgoyle in ''Sacred Stones''. Stronger than even the Deathgoyle is the Garuda introduced in ''Echoes''.
!! Introduced in ''The Sacred Stones''
* Baels/Elder Baels: Spiderlike creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. They attack with deadly claws that may sometimes be poisoned.
* Tarvos/Maelduins: Centaurlike creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. They wield axes, and the "advanced" Maelduins also use bows.
* Mauthe Doogs/Gwyllgis: Speedy demon dogs that attack with fangs. Exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''.
* Gorgons: Scaly creatures hatching from eggs that wield a variety of nasty dark magic spells. Exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''.
* Cyclopes: Massive axe-wielding creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. Their HP cap is higher than that of other units.
* Draco Zombies (Dragon Zombies in the Japanese version, Necrodragons in ''Shadows of Valentia''): [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Like dragons, only deader]]. In ''Gaiden'' and its remake, they have a "advanced" version called White Dragons. ''Echoes'' further introduces the Fafnir, a monstrous, ancient dragon that has survived since antiquity.
* Phantom (Spirit Warriors in the Japanese version): A spirit exclusive to ''Sacred Stones'', they are summoned by a Summoner or Necromancer.
!! Introduced in ''Fates''
* Faceless: Humanoid creatures made from dark magic, debuting in ''Fates''. In contrast to the Revenants[=/=]Entombed, they are rather large and bulky, and attack with their fists instead of their claws.
* Stoneborn: Moving statues who debuted in ''Fates''. They attack by launching rocks from afar.
* Automaton: Puppets moving by clockwork who debuted in ''Fates''. They attack with saws and yumi (eastern bows) and is the first monster class capable of using both normal and monster weapons.
* Empty Vessel: [[spoiler:Garon]]'s true form in ''Conquest'', it is a slime monster made of water that attacks with axes. Debuting in ''Fates'', it is the first monster class seen since ''Sacred Stones'' to only use a normal weapon instead of an enemy-only monster weapon.
!! Introduced in ''Three
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/892g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Grapplers
* Black Beast: A crazed [[spoiler:transformed Miklan when the Lance of Ruin's crest stone consumed him for his lack of a crest]].
* Wandering Beast: A mad creature that lurks in
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/986g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:War Master in ''Three Houses'']]
A new class series introduced in ''Three Houses''. Brawlers and
* Hegemon Husk: An emperor's corpse hellbent on world conquest. [[spoiler:Edelgard's OneWingedAngel transformation on Azure Moon, utilizing her twin crests to their
* Wild Demonic Beasts: A feral Demonic Beast spotted in the
->'''Playable characters
* Experimental Demonic Beast: [[spoiler:A human-transformed Beast by the power of crest stones embedded on their forehead.]]
* Demonic Beast: Demonic Beasts under the control of the [[spoiler:Imperial]] army. Upgrades of the Experimental Demonic Beast.
* Flying Demonic Beast: Agile flying Demonic Beasts.
* Altered Demonic Beast: Demonic Beasts with an anti-magic armor, granting them immunity to magic damage.
* Giant Demonic Beast: A gigantic version of human-transformed beasts. [[spoiler:Dedue]] takes on this
* Umbral Beast: A powerful monster created by the Chalice of Beginnings in the ''Cindered Shadows'' expansion. [[spoiler:Aelfric's transformation after he is absorbed by the Chalice and fused with Sitri's corpse.]]
* Golem: Mechanized automatons in the service of the Church of Seiros.
* Altered Golem: Stronger golems wield by the Church of Seiros. They are immune to magic.
* Guardian Golem: A unique golem tasked with protecting the Chalice of Beginnings in the ''Cindered Shadows'' expansion.
* Titanus: A mechanized weapon created by Agarthan technology.
* White Beast: [[spoiler:Cardinals of the Church transformed by the will of the Immaculate One]].
* Lord of the Lake: A giant tortoise-like monster that lives in the lake. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Indech]].
* Lord of the Desert: A giant bird-like monster that lives in the desert. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Macuil]].
* The Immaculate One: A giant white-dragon revered in the teachings of the Church of Seiros. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Seiros/Rhea]].
* Giant Bird: A bird that grew enormous due to magic.
* Giant Crawler: A worm that grew enormous due to magic.
* Giant Wolf: A wolf that grew enormous due to magic.
!! Introduced in ''Engage''
All three of these types have a Fabrication[[note]]Refered to as Phantom ingame[[/note]] variant, which are aligned with the Divine Dragons and Emblems, and a Corrupted variant, which are aligned with the Fell Dragons.
* Wyrm: Large but slow-moving, draconic creatures that have a large attack range that allows them to shoot breaths from afar.
* Wyvern: DLC-Exclusive. They are undead wyverns that spit out powerful breaths. They also change the terrain of their surroundings, with the Fabrication variant creating frost, and the Corrupted variant creating miasma. The corrupted variant also have a wider attack range than its Fabrication counterpart.
* Wolf: DLC-Exclusive. They are undead wolves that bite with poisonous fangs and, like ordinary wolves, fight in packs.
Changed line(s) 520,530 (click to see context) from:
* ActionInitiative: Upon mastering War Master, they gain Quick Riposte, allowing them to deal follow-up attacks if they are attacked and above their HP threshold. Also, unlike in ''Heroes'', the attacker will not follow-up attack if the unit is equipped with Quick Riposte.
* AlwaysMale: Brawlers, Grapplers and War Masters are male-only.
* BareFistedMonk: Their primary weapon as indicated by the skill "Unarmed Combat". Grapplers also gain the skill Fistfaire, which increases their damage when wielding gauntlets.
* ChainedByFashion: Grapplers in ''Three Houses'' have chains attached to their armor.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Brawlers and War Masters can use axes and gauntlets.
* CriticalHitClass: War Masters get Crit+20 as their class ability. As they are proficient in axes, this makes them very similar to Berserkers in the other games.
* LightningBruiser: War Masters have stats and growths on par with Wyvern Riders, paired with an addition of a Crit+20, making them one of the more dangerous footlocked units. Fighting one with Killer Knuckles is just asking for trouble.
* MageKiller: While the class does not offer Resistance growth bonuses, Grapplers can learn Tomebreaker, which increases their Hit and Avoid against Tome-wielding users.
* SecretArt:
** Grapplers have Fierce Iron Fist, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to them, where they deal three consecutive attacks.
** War Master's Strike, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to War Masters. It grants effective bonus damage against all foes.
* AlwaysMale: Brawlers, Grapplers and War Masters are male-only.
* BareFistedMonk: Their primary weapon as indicated by the skill "Unarmed Combat". Grapplers also gain the skill Fistfaire, which increases their damage when wielding gauntlets.
* ChainedByFashion: Grapplers in ''Three Houses'' have chains attached to their armor.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Brawlers and War Masters can use axes and gauntlets.
* CriticalHitClass: War Masters get Crit+20 as their class ability. As they are proficient in axes, this makes them very similar to Berserkers in the other games.
* LightningBruiser: War Masters have stats and growths on par with Wyvern Riders, paired with an addition of a Crit+20, making them one of the more dangerous footlocked units. Fighting one with Killer Knuckles is just asking for trouble.
* MageKiller: While the class does not offer Resistance growth bonuses, Grapplers can learn Tomebreaker, which increases their Hit and Avoid against Tome-wielding users.
* SecretArt:
** Grapplers have Fierce Iron Fist, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to them, where they deal three consecutive attacks.
** War Master's Strike, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to War Masters. It grants effective bonus damage against all foes.
to:
* ActionInitiative: Upon mastering War Master, AchillesHeel: All monsters are weak against the Bishop's Slayer skill, the Falcon Knight's Banish skill, and the Sacred Twin weapons (except for Gleipnir). Giant Crawlers are able to negate this weakness as a latent ability when down to their last healthbars [[spoiler:and Hegemon Husk Edelgard negates her monster weakness from the outset of fighting her.]] In addition, Gargoyles/Deathgoyles/Garuda, Draco Zombies/White Dragons/Fafnirs, Giant Birds,and White Beasts are treated as flying units and are thereby weak to bows and the Wind Sword, and Tarvos/Maelduins are treated as mounted units and are weak to weapons that do additional damage to them. Lastly, all Demonic Beast variants (wild, exp. base, winged, and giant), the Lord of the Lake, Lord of the Desert, White Beasts, and The Immaculate One are all dragons meaning they gain Quick Riposte, allowing them also share a weakness to deal follow-up anti-dragon weaponry and abilities.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: Dracozombie's attacksif completely ignore defense so watch your units that have less HP than their attack. [[spoiler:The Immaculate One's Staggering Blow in Silver Snow, Hoarfrost, completely ignore any defenses.]]
* {{BFS}}: A Titanus carries one called a Giant Katar, wielding it in one hand and it's capable of firing [[SwordBeam energy beams]] from it for ranged combat.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Baels and Elder Baels, which are absolutely ''huge'' spiders.
* BlowYouAway: The Lord of the Desert utilizes magical wind to attack his foes, with his bird-like design helping the mofit. Giant Wolves and Giant Crawlers will also make use of this for their staggering blows--quickly spinning or sweeping in place to generate a harsh gust of wind, and Winged Demonic Beasts generate sharp wind crescents for ranged combat.
* BossInMookClothing: Draco Zombies (and White Dragons in ''Gaiden''). In fact, unless you do [[BonusDungeon the Lagdou Ruins]] in their entirety ''as soon'' as they become available, the first one you encounter in ''Sacred Stones'' will actually ''be'' a boss, complete with unique sprite! [[spoiler:Technically speaking, though, his class is still listed as Manakete...]]
* BreathWeapon: Draco Zombies usually attack with a dark breath. In ''Three Houses'', all Demonic Beast variants save for the Giant Demonic Beasts are capable of breathing fire (or poison for the Wild Demonic Beasts), and White Beasts on the other hand sport magic, holy blue flames instead.[[spoiler:The Immaculate One can also exple holy blue flames or a vaporizing beam of light).]]
* CastingAShadow: Mogalls/Arch Mogalls and Gorgons. Draco Zombies also have wretched air, a stream of fetid dark flames spewed at their target.
* {{Cyclops}}: The fittingly named [[ClassicalCyclops Cyclops]] in ''Sacred Stones'', which is one of the more powerful monsters. ''Echoes'' redesigns the Lich as well as introduces the Titan and Deimos to have this look; the artbook suggests that the Lich and Titan respectively had the heads of one-eyed goats or bulls while the Deimos wore a sone-eyed monster's skull for a mask.
* DamageReduction: The Titanus and the Lord of the Lake are both outfitted with Pavise and Aegis as long as their barriers are up, making it even more difficult to take them down.
* DracoLich: The fittingly named Draco Zombies are among the toughest foes in all three of their appearances which consist of ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* DishingOutDirt: A Stoneborn attacks by hurling out giant boulders from the cavity under its mask. Giant Crawlers, Giant Wolves, and Giant Demonic Beasts will also pick up giant rocks and hurl them at their enemies as ranged attacks.
* EvilCounterpart: Several Monster classes have human counterparts. The Titanus can function as one to the Golem and Altered Golem, with the latter two having close ties to the Chruch of Seiros while the former is employed by one of the two church's enemy factions[[spoiler:--Those who Slither in the Dark]]. In ''Engage'', the Fell-Dragon aligned corrupted variants of this game's monsters serve as this to the fabrication variants of them, as the latter are created by the Divine Dragons and Emblems.
* FeatherFlechettes: Giant Birds will fire off their feathers as their ranged attack and also [[FlechetteStorm unleash a barrage of them]] as their staggering blow.
* FragileSpeedster: Mauthe Doogs and Gwyllgis are the monster counterparts to the Myrmidon line. Also, the giant animals in ''Three Houses'' are considerably faster and harder to hit compared to most other monsters of the Demonic Beast build, but their barriers are more easily broken and they typically do not hit as hard.
* GeoEffects: Phantoms completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties because they areattacked ethereal beings with no solid, tangible forms.
* GiantMook: Monsters in ''Three Houses'' are large, take up to at least 4 spaces rather than 1 space like most units. Their giant size can either block or be blocked by units, they can be roadblocked by obstacles or units that have only one space gap. [[spoiler:Hegemon Husk Edelgard is the exception to this trope, being no bigger than a regular unit map-wise.]]
* HealingFactor: The Lord of the Lake possesses this ability in addition to its myriad of defensive skills andabove the [[LastChanceHitPoint Miracle]] ability.
* {{Hellhound}}: The Mauthe Doogs and the Gwyllgis in ''Sacred Stones''. The latter had three heads instead of one and were even called Cerberus in the Japanese version.
* HumongousMecha: The Golems, Altered Golems, and Titanuses are massive automatons with equally large armaments (lances of light for the golems and giant katars for the Titanuses).
* IFightForTheStrongestSide: Faceless are created with no minds of theirHP threshold. Also, unlike in ''Heroes'', own and simply act on primal bestial instinct to attack others. Practitioners of Dark Magic are able to bend and enslave them to their will. Such people include Iago, Leo, and Rhajat.
* LastChanceHitPoint: The Lord of theattacker Lake and White Beasts possess Miracle which may save them from an otherwise fatal blow, ensuring that they will not follow-up be easy to take down )especially the White Beasts with their high Luck stat factoring into it).
* TheLegionsOfHell: Dolth, a boss in the original ''Gaiden'' says in his MagicalIncantation that he's summoning the Dracozombies from Hell. Fiends are described as from the nether realm in ''Shadows of Valentia''.
* LightIsNotGood: The White Beasts are frenzied dragons that expel holy blue flames as their attack. The same can be said of the Golems and Altered Golems [[spoiler:should Rhea descend into insanity]]. [[spoiler:The Immaculate One, whether willingly antagonistic or degenerated, also counts with both the holy blue flames or her vaporizing light breath.]]
* MakingASplash: The Lord of the Lake utilizes magic water to attackif the unit is equipped with Quick Riposte.
* AlwaysMale: Brawlers, Grapplersfoes and War Masters is suitably designed after a turtle, a potentially aquatic creature.
* MightyGlacier: Cyclopes, who wield strong axes and has high defenses and bloated HP, they aremale-only.
* BareFistedMonk: Their primary weapon as indicated by the skill "Unarmed Combat". Grapplers also gain the skill Fistfaire,very slow to which increases they can be compared to Knights. Although their damage when wielding gauntlets.
stat caps tend towards LightningBruiser with high Speed and Skill, few Cyclops enemies get close to those caps. The majority of monsters in ''Three Houses'' besides the giant animals are typically like this.
*ChainedByFashion: Grapplers MultipleLifeBars: The monsters in ''Three Houses'' have chains attached to their armor.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Brawlersseveral health bars. With each depleted bar, they may gain stat boosts and War Masters can an additional skill.
* NoSell: Altered Demonic Beasts and Altered Golems have armor that grants them complete immunity to magic damage until the armor breaks.
* NotUsingTheZWord: Averted in the Japanese version, where Revenants are called Zombies.
* {{Oculothorax}}: Mogalls, Arch Mogalls, and Balors are giant eyeballs with tentacles.
* OneHitPointWonder: Phantoms have only 1 HP. If they are summoned with a Devil Axe equipped, it is possible for it to die attacking before an enemy attacks.
* OurCentaursAreDifferent: Tarvos and Maelduin appear like traditional savage centaurs except with dark grey/black skin. They use axes andgauntlets.
bows.
*CriticalHitClass: War Masters get Crit+20 as OurDragonsAreDifferent: The Demonic Beasts are dragon-like creatures, thus vulnerable to anti-dragon attacks. [[spoiler:Indech and Macuil's dragon form is based on a turtle and bird, respectively.]]
* OurMonstersAreDifferent: They appear to lack sentience of theirclass ability. As own, and mindlessly carry out the bidding of their summoner.
* PermanentlyMissableContent: Phantoms cannot trade, so if it kills an enemy and obtains an item from it, the item will be inaccessible to other units.
* PinataEnemy: Revenants and Entombed are fairly unimposing aside from their large stores of HP, but give out great amounts of EXP -- the latter is pretty much a guaranteed level-up for an base-class unit. (This has carried over to ''Awakening''.) Also, Gorgon Eggs are immobile and incapable of attacking and give out exactly 50 EXP when destroyed regardless of the attacking unit's level. Also, they start out with only a few HP and start healing every turn at a certain point, and if allowed to heal to full, they turn into [[GoddamnedBats Gorgons.]] Tomb Lords, introduced in ''Echoes'', areproficient in axes, this more of a downplayed example as while they do give out large amounts of EXP, they're also difficult to take down and are easily capable of killing just about anyone.
* PoisonousPerson: Wild Demonic Beasts are poisonous creatures, they have the Poison and Poison Strike skills. Some Tomb Lords may also possess venin claws, which on top of their scary strength makes themvery similar to Berserkers more dangerous.
* RoarBeforeBeating: Monster units in ''Three Houses'' do this as they prepare their Staggering Blow--a meaty {{area of effect}} attack that can hit from 8, 10, or 12 squares in two rows of four/five or three rows of four up in front of it and cannot be countered, typically reducing theother games.
* LightningBruiser: War Masters havevictims' stats and growths on par with Wyvern Riders, paired with an addition of a Crit+20, making them one of the more dangerous footlocked units. Fighting one with Killer Knuckles is just asking for trouble.
* MageKiller: While the class does not offer Resistance growth bonuses, Grapplers can learn Tomebreaker, which increases their Hit and Avoidinflicting various status effects (including against Tome-wielding users.
allied units). All opposing factions had best fell the monster, break its barries, or get out of dodge before then.
*SecretArt:
** GrapplersSandWorm: The Giant Crawlers are earthworms jacked up to a huge size and are capable of moving through the much-maligned desert tiles with no issue.
* SelfDuplication: Mogalls and Balors possess the ability to make copies of themselves in ''Gaiden'' and ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia''.
* SinisterScimitar: Melee Bonewalkers use this in both ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* SinisterScythe: Gargoyles and their relatives wield scythes in ''Gaiden''.
* SquishyWizard: Mogalls and Arch Mogalls.
* SummonMagic: Phantoms can be summoned by the Summoner and Necromancer Classes in ''Sacred Stones''. Certain player and enemy units could also summon units as AI allies.
* SuperToughness: The Lord of the Lake and the Lord of the Desert (as well as The Immaculate One) possess Ancient Dragonskin, naturally halving all incoming damage, and so long as their barriers are up they haveFierce Iron Fist, a mastery Combat Art exclusive access to them, where they deal three consecutive attacks.
** War Master's Strike, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to War Masters. It grants effective bonusDragon-Scale Wall that reduces the damage even further by a whopping ''70%''.
* TakenForGranite: Gorgon enemies can cast a spell called "Stone" which petrifies your units. Petrified units cannot move and any attack againstall foes.them will have a 100% chance of hitting and a 30% chance of being a critical hit.
* WasOnceAMan: Many of the monster classes in ''Three Houses'' [[spoiler:were humans transformed by crest stones. Especially, the Black Beast from Miklan, the Wandering Beast from Maurice, the Giant Demonic Beast from Dedue, the cardinals turned White Beasts, and Edelgard as the Hegemon Husk.]]
* WolfpackBoss: The Lagdou Ruins end with a stage containing eight Draco Zombies and no other enemies.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: Dracozombie's attacks
* {{BFS}}: A Titanus carries one called a Giant Katar, wielding it in one hand and it's capable of firing [[SwordBeam energy beams]] from it for ranged combat.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Baels and Elder Baels, which are absolutely ''huge'' spiders.
* BlowYouAway: The Lord of the Desert utilizes magical wind to attack his foes, with his bird-like design helping the mofit. Giant Wolves and Giant Crawlers will also make use of this for their staggering blows--quickly spinning or sweeping in place to generate a harsh gust of wind, and Winged Demonic Beasts generate sharp wind crescents for ranged combat.
* BossInMookClothing: Draco Zombies (and White Dragons in ''Gaiden''). In fact, unless you do [[BonusDungeon the Lagdou Ruins]] in their entirety ''as soon'' as they become available, the first one you encounter in ''Sacred Stones'' will actually ''be'' a boss, complete with unique sprite! [[spoiler:Technically speaking, though, his class is still listed as Manakete...]]
* BreathWeapon: Draco Zombies usually attack with a dark breath. In ''Three Houses'', all Demonic Beast variants save for the Giant Demonic Beasts are capable of breathing fire (or poison for the Wild Demonic Beasts), and White Beasts on the other hand sport magic, holy blue flames instead.[[spoiler:The Immaculate One can also exple holy blue flames or a vaporizing beam of light).]]
* CastingAShadow: Mogalls/Arch Mogalls and Gorgons. Draco Zombies also have wretched air, a stream of fetid dark flames spewed at their target.
* {{Cyclops}}: The fittingly named [[ClassicalCyclops Cyclops]] in ''Sacred Stones'', which is one of the more powerful monsters. ''Echoes'' redesigns the Lich as well as introduces the Titan and Deimos to have this look; the artbook suggests that the Lich and Titan respectively had the heads of one-eyed goats or bulls while the Deimos wore a sone-eyed monster's skull for a mask.
* DamageReduction: The Titanus and the Lord of the Lake are both outfitted with Pavise and Aegis as long as their barriers are up, making it even more difficult to take them down.
* DracoLich: The fittingly named Draco Zombies are among the toughest foes in all three of their appearances which consist of ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* DishingOutDirt: A Stoneborn attacks by hurling out giant boulders from the cavity under its mask. Giant Crawlers, Giant Wolves, and Giant Demonic Beasts will also pick up giant rocks and hurl them at their enemies as ranged attacks.
* EvilCounterpart: Several Monster classes have human counterparts. The Titanus can function as one to the Golem and Altered Golem, with the latter two having close ties to the Chruch of Seiros while the former is employed by one of the two church's enemy factions[[spoiler:--Those who Slither in the Dark]]. In ''Engage'', the Fell-Dragon aligned corrupted variants of this game's monsters serve as this to the fabrication variants of them, as the latter are created by the Divine Dragons and Emblems.
* FeatherFlechettes: Giant Birds will fire off their feathers as their ranged attack and also [[FlechetteStorm unleash a barrage of them]] as their staggering blow.
* FragileSpeedster: Mauthe Doogs and Gwyllgis are the monster counterparts to the Myrmidon line. Also, the giant animals in ''Three Houses'' are considerably faster and harder to hit compared to most other monsters of the Demonic Beast build, but their barriers are more easily broken and they typically do not hit as hard.
* GeoEffects: Phantoms completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties because they are
* GiantMook: Monsters in ''Three Houses'' are large, take up to at least 4 spaces rather than 1 space like most units. Their giant size can either block or be blocked by units, they can be roadblocked by obstacles or units that have only one space gap. [[spoiler:Hegemon Husk Edelgard is the exception to this trope, being no bigger than a regular unit map-wise.]]
* HealingFactor: The Lord of the Lake possesses this ability in addition to its myriad of defensive skills and
* {{Hellhound}}: The Mauthe Doogs and the Gwyllgis in ''Sacred Stones''. The latter had three heads instead of one and were even called Cerberus in the Japanese version.
* HumongousMecha: The Golems, Altered Golems, and Titanuses are massive automatons with equally large armaments (lances of light for the golems and giant katars for the Titanuses).
* IFightForTheStrongestSide: Faceless are created with no minds of their
* LastChanceHitPoint: The Lord of the
* TheLegionsOfHell: Dolth, a boss in the original ''Gaiden'' says in his MagicalIncantation that he's summoning the Dracozombies from Hell. Fiends are described as from the nether realm in ''Shadows of Valentia''.
* LightIsNotGood: The White Beasts are frenzied dragons that expel holy blue flames as their attack. The same can be said of the Golems and Altered Golems [[spoiler:should Rhea descend into insanity]]. [[spoiler:The Immaculate One, whether willingly antagonistic or degenerated, also counts with both the holy blue flames or her vaporizing light breath.]]
* MakingASplash: The Lord of the Lake utilizes magic water to attack
* AlwaysMale: Brawlers, Grapplers
* MightyGlacier: Cyclopes, who wield strong axes and has high defenses and bloated HP, they are
* BareFistedMonk: Their primary weapon as indicated by the skill "Unarmed Combat". Grapplers also gain the skill Fistfaire,
*
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Brawlers
* NoSell: Altered Demonic Beasts and Altered Golems have armor that grants them complete immunity to magic damage until the armor breaks.
* NotUsingTheZWord: Averted in the Japanese version, where Revenants are called Zombies.
* {{Oculothorax}}: Mogalls, Arch Mogalls, and Balors are giant eyeballs with tentacles.
* OneHitPointWonder: Phantoms have only 1 HP. If they are summoned with a Devil Axe equipped, it is possible for it to die attacking before an enemy attacks.
* OurCentaursAreDifferent: Tarvos and Maelduin appear like traditional savage centaurs except with dark grey/black skin. They use axes and
*
* OurMonstersAreDifferent: They appear to lack sentience of their
* PermanentlyMissableContent: Phantoms cannot trade, so if it kills an enemy and obtains an item from it, the item will be inaccessible to other units.
* PinataEnemy: Revenants and Entombed are fairly unimposing aside from their large stores of HP, but give out great amounts of EXP -- the latter is pretty much a guaranteed level-up for an base-class unit. (This has carried over to ''Awakening''.) Also, Gorgon Eggs are immobile and incapable of attacking and give out exactly 50 EXP when destroyed regardless of the attacking unit's level. Also, they start out with only a few HP and start healing every turn at a certain point, and if allowed to heal to full, they turn into [[GoddamnedBats Gorgons.]] Tomb Lords, introduced in ''Echoes'', are
* PoisonousPerson: Wild Demonic Beasts are poisonous creatures, they have the Poison and Poison Strike skills. Some Tomb Lords may also possess venin claws, which on top of their scary strength makes them
* RoarBeforeBeating: Monster units in ''Three Houses'' do this as they prepare their Staggering Blow--a meaty {{area of effect}} attack that can hit from 8, 10, or 12 squares in two rows of four/five or three rows of four up in front of it and cannot be countered, typically reducing the
* LightningBruiser: War Masters have
* MageKiller: While the class does not offer Resistance growth bonuses, Grapplers can learn Tomebreaker, which increases their Hit and Avoid
*
** Grapplers
* SelfDuplication: Mogalls and Balors possess the ability to make copies of themselves in ''Gaiden'' and ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia''.
* SinisterScimitar: Melee Bonewalkers use this in both ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* SinisterScythe: Gargoyles and their relatives wield scythes in ''Gaiden''.
* SquishyWizard: Mogalls and Arch Mogalls.
* SummonMagic: Phantoms can be summoned by the Summoner and Necromancer Classes in ''Sacred Stones''. Certain player and enemy units could also summon units as AI allies.
* SuperToughness: The Lord of the Lake and the Lord of the Desert (as well as The Immaculate One) possess Ancient Dragonskin, naturally halving all incoming damage, and so long as their barriers are up they have
** War Master's Strike, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to War Masters. It grants effective bonus
* TakenForGranite: Gorgon enemies can cast a spell called "Stone" which petrifies your units. Petrified units cannot move and any attack against
* WasOnceAMan: Many of the monster classes in ''Three Houses'' [[spoiler:were humans transformed by crest stones. Especially, the Black Beast from Miklan, the Wandering Beast from Maurice, the Giant Demonic Beast from Dedue, the cardinals turned White Beasts, and Edelgard as the Hegemon Husk.]]
* WolfpackBoss: The Lagdou Ruins end with a stage containing eight Draco Zombies and no other enemies.
Changed line(s) 533,539 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Manakete ''(Mamkute)'']]
!!Manakete ''(Mamkute)''
A common feature of most titles is the existence of the Manakete tribe, a species of sentient dragon shapeshifters who appear as humans with a few differences. They fight using dragonstones, rare gems which allow them to transform into their dragon form to attack.\\\
Related are the '''Dragon Laguz''' of the Tellius canon, which are pretty much the same thing but fitting into the laguz concept of that universe, and by extension the rest of the laguz. Another related group are the Dragons of ''Fates'', which are not called Manaketes, but have a similar, if slightly different history to them.\\\
-->'''Playable characters of this class:''' Bantu and Tiki (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Fae (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Myrrh (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Ena, Nasir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Gareth and Kurthnaga (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Nagi (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragon Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemNewMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Nowi, Nah and Tiki [[note]]a female Morgan born from any of them will have access to the class[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Corrin and Kana [[note]]While Corrin is '''the''' Lord of ''Fates'', and Kana and any of his/her possible siblings obtain the Nohr Prince/Princess class from Corrin, they are also technically Manaketes because they are the only ones that can use Dragonstones.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Nel, [[spoiler:Rafal]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'');
!!Manakete ''(Mamkute)''
A common feature of most titles is the existence of the Manakete tribe, a species of sentient dragon shapeshifters who appear as humans with a few differences. They fight using dragonstones, rare gems which allow them to transform into their dragon form to attack.\\\
Related are the '''Dragon Laguz''' of the Tellius canon, which are pretty much the same thing but fitting into the laguz concept of that universe, and by extension the rest of the laguz. Another related group are the Dragons of ''Fates'', which are not called Manaketes, but have a similar, if slightly different history to them.\\\
-->'''Playable characters of this class:''' Bantu and Tiki (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Fae (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Myrrh (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Ena, Nasir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Gareth and Kurthnaga (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Nagi (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragon Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemNewMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Nowi, Nah and Tiki [[note]]a female Morgan born from any of them will have access to the class[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Corrin and Kana [[note]]While Corrin is '''the''' Lord of ''Fates'', and Kana and any of his/her possible siblings obtain the Nohr Prince/Princess class from Corrin, they are also technically Manaketes because they are the only ones that can use Dragonstones.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Nel, [[spoiler:Rafal]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'');
to:
!!Manakete ''(Mamkute)''
A common feature
!!Overclasses
Overclasses are a new tier of
Related are
-->'''Playable characters of this class:''' Bantu and Tiki (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Fae (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Myrrh (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Ena, Nasir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Gareth and Kurthnaga (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Nagi (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragon Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemNewMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Nowi, Nah and Tiki [[note]]a female Morgan born from any of them will have access to the class[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Corrin and Kana [[note]]While Corrin is '''the''' Lord of ''Fates'', and Kana and any of his/her possible siblings obtain the Nohr Prince/Princess
* Conqueror: An advanced-tier for the
* Rigain: An advanced-tier for the Princess class, thus making it exclusive to Celica.
* Spartan: An advanced-tier for the Baron. The class is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: a warrior wearing armor based on what the Spartans wore.
* Enchantress: An advanced-tier for the Priestess class.
* Skogul: An advanced-tier for the Gold Knight class.
* Yasha: An advanced-tier for the Dread Fighter class.
* Harrier: An advanced-tier for the Falcon Knight class.
* Exemplar: An advanced-tier for the Saint class.
* Guru: An advanced-tier for the Sage class.
* Oliphantier: An advanced-tier for the Bow Knight class.
Changed line(s) 541,582 (click to see context) from:
* AchillesHeel: They are vulnerable to anti-dragon weapons like Wyrmslayer. Myrrh in ''Sacred Stones'' is also weak to bows as she is also a flying unit. In the Tellius games, Dragon Laguz are vulnerable to anti-Laguz weapons and thunder magic. In ''Awakening'', ''Fates'' and ''Engage'', even if they reclass outside of Manakete, they are still dragons because of their heritage and are still vulnerable to anti-dragon weapons and skills.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: In ''Mystery of the Emblem'', dragon's breaths completely ignores defense so any fragile units need to watch out for them as their attack will directly target their already low HP.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Most dragons did this in ''Fates'' by becoming spirits. The ones that didn't either went insane or have been able to escape such a fate.
* BreathWeapon: Dragons tend to attack with their breath. Averted with ''Fates'' where they physically maul their enemies.
* CastingAShadow:
** The [[NonIndicativeName Earth Dragons]] uses Dark Breath along with their earth-based abilities.
** The Silent Dragons of ''Fates'' utilizes dark powers combined with MakingASplash when fully corrupted.
** The Fell Dragons of ''Engage'' use shadowy breath attacks.
* CuteMonsterGirl: Only five recruitable Manaketes are not children[[note]]Bantu, Nagi, adult Tiki, Corrin, and [[spoiler:Rafal]][[/note]]. This is excluding the Dragon Laguz, who, while they can transform into dragons, aren't called manaketes. Of the four playable ones, 3 are male and the youngest male looks at least 14.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome:
** The other Manakete Tribes are nowhere to be found in ''Awakening'' despite major roles in the Archanea series.
** ''Fates'' contains an odd example in the form of the term "Manakete" - the avatar, and any child they have will fall under this archetype, but they are never referred to as such. In fact, the term only appears once in the entire game, in an extremely well hidden support conversation, and the context given by said support implies that the word may have an entirely different meaning in the world of ''Fates''.
* DarkIsEvil: None of the Earth Dragons has remained friendly since they either allow themselves to degenerate like most dragons or are indulged in dark powers as a sign of rebellion against humankind. Kaga's plans would've averted this, though.
* DarkIsNotEvil: The Fell Dragons in ''Engage'' are very much not evil. Well, [[BigBad one]] is, but others are either BrainwashedAndCrazy, or just straight-up allies.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Tellius games introduced three types of Dragons the player could use in the game, each one being slightly different from the other in terms of damage and stats. Notably the White Dragons deal damage using Magic instead of Strength.
* DyingRace: Almost all of them are on their last legs, their glory days clearly over. Averted with the Dragon Laguz, whose kingdom is [[HiddenElfVillage isolated]], but still [[AwakenTheSleepingGiant rather powerful]].
* EleventhHourSuperpower: While they usually become available earlier than this, games in which there are only a finite number of uses to the dragonstone tend to lend themselves to using them on the final couple of levels, which are usually filled with enemies that the dragonstone does massive damage to (dragons in the Archanea games and ''Binding Blade'' and monsters in ''Sacred Stones''.)
* TheFourGods: The Four Dragon symbols for Dragon Veins in ''Fates'' are based on them. The Fire Dragon is birdlike, similar to the Vermilion Bird, the Water Dragon has a snake for a tail like the one that accompanies the Black Tortoise, the Ground Dragon has fur and is vaguely feline in shape like the White Tiger, and the Wind Dragon has a lean appearance much like the Azure Dragon.
* GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: Divine Dragons have this color scheme.
* HalfHumanHybrid: A number of them have appeared in the series, including Nils, Ninian, Nah, the Avatar of ''Fates'', etc. Tiki mentions that Nah is the only one of her kind seen in Ylisse, while ''all'' Manaketes with dragonstones in ''Fates'' are shown to be hybrids.
* HiddenElfVillage: Normally, their civilizations are hidden from mankind -- if they still exist, that is.
* AnIcePerson: Ice Dragons/Icestone-wielding Manaketes use ice-based attacks.
* LightEmUp: The Divine Dragons, the strongest of the dragon tribes.
* LightningBruiser: In and of themselves, Manaketes tend to have rather poor stats, but with a dragonstone, they shoot through the roof and turn them into this, almost to the point of game-breaking.
* LightIsGood: Every Divine Dragon that shows up in the series has been friendly.
* LongLived: To the point that a Manakete can be a child by their species' years but really over 1000 years old. In the case of truly old Manaketes like Bantu, they're suggest to be ''thousands'' of years old. It also turns out that half-blood Manaketes inherit this long life-span as well, in the case of Ninian, Nils, Sophia, Corrin, Kana, Nah and (optionally) Morgan.
* MagicAndPowers: Mage Dragons and the Magestone.
* MakingASplash: The Silent Dragons have this as their main power.
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Enemy Manaketes (other than in ''Heroes'') and Manakete villains are always male. [[FemalesAreMoreInnocent No Manakete female has been a true villain]], although the closest the series has come to it is [[EmptyShell Idunn]] from ''Binding Blade''.
* MightyGlacier: To contrast the Taguel in ''Awakening'', Manaketes hit harder and take hits better, but are slower.
* NoSell: Mage Dragons is known to either have high resistance or completely resist magic.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Most characters may look like kids to young adults but [[Really700YearsOld they're actually more than 1,000 years old.]]
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: They're dragons capable of taking on human form. In battle, they can transform back to dragons with the use of their dragonstones.
* PlayingWithFire: Fire Dragons, or when wielding a Firestone.
* PointyEars: One of the manaketes' most defining physical characteristics, though a few are depicted without them, more notably the ones from ''Engage'', excluding Sombron.
* SupportPartyMember: The dragons in ''Radiant Dawn'' have skills that can increase certain stats of adjacent allies during combat, making them useful against the endgame bosses in that game. Blood Tide raises Strength and Skill, Night Tide raises Defense and Resistance, while White Pool raises Magic and Speed.
* TooAwesomeToUse: Often, there's only one dragonstone with finite uses available in the course of the game. While it's often enough to level a Manakete to level 20, you're not going to get all that much use out of them once you start, so it's quite common to hesitate to use Manaketes.
** Averted in ''Awakening'', where you can buy Dragonstones (although they are not cheap).
** Averted in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', ''Fates'' and ''Engage'', where Dragonstones have infinite durability.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Divine Dragons who are always friendly are either non-reptilian or at least less so than the other Dragon Tribes.
* WereDragon: They alternate between humanoid and dragon forms.
* WingedHumanoid: Divine Dragons tend to have feathery wings similar to Angels, while the other Dragon tribes have dragon wings in Manakete form.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: In ''Mystery of the Emblem'', dragon's breaths completely ignores defense so any fragile units need to watch out for them as their attack will directly target their already low HP.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Most dragons did this in ''Fates'' by becoming spirits. The ones that didn't either went insane or have been able to escape such a fate.
* BreathWeapon: Dragons tend to attack with their breath. Averted with ''Fates'' where they physically maul their enemies.
* CastingAShadow:
** The [[NonIndicativeName Earth Dragons]] uses Dark Breath along with their earth-based abilities.
** The Silent Dragons of ''Fates'' utilizes dark powers combined with MakingASplash when fully corrupted.
** The Fell Dragons of ''Engage'' use shadowy breath attacks.
* CuteMonsterGirl: Only five recruitable Manaketes are not children[[note]]Bantu, Nagi, adult Tiki, Corrin, and [[spoiler:Rafal]][[/note]]. This is excluding the Dragon Laguz, who, while they can transform into dragons, aren't called manaketes. Of the four playable ones, 3 are male and the youngest male looks at least 14.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome:
** The other Manakete Tribes are nowhere to be found in ''Awakening'' despite major roles in the Archanea series.
** ''Fates'' contains an odd example in the form of the term "Manakete" - the avatar, and any child they have will fall under this archetype, but they are never referred to as such. In fact, the term only appears once in the entire game, in an extremely well hidden support conversation, and the context given by said support implies that the word may have an entirely different meaning in the world of ''Fates''.
* DarkIsEvil: None of the Earth Dragons has remained friendly since they either allow themselves to degenerate like most dragons or are indulged in dark powers as a sign of rebellion against humankind. Kaga's plans would've averted this, though.
* DarkIsNotEvil: The Fell Dragons in ''Engage'' are very much not evil. Well, [[BigBad one]] is, but others are either BrainwashedAndCrazy, or just straight-up allies.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Tellius games introduced three types of Dragons the player could use in the game, each one being slightly different from the other in terms of damage and stats. Notably the White Dragons deal damage using Magic instead of Strength.
* DyingRace: Almost all of them are on their last legs, their glory days clearly over. Averted with the Dragon Laguz, whose kingdom is [[HiddenElfVillage isolated]], but still [[AwakenTheSleepingGiant rather powerful]].
* EleventhHourSuperpower: While they usually become available earlier than this, games in which there are only a finite number of uses to the dragonstone tend to lend themselves to using them on the final couple of levels, which are usually filled with enemies that the dragonstone does massive damage to (dragons in the Archanea games and ''Binding Blade'' and monsters in ''Sacred Stones''.)
* TheFourGods: The Four Dragon symbols for Dragon Veins in ''Fates'' are based on them. The Fire Dragon is birdlike, similar to the Vermilion Bird, the Water Dragon has a snake for a tail like the one that accompanies the Black Tortoise, the Ground Dragon has fur and is vaguely feline in shape like the White Tiger, and the Wind Dragon has a lean appearance much like the Azure Dragon.
* GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: Divine Dragons have this color scheme.
* HalfHumanHybrid: A number of them have appeared in the series, including Nils, Ninian, Nah, the Avatar of ''Fates'', etc. Tiki mentions that Nah is the only one of her kind seen in Ylisse, while ''all'' Manaketes with dragonstones in ''Fates'' are shown to be hybrids.
* HiddenElfVillage: Normally, their civilizations are hidden from mankind -- if they still exist, that is.
* AnIcePerson: Ice Dragons/Icestone-wielding Manaketes use ice-based attacks.
* LightEmUp: The Divine Dragons, the strongest of the dragon tribes.
* LightningBruiser: In and of themselves, Manaketes tend to have rather poor stats, but with a dragonstone, they shoot through the roof and turn them into this, almost to the point of game-breaking.
* LightIsGood: Every Divine Dragon that shows up in the series has been friendly.
* LongLived: To the point that a Manakete can be a child by their species' years but really over 1000 years old. In the case of truly old Manaketes like Bantu, they're suggest to be ''thousands'' of years old. It also turns out that half-blood Manaketes inherit this long life-span as well, in the case of Ninian, Nils, Sophia, Corrin, Kana, Nah and (optionally) Morgan.
* MagicAndPowers: Mage Dragons and the Magestone.
* MakingASplash: The Silent Dragons have this as their main power.
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Enemy Manaketes (other than in ''Heroes'') and Manakete villains are always male. [[FemalesAreMoreInnocent No Manakete female has been a true villain]], although the closest the series has come to it is [[EmptyShell Idunn]] from ''Binding Blade''.
* MightyGlacier: To contrast the Taguel in ''Awakening'', Manaketes hit harder and take hits better, but are slower.
* NoSell: Mage Dragons is known to either have high resistance or completely resist magic.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Most characters may look like kids to young adults but [[Really700YearsOld they're actually more than 1,000 years old.]]
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: They're dragons capable of taking on human form. In battle, they can transform back to dragons with the use of their dragonstones.
* PlayingWithFire: Fire Dragons, or when wielding a Firestone.
* PointyEars: One of the manaketes' most defining physical characteristics, though a few are depicted without them, more notably the ones from ''Engage'', excluding Sombron.
* SupportPartyMember: The dragons in ''Radiant Dawn'' have skills that can increase certain stats of adjacent allies during combat, making them useful against the endgame bosses in that game. Blood Tide raises Strength and Skill, Night Tide raises Defense and Resistance, while White Pool raises Magic and Speed.
* TooAwesomeToUse: Often, there's only one dragonstone with finite uses available in the course of the game. While it's often enough to level a Manakete to level 20, you're not going to get all that much use out of them once you start, so it's quite common to hesitate to use Manaketes.
** Averted in ''Awakening'', where you can buy Dragonstones (although they are not cheap).
** Averted in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', ''Fates'' and ''Engage'', where Dragonstones have infinite durability.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Divine Dragons who are always friendly are either non-reptilian or at least less so than the other Dragon Tribes.
* WereDragon: They alternate between humanoid and dragon forms.
* WingedHumanoid: Divine Dragons tend to have feathery wings similar to Angels, while the other Dragon tribes have dragon wings in Manakete form.
to:
* AchillesHeel: AnimalMotifs: Oliphantiers's horse mounts are fitted with pieces of armor that make them resemble elephants, adding to the elephant archer aesthetic the class goes for.
* BadassCape: All of the Overclasses except for the Oliphantier have a cape.
* BlingOfWar: Theyare vulnerable to anti-dragon weapons like Wyrmslayer. Myrrh all have gold or silver accents in ''Sacred Stones'' is also weak to bows as she is also a flying unit. In some shape, form, or fashion.
* BribingYourWayToVictory: They're DLC classes. Granted, theTellius games, Dragon Laguz are vulnerable fact that you need to anti-Laguz weapons have a character at level 20 and thunder magic. In ''Awakening'', ''Fates'' and ''Engage'', even if they reclass outside of Manakete, they are still dragons because at the highest tier of their heritage and are still vulnerable to anti-dragon weapons and skills.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: In ''Mystery of the Emblem'', dragon's breaths completely ignores defense so any fragile units need to watch out for them as their attack will directly target their already low HP.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Most dragons did this in ''Fates'' by becoming spirits. The ones that didn't either went insane orclass means you'd have been to grind to be able to escape such a fate.
use them.
*BreathWeapon: Dragons tend to attack CallForward: The Alm exclusive Conqueror class shares its name with their breath. Averted with ''Fates'' where they physically maul their enemies.
* CastingAShadow:
** The [[NonIndicativeName Earth Dragons]] uses Dark Breath along with their earth-based abilities.
** The Silent Dragons of ''Fates'' utilizes dark powers combined with MakingASplash when fully corrupted.
** The Fell Dragons of ''Engage'' use shadowy breath attacks.
* CuteMonsterGirl: Only five recruitable Manaketes are not children[[note]]Bantu, Nagi, adult Tiki, Corrin, and [[spoiler:Rafal]][[/note]]. This is excluding the Dragon Laguz, who, while they can transform into dragons, aren't called manaketes. Of the four playable ones, 3 are male and the youngest male looks at least 14.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome:
** The other Manakete Tribes are nowhere to be found in ''Awakening'' despite major roles in the Archanea series.
** ''Fates'' contains an odd example in the form of the term "Manakete" - the avatar, and any child they have will fall under this archetype, but they are never referred to as such. In fact, the term only appears once in the entire game, in an extremely well hidden support conversation, and the context given by said support impliesthat of his descendant Walhart's personal class (though Walhart's version is closer to the word may have an entirely different meaning Emperor class in the world of ''Fates''.
* DarkIsEvil: None of the Earth Dragons has remained friendly since they either allow themselves to degeneratespirit and in gameplay functions more like most dragons or are indulged in dark powers as an improved Great Knight than a sign of rebellion against humankind. Kaga's plans would've averted this, though.
Lord), and even has horns on it's headgear, a feature that Walhart takes to an exaggerated level.
* DarkIsNotEvil: TheFell Dragons in ''Engage'' are very much not evil. Well, [[BigBad one]] is, but others are either BrainwashedAndCrazy, or just straight-up allies.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Tellius games introduced three types of Dragons the player could use in the game, each one being slightly different from the other in terms of damageEnchantress can learn Death and stats. Notably the White Dragons deal damage using Magic instead of Strength.
* DyingRace: Almost all of them are on their last legs, their glory days clearly over. Averted with the Dragon Laguz, whose kingdom is [[HiddenElfVillage isolated]], but still [[AwakenTheSleepingGiant rather powerful]].
* EleventhHourSuperpower: While they usually become available earlier than this, games in which there are only a finite number of uses to the dragonstone tend to lend themselves to using them on the final couple of levels,Mire, which are usually filled with enemies that exclusive to enemy mages, the dragonstone does massive damage to (dragons in the Archanea games and ''Binding Blade'' and monsters in ''Sacred Stones''.)
* TheFourGods: The Four Dragon symbols for Dragon Veins in ''Fates'' are based on them. The Fire Dragon is birdlike, similar to the Vermilion Bird, the Water Dragon hasHarrier rides a snake for a tail like the one that accompanies the Black Tortoise, the Ground Dragon has fur and is vaguely feline in shape like the White Tiger, dark horse and the Wind Dragon has a lean appearance much like Guru can summon Terrors.
* EasterEgg: The pattern on theAzure Dragon.
* GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: Divine Dragons have this color scheme.
* HalfHumanHybrid: A number of them have appeared in the series, including Nils, Ninian, Nah, the Avatar of ''Fates'', etc. Tiki mentions that NahEnchantress's cape is the only one of her kind seen in Ylisse, while ''all'' Manaketes with dragonstones in ''Fates'' are shown to be hybrids.
* HiddenElfVillage: Normally, their civilizations are hiddenderived from mankind -- if they still exist, that is.
Celtic knots, a design motif prominent in ''Fire Emblem Heroes''.
*AnIcePerson: Ice Dragons/Icestone-wielding Manaketes use ice-based attacks.
* LightEmUp: The Divine Dragons,HolyHandGrenade: Rigain grants Celica the strongest of Aura spell when she class changes to it.
* MagicKnight: Aside from thedragon tribes.
* LightningBruiser: In and of themselves, Manaketes tend to have rather poor stats, but with a dragonstone, they shoot through the roof and turn them into this, almost to the point of game-breaking.
* LightIsGood: Every Divine Dragon that shows up in the series has been friendly.
* LongLived: To the point that a Manakete can be a child by their species' years but really over 1000 years old. In the case of truly old Manaketes like Bantu, they're suggest to be ''thousands'' of years old. It also turns out that half-blood Manaketes inherit this long life-span as well, in the case of Ninian, Nils, Sophia, Corrin, Kana, Nah and (optionally) Morgan.
* MagicAndPowers: Mage DragonsRigain and the Magestone.
* MakingASplash: The Silent Dragons have this asEnchantress who already class changed from one, the Harrier can learn spells and use their main power.
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Enemy Manaketes (other thanspears in ''Heroes'') and Manakete villains are always male. [[FemalesAreMoreInnocent No Manakete female tandem, just like Dark Fliers.
* MeaningfulName: "Rigain" is Old Irish for queen.
* NavelDeepNeckline: The Harrier's uniform hasbeen a true villain]], although the closest the series has come one going past their navel.
* {{Necromancer}}: Gurus can learn Lemegeton, allowing them toit is [[EmptyShell Idunn]] from ''Binding Blade''.
* MightyGlacier: To contrast the Taguel in ''Awakening'', Manaketes hit harder and take hits better, but are slower.
conjure Terrors of their own.
* NoSell:Mage Dragons is known The Phalanx skill on Spartans allow the user to either have high resistance or completely resist magic.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Most characters may look like kidsa chance to young adults but [[Really700YearsOld they're actually more than 1,000 years old.]]
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: They're dragons capable of taking on human form. In battle, they can transform backnegate damage taken equal to dragons with the use of their dragonstones.
* PlayingWithFire: Fire Dragons, or when wielding a Firestone.
* PointyEars: One of the manaketes' most defining physical characteristics, though a few are depicted without them, more notably the ones from ''Engage'', excluding Sombron.
* SupportPartyMember: The dragons in ''Radiant Dawn'' have skills thatDefense/2%, which can increase certain stats of also be multiplied for every adjacent ally.
* PoisonedWeapons: The Yasha's skill Tri-Affliction gives them a chance to poison enemies on hit.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: The Spartan's skill Phalanx allows him to negate all damage, the odds of it triggering increasing the more alliesduring combat, making them useful against the endgame bosses in that game. Blood Tide raises Strength and Skill, Night Tide raises Defense and Resistance, while White Pool raises Magic and Speed.
* TooAwesomeToUse: Often, there's only one dragonstone with finite uses available in the course of the game. While it's often enough to level a Manakete to level 20, you're not going to get all that much use out of them once you start, so it's quite common to hesitate to use Manaketes.
** Averted in ''Awakening'', where you can buy Dragonstones (although theyare not cheap).
** Averted in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', ''Fates'' and ''Engage'', where Dragonstones have infinite durability.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Divine Dragons who are always friendly are either non-reptilian or at least less so than the other Dragon Tribes.
* WereDragon: They alternate between humanoid and dragon forms.
* WingedHumanoid: Divine Dragons tend to have feathery wings similar to Angels, while the other Dragon tribes have dragon wings in Manakete form.nearby.
* BadassCape: All of the Overclasses except for the Oliphantier have a cape.
* BlingOfWar: They
* BribingYourWayToVictory: They're DLC classes. Granted, the
* ArmorPiercingAttack: In ''Mystery of the Emblem'', dragon's breaths completely ignores defense so any fragile units need to watch out for them as their attack will directly target their already low HP.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Most dragons did this in ''Fates'' by becoming spirits. The ones that didn't either went insane or
*
* CastingAShadow:
** The [[NonIndicativeName Earth Dragons]] uses Dark Breath along with their earth-based abilities.
** The Silent Dragons of ''Fates'' utilizes dark powers combined with MakingASplash when fully corrupted.
** The Fell Dragons of ''Engage'' use shadowy breath attacks.
* CuteMonsterGirl: Only five recruitable Manaketes are not children[[note]]Bantu, Nagi, adult Tiki, Corrin, and [[spoiler:Rafal]][[/note]]. This is excluding the Dragon Laguz, who, while they can transform into dragons, aren't called manaketes. Of the four playable ones, 3 are male and the youngest male looks at least 14.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome:
** The other Manakete Tribes are nowhere to be found in ''Awakening'' despite major roles in the Archanea series.
** ''Fates'' contains an odd example in the form of the term "Manakete" - the avatar, and any child they have will fall under this archetype, but they are never referred to as such. In fact, the term only appears once in the entire game, in an extremely well hidden support conversation, and the context given by said support implies
* DarkIsEvil: None of the Earth Dragons has remained friendly since they either allow themselves to degenerate
* DarkIsNotEvil: The
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Tellius games introduced three types of Dragons the player could use in the game, each one being slightly different from the other in terms of damage
* DyingRace: Almost all of them are on their last legs, their glory days clearly over. Averted with the Dragon Laguz, whose kingdom is [[HiddenElfVillage isolated]], but still [[AwakenTheSleepingGiant rather powerful]].
* EleventhHourSuperpower: While they usually become available earlier than this, games in which there are only a finite number of uses to the dragonstone tend to lend themselves to using them on the final couple of levels,
* TheFourGods: The Four Dragon symbols for Dragon Veins in ''Fates'' are based on them. The Fire Dragon is birdlike, similar to the Vermilion Bird, the Water Dragon has
* EasterEgg: The pattern on the
* GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: Divine Dragons have this color scheme.
* HalfHumanHybrid: A number of them have appeared in the series, including Nils, Ninian, Nah, the Avatar of ''Fates'', etc. Tiki mentions that Nah
* HiddenElfVillage: Normally, their civilizations are hidden
*
* LightEmUp: The Divine Dragons,
* MagicKnight: Aside from the
* LightningBruiser: In and of themselves, Manaketes tend to have rather poor stats, but with a dragonstone, they shoot through the roof and turn them into this, almost to the point of game-breaking.
* LightIsGood: Every Divine Dragon that shows up in the series has been friendly.
* LongLived: To the point that a Manakete can be a child by their species' years but really over 1000 years old. In the case of truly old Manaketes like Bantu, they're suggest to be ''thousands'' of years old. It also turns out that half-blood Manaketes inherit this long life-span as well, in the case of Ninian, Nils, Sophia, Corrin, Kana, Nah and (optionally) Morgan.
* MagicAndPowers: Mage Dragons
* MakingASplash: The Silent Dragons have this as
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Enemy Manaketes (other than
* MeaningfulName: "Rigain" is Old Irish for queen.
* NavelDeepNeckline: The Harrier's uniform has
* {{Necromancer}}: Gurus can learn Lemegeton, allowing them to
* MightyGlacier: To contrast the Taguel in ''Awakening'', Manaketes hit harder and take hits better, but are slower.
* NoSell:
* OlderThanTheyLook: Most characters may look like kids
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: They're dragons capable of taking on human form. In battle, they can transform back
* PlayingWithFire: Fire Dragons, or when wielding a Firestone.
* PointyEars: One of the manaketes' most defining physical characteristics, though a few are depicted without them, more notably the ones from ''Engage'', excluding Sombron.
* SupportPartyMember: The dragons in ''Radiant Dawn'' have skills that
* PoisonedWeapons: The Yasha's skill Tri-Affliction gives them a chance to poison enemies on hit.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: The Spartan's skill Phalanx allows him to negate all damage, the odds of it triggering increasing the more allies
* TooAwesomeToUse: Often, there's only one dragonstone with finite uses available in the course of the game. While it's often enough to level a Manakete to level 20, you're not going to get all that much use out of them once you start, so it's quite common to hesitate to use Manaketes.
** Averted in ''Awakening'', where you can buy Dragonstones (although they
** Averted in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', ''Fates'' and ''Engage'', where Dragonstones have infinite durability.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Divine Dragons who are always friendly are either non-reptilian or at least less so than the other Dragon Tribes.
* WereDragon: They alternate between humanoid and dragon forms.
* WingedHumanoid: Divine Dragons tend to have feathery wings similar to Angels, while the other Dragon tribes have dragon wings in Manakete form.
Deleted line(s) 584,784 (click to see context) :
[[folder:Beasts]]
!!Beasts
[[quoteright:223:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesyoukoportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:223:Kitsune in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesninetailedfoxportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Ninetails in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesgarouportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:255:Wolfskins in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_wolfssegner_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Wolfsegnar in ''Fates'']]
When Manaketes were re-imagined as Dragon Laguz in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'', other similar tribes of animal shapeshifters were introduced.\\\
In new titles since, these units use Beaststones to transform in contrast to the Manaketes' Dragonstone, and can be seen as a counterpart to the class.\\\
So far, beasts of this kind have included Lions, Tigers, Cats, Wolves, Hawks, Ravens, Rabbits (Taguel), Foxes (Kitsune), and Werewolves (Wolfskins). Dragon Tribe Laguz are covered by the Manaketes, and Heron Laguz function as Bards/Dancers.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class:''' Lethe, Ranulf, Mordecai, Muarim, Giffca, Janaff, Ulki, Tibarn and Naesala (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Lyre, Kyza, Skrimir, Vika, Nealuchi, Volug and Nailah (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' only); Panne and Yarne [[note]](a Morgan born from any of them will have access to the class)[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Kaden, Keaton, Selkie and Velouria [[note]]Kana and Shigure born from any of them will have access to the class[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'')
----
* AchillesHeel: Laguz are weak to anti-Laguz weapons and Fire/Wind magic. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', they are weak to anti-beast weapons and skills, even when outside of their beast class.
* {{Animorphism}}: Using beaststones, or the natural ability of the Laguz, they can take on an animal form for combat.
* AsianFoxSpirit: The Kitsune and Ninetails class. They also have foxfires that surround them when transformed.
* DireBeast: Their animal forms are huge compared to regular animals. Small Cat laguz are the size of real life Big Cats. Lions and Hawks tower over human beings. Rabbits are similarly the size of Big Cats, and it's taken to the extreme with Wolfskins, who are literal monsters.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution:
** In games where multiple types of beast units exist, they typically are given differences to make them each distinct from each other.
** In the Tellius games, the Beast tribes are split between the Cat, Tiger, Lion, and Wolf. The Cat is a FragileSpeedster, the Tiger is a MightyGlacier, the Lion is a LightningBruiser, and the Wolves are more of a JackOfAllStats.
** Also in the Tellius games, the Bird tribes are split between the Hawks, Ravens, and Herons. The Hawks are more akin to LightningBruiser, the Ravens are FragileSpeedster, while the Herons are Dancers.
* DyingRace: The Wolf Tribe in the Tellius games have lost much of their numbers; nevertheless, they recover in the epilogue. The Heron Laguz are even worse, since the few remaining ones are the LastOfTheirKind. The Taguel are also the LastOfTheirKind, with only one full-blooded Taguel (Panne) left.[[note]](The half-blooded Taguel Yarne is specifically said to have much stronger Taguel genes, while a Morgan parented by either of them has stronger human ones.)[[/note]]
* {{Expy}}: The Tellius games make the various species of Laguz effectively animal copies of their Human counterparts in terms of class. To elaborate:
** Beast Tribe: Cats are essentially Myrmidons (high Speed and Luck but almost no bulk), Tigers are either Fighters (high Strength and HP, but lower Defense), or Knights (high HP, Strength, and Defense, but slow), Lions are similar to Paladins (use virtually all physical related stats well with high damage), and Wolves are Mercenaries (balanced offensive stats, with solid bulk).
** Bird Tribes: The Bird Tribes are airborne and can also move after attacking, making them similar to the flying classes. Hawks are essentially faster Wyvern Riders (focus on strength with average physical bulk), Ravens are essentially Pegasus Knights (High Speed, Resistance, and Luck but low bulk and Strength), while Herons are Dancers.
* HitAndRunTactics: The Bird Tribe in ''Radiant Dawn'' can move again after attacking or singing. The exception is Rafiel as he is grounded by his clipped wings.
* LightningBruiser: While they have different specialties depending on species, compared to human units, they are all extremely fast and strong. The Tiger Laguz are the only ones lacking in this area.
* LittleBitBeastly: They all exhibit some traits of their beast form even in human form. Usually [[CatGirl ears and tails]], or [[WingedHumanoid wings]] in the case of the bird tribes. Dragons/manaketes in contrast are usually much more subtle.
* LongLived: [[DownplayedTrope To a lesser extent]] compared to Manaketes (who's life expectancy is in the ''plural'' of thousands), but beastfolk often tend to have very long life-spans in spite of such. The shortest lived among the Laguz, the Lions, live for ''180 years on average'', with class blurbs like the Kitsune in ''Fates'' outright noting the species has a long live span even compared to other beastfolk due to their spirit magic and beast heritage.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Beasts are more physically-oriented, while their dragon counterparts have better magic stats. This translate into almost all Beast units, save the Kitsune, having poor Resistance stats.
* NaturalWeapon: The Laguz uses their own claw, talons, and beaks when fighting in their beast forms. In ''Radiant Dawn'', they have a special weapon rank called Strike which improves their attacks upon raising their weapon rank. {{Avert}}ed with Beast classes since ''Awakening'' as they wield Stones like Manaketes.
* NoSell: The Hawk Laguz's mastery skill in Path of Radiance was Cancel (or Wing Guard), which lets them nullify damage based on their skill.
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: The Wolfskin and Wolfsegner look less like wolves and more like gorillas with koala and wolf traits.
* PantheraAwesome: The Tiger and the Lion Laguz of the Beast Tribe, especially the Lion Laguz as one is their king.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Emperor]]
!!Emperor (and variants)
If the final boss isn't a dark magician, a dragon, or a god, this is what they'll be -- a king decked out in enormous armour or finery, dwarfing every other unit (except maybe Manaketes/laguz) in sheer size, wielding a huge AncestralWeapon, and possessing astronomical physical stats. More often than not, though, there'll be a TrueFinalBoss after them. Specifically, this refers to '''Emperor''' Hardin of ''Mystery of the Emblem'', '''Emperor''' Arvis of ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', '''Baron''' Raydrik of ''Thracia 776'', '''King''' Zephiel of ''The Binding Blade'', Ashnard, '''King Daein''', of ''Path of Radiance'' (who is also similar to a Dragon Rider), Walhart the '''Conqueror''' of ''Awakening'', '''Nohrian King''' Garon in ''Fates'', and '''[[SheIsTheKing Emperor]]''' Edelgard of ''Three Houses''.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class:''' Walhart (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Edelgard (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
----
* AncestralWeapon: All of them wield personal weapons.
* ArmorAndMagicDontMix: Inverted with The Baron class and Jugdral Emperor class. Both classes are even more armored than the General class, they also have the most powerful magic abilities around.
* {{BFS}}: As fitting their position, their weapons are often very large. Averted by Arvis, who uses the magic tome [[PlayingWithFire Valflame]] instead (though he ''does'' have a Silver Blade, the strongest non-legendary sword, [[OrnamentalWeapon in his inventory]], even if he was hacked to not be able to use Valflame, Arvis will not use the Silver Blade).
* ContractualBossImmunity: To prevent them from being easily defeated, they usually have skills that negate weapon effectiveness against their movement type, or their personal classes don't have those weaknesses in the first place.
* DegradedBoss: Barons are encountered as generic enemies in the final chapter of ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' after the more powerful Emperor class is introduced in the story. The final arena opponent of the same chapter belongs to the Emperor class as well.
* TheEmperor: The majority of character in these classes are the ruler of a hostile empire or kingdom.
* {{Expy}}: Much like the Lords, they have unique classes that are basically based off of existing classes, but individualized to fit the character using the class.
** King Zephiel, Emperor Hardin, Nohrian King Garon, and Emperor Edelgard all have similarities to the General class, be it through similar stat lines, being armored, or both. Zephiel uses a sword while Generals in his game can't, while the Black Knight is also related to the third tier Marshall class by proxy.
** Emperor Arvis is basically a souped up Baron class. The Baron class itself is also similar to the General class but with access to magic, and is used by Raydrik.
** King Ashnard is essentially a better version of the Wyvern Lord class, but Ashnard uses a sword rather than a lance.
** Walhart the Conqueror is very similar to the Great Knight class.
* FinalBoss: Often your last opponent, but there'll frequently be a TrueFinalBoss after them.
* {{Foil}}: Essentially the opposite of the Lord class, being classes that are mostly exclusive to one particular character in the games they appear in, gets unique (possibly legendary) weapons to wield, and is the leader of their army, but the Lord class belongs to the main playable character while the Emperor class belongs to the game's main villain (or one of them, though typically one that is working in the foreground).
* LargeAndInCharge: Their sprites tend to dwarf the others in the game. Usually, this is a product of having bulky, intimidating armor.
* LightningBruiser: They have fantastic, if not outright maxed, stats across the board. This includes Speed, in spite of their huge size and heavy armor.
* MagicKnight: Barons and Jugdral's Emperors can use anima magic in addition to all physical weapons.
* PromotedToPlayable: Twice, first with Walhart in ''Awakening'', then Edelgard in ''Three Houses''.
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: The majority of them are authority figures who are much more powerful then their troops.
* TinTyrant: They're almost always covered in armor.
* WalkingArmory: Arvis can use all weapon types but Dark and Light Magic.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Monsters]]
!!Monsters
In addition to the usual human and draconic enemies, ''Gaiden'', ''The Sacred Stones'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' contain a wide variety of monstrous enemies. They come in the following types:
!! Introduced in ''Gaiden'' and ''Shadows of Valentia''
* Revenants/Entombed: Zombie-like creatures that attack with claws. They have high HP but extremely low stats otherwise. In addition to appearing in both ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones'', they reappeared in ''Fire Emblem Awakening'' as a type of Risen and the only monster class in that game. ''Echoes'' introduces a stronger [[EvilIsBigger and bigger]] variant for the Revenant known as a Dracul and what has to be the monster equivalent of an overclass for the Entombed called the Tomb Lord.
* Bonewalkers: Skeletal soldiers that wield a variety of weapon types. Their advanced equivalent is known as the Lich in ''Gaiden'' and the Wight in ''Sacred Stones''. ''Echoes'' additionally introduces two stronger variants: the Titan (a giant and stronger axe-wielding version of the Lich) and the Deimos (an axe-wielding shaman arisen that wields potent purging fire).
* Mogalls (Bigls in the Japanese version): Small [[{{Oculothorax}} floating eyes]] that wield Dark magic. In ''Sacred Stones'' they have an advanced version called Arch Mogalls and in ''Echoes'' the Balor appears in the former's place.
* Fiends: Demonic Barons exclusive to ''Gaiden'' and its remake. The Guardian introduced in Echoes is a redder, more powerful variant of the Fiend.
* Gargoyles: Flying creatures wielding lances. Their advanced equivalent is the Balrog in ''Gaiden'' and the Deathgoyle in ''Sacred Stones''. Stronger than even the Deathgoyle is the Garuda introduced in ''Echoes''.
!! Introduced in ''The Sacred Stones''
* Baels/Elder Baels: Spiderlike creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. They attack with deadly claws that may sometimes be poisoned.
* Tarvos/Maelduins: Centaurlike creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. They wield axes, and the "advanced" Maelduins also use bows.
* Mauthe Doogs/Gwyllgis: Speedy demon dogs that attack with fangs. Exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''.
* Gorgons: Scaly creatures hatching from eggs that wield a variety of nasty dark magic spells. Exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''.
* Cyclopes: Massive axe-wielding creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. Their HP cap is higher than that of other units.
* Draco Zombies (Dragon Zombies in the Japanese version, Necrodragons in ''Shadows of Valentia''): [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Like dragons, only deader]]. In ''Gaiden'' and its remake, they have a "advanced" version called White Dragons. ''Echoes'' further introduces the Fafnir, a monstrous, ancient dragon that has survived since antiquity.
* Phantom (Spirit Warriors in the Japanese version): A spirit exclusive to ''Sacred Stones'', they are summoned by a Summoner or Necromancer.
!! Introduced in ''Fates''
* Faceless: Humanoid creatures made from dark magic, debuting in ''Fates''. In contrast to the Revenants[=/=]Entombed, they are rather large and bulky, and attack with their fists instead of their claws.
* Stoneborn: Moving statues who debuted in ''Fates''. They attack by launching rocks from afar.
* Automaton: Puppets moving by clockwork who debuted in ''Fates''. They attack with saws and yumi (eastern bows) and is the first monster class capable of using both normal and monster weapons.
* Empty Vessel: [[spoiler:Garon]]'s true form in ''Conquest'', it is a slime monster made of water that attacks with axes. Debuting in ''Fates'', it is the first monster class seen since ''Sacred Stones'' to only use a normal weapon instead of an enemy-only monster weapon.
!! Introduced in ''Three Houses''
* Black Beast: A crazed [[spoiler:transformed Miklan when the Lance of Ruin's crest stone consumed him for his lack of a crest]].
* Wandering Beast: A mad creature that lurks in the wild. [[spoiler:A bestial form of Maurice, a forgotten Elite.]]
* Hegemon Husk: An emperor's corpse hellbent on world conquest. [[spoiler:Edelgard's OneWingedAngel transformation on Azure Moon, utilizing her twin crests to their fullest extent.]]
* Wild Demonic Beasts: A feral Demonic Beast spotted in the wilds. Can breathes poisonous breath.
* Experimental Demonic Beast: [[spoiler:A human-transformed Beast by the power of crest stones embedded on their forehead.]]
* Demonic Beast: Demonic Beasts under the control of the [[spoiler:Imperial]] army. Upgrades of the Experimental Demonic Beast.
* Flying Demonic Beast: Agile flying Demonic Beasts.
* Altered Demonic Beast: Demonic Beasts with an anti-magic armor, granting them immunity to magic damage.
* Giant Demonic Beast: A gigantic version of human-transformed beasts. [[spoiler:Dedue]] takes on this form in the Crimson Flower route.
* Umbral Beast: A powerful monster created by the Chalice of Beginnings in the ''Cindered Shadows'' expansion. [[spoiler:Aelfric's transformation after he is absorbed by the Chalice and fused with Sitri's corpse.]]
* Golem: Mechanized automatons in the service of the Church of Seiros.
* Altered Golem: Stronger golems wield by the Church of Seiros. They are immune to magic.
* Guardian Golem: A unique golem tasked with protecting the Chalice of Beginnings in the ''Cindered Shadows'' expansion.
* Titanus: A mechanized weapon created by Agarthan technology.
* White Beast: [[spoiler:Cardinals of the Church transformed by the will of the Immaculate One]].
* Lord of the Lake: A giant tortoise-like monster that lives in the lake. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Indech]].
* Lord of the Desert: A giant bird-like monster that lives in the desert. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Macuil]].
* The Immaculate One: A giant white-dragon revered in the teachings of the Church of Seiros. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Seiros/Rhea]].
* Giant Bird: A bird that grew enormous due to magic.
* Giant Crawler: A worm that grew enormous due to magic.
* Giant Wolf: A wolf that grew enormous due to magic.
!! Introduced in ''Engage''
All three of these types have a Fabrication[[note]]Refered to as Phantom ingame[[/note]] variant, which are aligned with the Divine Dragons and Emblems, and a Corrupted variant, which are aligned with the Fell Dragons.
* Wyrm: Large but slow-moving, draconic creatures that have a large attack range that allows them to shoot breaths from afar.
* Wyvern: DLC-Exclusive. They are undead wyverns that spit out powerful breaths. They also change the terrain of their surroundings, with the Fabrication variant creating frost, and the Corrupted variant creating miasma. The corrupted variant also have a wider attack range than its Fabrication counterpart.
* Wolf: DLC-Exclusive. They are undead wolves that bite with poisonous fangs and, like ordinary wolves, fight in packs.
----
* AchillesHeel: All monsters are weak against the Bishop's Slayer skill, the Falcon Knight's Banish skill, and the Sacred Twin weapons (except for Gleipnir). Giant Crawlers are able to negate this weakness as a latent ability when down to their last healthbars [[spoiler:and Hegemon Husk Edelgard negates her monster weakness from the outset of fighting her.]] In addition, Gargoyles/Deathgoyles/Garuda, Draco Zombies/White Dragons/Fafnirs, Giant Birds,and White Beasts are treated as flying units and are thereby weak to bows and the Wind Sword, and Tarvos/Maelduins are treated as mounted units and are weak to weapons that do additional damage to them. Lastly, all Demonic Beast variants (wild, exp. base, winged, and giant), the Lord of the Lake, Lord of the Desert, White Beasts, and The Immaculate One are all dragons meaning they also share a weakness to anti-dragon weaponry and abilities.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: Dracozombie's attacks completely ignore defense so watch your units that have less HP than their attack. [[spoiler:The Immaculate One's Staggering Blow in Silver Snow, Hoarfrost, completely ignore any defenses.]]
* {{BFS}}: A Titanus carries one called a Giant Katar, wielding it in one hand and it's capable of firing [[SwordBeam energy beams]] from it for ranged combat.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Baels and Elder Baels, which are absolutely ''huge'' spiders.
* BlowYouAway: The Lord of the Desert utilizes magical wind to attack his foes, with his bird-like design helping the mofit. Giant Wolves and Giant Crawlers will also make use of this for their staggering blows--quickly spinning or sweeping in place to generate a harsh gust of wind, and Winged Demonic Beasts generate sharp wind crescents for ranged combat.
* BossInMookClothing: Draco Zombies (and White Dragons in ''Gaiden''). In fact, unless you do [[BonusDungeon the Lagdou Ruins]] in their entirety ''as soon'' as they become available, the first one you encounter in ''Sacred Stones'' will actually ''be'' a boss, complete with unique sprite! [[spoiler:Technically speaking, though, his class is still listed as Manakete...]]
* BreathWeapon: Draco Zombies usually attack with a dark breath. In ''Three Houses'', all Demonic Beast variants save for the Giant Demonic Beasts are capable of breathing fire (or poison for the Wild Demonic Beasts), and White Beasts on the other hand sport magic, holy blue flames instead.[[spoiler:The Immaculate One can also exple holy blue flames or a vaporizing beam of light).]]
* CastingAShadow: Mogalls/Arch Mogalls and Gorgons. Draco Zombies also have wretched air, a stream of fetid dark flames spewed at their target.
* {{Cyclops}}: The fittingly named [[ClassicalCyclops Cyclops]] in ''Sacred Stones'', which is one of the more powerful monsters. ''Echoes'' redesigns the Lich as well as introduces the Titan and Deimos to have this look; the artbook suggests that the Lich and Titan respectively had the heads of one-eyed goats or bulls while the Deimos wore a sone-eyed monster's skull for a mask.
* DamageReduction: The Titanus and the Lord of the Lake are both outfitted with Pavise and Aegis as long as their barriers are up, making it even more difficult to take them down.
* DracoLich: The fittingly named Draco Zombies are among the toughest foes in all three of their appearances which consist of ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* DishingOutDirt: A Stoneborn attacks by hurling out giant boulders from the cavity under its mask. Giant Crawlers, Giant Wolves, and Giant Demonic Beasts will also pick up giant rocks and hurl them at their enemies as ranged attacks.
* EvilCounterpart: Several Monster classes have human counterparts. The Titanus can function as one to the Golem and Altered Golem, with the latter two having close ties to the Chruch of Seiros while the former is employed by one of the two church's enemy factions[[spoiler:--Those who Slither in the Dark]]. In ''Engage'', the Fell-Dragon aligned corrupted variants of this game's monsters serve as this to the fabrication variants of them, as the latter are created by the Divine Dragons and Emblems.
* FeatherFlechettes: Giant Birds will fire off their feathers as their ranged attack and also [[FlechetteStorm unleash a barrage of them]] as their staggering blow.
* FragileSpeedster: Mauthe Doogs and Gwyllgis are the monster counterparts to the Myrmidon line. Also, the giant animals in ''Three Houses'' are considerably faster and harder to hit compared to most other monsters of the Demonic Beast build, but their barriers are more easily broken and they typically do not hit as hard.
* GeoEffects: Phantoms completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties because they are ethereal beings with no solid, tangible forms.
* GiantMook: Monsters in ''Three Houses'' are large, take up to at least 4 spaces rather than 1 space like most units. Their giant size can either block or be blocked by units, they can be roadblocked by obstacles or units that have only one space gap. [[spoiler:Hegemon Husk Edelgard is the exception to this trope, being no bigger than a regular unit map-wise.]]
* HealingFactor: The Lord of the Lake possesses this ability in addition to its myriad of defensive skills and the [[LastChanceHitPoint Miracle]] ability.
* {{Hellhound}}: The Mauthe Doogs and the Gwyllgis in ''Sacred Stones''. The latter had three heads instead of one and were even called Cerberus in the Japanese version.
* HumongousMecha: The Golems, Altered Golems, and Titanuses are massive automatons with equally large armaments (lances of light for the golems and giant katars for the Titanuses).
* IFightForTheStrongestSide: Faceless are created with no minds of their own and simply act on primal bestial instinct to attack others. Practitioners of Dark Magic are able to bend and enslave them to their will. Such people include Iago, Leo, and Rhajat.
* LastChanceHitPoint: The Lord of the Lake and White Beasts possess Miracle which may save them from an otherwise fatal blow, ensuring that they will not be easy to take down )especially the White Beasts with their high Luck stat factoring into it).
* TheLegionsOfHell: Dolth, a boss in the original ''Gaiden'' says in his MagicalIncantation that he's summoning the Dracozombies from Hell. Fiends are described as from the nether realm in ''Shadows of Valentia''.
* LightIsNotGood: The White Beasts are frenzied dragons that expel holy blue flames as their attack. The same can be said of the Golems and Altered Golems [[spoiler:should Rhea descend into insanity]]. [[spoiler:The Immaculate One, whether willingly antagonistic or degenerated, also counts with both the holy blue flames or her vaporizing light breath.]]
* MakingASplash: The Lord of the Lake utilizes magic water to attack foes and is suitably designed after a turtle, a potentially aquatic creature.
* MightyGlacier: Cyclopes, who wield strong axes and has high defenses and bloated HP, they are very slow to which they can be compared to Knights. Although their stat caps tend towards LightningBruiser with high Speed and Skill, few Cyclops enemies get close to those caps. The majority of monsters in ''Three Houses'' besides the giant animals are typically like this.
* MultipleLifeBars: The monsters in ''Three Houses'' have several health bars. With each depleted bar, they may gain stat boosts and an additional skill.
* NoSell: Altered Demonic Beasts and Altered Golems have armor that grants them complete immunity to magic damage until the armor breaks.
* NotUsingTheZWord: Averted in the Japanese version, where Revenants are called Zombies.
* {{Oculothorax}}: Mogalls, Arch Mogalls, and Balors are giant eyeballs with tentacles.
* OneHitPointWonder: Phantoms have only 1 HP. If they are summoned with a Devil Axe equipped, it is possible for it to die attacking before an enemy attacks.
* OurCentaursAreDifferent: Tarvos and Maelduin appear like traditional savage centaurs except with dark grey/black skin. They use axes and bows.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The Demonic Beasts are dragon-like creatures, thus vulnerable to anti-dragon attacks. [[spoiler:Indech and Macuil's dragon form is based on a turtle and bird, respectively.]]
* OurMonstersAreDifferent: They appear to lack sentience of their own, and mindlessly carry out the bidding of their summoner.
* PermanentlyMissableContent: Phantoms cannot trade, so if it kills an enemy and obtains an item from it, the item will be inaccessible to other units.
* PinataEnemy: Revenants and Entombed are fairly unimposing aside from their large stores of HP, but give out great amounts of EXP -- the latter is pretty much a guaranteed level-up for an base-class unit. (This has carried over to ''Awakening''.) Also, Gorgon Eggs are immobile and incapable of attacking and give out exactly 50 EXP when destroyed regardless of the attacking unit's level. Also, they start out with only a few HP and start healing every turn at a certain point, and if allowed to heal to full, they turn into [[GoddamnedBats Gorgons.]] Tomb Lords, introduced in ''Echoes'', are more of a downplayed example as while they do give out large amounts of EXP, they're also difficult to take down and are easily capable of killing just about anyone.
* PoisonousPerson: Wild Demonic Beasts are poisonous creatures, they have the Poison and Poison Strike skills. Some Tomb Lords may also possess venin claws, which on top of their scary strength makes them more dangerous.
* RoarBeforeBeating: Monster units in ''Three Houses'' do this as they prepare their Staggering Blow--a meaty {{area of effect}} attack that can hit from 8, 10, or 12 squares in two rows of four/five or three rows of four up in front of it and cannot be countered, typically reducing the victims' stats and inflicting various status effects (including against allied units). All opposing factions had best fell the monster, break its barries, or get out of dodge before then.
* SandWorm: The Giant Crawlers are earthworms jacked up to a huge size and are capable of moving through the much-maligned desert tiles with no issue.
* SelfDuplication: Mogalls and Balors possess the ability to make copies of themselves in ''Gaiden'' and ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia''.
* SinisterScimitar: Melee Bonewalkers use this in both ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* SinisterScythe: Gargoyles and their relatives wield scythes in ''Gaiden''.
* SquishyWizard: Mogalls and Arch Mogalls.
* SummonMagic: Phantoms can be summoned by the Summoner and Necromancer Classes in ''Sacred Stones''. Certain player and enemy units could also summon units as AI allies.
* SuperToughness: The Lord of the Lake and the Lord of the Desert (as well as The Immaculate One) possess Ancient Dragonskin, naturally halving all incoming damage, and so long as their barriers are up they have access to Dragon-Scale Wall that reduces the damage even further by a whopping ''70%''.
* TakenForGranite: Gorgon enemies can cast a spell called "Stone" which petrifies your units. Petrified units cannot move and any attack against them will have a 100% chance of hitting and a 30% chance of being a critical hit.
* WasOnceAMan: Many of the monster classes in ''Three Houses'' [[spoiler:were humans transformed by crest stones. Especially, the Black Beast from Miklan, the Wandering Beast from Maurice, the Giant Demonic Beast from Dedue, the cardinals turned White Beasts, and Edelgard as the Hegemon Husk.]]
* WolfpackBoss: The Lagdou Ruins end with a stage containing eight Draco Zombies and no other enemies.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Overclasses]]
!!Overclasses
Overclasses are a new tier of classes available as DLC for ''Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'', accessible when units are at their most powerful: in the highest-tier available class and at Level 20. Among them are:
* Conqueror: An advanced-tier for the Hero class, thus making it exclusive to Alm.
* Rigain: An advanced-tier for the Princess class, thus making it exclusive to Celica.
* Spartan: An advanced-tier for the Baron. The class is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: a warrior wearing armor based on what the Spartans wore.
* Enchantress: An advanced-tier for the Priestess class.
* Skogul: An advanced-tier for the Gold Knight class.
* Yasha: An advanced-tier for the Dread Fighter class.
* Harrier: An advanced-tier for the Falcon Knight class.
* Exemplar: An advanced-tier for the Saint class.
* Guru: An advanced-tier for the Sage class.
* Oliphantier: An advanced-tier for the Bow Knight class.
----
* AnimalMotifs: Oliphantiers's horse mounts are fitted with pieces of armor that make them resemble elephants, adding to the elephant archer aesthetic the class goes for.
* BadassCape: All of the Overclasses except for the Oliphantier have a cape.
* BlingOfWar: They all have gold or silver accents in some shape, form, or fashion.
* BribingYourWayToVictory: They're DLC classes. Granted, the fact that you need to have a character at level 20 and at the highest tier of their class means you'd have to grind to be able to use them.
* CallForward: The Alm exclusive Conqueror class shares its name with that of his descendant Walhart's personal class (though Walhart's version is closer to the Emperor class in spirit and in gameplay functions more like an improved Great Knight than a Lord), and even has horns on it's headgear, a feature that Walhart takes to an exaggerated level.
* DarkIsNotEvil: The Enchantress can learn Death and Mire, which are exclusive to enemy mages, the Harrier rides a dark horse and the Guru can summon Terrors.
* EasterEgg: The pattern on the Enchantress's cape is derived from Celtic knots, a design motif prominent in ''Fire Emblem Heroes''.
* HolyHandGrenade: Rigain grants Celica the Aura spell when she class changes to it.
* MagicKnight: Aside from the Rigain and the Enchantress who already class changed from one, the Harrier can learn spells and use their spears in tandem, just like Dark Fliers.
* MeaningfulName: "Rigain" is Old Irish for queen.
* NavelDeepNeckline: The Harrier's uniform has one going past their navel.
* {{Necromancer}}: Gurus can learn Lemegeton, allowing them to conjure Terrors of their own.
* NoSell: The Phalanx skill on Spartans allow the user to have a chance to negate damage taken equal to their Defense/2%, which can also be multiplied for every adjacent ally.
* PoisonedWeapons: The Yasha's skill Tri-Affliction gives them a chance to poison enemies on hit.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: The Spartan's skill Phalanx allows him to negate all damage, the odds of it triggering increasing the more allies are nearby.
[[/folder]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 90,105 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Mercenary]]
!!Mercenary
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/731g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Mercenaries in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/816g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Heroes in ''Three Houses'']]
Mercenaries are one of the basic sword-wielding classes. They are generally defined as [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin what their name suggests]] -- soldiers-for-hire. Compared to the FragileSpeedster build of the Myrmidon, Mercenaries tend to be [[JackOfAllStats overall well-rounded and balanced]] when it comes to stats.
They Class Change into '''Hero'''[[note]]'''Forrest''' in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''; somewhat related to the Forrest Knight[[/note]], which usually gives them the ability to wield axes. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'', they Class Change into '''Myrmidon''', and can Class Change again into the third-tier '''Dread Fighter'''. The Mercenary class was technically replaced by the '''Myrmidon''' class in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776''; the equivalent class there is called '''Swordfighter''', which is quite similar to the Myrmidon class of later games; some Swordfighters Class Change to Forrest (aka Hero), while some Class Change to '''Swordmaster''', depending on the character.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'', the Hero class is exclusive to the NPC Greil, while ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' has Ike as the only one who assumes this class. Ike can class change into the third-tier '''Vanguard''', allowing him to use axes alongside swords. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they can branch into a mounted class[[note]]'''Ranger''' in ''The Sacred Stones'', '''Bow Knight''' in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates''[[/note]] which can use BowAndSwordInAccord.\\\
Related are the aforementioned Myrmidon class and Ike's '''Lord''' class in ''Path of Radiance'', which are functionally Mercenaries, and the class families '''Lord''' and '''Successeur''', exclusive to Diamant, which both classes wield swords and the latter also wielding axes, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''[[note]]Characters marked with an * are changed to Myrmidons in ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem''[[/note]] Ogma, Navarre*, Caesar, Radd*, Astram, Samson (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Saber, Kamui, Jesse, Deen (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Samuel*, Malice* (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Dieck, Ogier, Echidna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Raven, Harken (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Gerik (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Gregor, Inigo, Severa, Flavia, Priam, Roy, Alm, Ike (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Selena, Laslow, Soleil (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Diamant, Goldmary (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Mercenary
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/731g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Mercenaries in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/816g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Heroes in ''Three Houses'']]
Mercenaries are one of the basic sword-wielding classes. They are generally defined as [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin what their name suggests]] -- soldiers-for-hire. Compared to the FragileSpeedster build of the Myrmidon, Mercenaries tend to be [[JackOfAllStats overall well-rounded and balanced]] when it comes to stats.
They Class Change into '''Hero'''[[note]]'''Forrest''' in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''; somewhat related to the Forrest Knight[[/note]], which usually gives them the ability to wield axes. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'', they Class Change into '''Myrmidon''', and can Class Change again into the third-tier '''Dread Fighter'''. The Mercenary class was technically replaced by the '''Myrmidon''' class in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776''; the equivalent class there is called '''Swordfighter''', which is quite similar to the Myrmidon class of later games; some Swordfighters Class Change to Forrest (aka Hero), while some Class Change to '''Swordmaster''', depending on the character.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'', the Hero class is exclusive to the NPC Greil, while ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' has Ike as the only one who assumes this class. Ike can class change into the third-tier '''Vanguard''', allowing him to use axes alongside swords. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they can branch into a mounted class[[note]]'''Ranger''' in ''The Sacred Stones'', '''Bow Knight''' in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates''[[/note]] which can use BowAndSwordInAccord.\\\
Related are the aforementioned Myrmidon class and Ike's '''Lord''' class in ''Path of Radiance'', which are functionally Mercenaries, and the class families '''Lord''' and '''Successeur''', exclusive to Diamant, which both classes wield swords and the latter also wielding axes, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''[[note]]Characters marked with an * are changed to Myrmidons in ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem''[[/note]] Ogma, Navarre*, Caesar, Radd*, Astram, Samson (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Saber, Kamui, Jesse, Deen (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Samuel*, Malice* (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Dieck, Ogier, Echidna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Raven, Harken (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Gerik (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Gregor, Inigo, Severa, Flavia, Priam, Roy, Alm, Ike (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Selena, Laslow, Soleil (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Diamant, Goldmary (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Mercenary
!!Dark Mage/Shaman
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/962g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
They Class Change into '''Hero'''[[note]]'''Forrest'''
Related is the '''Dark Sage''', a second-tier class[[note]]presumably promoted from a "Dark Mage"[[/note]] which also wields thunder magic, exclusive to King Pelleas in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''; it Class Changes into a variant of the '''Arch Sage'''. Also related are the villain-exclusive dark spellcasting classes: '''Dark Prince''' Julius from ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', '''Dark Druid''' Nergal from ''The Blazing Blade'', '''Necromancer''' Lyon from ''The Sacred Stones'', and '''Agastya''', a class exclusive to Thales in ''Three Houses''. A Dark Knight variant also appears in ''Three Houses'' in the form of the '''Death Knight''', exclusive to the character with the same name as the class.\\\
This class is not to be confused with the '''Shaman''' class of ''Genealogy'', which is a light-wielding class exclusive to Deirdre and Julia, or with the third-tier '''Light Priestess''' class, which was called "Shaman" in the original Japanese version of ''Radiant Dawn''.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class
Changed line(s) 107,127 (click to see context) from:
* ActionInitiative: Heroes in ''Three Houses'' gain the Vantage skill, which allows them to act first when their health is low, as a class skill while Mercenaries can learn the skill upon mastering the class.
* AchillesHeel: The rarely appearing [=SwordSlayer=], introduced in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', deals effective damage towards Mercenaries and Heroes even if they aren't wielding a sword.
* AlwaysMale:
** The Mercenary line is exclusive to males in ''Shadow Dragon''. Malice was originally a Mercenary in ''BS Fire Emblem'' (though Myrmidon didn't exist until ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Binding Blade'' and in that game, animation are off by default to both save time for its limited duration and to hide a class that only had male characters), but was made into a Myrmidon in ''New Mystery of the Emblem''.
** The Mercenary line in ''Gaiden'' is locked to male units, so Faye or other female units that used the Pitchfork item cannot get Mercenary.
** The Hero class in ''Three Houses'' can only be accessed by men.
* {{BFS}}: The swords wielded by the Mercenary class in the GBA and DS games are depicted as large swords. They also possess a high enough Constitution in order to effectively wield heavier swords such as blades, [[AntiCavalry Longswords]], or [[AntiArmor Armorslayers]].
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: In contrast to Swordmasters, Heroes can wield axes as well as swords and are built to be stronger but slower than them, and are a promote of the Mercenary Class.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Heroes in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Strength, a skill that boosts strength by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* CombatParkour: ''Awakening's'' Heroes backflip when they dodge attacks, while Mercenaries and Heroes flip to attack in the GBA games.
* HealingFactor: Mercenaries in ''Fates'' get the Good Fortune skill, where they have a chance (based on their Luck stat) to recover 20% of their max HP at the start of the turn.
* HeroesPreferSwords: In a literal example of this trope, the Hero class can wield -- and oftentimes specializes in -- swords. However, the Hero class can also be promoted from the axe-wielding Fighter class in some games, making this more of a DownplayedTrope. Heroes in ''Three Houses'' gain Swordfaire as a class skill.
* InASingleBound: Older games seems to like having Mercenaries and Heroes leap massive lengths into action.
* ItemAmplifier: In ''Awakening'', Mercenaries have Armsthrift, which grants a (Luck*2) chance of not degrading their weapon.
* IShallTauntYou: The Mercenary's crit animation in the GBA games begins with a taunting motion, and transfers into an enormous forward flip.
* JackOfAllStats: Mercenaries have high and well-balanced stats all-round, in contrast to the other infantry classes, though like most sword-wielding classes they tend to have high speed above all else.
* LifeDrain: Heroes in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' can learn Sol, a skill that allows them to regain health equal to half the damage dealt.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: In many games (most notably the Super Famicom, GBA, and DS games), Heroes and Forrests wear shields and use them to "block" attacks that miss them.
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Their critical animations often involve tossing their weapon into the air, then jumping after it while [[UnnecessaryCombatRoll somersaulting several times]] before catching it and coming back down for the strike.
* UnorthodoxSheathing: In the GBA games, Heroes sheathe their weapon into their shield while in midair. Their critical hit animation has them throwing their shield in the air before jumping after it, unsheathing their weapon, and hitting their opponent.
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: Often their default pose.
* AchillesHeel: The rarely appearing [=SwordSlayer=], introduced in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', deals effective damage towards Mercenaries and Heroes even if they aren't wielding a sword.
* AlwaysMale:
** The Mercenary line is exclusive to males in ''Shadow Dragon''. Malice was originally a Mercenary in ''BS Fire Emblem'' (though Myrmidon didn't exist until ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Binding Blade'' and in that game, animation are off by default to both save time for its limited duration and to hide a class that only had male characters), but was made into a Myrmidon in ''New Mystery of the Emblem''.
** The Mercenary line in ''Gaiden'' is locked to male units, so Faye or other female units that used the Pitchfork item cannot get Mercenary.
** The Hero class in ''Three Houses'' can only be accessed by men.
* {{BFS}}: The swords wielded by the Mercenary class in the GBA and DS games are depicted as large swords. They also possess a high enough Constitution in order to effectively wield heavier swords such as blades, [[AntiCavalry Longswords]], or [[AntiArmor Armorslayers]].
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: In contrast to Swordmasters, Heroes can wield axes as well as swords and are built to be stronger but slower than them, and are a promote of the Mercenary Class.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Heroes in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Strength, a skill that boosts strength by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* CombatParkour: ''Awakening's'' Heroes backflip when they dodge attacks, while Mercenaries and Heroes flip to attack in the GBA games.
* HealingFactor: Mercenaries in ''Fates'' get the Good Fortune skill, where they have a chance (based on their Luck stat) to recover 20% of their max HP at the start of the turn.
* HeroesPreferSwords: In a literal example of this trope, the Hero class can wield -- and oftentimes specializes in -- swords. However, the Hero class can also be promoted from the axe-wielding Fighter class in some games, making this more of a DownplayedTrope. Heroes in ''Three Houses'' gain Swordfaire as a class skill.
* InASingleBound: Older games seems to like having Mercenaries and Heroes leap massive lengths into action.
* ItemAmplifier: In ''Awakening'', Mercenaries have Armsthrift, which grants a (Luck*2) chance of not degrading their weapon.
* IShallTauntYou: The Mercenary's crit animation in the GBA games begins with a taunting motion, and transfers into an enormous forward flip.
* JackOfAllStats: Mercenaries have high and well-balanced stats all-round, in contrast to the other infantry classes, though like most sword-wielding classes they tend to have high speed above all else.
* LifeDrain: Heroes in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' can learn Sol, a skill that allows them to regain health equal to half the damage dealt.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: In many games (most notably the Super Famicom, GBA, and DS games), Heroes and Forrests wear shields and use them to "block" attacks that miss them.
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Their critical animations often involve tossing their weapon into the air, then jumping after it while [[UnnecessaryCombatRoll somersaulting several times]] before catching it and coming back down for the strike.
* UnorthodoxSheathing: In the GBA games, Heroes sheathe their weapon into their shield while in midair. Their critical hit animation has them throwing their shield in the air before jumping after it, unsheathing their weapon, and hitting their opponent.
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: Often their default pose.
to:
*
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Luna spell in ''Blazing Blade'', ''Sacred Stones'', and ''Three Houses'' negates the enemy's resistance at the cost of fully requiring the unit's magic stat to be high in order to be effective, as the spell has minimal to no intrinsic might of its own (making it outclassed by literally any other dark tome when being used on enemies with low resistance, but absolutely invaluable to the point of being a GameBreaker against enemies with high resistance). Glower in ''New Mystery of the Emblem'' negates resistance instead of inflicting HPToOne.
* BlackKnight: The Dark Knight class, which is basically a new version of Mage Knight.
* CastingAShadow: Dark magic is essentially this. Also, while they have often been portrayed as the magical equivalent to axes[[note]]with light magic being comparable to swords and animals magic being comparable to lances; the three magic types even have an identical TacticalRockPaperScissors arrangement to their physical counterparts[[/note]], dark magic in the GBA games and in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' have effects on their general weapons[[note]]such as LifeDrain, ArmorPiercingAttack, PercentDamageAttack, and HPToOne[[/note]] that other magic will never have. Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Dark Tomefaire as a class skill, though they also gain Black Tomefaire as well.
* CoolHelmet: Dark Knights typically wear menacing-looking helmets. ''Awakening'' gives them a visor that resembles the
* CoolMask: Dark Mages and Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' wear crow masks modelled after plague doctors.
* CriticalHitClass: In ''Fates'', Sorcerors have a small critical hit bonus.
* CriticalStatusBuff: The ''Vengeance'' skill, which
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: The mastery skill
* DarkIsEvil: Commonly, the
* AchillesHeel: The rarely appearing [=SwordSlayer=], introduced
* AlwaysMale:
** The Mercenary line is exclusive to males in ''Shadow Dragon''. Malice was originally a Mercenary in ''BS Fire Emblem'' (though Myrmidon didn't exist until
** The Mercenary line
* DarkIsNotEvil: And Canas ''will'' make a point of reminding you of that
** The Hero class in
* {{BFS}}: The swords wielded by the Mercenary class in the GBA and DS games are depicted
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: In contrast to Swordmasters, Heroes can wield axes as well as swords and are built to be stronger but slower than them, and are a promote
*
*
** Dark Mages promoting into Dark Knights in ''Awakening'' and
* HealingFactor: Mercenaries in
* HeroesPreferSwords: In a literal example of this trope, the Hero class can wield -- and oftentimes specializes in -- swords. However, the Hero class can also be promoted from the axe-wielding Fighter class in some games, making this more of a DownplayedTrope. Heroes in ''Three Houses'' gain Swordfaire as a class skill.
* InASingleBound: Older games seems
* ItemAmplifier: In ''Awakening'', Mercenaries have Armsthrift, which grants a (Luck*2) chance of not degrading their weapon.
* IShallTauntYou: The Mercenary's crit animation in the GBA games begins with a taunting motion, and transfers into an enormous forward flip.
* JackOfAllStats: Mercenaries have high and well-balanced stats all-round, in contrast to the other infantry classes, though like most sword-wielding classes they tend to have high speed above all else.
** Compared to the Dark Knight, the Death Knight in ''Three Houses'' emphasizes more on its Lance rank, swapping out Black and Dark Tomefaire for Lancefaire. Mastering this class grants Counterattack (allows the user to counterattack regardless of range), further encouraging the usage of melee weapons.
*
* GatheringSteam: Dark Knight in ''Awakening'' has the skill Slow Burn, which gives them hit and avoid after a turn has pass, up to 15.
* HighCollarOfDoom: Dark Knights have these to add to their menacing appearances.
* HPToOne: Several dark magic across the series can cause this effect (sometimes from a very long range) -- namely Medusa, Dulam, Hel, Eclipse, and Bohr X. With the exception of Eclipse in ''Binding Blade'' (it was changed to a PercentDamageAttack for the rest of the GBA games), these spells are exclusive to the enemy.
* InTheHood: Almost every similar unit wears a heavy hood completely obscuring their face.
* LifeDrain:
** In the games where Nosferatu isn't Light magic, Dark Mages are instead able to wield it, enabling them to absorb their enemies' HP.
** Dark Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates''
* MightyGlacier: Dark Mages are significantly slower than Mages and have worse Skill, but generally have relatively equal magical attack and much better defense. Technically averted by Dark Mages in ''Fates'', where the class is basically just the Nohrian counterpart to the Diviner, itself an {{Expy}} of the standard Mage, with the added ability of wielding the game's sole dark magic tome, Nosferatu.
* NonindicativeName: Despite their name and appearance, Dark Knights are not actually capable of using dark magic unless they have the Shadowgift skill, instead being just another name for the Mage Knight. The only exception to this might be Leo, as his Brynhildr tome is stated to be dark magic, although he still can't use Nosferatu unless he reclasses into a Sorcerer. Finally remedied in ''Three Houses'' where Dark Knights has Dark Tomefaire as their class skill and dark magic is based on character instead of being restricted to the class itself.
* PoisonedWeapon:
** Jormungand in ''Thracia 776'' inflicts the target with the poison status, but only when used by enemies.
** Dark Mages in ''Three Houses'' learn
* PowerOfTheVoid:
** Apocalypse, one of the Divine Weapons of Elibe, emits a
** Ginnungagap in ''Fates'', where the spell [[YinYangBomb covers the enemy in a black vortex, then suffocates them with a blinding light]].
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: In many games (most notably the Super Famicom, GBA,
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Their critical animations often involve tossing their weapon
* ShouldersOfDoom: The pauldrons of the Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'' are not only large, but have large intimidating spikes on each of them.
* {{Stripperiffic}}: Dark Mages and
* UnorthodoxSheathing: In the GBA games, Heroes sheathe their weapon into their shield while in midair. Their critical hit animation has them throwing their shield
* SummonMagic: The Cantor, Summoner, and the Necromancer can summon units to fight for them.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Seal Magic, which reduces the enemy's magic, is available to Dark Knights in ''Fates''. In ''Three Houses'', they instead learn Seal Resistance, and in Maddening Mode, enemy Dark Mages have Seal Strength by default.
* StatusBuff: Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' gain Fiendish Blow as a class skill, which increases their
* UniqueEnemy:
** Inverted in ''Sacred Stones'', as you never encounter enemy Summoners. In addition, Necromancers (read: Lyon) never use their
** Zigzagged with ''Radiant Dawn'', as there are enemy-only Druids that appear sporadically in the game, usually Part 3 and 4. However, you can get Pelleas as one of two potential Dark Mages (that can only be playable in a second playthrough), though Pelleas is still of a separate class line from the Druid[[note]]and the second Dark Mage, [[spoiler:Lehran/]]Sephiran, is in yet another class tree that is more closely related to Clerics[[/note]].
** Zigzagged with the DS remakes, as while Etzel is a playable Sorcerer (the advanced version of Dark Mage), you never encounter a playable Dark Mage without reclassing one of your units. In addition, in ''Shadow Dragon'', you never encounter any enemy Dark Mages outside of side chapters, besides [[TheDragon Gharnef]].
*
Changed line(s) 130,147 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Myrmidon (''Swordfighter'', ''Blade'')]]
!!Myrmidon (''Swordfighter'', ''Blade'')
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/679g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Myrmidon in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/824g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Swordmasters in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/945g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_master_of_arms_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Master of Arms in ''Fates'']]
A class closely related to the Mercenary, originally deriving from Mercenaries with specifically different gameplay constitutions; whereas Mercenaries are balanced, Myrmidons turn up the Speed to near-ridiculous levels at the expense of Defense.\\\
They Class Change into '''Swordmaster''', and in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' can go further into the '''Trueblade''' class. The Myrmidon class technically replaced the Mercenary class in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'' (and thus, some could Class Change to '''Hero/Forrest'''), but was functionally a bit of a mix of the two; the full, separate Myrmidon class in and of itself as we know it today debuted in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', Myrmidons can also branch into '''Assassins'''; the latter game allows them to use BowAndSwordInAccord. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Myrmidons are called '''Samurai''' (a Hoshidan class), which also Class Changes into the '''Swordmaster'''. They also can branch into the '''Master of Arms''', which cuts down on their Speed for some bulk and utilizes all the basic weapons of the weapon triangle. ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' also introduces the '''Mortal Savant''' class, a Swordmaster with inclinations of magic.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''[[note]]Characters marked with an * were originally Mercenaries in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', ''Mystery of the Emblem'' and ''Archanea Saga''[[/note]] Ayra, Chulainn, Larcei/Creidne, Scáthach/Dalvin, Shannan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Eyvel, Machyua, Shiva, Mareeta, Trewd, Ralph, Shannam, Galzus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Rutger, Fir, Karel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Guy, Karel, Karla (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Joshua, Marisa (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Mia, Zihark, Lucia, Stefan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Edward (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Navarre*, Radd*, Athena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Samuel, Malice* (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Lon'qu, Say'ri, Owain, Yen'fay, Seliph, Lyn, [=SpotPass=] Eirika (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Hana, Hinata, Ryoma, Hisame, Fuga (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Felix, Catherine (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Lapis, Kagetsu (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Myrmidon (''Swordfighter'', ''Blade'')
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/679g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Myrmidon in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/824g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Swordmasters in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/945g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_master_of_arms_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Master of Arms in ''Fates'']]
A class closely related to the Mercenary, originally deriving from Mercenaries with specifically different gameplay constitutions; whereas Mercenaries are balanced, Myrmidons turn up the Speed to near-ridiculous levels at the expense of Defense.\\\
They Class Change into '''Swordmaster''', and in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' can go further into the '''Trueblade''' class. The Myrmidon class technically replaced the Mercenary class in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'' (and thus, some could Class Change to '''Hero/Forrest'''), but was functionally a bit of a mix of the two; the full, separate Myrmidon class in and of itself as we know it today debuted in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', Myrmidons can also branch into '''Assassins'''; the latter game allows them to use BowAndSwordInAccord. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Myrmidons are called '''Samurai''' (a Hoshidan class), which also Class Changes into the '''Swordmaster'''. They also can branch into the '''Master of Arms''', which cuts down on their Speed for some bulk and utilizes all the basic weapons of the weapon triangle. ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' also introduces the '''Mortal Savant''' class, a Swordmaster with inclinations of magic.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''[[note]]Characters marked with an * were originally Mercenaries in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', ''Mystery of the Emblem'' and ''Archanea Saga''[[/note]] Ayra, Chulainn, Larcei/Creidne, Scáthach/Dalvin, Shannan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Eyvel, Machyua, Shiva, Mareeta, Trewd, Ralph, Shannam, Galzus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Rutger, Fir, Karel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Guy, Karel, Karla (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Joshua, Marisa (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Mia, Zihark, Lucia, Stefan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Edward (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Navarre*, Radd*, Athena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Samuel, Malice* (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Lon'qu, Say'ri, Owain, Yen'fay, Seliph, Lyn, [=SpotPass=] Eirika (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Hana, Hinata, Ryoma, Hisame, Fuga (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Felix, Catherine (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Lapis, Kagetsu (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Myrmidon (''Swordfighter'', ''Blade'')
!!Troubadour
[[quoteright:164:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_troubadour_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:164:Troubadours in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:141:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesmaidportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:141:Maids in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/945g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_master_of_arms_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Master of Arms in ''Fates'']]
A female-exclusive WhiteMage class
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred
->'''Playable characters of this class
Changed line(s) 149,169 (click to see context) from:
* AchillesHeel:
** The SwordSlayer weapon in'' The Blazing Blade'' ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Heroes of Light and Shadow'' deals much more damage when used on Myrmidons and their Swordmaster promotion.
** In many games, the low attack of Myrmidons means they'll have trouble when placed against a high defense opponent like a Wyvern rider or Knight.
* ActionInitiative: In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', they gain Vantage, which allows them to attack first when their HP is below 50%.
* CriticalHitClass: They have high Skill and Speed to help them inflict critical hits more easily. In the GBA games, Tellius games, and ''Fates'', they gain a critical boost, especially in the Elibe games, where it is possible to stack up all methods of increasing critical hit rate to ''exceed 100%''!
* DamageReduction: Mortal Savant learns Warding Blow, a skill that reduces magic damage by 6 when attacking, upon mastering the class.
* DeathOfAThousandCuts: The [[SecretArt Astra]] skill; it's the mastery skill for Swordmasters and Trueblades in the Tellius games, and is pretty much exclusively associated with the Isaach royal family (all of whom are Swordfighters, Swordmasters, and Forrests) in the Jugdral games. In ''Three Houses'', Astra is a Combat Art exclusive to Swordmasters and doesn't get carried over to other classes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Myrmidon class originated as the ''Gaiden'' equivalent of the Hero (as "Hero" was Alm's advance class). In the Jugdral games, the class was a functional mix of the Mercenary and Myrmidon classes, class changing into either Swordmaster or Forrest depending on the character. Starting from ''The Binding Blade'', the two classes have become distinct from one another.
* DoppelgangerSpin: GBA Swordmasters move so fast that they leave behind illusions of themselves in their critical animation.
* DualWielding: ''Fates''' Swordmasters are capable of dual wielding some, but not all, swords. This is merely aesthetic and doesn't affect gameplay.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: With the exception of Archanea (because they didn't exist at the time until the remake) and Tellius, most myrmidons hail from a fictional version of an East Asian culture like the Mongols (Sacae) and Japanese (Chon'sin, Hoshido). Jehanna (a Middle Eastern-inspired desert nation) and Isaach don't follow this theme, although Isaach is described as an Eastern kingdom, are known to train Swordmasters and their AncestralWeapon loosely resembles a katana. The Swordmasters and Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'' retain the samurai aesthetic despite the lack of their version of Japan.
* FragileSpeedster: Myrmidons are very weak and fragile compared to other infantry -- however, they have very high speed, meaning that they double attack more often and often rely on dodging to avoid damage. In ''Fates'', Samurai learns ''Duelist's Blow'', which raise their evasion by 30 when attacking, and Swordmaster passively gain an evasion boost. In ''Three Houses'', Myrmidon gain Speed +2 upon mastering the class.
* GlassCannon: Masters of Arms get ''Life or Death'', which boosts their attack tremendously, but also decreases their defense drastically, making them easy to kill but at the same time giving them greater potential to kill.
* FlashStep: A general tendency of Swordmaster animations.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Swords with high critical rate, such as the Killing Edge and the Wo Dao are typically shaped like one and are the preferred weapons of this class family to complement their high Speed and Skill. In the Elibe games, the Wo Dao is exclusive to Myrmidons, Swordmasters and Lyn (whose Lord class is Swordmaster in all but name).
* MagicKnight: Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'' can use swords and magic.
* MasterSwordsman: The Swordmaster especially, as they are usually the best duelists in terms of speed and evasion. Swordmasters in ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' gain Swordfaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding swords.
* MultiMeleeMaster: Masters of Arms wield swords, axes, and lances to cover the entire weapon triangle.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Masters of Arms get ''Seal Strength'', which reduces the enemy's strength by 6 after battle.
* SwordAndFist: ''Fates''[='=] Swordmasters kick and follow up with a downward slash when they perform a critical hit.
* WarriorMonk: The Master of Arms resembles the Buddhist warrior monks known as sōhei, especially Musashibō Benkei, who collected the weapons of defeated challengers.
** The SwordSlayer weapon in'' The Blazing Blade'' ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Heroes of Light and Shadow'' deals much more damage when used on Myrmidons and their Swordmaster promotion.
** In many games, the low attack of Myrmidons means they'll have trouble when placed against a high defense opponent like a Wyvern rider or Knight.
* ActionInitiative: In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', they gain Vantage, which allows them to attack first when their HP is below 50%.
* CriticalHitClass: They have high Skill and Speed to help them inflict critical hits more easily. In the GBA games, Tellius games, and ''Fates'', they gain a critical boost, especially in the Elibe games, where it is possible to stack up all methods of increasing critical hit rate to ''exceed 100%''!
* DamageReduction: Mortal Savant learns Warding Blow, a skill that reduces magic damage by 6 when attacking, upon mastering the class.
* DeathOfAThousandCuts: The [[SecretArt Astra]] skill; it's the mastery skill for Swordmasters and Trueblades in the Tellius games, and is pretty much exclusively associated with the Isaach royal family (all of whom are Swordfighters, Swordmasters, and Forrests) in the Jugdral games. In ''Three Houses'', Astra is a Combat Art exclusive to Swordmasters and doesn't get carried over to other classes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Myrmidon class originated as the ''Gaiden'' equivalent of the Hero (as "Hero" was Alm's advance class). In the Jugdral games, the class was a functional mix of the Mercenary and Myrmidon classes, class changing into either Swordmaster or Forrest depending on the character. Starting from ''The Binding Blade'', the two classes have become distinct from one another.
* DoppelgangerSpin: GBA Swordmasters move so fast that they leave behind illusions of themselves in their critical animation.
* DualWielding: ''Fates''' Swordmasters are capable of dual wielding some, but not all, swords. This is merely aesthetic and doesn't affect gameplay.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: With the exception of Archanea (because they didn't exist at the time until the remake) and Tellius, most myrmidons hail from a fictional version of an East Asian culture like the Mongols (Sacae) and Japanese (Chon'sin, Hoshido). Jehanna (a Middle Eastern-inspired desert nation) and Isaach don't follow this theme, although Isaach is described as an Eastern kingdom, are known to train Swordmasters and their AncestralWeapon loosely resembles a katana. The Swordmasters and Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'' retain the samurai aesthetic despite the lack of their version of Japan.
* FragileSpeedster: Myrmidons are very weak and fragile compared to other infantry -- however, they have very high speed, meaning that they double attack more often and often rely on dodging to avoid damage. In ''Fates'', Samurai learns ''Duelist's Blow'', which raise their evasion by 30 when attacking, and Swordmaster passively gain an evasion boost. In ''Three Houses'', Myrmidon gain Speed +2 upon mastering the class.
* GlassCannon: Masters of Arms get ''Life or Death'', which boosts their attack tremendously, but also decreases their defense drastically, making them easy to kill but at the same time giving them greater potential to kill.
* FlashStep: A general tendency of Swordmaster animations.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Swords with high critical rate, such as the Killing Edge and the Wo Dao are typically shaped like one and are the preferred weapons of this class family to complement their high Speed and Skill. In the Elibe games, the Wo Dao is exclusive to Myrmidons, Swordmasters and Lyn (whose Lord class is Swordmaster in all but name).
* MagicKnight: Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'' can use swords and magic.
* MasterSwordsman: The Swordmaster especially, as they are usually the best duelists in terms of speed and evasion. Swordmasters in ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' gain Swordfaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding swords.
* MultiMeleeMaster: Masters of Arms wield swords, axes, and lances to cover the entire weapon triangle.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Masters of Arms get ''Seal Strength'', which reduces the enemy's strength by 6 after battle.
* SwordAndFist: ''Fates''[='=] Swordmasters kick and follow up with a downward slash when they perform a critical hit.
* WarriorMonk: The Master of Arms resembles the Buddhist warrior monks known as sōhei, especially Musashibō Benkei, who collected the weapons of defeated challengers.
to:
* AchillesHeel:
** The SwordSlayer weapon in'' The BlazingAchillesHeel: Like Cavaliers, they are vulnerable to Horse-slaying weapons... except in ''Binding Blade'' and ''Path of Radiance'', where they are unaffected by Horse-slaying weapons, presumably due to an oversight.
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Valkryies in ''Three Houses'' gain ''Uncanny Blow'' upon mastering the class. It gives 30 extra hit when attacking.
* AlwaysFemale: Except in ''Fates'', all troubadours/valkyries were female. Female-exclusive Valkyries are entirely consistent with Norse mythology constantly referenced in the series, but "troubadour" was a name for a male bard historically.
* AutomatonHorses: Their horses are only seen in combat.
* BattleButler: The Butler class.
* BlackMage: Unlike most depictions of the class, ''Three Houses'' grants the class skills that focus on the strictly offensive black and dark magic spells. They can still use white magic and it is one of their proficiencies, but this incarnation is meant to be the offensive mage rider in contrast to the Holy Knight. Interestingly, this makes them a female counterpart to the Dark Knight, which also focuses on black and dark magic (the Tomefaire variants specifically).
* CastingAShadow: Of a sort. In a first for the series, ''Three Houses'' grants them a skill to extend the range of the user's dark magic spells, making them the only other class that females can access besides Gremory with some sort of dark magic skill.
* CombatMedic: Valkyries have offensive magic/the use of swords in addition to healing with staves. In the Jugdral games, troubadours can use swords from the start. In ''Fates'', they gain shuriken/daggers as their weapons as Maids and Butlers. In ''Three Houses'', Holy Knights can wield lances and have native access to White Tomefaire.
* CoolHorse: Troubadours are always mounted on them.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Resistance, a skill that boosts resistance by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Valkyries were called "Paladins" in Jugdral. They were wisely renamed Valkyries with the GBA installments to avoid confusion with regular Paladins, especially female ones like Midia.
* GenderBlenderName: Despite the class being all-female until ''Fates'', actual real-life troubadours (who were poets, not magical mounted staff users) were exclusively male, and the female term is Troubaritz. Strangely, these sorts of real-life Troubadours ''actually exist'' in the ''Fire Emblem'' universe as well, at least in the Tellius series[[note]]which lacks the unprompted Troubadour class; its sole Valkyrie, Mist, starts out as a Cleric[[/note]], as the ending of ''Path of Radiance'' mentions troubadours and one of the early chapter narrations for ''Radiant Dawn'' includes the phrase "or so the troubadours sing".
* HitAndRunTactics: Troubadours and Valkyries in the Jugdral and Tellius games can attack or heal and then move again with their remaining movement. Troubadours in the GBA games can only move again if they use a non-attacking or non-healing command.
* LightEmUp: The Valkyries in ''Sacred Stones'' and''Heroes of Light and Shadow'' deals much more Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' excel in light magic. Holy Knights are highly specialized in Faith magic, as they can gain White Tomefaire, which increases their damage when used on Myrmidons by 5.
* MageKiller: Their high Resistance stat allows them to deal with enemy mages. Maids andtheir Swordmaster promotion.
** In many games,Butlers get the low attack of Myrmidons means they'll have trouble when placed Tomebreaker skill and the ability to use shuriken/daggers, the latter being effective against a high tomes in ''Fates''[='=] Weapon Triangle[[note]]tomes share their place with swords, while hidden weapons share their place with lances[[/note]] and targets [[SquishyWizard their usually weak defense opponent stat]].
* MagicKnight: The Holy Knights excel in faith magic and lances. In addition, they have White Tomefaire as their class skill, increasing their damage by 5 when using faith magic like Nosferatu and Aura.
* TheMedic: Their main battlefield role.
* NinjaMaid: The Maid class, exemplified with their combat style and shurikens as their weapons.
* ThePaladin: An ''actual'' depiction of the Paladin in the form of the Holy Knight, who are horse-riding knights that specialize in Faith (white magic).
* RedMage: Typically becomes aWyvern rider mounted version after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is if you class change into a [[CombatMedic War Cleric or Knight.
Maid/Butler]], which lose the horse and use physical weapons rather than offensive magic.
*ActionInitiative: In SquishyWizard: They have high Magic and Luck to aid in their healing abilities, but they're defensively weak physically and typically can't fight back at first.
* StatusBuff:
** Troubadours have Demoiselle for females in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'',they and Gentilhomme for males in ''Fates''; Demoiselle in ''Awakening'' grants all males within 3 tiles of the user +10 Avoid and Critical Dodge, and both skills in ''Fates'' grant -2 damage taken to all allies within 2 spaces, depending on what skill is equipped and the recipient's gender.
** Valkyries in ''Awakening'' and Strategists in ''Fates'' gainVantage, Rally Resistance, which allows them gives a boost to attack resistance to allies when commanded.
** Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Inspiration, which grants all allies within 2 tiles of the user +2 damage given and -2 damage taken.
* SupportPartyMember: While they were originally sword-wielders in their firstwhen their HP is below 50%.
* CriticalHitClass: They have high Skill and Speed to helptier, later games relegated them inflict critical hits more easily. In the GBA games, Tellius games, solely to healing and buffing allies before class change.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. There are no enemy Butlers in ''Fates'',they gain making Butler a critical boost, especially in the Elibe games, where it is possible to stack up all methods of increasing critical hit rate to ''exceed 100%''!
* DamageReduction: Mortal Savant learns Warding Blow, a skill that reduces magic damage by 6 when attacking, upon mastering theplayer-only class.
*DeathOfAThousandCuts: The [[SecretArt Astra]] skill; it's the mastery skill for Swordmasters and Trueblades in the Tellius games, and is pretty much exclusively associated with the Isaach royal family (all of whom are Swordfighters, Swordmasters, and Forrests) in the Jugdral games. In ''Three Houses'', Astra is a Combat Art exclusive to Swordmasters and doesn't get carried over to other classes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Myrmidon class originated as the ''Gaiden'' equivalent of the Hero (as "Hero" was Alm's advance class). In the Jugdral games, the class was a functional mix of the Mercenary and Myrmidon classes, class changing into either Swordmaster or Forrest depending on the character. Starting from ''The Binding Blade'', the two classes have become distinct from one another.
* DoppelgangerSpin: GBA Swordmasters move so fast that they leave behind illusions of themselves in their critical animation.
* DualWielding: ''Fates''' Swordmasters are capable of dual wielding some, but not all, swords.WhiteMagicianGirl: This is merely aesthetic and doesn't affect gameplay.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: With the exception of Archanea (because they didn't exist at the time until the remake) and Tellius, most myrmidons hail froma fictional version of an East Asian culture like the Mongols (Sacae) and Japanese (Chon'sin, Hoshido). Jehanna (a Middle Eastern-inspired desert nation) and Isaach don't follow this theme, although Isaach is described as an Eastern kingdom, are known to train Swordmasters and their AncestralWeapon loosely resembles a katana. The Swordmasters and Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'' retain the samurai aesthetic despite the lack of their version of Japan.
* FragileSpeedster: Myrmidons arevery weak and fragile compared to other infantry -- however, they have very high speed, meaning that they double attack more often and often rely on dodging to avoid damage. In ''Fates'', Samurai learns ''Duelist's Blow'', which raise their evasion by 30 when attacking, and Swordmaster passively gain an evasion boost. In ''Three Houses'', Myrmidon gain Speed +2 upon mastering common archetype for the class.
* GlassCannon: Masters of Arms get ''Life or Death'', which boosts their attack tremendously, but also decreases their defense drastically, making them easy to kill but at the same time giving them greater potential to kill.
* FlashStep: A general tendency of Swordmaster animations.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Swords with high critical rate, such as the Killing Edge and the Wo Dao are typically shaped like one and are the preferred weapons of this class family to complement their high Speed and Skill. In the Elibe games, the Wo Dao is exclusive to Myrmidons, Swordmasters and Lyn (whose Lord class is Swordmaster in all but name).
* MagicKnight: Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'' can use swords and magic.
* MasterSwordsman: The Swordmaster especially, as they are usually the best duelists in terms of speed and evasion. Swordmasters in ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' gain Swordfaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding swords.
* MultiMeleeMaster: Masters of Arms wield swords, axes, and lances to cover the entire weapon triangle.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Masters of Arms get ''Seal Strength'', which reduces the enemy's strength by 6 after battle.
* SwordAndFist: ''Fates''[='=] Swordmasters kick and follow up with a downward slash when they perform a critical hit.
* WarriorMonk: The Master of Arms resembles the Buddhist warrior monks known as sōhei, especially Musashibō Benkei, who collected the weapons of defeated challengers.class.
** The SwordSlayer weapon in'' The Blazing
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Valkryies in ''Three Houses'' gain ''Uncanny Blow'' upon mastering the class. It gives 30 extra hit when attacking.
* AlwaysFemale: Except in ''Fates'', all troubadours/valkyries were female. Female-exclusive Valkyries are entirely consistent with Norse mythology constantly referenced in the series, but "troubadour" was a name for a male bard historically.
* AutomatonHorses: Their horses are only seen in combat.
* BattleButler: The Butler class.
* BlackMage: Unlike most depictions of the class, ''Three Houses'' grants the class skills that focus on the strictly offensive black and dark magic spells. They can still use white magic and it is one of their proficiencies, but this incarnation is meant to be the offensive mage rider in contrast to the Holy Knight. Interestingly, this makes them a female counterpart to the Dark Knight, which also focuses on black and dark magic (the Tomefaire variants specifically).
* CastingAShadow: Of a sort. In a first for the series, ''Three Houses'' grants them a skill to extend the range of the user's dark magic spells, making them the only other class that females can access besides Gremory with some sort of dark magic skill.
* CombatMedic: Valkyries have offensive magic/the use of swords in addition to healing with staves. In the Jugdral games, troubadours can use swords from the start. In ''Fates'', they gain shuriken/daggers as their weapons as Maids and Butlers. In ''Three Houses'', Holy Knights can wield lances and have native access to White Tomefaire.
* CoolHorse: Troubadours are always mounted on them.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Resistance, a skill that boosts resistance by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Valkyries were called "Paladins" in Jugdral. They were wisely renamed Valkyries with the GBA installments to avoid confusion with regular Paladins, especially female ones like Midia.
* GenderBlenderName: Despite the class being all-female until ''Fates'', actual real-life troubadours (who were poets, not magical mounted staff users) were exclusively male, and the female term is Troubaritz. Strangely, these sorts of real-life Troubadours ''actually exist'' in the ''Fire Emblem'' universe as well, at least in the Tellius series[[note]]which lacks the unprompted Troubadour class; its sole Valkyrie, Mist, starts out as a Cleric[[/note]], as the ending of ''Path of Radiance'' mentions troubadours and one of the early chapter narrations for ''Radiant Dawn'' includes the phrase "or so the troubadours sing".
* HitAndRunTactics: Troubadours and Valkyries in the Jugdral and Tellius games can attack or heal and then move again with their remaining movement. Troubadours in the GBA games can only move again if they use a non-attacking or non-healing command.
* LightEmUp: The Valkyries in ''Sacred Stones'' and
* MageKiller: Their high Resistance stat allows them to deal with enemy mages. Maids and
** In many games,
* MagicKnight: The Holy Knights excel in faith magic and lances. In addition, they have White Tomefaire as their class skill, increasing their damage by 5 when using faith magic like Nosferatu and Aura.
* TheMedic: Their main battlefield role.
* NinjaMaid: The Maid class, exemplified with their combat style and shurikens as their weapons.
* ThePaladin: An ''actual'' depiction of the Paladin in the form of the Holy Knight, who are horse-riding knights that specialize in Faith (white magic).
* RedMage: Typically becomes a
*
* StatusBuff:
** Troubadours have Demoiselle for females in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'',
** Valkyries in ''Awakening'' and Strategists in ''Fates'' gain
** Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Inspiration, which grants all allies within 2 tiles of the user +2 damage given and -2 damage taken.
* SupportPartyMember: While they were originally sword-wielders in their first
* CriticalHitClass: They have high Skill and Speed to help
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. There are no enemy Butlers in ''Fates'',
* DamageReduction: Mortal Savant learns Warding Blow, a skill that reduces magic damage by 6 when attacking, upon mastering the
*
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Myrmidon class originated as the ''Gaiden'' equivalent of the Hero (as "Hero" was Alm's advance class). In the Jugdral games, the class was a functional mix of the Mercenary and Myrmidon classes, class changing into either Swordmaster or Forrest depending on the character. Starting from ''The Binding Blade'', the two classes have become distinct from one another.
* DoppelgangerSpin: GBA Swordmasters move so fast that they leave behind illusions of themselves in their critical animation.
* DualWielding: ''Fates''' Swordmasters are capable of dual wielding some, but not all, swords.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: With the exception of Archanea (because they didn't exist at the time until the remake) and Tellius, most myrmidons hail from
* FragileSpeedster: Myrmidons are
* GlassCannon: Masters of Arms get ''Life or Death'', which boosts their attack tremendously, but also decreases their defense drastically, making them easy to kill but at the same time giving them greater potential to kill.
* FlashStep: A general tendency of Swordmaster animations.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Swords with high critical rate, such as the Killing Edge and the Wo Dao are typically shaped like one and are the preferred weapons of this class family to complement their high Speed and Skill. In the Elibe games, the Wo Dao is exclusive to Myrmidons, Swordmasters and Lyn (whose Lord class is Swordmaster in all but name).
* MagicKnight: Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'' can use swords and magic.
* MasterSwordsman: The Swordmaster especially, as they are usually the best duelists in terms of speed and evasion. Swordmasters in ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' gain Swordfaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding swords.
* MultiMeleeMaster: Masters of Arms wield swords, axes, and lances to cover the entire weapon triangle.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Masters of Arms get ''Seal Strength'', which reduces the enemy's strength by 6 after battle.
* SwordAndFist: ''Fates''[='=] Swordmasters kick and follow up with a downward slash when they perform a critical hit.
* WarriorMonk: The Master of Arms resembles the Buddhist warrior monks known as sōhei, especially Musashibō Benkei, who collected the weapons of defeated challengers.
Changed line(s) 172,189 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Fighter]]
!!Fighter
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/707g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Fighters in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/868g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Warriors in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesonisavageportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Oni Savage in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesshuraportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Oni Chieftain in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesblacksmithportrait_8.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Blacksmith in ''Fates'']]
Fighters are axe-wielding infantry practically defined by their wild fighting style relying primarily on power; it's quite common to receive at least one at the start of the game. They Class Change to the '''Warrior''' class which gives them bows, and in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' Class Change again to the '''Reaver''' class. In ''Thracia 776'' and one of their options for class change in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' they also have the option to Class Change into '''Hero'''[[note]]They were renamed into ''Mercenary'' in ''Thracia 776''[[/note]] and gain the ability to use swords. In ''Fates'', Fighters become '''Berserkers''', rather than the usual Warriors. In ''Three Houses'', Fighters can also wield bows and gauntlets. In ''Engage'', the Fighter is a Backup-type class that is split by three weapon specialties, '''Sword Fighter''', '''Lance Fighter''', and '''Axe Fighter'''. The Axe Fighter functions similarly to its previous incarnation, with the Sword Fighter and Lance Fighter function similar to Mercenary and Soldier, respectively. The Axe Fighter can class change into either Berserker or Warrior.\\\
Related is the '''Oni Savage''' introduced in ''Fates'', which are more defensive compared to Fighters. They either Class Change into the '''Oni Chieftain''', which uses [[MagicKnight axes and tomes]] or branch into '''Blacksmith''', which uses axes and swords.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Barst, Bord, Cord (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Iucharba (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Orsin, Halvan, Ralf (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Lott, Wade, Bartre (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Dorcas, Bartre, Geitz (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Garcia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Boyd (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Nolan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Ymir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Dice, Jake (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Vaike, Basilio (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Rinkah, Arthur, Charlotte (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Caspar, Hilda, Alois (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''), Boucheron, Anna, Panette, Saphir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Fighter
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/707g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Fighters in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/868g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Warriors in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesonisavageportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Oni Savage in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesshuraportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Oni Chieftain in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesblacksmithportrait_8.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Blacksmith in ''Fates'']]
Fighters are axe-wielding infantry practically defined by their wild fighting style relying primarily on power; it's quite common to receive at least one at the start of the game. They Class Change to the '''Warrior''' class which gives them bows, and in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' Class Change again to the '''Reaver''' class. In ''Thracia 776'' and one of their options for class change in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' they also have the option to Class Change into '''Hero'''[[note]]They were renamed into ''Mercenary'' in ''Thracia 776''[[/note]] and gain the ability to use swords. In ''Fates'', Fighters become '''Berserkers''', rather than the usual Warriors. In ''Three Houses'', Fighters can also wield bows and gauntlets. In ''Engage'', the Fighter is a Backup-type class that is split by three weapon specialties, '''Sword Fighter''', '''Lance Fighter''', and '''Axe Fighter'''. The Axe Fighter functions similarly to its previous incarnation, with the Sword Fighter and Lance Fighter function similar to Mercenary and Soldier, respectively. The Axe Fighter can class change into either Berserker or Warrior.\\\
Related is the '''Oni Savage''' introduced in ''Fates'', which are more defensive compared to Fighters. They either Class Change into the '''Oni Chieftain''', which uses [[MagicKnight axes and tomes]] or branch into '''Blacksmith''', which uses axes and swords.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Barst, Bord, Cord (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Iucharba (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Orsin, Halvan, Ralf (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Lott, Wade, Bartre (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Dorcas, Bartre, Geitz (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Garcia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Boyd (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Nolan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Ymir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Dice, Jake (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Vaike, Basilio (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Rinkah, Arthur, Charlotte (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Caspar, Hilda, Alois (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''), Boucheron, Anna, Panette, Saphir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Fighter
!!Pegasus Knight
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[caption-width-right:350:Fighters
[[caption-width-right:350:Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[caption-width-right:350:Warriors
[[caption-width-right:350:Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[caption-width-right:256:Oni Savage
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Fliers in
[[quoteright:256:https://static.
[[quoteright:185:https://static.tvtropes.
[[caption-width-right:256:Oni Chieftain in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesblacksmithportrait_8.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Blacksmith
[[caption-width-right:185:Kinshi Knights in ''Fates'']]
Pegasus Knights can be considered among the most iconic classes in the series, and Intelligent Systems [[DisneyOwnsThisTrope currently has their name trademarked]].\\\
Related are the '''Princess Crimea''' and '''Queen''' classes, exclusive to Elincia in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''Radiant Dawn'', respectively, both classes wield swords and staves, but are otherwise identical to the normal pegasus classes, and '''Wing Tamer''' and '''Sleipnir Rider''', exclusive to Hortensia in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'', both classes that wields magic and staves.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''
Changed line(s) 191,208 (click to see context) from:
* AlwaysMale: All the playable and non-playable Fighters were male for ''fourteen games''. Charlotte in ''Fates'' is the first female to be a Fighter in the series. Until ''Three Houses'', Warriors remained male-only due to being left out of ''Fates.''
* AttackReflector: Warriors in ''Awakening'' and Oni Chieftains in ''Fates'' get the Counter skill, which reflects all damage back to the adjacent enemy. In ''Awakening'', Counter would reflect damage in battle, which makes enemy Warriors that spawn from reinforcements in higher difficulties very frustrating. In ''Fates'', it was {{Nerf}}ed in that it could only activate when the enemy starts the attack, not the user.
* BanditMook: As Brigands and Pirates are absent in ''Fates'', enemy Fighters take their role in representing the criminal axe-using classes and even class change into Berserker. This is further reflected by their increasingly thuggish appearance in that game.
* BareFistedMonk: The Fighters in ''Three Houses'' have a focus on Brawling weapons, alongside Axes and Bows. Meanwhile, Warriors specializes in Axes and Brawling, especially in Axes.
* BiggerIsBetter:
** The basis of the Warrior's mastery skill, Colossus, in ''Path of Radiance'' -- it deals more damage if the user's Constitution is greater than that of the enemy. This was changed in ''Radiant Dawn'', where Colossus merely triples the user's Strength.
** Fighters and their related classes are typically fairly large as well, reflected in their inherently high HP and Constitutions.
* TheBlacksmith: One of the advanced classes for the Oni Savage. They have a skill, ''Salvage Blow'', which allows them to gain an Iron weapon of any type depending on their Luck stat.
* BoisterousBruiser: Traditionally, playable Fighters are large, loud, and strong men.
* BoringButPractical: They may appear as an inferior option to Berserkers at first glance, neither possessing their [[CriticalHitClass passive critical hit chance]] or [[GeoEffects ability to traverse water and peak tiles]]. However, their [[StrongAndSkilled greater Constitution and Skill]] allow them to wield heavier weapons with greater reliability, and - as explained under ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill - could easily OneHitKO certain lance-weilding units even without a CriticalHit. In place of the Berserkers' promotion bonuses, Fighters gain access to the bow upon promoting to the Warrior class, which could provide them with a more reliable, versatile, and powerful option for ranged combat than the Hand Axe.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: With axes instead of swords for Warriors, as they can wield both axes and bows. The bow is an guarantee to kill any fliers with their high strength, even deal damage to Wyvern Riders, who have more defense than Pegasus Knights. Fighters in ''Three Houses'' have specialization in bows, alongside axes and fighting.
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: Fighters and Warriors are all [[MightyLumberjack Mighty Lumberjacks]], savage gladiators, tough outdoorsmen and rough mercenaries that wield axes. They also tend to be the largest and most muscular men. Thus it comes as no surprise they are the primary axe class in the series. The weight of axes in many titles means Fighters/Warriors will be some of the only units with the [[MusclesAreMeaningful constitution/strength]] to wield them effectively.
* CarryABigStick: While any units can wield clubs with their axe rank, the Oni Savage line are largely seen with clubs.
* CoolMask: The Oni Savage and Oni Chieftain all wears masks that resemble the oni demon. Though the Blacksmith wears a smithy's face shield instead.
* CriticalHitClass: The Oni Chieftains, to an extent. Though they lack a passive critical boost, clubs, the Hoshidan equivalent to axes and their primary type of weapons, typically have 5 critical (with one club known as the Great Club giving '''55''' critical at the cost of 45 hit) and their Death Blow skill giving them 20 critical when attacking, they can inflict critical hits more likely.
** Warriors in ''Three Houses'' gain 10 bonus critical hit for axes as a class skill and can learn Wrath.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Warriors in ''Three Houses'' gain Wrath upon mastering the class. Like most iteration, it increases their critical rate upon reaching below 50% of their HP, but it must when the enemy initiates the attack for it to activate. To compensate, it give a massive boost of 50 critical.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: The Oni Savage in ''Fates'' have Seal Resistance, which reduces the enemy's Resistance by 6 after combat if they survive. However, since they're mainly physical attackers, beside reclassing into Oni Chieftain who can also wield tomes or using the Bolt Axe, only other magical attackers can exploit the Resistance debuff.
* AttackReflector: Warriors in ''Awakening'' and Oni Chieftains in ''Fates'' get the Counter skill, which reflects all damage back to the adjacent enemy. In ''Awakening'', Counter would reflect damage in battle, which makes enemy Warriors that spawn from reinforcements in higher difficulties very frustrating. In ''Fates'', it was {{Nerf}}ed in that it could only activate when the enemy starts the attack, not the user.
* BanditMook: As Brigands and Pirates are absent in ''Fates'', enemy Fighters take their role in representing the criminal axe-using classes and even class change into Berserker. This is further reflected by their increasingly thuggish appearance in that game.
* BareFistedMonk: The Fighters in ''Three Houses'' have a focus on Brawling weapons, alongside Axes and Bows. Meanwhile, Warriors specializes in Axes and Brawling, especially in Axes.
* BiggerIsBetter:
** The basis of the Warrior's mastery skill, Colossus, in ''Path of Radiance'' -- it deals more damage if the user's Constitution is greater than that of the enemy. This was changed in ''Radiant Dawn'', where Colossus merely triples the user's Strength.
** Fighters and their related classes are typically fairly large as well, reflected in their inherently high HP and Constitutions.
* TheBlacksmith: One of the advanced classes for the Oni Savage. They have a skill, ''Salvage Blow'', which allows them to gain an Iron weapon of any type depending on their Luck stat.
* BoisterousBruiser: Traditionally, playable Fighters are large, loud, and strong men.
* BoringButPractical: They may appear as an inferior option to Berserkers at first glance, neither possessing their [[CriticalHitClass passive critical hit chance]] or [[GeoEffects ability to traverse water and peak tiles]]. However, their [[StrongAndSkilled greater Constitution and Skill]] allow them to wield heavier weapons with greater reliability, and - as explained under ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill - could easily OneHitKO certain lance-weilding units even without a CriticalHit. In place of the Berserkers' promotion bonuses, Fighters gain access to the bow upon promoting to the Warrior class, which could provide them with a more reliable, versatile, and powerful option for ranged combat than the Hand Axe.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: With axes instead of swords for Warriors, as they can wield both axes and bows. The bow is an guarantee to kill any fliers with their high strength, even deal damage to Wyvern Riders, who have more defense than Pegasus Knights. Fighters in ''Three Houses'' have specialization in bows, alongside axes and fighting.
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: Fighters and Warriors are all [[MightyLumberjack Mighty Lumberjacks]], savage gladiators, tough outdoorsmen and rough mercenaries that wield axes. They also tend to be the largest and most muscular men. Thus it comes as no surprise they are the primary axe class in the series. The weight of axes in many titles means Fighters/Warriors will be some of the only units with the [[MusclesAreMeaningful constitution/strength]] to wield them effectively.
* CarryABigStick: While any units can wield clubs with their axe rank, the Oni Savage line are largely seen with clubs.
* CoolMask: The Oni Savage and Oni Chieftain all wears masks that resemble the oni demon. Though the Blacksmith wears a smithy's face shield instead.
* CriticalHitClass: The Oni Chieftains, to an extent. Though they lack a passive critical boost, clubs, the Hoshidan equivalent to axes and their primary type of weapons, typically have 5 critical (with one club known as the Great Club giving '''55''' critical at the cost of 45 hit) and their Death Blow skill giving them 20 critical when attacking, they can inflict critical hits more likely.
** Warriors in ''Three Houses'' gain 10 bonus critical hit for axes as a class skill and can learn Wrath.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Warriors in ''Three Houses'' gain Wrath upon mastering the class. Like most iteration, it increases their critical rate upon reaching below 50% of their HP, but it must when the enemy initiates the attack for it to activate. To compensate, it give a massive boost of 50 critical.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: The Oni Savage in ''Fates'' have Seal Resistance, which reduces the enemy's Resistance by 6 after combat if they survive. However, since they're mainly physical attackers, beside reclassing into Oni Chieftain who can also wield tomes or using the Bolt Axe, only other magical attackers can exploit the Resistance debuff.
to:
* AlwaysMale: All the playable AchillesHeel: Pegasus Knights [[AntiAir suffer additional damage from bows and non-playable Fighters were male for ''fourteen games''. Charlotte in ''Fates'' is the first female to be a Fighter in the series. Until ''Three Houses'', Warriors remained male-only (sometimes) wind magic]] due to being left out of ''Fates.''
* AttackReflector: Warriors intheir status as flying units. In ''Awakening'' and Oni Chieftains ''Fates'', they are also weak to anti-beast weapons.
* AlwaysFemale: Playable Pegasus Knights are always female, though as mentioned in EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, enemy ones were male in ''Mystery''. ''Fates''get averts this, although the Counter skill, which reflects all damage explanation is different depending on the version of the game: the Japanese version calls them Tenma (the Japanese word for Pegasus, confusingly used for regular Pegasi in the past), while the English version simply says that they are a different breed from the traditional depiction. However, it's still played with, as the men who have this class, Subaki and Shigure, are known to be very pretty. Pegasus Knights go back to being female-only in ''Three Houses''. Notably pegasi are known to accept a man as an additional passenger to a female rider (as seen when Sumia rescues Chrom in ''Awakening''), and may carry a man they trust (by picking him up with their mouth as seen in the adjacent enemy. In ''Three Hopes'' support conversation between Ignatz and Marianne), they just draw the line at the man riding on their back and directing them.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Falcon Knights in most games can use swords and lances.
* CombatMedic: Falcon Knights in the Jugdral games, ''Awakening'',Counter would reflect damage in battle, which makes enemy Warriors that spawn from reinforcements in higher difficulties very frustrating. In ''Fates'', it was {{Nerf}}ed in that it could only activate when the enemy starts the attack, not the user.
* BanditMook: As Brigandsand Pirates are absent in ''Fates'', enemy Fighters take their role in representing the criminal axe-using classes and even class change into Berserker. This is further reflected by their increasingly thuggish appearance in that game.
* BareFistedMonk: The Fighters in ''Three Houses'' have a focus on Brawling weapons, alongside Axes and Bows. Meanwhile, Warriors specializes in Axes and Brawling, especially in Axes.
* BiggerIsBetter:
** The basis of the Warrior's mastery skill, Colossus, in ''Path of Radiance'' -- it deals more damage if the user's Constitution is greater than that of the enemy. This was changed in ''Radiant Dawn'', where Colossus merely triples the user's Strength.
** Fighters and their related classes are typically fairly large as well, reflected in their inherently high HP and Constitutions.
* TheBlacksmith: One of the advanced classes for the Oni Savage. They have a skill, ''Salvage Blow'', which allows them to gain an Iron weapon of any type depending on their Luck stat.
* BoisterousBruiser: Traditionally, playable Fighters are large, loud, and strong men.
* BoringButPractical: They may appear as an inferior option to Berserkers at first glance, neither possessing their [[CriticalHitClass passive critical hit chance]] or [[GeoEffects ability to traverse water and peak tiles]]. However, their [[StrongAndSkilled greater Constitution and Skill]] allow them to wield heavier weapons with greater reliability, and - as explained under ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill - could easily OneHitKO certain lance-weilding units even without a CriticalHit. In place of the Berserkers' promotion bonuses, Fighters gain access to the bow upon promoting to the Warrior class, which could provide them with a more reliable, versatile, and powerful option for ranged combat than the Hand Axe.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: With axes instead of swords for Warriors, as they''Fates'' can wield both axes and bows. The bow is an guarantee to kill any fliers with their high strength, even deal damage to Wyvern Riders, who have more defense than Pegasus Knights. Fighters in ''Three Houses'' have specialization in bows, alongside axes and fighting.
use healing staves.
*BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: Fighters and Warriors are all [[MightyLumberjack Mighty Lumberjacks]], savage gladiators, tough outdoorsmen and rough mercenaries that wield axes. They also tend to be the largest and most muscular men. Thus it comes as no surprise they are the primary axe class in the series. The weight of axes in many titles means Fighters/Warriors will be some of the only units with the [[MusclesAreMeaningful constitution/strength]] to wield them effectively.
* CarryABigStick: While any units can wield clubs with their axe rank, the Oni Savage line are largely seen with clubs.
* CoolMask: The Oni Savage and Oni Chieftain all wears masks that resemble the oni demon. Though the Blacksmith wears a smithy's face shield instead.
* CriticalHitClass: The Oni Chieftains, to an extent. Though they lack a passive critical boost, clubs, the Hoshidan equivalent to axes and their primary type of weapons, typically have 5 critical (with one club known as the Great Club giving '''55''' critical at the cost of 45 hit) and their Death Blow skill giving them 20 critical when attacking, they can inflict critical hits more likely.
** WarriorsCriticalStatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain 10 bonus critical hit for axes as Defiant Avoid, a class skill and can learn Wrath.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Warriors in ''Three Houses'' gain Wraththat boosts avoid by 30 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class. Like most iteration, it increases their critical rate upon reaching below 50% of their HP, but it must when the enemy initiates the attack for it to activate. To compensate, it give a massive boost of 50 critical.
class.
*DamageIncreasingDebuff: The Oni Savage DamageReduction: Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' have Seal Resistance, gain Warding Blow, which reduces the enemy's boosts Resistance by 6 after combat 20 if they survive. However, since they're mainly the user initiates combat.
* DifficultButAwesome: Pegasus Knights are among the (physically] squishiest classes in the series, which gives them relatively poor matchups against most other physicalattackers, beside reclassing into Oni Chieftain who units (''especially'' archers), but any seasoned veteran will tell you that they are worth the effort of training, as flying mobility is more often than not the best type of mobility and their high speed rates make up for their occasionally lacking strength and durability, not to mention the rescue and pair-up shenanigans that one can also wield tomes or using the Bolt Axe, only other magical attackers can exploit the Resistance debuff.perform with them.
* AttackReflector: Warriors in
* AlwaysFemale: Playable Pegasus Knights are always female, though as mentioned in EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, enemy ones were male in ''Mystery''. ''Fates''
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Falcon Knights in most games can use swords and lances.
* CombatMedic: Falcon Knights in the Jugdral games, ''Awakening'',
* BanditMook: As Brigands
* BareFistedMonk: The Fighters in ''Three Houses'' have a focus on Brawling weapons, alongside Axes and Bows. Meanwhile, Warriors specializes in Axes and Brawling, especially in Axes.
* BiggerIsBetter:
** The basis of the Warrior's mastery skill, Colossus, in ''Path of Radiance'' -- it deals more damage if the user's Constitution is greater than that of the enemy. This was changed in ''Radiant Dawn'', where Colossus merely triples the user's Strength.
** Fighters and their related classes are typically fairly large as well, reflected in their inherently high HP and Constitutions.
* TheBlacksmith: One of the advanced classes for the Oni Savage. They have a skill, ''Salvage Blow'', which allows them to gain an Iron weapon of any type depending on their Luck stat.
* BoisterousBruiser: Traditionally, playable Fighters are large, loud, and strong men.
* BoringButPractical: They may appear as an inferior option to Berserkers at first glance, neither possessing their [[CriticalHitClass passive critical hit chance]] or [[GeoEffects ability to traverse water and peak tiles]]. However, their [[StrongAndSkilled greater Constitution and Skill]] allow them to wield heavier weapons with greater reliability, and - as explained under ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill - could easily OneHitKO certain lance-weilding units even without a CriticalHit. In place of the Berserkers' promotion bonuses, Fighters gain access to the bow upon promoting to the Warrior class, which could provide them with a more reliable, versatile, and powerful option for ranged combat than the Hand Axe.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: With axes instead of swords for Warriors, as they
*
* CarryABigStick: While any units can wield clubs with their axe rank, the Oni Savage line are largely seen with clubs.
* CoolMask: The Oni Savage and Oni Chieftain all wears masks that resemble the oni demon. Though the Blacksmith wears a smithy's face shield instead.
* CriticalHitClass: The Oni Chieftains, to an extent. Though they lack a passive critical boost, clubs, the Hoshidan equivalent to axes and their primary type of weapons, typically have 5 critical (with one club known as the Great Club giving '''55''' critical at the cost of 45 hit) and their Death Blow skill giving them 20 critical when attacking, they can inflict critical hits more likely.
** Warriors
* CriticalStatusBuff: Warriors in ''Three Houses'' gain Wrath
*
* DifficultButAwesome: Pegasus Knights are among the (physically] squishiest classes in the series, which gives them relatively poor matchups against most other physical
Changed line(s) 210,239 (click to see context) from:
** Fighters were unable to class change in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem''; it wasn't until ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' where Fighters were able to class change into Warriors.
** Despite the class roll in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'' describing them as having low defense, the Fighters in your army have high defense growths that allow them to be {{Mighty Glacier}}s (in fact, they have a higher defense growth than '''Draug'''), likely compensating for their inability to class change. Similarly enemy Warriors in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'' also had good defense.
* GladiatorGames: Warriors in ''Awakening'' have a gladiatorial appearance, complete with the cassis crista.
* GlassCannon: Fighters and Warriors have massive strength, often the highest out of all physical-based classes, but their similarly huge HP pools are usually offset by low defense and ''especially'' low Resistance. In addition, Fighters in ''Three Houses'' learn Strength +2 upon mastering the class. They could only be true {{Mighty Glacier}}s with sufficient Dragonshield (and likely Talisman) investment. Averted with the Oni Savage line, which are more defensive than Fighters.
* {{Gonk}}: They have a tendency to be this or to avert GenericCuteness.
* HornsOfBarbarism: Warriors are usually depicted wearing horned helmets.
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: The Warrior's class skill Merciless increases their damage dealt against broken enemies by 50%.
* {{Knockback}}: The Berserker's class skill Smash+ allow Smash attacks to knock back the enemy by 2 spaces, instead of 1.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: While most physical users typically have little magic, Fighters are the worst in that they have no benefits with magic, Bolt Axe notwithstanding. Averted with [[MagicKnight Oni Chieftains]], as they can use tomes and Bolt Axe with decent magic and have a skill to lower the enemy's resistance.
* MagicKnight: Oni Chieftains can wield both axes and tomes, which helps with their magic stats and Seal Resistance.
* MightyGlacier:
** In the early games, Fighters and Warriors tended to be very slow but with high strength, HP and defense. Most games after ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' lowered their defense and raised their speed, but a few games like the DS Remakes return to their original stat spreads.
** The Oni Savage introduced in ''Fates'' is slow, but with high defense.
* {{Oni}}: Oni Savages and Oni Chieftains are based on the youkai.
* MusclesAreMeaningful:
** Even the youngest Fighters/Warriors, like Boyd and Osian, are noticeably muscular. They also all have high strength, HP and consitution stat. Note in the games with weight, most other units lack the strength and consitution to wield the heavy axes used by Fighters/Warriors.
** The Colossus skill in ''Path of Radiance'' allows Warriors to greatly increase their attack if their foe has less constiution (IE: muscle mass) then them, which certainly works out well for them as every single warrior in the game is a muscleman with great constituion.
* RangedEmergencyWeapon: What the bow usually amounts to for Warriors, given that they could only promote from axe-weilding classes, and thus will always have an inferior ranking in bows.
* SpectacularSpinning: Warriors' critical animatinos in the GBA games, and the Reaver's mastery skill Colossus in ''Radiant Dawn'' all involve alot of spinning.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Oni Savages get Seal Resistance to lower their enemy's resistance to magic.
* StatusBuff:
** Warriors in ''Awakening'' and Berserkers in ''Fates'' gain Rally Strength, which gives a boost to strength to allies when commanded.
** Oni Chieftains get Death Blow, where their critical rate increases by 20 points whenever they initiate an attack.
* StoneWall:
** Prior to ''Thracia 776', Axe classes had great defense stats, but the incredible weight and inaccuracy of axes prevented them from being good at dealing damage.
** The Oni Savage/Chieftain line in ''Fates'' is very defensive but not very good at offense, in contrast to the [[GlassCannon normal performance]] of axe units [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness post]] ''Genealogy Of the Holy War''.
* {{Stripperiffic}}: ''Fates'' introduces female Fighters, which wear what are effectively [[ChainmailBikini chainmail bikinis]] made of cloth. Even the male Fighter doesn't fare much better, with half their butts hanging out of what is basically a loin cloth.
* StrongAndSkilled: Many playable Fighters have passable Skill, allowing them to hit more accurately than the comparatively UnskilledButStrong Brigands and Pirates. To compensate, these Fighters have lower Speed, meaning that they will likely only be able to hit the opponent once per round, but have a greater guarantee in being able to do so.
* TheresNoKillLikeOverkill: They can easily OneHitKO [[AntiCavalry Cavaliers]] and [[AntiArmor Knights]] with halberds and hammers, respectively, as the effective properties of these weapons are further bolstered by their [[TacticalRockPaperScissors weapon triangle advantage]] over the lance-using Cavaliers and Knights, and the inherently high Strength of Fighter units. However, the shaky accuracy of these weapons makes them AwesomeButImpractical, an option to fall back on only when the player absolutely needs to dispose of a dangerous enemy immediately.
* WeakToMagic: Even in games where Warriors have a high defense stat, their resistance stats rank among the very worst in the game. The same applies to Blacksmith. This is not the case for Oni Chieftians, which have a good resistance stat.
** Despite the class roll in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'' describing them as having low defense, the Fighters in your army have high defense growths that allow them to be {{Mighty Glacier}}s (in fact, they have a higher defense growth than '''Draug'''), likely compensating for their inability to class change. Similarly enemy Warriors in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'' also had good defense.
* GladiatorGames: Warriors in ''Awakening'' have a gladiatorial appearance, complete with the cassis crista.
* GlassCannon: Fighters and Warriors have massive strength, often the highest out of all physical-based classes, but their similarly huge HP pools are usually offset by low defense and ''especially'' low Resistance. In addition, Fighters in ''Three Houses'' learn Strength +2 upon mastering the class. They could only be true {{Mighty Glacier}}s with sufficient Dragonshield (and likely Talisman) investment. Averted with the Oni Savage line, which are more defensive than Fighters.
* {{Gonk}}: They have a tendency to be this or to avert GenericCuteness.
* HornsOfBarbarism: Warriors are usually depicted wearing horned helmets.
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: The Warrior's class skill Merciless increases their damage dealt against broken enemies by 50%.
* {{Knockback}}: The Berserker's class skill Smash+ allow Smash attacks to knock back the enemy by 2 spaces, instead of 1.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: While most physical users typically have little magic, Fighters are the worst in that they have no benefits with magic, Bolt Axe notwithstanding. Averted with [[MagicKnight Oni Chieftains]], as they can use tomes and Bolt Axe with decent magic and have a skill to lower the enemy's resistance.
* MagicKnight: Oni Chieftains can wield both axes and tomes, which helps with their magic stats and Seal Resistance.
* MightyGlacier:
** In the early games, Fighters and Warriors tended to be very slow but with high strength, HP and defense. Most games after ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' lowered their defense and raised their speed, but a few games like the DS Remakes return to their original stat spreads.
** The Oni Savage introduced in ''Fates'' is slow, but with high defense.
* {{Oni}}: Oni Savages and Oni Chieftains are based on the youkai.
* MusclesAreMeaningful:
** Even the youngest Fighters/Warriors, like Boyd and Osian, are noticeably muscular. They also all have high strength, HP and consitution stat. Note in the games with weight, most other units lack the strength and consitution to wield the heavy axes used by Fighters/Warriors.
** The Colossus skill in ''Path of Radiance'' allows Warriors to greatly increase their attack if their foe has less constiution (IE: muscle mass) then them, which certainly works out well for them as every single warrior in the game is a muscleman with great constituion.
* RangedEmergencyWeapon: What the bow usually amounts to for Warriors, given that they could only promote from axe-weilding classes, and thus will always have an inferior ranking in bows.
* SpectacularSpinning: Warriors' critical animatinos in the GBA games, and the Reaver's mastery skill Colossus in ''Radiant Dawn'' all involve alot of spinning.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Oni Savages get Seal Resistance to lower their enemy's resistance to magic.
* StatusBuff:
** Warriors in ''Awakening'' and Berserkers in ''Fates'' gain Rally Strength, which gives a boost to strength to allies when commanded.
** Oni Chieftains get Death Blow, where their critical rate increases by 20 points whenever they initiate an attack.
* StoneWall:
** Prior to ''Thracia 776', Axe classes had great defense stats, but the incredible weight and inaccuracy of axes prevented them from being good at dealing damage.
** The Oni Savage/Chieftain line in ''Fates'' is very defensive but not very good at offense, in contrast to the [[GlassCannon normal performance]] of axe units [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness post]] ''Genealogy Of the Holy War''.
* {{Stripperiffic}}: ''Fates'' introduces female Fighters, which wear what are effectively [[ChainmailBikini chainmail bikinis]] made of cloth. Even the male Fighter doesn't fare much better, with half their butts hanging out of what is basically a loin cloth.
* StrongAndSkilled: Many playable Fighters have passable Skill, allowing them to hit more accurately than the comparatively UnskilledButStrong Brigands and Pirates. To compensate, these Fighters have lower Speed, meaning that they will likely only be able to hit the opponent once per round, but have a greater guarantee in being able to do so.
* TheresNoKillLikeOverkill: They can easily OneHitKO [[AntiCavalry Cavaliers]] and [[AntiArmor Knights]] with halberds and hammers, respectively, as the effective properties of these weapons are further bolstered by their [[TacticalRockPaperScissors weapon triangle advantage]] over the lance-using Cavaliers and Knights, and the inherently high Strength of Fighter units. However, the shaky accuracy of these weapons makes them AwesomeButImpractical, an option to fall back on only when the player absolutely needs to dispose of a dangerous enemy immediately.
* WeakToMagic: Even in games where Warriors have a high defense stat, their resistance stats rank among the very worst in the game. The same applies to Blacksmith. This is not the case for Oni Chieftians, which have a good resistance stat.
to:
** Fighters were unable to class change Pegasi become dragons in ''Shadow ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', in contrast to the two classes being foils to each other later on. It's {{Hand Wave}}d in some supports of ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', where Minerva releases her old pegasus for a more powerful wyvern mount. In addition, the DS remakes have the Elysian Whip, which allows Pegasus Knights to Class Change into Falcon Knights.
** Pegasus Knight {{Mook}}s were male in ''Mystery of theEmblem''; it wasn't until ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' where Fighters were able to class change into Warriors.
** Despite the class roll in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'' describing them as having low defense, the Fighters in your army have high defense growthsEmblem''. The stat interface also suggests that allow them to be {{Mighty Glacier}}s (in fact, they have a higher defense growth than '''Draug'''), likely compensating for they're male in the GBA installments as well, as their inability "Rescue" stat (which is pretty much irrelevant to class change. Similarly enemy Warriors in ''Genealogy of units since they never use the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'' also had good defense.
* GladiatorGames: Warriors in ''Awakening'' have a gladiatorial appearance, complete withrescue command unless you use the cassis crista.
* GlassCannon: Fighters and Warriors have massive strength, often the highest outenemy control glitch to take control of all physical-based classes, but them) is 25 minus their similarly huge HP pools Constitution (same as your male mounted units; your female ones are usually offset by low defense only 20 minus their Con).
** Pegasus Knights could use both swords and''especially'' low Resistance. In addition, Fighters lances at base in the earlier games, a trait that was given to Falcon Knights in the GBA games, Tellius games, the DS remake, and ''Three Houses''.
* EnergyAbsorption: Dark Fliers in ''Three Houses''learn Strength +2 upon mastering have the class. They could only be true {{Mighty Glacier}}s with sufficient Dragonshield (and likely Talisman) investment. Averted with the Oni Savage line, skill Transmute, which are more defensive than Fighters.
* {{Gonk}}: They have a tendencygrants them boosts to be this or to avert GenericCuteness.
* HornsOfBarbarism: Warriors are usually depicted wearing horned helmets.
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: The Warrior's class skill Merciless increases their damage dealt against broken enemiesall stats when hit by 50%.
* {{Knockback}}: The Berserker's class skill Smash+ allow Smashmagic attacks to knock back the enemy by 2 spaces, instead of 1.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: While most physical users typically have little magic, Fighters are the worst in that they have no benefits with magic, Bolt Axe notwithstanding. Averted with [[MagicKnight Oni Chieftains]], as they can use tomes and Bolt Axe with decent magic and have a skill to lowerduring the enemy's resistance.
* MagicKnight: Oni Chieftains can wield both axes and tomes, which helps with their magic stats and Seal Resistance.
* MightyGlacier:
** In the early games, Fighters and Warriors tended to be very slow but with high strength, HP and defense. Most games after ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' lowered their defense and raised their speed, but a few games like the DS Remakes return to their originalphase. The stat spreads.
**buffs last until the end of the user's next phase.
* ExtraTurn: TheOni Savage introduced in Galeforce skill exclusive to Dark Fliers allows the user to take another action upon initiating an attack that defeats an enemy unit. ''Fates'' is slow, but with high defense.
* {{Oni}}: Oni Savagesnerfed the skill so that it only activates when the user isn't supported by Attack and Oni Chieftains Guard Stances.
* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: As a result of being female-exclusive classes and the series lacking in high-ranking female villains[[note]]and even if they do, they arebased on rarely going to be of this class[[/note]], Pegasus Knight factions are usually depicted more sympathetically and protagonist-friendly. The few times they are assigned to antagonize the youkai.
* MusclesAreMeaningful:
** Evenplayers, it is usually fringe rebels revolting against their own respective kingdoms (Silesse and Ilia) or the youngest Fighters/Warriors, like Boyd and Osian, players are noticeably muscular. They also all have high strength, HP and consitution stat. Note intended to conquer them (Hoshido in ''Conquest''). ''Three Houses'', ironically, makes the games with weight, most other units lack Pegasus Knights the strength and consitution to wield the heavy axes go-to enemy flier used by Fighters/Warriors.
** The Colossus skill in ''Path of Radiance''the Adrestian Empire, as Wyvern Riders are largely associated with the foreign Almyra.
* FragileFlyer: Their high Speed typically allowsWarriors to greatly increase their attack if their foe has less constiution (IE: muscle mass) then them, which certainly works out well for them as every single warrior to get in at least two hits. However, they're vulnerable to arrows and wind-related magic.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* HitAndRunTactics: Pegasus Knights in thegame is a muscleman with great constituion.
* RangedEmergencyWeapon: What the bow usually amountsJugdral and Tellius games can move again after attacking, moving them to a safe distance to compensate for Warriors, given that they could only promote from axe-weilding classes, and thus will always have an inferior ranking in bows.
* SpectacularSpinning: Warriors' critical animatinos intheir low durability. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* HunterOfTheirOwnKind: Kinshi Knights are specialized in attacking other flying units, because they can wield bows and have theReaver's mastery skill Colossus ''Air Superiority'', which gives them a hit/avoid boost against flying units.
* InconsistentSpelling: "Falcon Knight" has been variously rendered as "Falcoknight", "Falconknight", and "Falcon Knight" in''Radiant Dawn'' all involve alot of spinning.
the English games.
*StatusInflictionAttack: Oni Savages get Seal Resistance to lower KryptoniteProofSuit: In many games, there are shield items which, when held by a flyer, negates their enemy's resistance weakness to magic.
bows. In ''Awakening'', Iote's Shield is a skill instead, acquired through clearing the Smash Brethren 3 [[DownloadableContent DLC]]. ''Fates'' has the same skill under the name Wing Shield, which is exclusive to Hinoka as an enemy in the ''Conquest'' route.
*StatusBuff:
** WarriorsJoustingLance: The starting and main weapon for Pegasus Knights are lances. Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and Berserkers ''Three Houses'' gain Lancefaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding lances.
* MageKiller: They're frequently lauded as such, given their high Resistance and access to physical weapons. Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts their Resistance by 20 when they initiate an attack.
* MagicKnight: Dark Fliers use offensive magic and lances.
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Falcoknight with an Elysian Whip, she is unable to reclass into Dracoknight.
* NobleBirdOfPrey: Kinshi Knights ditch the pegasus for a gigantic mythical bird known as a Kinshi.
* NonindicativeName: Like Dark Knight, Dark Fliers cannot use dark magic, despite their name, with the exception of Aversa, who has an exclusive skill named Shadowgift. This is remedied in ''Three Houses'', as dark magic is not locked in class, but they don't have Dark Tomefaire as one of their innate skills.
* TheParalyzer: Falcon Knights and Seraph Knights in the Tellius games have the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn (if they survive).
* {{Pegasus}}: They come in two different species as well. The one commonly seen in the series are known as Pegasus, but incorporate an aspect of the unicorn: the myth that unicorns would only accept pure-hearted maidens as their riders, though [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness this isn't the case]] in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. A support in ''Fates'' claims that the Pegasi in the game are actually [[Myth/ChineseMythology Tenma]], which are similar in appearance but do not care about gender (despite ''[=FE3=]'' depicting male Pegasus Knights). Though this is made confusing, as past games in Japan have used ''Tenma'' to refer to regular Pegasi. The English version of the same conversation changes this, saying that the Pegasi of ''Fates'' are a different breed.
* {{Retcon}}: Male Pegasus Knights may have been retconned as impossible based on a Support in ''Fates''. In the original ''Mystery of the Emblem'', enemy Pegasus Knights were explicitly male and Karin's explanation in ''Thracia 776'' left elbow room for potential exceptions.
* RuleOfThree: Traditionally, there are three available pegasus-riding units, often related to each other either through family or through job, who can execute a "Triangle Attack" when together. The Jugdral games are the only exceptions; the player never gets more than two Pegasus Knights in the same game, and in ''Genealogy'', the two are in different generations. ''Genealogy'' actually has a trio of ''enemy'' Falcon Knights who can Triangle Attack! The attack was absent in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', but was brought back in ''Shadows of Valentia'', albeit as a combat art. Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'' can get the Triangle Attack Combat Art when mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain RallyStrength, Speed, which gives a boost to strength to allies allies' Speed when commanded.
** Oni Chieftains get Death Blow, where * WhiteStallion: Their pegasi almost always have marble white coat, with the obvious exception of the Dark Fliers.
* WingedUnicorn: Normally, theircritical rate increases by 20 points whenever they initiate an attack.
* StoneWall:
** Priormounts look like this after class changing to ''Thracia 776', Axe classes had great defense stats, but Falcon Knight, though it's entirely possible that the incredible weight and inaccuracy horn is just part of axes prevented them from being good at dealing damage.
** The Oni Savage/Chieftain line in ''Fates'' is very defensive but not very good at offense, in contrast tothe [[GlassCannon normal performance]] of axe units [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness post]] ''Genealogy Of the Holy War''.
* {{Stripperiffic}}: ''Fates'' introduces female Fighters, which wear what are effectively [[ChainmailBikini chainmail bikinis]]pegasus' head armor. In ''Three Hopes'' it is made of cloth. Even the male Fighter doesn't fare much better, with half clear that at least their butts hanging out version of what is basically a loin cloth.
* StrongAndSkilled: Many playable Fighters have passable Skill, allowing them to hit more accurately than the comparatively UnskilledButStrong Brigands and Pirates. To compensate, these Fighters have lower Speed, meaning that they will likely only be able to hit the opponent once per round, butpromoted pegasi have a greater guarantee in being able to do so.
* TheresNoKillLikeOverkill: They can easily OneHitKO [[AntiCavalry Cavaliers]] and [[AntiArmor Knights]] with halberds and hammers, respectively, as the effective properties of these weapons are further bolstered byreal horn growing from their [[TacticalRockPaperScissors weapon triangle advantage]] over the lance-using Cavaliers and Knights, and the inherently high Strength of Fighter units. However, the shaky accuracy of these weapons makes them AwesomeButImpractical, an option to fall back on only when the player absolutely needs to dispose of a dangerous enemy immediately.
* WeakToMagic: Even in games where Warriors have a high defense stat,forehead, as promoted pegasi without their resistance stats rank among the very worst battle armor can be seen in the game. The same applies to Blacksmith. This is not stables of the case for Oni Chieftians, which have a good resistance stat.army base camp.
** Pegasus Knight {{Mook}}s were male in ''Mystery of the
** Despite the class roll in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'' describing them as having low defense, the Fighters in your army have high defense growths
* GladiatorGames: Warriors in ''Awakening'' have a gladiatorial appearance, complete with
* GlassCannon: Fighters and Warriors have massive strength, often the highest out
** Pegasus Knights could use both swords and
* EnergyAbsorption: Dark Fliers in ''Three Houses''
* {{Gonk}}: They have a tendency
* HornsOfBarbarism: Warriors are usually depicted wearing horned helmets.
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: The Warrior's class skill Merciless increases their damage dealt against broken enemies
* {{Knockback}}: The Berserker's class skill Smash+ allow Smash
* MagicallyIneptFighter: While most physical users typically have little magic, Fighters are the worst in that they have no benefits with magic, Bolt Axe notwithstanding. Averted with [[MagicKnight Oni Chieftains]], as they can use tomes and Bolt Axe with decent magic and have a skill to lower
* MagicKnight: Oni Chieftains can wield both axes and tomes, which helps with their magic stats and Seal Resistance.
* MightyGlacier:
** In the early games, Fighters and Warriors tended to be very slow but with high strength, HP and defense. Most games after ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' lowered their defense and raised their speed, but a few games like the DS Remakes return to their original
**
* ExtraTurn: The
* {{Oni}}: Oni Savages
* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: As a result of being female-exclusive classes and the series lacking in high-ranking female villains[[note]]and even if they do, they are
* MusclesAreMeaningful:
** Even
** The Colossus skill in ''Path of Radiance''
* FragileFlyer: Their high Speed typically allows
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* HitAndRunTactics: Pegasus Knights in the
* RangedEmergencyWeapon: What the bow usually amounts
* SpectacularSpinning: Warriors' critical animatinos in
* HunterOfTheirOwnKind: Kinshi Knights are specialized in attacking other flying units, because they can wield bows and have the
* InconsistentSpelling: "Falcon Knight" has been variously rendered as "Falcoknight", "Falconknight", and "Falcon Knight" in
*
*
** Warriors
* MageKiller: They're frequently lauded as such, given their high Resistance and access to physical weapons. Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts their Resistance by 20 when they initiate an attack.
* MagicKnight: Dark Fliers use offensive magic and lances.
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Falcoknight with an Elysian Whip, she is unable to reclass into Dracoknight.
* NobleBirdOfPrey: Kinshi Knights ditch the pegasus for a gigantic mythical bird known as a Kinshi.
* NonindicativeName: Like Dark Knight, Dark Fliers cannot use dark magic, despite their name, with the exception of Aversa, who has an exclusive skill named Shadowgift. This is remedied in ''Three Houses'', as dark magic is not locked in class, but they don't have Dark Tomefaire as one of their innate skills.
* TheParalyzer: Falcon Knights and Seraph Knights in the Tellius games have the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn (if they survive).
* {{Pegasus}}: They come in two different species as well. The one commonly seen in the series are known as Pegasus, but incorporate an aspect of the unicorn: the myth that unicorns would only accept pure-hearted maidens as their riders, though [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness this isn't the case]] in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. A support in ''Fates'' claims that the Pegasi in the game are actually [[Myth/ChineseMythology Tenma]], which are similar in appearance but do not care about gender (despite ''[=FE3=]'' depicting male Pegasus Knights). Though this is made confusing, as past games in Japan have used ''Tenma'' to refer to regular Pegasi. The English version of the same conversation changes this, saying that the Pegasi of ''Fates'' are a different breed.
* {{Retcon}}: Male Pegasus Knights may have been retconned as impossible based on a Support in ''Fates''. In the original ''Mystery of the Emblem'', enemy Pegasus Knights were explicitly male and Karin's explanation in ''Thracia 776'' left elbow room for potential exceptions.
* RuleOfThree: Traditionally, there are three available pegasus-riding units, often related to each other either through family or through job, who can execute a "Triangle Attack" when together. The Jugdral games are the only exceptions; the player never gets more than two Pegasus Knights in the same game, and in ''Genealogy'', the two are in different generations. ''Genealogy'' actually has a trio of ''enemy'' Falcon Knights who can Triangle Attack! The attack was absent in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', but was brought back in ''Shadows of Valentia'', albeit as a combat art. Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'' can get the Triangle Attack Combat Art when mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Rally
* WingedUnicorn: Normally, their
* StoneWall:
** Prior
** The Oni Savage/Chieftain line in ''Fates'' is very defensive but not very good at offense, in contrast to
* {{Stripperiffic}}: ''Fates'' introduces female Fighters, which wear what are effectively [[ChainmailBikini chainmail bikinis]]
* StrongAndSkilled: Many playable Fighters have passable Skill, allowing them to hit more accurately than the comparatively UnskilledButStrong Brigands and Pirates. To compensate, these Fighters have lower Speed, meaning that they will likely only be able to hit the opponent once per round, but
* TheresNoKillLikeOverkill: They can easily OneHitKO [[AntiCavalry Cavaliers]] and [[AntiArmor Knights]] with halberds and hammers, respectively, as the effective properties of these weapons are further bolstered by
* WeakToMagic: Even in games where Warriors have a high defense stat,
Changed line(s) 242,258 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Brigand and Pirate]]
!!Brigand
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/759g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Brigands in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:246:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_berserker_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:246:Berserkers in ''Fates'']]
Imagine Fighters, except even more thuggish and disreputable; the end result is basically what Brigands and Pirates are in the franchise. Brigands, sometimes known as '''Barbarians''', are a recurring bandit class that are known to [[RapePillageAndBurn pillage and rob villages of their contents (and also burn the village to the ground, just to add insult to injury)]]. Brigands' stats are much like the Fighter's, except theirs are more exaggerated, with more HP and Strength but even lower Skill and Defense; since the sixth game. However, one major difference between the two is that Brigands and Pirates tend to be much faster. Brigands often have the ability to cross mountains and peaks, typically when appearing alongside pirates.\\\
''Thracia 776'' is the first game to have playable Brigands and the appearance of the '''Berserker''', except the latter are an enemy-exclusive class. Brigands instead class change to the '''Warrior''' class. In ''The Binding Blade'', they Class Change into the '''Berserker''', which boosts their already high offense and gives them a critical boost.\\\
'''Pirates''' are similar to the Brigands, except they swap the ability to move across mountain with water. Like the '''Brigand''', they Class Change to '''Berserker''' as well as the '''Warrior''' class in ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Awakening''. Though their stats are mostly the same as brigands, pirates tend to have a little more Speed in exchange for less Strength. In games where pirates and brigands can cross water and mountain tiles respectively, berserkers will generally be able to cross both.\\\
These classes are almost always characterized as overly muscular thugs with wearing bandanas and ragged clothing that shows off their intimidating physique. Their faces tend to be rather homely in appearance. The first opponents within the game are almost always Brigands or pirates who [[TacticalRockPaperScissors end up at a disadvantage]] against the sword-wielding lord they just can't hit.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Darros (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Dagdar, Marty (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Gonzales, Geese, Garrett (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''), Dart, Hawkeye (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Dozla (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Largo (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'')
!!Brigand
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/759g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Brigands in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:246:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_berserker_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:246:Berserkers in ''Fates'']]
Imagine Fighters, except even more thuggish and disreputable; the end result is basically what Brigands and Pirates are in the franchise. Brigands, sometimes known as '''Barbarians''', are a recurring bandit class that are known to [[RapePillageAndBurn pillage and rob villages of their contents (and also burn the village to the ground, just to add insult to injury)]]. Brigands' stats are much like the Fighter's, except theirs are more exaggerated, with more HP and Strength but even lower Skill and Defense; since the sixth game. However, one major difference between the two is that Brigands and Pirates tend to be much faster. Brigands often have the ability to cross mountains and peaks, typically when appearing alongside pirates.\\\
''Thracia 776'' is the first game to have playable Brigands and the appearance of the '''Berserker''', except the latter are an enemy-exclusive class. Brigands instead class change to the '''Warrior''' class. In ''The Binding Blade'', they Class Change into the '''Berserker''', which boosts their already high offense and gives them a critical boost.\\\
'''Pirates''' are similar to the Brigands, except they swap the ability to move across mountain with water. Like the '''Brigand''', they Class Change to '''Berserker''' as well as the '''Warrior''' class in ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Awakening''. Though their stats are mostly the same as brigands, pirates tend to have a little more Speed in exchange for less Strength. In games where pirates and brigands can cross water and mountain tiles respectively, berserkers will generally be able to cross both.\\\
These classes are almost always characterized as overly muscular thugs with wearing bandanas and ragged clothing that shows off their intimidating physique. Their faces tend to be rather homely in appearance. The first opponents within the game are almost always Brigands or pirates who [[TacticalRockPaperScissors end up at a disadvantage]] against the sword-wielding lord they just can't hit.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Darros (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Dagdar, Marty (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Gonzales, Geese, Garrett (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''), Dart, Hawkeye (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Dozla (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Largo (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'')
to:
!!Brigand
!!Wyvern Rider/Dracoknight (''Dragon Knight'')
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/revenant_knight.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Malig Knights in ''Fates'']]
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''
Changed line(s) 260,305 (click to see context) from:
* AchillesHeel: In the original ''Mystery of the Emblem'', all criminal classes take extra damage from the Ladyblade. Note this is removed in all subsequent games including the remake of ''Mystery of the Emblem''.
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Whilst all brigands aren't the same character obviously, generic brigand portraits are usually at least disshevled with plain looking faces. The generic Brigand portrait of ''Three House'' on the other hand, is a handsome and clean cut young man.
* AlwaysMale: Until ''Three Houses'', the Brigand class was only exclusive to males. Averted with the Berserker, since Fighters can Class Change to that in ''Fates'' unlike other games.
* BadassesWearBandanas: Pirates always wear bandanas. Brigands and Berserkers often wear them as well.
* BanditMook: Brigands and Pirates, when in the service of the enemy, [[RapePillageAndBurn destroy villages]] which give out items and money.
* TheBerserker: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Guess.]] That said, playable members of the class are normally an aversion, bearing no such tendencies beyond their class name.
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: They can only wield axes as their weapons, and the Berserker is an Axe specialist much like the Swordmaster is to swords. Berserkers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Axefaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding axes.
* ButterFace: Brigands tend to have very muscular physiques that put a bodybuilder to shame, but with ugly faces.
* CriticalHitClass: The ''Berserker'' outside of ''Thracia 776'', ''Awakening'', and the [[RegionalBonus Japanese version]] of ''Path of Radiance'', has an innate critical rate bonus, making them very capable of killing anything in one hit because of their high strength. With that said, their relatively poor Skill means they don't crit quite as reliably as Swordmasters. Berserkers in ''Thracia 776'' instead have Wrath, turning ''all'' of their attacks into Critical Hits when it isn't their turn.
* CriticalStatusBuff: The ''Wrath'' skill in the Jugdral games as well as ''Awakening'', which increases their critical rate when under 50% HP (under 30% HP in ''Radiant Dawn'', whenever the unit is attacked in ''Thracia 776'').
* DressedToPlunder: Pirates wear the usual garb.
* DualWielding: Pirates in the GBA games attack with two axes in hand, although they're purely aesthetic. The map sprites for pirates in [=FE4=] did this early, but again, it was only aesthetic.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Pirates were unable to class change in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'': it wasn't until ''Thracia 776'' that allowed Brigands to class change, but ''Binding Blade'' was the first game to allow Brigands and Pirates to class change into Berserkers.
** Like the fighters, the Brigands/Pirates had stats more along the line of a MightyGlacier in the original ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'', despite the class roll in the first and third games describing them as having low defense. It is likely to compensate for Darros not being able to class change and the weight of axes preventing axe-users from double attacking.
** Pirates and Barbarians can't destroy villages in the Archanea games, a trait that appears in later games. Only Thieves could destroy villages in those games. Barbarian was also the strongest axe user around, on par with a promoted class.
** Berserkers first appeared in ''Thracia 776'', except while still associated with criminals, it was an enemy-exclusive class, as the only brigand in the game (Marty) class changes into Warrior. This also makes Dagdar technically be a Brigand, as the Fighter Class Changes to Hero in that game.
* FaceOfAThug: Several members have scary and ugly faces, but a good heart behind it, the most prominent being Gonzales.
* FragileSpeedster: Pirates are generally faster and frailer than their brigand counterparts. Ironically, this can actually make them more durable in practice, since they're less prone to getting doubled.
* GeoEffects: In the GBA games, Pirates and Brigands are unique among infantry units for being able to walk on water and mountain/peak tiles, and Berserkers can cross both. The latter is especially helpful, since mountains and peaks give phenomenal defense and avoid bonuses that can compensate for their low defenses and turn them into functional {{Lightning Bruiser}}s.
* {{Gonk}}: Both classes tend to have grotesque appearances, though pirates are comparatively more likely to be handsome such as the rugged Geese in ''Binding Blade.''
* GlassCannon: They have among the highest strength of any class on top of generally good speed (the latter can vary, since playable units that start out as a Berserker are usually slow to encourage you to train a faster Pirate/Brigand from the ground up) but have even worse defenses than the Fighter and Warrior, and are almost always more inaccurate as well. This is somewhat mitigated by their massive HP pools and decent avoid chances and can be almost entirely remedied if they're getting the aforementioned defense and avoid bonuses from mountain/peak tiles.
** ''Fates'' Berserkers are much riskier, as while they gain +20 critical rate, the highest critical rate gain in the game, they lose -5 critical avoid (the only class which has a negative boost), which makes enemies score critical hits more easily on ''them''.
* {{Gonk}}: Even moreso than Fighters. Due to the vast majority of them [[EvilMakesYouUgly being enemies]], they tend to be among the ugliest characters that players will cross paths with. Even playable Brigands like Gonzalez aren't saved from this.
* TheGoomba: Brigands or Pirates are almost always the first opponents of the game, starting all the way to the first game. Unlike most examples, Brigands/Pirates have good HP and Strength, and their ability to climb mountains/peaks (and [[GeoEffects gain immense defense/avoid bonuses]]) might make them very difficult to take down, but their inability to hit spells their doom. The ones in ''Gaiden'' have weak stats all around.
* HornsOfBarbarism: Like Warriors, most portrayals of Berserkers have them wear horned helmets.
* {{Irony}}: Berserkers come with a [[CriticalHitClass passive critical hit chance]], but often possess an atrocious Skill stat (which governs a character's chances of a CriticalHit). The former works almost like a compensation for the latter, as it guarantees that they still possess a fair chance of landing a CriticalHit even if they can't reliably strike their enemies. In more extreme cases, like with Gonzalez in ''The Binding Blade'', they may actually have a ''higher'' chance to crit the enemy than to hit them at all!
* MountainMan: Brigands and Berserkers literally have the ability to perch themselves on "peak" terrain [[GeoEffects for high defense/evasion bonuses]]. They also embody the spirit of the trope - despite being in a StandardFantasySetting rather than TheWestern - with their rugged, burly appearance and separation from civil society.
* MusclesAreMeaningful:
** Just like Fighters, they always have awesome HP, strength and constitution because of their huge muscles and stature.
** Notably even the StarterVillain bandits have better constitution than nearly all your units in the games where the stat exists. ''Path of Radiance'' also lets Berserker's triple their attack when facing units with lower consitution when they use the mastery skill "colossus".
* NemeanSkinning: Berserkers in ''Path of Radiance'' wear wolf skins. Berserkers in ''Fates'' also wear wolf pelts under their armor.
* PaperTiger: Enemy Brigands and Pirates, whose mighty Strength and HP pools are undermined by every other stat, including Skill, which [[PowerfulButInaccurate prevents them from hitting player characters at all]]. This cements them as TheGoomba, in spite of their fearsome look. {{Averted|Trope}} with Berserkers, whom are dangerous with their passive CriticalHit chance.
* {{Pirate}}: Pirates are nautical version of Brigands who can cross through water and destroy villages. Compared to Fighters and Brigands, Pirates have low HP and strength but high speed.
* RoarBeforeBeating: The critical hits of Brigands in the GBA games. Berserkers do this when Colossus is activated in ''Path of Radiance''.
* StalkedByTheBell: This class serves to punish players that play too cautiously. Take too long to get to the village in a different part of the map? [[BanditMook These guys]] will get there first, ransacking the place and denying the player any bonuses they would've received from it.
* StatusBuff: Brigands in ''Three Houses'' gain Death Blow upon mastering the class. It is more similar to ''Heroes'' iteration of Death Blow, which increases strength when initiating the attack.
* TruthInTelevision: Pirates and Berserkers can swim with axes in hand. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXEA-qNcFD0&list=PLc1JElvFHF_d_UXL1uyi2VassvmFKJkY9&index=7 This is surprisingly feasible with certain types of real-life axes]]: wooden handles give the axe buoyancy, while bearded axe heads can be used as a makeshift paddle.
* TurnsRed: Berserkers in ''Awakening'' can get the Wrath skill, which increases their critical rate when under half of their max HP.
* UniqueEnemy:
** There's a class called "Corsair" that appears in '''one chapter''' of ''Blazing Blade'' (on one route of a path split, no less) that is essentially a re-skinned Pirate.
** There is a [[InNameOnly "Berserker"]] in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', except it was just a renamed Hero with a unique map sprite and only existed in one chapter[[note]]They are also called "Evil Fighter", but it's not the name of their class[[/note]]. In the remake, the "Berserker" was replaced by a Swordmaster.
* UnskilledButStrong: Their stats are much more exaggerated than the Fighter's, typically higher HP, Strength and Speed but even lower Skill and defenses (which is funny, considering that critical hits are a huge part of the Berserker's shtick). Averted in ''Fates'', where Berserkers have decent Skill by ''Fates'' standards.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Often applies, especially with Berserkers.
* WarmUpBoss: Typically, most of the early-game bosses are Brigands and many Lords often use [[HeroesPreferSwords swords]], allowing them to easily defeat the bosses.
* WeakToMagic: Being a GlassCannon, it isn't surpirsign that Berserkers have the lowest resistance around, even more than Wyvern Lord.
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Whilst all brigands aren't the same character obviously, generic brigand portraits are usually at least disshevled with plain looking faces. The generic Brigand portrait of ''Three House'' on the other hand, is a handsome and clean cut young man.
* AlwaysMale: Until ''Three Houses'', the Brigand class was only exclusive to males. Averted with the Berserker, since Fighters can Class Change to that in ''Fates'' unlike other games.
* BadassesWearBandanas: Pirates always wear bandanas. Brigands and Berserkers often wear them as well.
* BanditMook: Brigands and Pirates, when in the service of the enemy, [[RapePillageAndBurn destroy villages]] which give out items and money.
* TheBerserker: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Guess.]] That said, playable members of the class are normally an aversion, bearing no such tendencies beyond their class name.
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: They can only wield axes as their weapons, and the Berserker is an Axe specialist much like the Swordmaster is to swords. Berserkers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Axefaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding axes.
* ButterFace: Brigands tend to have very muscular physiques that put a bodybuilder to shame, but with ugly faces.
* CriticalHitClass: The ''Berserker'' outside of ''Thracia 776'', ''Awakening'', and the [[RegionalBonus Japanese version]] of ''Path of Radiance'', has an innate critical rate bonus, making them very capable of killing anything in one hit because of their high strength. With that said, their relatively poor Skill means they don't crit quite as reliably as Swordmasters. Berserkers in ''Thracia 776'' instead have Wrath, turning ''all'' of their attacks into Critical Hits when it isn't their turn.
* CriticalStatusBuff: The ''Wrath'' skill in the Jugdral games as well as ''Awakening'', which increases their critical rate when under 50% HP (under 30% HP in ''Radiant Dawn'', whenever the unit is attacked in ''Thracia 776'').
* DressedToPlunder: Pirates wear the usual garb.
* DualWielding: Pirates in the GBA games attack with two axes in hand, although they're purely aesthetic. The map sprites for pirates in [=FE4=] did this early, but again, it was only aesthetic.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Pirates were unable to class change in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'': it wasn't until ''Thracia 776'' that allowed Brigands to class change, but ''Binding Blade'' was the first game to allow Brigands and Pirates to class change into Berserkers.
** Like the fighters, the Brigands/Pirates had stats more along the line of a MightyGlacier in the original ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'', despite the class roll in the first and third games describing them as having low defense. It is likely to compensate for Darros not being able to class change and the weight of axes preventing axe-users from double attacking.
** Pirates and Barbarians can't destroy villages in the Archanea games, a trait that appears in later games. Only Thieves could destroy villages in those games. Barbarian was also the strongest axe user around, on par with a promoted class.
** Berserkers first appeared in ''Thracia 776'', except while still associated with criminals, it was an enemy-exclusive class, as the only brigand in the game (Marty) class changes into Warrior. This also makes Dagdar technically be a Brigand, as the Fighter Class Changes to Hero in that game.
* FaceOfAThug: Several members have scary and ugly faces, but a good heart behind it, the most prominent being Gonzales.
* FragileSpeedster: Pirates are generally faster and frailer than their brigand counterparts. Ironically, this can actually make them more durable in practice, since they're less prone to getting doubled.
* GeoEffects: In the GBA games, Pirates and Brigands are unique among infantry units for being able to walk on water and mountain/peak tiles, and Berserkers can cross both. The latter is especially helpful, since mountains and peaks give phenomenal defense and avoid bonuses that can compensate for their low defenses and turn them into functional {{Lightning Bruiser}}s.
* {{Gonk}}: Both classes tend to have grotesque appearances, though pirates are comparatively more likely to be handsome such as the rugged Geese in ''Binding Blade.''
* GlassCannon: They have among the highest strength of any class on top of generally good speed (the latter can vary, since playable units that start out as a Berserker are usually slow to encourage you to train a faster Pirate/Brigand from the ground up) but have even worse defenses than the Fighter and Warrior, and are almost always more inaccurate as well. This is somewhat mitigated by their massive HP pools and decent avoid chances and can be almost entirely remedied if they're getting the aforementioned defense and avoid bonuses from mountain/peak tiles.
** ''Fates'' Berserkers are much riskier, as while they gain +20 critical rate, the highest critical rate gain in the game, they lose -5 critical avoid (the only class which has a negative boost), which makes enemies score critical hits more easily on ''them''.
* {{Gonk}}: Even moreso than Fighters. Due to the vast majority of them [[EvilMakesYouUgly being enemies]], they tend to be among the ugliest characters that players will cross paths with. Even playable Brigands like Gonzalez aren't saved from this.
* TheGoomba: Brigands or Pirates are almost always the first opponents of the game, starting all the way to the first game. Unlike most examples, Brigands/Pirates have good HP and Strength, and their ability to climb mountains/peaks (and [[GeoEffects gain immense defense/avoid bonuses]]) might make them very difficult to take down, but their inability to hit spells their doom. The ones in ''Gaiden'' have weak stats all around.
* HornsOfBarbarism: Like Warriors, most portrayals of Berserkers have them wear horned helmets.
* {{Irony}}: Berserkers come with a [[CriticalHitClass passive critical hit chance]], but often possess an atrocious Skill stat (which governs a character's chances of a CriticalHit). The former works almost like a compensation for the latter, as it guarantees that they still possess a fair chance of landing a CriticalHit even if they can't reliably strike their enemies. In more extreme cases, like with Gonzalez in ''The Binding Blade'', they may actually have a ''higher'' chance to crit the enemy than to hit them at all!
* MountainMan: Brigands and Berserkers literally have the ability to perch themselves on "peak" terrain [[GeoEffects for high defense/evasion bonuses]]. They also embody the spirit of the trope - despite being in a StandardFantasySetting rather than TheWestern - with their rugged, burly appearance and separation from civil society.
* MusclesAreMeaningful:
** Just like Fighters, they always have awesome HP, strength and constitution because of their huge muscles and stature.
** Notably even the StarterVillain bandits have better constitution than nearly all your units in the games where the stat exists. ''Path of Radiance'' also lets Berserker's triple their attack when facing units with lower consitution when they use the mastery skill "colossus".
* NemeanSkinning: Berserkers in ''Path of Radiance'' wear wolf skins. Berserkers in ''Fates'' also wear wolf pelts under their armor.
* PaperTiger: Enemy Brigands and Pirates, whose mighty Strength and HP pools are undermined by every other stat, including Skill, which [[PowerfulButInaccurate prevents them from hitting player characters at all]]. This cements them as TheGoomba, in spite of their fearsome look. {{Averted|Trope}} with Berserkers, whom are dangerous with their passive CriticalHit chance.
* {{Pirate}}: Pirates are nautical version of Brigands who can cross through water and destroy villages. Compared to Fighters and Brigands, Pirates have low HP and strength but high speed.
* RoarBeforeBeating: The critical hits of Brigands in the GBA games. Berserkers do this when Colossus is activated in ''Path of Radiance''.
* StalkedByTheBell: This class serves to punish players that play too cautiously. Take too long to get to the village in a different part of the map? [[BanditMook These guys]] will get there first, ransacking the place and denying the player any bonuses they would've received from it.
* StatusBuff: Brigands in ''Three Houses'' gain Death Blow upon mastering the class. It is more similar to ''Heroes'' iteration of Death Blow, which increases strength when initiating the attack.
* TruthInTelevision: Pirates and Berserkers can swim with axes in hand. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXEA-qNcFD0&list=PLc1JElvFHF_d_UXL1uyi2VassvmFKJkY9&index=7 This is surprisingly feasible with certain types of real-life axes]]: wooden handles give the axe buoyancy, while bearded axe heads can be used as a makeshift paddle.
* TurnsRed: Berserkers in ''Awakening'' can get the Wrath skill, which increases their critical rate when under half of their max HP.
* UniqueEnemy:
** There's a class called "Corsair" that appears in '''one chapter''' of ''Blazing Blade'' (on one route of a path split, no less) that is essentially a re-skinned Pirate.
** There is a [[InNameOnly "Berserker"]] in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', except it was just a renamed Hero with a unique map sprite and only existed in one chapter[[note]]They are also called "Evil Fighter", but it's not the name of their class[[/note]]. In the remake, the "Berserker" was replaced by a Swordmaster.
* UnskilledButStrong: Their stats are much more exaggerated than the Fighter's, typically higher HP, Strength and Speed but even lower Skill and defenses (which is funny, considering that critical hits are a huge part of the Berserker's shtick). Averted in ''Fates'', where Berserkers have decent Skill by ''Fates'' standards.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Often applies, especially with Berserkers.
* WarmUpBoss: Typically, most of the early-game bosses are Brigands and many Lords often use [[HeroesPreferSwords swords]], allowing them to easily defeat the bosses.
* WeakToMagic: Being a GlassCannon, it isn't surpirsign that Berserkers have the lowest resistance around, even more than Wyvern Lord.
to:
* AchillesHeel: In AchillesHeel:
** Just like theoriginal other flying units, Wyvern classes are [[AntiAir weak to Bows]]. The sole exception being ''Radiant Dawn''
** In many games, Wyvern classes are specifically weak to wind magic, [[AntiAir being flying units]] or any other anti-Dragon weapons. ''Radiant Dawn'' changed their weakness wind magic to thunder magic, the same weakness as Dragon Laguz.
** In some games, , Wyvern riding classes take extra Wyrmslayers and other dragon slaying weapons.
** Wyvern riding classes always have a terrible resistance stat. In most games, Wyvern classes have the worst resistance stat around, outside of GlassCannon classes.
* AntiInfantry: The Malig Knight's Trample skill deals 5 bonus damage to unmounted enemies.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Wyvern Knight's skill, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pierce]], in ''The Sacred Stones''. Its usefulness is offset by being linked to [[GameBreakingBug a nasty glitch]] which locks up the game under certain (rare) circumstances which, oddly enough, only occurs in English copies of the game.
* BreathWeapon:
** Averted; most of the time the wyverns do not breathe fire. It becomes odd when fighting against feral wyverns in ''Mystery of theEmblem'', all criminal classes take extra damage from the Ladyblade. Note this is removed in all subsequent games including the remake of ''Mystery of the Emblem''.
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Whilst all brigands aren't the same character obviously, generic brigand portraits are usually at least disshevledEmblem'' which breathe fire, implying that they lost their ability to breathe fire to domestication.
** Played straight withplain looking faces. The generic Brigand portrait of Malig Knights in ''Fates''. They learn Savage Blow, which was called Deathly Breath in the Japanese version, which implies that the undead wyvern is exhaling a poisonous gas.
** In ''ThreeHouse'' Houses'' only certain, special wyverns (namely the white variety Claude uses for his unique classes) are shown to be able to breathe fire.
* CoolHelmet: Wyvern Lords and Malig Knights wear helmets that resemble dragons, while Griffon Riders wear helmets resembling a griffon.
* CoolMask: The Wyvern Riders in ''Awakening'' wear masks that resemble a dragon's jaws on theother hand, lower halves of their faces.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Wyvern Lord in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Critical, a skill that boosts critical hit rate by 50% while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DependingOnTheArtist: There's pretty much no consistency with the appearance of the dragon mounts between games; it's pretty much justified by the different universes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The dragon-riding family slowly evolved from the pegasus family into the distinct class tree with different strengths it is today.
* {{Dracolich}}: Malig Knights ride on undead wyverns.
* DragonRider:
** You don't say. The Wyvern mount is almost never seen attacking directly, outside of ading momentum to their rider's attacks. That said many of the games with dismounting show Wyvern riding characters lose alot of strength and defense when they dismount their wyvern.
** Averted with the Griffon Rider in ''Awakening''.
* FragileSpeedster: The Wyvern Knight from ''Sacred Stones'', being accessible from both the pegasus and wyvern lines, takes after pegasi in the speed department while also having the Constitution of a wyvern to be lightning fast all-around - to compensate, however, it has less HP and also inherits the weaker defense and resistance of both, and being locked to lances means it always has to remain cautious around the hard-hitting axe users that most classes would normally shrug off by the point in the game you get your first Wyvern Knight.
* GatheringSteam: Inverted for the Wyvern Lord in ''Awakening'', as they get the skill Quick Burn, which gives them 15 hit and avoid at the start of the battle but loses effect for each turn.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* GiantFlyer: In the SNES, GBA games and ''Radiant Dawn'' in particular, they're downright enormous.
* HeelFaceTurn: Typically, the dragon mount species is associated with an/the enemy kingdom (Macedon, Thracia, Bern, Grado, Daein, Nohr) and dragon riders are a mainstay of the respective army, and so almost every allied Dragon Rider is recruited from the enemy. The only exceptions to this in the series are in the Archanea games and ''The Sacred Stones'', where your Pegasus Knights can class change into them, and ''Awakening'', where the "recruited" dragon rider is from a different nation than the "enemy" dragon riders earlier in the game. In cases like Macedon and Begnion where they have both pegasus and wyvern armies, there is ahandsome notable infighting between the two and clean cut young man.the wyvern side would be the more hostile one. ''Three Houses'' also subverts the antagonistic role, as Wyvern Riders are rare among the Imperial ranks and "those who slither in the dark", though the one nation that specializes in wyverns is Almyra, a nation neighboring Fodlan with minimal involvement in the conflict (though it does have a history of [[BloodKnight picking fights with Fódlan for fun]]) and was the home of Cyril and [[spoiler:Claude]].
*AlwaysMale: Until ''Three Houses'', HerdHittingAttack: Malig Knights can learn the Brigand class was only exclusive Savage Blow skill, which applies a 20% HP reduction to males. Averted with the Berserker, since Fighters can Class Change to all units that in ''Fates'' unlike other games.
were within 2 spaces of their range.
*BadassesWearBandanas: Pirates always wear bandanas. Brigands and Berserkers often wear them as well.
* BanditMook: Brigands and Pirates, whenHitAndRunTactics: Like Pegasus Knights, they can move again to a safe distance in the service Jugdral and Tellius games. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* InconsistentSpelling:
** There is one hell of a naming inconsistency with this class family. For ''The Blazing Blade'', the first English release, they were renamed "Wyvern Rider" and "Wyvern Lord" to distinguish them from the proper dragons that are not domesticated as mounts and figured heavily into the plot of theenemy, [[RapePillageAndBurn destroy villages]] which give out items game; ''Sacred Stones'' and money.
* TheBerserker: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Guess.]] That said, playable members''Path of Radiance'' stuck to this. The Japanese version of ''The Sacred Stones'' introduced the "Wyvern Knight" class, part of the class are normally an aversion, bearing no such tendencies beyond their class name.
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: They can only wield axes as their weapons,Wyvern family of dragons, and looking more like traditional wyverns from ''Mystery of the Emblem''; they were still called "Wyvern Knights" in the English version and the Berserker is an Axe specialist much like the Swordmaster is to swords. Berserkers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Axefaire, which boosts matter of their damage output physical difference wasn't addressed. ''Radiant Dawn''[='s=] translation discarded the "wyvern" name for wielding axes.
* ButterFace: Brigands tend to have very muscular physiques that put a bodybuilder to shame, butthe classes themselves, going with ugly faces.
* CriticalHitClass: The ''Berserker'' outsidevariations of ''Thracia 776'', "Dracoknight"; however, in dialogue, the species are still called wyverns, again to differentiate from the game's fairly important actual dragons. This remained the case for ''Shadow Dragon'', though the [[NoExportForYou Japan only]] remake of the sequel shows the dragon mounts are indeed named Wyverns. Then in ''Awakening'', it's back to Wyvern Rider and the [[RegionalBonus Japanese version]] of ''Path of Radiance'', has an innate critical rate bonus, making them very capable of killing anything in one hit because of their high strength. With that said, their relatively poor Skill means they don't crit quite as reliably as Swordmasters. Berserkers in ''Thracia 776'' instead have Wrath, turning ''all'' of their attacks into Critical Hits when it isn't their turn.
* CriticalStatusBuff:Wyvern Lord. The ''Wrath'' skill in the Jugdral games as well as ''Awakening'', which increases their critical rate when under 50% HP (under 30% HP in ''Radiant Dawn'', whenever the unit is attacked in ''Thracia 776'').
* DressedToPlunder: Pirates wear the usual garb.
* DualWielding: Pirates in the GBA games attack with two axes in hand, although they're purely aesthetic. The map spritesSwitch port for pirates in [=FE4=] did this early, but again, it was only aesthetic.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Pirates were unable to class change in''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'': then renames it wasn't until ''Thracia 776'' that allowed Brigands to "Wyvern Knight".
** The Japanese version alone isn't much better. The base classchange, but ''Binding Blade'' was the first game to allow Brigands and Pirates to class change into Berserkers.
** Like the fighters, the Brigands/Pirates had stats more along the line of a MightyGlacieris called Dragon Rider in the original ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'', despite the class roll in the first and third games describing them as having low defense. It is likely to compensate for Darros not being able to class change and the weight of axes preventing axe-users from double attacking.
** Pirates and Barbarians can't destroy villages in the Archaneamost games, a trait that appears in later games. Only Thieves could destroy villages in those games. Barbarian was also but the strongest axe user around, on par with a promoted class.
** Berserkers first appeared in ''Thracia 776'', except while still associated with criminals,Jugdral games and ''Radiant Dawn'' call it was an enemy-exclusive class, as the only brigand in the game (Marty) Dragon Knight. The advanced class changes into Warrior. This also makes Dagdar technically be a Brigand, as the Fighter Class Changes to Hero in that game.
* FaceOfAThug: Several members have scary and ugly faces, but a good heart behind it, the most prominent being Gonzales.
* FragileSpeedster: Pirates are generally faster and frailer than their brigand counterparts. Ironically, this can actually make them more durable in practice, since they're less prone to getting doubled.
* GeoEffects: In the GBA games, Pirates and Brigands are unique among infantry units for being able to walkis called either Dragon Master or Dragon Lord depending on water and mountain/peak tiles, and Berserkers can cross both. The latter is especially helpful, since mountains and peaks give phenomenal defense and avoid bonuses that can compensate for their low defenses and turn them into functional {{Lightning Bruiser}}s.
* {{Gonk}}: Both classes tend to have grotesque appearances, though pirates are comparatively more likely to be handsome such as the rugged Geese in ''Binding Blade.''
* GlassCannon: They have among the highest strength of any class on top of generally good speed (the latter can vary, since playable units that start out as a Berserker are usually slow to encourage you to train a faster Pirate/Brigand from the ground up) but have even worse defenses than the Fighter and Warrior, and are almost always more inaccurate as well. This is somewhat mitigated by their massive HP pools and decent avoid chances and can be almost entirely remedied if they're getting the aforementioned defense and avoid bonuses from mountain/peak tiles.
** ''Fates'' Berserkers are much riskier, as while they gain +20 critical rate, the highest critical rate gain inthe game, they lose -5 critical avoid (the only class which has a negative boost), which makes enemies score critical hits more easily on ''them''.
* {{Gonk}}: Even moreso than Fighters. Due tobecomes really confusing when you consider the vast majority of them [[EvilMakesYouUgly being enemies]], they tend to be among the ugliest characters that players will cross paths with. Even playable Brigands like Gonzalez aren't saved from this.
* TheGoomba: Brigands or Pirates are almost always the first opponentsname of the game, starting all third-tier advanced class from ''Radiant Dawn'': Dragonlord (Lindwurm in Japanese).
* IWorkAlone: Only in ''Awakening'', but Wyvern Riders gain theway to skill Tantivy, which grants the first game. Unlike most examples, Brigands/Pirates have good HP user +10 Hit and Strength, and Evasion if there are no allies within 3 spaces of them.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: They can remove theirability weaknesses to climb mountains/peaks (and [[GeoEffects gain immense defense/avoid bonuses]]) might make them very difficult to take down, but their inability to hit spells their doom. The ones in ''Gaiden'' have weak stats all around.
* HornsOfBarbarism: Like Warriors, most portrayals of Berserkers have them wear horned helmets.
* {{Irony}}: Berserkers come with a [[CriticalHitClass passive critical hit chance]], but often possess an atrocious Skill stat (which governs a character's chances of a CriticalHit). The former works almost like a compensationbows by equipping specific shields if there is any. Averted, however, against anti-dragon weapons save for the latter, as it guarantees that they still possess a fair chance of landing a CriticalHit even if they can't reliably strike their enemies. In more extreme cases, like with Gonzalez in ''The Binding Blade'', they may actually have a ''higher'' chance to crit the enemy than to hit them at all!
* MountainMan: Brigands and Berserkers literally have the ability to perch themselves on "peak" terrain [[GeoEffects for high defense/evasion bonuses]]. They also embody the spirit of the trope - despite being in a StandardFantasySetting rather than TheWestern - with their rugged, burly appearance and separation from civil society.
* MusclesAreMeaningful:
** Just like Fighters, they always have awesome HP, strength and constitution because of their huge muscles and stature.
** Notably even the StarterVillain bandits have better constitution than nearly all your units in the games where the stat exists. ''Path of Radiance'' also lets Berserker's triple their attack when facing units with lower consitution when they use the mastery skill "colossus".
* NemeanSkinning: Berserkers in ''Path of Radiance'' wear wolf skins. Berserkers in ''Fates'' also wear wolf pelts under their armor.
* PaperTiger: Enemy Brigands and Pirates, whose mighty Strength and HP pools are undermined by every other stat, including Skill, which [[PowerfulButInaccurate prevents them from hitting player characters at all]]. This cements them as TheGoomba, in spite of their fearsome look. {{Averted|Trope}} with Berserkers, whom are dangerous with their passive CriticalHit chance.
* {{Pirate}}: Pirates are nautical version of Brigands who can cross through water and destroy villages. Compared to Fighters and Brigands, Pirates have low HP and strength but high speed.
* RoarBeforeBeating: The critical hits of Brigands in the GBA games. Berserkers do this when Colossus is activatedFull Guard in ''Path of Radiance''.
*StalkedByTheBell: LightningBruiser: They are one of the strongest physical classes thanks to their high Strength, Skill, Defense, and movement range. This is particularly true in the NES/SNES Archanea duology (which lacked stat caps), as well as ''Three Houses'', where they have high Speed caps. Enemy factions would sporadically deploy them early-game to serve as BossInMookClothing, and then field even more of them in the late-game chapters. Most playable Wyvern Riders join mid-to-late game because of their powerhouse status.
* MagicKnight: Malig Knights specialize in both axes and tomes, in addition to their magic stats. It is one of the few classes that can reliably use the Bolt Axe.
* MightyGlacier: What the classserves is almost always in game with class specific caps. While in their earlier incarnations, they were basically stronger Pegasus Knights but without their MageKiller capabilities, starting with ''Genealogy Of the Holy War'' have settled for making them aerial tanks with high Attack and Defense but low Speed and Resistance, in order to punish players that play too cautiously. Take too long to get make them more of a {{Foil}} to the village [[FragileSpeedster Pegasus Knights]]. In ''Radiant Dawn'', Dragonlord's speed cap is even worse than Marshall. The only exception is in ''Three Houses'', where Wyvern Lords have the stats of a LightningBruiser
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Dracoknight with a Master Seal, she is unable to reclass into Falcoknight.
* MythologyGag: The Wyvern Knight class in ''[=FE8=]'' rides a mount identical to the [=DracoKnights=] of ''[=FE3=]'' and can be class changed from Pegasus Knights.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The appearance of the Dragon/Wyvern Mounts vary wildly across differentpart of the map? [[BanditMook These guys]] will get there first, ransacking the place and denying the player any bonuses universes. What varies most are whether they would've received stand on two legs or four and if they have no arms like a wyvern or their arms are like a western dragon.
* OurGryphonsAreDifferent: The Griffon Riders that appear in ''Awakening''.
* TheParalyzer: Wyvern Lords and Dragonlords in the Tellius games has the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy fromit.
moving for one turn.
*StatusBuff: Brigands StatusInflictionAttack: Wyvern Riders in ''Three Houses'' gain Death Blow learn Seal Defense, a skill that reduces the enemy's defense by 6 after combat, upon mastering the class. It is more similar to ''Heroes'' iteration of Death Blow, which increases strength when initiating the attack.
class.
*TruthInTelevision: Pirates and Berserkers can swim with axes StatusBuff: Wyvern Lords in hand. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXEA-qNcFD0&list=PLc1JElvFHF_d_UXL1uyi2VassvmFKJkY9&index=7 This is surprisingly feasible with certain types of real-life axes]]: wooden handles give the axe buoyancy, while bearded axe heads can be used as a makeshift paddle.
* TurnsRed: Berserkers in ''Awakening'' can get the Wrath skill, which increases their critical rate when under half of their max HP.
* UniqueEnemy:
** There's a class called "Corsair" that appears in '''one chapter''' of ''Blazing Blade'' (on one route of a path split, no less) that is essentially a re-skinned Pirate.
** There is a [[InNameOnly "Berserker"]] in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', except it was just a renamed Hero with a unique map sprite and only existed in one chapter[[note]]They are also called "Evil Fighter", but it's not the name of their class[[/note]]. In the remake, the "Berserker" was replaced by a Swordmaster.
* UnskilledButStrong: Their stats are much more exaggerated than the Fighter's, typically higher HP, Strength and Speed but even lower Skill and defenses (which is funny, considering that critical hits are a huge part of the Berserker's shtick). Averted in ''Fates'', where Berserkers have decent Skill by''Fates'' standards.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Often applies, especially with Berserkers.
* WarmUpBoss: Typically, most of the early-game bosses are Brigands and many Lords often use [[HeroesPreferSwords swords]], allowing themgain Rally Defense, which gives a boost to easily defeat the bosses.
defense to allies when commanded.
* WeakToMagic:Being a GlassCannon, it isn't surpirsign that Berserkers In contrast to [[MageKiller Pegasus Knights]], Wyvern Riders tend to have a high Defense but the lowest resistance worst Resistance around, even more than Wyvern Lord.tied with Warriors. In some games, wyvern riders are also weak to wind or thunder magic.
* WeaponSpecialization: Traditionally, lances and axes are the family's primary weapon.
** Just like the
** In many games, Wyvern classes are specifically weak to wind magic, [[AntiAir being flying units]] or any other anti-Dragon weapons. ''Radiant Dawn'' changed their weakness wind magic to thunder magic, the same weakness as Dragon Laguz.
** In some games, , Wyvern riding classes take extra Wyrmslayers and other dragon slaying weapons.
** Wyvern riding classes always have a terrible resistance stat. In most games, Wyvern classes have the worst resistance stat around, outside of GlassCannon classes.
* AntiInfantry: The Malig Knight's Trample skill deals 5 bonus damage to unmounted enemies.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Wyvern Knight's skill, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pierce]], in ''The Sacred Stones''. Its usefulness is offset by being linked to [[GameBreakingBug a nasty glitch]] which locks up the game under certain (rare) circumstances which, oddly enough, only occurs in English copies of the game.
* BreathWeapon:
** Averted; most of the time the wyverns do not breathe fire. It becomes odd when fighting against feral wyverns in ''Mystery of the
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Whilst all brigands aren't the same character obviously, generic brigand portraits are usually at least disshevled
** Played straight with
** In ''Three
* CoolHelmet: Wyvern Lords and Malig Knights wear helmets that resemble dragons, while Griffon Riders wear helmets resembling a griffon.
* CoolMask: The Wyvern Riders in ''Awakening'' wear masks that resemble a dragon's jaws on the
* CriticalStatusBuff: Wyvern Lord in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Critical, a skill that boosts critical hit rate by 50% while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DependingOnTheArtist: There's pretty much no consistency with the appearance of the dragon mounts between games; it's pretty much justified by the different universes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The dragon-riding family slowly evolved from the pegasus family into the distinct class tree with different strengths it is today.
* {{Dracolich}}: Malig Knights ride on undead wyverns.
* DragonRider:
** You don't say. The Wyvern mount is almost never seen attacking directly, outside of ading momentum to their rider's attacks. That said many of the games with dismounting show Wyvern riding characters lose alot of strength and defense when they dismount their wyvern.
** Averted with the Griffon Rider in ''Awakening''.
* FragileSpeedster: The Wyvern Knight from ''Sacred Stones'', being accessible from both the pegasus and wyvern lines, takes after pegasi in the speed department while also having the Constitution of a wyvern to be lightning fast all-around - to compensate, however, it has less HP and also inherits the weaker defense and resistance of both, and being locked to lances means it always has to remain cautious around the hard-hitting axe users that most classes would normally shrug off by the point in the game you get your first Wyvern Knight.
* GatheringSteam: Inverted for the Wyvern Lord in ''Awakening'', as they get the skill Quick Burn, which gives them 15 hit and avoid at the start of the battle but loses effect for each turn.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* GiantFlyer: In the SNES, GBA games and ''Radiant Dawn'' in particular, they're downright enormous.
* HeelFaceTurn: Typically, the dragon mount species is associated with an/the enemy kingdom (Macedon, Thracia, Bern, Grado, Daein, Nohr) and dragon riders are a mainstay of the respective army, and so almost every allied Dragon Rider is recruited from the enemy. The only exceptions to this in the series are in the Archanea games and ''The Sacred Stones'', where your Pegasus Knights can class change into them, and ''Awakening'', where the "recruited" dragon rider is from a different nation than the "enemy" dragon riders earlier in the game. In cases like Macedon and Begnion where they have both pegasus and wyvern armies, there is a
*
*
* BanditMook: Brigands and Pirates, when
* InconsistentSpelling:
** There is one hell of a naming inconsistency with this class family. For ''The Blazing Blade'', the first English release, they were renamed "Wyvern Rider" and "Wyvern Lord" to distinguish them from the proper dragons that are not domesticated as mounts and figured heavily into the plot of the
* TheBerserker: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Guess.]] That said, playable members
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: They can only wield axes as their weapons,
* ButterFace: Brigands tend to have very muscular physiques that put a bodybuilder to shame, but
* CriticalHitClass: The ''Berserker'' outside
* CriticalStatusBuff:
* DressedToPlunder: Pirates wear the usual garb.
* DualWielding: Pirates in the GBA games attack with two axes in hand, although they're purely aesthetic. The map sprites
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Pirates were unable to class change in
** The Japanese version alone isn't much better. The base class
** Like the fighters, the Brigands/Pirates had stats more along the line of a MightyGlacier
** Pirates and Barbarians can't destroy villages in the Archanea
** Berserkers first appeared in ''Thracia 776'', except while still associated with criminals,
* FaceOfAThug: Several members have scary and ugly faces, but a good heart behind it, the most prominent being Gonzales.
* FragileSpeedster: Pirates are generally faster and frailer than their brigand counterparts. Ironically, this can actually make them more durable in practice, since they're less prone to getting doubled.
* GeoEffects: In the GBA games, Pirates and Brigands are unique among infantry units for being able to walk
* {{Gonk}}: Both classes tend to have grotesque appearances, though pirates are comparatively more likely to be handsome such as the rugged Geese in ''Binding Blade.''
* GlassCannon: They have among the highest strength of any class on top of generally good speed (the latter can vary, since playable units that start out as a Berserker are usually slow to encourage you to train a faster Pirate/Brigand from the ground up) but have even worse defenses than the Fighter and Warrior, and are almost always more inaccurate as well. This is somewhat mitigated by their massive HP pools and decent avoid chances and can be almost entirely remedied if they're getting the aforementioned defense and avoid bonuses from mountain/peak tiles.
** ''Fates'' Berserkers are much riskier, as while they gain +20 critical rate, the highest critical rate gain in
* {{Gonk}}: Even moreso than Fighters. Due to
* TheGoomba: Brigands or Pirates are almost always the first opponents
* IWorkAlone: Only in ''Awakening'', but Wyvern Riders gain the
* KryptoniteProofSuit: They can remove their
* HornsOfBarbarism: Like Warriors, most portrayals of Berserkers have them wear horned helmets.
* {{Irony}}: Berserkers come with a [[CriticalHitClass passive critical hit chance]], but often possess an atrocious Skill stat (which governs a character's chances of a CriticalHit). The former works almost like a compensation
* MountainMan: Brigands and Berserkers literally have the ability to perch themselves on "peak" terrain [[GeoEffects for high defense/evasion bonuses]]. They also embody the spirit of the trope - despite being in a StandardFantasySetting rather than TheWestern - with their rugged, burly appearance and separation from civil society.
* MusclesAreMeaningful:
** Just like Fighters, they always have awesome HP, strength and constitution because of their huge muscles and stature.
** Notably even the StarterVillain bandits have better constitution than nearly all your units in the games where the stat exists. ''Path of Radiance'' also lets Berserker's triple their attack when facing units with lower consitution when they use the mastery skill "colossus".
* NemeanSkinning: Berserkers in ''Path of Radiance'' wear wolf skins. Berserkers in ''Fates'' also wear wolf pelts under their armor.
* PaperTiger: Enemy Brigands and Pirates, whose mighty Strength and HP pools are undermined by every other stat, including Skill, which [[PowerfulButInaccurate prevents them from hitting player characters at all]]. This cements them as TheGoomba, in spite of their fearsome look. {{Averted|Trope}} with Berserkers, whom are dangerous with their passive CriticalHit chance.
* {{Pirate}}: Pirates are nautical version of Brigands who can cross through water and destroy villages. Compared to Fighters and Brigands, Pirates have low HP and strength but high speed.
* RoarBeforeBeating: The critical hits of Brigands in the GBA games. Berserkers do this when Colossus is activated
*
* MagicKnight: Malig Knights specialize in both axes and tomes, in addition to their magic stats. It is one of the few classes that can reliably use the Bolt Axe.
* MightyGlacier: What the class
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Dracoknight with a Master Seal, she is unable to reclass into Falcoknight.
* MythologyGag: The Wyvern Knight class in ''[=FE8=]'' rides a mount identical to the [=DracoKnights=] of ''[=FE3=]'' and can be class changed from Pegasus Knights.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The appearance of the Dragon/Wyvern Mounts vary wildly across different
* OurGryphonsAreDifferent: The Griffon Riders that appear in ''Awakening''.
* TheParalyzer: Wyvern Lords and Dragonlords in the Tellius games has the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from
*
*
* TurnsRed: Berserkers in ''Awakening'' can get the Wrath skill, which increases their critical rate when under half of their max HP.
* UniqueEnemy:
** There's a class called "Corsair" that appears in '''one chapter''' of ''Blazing Blade'' (on one route of a path split, no less) that is essentially a re-skinned Pirate.
** There is a [[InNameOnly "Berserker"]] in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', except it was just a renamed Hero with a unique map sprite and only existed in one chapter[[note]]They are also called "Evil Fighter", but it's not the name of their class[[/note]]. In the remake, the "Berserker" was replaced by a Swordmaster.
* UnskilledButStrong: Their stats are much more exaggerated than the Fighter's, typically higher HP, Strength and Speed but even lower Skill and defenses (which is funny, considering that critical hits are a huge part of the Berserker's shtick). Averted in ''Fates'', where Berserkers have decent Skill by
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Often applies, especially with Berserkers.
* WarmUpBoss: Typically, most of the early-game bosses are Brigands and many Lords often use [[HeroesPreferSwords swords]], allowing them
* WeakToMagic:
* WeaponSpecialization: Traditionally, lances and axes are the family's primary weapon.
Changed line(s) 308,335 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Archer]]
!!Archer
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/771g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Archers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/880g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Snipers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/949g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesherbmerchantportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Apothecary in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesgreatmerchantportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Merchant in ''Fates'']]
Lightly armored soldiers wielding bows. Archers don't have much in the way of defense or other related stats, but that's the thing -- that's not why they exist. They're supposed to take down the enemy from afar using their bows, and if you're throwing them into the thick of things, you're doing it wrong. They Class Change into the '''Sniper''' class, then again to the '''Bow Knight''' class in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' or the '''Marksman''' class in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''. \\\
Also introduced alongside Archers are the '''Hunter''' class, exclusive to the Archanea games and as an enemy-exclusive class in the Jugdral games. Hunters are shady bowmen with higher speed but lower defense and who have the ability to traverse forest terrain easier; they Class Change to '''Horseman'''[[note]]In the very first game, they were two, separate classes, but unified in ''Mystery of the Emblem''[[/note]], the mounted, near-identical progenitor of an endless line of [[BowAndSwordInAccord bow-and-sword-using]] mounted classes like the Ranger, Bow Knight, and Nomadic Trooper. The DS remakes allow Horsemen to wield swords in addition to bows.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'', Archers are demoted into a {{mook|s}} class, and replaced by '''Bow Fighters''' who fulfill the same role.\\\
Exclusive to ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'' are the '''Nomad''' class, which is basically a Bow Knight endemic to Sacae, a FantasyCounterpartCulture of various Eurasian steppe tribes, making them quite distinct from the knightly and European-esque Cavaliers. Like Hunters, they have no movement restrictions in forest terrain. They class change into the '''Nomadic Trooper''', where they can use swords as a secondary weapon.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', they can alternatively choose to Class Change into '''Ranger''' and '''Bow Knight''' respectively, gaining the ability to wield BowAndSwordInAccord as well.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Archers can Class Change to the '''Sniper''' class or branch into the flying mounted '''Kinshi Knight''' class. It also got a slower-but-stronger variant named the '''Apothecary''', which can Class Change into '''Merchant''' (gains use of lances in addition to bows) or '''Mechanist''' (see the below class category) classes respectively. \\\
Related are the class families '''Lord''' and '''Tireur d'elite''', exclusive to Alcryst, and class families '''Sentinel''' and '''Cupido''', exclusive to Fogato, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'', which all classes wield bows and Cupido also wielding swords.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Gordin, Castor, Wolf, Sedgar, Jeorge, Tomas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Python, Leon (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Ryan, Warren (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Jamke, Briggid, Febail/Asaello (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Tanya, Ronan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Wolt, Dorothy, Sue, Sin, Klein, Igrene, Dayan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Wil, Rath, Rebecca, Louise (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Neimi, Innes (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Rolf, Shinon (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Leonardo (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Norne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Robert, Beck (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Virion, Noire (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'') Setsuna, Takumi, Midori, Kiragi (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Bernadetta, Ashe, Ignatz, Shamir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Etie, Alcryst, Fogado (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Archer
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/771g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Archers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/880g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Snipers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/949g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesherbmerchantportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Apothecary in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesgreatmerchantportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Merchant in ''Fates'']]
Lightly armored soldiers wielding bows. Archers don't have much in the way of defense or other related stats, but that's the thing -- that's not why they exist. They're supposed to take down the enemy from afar using their bows, and if you're throwing them into the thick of things, you're doing it wrong. They Class Change into the '''Sniper''' class, then again to the '''Bow Knight''' class in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' or the '''Marksman''' class in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''. \\\
Also introduced alongside Archers are the '''Hunter''' class, exclusive to the Archanea games and as an enemy-exclusive class in the Jugdral games. Hunters are shady bowmen with higher speed but lower defense and who have the ability to traverse forest terrain easier; they Class Change to '''Horseman'''[[note]]In the very first game, they were two, separate classes, but unified in ''Mystery of the Emblem''[[/note]], the mounted, near-identical progenitor of an endless line of [[BowAndSwordInAccord bow-and-sword-using]] mounted classes like the Ranger, Bow Knight, and Nomadic Trooper. The DS remakes allow Horsemen to wield swords in addition to bows.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'', Archers are demoted into a {{mook|s}} class, and replaced by '''Bow Fighters''' who fulfill the same role.\\\
Exclusive to ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'' are the '''Nomad''' class, which is basically a Bow Knight endemic to Sacae, a FantasyCounterpartCulture of various Eurasian steppe tribes, making them quite distinct from the knightly and European-esque Cavaliers. Like Hunters, they have no movement restrictions in forest terrain. They class change into the '''Nomadic Trooper''', where they can use swords as a secondary weapon.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', they can alternatively choose to Class Change into '''Ranger''' and '''Bow Knight''' respectively, gaining the ability to wield BowAndSwordInAccord as well.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Archers can Class Change to the '''Sniper''' class or branch into the flying mounted '''Kinshi Knight''' class. It also got a slower-but-stronger variant named the '''Apothecary''', which can Class Change into '''Merchant''' (gains use of lances in addition to bows) or '''Mechanist''' (see the below class category) classes respectively. \\\
Related are the class families '''Lord''' and '''Tireur d'elite''', exclusive to Alcryst, and class families '''Sentinel''' and '''Cupido''', exclusive to Fogato, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'', which all classes wield bows and Cupido also wielding swords.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Gordin, Castor, Wolf, Sedgar, Jeorge, Tomas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Python, Leon (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Ryan, Warren (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Jamke, Briggid, Febail/Asaello (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Tanya, Ronan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Wolt, Dorothy, Sue, Sin, Klein, Igrene, Dayan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Wil, Rath, Rebecca, Louise (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Neimi, Innes (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Rolf, Shinon (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Leonardo (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Norne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Robert, Beck (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Virion, Noire (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'') Setsuna, Takumi, Midori, Kiragi (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Bernadetta, Ashe, Ignatz, Shamir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Etie, Alcryst, Fogado (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Archer
!!Dancer and variants
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/880g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Snipers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/949g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesherbmerchantportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Apothecary in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesgreatmerchantportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Merchant in ''Fates'']]
Lightly armored soldiers wielding bows. Archers don't have much in the way of defense or other related stats, but that's the thing -- that's not why they exist. They're supposed to take down the enemy from afar using their bows,
The Dancer is a recurring [[UtilityPartyMember utility]] and
Also introduced alongside Archers
Related are the class families '''Lord''' and '''Tireur d'elite''', exclusive to Alcryst, and class families '''Sentinel''' and '''Cupido''', exclusive to Fogato, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'', which all classes wield bows and Cupido also wielding swords.
Changed line(s) 337,374 (click to see context) from:
* AchillesHeel: Whether or not mounted archers are affected by Horse-slaying weapons varies by game. The only ones with a clear reason to not get this weakness are Mechanists, because their mounts are artificial.
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Deadeye/Sure Strike, the Sniper and Marksman's mastery skill. It's a bit of a PowerupLetdown, in that by the point they have access to it, a Sniper/Marksman will have such high Skill that they don't ''need'' an accuracy boost. Skills like Hit Rate +20 ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which increases hit rate by 20]]) and Certain Blow (increasing hit rate by 40 when the user attacks first) were more useful in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', as they allow units to dip into other classes for their skills.
* AlwaysMale: Archers in ''Echoes'' is locked to males so Faye and female units that used the Pitchfork cannot get access to it.
* AntiAir: The role they excel greatly at is punishing enemy fliers that try to rush into their territory with their high movement range.
* CastFromMoney: Merchants get ''Spendthrift'', a skill that increases the damage they deal and reduces the damage they take at the cost of a Gold Bar in the user's inventory.
* CompositeCharacter: The modern version of the archer class is a composite of the original Archer class and the Bow Fighter, their SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute in the Jugdral games. Starting from ''Binding Blade'', Archers have the name of the original archer class, but like Bow Fighters wear casual clothes and have good movement.
* CripplingOverspecialisation: By design, they can only attack over distances, and as such are incapable of retaliation when attacked at close-quarters. As a result, this means that they can get boxed in from all four directions with no way of escaping, effectively trapping them.
** Some games tried to alleviate this. In ''Gaiden'', they are allowed to perform regular attacks and counters at melee range, while in ''Radiant Dawn'', crossbows[[note]]fixed-damage weapons that as a result are generally inferior to bows, which take strength into account, except against flying units, since, due to their ludicrous weapon might that gets tripled against flying units, they can instantly kill pretty much anything that flies, ''including [[GameBreaker Tibarn]]''[[/note]] and the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Double Bow]] can be used both in close-quarters and over a distance[[note]]though the Double Bow has halved accuracy when used at close range[[/note]]. ''Three Houses'' grants Close Counter for those with C rank in bows.
** For this reason, Archers and Snipers functioning as bosses are extremely rare; one of the few, in ''Radiant Dawn'', wields a crossbow. On other occasions, such as in ''Blazing Blade'', they're bosses in siege maps with lots of walls and a need for the player to stay put while the enemy comes to them. In the ''Conquest'' route of ''Fates'', Takumi, a Sniper, is fought several times with Point Blank (which allows user to attack at 1 range with bows), while other enemy archers can carry 1-2 range bows that are enemy-only, especially in harder difficulties. [[spoiler:As the final boss in the ''Conquest'' campaign, Takumi wields a bow that can hit from 1-4 range.]]
* CriticalHitClass: Snipers in the Tellius games and ''Fates'' gain a critical boost, while the latter also increases hit rate.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Speed, a skill that boosts speed by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DemotedToExtra: Archers are an enemy-exclusive {{Mook}} class in ''Thracia 776''. Bow Fighter, however, fulfills the same role, and class changes to Sniper.
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: In the NES/SNES titles, Archers wear heavy armor with helmets, instead of wearing light clothing with a bare head. Starting from the GBA titles, Archers switched to short sleeved and went helmet-less. This applies even in the DS remakes of the Archanea games, where Archers still have stats similar to a MightyGlacier.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** In the ''Archanea'' games'', Archers wear full armor including face-concealing helmets. They also have high defense, the same movement stat as Knights and posess the same terrain restrictions as knights. Upon promoting to Sniper, gained notably more movement, losing their terrain restrictions and [[HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic the helmet]].
** In ''Gaiden'', Archers start with 1-3 range, and can improve it even further by class change or using a non-basic bow, reaching a maximum of 5 spaces. To make up for this, Bows usually have a low hit rate and the playable Archers also tend to have poorer stats.
** In ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'', Archers are a {{Mook}} class with terrible stats, while Bow Fighters are the playable class that class changes into Sniper.
* {{Foil}}: In the early games, the hunter class was one to them. Whilst both are infantry bow users, archers are armored, defensive slow and associated with the military, Hunters in contrast, wear little clothes, fragile, fast and associated with freelancers/criminals.
* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic:
** In the Archanea titles, Archers wear face-concealing helmets, which they ditch upon advancing to the more powerful sniper class.
** In the Jugdral games, the playable bow fighters forego helmets, but their weaker counterparts, Archers, wear helmets.
* HitAndRunTactics: Bow Knights can move again with their remaining movement after performing an action (including attacking) in the Jugdral and Tellius games and ''Three Houses''. In the GBA games, they can only move again if they use a non-attacking command.
* HorseArcher: The Bow Knight and its variants, the Nomad and the Ranger, get to shoot from horseback. Games featuring branched promotions usually will have this as an alternative to the Sniper, who makes up for the lower mobility with higher stat caps and the ability to use SiegeEngines.
* LongRangeFighter: Archers and Snipers can only attack from range and are defenseless in close quarters. Exceptions include ''Gaiden'' (where [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness archers can attack both in melee and from extreme range]]), crossbows and the Double Bow in ''Radiant Dawn'', various special bows and yumis in ''Fates'', and archers with the Point Blank skill[[note]]which lets the user attack with bows at 1-2 range[[/note]] and Close Counter[[note]]similar to Point Blank, but only works on the enemy phase[[/note]].
** ''Echoes'' and ''Three Houses'' give Archers and Snipers Bow Range +1 as a class skill, while Bow Knights get Bow Range +2. This means that they will always outrange any units (except for magic units wielding extreme-range spells such as Meteor), avoiding being counter attacked by other ranged options like Javelins, magic, or non-Archer bow units.
** In ''Radiant Dawn'' and ''Three Houses'', bows lose accuracy when they attack units from a very far distance. As archers in those games can potentially have longer range than 2, they'll receive a massive accuracy reduction from said further distances. ''Three Houses'', however, compensated with Archers getting Hit Rate +20 upon mastering their class.
** In some games, like ''New Mystery'' and ''Awakening'', longbows can only be wielded by Archers and Snipers, giving them a niche to other bow-wielding classes, like Assassins and Bow Knights, by shooting from afar without any fear of counterattack from bows, javelins, hand axes, and magic.
* JackOfAllStats: They generally have well-balanced stats, albeit with an emphasis on Skill to complement the high hit rate of bows.
* JoustingLance: Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' wield lances as well as bows.
* MasterArcher: Snipers are seasoned archers known for their high marksmanship. Snipers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Bowfaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding bows. Snipers and Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' also gain Bowfaire as a class skill.
* MechanicallyUnusualClass: The Apothecary and Merchant are very gimmicky classes. Their stat build makes them MightyGlacier compared to Snipers and their skills are based on their profession. The Apothecary's skills, ''Potent Potion'' and ''Quick Salve'', [[ItemAmplifier increases the effectiveness of vulneraries and tonics, and allow the unit to perform another action after using such items]], respectively. And the Merchant's skills, ''Profiteer'' and ''Spendthrift'', gives them a Gold Bar based on their Luck stat and allow them to spend them to increase their attack and defense, respectively.
* {{Mooks}}: The role of Archers in ''Thracia 776'' is weak enemy soldiers while Bow Fighters take their playable spot.
* NoArcInArchery: Until ''Shadows of Valentia'', no ''Fire Emblem'' game depicted archers or other bow users as arcing their shot. Could be considered a subversion, however, in that generally units are too close for arcing to be needed: the ballista users, who do fire at that kind of range, are generally shown firing at an angle. In addition, since arrows can be shot over walls in most games, one can only assume that, while it's not shown in the animation, their shots are being arced there.
* SecretArt: Snipers in ''Three Houses'' get Hunter's Volley, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to them. It allows them to strike twice consecutively with an increased chance to deal critical hits.
* SiegeEngines: In several games, usually when Ballisticans are absent, there are ballistae and similar weapons on the field in certain maps which only archers can use. In ''Fates'', anybody who can use bows can use these map ballistae, and other siege weapons are available to units with other weapons.
* StatusBuff: Bow Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Rally Skill, which gives a boost to skill to allies when commanded.
* WeakButSkilled: Bows are usually much weaker than other weapons, but make up for it with very high hit rates. Averted in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, where they have very low hit rate to balance out their massive range, and ''Fates'' where [[BalanceBuff they received a massive buff to their might]], only beaten by axes, while still remaining fairly accurate.
* WeaponTwirling: In many games, archers will twirl the arrow in their hands before shooting when scoring a critical hit.
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Deadeye/Sure Strike, the Sniper and Marksman's mastery skill. It's a bit of a PowerupLetdown, in that by the point they have access to it, a Sniper/Marksman will have such high Skill that they don't ''need'' an accuracy boost. Skills like Hit Rate +20 ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which increases hit rate by 20]]) and Certain Blow (increasing hit rate by 40 when the user attacks first) were more useful in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', as they allow units to dip into other classes for their skills.
* AlwaysMale: Archers in ''Echoes'' is locked to males so Faye and female units that used the Pitchfork cannot get access to it.
* AntiAir: The role they excel greatly at is punishing enemy fliers that try to rush into their territory with their high movement range.
* CastFromMoney: Merchants get ''Spendthrift'', a skill that increases the damage they deal and reduces the damage they take at the cost of a Gold Bar in the user's inventory.
* CompositeCharacter: The modern version of the archer class is a composite of the original Archer class and the Bow Fighter, their SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute in the Jugdral games. Starting from ''Binding Blade'', Archers have the name of the original archer class, but like Bow Fighters wear casual clothes and have good movement.
* CripplingOverspecialisation: By design, they can only attack over distances, and as such are incapable of retaliation when attacked at close-quarters. As a result, this means that they can get boxed in from all four directions with no way of escaping, effectively trapping them.
** Some games tried to alleviate this. In ''Gaiden'', they are allowed to perform regular attacks and counters at melee range, while in ''Radiant Dawn'', crossbows[[note]]fixed-damage weapons that as a result are generally inferior to bows, which take strength into account, except against flying units, since, due to their ludicrous weapon might that gets tripled against flying units, they can instantly kill pretty much anything that flies, ''including [[GameBreaker Tibarn]]''[[/note]] and the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Double Bow]] can be used both in close-quarters and over a distance[[note]]though the Double Bow has halved accuracy when used at close range[[/note]]. ''Three Houses'' grants Close Counter for those with C rank in bows.
** For this reason, Archers and Snipers functioning as bosses are extremely rare; one of the few, in ''Radiant Dawn'', wields a crossbow. On other occasions, such as in ''Blazing Blade'', they're bosses in siege maps with lots of walls and a need for the player to stay put while the enemy comes to them. In the ''Conquest'' route of ''Fates'', Takumi, a Sniper, is fought several times with Point Blank (which allows user to attack at 1 range with bows), while other enemy archers can carry 1-2 range bows that are enemy-only, especially in harder difficulties. [[spoiler:As the final boss in the ''Conquest'' campaign, Takumi wields a bow that can hit from 1-4 range.]]
* CriticalHitClass: Snipers in the Tellius games and ''Fates'' gain a critical boost, while the latter also increases hit rate.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Speed, a skill that boosts speed by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DemotedToExtra: Archers are an enemy-exclusive {{Mook}} class in ''Thracia 776''. Bow Fighter, however, fulfills the same role, and class changes to Sniper.
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: In the NES/SNES titles, Archers wear heavy armor with helmets, instead of wearing light clothing with a bare head. Starting from the GBA titles, Archers switched to short sleeved and went helmet-less. This applies even in the DS remakes of the Archanea games, where Archers still have stats similar to a MightyGlacier.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** In the ''Archanea'' games'', Archers wear full armor including face-concealing helmets. They also have high defense, the same movement stat as Knights and posess the same terrain restrictions as knights. Upon promoting to Sniper, gained notably more movement, losing their terrain restrictions and [[HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic the helmet]].
** In ''Gaiden'', Archers start with 1-3 range, and can improve it even further by class change or using a non-basic bow, reaching a maximum of 5 spaces. To make up for this, Bows usually have a low hit rate and the playable Archers also tend to have poorer stats.
** In ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'', Archers are a {{Mook}} class with terrible stats, while Bow Fighters are the playable class that class changes into Sniper.
* {{Foil}}: In the early games, the hunter class was one to them. Whilst both are infantry bow users, archers are armored, defensive slow and associated with the military, Hunters in contrast, wear little clothes, fragile, fast and associated with freelancers/criminals.
* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic:
** In the Archanea titles, Archers wear face-concealing helmets, which they ditch upon advancing to the more powerful sniper class.
** In the Jugdral games, the playable bow fighters forego helmets, but their weaker counterparts, Archers, wear helmets.
* HitAndRunTactics: Bow Knights can move again with their remaining movement after performing an action (including attacking) in the Jugdral and Tellius games and ''Three Houses''. In the GBA games, they can only move again if they use a non-attacking command.
* HorseArcher: The Bow Knight and its variants, the Nomad and the Ranger, get to shoot from horseback. Games featuring branched promotions usually will have this as an alternative to the Sniper, who makes up for the lower mobility with higher stat caps and the ability to use SiegeEngines.
* LongRangeFighter: Archers and Snipers can only attack from range and are defenseless in close quarters. Exceptions include ''Gaiden'' (where [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness archers can attack both in melee and from extreme range]]), crossbows and the Double Bow in ''Radiant Dawn'', various special bows and yumis in ''Fates'', and archers with the Point Blank skill[[note]]which lets the user attack with bows at 1-2 range[[/note]] and Close Counter[[note]]similar to Point Blank, but only works on the enemy phase[[/note]].
** ''Echoes'' and ''Three Houses'' give Archers and Snipers Bow Range +1 as a class skill, while Bow Knights get Bow Range +2. This means that they will always outrange any units (except for magic units wielding extreme-range spells such as Meteor), avoiding being counter attacked by other ranged options like Javelins, magic, or non-Archer bow units.
** In ''Radiant Dawn'' and ''Three Houses'', bows lose accuracy when they attack units from a very far distance. As archers in those games can potentially have longer range than 2, they'll receive a massive accuracy reduction from said further distances. ''Three Houses'', however, compensated with Archers getting Hit Rate +20 upon mastering their class.
** In some games, like ''New Mystery'' and ''Awakening'', longbows can only be wielded by Archers and Snipers, giving them a niche to other bow-wielding classes, like Assassins and Bow Knights, by shooting from afar without any fear of counterattack from bows, javelins, hand axes, and magic.
* JackOfAllStats: They generally have well-balanced stats, albeit with an emphasis on Skill to complement the high hit rate of bows.
* JoustingLance: Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' wield lances as well as bows.
* MasterArcher: Snipers are seasoned archers known for their high marksmanship. Snipers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Bowfaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding bows. Snipers and Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' also gain Bowfaire as a class skill.
* MechanicallyUnusualClass: The Apothecary and Merchant are very gimmicky classes. Their stat build makes them MightyGlacier compared to Snipers and their skills are based on their profession. The Apothecary's skills, ''Potent Potion'' and ''Quick Salve'', [[ItemAmplifier increases the effectiveness of vulneraries and tonics, and allow the unit to perform another action after using such items]], respectively. And the Merchant's skills, ''Profiteer'' and ''Spendthrift'', gives them a Gold Bar based on their Luck stat and allow them to spend them to increase their attack and defense, respectively.
* {{Mooks}}: The role of Archers in ''Thracia 776'' is weak enemy soldiers while Bow Fighters take their playable spot.
* NoArcInArchery: Until ''Shadows of Valentia'', no ''Fire Emblem'' game depicted archers or other bow users as arcing their shot. Could be considered a subversion, however, in that generally units are too close for arcing to be needed: the ballista users, who do fire at that kind of range, are generally shown firing at an angle. In addition, since arrows can be shot over walls in most games, one can only assume that, while it's not shown in the animation, their shots are being arced there.
* SecretArt: Snipers in ''Three Houses'' get Hunter's Volley, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to them. It allows them to strike twice consecutively with an increased chance to deal critical hits.
* SiegeEngines: In several games, usually when Ballisticans are absent, there are ballistae and similar weapons on the field in certain maps which only archers can use. In ''Fates'', anybody who can use bows can use these map ballistae, and other siege weapons are available to units with other weapons.
* StatusBuff: Bow Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Rally Skill, which gives a boost to skill to allies when commanded.
* WeakButSkilled: Bows are usually much weaker than other weapons, but make up for it with very high hit rates. Averted in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, where they have very low hit rate to balance out their massive range, and ''Fates'' where [[BalanceBuff they received a massive buff to their might]], only beaten by axes, while still remaining fairly accurate.
* WeaponTwirling: In many games, archers will twirl the arrow in their hands before shooting when scoring a critical hit.
to:
* AchillesHeel: Whether or not mounted archers are affected by Horse-slaying weapons varies by game. AlwaysFemale: The only ones with a clear reason to not get this weakness are Mechanists, because their mounts are artificial.
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Deadeye/Sure Strike, the Sniper and Marksman's mastery skill. It's a bit of a PowerupLetdown, in that by the point they have access to it, a Sniper/Marksman will have such high Skill that they don't ''need'' an accuracy boost. Skills like Hit Rate +20 ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which increases hit rate by 20]]) and Certain Blow (increasing hit rate by 40 when the user attacks first) were more useful in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', as they allow units to dip into other classes for their skills.
* AlwaysMale: Archers in ''Echoes'' is locked to males so Faye and female units that used the Pitchfork cannot get access to it.
* AntiAir: The role they excel greatly at is punishing enemy fliers that try to rush into their territory with their high movement range.
* CastFromMoney: Merchants get ''Spendthrift'', a skill that increases the damage they deal and reduces the damage they take at the cost of a Gold Bar in the user's inventory.
* CompositeCharacter: The modern version of the archerdefault Dancer class is a composite of the original Archer class and the Bow Fighter, their SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute in the Jugdral games. Starting from ''Binding Blade'', Archers have the name of the original archer class, but like Bow Fighters wear casual clothes and have good movement.
* CripplingOverspecialisation: By design, they can only attack over distances, and as such are incapable of retaliation when attacked at close-quarters. As a result, this means that they can get boxed in from all four directions with no way of escaping, effectively trapping them.
** Some games tried to alleviate this. In ''Gaiden'', they are allowed to perform regular attacks and counters at melee range, while in ''Radiant Dawn'', crossbows[[note]]fixed-damage weapons that as a result are generally inferior to bows, which take strength into account, except against flying units, since, due to their ludicrous weapon might that gets tripled against flying units, they can instantly kill pretty much anything that flies, ''including [[GameBreaker Tibarn]]''[[/note]] and the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Double Bow]] can be used both in close-quarters and over a distance[[note]]though the Double Bowhas halved accuracy when used at close range[[/note]]. almost always been female-only. ''Three Houses'' grants Close Counter for those with C rank in bows.
** For this reason, Archers and Snipers functioning as bosses are extremely rare; one ofis the few, in ''Radiant Dawn'', wields a crossbow. On other occasions, such as in ''Blazing Blade'', they're bosses in siege maps with lots of walls and a need for the player to stay put while the enemy comes to them. In the ''Conquest'' route of ''Fates'', Takumi, a Sniper, is fought several times with Point Blank (which allows user to attack at 1 range with bows), while other enemy archers can carry 1-2 range bows that are enemy-only, especially in harder difficulties. [[spoiler:As the final boss first game in the ''Conquest'' campaign, Takumi wields a bow that can hit from 1-4 range.]]
* CriticalHitClass: Snipers in the Tellius games and ''Fates'' gain a critical boost, while the latter also increases hit rate.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Speed, a skill that boosts speed by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DemotedToExtra: Archers are an enemy-exclusive {{Mook}} class in ''Thracia 776''. Bow Fighter, however, fulfills the same role, and class changes to Sniper.
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: In the NES/SNES titles, Archers wear heavy armor with helmets, instead of wearing light clothing with a bare head. Starting from the GBA titles, Archers switched to short sleeved and went helmet-less. This applies even in the DS remakes of the Archanea games,series where Archers still have stats similar to a MightyGlacier.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Inthe ''Archanea'' games'', Archers wear full armor including face-concealing helmets. They also have high defense, Dancer is available to both males and females. Averted in ''Engage'' where Seadall, the same movement stat as Knights and posess the same terrain restrictions as knights. Upon promoting to Sniper, gained notably more movement, losing their terrain restrictions and [[HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic the helmet]].game's dancer, is a man.
** In ''Gaiden'', Archers start with 1-3 range, and can improve it even further by class change or using a non-basic bow, reaching a maximum of 5 spaces. To make up for this, Bows usually have a low hit rate and the playable Archers also tend to have poorer stats.
** In ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'', Archers are a {{Mook}} class with terrible stats, while Bow Fighters are the playable class that class changes into Sniper.
* {{Foil}}: DanceBattler: In the early games, the hunter class was one to them. Whilst both are infantry bow users, archers are armored, defensive slow Jugdral and associated with the military, Hunters in contrast, wear little clothes, fragile, fast and associated with freelancers/criminals.
* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic:
** In theArchanea titles, Archers wear face-concealing helmets, games and ''Awakening'', in which they ditch upon advancing to also wield swords... just not very well. The ''Fates'' version, the Songstress, wields lances/naginata instead. The ''Engage'' version uses body arts instead.
* ExtraTurn: Their abilities grant units that have already acted during their phase a second action in the same phase.
* FragileSpeedster: Dancers are characterized as fast and dodgy with their best stats being speed and luck. However, because of their nature as support units, their terrible durability, and, in some games, inability to fight, they must be protected and should not be in the front line.
* MagicDance: Averted; the ability of Dancers to grant other units an extra turn is mundane, although it functions like magic. The only exception is Ninian.
* MagicKnight: Dancers in ''Three Houses'' use swords and magic.
* MagicMusic: Nils, the Heron Laguz, and Azura can all play MagicMusic. Although Elphin plays music as well, he's morepowerful sniper class.
**like other dancers in that he has no magical ability.
* MsFanservice: Dancers tend to be this to some extent, thanks to their minimal clothing and sultry dances. The only one who doesn't solidly fit this description is Ninian and [[MrFanservice Seadall]].
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: If there is more than one Dancer in a single game, circumstances will conspire to ensure that they can never be in the party at the same time. The sole exception, ''Fire Emblem Heroes'', has an ObviousRulePatch to have them unable to refresh each other if the other unit has Dance or Sing equipped. Subverted in ''Three Houses'' where they can be refreshed with a Dancer Battalion, but it only works once per map, and in ''Engage'', where they can be refreshed with Emblem Byleth's Goddess Dance and Emblem Veronica's Contract, but the former only works once per engage and the latter, beside being unable to move for the duration of the extra action, has the Dance option disabled for that action's duration.
* QuirkyBard: Actually not ''that'' spoony. It's true that they have (depending on the game) little or no means to defend themselves and low-to-average defense/HP, but a well-trained character of this class can have ''massive'' Speed and Luck, thus they will dodge a good part of the attacks thrown at them. (Additionally, Tethys has good HP growths.)
* SpearCounterpart: In ''Binding Blade'' and ''Blazing Blade'', you get the Bard class, which are male dancers with the same ability to "sing" which refreshes an ally like Dancers. Though the Bard class exists in the Jugdral games,the playable bow fighters forego helmets, but their weaker counterparts, Archers, wear helmets.
there are just glorified version of Mages.
*HitAndRunTactics: Bow Knights StatusBuff:
** In ''Blazing Blade'', there are special rings that canmove again with their remaining movement after performing an action (including attacking) in the Jugdral and Tellius games and ''Three Houses''. In the GBA games, they can only move again if they use raises a non-attacking command.
* HorseArcher: The Bow Knight and its variants, the Nomad and the Ranger, get to shoot from horseback. Games featuring branched promotions usually will have this as an alternative to the Sniper, who makes up for the lower mobility with higherunit's stat caps by 10 for a single turn. Filla's Might increases attack, Ninis's Grace increases defensive stats, Thor's Ire increases critical, and the ability to use SiegeEngines.
* LongRangeFighter: Archers and Snipers can only attack from range and are defenseless in close quarters. Exceptions include ''Gaiden'' (where [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness archers can attack both in melee and from extreme range]]), crossbows and the Double Bow inSet's Litany increases avoid.
** In ''Radiant Dawn'',various special bows Herons has five different galdrar which are gain through level ups. Vigor functions like dancing (which they start by default but its effect differs for each Heron), Bliss raises the unit's biorhythm to its highest while Sorrow lowers enemy's biorhythm to its worst, Valor instantly raise Laguz's transformation gauge to its maximum, and yumis Recovery instantly restores HP and remove conditions.
** ''Awakening'' onwards has a skill called Special Dance, though in ''Fates'',and archers with the Point Blank skill[[note]]which lets the user attack with bows at 1-2 range[[/note]] and Close Counter[[note]]similar it is called Inspiring Song. In ''Awakening'', Special Dance increases +2 to Point Blank, but only works on the enemy phase[[/note]].
** ''Echoes''Strength/Magic/Defense/Resistance while ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses'' give Archers and Snipers Bow Range +1 as a class skill, while Bow Knights get Bow Range +2. This means that they will always outrange any increases +3/+4 to Skill/Speed/Luck. Unlike the earlier examples, the stat buffs stack with giving other units (except for magic units wielding extreme-range spells such as Meteor), avoiding ExtraTurn instead of being counter attacked by other ranged options like Javelins, magic, or non-Archer bow units.
** In ''Radiant Dawn''mutually exclusive.
* SultryBellyDancer: Dancers tend to dress in fanservice-y belly dancer outfits that leave little to the imagination regarding their figures.
* SupportPartyMember: Dancer variants from the GBA and''Three Houses'', bows lose accuracy when they Tellius games can't attack units from a very far distance. As archers enemies at all, and rely solely on their refreshing abilities. And even in those the games can potentially have longer range than 2, where they are capable of fighting, their refreshing ability is so valuable that they'll receive a massive accuracy reduction from said further distances. ''Three Houses'', however, compensated with Archers getting Hit Rate +20 upon mastering their class.
** In some games, like ''New Mystery'' and ''Awakening'', longbows can only be wielded by Archers and Snipers, givingrarely see combat.
* WanderingMinstrel: Most of thema niche to other bow-wielding classes, like Assassins and Bow Knights, by shooting from afar without any fear of counterattack from bows, javelins, hand axes, and magic.
* JackOfAllStats: They generally have well-balanced stats, albeit with an emphasis on Skill to complement the high hit rate of bows.
* JoustingLance: Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' wield lancescome across as well as bows.
* MasterArcher: Snipers are seasoned archers known for their high marksmanship. Snipers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Bowfaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding bows. Snipers and Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' also gain Bowfaire as a class skill.
* MechanicallyUnusualClass: The Apothecary and Merchant are very gimmicky classes. Their stat build makes them MightyGlacier compared to Snipers and their skills are based on their profession. The Apothecary's skills, ''Potent Potion'' and ''Quick Salve'', [[ItemAmplifier increases the effectiveness of vulneraries and tonics, and allow the unit to perform another action after using such items]], respectively. And the Merchant's skills, ''Profiteer'' and ''Spendthrift'', gives them a Gold Bar based on their Luck stat and allow them to spend them to increase their attack and defense, respectively.
* {{Mooks}}: The role of Archers in ''Thracia 776'' is weak enemy soldiers while Bow Fighters take their playable spot.
* NoArcInArchery: Until ''Shadows of Valentia'', no ''Fire Emblem'' game depicted archers or other bow users as arcing their shot. Could be considered a subversion, however, in that generally units are too close for arcing to be needed: the ballista users, who do fire at that kind of range, are generally shown firing at an angle. In addition, since arrows can be shot over walls in most games, one can only assume that, while it's not shown in the animation, their shots are being arced there.
* SecretArt: Snipers in ''Three Houses'' get Hunter's Volley, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to them. It allows them to strike twice consecutively with an increased chance to deal critical hits.
* SiegeEngines: In several games, usually when Ballisticans are absent, there are ballistae and similar weapons on the field in certain maps which only archers can use. In ''Fates'', anybody who can use bows can use these map ballistae, and other siege weapons are available to units with other weapons.
* StatusBuff: Bow Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Rally Skill, which gives a boost to skill to allies when commanded.
* WeakButSkilled: Bows are usually much weaker than other weapons, but make up for it with very high hit rates. Averted in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, where they have very low hit rate to balance out their massive range, and ''Fates'' where [[BalanceBuff they received a massive buff to their might]], only beaten by axes, while still remaining fairly accurate.
* WeaponTwirling: In many games, archers will twirl the arrow in their hands before shooting when scoring a critical hit.this initially.
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Deadeye/Sure Strike, the Sniper and Marksman's mastery skill. It's a bit of a PowerupLetdown, in that by the point they have access to it, a Sniper/Marksman will have such high Skill that they don't ''need'' an accuracy boost. Skills like Hit Rate +20 ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which increases hit rate by 20]]) and Certain Blow (increasing hit rate by 40 when the user attacks first) were more useful in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', as they allow units to dip into other classes for their skills.
* AlwaysMale: Archers in ''Echoes'' is locked to males so Faye and female units that used the Pitchfork cannot get access to it.
* AntiAir: The role they excel greatly at is punishing enemy fliers that try to rush into their territory with their high movement range.
* CastFromMoney: Merchants get ''Spendthrift'', a skill that increases the damage they deal and reduces the damage they take at the cost of a Gold Bar in the user's inventory.
* CompositeCharacter: The modern version of the archer
* CripplingOverspecialisation: By design, they can only attack over distances, and as such are incapable of retaliation when attacked at close-quarters. As a result, this means that they can get boxed in from all four directions with no way of escaping, effectively trapping them.
** Some games tried to alleviate this. In ''Gaiden'', they are allowed to perform regular attacks and counters at melee range, while in ''Radiant Dawn'', crossbows[[note]]fixed-damage weapons that as a result are generally inferior to bows, which take strength into account, except against flying units, since, due to their ludicrous weapon might that gets tripled against flying units, they can instantly kill pretty much anything that flies, ''including [[GameBreaker Tibarn]]''[[/note]] and the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Double Bow]] can be used both in close-quarters and over a distance[[note]]though the Double Bow
** For this reason, Archers and Snipers functioning as bosses are extremely rare; one of
* CriticalHitClass: Snipers in the Tellius games and ''Fates'' gain a critical boost, while the latter also increases hit rate.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Speed, a skill that boosts speed by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DemotedToExtra: Archers are an enemy-exclusive {{Mook}} class in ''Thracia 776''. Bow Fighter, however, fulfills the same role, and class changes to Sniper.
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: In the NES/SNES titles, Archers wear heavy armor with helmets, instead of wearing light clothing with a bare head. Starting from the GBA titles, Archers switched to short sleeved and went helmet-less. This applies even in the DS remakes of the Archanea games,
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** In
** In ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'', Archers are a {{Mook}} class with terrible stats, while Bow Fighters are the playable class that class changes into Sniper.
* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic:
** In the
* ExtraTurn: Their abilities grant units that have already acted during their phase a second action in the same phase.
* FragileSpeedster: Dancers are characterized as fast and dodgy with their best stats being speed and luck. However, because of their nature as support units, their terrible durability, and, in some games, inability to fight, they must be protected and should not be in the front line.
* MagicDance: Averted; the ability of Dancers to grant other units an extra turn is mundane, although it functions like magic. The only exception is Ninian.
* MagicKnight: Dancers in ''Three Houses'' use swords and magic.
* MagicMusic: Nils, the Heron Laguz, and Azura can all play MagicMusic. Although Elphin plays music as well, he's more
**
* MsFanservice: Dancers tend to be this to some extent, thanks to their minimal clothing and sultry dances. The only one who doesn't solidly fit this description is Ninian and [[MrFanservice Seadall]].
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: If there is more than one Dancer in a single game, circumstances will conspire to ensure that they can never be in the party at the same time. The sole exception, ''Fire Emblem Heroes'', has an ObviousRulePatch to have them unable to refresh each other if the other unit has Dance or Sing equipped. Subverted in ''Three Houses'' where they can be refreshed with a Dancer Battalion, but it only works once per map, and in ''Engage'', where they can be refreshed with Emblem Byleth's Goddess Dance and Emblem Veronica's Contract, but the former only works once per engage and the latter, beside being unable to move for the duration of the extra action, has the Dance option disabled for that action's duration.
* QuirkyBard: Actually not ''that'' spoony. It's true that they have (depending on the game) little or no means to defend themselves and low-to-average defense/HP, but a well-trained character of this class can have ''massive'' Speed and Luck, thus they will dodge a good part of the attacks thrown at them. (Additionally, Tethys has good HP growths.)
* SpearCounterpart: In ''Binding Blade'' and ''Blazing Blade'', you get the Bard class, which are male dancers with the same ability to "sing" which refreshes an ally like Dancers. Though the Bard class exists in the Jugdral games,
*
** In ''Blazing Blade'', there are special rings that can
* HorseArcher: The Bow Knight and its variants, the Nomad and the Ranger, get to shoot from horseback. Games featuring branched promotions usually will have this as an alternative to the Sniper, who makes up for the lower mobility with higher
* LongRangeFighter: Archers and Snipers can only attack from range and are defenseless in close quarters. Exceptions include ''Gaiden'' (where [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness archers can attack both in melee and from extreme range]]), crossbows and the Double Bow in
** In ''Radiant Dawn'',
** ''Awakening'' onwards has a skill called Special Dance, though in ''Fates'',
** ''Echoes''
** In ''Radiant Dawn''
* SultryBellyDancer: Dancers tend to dress in fanservice-y belly dancer outfits that leave little to the imagination regarding their figures.
* SupportPartyMember: Dancer variants from the GBA and
** In some games, like ''New Mystery'' and ''Awakening'', longbows can only be wielded by Archers and Snipers, giving
* WanderingMinstrel: Most of them
* JackOfAllStats: They generally have well-balanced stats, albeit with an emphasis on Skill to complement the high hit rate of bows.
* JoustingLance: Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' wield lances
* MasterArcher: Snipers are seasoned archers known for their high marksmanship. Snipers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Bowfaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding bows. Snipers and Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' also gain Bowfaire as a class skill.
* MechanicallyUnusualClass: The Apothecary and Merchant are very gimmicky classes. Their stat build makes them MightyGlacier compared to Snipers and their skills are based on their profession. The Apothecary's skills, ''Potent Potion'' and ''Quick Salve'', [[ItemAmplifier increases the effectiveness of vulneraries and tonics, and allow the unit to perform another action after using such items]], respectively. And the Merchant's skills, ''Profiteer'' and ''Spendthrift'', gives them a Gold Bar based on their Luck stat and allow them to spend them to increase their attack and defense, respectively.
* {{Mooks}}: The role of Archers in ''Thracia 776'' is weak enemy soldiers while Bow Fighters take their playable spot.
* NoArcInArchery: Until ''Shadows of Valentia'', no ''Fire Emblem'' game depicted archers or other bow users as arcing their shot. Could be considered a subversion, however, in that generally units are too close for arcing to be needed: the ballista users, who do fire at that kind of range, are generally shown firing at an angle. In addition, since arrows can be shot over walls in most games, one can only assume that, while it's not shown in the animation, their shots are being arced there.
* SecretArt: Snipers in ''Three Houses'' get Hunter's Volley, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to them. It allows them to strike twice consecutively with an increased chance to deal critical hits.
* SiegeEngines: In several games, usually when Ballisticans are absent, there are ballistae and similar weapons on the field in certain maps which only archers can use. In ''Fates'', anybody who can use bows can use these map ballistae, and other siege weapons are available to units with other weapons.
* StatusBuff: Bow Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Rally Skill, which gives a boost to skill to allies when commanded.
* WeakButSkilled: Bows are usually much weaker than other weapons, but make up for it with very high hit rates. Averted in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, where they have very low hit rate to balance out their massive range, and ''Fates'' where [[BalanceBuff they received a massive buff to their might]], only beaten by axes, while still remaining fairly accurate.
* WeaponTwirling: In many games, archers will twirl the arrow in their hands before shooting when scoring a critical hit.
Changed line(s) 377,394 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Ballistician (''Shooter'') and Mechanist]]
!!Ballistician (''Shooter'') and Mechanist
[[quoteright:248:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_ballistician_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:248:Ballistician in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:248:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_mechanist_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:248:Mechanist in ''Fates'']]
'''Ballisticians''' are a class which appears mainly in the Archanea and Jugdral canon. This class exclusively uses SiegeEngines, an ability which in other games is available just to Archers (who can temporarily make use of siege engines that are available in certain maps, and generally restricted to certain areas due to having their movement stifled by advanced terrain such as forests).\\\
In the Archanea titles, Ballistician is a playable class that can use a wide variety of different ballistas to bombard opponents from afar. In the Jugdral games, Ballisticians are split into weapon specific variants that each only wield the ballista they are named after (such as killer Ballisticans only using a killer ballista). All these variants are immobile and enemy exclusive.\\\
Ballisticians reappear in ''Fates'' as a male-only DLC class, riding in what is essentially a medieval tank.\\\
'''Mechanists''' are a class introduced in ''Fates'', serving as a class change option for '''Ninja''' and '''Apothecary'''. They are archers riding on a puppet mount that are able to use shuriken in addition to bows. Mechanists also have the strange ability to duplicate themselves, somewhat similar to a '''Summoner''', except that the duplicate is a direct extension of the Mechanist rather than a separate unit.\\\
'''Mage Cannoneer''' are a class introduced in ''Engage'' as DLC, armored units that wield magic cannons to strike from afar.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Jake and Beck (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Yukimura (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'')
!!Ballistician (''Shooter'') and Mechanist
[[quoteright:248:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_ballistician_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:248:Ballistician in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:248:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_mechanist_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:248:Mechanist in ''Fates'']]
'''Ballisticians''' are a class which appears mainly in the Archanea and Jugdral canon. This class exclusively uses SiegeEngines, an ability which in other games is available just to Archers (who can temporarily make use of siege engines that are available in certain maps, and generally restricted to certain areas due to having their movement stifled by advanced terrain such as forests).\\\
In the Archanea titles, Ballistician is a playable class that can use a wide variety of different ballistas to bombard opponents from afar. In the Jugdral games, Ballisticians are split into weapon specific variants that each only wield the ballista they are named after (such as killer Ballisticans only using a killer ballista). All these variants are immobile and enemy exclusive.\\\
Ballisticians reappear in ''Fates'' as a male-only DLC class, riding in what is essentially a medieval tank.\\\
'''Mechanists''' are a class introduced in ''Fates'', serving as a class change option for '''Ninja''' and '''Apothecary'''. They are archers riding on a puppet mount that are able to use shuriken in addition to bows. Mechanists also have the strange ability to duplicate themselves, somewhat similar to a '''Summoner''', except that the duplicate is a direct extension of the Mechanist rather than a separate unit.\\\
'''Mage Cannoneer''' are a class introduced in ''Engage'' as DLC, armored units that wield magic cannons to strike from afar.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Jake and Beck (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Yukimura (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'')
to:
!!Ballistician (''Shooter'') and Mechanist
[[quoteright:248:https://static.
!!Thief
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:248:https://static.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/78001.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Tricksters in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ninja.png]]
[[caption-width-right:255:Ninja in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elite_ninja.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Master Ninja in ''Fates'']]
Ballisticians reappear in ''Fates'' as a male-only DLC class, riding in what is essentially a medieval tank.
Changed line(s) 396,404 (click to see context) from:
* CripplingOverspecialisation: Ballisticians are unable to counterattack at all in all but the NES version of ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''Fates''.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first incarnation of Ballisticians in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' have the same attack range as archers, but with more bulk, making them essentially Bow Armors with exclusive weapons.
* LongRangeFighter: Ballisticians are an exaggerated version of this, as they can attack from 3-9 squares in a game where other ranged units have 2 range.
* MarionetteMaster: The Mechanist rides a Karakuri and use barely visible strings to make them both move and fire projectiles from their mouth.
* PowerAtAPrice: The Mage Cannoneer's Let Fly skill allows them to hit a cross shape area at the start of their next turn with their current cannon at the cost of consuming that cannon.
* SelfDuplication: The Mechanist class has the ''Replicate'' skill, which creates a completely identical clone of the user. Both units affect each other, like sharing the same HP and the same equipped weapon; should one die, the other will disappear as well.
* SiegeEngines: While other classes can use ballistae and similar weapons, Ballisticians and Mechanists are ''always'' using a siege engine. The Ballistician class in ''Fates'' ride in their own personal medieval "tank", which functions as a mobile ballista.
* StatusEffect: The Mage Cannoneers, besides having physical and magical cannons, also have access to cannons that inflict status effects on the target if it hits, such as Poison and Freeze.
* TankGoodness: The Ballistician in ''Fates''' rides a giant wooden tank that fires arrows.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first incarnation of Ballisticians in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' have the same attack range as archers, but with more bulk, making them essentially Bow Armors with exclusive weapons.
* LongRangeFighter: Ballisticians are an exaggerated version of this, as they can attack from 3-9 squares in a game where other ranged units have 2 range.
* MarionetteMaster: The Mechanist rides a Karakuri and use barely visible strings to make them both move and fire projectiles from their mouth.
* PowerAtAPrice: The Mage Cannoneer's Let Fly skill allows them to hit a cross shape area at the start of their next turn with their current cannon at the cost of consuming that cannon.
* SelfDuplication: The Mechanist class has the ''Replicate'' skill, which creates a completely identical clone of the user. Both units affect each other, like sharing the same HP and the same equipped weapon; should one die, the other will disappear as well.
* SiegeEngines: While other classes can use ballistae and similar weapons, Ballisticians and Mechanists are ''always'' using a siege engine. The Ballistician class in ''Fates'' ride in their own personal medieval "tank", which functions as a mobile ballista.
* StatusEffect: The Mage Cannoneers, besides having physical and magical cannons, also have access to cannons that inflict status effects on the target if it hits, such as Poison and Freeze.
* TankGoodness: The Ballistician in ''Fates''' rides a giant wooden tank that fires arrows.
to:
* CripplingOverspecialisation: Ballisticians AchillesHeel:
** As a "criminal" class, thieves suffer effective damage when hit by the Ladyblade in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. This effect never appears again, note even in the remake of ''Mystery of the Emblem''.
** In ''The Sacred Stones'', Thieves, Rogues and Assassins all take effective damage from the Swordslayer axe.
* AllSwordsAreTheSame: A particularly amusing exaggeration: in the Archanea[[note]]NES version[[/note]], Jugdral[[note]]in the map animations[[/note]], and GBA games, all swords look like ''knives'' when used by members of the Thief class family!
* AnimalMotifs: Assassins in ''Three Houses'' wear [[ScaryScorpions scorpion-themed]] outfits reflecting their stealth and efficiency as surprise killers.
* ArmCannon: Not in the conventional sense, but to go along with launching magic with {{Finger Gun}}s, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' have their critical animation use their right arm ending in a fist as one to fire off magic as well.
* BanditMook: When they're enemies. Usually they target treasure chests, though in some games they can destroy villages which give out items and money, which is a role sometimes shared with Brigands/Pirates/Barbarians.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: ''Awakening''[='=]s Assassins has three blades attached on each arm. Ninjas have one on every wrist, and Master Ninjas attach them all over their arms; from shoulder to wrist.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: Assassins in ''Awakening'' and Bow Knights in ''Fates''. Thieves in ''Three Houses'' also wield bows and swords.
* CombatMedic: Tricksters and Adventurers gain the use of staves with swords and bows respectively.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: In ''Fates'', all knives and shurikens have the added effect of lowering the target's defensive stats.
* DeepCoverAgent: The thieves which areunable not [[GentlemanThief Gentleman Thieves]] or {{Classy Cat Burglar}}s tend to counterattack at all be working for some noble family.
* DefogOfWar: With the exception of ''Thracia 776'' ([[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the first game to introduce fog of war, mind you]]), ''Path of Radiance'', the DS remakes, and ''Three Houses'', thieves have really high vision inall fog of war, making them good asset to bring them in. Combine it with the Torch item, they'll likely uncover most of the map.
* DeviousDaggers: Almost every one of their appearances draws their swords as knives for some reason; they didn't become full-fledged knife-wielders until Tellius, when knives became a weapon type. Master Ninja in ''Fates'' gain Shurikenfaire, which boost their damage output for wielding shuriken/daggers. ''Heroes'' has a tendency to change sword-wielding Thieves and Assassins to using daggers.
* ExperienceBooster: Interestingly, they're on the giving ''and'' receiving end of this trope in some games, where they receive extra experience from combat due to being considered a "low-power" class (on the same level as [[TheGoomba Soldiers]] and [[SupportPartyMember Clerics]], for example), but to compensate for theNES version player, enemy Thieves have a flat bonus to experience given - which typically results in them actually giving out ''more'' experience than other enemies. Also, whenever Lethality is activated in the GBA games, you gain double the amount of ''Shadow Dragon'' experience.
* FingerGun: For some inexplicable reason, Tricksters do this in ''Three Houses'' for some of their magic casting (as far as anyone can tell you firearms have yet to see the light of day in the franchise)[[note]]Ship cannons are seen on the Almyran ships in the Derdriu map in ''Three Houses'', but are never seen being used at all, hinting that there are firearms outside of Fódlan, and while there are usable cannons in ''Engage'', the ones wielded by Mage Cannoneers are more magical in nature and the statonary ones that launches fire are more likely propelled by fire itself and not gunpowder[[/note]]. Heck, even their critical animation fires off spells as if they have an ArmCannon.
* FlashStep: Assassins and Ninjas are practitioners of this art.
* FragileSpeedster: Thieves have horribly lackluster defenses, but make up for it with their immense Speed, allowing them to dodge practically everything not backed by a weapon triangle or terrain advantage.
** In addition, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn ''Duelist's Blow'' upon mastering the class. Duelist's Blow raise evasion by 20 when attacking.
* GentlemanThief: Most allied thieves tend toward this (except for Heather, who's more of a ClassyCatBurglar); the only real exception is [[{{Jerkass}} Lifis]].
* HPToOne: Bane, the mastery skill of Whispers.
* KleptomaniacHero: When allied.
* InstakillMook: Averted. Throughout the series, the developers went out of their way to make sure enemy Assassins ''never'' have Lethality. In ''Blazing Blade'', the only Assassin boss has magic swords that prevent him from dealing critical hits and, in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', generic Assassins are programmed to never randomly generate the Lethality skill, no matter how the RNG rolls. This is because having an enemy that could randomly kill your units in [[{{Permadeath}} Classic]] mode is completely unfair. The only time enemy Assassins have Lethality is [[spoiler:one paralogue in ''Awakening'' but because the enemy is copied from your party, you can control whether the enemy has Lethality or not. In turn, Jaffar having it in Rogues & Redeemers is for the challenge]].
* LuckySeven: The Trickster in ''Awakening'' and Adventurer in ''Fates'' get the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Lucky Seven]] skill at Level 5. The skill gives them +20 Hit and Avoid for the first 7 turns. In ''Three Houses'', Lucky Seven became the Trickster's class skill and it functions differently. It increases one of seven stats by 5: Strength, Magic, Speed, Defense, Resistance, or Hit and Avoid, at the start of the unit's turn.
* MageKiller: Ninja in ''Fates'' have high Resistance to complement the modified weapon triangle, in which knives/shuriken are effective against tomes, making them even more effective than Sky Knights in this role.
* MagicKnight: Tricksters can use magic staves in ''Awakening'', allowing them to function as a CombatMedic of sorts. In ''Three Houses'', they can use a slew of Faith and Reason magic spells, making them more akin to a RedMage.
* MagikarpPower: You'd be mad to put a thief in the thick of combat. Then they become Assassins. Shit starts dying en masse. Averted in ''Fates''. Ninja are fast and extremely useful debuffers throughout the game, while Outlaws are the only unpromoted Nohrian unit type that can use bows.
* MasterOfUnlocking: Locktouch, their innate skill, allows them to unlock doors and chests without the use of keys. In ''Path of Radiance'' and onward, there are no Lockpicks and they can instead open doors and chests as a passive ability.
* {{Ninja}}: The Ninja/Master Ninja class in ''Fates''.
*EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first incarnation OneHitKill: Lethality, the mastery skill of Ballisticians in ''Shadow Dragon Assassins and Master Ninja, and also Assassinate, the Blade mastery Combat Art of Light'' have the same attack range as archers, but with more bulk, making them essentially Bow Armors with exclusive weapons.
* LongRangeFighter: Ballisticians are an exaggerated version of this, as they can attack from 3-9 squaresAssassins in a game where ''Three Houses''. However, its activation rate is lower compared to other ranged units have 2 range.
* MarionetteMaster: The Mechanist rides a Karakuriskills.[[note]]Half the CriticalHit rate in ''Blazing Blade'', ''Sacred Stones'', and use barely visible strings to make them both move and fire projectiles from their mouth.
* PowerAtAPrice: The Mage Cannoneer's Let Fly skill allows them to hit a cross shape area at the start''Path of their next turn with their current cannon at the cost of consuming that cannon.
* SelfDuplication: The Mechanist class has the ''Replicate'' skill, which creates a completely identical clone of the user. Both units affect each other, like sharing the same HP and the same equipped weapon; should one die, the other will disappear as well.
* SiegeEngines: While other classes can use ballistae and similar weapons, Ballisticians and Mechanists are ''always'' using a siege engine. The Ballistician classRadiance''; Skill divided by 2 in ''Radiant Dawn''; Skill divided by 4 in ''Awakening'', ''Fates'' ride and ''Three Houses''.[[/note]]
** Noteworthy is that enemy Assassins or Master Ninja will never have Lethality, [[spoiler:with exception of four maps intheir own personal medieval "tank", ''Awakening'']] and in ''Blazing Blade'', an Assassin boss always carries a magic sword which functions can never deal critical hits. This is so that these enemies doesn't kill your unit in one hit in a game with permadeath.
* PhantomThief: Trickster in ''Awakening'' is literally described as amobile ballista.
glamorous phantom thief.
*StatusEffect: PoisonedWeapons:
** TheMage Cannoneers, besides having physical and magical cannons, also Poison Strike skill learned by the Ninja class inflicts damage equal to 20% of the enemy's maximum HP after every combat should the skill's wielder survive, regardless if the attack hits or not.
** In ''Three Houses'', Assassins in Maddening Mode will haveaccess to cannons that the Poison skill, which may let them inflict status effects poison to your units.
* ReverseGrip: They typically wield their bladed weapons like this, from daggers to swords.
* SecretArt: [[OneHitKill Lethality]].
* StatusBuff: In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Bow Knights gain Rally Skill.
* SwapTeleportation: Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn the Foul Play combat art upon mastering the class. Foul Play allow the Trickster to swap positions with an ally within 1 to 5 range. This combat art is exclusive to Tricksters.
* ThiefBag: The Thief and Rogue sprites in the GBA games are depicted carrying sacks.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. Assassins in the GBA games and the Tellius games are exclusively a player-only class, because having an enemy class that can one-shot your units can be very unfair. Averted with ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' as Assassins are used but will never generate Lethality (or Assassinate in ''Three Houses'').
* VideoGameStealing: Depends on thetarget if it hits, such as Poison game, but they can typically steal either gear or gold from enemies. But in all of the games, they have the ability to open chests and Freeze.
steal their contents.
*TankGoodness: The Ballistician in ''Fates''' rides a giant wooden tank that fires arrows.WeakButSkilled: They usually have very low Strength which makes them not great for combat, but they typically have very high Skill which, coupled with their equally high Speed, can make them quite deadly if properly trained.
** As a "criminal" class, thieves suffer effective damage when hit by the Ladyblade in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. This effect never appears again, note even in the remake of ''Mystery of the Emblem''.
** In ''The Sacred Stones'', Thieves, Rogues and Assassins all take effective damage from the Swordslayer axe.
* AllSwordsAreTheSame: A particularly amusing exaggeration: in the Archanea[[note]]NES version[[/note]], Jugdral[[note]]in the map animations[[/note]], and GBA games, all swords look like ''knives'' when used by members of the Thief class family!
* AnimalMotifs: Assassins in ''Three Houses'' wear [[ScaryScorpions scorpion-themed]] outfits reflecting their stealth and efficiency as surprise killers.
* ArmCannon: Not in the conventional sense, but to go along with launching magic with {{Finger Gun}}s, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' have their critical animation use their right arm ending in a fist as one to fire off magic as well.
* BanditMook: When they're enemies. Usually they target treasure chests, though in some games they can destroy villages which give out items and money, which is a role sometimes shared with Brigands/Pirates/Barbarians.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: ''Awakening''[='=]s Assassins has three blades attached on each arm. Ninjas have one on every wrist, and Master Ninjas attach them all over their arms; from shoulder to wrist.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: Assassins in ''Awakening'' and Bow Knights in ''Fates''. Thieves in ''Three Houses'' also wield bows and swords.
* CombatMedic: Tricksters and Adventurers gain the use of staves with swords and bows respectively.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: In ''Fates'', all knives and shurikens have the added effect of lowering the target's defensive stats.
* DeepCoverAgent: The thieves which are
* DefogOfWar: With the exception of ''Thracia 776'' ([[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the first game to introduce fog of war, mind you]]), ''Path of Radiance'', the DS remakes, and ''Three Houses'', thieves have really high vision in
* DeviousDaggers: Almost every one of their appearances draws their swords as knives for some reason; they didn't become full-fledged knife-wielders until Tellius, when knives became a weapon type. Master Ninja in ''Fates'' gain Shurikenfaire, which boost their damage output for wielding shuriken/daggers. ''Heroes'' has a tendency to change sword-wielding Thieves and Assassins to using daggers.
* ExperienceBooster: Interestingly, they're on the giving ''and'' receiving end of this trope in some games, where they receive extra experience from combat due to being considered a "low-power" class (on the same level as [[TheGoomba Soldiers]] and [[SupportPartyMember Clerics]], for example), but to compensate for the
* FingerGun: For some inexplicable reason, Tricksters do this in ''Three Houses'' for some of their magic casting (as far as anyone can tell you firearms have yet to see the light of day in the franchise)[[note]]Ship cannons are seen on the Almyran ships in the Derdriu map in ''Three Houses'', but are never seen being used at all, hinting that there are firearms outside of Fódlan, and while there are usable cannons in ''Engage'', the ones wielded by Mage Cannoneers are more magical in nature and the statonary ones that launches fire are more likely propelled by fire itself and not gunpowder[[/note]]. Heck, even their critical animation fires off spells as if they have an ArmCannon.
* FlashStep: Assassins and Ninjas are practitioners of this art.
* FragileSpeedster: Thieves have horribly lackluster defenses, but make up for it with their immense Speed, allowing them to dodge practically everything not backed by a weapon triangle or terrain advantage.
** In addition, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn ''Duelist's Blow'' upon mastering the class. Duelist's Blow raise evasion by 20 when attacking.
* GentlemanThief: Most allied thieves tend toward this (except for Heather, who's more of a ClassyCatBurglar); the only real exception is [[{{Jerkass}} Lifis]].
* HPToOne: Bane, the mastery skill of Whispers.
* KleptomaniacHero: When allied.
* InstakillMook: Averted. Throughout the series, the developers went out of their way to make sure enemy Assassins ''never'' have Lethality. In ''Blazing Blade'', the only Assassin boss has magic swords that prevent him from dealing critical hits and, in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', generic Assassins are programmed to never randomly generate the Lethality skill, no matter how the RNG rolls. This is because having an enemy that could randomly kill your units in [[{{Permadeath}} Classic]] mode is completely unfair. The only time enemy Assassins have Lethality is [[spoiler:one paralogue in ''Awakening'' but because the enemy is copied from your party, you can control whether the enemy has Lethality or not. In turn, Jaffar having it in Rogues & Redeemers is for the challenge]].
* LuckySeven: The Trickster in ''Awakening'' and Adventurer in ''Fates'' get the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Lucky Seven]] skill at Level 5. The skill gives them +20 Hit and Avoid for the first 7 turns. In ''Three Houses'', Lucky Seven became the Trickster's class skill and it functions differently. It increases one of seven stats by 5: Strength, Magic, Speed, Defense, Resistance, or Hit and Avoid, at the start of the unit's turn.
* MageKiller: Ninja in ''Fates'' have high Resistance to complement the modified weapon triangle, in which knives/shuriken are effective against tomes, making them even more effective than Sky Knights in this role.
* MagicKnight: Tricksters can use magic staves in ''Awakening'', allowing them to function as a CombatMedic of sorts. In ''Three Houses'', they can use a slew of Faith and Reason magic spells, making them more akin to a RedMage.
* MagikarpPower: You'd be mad to put a thief in the thick of combat. Then they become Assassins. Shit starts dying en masse. Averted in ''Fates''. Ninja are fast and extremely useful debuffers throughout the game, while Outlaws are the only unpromoted Nohrian unit type that can use bows.
* MasterOfUnlocking: Locktouch, their innate skill, allows them to unlock doors and chests without the use of keys. In ''Path of Radiance'' and onward, there are no Lockpicks and they can instead open doors and chests as a passive ability.
* {{Ninja}}: The Ninja/Master Ninja class in ''Fates''.
*
* LongRangeFighter: Ballisticians are an exaggerated version of this, as they can attack from 3-9 squares
* MarionetteMaster: The Mechanist rides a Karakuri
* PowerAtAPrice: The Mage Cannoneer's Let Fly skill allows them to hit a cross shape area at the start
* SelfDuplication: The Mechanist class has the ''Replicate'' skill, which creates a completely identical clone of the user. Both units affect each other, like sharing the same HP and the same equipped weapon; should one die, the other will disappear as well.
* SiegeEngines: While other classes can use ballistae and similar weapons, Ballisticians and Mechanists are ''always'' using a siege engine. The Ballistician class
** Noteworthy is that enemy Assassins or Master Ninja will never have Lethality, [[spoiler:with exception of four maps in
* PhantomThief: Trickster in ''Awakening'' is literally described as a
*
** The
** In ''Three Houses'', Assassins in Maddening Mode will have
* ReverseGrip: They typically wield their bladed weapons like this, from daggers to swords.
* SecretArt: [[OneHitKill Lethality]].
* StatusBuff: In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Bow Knights gain Rally Skill.
* SwapTeleportation: Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn the Foul Play combat art upon mastering the class. Foul Play allow the Trickster to swap positions with an ally within 1 to 5 range. This combat art is exclusive to Tricksters.
* ThiefBag: The Thief and Rogue sprites in the GBA games are depicted carrying sacks.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. Assassins in the GBA games and the Tellius games are exclusively a player-only class, because having an enemy class that can one-shot your units can be very unfair. Averted with ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' as Assassins are used but will never generate Lethality (or Assassinate in ''Three Houses'').
* VideoGameStealing: Depends on the
*
Changed line(s) 407,425 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Mage]]
!!Mage
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/719g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Monks in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/791g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Mages in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/900g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Warlocks in ''Three Houses'']]
The basic offensive magic class, dealing in the three "anima", or nature, magic types. Mages almost always Class Change into the '''Sage''' class, and in ''Radiant Dawn'', go further to the third-tier '''Arch Sage''' class (which also exists in ''The Blazing Blade'' as the exclusive class of Athos). ''The Sacred Stones'' also allows Mages to Class Change into the mounted '''Mage Knight''' class. In the original Archanea games, Mages Class Change into '''Bishops''' like every other magic user; the Sage class was implemented in the remakes.\\\
The Jugdral games and ''Radiant Dawn''[[note]]''Path of Radiance'' just has normal unsplit Mages and Sages, with both being able to wield all three anima magic types from the beginning[[/note]] split the Mage class into three variant classes, each specializing in one of the three anima magic types: the '''Fire Mage''', '''Wind Mage''', and '''Thunder Mage'''. In ''Radiant Dawn'', they class change into similarly split Sage variants; in the Jugdral games, all four variants class change into one of two other advanced classes: the '''Mage Fighter''' and '''Mage Knight''', which are generally identical in that both wield swords alongside three anima magic types, differing only in that the Mage Knight rides a horse and the Mage Fighter stays on foot. Female Mage Fighters can can also use staves.\\\
In ''Sacred Stones'', they can choose to class change into '''Mage Knight''', but unlike the Jugdral version, this particular Mage Knight can only use magic and staves, making them more similar to the '''Valkyrie''' class. In ''Awakening'', they can instead choose to class change into a class similar to the Jugdral one: the '''Dark Knight'''. In ''Fates'', Mages are called '''Diviners''', which class change into '''[[UsefulNotes/{{Onmyodo}} Onmyoji]]''', which can use tomes and staves, like Sages, or into the '''Basara''' class, a MagicKnight class that uses tomes and lances. Female Mages in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' and ''Shadows of Valentia'' do not Class Change into Sage; they Class Change to '''Priestess''' instead, who are capable of using swords alongside their magic.\\\
Related is the '''Bard'''[[note]]not to be confused with the normal Bard support class, discussed below[[/note]], a class exclusive to the Jugdral games which wields all three types of Anima Magic and Light Magic and also class changes to Sage, and the enemy-exclusive '''Queen''' class which can use all three types of Anima Magic and Staves. Also related is the '''Empress''' class, exclusive to Sanaki in ''Radiant Dawn'', which also can wield all three types of Anima Magic and Light Magic, but does not class change to or from anything[[note]]it's treated as a third-tier class in-game[[/note]], the class family of '''Tactician''' and '''Grandmaster''' (with its own section below), which wields tomes and swords, and '''Fell Child''', exclusive to Veyle, which wields tomes and daggers, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''[[note]]Characters marked with a * were originally Bishops in the first and third games, before the remakes added the separate Sage class[[/note]] Merric, Wendell*, Linde (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Gotoh* (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Luthier, Delthea, Mae, Boey, Sonya, Nomah (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Jubelo, Arlen (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Azelle, Lewyn, Tailtiu, Arthur/Amid, Tine/Linda, Ced/Hawk (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Asbel, Olwen, Homer, Ilios, Miranda, Ced (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Lugh, Lilina, Hugh (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Erk, Pent, Nino, Athos (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Lute, Saleh (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Soren, Ilyana, Tormod, Calill, Bastian (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''), Sanaki (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Katarina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Miriel, Ricken, Laurent, Emmeryn, Celica (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Orochi, Hayato, Rhajat (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Dorothea, Annette, Lysithea, Hanneman (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Clanne, Citrinne, Lindon, Veyle, Gregory (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Witch
[[quoteright:228:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/witch_echoes_portrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:228:Witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/791g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Mages in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/900g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Warlocks
The
->'''Playable characters of this class
Changed line(s) 427,454 (click to see context) from:
* AdaptationNameChange: Sages in ''Three Houses'' are called Warlocks.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Archsage's skill Flare negates enemy resistance before dealing damage.
* BadassCape: Most Mages wear capes, with the occasional [[InTheHood hood]] attached to it.
* BlackMage: They usually have access to all three types of offensive elemental magic, and depending on the character they tend to specialize in one. Once they class change, they normally become {{Red Mage}}s. The high-tier mages (Sage, Onmyoji, Warlock) gain (Black) Tomefaire as a skill. (Note that Black Tomefaire only affects non-dark magic; the dark equivalent is called Dark Tomefaire.)
* BlowYouAway: They can use wind magic. The basic Wind tome is sometimes among a lower-level mage's starting tomes; depending on the character, it may be substituted with the basic Thunder tome.
* CastFromHitPoints: Mages in ''Gaiden'' use their HP to cast spells due to the game having no weapon durability.
* CombatMedic: Sages can wield staves to heal allies.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the original Archanea games both Mages and Clerics class change into Bishops. ''Gaiden'' introduces the Sage class as an advanced form for Mages which stays in most future games, including the Archanea remakes.
* EmergencyWeapon: In ''Path of Radiance'', Sages can choose knives instead of staves. They won't be very effective with it due to their low Strength, but can be useful for some high-Resistance enemies.
* ExperienceBooster: Diviners get the Future Sight Skill, where the user has a chance (based on their Luck stat) to gain double the EXP value after initiating a battle and defeating an enemy.
* FireIceLightning: Mages have access to the three "anima" classes of magic -- fire, thunder, and wind. The Archanea, GBA games, DS games, and ''Three Houses'' lump them into one magic type, whereas Jugdral and Tellius split them into three separate types.
* FixedDamageAttack: Due to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, magic only deal as much damage based on the spell's might since magic cannot be improved by Strength and unit's Resistance is a flat 0 for both you and the enemy, unless you use the Barrier staff, a rare Talisman, or are Gotoh.
* GeoEffects: With the exception of ''Gaiden'' and ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', Mages can traverse through deserts without any problem.
* GlassCannon: In the GBA games, where their Defense cap, and especially their Resistance cap, are lower than the Bishop. However, outside of ''Sacred Stones'' (where you can grind for stat boosters to reach their caps), you will not see this often.
* HitAndRunTactics: Mage Knights in the Jugdral games can attack and move with their remaining movement. Mage Knights in ''Sacred Stones'' can only move again if they use a non-attacking command.
* HolyHandGrenade: In the Archanea games, all magic types (staves aside) are one and the same, meaning that Mages also wield ostensibly "light" and "dark" tomes like Starlight and Swarm. Sages in ''Sacred Stones'' also learn light magic naturally and can be taught dark magic by exploiting a bug in the game.
* AnIcePerson: Several games had ice-based spells, like Blizzard and Fimbulvetr. Some were either in games where tomes and magic are not divided into groups, like the Archanea games, ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'', or are part of the Anima or Wind magic in other games, like the GBA and Tellius games.
* InTheHood: Mages typically wear hooded cloaks if they're not wearing hats.
* LifeDrain: The Arch Sage's mastery skill, Flare.
* MagicKnight: ''[=Gaiden's=]'' Priestesses as well as Jugdral's Mage Knights and Mage Fighters are capable of using swords and magic, while ''Engage's'' Mage Knights can wield either swords, lances or axes in addtion to magic. Mage Knights from ''The Sacred Stones'' doesn't fall under this trope however, as it is just a mounted mage and doesn't use physical weapons. ''Path of Radiance'' grants Sages the ability to wield knives instead of staves. ''Awakening'' also features the Dark Knight, which is similar to the Jugdral Mage Knight, while ''Fates'' features the Basara, which wields lances in addition to tomes.
* PlayingWithFire: They can use fire magic; the basic Fire spell is normally among a lower-level mage's starting tomes.
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is usually if you class change to a MagicKnight class.
* RobeAndWizardHat: ''Awakening'' forsakes the tradition of hooded capes for Mages in favor of some ''enormous'' wizard hats. The Warlocks in ''Three Houses'' also wear very enormous wizard hats.
* ShockAndAwe: They can use thunder magic. The basic Thunder tome is sometimes among a lower-level mage's starting tomes; depending on the character, it may be substituted with the basic Wind tome.
* SquishyWizard: Mages and Sages are very frail physically, making them unsuitable for the very front lines against physically-oriented armies, and they generally have lower Resistance than Monks and Bishops and Dark Mages/Shamans and Sorcerers/Dark Bishops/Druids, making them the GlassCannon to the light magic classes' StoneWall[[note]]well, magically, at least; the light magic classes tend to have poor Defense as well[[/note]] and the dark magic classes' MightyGlacier. Averted with Dark Knights, who have Defense as their highest stat.
* StatusBuff:
** Sages in ''Awakening'' and Onmyoji in ''Fates'' gain Rally Magic, which gives a boost to magic to allies when commanded.
** Mages in ''Three Houses'' gain Fiendish Blow upon mastering the class, which increases their magic by 6 when initiating the attack.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Archsage's skill Flare negates enemy resistance before dealing damage.
* BadassCape: Most Mages wear capes, with the occasional [[InTheHood hood]] attached to it.
* BlackMage: They usually have access to all three types of offensive elemental magic, and depending on the character they tend to specialize in one. Once they class change, they normally become {{Red Mage}}s. The high-tier mages (Sage, Onmyoji, Warlock) gain (Black) Tomefaire as a skill. (Note that Black Tomefaire only affects non-dark magic; the dark equivalent is called Dark Tomefaire.)
* BlowYouAway: They can use wind magic. The basic Wind tome is sometimes among a lower-level mage's starting tomes; depending on the character, it may be substituted with the basic Thunder tome.
* CastFromHitPoints: Mages in ''Gaiden'' use their HP to cast spells due to the game having no weapon durability.
* CombatMedic: Sages can wield staves to heal allies.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the original Archanea games both Mages and Clerics class change into Bishops. ''Gaiden'' introduces the Sage class as an advanced form for Mages which stays in most future games, including the Archanea remakes.
* EmergencyWeapon: In ''Path of Radiance'', Sages can choose knives instead of staves. They won't be very effective with it due to their low Strength, but can be useful for some high-Resistance enemies.
* ExperienceBooster: Diviners get the Future Sight Skill, where the user has a chance (based on their Luck stat) to gain double the EXP value after initiating a battle and defeating an enemy.
* FireIceLightning: Mages have access to the three "anima" classes of magic -- fire, thunder, and wind. The Archanea, GBA games, DS games, and ''Three Houses'' lump them into one magic type, whereas Jugdral and Tellius split them into three separate types.
* FixedDamageAttack: Due to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, magic only deal as much damage based on the spell's might since magic cannot be improved by Strength and unit's Resistance is a flat 0 for both you and the enemy, unless you use the Barrier staff, a rare Talisman, or are Gotoh.
* GeoEffects: With the exception of ''Gaiden'' and ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', Mages can traverse through deserts without any problem.
* GlassCannon: In the GBA games, where their Defense cap, and especially their Resistance cap, are lower than the Bishop. However, outside of ''Sacred Stones'' (where you can grind for stat boosters to reach their caps), you will not see this often.
* HitAndRunTactics: Mage Knights in the Jugdral games can attack and move with their remaining movement. Mage Knights in ''Sacred Stones'' can only move again if they use a non-attacking command.
* HolyHandGrenade: In the Archanea games, all magic types (staves aside) are one and the same, meaning that Mages also wield ostensibly "light" and "dark" tomes like Starlight and Swarm. Sages in ''Sacred Stones'' also learn light magic naturally and can be taught dark magic by exploiting a bug in the game.
* AnIcePerson: Several games had ice-based spells, like Blizzard and Fimbulvetr. Some were either in games where tomes and magic are not divided into groups, like the Archanea games, ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'', or are part of the Anima or Wind magic in other games, like the GBA and Tellius games.
* InTheHood: Mages typically wear hooded cloaks if they're not wearing hats.
* LifeDrain: The Arch Sage's mastery skill, Flare.
* MagicKnight: ''[=Gaiden's=]'' Priestesses as well as Jugdral's Mage Knights and Mage Fighters are capable of using swords and magic, while ''Engage's'' Mage Knights can wield either swords, lances or axes in addtion to magic. Mage Knights from ''The Sacred Stones'' doesn't fall under this trope however, as it is just a mounted mage and doesn't use physical weapons. ''Path of Radiance'' grants Sages the ability to wield knives instead of staves. ''Awakening'' also features the Dark Knight, which is similar to the Jugdral Mage Knight, while ''Fates'' features the Basara, which wields lances in addition to tomes.
* PlayingWithFire: They can use fire magic; the basic Fire spell is normally among a lower-level mage's starting tomes.
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is usually if you class change to a MagicKnight class.
* RobeAndWizardHat: ''Awakening'' forsakes the tradition of hooded capes for Mages in favor of some ''enormous'' wizard hats. The Warlocks in ''Three Houses'' also wear very enormous wizard hats.
* ShockAndAwe: They can use thunder magic. The basic Thunder tome is sometimes among a lower-level mage's starting tomes; depending on the character, it may be substituted with the basic Wind tome.
* SquishyWizard: Mages and Sages are very frail physically, making them unsuitable for the very front lines against physically-oriented armies, and they generally have lower Resistance than Monks and Bishops and Dark Mages/Shamans and Sorcerers/Dark Bishops/Druids, making them the GlassCannon to the light magic classes' StoneWall[[note]]well, magically, at least; the light magic classes tend to have poor Defense as well[[/note]] and the dark magic classes' MightyGlacier. Averted with Dark Knights, who have Defense as their highest stat.
* StatusBuff:
** Sages in ''Awakening'' and Onmyoji in ''Fates'' gain Rally Magic, which gives a boost to magic to allies when commanded.
** Mages in ''Three Houses'' gain Fiendish Blow upon mastering the class, which increases their magic by 6 when initiating the attack.
to:
* AdaptationNameChange: Sages AlwaysFemale: Witch is a female-only class.
* ArtificialStupidity: Witches' behaviors in ''Gaiden'' are... sporadic to say the least. This is a case of AcceptableBreaksFromReality as making them "smarter" on top of having the ability to move anywhere at will would make them very unbearable to face.
* DealWithTheDevil: In ''Gaiden'', Witches are the result of women sacrificing themselves to Duma for power. [[spoiler:Not always, some of them (Rinea, Sonya's sisters, Delthea, and Celica) didn't necessarily exactly want to become such.]]
* EmptyShell: In ''Gaiden'''s lore, Witches are women who offered their souls to Duma in exchange for great magical power, but lost their free will and became living husks.
* EvilRedhead: In ''Gaiden'', with the exception of the brainwashed Delthea, all Witches are redheads and happen to be antagonistic.
* FacelessGoons: Generic Gremories in ''Three Houses''are called Warlocks.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Archsage's skill Flare negates enemy resistance before dealing damage.
* BadassCape: Most Mages wear capes, with the occasional [[InTheHood hood]] attached to it.
* BlackMage: They usuallyhave access veils covering their faces.
* FanDisservice: The Witches from ''Shadows of Valentia'' are beautiful women whose looks appeal toall three types many fetishes, but their actual situations make them less appealing.
* {{Nerf}}: In ''Gaiden'', their signature Warp ability lets them travel to any spot on the map. ''Fates'' changes it so they can only teleport to squares cardinally adjacent to allies.
* PowerCrutch: In ''Fates'', Witches channel their magic through a lantern instead of having their equipped tomes visible in their battle model.
* PowerFloats: The witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'' are seen levitating to show their power given to them by Duma.
* RedMage: Gremories are skilled in both offensiveelemental magic, and depending on the character they tend to specialize in one. Once they class change, they normally become {{Red Mage}}s. The high-tier mages (Sage, Onmyoji, Warlock) gain (Black) Tomefaire as a skill. (Note that Black Tomefaire only affects non-dark magic; the dark equivalent is called Dark Tomefaire.)
supportive magic.
*BlowYouAway: They can use wind magic. The basic Wind tome is sometimes among a lower-level mage's starting tomes; depending on the character, it may be substituted with the basic Thunder tome.
* CastFromHitPoints: MagesRobeAndWizardHat: While in ''Gaiden'' use they were just recolored female mages, their HP to cast spells due to outfit in ''Fates'' gives them a large pointed hat and a sleek robe.
* SquishyWizard: The Witch is thegame having no weapon durability.
* CombatMedic: Sages can wield staves to heal allies.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the original Archanea games both Mages and Clericsstrongest magic-using class change into Bishops. ''Gaiden'' introduces the Sage class as an advanced form for Mages which stays in most future games, including the Archanea remakes.
* EmergencyWeapon: In ''Path of Radiance'', Sages can choose knives instead of staves. They won't be very effective with it due to their low Strength, but can be useful for some high-Resistance enemies.
* ExperienceBooster: Diviners get the Future Sight Skill, where the user has a chance (based on their Luck stat) to gain double the EXP value after initiating a battle and defeating an enemy.
* FireIceLightning: Mages have access to the three "anima" classes of magic -- fire, thunder, and wind. The Archanea, GBA games, DS games, and ''Three Houses'' lump them into one magic type, whereas Jugdral and Tellius split them into three separate types.
* FixedDamageAttack: Due to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, magic only deal as much damage based on the spell's might since magic cannot be improved by Strength and unit's Resistance''Fates'', though its Defense is a flat 0 for both you and the enemy, unless you use the Barrier staff, a rare Talisman, or are Gotoh.
* GeoEffects: With the exception ofalso less than stellar. This is especially prevalent in ''Gaiden'' and ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', Mages can traverse through deserts without any problem.
* GlassCannon: In the GBA games,its remake, where their Defense cap, and especially their Resistance cap, are lower than the Bishop. However, outside of ''Sacred Stones'' (where you can grind for stat boosters to reach their caps), you will not see this often.
* HitAndRunTactics: Mage Knights in the Jugdral games can attack and move with their remaining movement. Mage Knights in ''Sacred Stones'' can only move again ifthey use a non-attacking command.
* HolyHandGrenade: In the Archanea games, all magic types (staves aside) are one and the same, meaning that Magesalso wield ostensibly "light" and "dark" tomes like Starlight and Swarm. Sages in ''Sacred Stones'' also learn light magic naturally have extremely low HP and can often be taught dark magic by exploiting a bug downed in the game.
* AnIcePerson: Several games had ice-based spells, like Blizzard and Fimbulvetr. Some were either in games where tomes and magic are not divided into groups, like the Archanea games, ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'', or are part of the Anima or Wind magic in other games, like the GBA and Tellius games.
* InTheHood: Mages typically wear hooded cloaks if they're not wearing hats.
* LifeDrain: The Arch Sage's mastery skill, Flare.
* MagicKnight: ''[=Gaiden's=]'' Priestesses as well as Jugdral's Mage Knights and Mage Fighters are capable of using swords and magic, while ''Engage's'' Mage Knights can wield either swords, lances or axes in addtion to magic. Mage Knights from ''The Sacred Stones'' doesn't fall under this trope however, as it is justa mounted mage and doesn't use single physical weapons. ''Path of Radiance'' grants Sages attack.
* StatusInflictionAttack: ''Fates''[='=] Witches get theability to wield knives instead of staves. ''Awakening'' also features the Dark Knight, skill Toxic Brew, which is similar to has a chance of 1.5% times the Jugdral Mage Knight, while ''Fates'' features Skill stat to freeze an enemy unit in place for a turn whenever the Basara, which wields lances in addition skill's wielder initiates an attack.
* TeleportSpam: Witches have this as a a SignatureMove, enabling them totomes.
* PlayingWithFire: They can use fire magic; the basic Fire spell is normally among a lower-level mage's starting tomes.
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being ablewarp to attack and heal. The exception is usually if you class change to a MagicKnight class.
* RobeAndWizardHat: ''Awakening'' forsakes the tradition of hooded capes for Mages in favor of some ''enormous'' wizard hats. The Warlocks in ''Three Houses'' also wear very enormous wizard hats.
* ShockAndAwe: They can use thunder magic. The basic Thunder tome is sometimes among a lower-level mage's starting tomes; dependingany tile on the character, it may be substituted with the basic Wind tome.
* SquishyWizard: Mages and Sages are very frail physically,map, making them unsuitable for the very front lines against physically-oriented armies, and they generally have lower Resistance than Monks and Bishops and Dark Mages/Shamans and Sorcerers/Dark Bishops/Druids, making them the GlassCannon extremely dangerous to the light magic classes' StoneWall[[note]]well, magically, at least; the light magic classes tend to have poor Defense as well[[/note]] and the dark magic classes' MightyGlacier. Averted units with Dark Knights, who have Defense as their highest stat.
* StatusBuff:
** Sages in ''Awakening'' and Onmyoji in ''Fates'' gain Rally Magic, which gives a boostlow resistance. Their playable incarnation can only warp to magic tiles adjacent to allies when commanded.
** Mages in ''Three Houses'' gain Fiendish Blow upon mastering the class, which increases their magic by 6 when initiating the attack.allies, however.
* ArtificialStupidity: Witches' behaviors in ''Gaiden'' are... sporadic to say the least. This is a case of AcceptableBreaksFromReality as making them "smarter" on top of having the ability to move anywhere at will would make them very unbearable to face.
* DealWithTheDevil: In ''Gaiden'', Witches are the result of women sacrificing themselves to Duma for power. [[spoiler:Not always, some of them (Rinea, Sonya's sisters, Delthea, and Celica) didn't necessarily exactly want to become such.]]
* EmptyShell: In ''Gaiden'''s lore, Witches are women who offered their souls to Duma in exchange for great magical power, but lost their free will and became living husks.
* EvilRedhead: In ''Gaiden'', with the exception of the brainwashed Delthea, all Witches are redheads and happen to be antagonistic.
* FacelessGoons: Generic Gremories in ''Three Houses''
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Archsage's skill Flare negates enemy resistance before dealing damage.
* BadassCape: Most Mages wear capes, with the occasional [[InTheHood hood]] attached to it.
* BlackMage: They usually
* FanDisservice: The Witches from ''Shadows of Valentia'' are beautiful women whose looks appeal to
* {{Nerf}}: In ''Gaiden'', their signature Warp ability lets them travel to any spot on the map. ''Fates'' changes it so they can only teleport to squares cardinally adjacent to allies.
* PowerCrutch: In ''Fates'', Witches channel their magic through a lantern instead of having their equipped tomes visible in their battle model.
* PowerFloats: The witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'' are seen levitating to show their power given to them by Duma.
* RedMage: Gremories are skilled in both offensive
*
* CastFromHitPoints: Mages
* SquishyWizard: The Witch is the
* CombatMedic: Sages can wield staves to heal allies.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the original Archanea games both Mages and Clerics
* EmergencyWeapon: In ''Path of Radiance'', Sages can choose knives instead of staves. They won't be very effective with it due to their low Strength, but can be useful for some high-Resistance enemies.
* ExperienceBooster: Diviners get the Future Sight Skill, where the user has a chance (based on their Luck stat) to gain double the EXP value after initiating a battle and defeating an enemy.
* FireIceLightning: Mages have access to the three "anima" classes of magic -- fire, thunder, and wind. The Archanea, GBA games, DS games, and ''Three Houses'' lump them into one magic type, whereas Jugdral and Tellius split them into three separate types.
* FixedDamageAttack: Due to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, magic only deal as much damage based on the spell's might since magic cannot be improved by Strength and unit's Resistance
* GeoEffects: With the exception of
* GlassCannon: In the GBA games,
* HitAndRunTactics: Mage Knights in the Jugdral games can attack and move with their remaining movement. Mage Knights in ''Sacred Stones'' can only move again if
* HolyHandGrenade: In the Archanea games, all magic types (staves aside) are one and the same, meaning that Mages
* AnIcePerson: Several games had ice-based spells, like Blizzard and Fimbulvetr. Some were either in games where tomes and magic are not divided into groups, like the Archanea games, ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'', or are part of the Anima or Wind magic in other games, like the GBA and Tellius games.
* InTheHood: Mages typically wear hooded cloaks if they're not wearing hats.
* LifeDrain: The Arch Sage's mastery skill, Flare.
* MagicKnight: ''[=Gaiden's=]'' Priestesses as well as Jugdral's Mage Knights and Mage Fighters are capable of using swords and magic, while ''Engage's'' Mage Knights can wield either swords, lances or axes in addtion to magic. Mage Knights from ''The Sacred Stones'' doesn't fall under this trope however, as it is just
* StatusInflictionAttack: ''Fates''[='=] Witches get the
* TeleportSpam: Witches have this as a a SignatureMove, enabling them to
* PlayingWithFire: They can use fire magic; the basic Fire spell is normally among a lower-level mage's starting tomes.
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able
* RobeAndWizardHat: ''Awakening'' forsakes the tradition of hooded capes for Mages in favor of some ''enormous'' wizard hats. The Warlocks in ''Three Houses'' also wear very enormous wizard hats.
* ShockAndAwe: They can use thunder magic. The basic Thunder tome is sometimes among a lower-level mage's starting tomes; depending
* SquishyWizard: Mages and Sages are very frail physically,
* StatusBuff:
** Sages in ''Awakening'' and Onmyoji in ''Fates'' gain Rally Magic, which gives a boost
** Mages in ''Three Houses'' gain Fiendish Blow upon mastering the class, which increases their magic by 6 when initiating the attack.
Changed line(s) 457,474 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Priest]]
!!Priest
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/804g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Priests in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/913g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Bishops in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hwarmonk.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:War Monks in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:148:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/echoes_saint_1.png]]
[[caption-width-right:148:Saints in ''Echoes'']]
One of two medic classes, Priests only wield [[https://fireemblemwiki.org/wiki/Staff magical staves]] which can heal allies, inflict status effects on enemies, teleport allies, grant {{Status Buff}}s, or serve other utility functions (such as repairing weapons, opening doors, or expanding vision in FogOfWar). The class can be either gender, but some games split female Priests into the separate but otherwise identical '''Cleric''' class. In ''Shadow Dragon'', male priests are instead known as '''Curates'''. Priests and Clerics both class change into the '''Bishop''' class, whereupon they gain access to offensive Light magic; in ''Gaiden'' and ''Radiant Dawn'', their final form is the '''Saint''' class. In ''Sacred Stones'', they can also class change to either '''Sage''' (for priests) or '''Valkyrie''' (for Clerics). In ''Awakening'', Clerics and Priests can instead choose to class change into '''War Cleric/Monk''', which gives them the use of axes, or the '''Sage''' class, which gives them the use of magic tomes.\\\
In the Tellius games, the Cleric variant is exclusive to Mist. She is generally identical to normal Priests (which still exist), but does not have the association with religion, and in ''Radiant Dawn'' can also use swords. She class changes to the '''Valkyrie''' class, which in ''Path of Radiance'' allows her to use swords as well. In ''Fates'', the class is again split up by gender and are referred to as '''Monks''' and '''Shrine Maidens'''. Both class change into the '''Onmyoji''' class, similar to Sages, but their branch class is determined by gender; Monks can class change into '''Great Master''', which uses staves and lances, and Shrine Maidens can class change into the '''Priestess''' class[[note]]no relation to the class of the same name in ''Gaiden'', which are tied to the Mage class family instead[[/note]], which uses staves and bows instead. In ''Engage'', there is the '''Martial Monk''' class, which uses body arts and staves, who can either class change into the '''Martial Master''' class, that focuses mainly on body arts, or the '''High Priest''' class, which can also use tomes.\\\
Related is the '''Monk''' class, an offensive magic class exclusive to male characters in ''The Blazing Blade'' and ''The Sacred Stones'' which uses light magic; they also class change into Bishops (and branch to Sages in ''The Sacred Stones''), and so are considered part of this class tree. Also related is the '''Light Mage''' and its advance classes[[note]]'''Light Sage''' and '''Light Priestess (Shaman)'''[[/note]], which is Micaiah's Lord class in ''Radiant Dawn'', and the '''Light Priestess (Shaman)'''[[note]]not to be confused with the normal dark-wielding Shaman class, discussed below, which has nearly the same name but with a different spelling in Japan[[/note]], Deirdre's and Julia's class in ''Genealogy'' (which class changes to '''Sage'''), as well as Micaiah's personal third-tier class in ''Radiant Dawn''[[note]]the ''Radiant Dawn'' version, being a third-tier class, does not class change further[[/note]]. Also related is the '''Chancellor''' class of the Tellius games (which uses dark magic in addition to light magic and staves), which is exclusive to Sephiran/[[spoiler:Lehran]].\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Wrys, Lena, Maria, Boah, Elice (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Silque, Genny, Tatiana (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Marisha, Yuliya, Nyna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Edain, Deirdre, Claude, Lana/Muirne, Julia, Coirpre/Charlot (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Safy, Tina, Linoan, Sleuf, Sara, Saias (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'') Ellen, Saul, Yodel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Serra, Lucius, Renault (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''; Moulder, Artur, Natasha (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Rhys, Mist (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'') Laura, Oliver, [[spoiler:Lehran]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Frost (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemNewMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Lissa, Libra, Brady (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Sakura, Azama, Izana, Mitama ''([[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Linhardt, Mercedes, Marianne, Flayn, Manuela, Balthus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Framme, Jean, Pandreo (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Priest
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/804g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Priests in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/913g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Bishops in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hwarmonk.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:War Monks in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:148:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/echoes_saint_1.png]]
[[caption-width-right:148:Saints in ''Echoes'']]
One of two medic classes, Priests only wield [[https://fireemblemwiki.org/wiki/Staff magical staves]] which can heal allies, inflict status effects on enemies, teleport allies, grant {{Status Buff}}s, or serve other utility functions (such as repairing weapons, opening doors, or expanding vision in FogOfWar). The class can be either gender, but some games split female Priests into the separate but otherwise identical '''Cleric''' class. In ''Shadow Dragon'', male priests are instead known as '''Curates'''. Priests and Clerics both class change into the '''Bishop''' class, whereupon they gain access to offensive Light magic; in ''Gaiden'' and ''Radiant Dawn'', their final form is the '''Saint''' class. In ''Sacred Stones'', they can also class change to either '''Sage''' (for priests) or '''Valkyrie''' (for Clerics). In ''Awakening'', Clerics and Priests can instead choose to class change into '''War Cleric/Monk''', which gives them the use of axes, or the '''Sage''' class, which gives them the use of magic tomes.\\\
In the Tellius games, the Cleric variant is exclusive to Mist. She is generally identical to normal Priests (which still exist), but does not have the association with religion, and in ''Radiant Dawn'' can also use swords. She class changes to the '''Valkyrie''' class, which in ''Path of Radiance'' allows her to use swords as well. In ''Fates'', the class is again split up by gender and are referred to as '''Monks''' and '''Shrine Maidens'''. Both class change into the '''Onmyoji''' class, similar to Sages, but their branch class is determined by gender; Monks can class change into '''Great Master''', which uses staves and lances, and Shrine Maidens can class change into the '''Priestess''' class[[note]]no relation to the class of the same name in ''Gaiden'', which are tied to the Mage class family instead[[/note]], which uses staves and bows instead. In ''Engage'', there is the '''Martial Monk''' class, which uses body arts and staves, who can either class change into the '''Martial Master''' class, that focuses mainly on body arts, or the '''High Priest''' class, which can also use tomes.\\\
Related is the '''Monk''' class, an offensive magic class exclusive to male characters in ''The Blazing Blade'' and ''The Sacred Stones'' which uses light magic; they also class change into Bishops (and branch to Sages in ''The Sacred Stones''), and so are considered part of this class tree. Also related is the '''Light Mage''' and its advance classes[[note]]'''Light Sage''' and '''Light Priestess (Shaman)'''[[/note]], which is Micaiah's Lord class in ''Radiant Dawn'', and the '''Light Priestess (Shaman)'''[[note]]not to be confused with the normal dark-wielding Shaman class, discussed below, which has nearly the same name but with a different spelling in Japan[[/note]], Deirdre's and Julia's class in ''Genealogy'' (which class changes to '''Sage'''), as well as Micaiah's personal third-tier class in ''Radiant Dawn''[[note]]the ''Radiant Dawn'' version, being a third-tier class, does not class change further[[/note]]. Also related is the '''Chancellor''' class of the Tellius games (which uses dark magic in addition to light magic and staves), which is exclusive to Sephiran/[[spoiler:Lehran]].\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Wrys, Lena, Maria, Boah, Elice (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Silque, Genny, Tatiana (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Marisha, Yuliya, Nyna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Edain, Deirdre, Claude, Lana/Muirne, Julia, Coirpre/Charlot (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Safy, Tina, Linoan, Sleuf, Sara, Saias (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'') Ellen, Saul, Yodel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Serra, Lucius, Renault (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''; Moulder, Artur, Natasha (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Rhys, Mist (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'') Laura, Oliver, [[spoiler:Lehran]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Frost (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemNewMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Lissa, Libra, Brady (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Sakura, Azama, Izana, Mitama ''([[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Linhardt, Mercedes, Marianne, Flayn, Manuela, Balthus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Framme, Jean, Pandreo (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Priest
[[quoteright:350:https://static.
!!Dread Fighter
[[quoteright:234:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/913g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Bishops in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hwarmonk.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:War Monks in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:148:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/echoes_saint_1.png]]
[[caption-width-right:148:Saints in ''Echoes'']]
One
Dread Fighter is one of the rarer classes,
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''
Changed line(s) 476,510 (click to see context) from:
* AlwaysFemale:
** Oddly, ''Echoes'' is the only game where only females can become Clerics (no, there is no Priest class line for males).
** ''Mystery of the Emblem'' also made the Priest line exclusively female. Not only are all of the basic healers Clerics, but also Wrys was removed from the game. Anytime the game would include enemy healers, they would always be Bishops but with no weapons.
* AttackReflector: The Great Master and Priestess learn Countermagic, which is a magical counterpart of the Counter skill. The key difference is that Countermagic reflects all type of magical damage and range isn't factored into the skill, unlike Counter requiring an adjacent enemy to attack.
* BareFistedMonk: The War Monk/Cleric class in ''Three Houses'' specializes in brawling. War Monk/Cleric gains Brawl Avoid +20, which increases their avoid when equipping brawling weapons, upon mastering the class, as well as Unarmed Combat (which is the only way for female units to get the skill due to Unarmed Combat otherwise belonging to the exclusively male Brawler and Grappler classes). The Martial Monk, Martial Master and High Priest classes from ''Engage'' also focuses on brawling, called "Body Arts".
* CastFromHitPoints: Like Mages, they use HP to use white magic in ''Gaiden''. Thankfully, they have [[LifeDrain Nosferatu]] to compensate for their limited supply, but it has a low hit rate, so they may not hit as well.
* CombatMedic: Upon class change, Clerics and Priests gain offensive light magic, or have it from the start for Shamans in ''Genealogy''. For GBA Monks and Tellius Light Mages, it's the other way around -- they start out with access to offensive light magic, and only gain access to healing/status/utility staves when they class change.
* DistaffCounterpart: Besides the name, the Priest (or Curate in the Archanea games) and Cleric classes are practically alike. Monks and Shrine Maiden in ''Fates'' are similar to each other and although Great Master and Priestess share Renewal and Countermagic as learnable skills, Great Master focuses on physical combat and lances while Priestess focuses on healing and bow. The only time the class shares the same name regardless of gender is the Jugdral games and ''Three Houses'' as Priest.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** [[NoExperiencePointsForMedic Staves do not give them experience]] in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Gaiden'', meaning that it is difficult to even train them. In the first game's case, in order for them to gain experience, they must '''[[ViolationOfCommonSense get attacked (and survive)]]''', which is ''not'' something you want to try to do due to their SquishyWizard stats.
** Also oddly, in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', Priests are slowed down by deserts unlike Mages, as though they were not magic units.
* GeoEffects: Like Mages, Priests can traverse through deserts without any difficulties.
* GoodHurtsEvil: Light magic has often been associated with destroying monsters. In ''Sacred Stones'', the Bishop has Slayer which allows light magic to deal effective damage against monsters, while in ''Gaiden'' and ''Three Houses'', a light spell gained from learning Faith, Seraphim, inherently deals effective damage against Demonic Beasts and similar units.
* HealingFactor: '''Renewal''' allows them to regenerate 30% of their max HP at the start of each turn in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', and 20% in ''Three Houses''.
* HealerSignsOnEarly: You typically get a Priest/Cleric either at the start of the game or a few chapters in the early part.
* HolyHandGrenade: In ''Thracia 776'', the GBA games, the Tellius games, and ''Three Houses'', the Bishop or the Monk class specializes in Light magic.
* KamehameHadoken: War Monks/Clerics in ''Three Houses'' learn the Pneuma Gale combat art upon mastering the class. It deals magic damage and can attack at 1 or 2 range.
* LastChanceHitPoint: The Miracle skill, which allows the user to survive an otherwise fatal blow as long as they have more than 1 HP left. Its activation rate depends on the user's Luck stat.
* LifeDrain: In games where Nosferatu is classified as Light magic, it is naturally usable by this class family. It absorbs the enemy's HP, damaging them in the process.
* LightIsGood: Light magic comes from Faith and is [[ElementalRockPaperScissors extra effective against dark magic]].
* LightIsNotGood: In all games, Light magic can be used by the enemies, including very evil characters such as Riev and Lekain. This is most prominent in ''Radiant Dawn'', in which the major villain force all use light magic.
* LightEmUp: Tend to be the only light magic users in most games.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Downplayed for the War Monk/Cleric in ''Three Houses''; they can use magic, but to a limited degree compared to other magic users of comparable tiering, likely because they specialize in at least two other physical weapons somewhat more than they do magic. Along with Trickster, they are the only magic-using classes besides Noble and Commoner with this distinction.
* TheMedic: They're mainly used to heal weakened units.
* {{Miko}}: The Hoshido version of the Cleric, which is called Shrine Maiden. When class changed, they can use bows.
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to cast offensive spells and heal. The exception is if you class change them into [[CombatMedic War Monk/Cleric]] in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' and [[BareFistedMonk Martial Master]] in ''Engage''.
* ReligionIsMagic: Light magic, at any rate. In most canons, light magic has a strong association with the dominant religion of the world (which more often than not has some connection with one of the world's [[CrystalDragonJesus legendary heroes who also used light magic]]). Light-wielding units not affiliated with the clergy are rare, with Micaiah being the only one in Tellius. [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] by Knoll and Natasha in ''The Sacred Stones'', pondering the differences between the roots of their magic of choice (light/religion for Natasha, dark/knowledge for Knoll).
* SinisterMinister: Bishops who support the enemy, are morally questionable, or are outright evil and heretical are a recurring feature throughout the franchise -- the most prominent examples are Gharnef[[note]]before the remakes happened and he became a Sorcerer.[[/note]], Riev, Oliver, and Lekain.
* SquishyWizard: Significantly more so than the Mage line, as they have terrible Defense, but they tend to have the best Resistance of the magical classes (making them magical {{Stone Wall}}s in contrast to the tendency of Mages to be {{Glass Cannon}}s and Dark Mages to be {{Mighty Glacier}}s. This is ''technically'' averted by the War Monk/Cleric class in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'', as that class is physically-offensive in nature and therefore is significantly more robust, but the characters that class change into it by default in the former title tend to fall into this anyway by virtue of rather poor Strength and Defense growths.
* StatusBuff: War Monks/Clerics in ''Awakening'' gain Rally Luck, which gives a boost to luck to allies when commanded. Monks/Shrine Maidens in ''Fates'' gain the skill earlier.
* SupportPartyMember: Before they class change, Curates and Clerics can do nothing but heal or grant {{status buff}}s with staves. Inverted with the Monk class in earler titles, which can attack with light magic, but cannot heal until they class change to Bishop.
* TakingTheBullet: The Martial Monk and Martial Master classes are one of the few Qi Adept classes (the others being the Dancer and Enchanter) in ''Engage'', which as a Battle Style have access to the "Chain Guard" option, where if the user is at full HP they protect one ally adjacent to them from an attack at the cost of 20% of their HP if the attack lands on an ally.
* WarriorMonk: The War Monks/Clerics in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'', the Great Masters/Priestesses in ''Fates'', and the Martial Monk/Martial Master in ''Engage''. They use physical weapons alongside staves instead of offensive magic (or limited magic in general for ''Three Houses'').
* WhiteMage: They're frequently female (though some of them are male-but-effeminate); examples include Libra, Rhys, and Lucius).
* WhiteMagicianGirl: Early Clerics (often called "Sisters") in the series were almost exclusively kind women in white dresses. Later games gave more variety.
** Oddly, ''Echoes'' is the only game where only females can become Clerics (no, there is no Priest class line for males).
** ''Mystery of the Emblem'' also made the Priest line exclusively female. Not only are all of the basic healers Clerics, but also Wrys was removed from the game. Anytime the game would include enemy healers, they would always be Bishops but with no weapons.
* AttackReflector: The Great Master and Priestess learn Countermagic, which is a magical counterpart of the Counter skill. The key difference is that Countermagic reflects all type of magical damage and range isn't factored into the skill, unlike Counter requiring an adjacent enemy to attack.
* BareFistedMonk: The War Monk/Cleric class in ''Three Houses'' specializes in brawling. War Monk/Cleric gains Brawl Avoid +20, which increases their avoid when equipping brawling weapons, upon mastering the class, as well as Unarmed Combat (which is the only way for female units to get the skill due to Unarmed Combat otherwise belonging to the exclusively male Brawler and Grappler classes). The Martial Monk, Martial Master and High Priest classes from ''Engage'' also focuses on brawling, called "Body Arts".
* CastFromHitPoints: Like Mages, they use HP to use white magic in ''Gaiden''. Thankfully, they have [[LifeDrain Nosferatu]] to compensate for their limited supply, but it has a low hit rate, so they may not hit as well.
* CombatMedic: Upon class change, Clerics and Priests gain offensive light magic, or have it from the start for Shamans in ''Genealogy''. For GBA Monks and Tellius Light Mages, it's the other way around -- they start out with access to offensive light magic, and only gain access to healing/status/utility staves when they class change.
* DistaffCounterpart: Besides the name, the Priest (or Curate in the Archanea games) and Cleric classes are practically alike. Monks and Shrine Maiden in ''Fates'' are similar to each other and although Great Master and Priestess share Renewal and Countermagic as learnable skills, Great Master focuses on physical combat and lances while Priestess focuses on healing and bow. The only time the class shares the same name regardless of gender is the Jugdral games and ''Three Houses'' as Priest.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** [[NoExperiencePointsForMedic Staves do not give them experience]] in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Gaiden'', meaning that it is difficult to even train them. In the first game's case, in order for them to gain experience, they must '''[[ViolationOfCommonSense get attacked (and survive)]]''', which is ''not'' something you want to try to do due to their SquishyWizard stats.
** Also oddly, in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', Priests are slowed down by deserts unlike Mages, as though they were not magic units.
* GeoEffects: Like Mages, Priests can traverse through deserts without any difficulties.
* GoodHurtsEvil: Light magic has often been associated with destroying monsters. In ''Sacred Stones'', the Bishop has Slayer which allows light magic to deal effective damage against monsters, while in ''Gaiden'' and ''Three Houses'', a light spell gained from learning Faith, Seraphim, inherently deals effective damage against Demonic Beasts and similar units.
* HealingFactor: '''Renewal''' allows them to regenerate 30% of their max HP at the start of each turn in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', and 20% in ''Three Houses''.
* HealerSignsOnEarly: You typically get a Priest/Cleric either at the start of the game or a few chapters in the early part.
* HolyHandGrenade: In ''Thracia 776'', the GBA games, the Tellius games, and ''Three Houses'', the Bishop or the Monk class specializes in Light magic.
* KamehameHadoken: War Monks/Clerics in ''Three Houses'' learn the Pneuma Gale combat art upon mastering the class. It deals magic damage and can attack at 1 or 2 range.
* LastChanceHitPoint: The Miracle skill, which allows the user to survive an otherwise fatal blow as long as they have more than 1 HP left. Its activation rate depends on the user's Luck stat.
* LifeDrain: In games where Nosferatu is classified as Light magic, it is naturally usable by this class family. It absorbs the enemy's HP, damaging them in the process.
* LightIsGood: Light magic comes from Faith and is [[ElementalRockPaperScissors extra effective against dark magic]].
* LightIsNotGood: In all games, Light magic can be used by the enemies, including very evil characters such as Riev and Lekain. This is most prominent in ''Radiant Dawn'', in which the major villain force all use light magic.
* LightEmUp: Tend to be the only light magic users in most games.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Downplayed for the War Monk/Cleric in ''Three Houses''; they can use magic, but to a limited degree compared to other magic users of comparable tiering, likely because they specialize in at least two other physical weapons somewhat more than they do magic. Along with Trickster, they are the only magic-using classes besides Noble and Commoner with this distinction.
* TheMedic: They're mainly used to heal weakened units.
* {{Miko}}: The Hoshido version of the Cleric, which is called Shrine Maiden. When class changed, they can use bows.
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to cast offensive spells and heal. The exception is if you class change them into [[CombatMedic War Monk/Cleric]] in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' and [[BareFistedMonk Martial Master]] in ''Engage''.
* ReligionIsMagic: Light magic, at any rate. In most canons, light magic has a strong association with the dominant religion of the world (which more often than not has some connection with one of the world's [[CrystalDragonJesus legendary heroes who also used light magic]]). Light-wielding units not affiliated with the clergy are rare, with Micaiah being the only one in Tellius. [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] by Knoll and Natasha in ''The Sacred Stones'', pondering the differences between the roots of their magic of choice (light/religion for Natasha, dark/knowledge for Knoll).
* SinisterMinister: Bishops who support the enemy, are morally questionable, or are outright evil and heretical are a recurring feature throughout the franchise -- the most prominent examples are Gharnef[[note]]before the remakes happened and he became a Sorcerer.[[/note]], Riev, Oliver, and Lekain.
* SquishyWizard: Significantly more so than the Mage line, as they have terrible Defense, but they tend to have the best Resistance of the magical classes (making them magical {{Stone Wall}}s in contrast to the tendency of Mages to be {{Glass Cannon}}s and Dark Mages to be {{Mighty Glacier}}s. This is ''technically'' averted by the War Monk/Cleric class in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'', as that class is physically-offensive in nature and therefore is significantly more robust, but the characters that class change into it by default in the former title tend to fall into this anyway by virtue of rather poor Strength and Defense growths.
* StatusBuff: War Monks/Clerics in ''Awakening'' gain Rally Luck, which gives a boost to luck to allies when commanded. Monks/Shrine Maidens in ''Fates'' gain the skill earlier.
* SupportPartyMember: Before they class change, Curates and Clerics can do nothing but heal or grant {{status buff}}s with staves. Inverted with the Monk class in earler titles, which can attack with light magic, but cannot heal until they class change to Bishop.
* TakingTheBullet: The Martial Monk and Martial Master classes are one of the few Qi Adept classes (the others being the Dancer and Enchanter) in ''Engage'', which as a Battle Style have access to the "Chain Guard" option, where if the user is at full HP they protect one ally adjacent to them from an attack at the cost of 20% of their HP if the attack lands on an ally.
* WarriorMonk: The War Monks/Clerics in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'', the Great Masters/Priestesses in ''Fates'', and the Martial Monk/Martial Master in ''Engage''. They use physical weapons alongside staves instead of offensive magic (or limited magic in general for ''Three Houses'').
* WhiteMage: They're frequently female (though some of them are male-but-effeminate); examples include Libra, Rhys, and Lucius).
* WhiteMagicianGirl: Early Clerics (often called "Sisters") in the series were almost exclusively kind women in white dresses. Later games gave more variety.
to:
* AlwaysFemale:
** Oddly, ''Echoes''AlwaysMale: Outside of ''Fates'', Dread Fighter is the only game where only females can become Clerics (no, there is no Priest class line for males).
** ''Mystery of the Emblem'' also made the Priest line exclusively female. Not only are all of the basic healers Clerics, but also Wrys was removed from the game. Anytime the game would include enemy healers, they would always be Bishops but with no weapons.
* AttackReflector: The Great Master and Priestess learn Countermagic, which is a magical counterpart of the Counter skill. The key difference is that Countermagic reflects all type of magical damage and range isn't factored into the skill, unlike Counter requiring an adjacent enemyexclusive to attack.
* BareFistedMonk: The War Monk/Cleric class in ''Three Houses'' specializes in brawling. War Monk/Cleric gains Brawl Avoid +20, which increases their avoid when equipping brawling weapons, upon mastering the class, as well as Unarmed Combat (which is the only way for female units to get the skill due to Unarmed Combat otherwise belonging to the exclusivelymale Brawler and Grappler classes). The Martial Monk, Martial Master and High Priest classes from ''Engage'' also focuses on brawling, called "Body Arts".
characters.
*CastFromHitPoints: Like Mages, they use HP to use white magic in ''Gaiden''. Thankfully, they have [[LifeDrain Nosferatu]] to compensate for their limited supply, but it has a low hit rate, so they may not hit as well.
* CombatMedic: Upon class change, Clerics and Priests gain offensive light magic, or have it from the start for Shamans in ''Genealogy''. For GBA Monks and Tellius Light Mages, it's the other way around -- they start out with access to offensive light magic, and only gain access to healing/status/utility staves when they class change.
* DistaffCounterpart: Besides the name, the Priest (or Curate in the Archanea games) and Cleric classes are practically alike. Monks and Shrine MaidenDeviousDaggers: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' are similar uses knives instead of tomes to each other go with their ninja motif. Fittingly, knives and although Great Master and Priestess share Renewal and Countermagic as learnable skills, Great Master focuses on physical combat and lances while Priestess focuses on healing and bow. The only time shuriken beats tomes in the class shares the same name regardless of gender is the Jugdral games and ''Three Houses'' as Priest.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** [[NoExperiencePointsForMedic Staves do not give them experience]] in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Gaiden'', meaning that it is difficult to even train them. In the firstgame's case, in order for them version of the weapon triangle.
* MageKiller: They are designed togain experience, they must '''[[ViolationOfCommonSense get attacked (and survive)]]''', which is ''not'' something you want to try to do due take little damage from magical sources and slay magic users.
** ''Awakening'' gives a massive boost to theirSquishyWizard stats.
** Also oddly, in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', Priests are slowed down by deserts unlike Mages, as though they were not magic units.
* GeoEffects: Like Mages, Priests can traverse through deserts without any difficulties.
* GoodHurtsEvil: Light magic has often been associatedResistance with destroying monsters. In ''Sacred Stones'', the Bishop Resistance+10 skill.
** ''Fates'' hasSlayer which allows light magic to deal effective damage against monsters, while in ''Gaiden'' and ''Three Houses'', a light spell gained from learning Faith, Seraphim, inherently deals effective damage against Demonic Beasts and similar units.
* HealingFactor: '''Renewal''' allowsIron Will-which causes them to regenerate 30% of their max HP at receive 4 less damage from magic attacks when attacked, and Even Keel-where the start user receive 4 less damage from magic attacks during even-numbered turns.
** ''Shadows ofeach turn Valentia'' provides the class with Resistance+5 and Apotrope skills. Apotrope is a more powerful version of Iron Will, as it halves damage taken from magic attacks.
* MagicKnight: Dread Fighters in ''Awakening'' use tomes in addition to swords and''Fates'', and 20% in ''Three Houses''.
axes.
*HealerSignsOnEarly: You typically get a Priest/Cleric either at the start of the game or a few chapters in the early part.
* HolyHandGrenade: In ''Thracia 776'', the GBA games, the Tellius games, and ''Three Houses'', the Bishop or the Monk class specializes in Light magic.
* KamehameHadoken: War Monks/Clerics in ''Three Houses'' learn the Pneuma Gale combat art upon mastering the class. It deals magic damage and can attack at 1 or 2 range.
* LastChanceHitPoint: The Miracle skill, which allows the user to survive an otherwise fatal blow as long as they have more than 1 HP left. Its activation rate depends on the user's Luck stat.
* LifeDrain: In games where Nosferatu is classified as Light magic, it is naturally usable by this class family. It absorbs the enemy's HP, damaging them in the process.
* LightIsGood: Light magic comes from Faith and is [[ElementalRockPaperScissors extra effective against dark magic]].
* LightIsNotGood: In all games, Light magic can be used by the enemies, including very evil characters such as Riev and Lekain. This is most prominent in ''Radiant Dawn'', in which the major villain force all use light magic.
* LightEmUp: Tend to be the only light magic users in most games.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Downplayed for the War Monk/Cleric in ''Three Houses''; they can use magic, but to a limited degree compared to other magic users of comparable tiering, likely because they specialize in at least two other physical weapons somewhat more than they do magic. Along with Trickster, they are the only magic-using classes besides Noble and Commoner with this distinction.
* TheMedic: They're mainly used to heal weakened units.
* {{Miko}}: The Hoshido version of the Cleric, which is called Shrine Maiden. When class changed, they can use bows.
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to cast offensive spells and heal. The exception is if you class change them into [[CombatMedic War Monk/Cleric]] in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' and [[BareFistedMonk Martial Master]] in ''Engage''.
* ReligionIsMagic: Light magic, at any rate. In most canons, light magic has a strong association with the dominant religion of the world (which more often than not has some connection with one of the world's [[CrystalDragonJesus legendary heroes who also used light magic]]). Light-wielding units not affiliated with the clergy are rare, with Micaiah being the only one in Tellius. [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] by Knoll and Natasha in ''The Sacred Stones'', pondering the differences between the roots of their magic of choice (light/religion for Natasha, dark/knowledge for Knoll).
* SinisterMinister: Bishops who support the enemy, are morally questionable, or are outright evil and heretical are a recurring feature throughout the franchise -- the most prominent examples are Gharnef[[note]]before the remakes happened and he became a Sorcerer.[[/note]], Riev, Oliver, and Lekain.
* SquishyWizard: Significantly more so than the Mage line, as they have terrible Defense, but they tend{{Ninja}}: They appear to have the best Resistance of the magical classes (making ninja-like aesthetics, and even fight like them magical {{Stone Wall}}s in contrast to the tendency of Mages to be {{Glass Cannon}}s with TeleportSpam and Dark Mages to be {{Mighty Glacier}}s. This is ''technically'' averted by the War Monk/Cleric class in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'', as that class is physically-offensive in nature and therefore is significantly more robust, but the characters that class change into it by default in the former title tend to fall into this anyway by virtue of rather poor Strength and Defense growths.
{{Flash Step}}s.
*StatusBuff: War Monks/Clerics in ''Awakening'' gain Rally Luck, which gives a boost to luck to allies when commanded. Monks/Shrine Maidens ReverseGrip: While in ''Fates'' gain the skill earlier.
* SupportPartyMember: Beforethey class change, Curates wield swords and Clerics can do nothing but heal or grant {{status buff}}s with staves. Inverted with daggers like the Monk class in earler titles, which can attack with light magic, but cannot heal until they class change to Bishop.
* TakingTheBullet: The Martial MonkNinjas and Martial Master classes are one of Ninjas, they also wield ''axes'' and ''clubs'' in the few Qi Adept classes (the others being the Dancer and Enchanter) same way.
* SwordAndFist: Dread Fighters in''Engage'', which as a Battle Style ''Shadows of Valentia'' have access to the "Chain Guard" option, where if the user is at full HP they protect one ally adjacent to them from an attack at the cost of 20% of their HP if the attack lands on an ally.
* WarriorMonk: The War Monks/Clerics in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'', the Great Masters/Priestesses in ''Fates'', and the Martial Monk/Martial Master in ''Engage''. They use physical weaponsincorporate kicks alongside staves instead of offensive magic (or limited magic their sword strikes against the enemy.
* WalkingArmory: Dread Fighters ingeneral for ''Three Houses'').
* WhiteMage: They're frequently female (though some of''Fates'' use swords, axes, and knives, allowing them are male-but-effeminate); examples include Libra, Rhys, and Lucius).
* WhiteMagicianGirl: Early Clerics (often called "Sisters") into fully cover the series were almost exclusively kind women in white dresses. Later games gave more variety.weapon triangle (with knives sharing their spot with lances).
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: They have a tendency to rest their weapons on their shoulders.
** Oddly, ''Echoes''
** ''Mystery of the Emblem'' also made the Priest line exclusively female. Not only are all of the basic healers Clerics, but also Wrys was removed from the game. Anytime the game would include enemy healers, they would always be Bishops but with no weapons.
* AttackReflector: The Great Master and Priestess learn Countermagic, which is a magical counterpart of the Counter skill. The key difference is that Countermagic reflects all type of magical damage and range isn't factored into the skill, unlike Counter requiring an adjacent enemy
* BareFistedMonk: The War Monk/Cleric class in ''Three Houses'' specializes in brawling. War Monk/Cleric gains Brawl Avoid +20, which increases their avoid when equipping brawling weapons, upon mastering the class, as well as Unarmed Combat (which is the only way for female units to get the skill due to Unarmed Combat otherwise belonging to the exclusively
*
* CombatMedic: Upon class change, Clerics and Priests gain offensive light magic, or have it from the start for Shamans in ''Genealogy''. For GBA Monks and Tellius Light Mages, it's the other way around -- they start out with access to offensive light magic, and only gain access to healing/status/utility staves when they class change.
* DistaffCounterpart: Besides the name, the Priest (or Curate in the Archanea games) and Cleric classes are practically alike. Monks and Shrine Maiden
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** [[NoExperiencePointsForMedic Staves do not give them experience]] in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Gaiden'', meaning that it is difficult to even train them. In the first
* MageKiller: They are designed to
** ''Awakening'' gives a massive boost to their
** Also oddly, in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', Priests are slowed down by deserts unlike Mages, as though they were not magic units.
* GeoEffects: Like Mages, Priests can traverse through deserts without any difficulties.
* GoodHurtsEvil: Light magic has often been associated
** ''Fates'' has
* HealingFactor: '''Renewal''' allows
** ''Shadows of
* MagicKnight: Dread Fighters in ''Awakening'' use tomes in addition to swords and
*
* HolyHandGrenade: In ''Thracia 776'', the GBA games, the Tellius games, and ''Three Houses'', the Bishop or the Monk class specializes in Light magic.
* KamehameHadoken: War Monks/Clerics in ''Three Houses'' learn the Pneuma Gale combat art upon mastering the class. It deals magic damage and can attack at 1 or 2 range.
* LastChanceHitPoint: The Miracle skill, which allows the user to survive an otherwise fatal blow as long as they have more than 1 HP left. Its activation rate depends on the user's Luck stat.
* LifeDrain: In games where Nosferatu is classified as Light magic, it is naturally usable by this class family. It absorbs the enemy's HP, damaging them in the process.
* LightIsGood: Light magic comes from Faith and is [[ElementalRockPaperScissors extra effective against dark magic]].
* LightIsNotGood: In all games, Light magic can be used by the enemies, including very evil characters such as Riev and Lekain. This is most prominent in ''Radiant Dawn'', in which the major villain force all use light magic.
* LightEmUp: Tend to be the only light magic users in most games.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Downplayed for the War Monk/Cleric in ''Three Houses''; they can use magic, but to a limited degree compared to other magic users of comparable tiering, likely because they specialize in at least two other physical weapons somewhat more than they do magic. Along with Trickster, they are the only magic-using classes besides Noble and Commoner with this distinction.
* TheMedic: They're mainly used to heal weakened units.
* {{Miko}}: The Hoshido version of the Cleric, which is called Shrine Maiden. When class changed, they can use bows.
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to cast offensive spells and heal. The exception is if you class change them into [[CombatMedic War Monk/Cleric]] in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' and [[BareFistedMonk Martial Master]] in ''Engage''.
* ReligionIsMagic: Light magic, at any rate. In most canons, light magic has a strong association with the dominant religion of the world (which more often than not has some connection with one of the world's [[CrystalDragonJesus legendary heroes who also used light magic]]). Light-wielding units not affiliated with the clergy are rare, with Micaiah being the only one in Tellius. [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] by Knoll and Natasha in ''The Sacred Stones'', pondering the differences between the roots of their magic of choice (light/religion for Natasha, dark/knowledge for Knoll).
* SinisterMinister: Bishops who support the enemy, are morally questionable, or are outright evil and heretical are a recurring feature throughout the franchise -- the most prominent examples are Gharnef[[note]]before the remakes happened and he became a Sorcerer.[[/note]], Riev, Oliver, and Lekain.
* SquishyWizard: Significantly more so than the Mage line, as they have terrible Defense, but they tend
*
* SupportPartyMember: Before
* TakingTheBullet: The Martial Monk
* SwordAndFist: Dread Fighters in
* WarriorMonk: The War Monks/Clerics in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'', the Great Masters/Priestesses in ''Fates'', and the Martial Monk/Martial Master in ''Engage''. They use physical weapons
* WalkingArmory: Dread Fighters in
* WhiteMage: They're frequently female (though some of
* WhiteMagicianGirl: Early Clerics (often called "Sisters") in
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: They have a tendency to rest their weapons on their shoulders.
Changed line(s) 513,532 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Dark Mage/Shaman]]
!!Dark Mage/Shaman
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/803g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Mages in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/912g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/962g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
A somewhat uncommon offensive magic class, Dark Mages (also known as Shamans in the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance titles ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'') are a slower, somewhat bulkier counterpart to Mages that debuted in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''. They specialize in Dark magic, which is usually exclusive to them, but are also sometimes capable of using Anima magic. Originally an enemy-only class, Dark Mages became playable on a semi-recurring basis starting in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''.\\\
Dark Mages usually Class Change to '''Sorcerer''' ('''Druid''' in the GBA titles and ''Radiant Dawn''), while in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'', they can become '''Dark Bishop''' (only accessible in ''Three Houses''). They can also become the '''Summoner''' class in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', giving them the ability to wield staves and granting access to SummonMagic. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they can potentially Class Change into '''Dark Knight''', which [[MagicKnight allows them use of swords]] and grants them a mount at the cost of [[{{Irony}} losing their ability to use Dark magic]] (though their ability to use Anima magic remains intact).\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' and its remake, ''Shadows of Valentia'', an enemy-only variant of the class appears, called the '''Arcanist'''[[note]]known as Magician in the Japanese version[[/note]]; this class belongs to people who have sacrificed themselves to Duma in exchange for powerful dark magic. It also has a male-only variant, called the '''Cantor''', which is capable of conjuring forth many types of monsters, though what type of monsters are summoned is dependent on the Cantor in question.\\\
Related is the '''Dark Sage''', a second-tier class[[note]]presumably promoted from a "Dark Mage"[[/note]] which also wields thunder magic, exclusive to King Pelleas in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''; it Class Changes into a variant of the '''Arch Sage'''. Also related are the villain-exclusive dark spellcasting classes: '''Dark Prince''' Julius from ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', '''Dark Druid''' Nergal from ''The Blazing Blade'', '''Necromancer''' Lyon from ''The Sacred Stones'', and '''Agastya''', a class exclusive to Thales in ''Three Houses''. A Dark Knight variant also appears in ''Three Houses'' in the form of the '''Death Knight''', exclusive to the character with the same name as the class.\\\
This class is not to be confused with the '''Shaman''' class of ''Genealogy'', which is a light-wielding class exclusive to Deirdre and Julia, or with the third-tier '''Light Priestess''' class, which was called "Shaman" in the original Japanese version of ''Radiant Dawn''.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Salem (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Raigh, Sophia, Niime (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Canas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Knoll (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Pelleas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Etzel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Tharja, Henry, DLC Micaiah (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Odin, Nyx, Leo, Ophelia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Hubert, [[spoiler:Jeritza]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
!!Dark Mage/Shaman
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/803g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Mages in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/912g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/962g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
A somewhat uncommon offensive magic class, Dark Mages (also known as Shamans in the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance titles ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'') are a slower, somewhat bulkier counterpart to Mages that debuted in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''. They specialize in Dark magic, which is usually exclusive to them, but are also sometimes capable of using Anima magic. Originally an enemy-only class, Dark Mages became playable on a semi-recurring basis starting in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''.\\\
Dark Mages usually Class Change to '''Sorcerer''' ('''Druid''' in the GBA titles and ''Radiant Dawn''), while in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'', they can become '''Dark Bishop''' (only accessible in ''Three Houses''). They can also become the '''Summoner''' class in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', giving them the ability to wield staves and granting access to SummonMagic. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they can potentially Class Change into '''Dark Knight''', which [[MagicKnight allows them use of swords]] and grants them a mount at the cost of [[{{Irony}} losing their ability to use Dark magic]] (though their ability to use Anima magic remains intact).\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' and its remake, ''Shadows of Valentia'', an enemy-only variant of the class appears, called the '''Arcanist'''[[note]]known as Magician in the Japanese version[[/note]]; this class belongs to people who have sacrificed themselves to Duma in exchange for powerful dark magic. It also has a male-only variant, called the '''Cantor''', which is capable of conjuring forth many types of monsters, though what type of monsters are summoned is dependent on the Cantor in question.\\\
Related is the '''Dark Sage''', a second-tier class[[note]]presumably promoted from a "Dark Mage"[[/note]] which also wields thunder magic, exclusive to King Pelleas in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''; it Class Changes into a variant of the '''Arch Sage'''. Also related are the villain-exclusive dark spellcasting classes: '''Dark Prince''' Julius from ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', '''Dark Druid''' Nergal from ''The Blazing Blade'', '''Necromancer''' Lyon from ''The Sacred Stones'', and '''Agastya''', a class exclusive to Thales in ''Three Houses''. A Dark Knight variant also appears in ''Three Houses'' in the form of the '''Death Knight''', exclusive to the character with the same name as the class.\\\
This class is not to be confused with the '''Shaman''' class of ''Genealogy'', which is a light-wielding class exclusive to Deirdre and Julia, or with the third-tier '''Light Priestess''' class, which was called "Shaman" in the original Japanese version of ''Radiant Dawn''.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Salem (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Raigh, Sophia, Niime (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Canas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Knoll (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Pelleas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Etzel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Tharja, Henry, DLC Micaiah (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Odin, Nyx, Leo, Ophelia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Hubert, [[spoiler:Jeritza]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
to:
!!Dark Mage/Shaman
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/803g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Mages in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/912g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/962g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
A somewhat uncommon offensive magic class, Dark Mages (also known as Shamans in the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance titles ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade
!!Tactician and Grandmaster
The
Related is the '''Dark Sage''', a second-tier class[[note]]presumably promoted from a "Dark Mage"[[/note]] which also wields thunder magic, exclusive to King Pelleas in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''; it Class Changes into a variant of the '''Arch Sage'''. Also related are the villain-exclusive dark spellcasting classes: '''Dark Prince''' Julius from ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', '''Dark Druid''' Nergal from ''The Blazing Blade'', '''Necromancer''' Lyon from ''The Sacred Stones'', and '''Agastya''', a class exclusive to Thales in ''Three Houses''. A Dark Knight variant also appears in ''Three Houses'' in the form of the '''Death Knight''', exclusive to the character with the same name as the class.\\\
This class is not to be confused with the '''Shaman''' class of ''Genealogy'', which is a light-wielding class exclusive to Deirdre and Julia, or with the third-tier '''Light Priestess''' class, which was called "Shaman" in the original Japanese
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''
Changed line(s) 534,576 (click to see context) from:
* AlwaysMale: Dark Mages and Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' are male-only.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Luna spell in ''Blazing Blade'', ''Sacred Stones'', and ''Three Houses'' negates the enemy's resistance at the cost of fully requiring the unit's magic stat to be high in order to be effective, as the spell has minimal to no intrinsic might of its own (making it outclassed by literally any other dark tome when being used on enemies with low resistance, but absolutely invaluable to the point of being a GameBreaker against enemies with high resistance). Glower in ''New Mystery of the Emblem'' negates resistance instead of inflicting HPToOne.
* BlackKnight: The Dark Knight class, which is basically a new version of Mage Knight.
* CastingAShadow: Dark magic is essentially this. Also, while they have often been portrayed as the magical equivalent to axes[[note]]with light magic being comparable to swords and animals magic being comparable to lances; the three magic types even have an identical TacticalRockPaperScissors arrangement to their physical counterparts[[/note]], dark magic in the GBA games and in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' have effects on their general weapons[[note]]such as LifeDrain, ArmorPiercingAttack, PercentDamageAttack, and HPToOne[[/note]] that other magic will never have. Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Dark Tomefaire as a class skill, though they also gain Black Tomefaire as well.
* CoolHelmet: Dark Knights typically wear menacing-looking helmets. ''Awakening'' gives them a visor that resembles the Fell Dragon Grima, ''Fates'' gives them skull-faced helmets, and ''Three Houses'' features a four-horned demon on theirs.
* CoolMask: Dark Mages and Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' wear crow masks modelled after plague doctors.
* CriticalHitClass: In ''Fates'', Sorcerors have a small critical hit bonus.
* CriticalStatusBuff: The ''Vengeance'' skill, which increases the user's damage based on half of the user's missing HP, making it very powerful when the user is nearly dead. It also has the highest activation rate at Skill x2 (x1.5 in ''Fates''), so it is easy for it to activate.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: The mastery skill for Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'' is Seal Resisitance, which inflicts -6 Resistance to the enemy after combat if they attack and damage them during combat.
* DarkIsEvil: Commonly, the Dark Mage is used as an enemy-only class, like in ''Gaiden'', ''Mystery of the Emblem'', ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', and ''Thracia 776'', and many antagonists in the series are of the EvilSorcerer-type. Even in games where Dark Mages are playable, there is rarely more than one playable Dark Mage (''Binding Blade'', ''Awakening'', and ''Fates'' are the only exceptions), while the enemy faction will have no short supply of Dark Mages. In addition, the playable Dark Mages in ''Awakening'' are creepy {{Token Evil Teammate}}s.
* DarkIsNotEvil: And Canas ''will'' make a point of reminding you of that fact. However, Dark magic users still tend to be [[DarkIsEvil major]] [[EvilSorcerer enemies]] in several games in the series nonetheless. ''Gaiden'', both Jugdral games, ''Awakening'', and ''Three Houses'' feature an evil magic cult as one of the main antagonist factions. Furthermore, even if it's not inherently ''evil'', dark magic is frequently [[EvilIsNotAToy hazardous to its users in-universe if used improperly]] (as Canas's brothers and Brammimond could attest to if they weren't {{Empty Shell}}s).
* DealWithTheDevil: Often, to gain the ability to use dark magic, particularly if it's of the powerful kind, the user has to sacrifice something in return, often with severe consequences.
* DiscardAndDraw:
** Dark Mages promoting into Dark Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain the ability to use Swords, as well as gaining a horse mount for mobility, at the cost of (ironically) no longer able to use dark tomes.
** Compared to the Dark Knight, the Death Knight in ''Three Houses'' emphasizes more on its Lance rank, swapping out Black and Dark Tomefaire for Lancefaire. Mastering this class grants Counterattack (allows the user to counterattack regardless of range), further encouraging the usage of melee weapons.
* {{Expy}}: Dark Druid Nergal and Necromancer Lyon's classes are based upon the Druid and Summoner classes, respectively, but more powerful. Dark Druid also serves as an {{expy}} and {{foil}} to Athos's Archsage class.
* GatheringSteam: Dark Knight in ''Awakening'' has the skill Slow Burn, which gives them hit and avoid after a turn has pass, up to 15.
* HighCollarOfDoom: Dark Knights have these to add to their menacing appearances.
* HPToOne: Several dark magic across the series can cause this effect (sometimes from a very long range) -- namely Medusa, Dulam, Hel, Eclipse, and Bohr X. With the exception of Eclipse in ''Binding Blade'' (it was changed to a PercentDamageAttack for the rest of the GBA games), these spells are exclusive to the enemy.
* InTheHood: Almost every similar unit wears a heavy hood completely obscuring their face.
* LifeDrain:
** In the games where Nosferatu isn't Light magic, Dark Mages are instead able to wield it, enabling them to absorb their enemies' HP.
** Dark Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' and Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' get Lifetaker, which heals 50% of their HP after defeating an enemy.
* MightyGlacier: Dark Mages are significantly slower than Mages and have worse Skill, but generally have relatively equal magical attack and much better defense. Technically averted by Dark Mages in ''Fates'', where the class is basically just the Nohrian counterpart to the Diviner, itself an {{Expy}} of the standard Mage, with the added ability of wielding the game's sole dark magic tome, Nosferatu.
* NonindicativeName: Despite their name and appearance, Dark Knights are not actually capable of using dark magic unless they have the Shadowgift skill, instead being just another name for the Mage Knight. The only exception to this might be Leo, as his Brynhildr tome is stated to be dark magic, although he still can't use Nosferatu unless he reclasses into a Sorcerer. Finally remedied in ''Three Houses'' where Dark Knights has Dark Tomefaire as their class skill and dark magic is based on character instead of being restricted to the class itself.
* PoisonedWeapon:
** Jormungand in ''Thracia 776'' inflicts the target with the poison status, but only when used by enemies.
** Dark Mages in ''Three Houses'' learn Poison Strike upon mastering the class.
* PowerOfTheVoid:
** Apocalypse, one of the Divine Weapons of Elibe, emits a rune which summons a black hole.
** Ginnungagap in ''Fates'', where the spell [[YinYangBomb covers the enemy in a black vortex, then suffocates them with a blinding light]].
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is if a Dark Mage class changes into the [[MagicKnight Dark Knight]] class. Done weirdly with the Sorcerer from ''Awakening'' onward, who gets to use BlackMagic in addition to normal magic, but cannot use healing staves to differentiate themselves from Sages.
* ShouldersOfDoom: The pauldrons of the Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'' are not only large, but have large intimidating spikes on each of them.
* {{Stripperiffic}}: Dark Mages and Sorcerers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' wear some of the most revealing and downright skimpy outfits in the entire series.
* SummonMagic: The Cantor, Summoner, and the Necromancer can summon units to fight for them.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Seal Magic, which reduces the enemy's magic, is available to Dark Knights in ''Fates''. In ''Three Houses'', they instead learn Seal Resistance, and in Maddening Mode, enemy Dark Mages have Seal Strength by default.
* StatusBuff: Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' gain Fiendish Blow as a class skill, which increases their magic by 6 when initiating the attack. However, you cannot stack Fiendish Blow with another instance from mastering Mage, as the skill will just remove itself when two similar skills are included.
* UniqueEnemy:
** Inverted in ''Sacred Stones'', as you never encounter enemy Summoners. In addition, Necromancers (read: Lyon) never use their summon ability as enemies, while they can summon Phantoms in the player's hands.
** Zigzagged with ''Radiant Dawn'', as there are enemy-only Druids that appear sporadically in the game, usually Part 3 and 4. However, you can get Pelleas as one of two potential Dark Mages (that can only be playable in a second playthrough), though Pelleas is still of a separate class line from the Druid[[note]]and the second Dark Mage, [[spoiler:Lehran/]]Sephiran, is in yet another class tree that is more closely related to Clerics[[/note]].
** Zigzagged with the DS remakes, as while Etzel is a playable Sorcerer (the advanced version of Dark Mage), you never encounter a playable Dark Mage without reclassing one of your units. In addition, in ''Shadow Dragon'', you never encounter any enemy Dark Mages outside of side chapters, besides [[TheDragon Gharnef]].
* WeaponSpecialization: Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'' mainly focus on lances instead of swords, although they can still wield the latter.
to:
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Luna spell in ''Blazing Blade'', ''Sacred Stones'', and ''Three Houses'' negates the enemy's resistance at the cost of fully requiring the unit's magic stat to be high in order to be effective, as the spell has minimal to no intrinsic might of its own (making it outclassed by literally any other dark tome when being used on enemies with low resistance, but absolutely invaluable to the point of being a GameBreaker against enemies with high resistance). Glower in ''New Mystery of the Emblem'' negates resistance instead of inflicting HPToOne.
* BlackKnight: The Dark Knight class, which is basically a new version of Mage Knight.
* CastingAShadow: Dark magic is essentially this. Also, while they have often been portrayed as the magical equivalent to axes[[note]]with light magic being comparable to swords and animals magic being comparable to lances; the three magic types even have an identical TacticalRockPaperScissors arrangement to their physical counterparts[[/note]], dark magic in the GBA games and in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' have effects on their general weapons[[note]]such as LifeDrain, ArmorPiercingAttack, PercentDamageAttack, and HPToOne[[/note]] that other magic will never have. Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Dark Tomefaire as a class skill, though they also gain Black Tomefaire as well.
* CoolHelmet: Dark Knights typically wear menacing-looking helmets. ''Awakening'' gives them a visor that resembles the Fell Dragon Grima, ''Fates'' gives them skull-faced helmets, and ''Three Houses'' features a four-horned demon on theirs.
* CoolMask: Dark Mages and Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' wear crow masks modelled after plague doctors.
* CriticalHitClass:
* CriticalStatusBuff: The ''Vengeance'' skill, which increases the user's damage based on half of the user's missing HP, making it very powerful when the user
*
* DarkIsEvil: Commonly, the Dark Mage is used as an enemy-only class, like
* MagicKnight: They use both swords and
* DarkIsNotEvil: And Canas ''will'' make a point of reminding you of that fact. However, Dark magic users still tend to be [[DarkIsEvil major]] [[EvilSorcerer enemies]] in several games in the series nonetheless. ''Gaiden'', both Jugdral games, ''Awakening'', and ''Three Houses'' feature an evil magic cult as one of the main antagonist factions. Furthermore, even if it's not inherently ''evil'', dark magic is frequently [[EvilIsNotAToy hazardous to its users in-universe if used improperly]] (as Canas's brothers and Brammimond could attest to if
* DealWithTheDevil: Often, to gain the ability to use dark magic, particularly if it's of the powerful kind, the user has to sacrifice something in return, often
* DiscardAndDraw:
** Dark Mages promoting into Dark Knights in ''Awakening''
** Compared to the Dark Knight, the Death Knight in ''Three Houses'' emphasizes
* {{Expy}}: Dark Druid Nergal and Necromancer Lyon's classes are based upon the Druid and Summoner classes, respectively, but more powerful. Dark Druid also serves as an {{expy}} and {{foil}} to Athos's Archsage class.
* GatheringSteam: Dark Knight in ''Awakening'' has the skill Slow Burn, which gives them hit and avoid after a turn has pass, up to 15.
* HighCollarOfDoom: Dark Knights have these to add to their menacing appearances.
* HPToOne: Several dark magic across the series can cause this effect (sometimes from a very long range) -- namely Medusa, Dulam, Hel, Eclipse, and Bohr X. With the exception of Eclipse in ''Binding Blade'' (it was changed to a PercentDamageAttack for the rest of the GBA games), these spells are exclusive to the enemy.
* InTheHood: Almost every similar unit wears a heavy hood completely obscuring their face.
* LifeDrain:
** In the games where Nosferatu isn't Light magic, Dark Mages are instead able to wield it, enabling them to absorb their enemies' HP.
** Dark Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' and Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' get Lifetaker, which heals 50% of their HP after defeating an enemy.
* MightyGlacier: Dark Mages are significantly slower than Mages and have worse Skill, but generally have relatively equal magical attack and much better defense. Technically averted by Dark Mages in ''Fates'', where the class is basically just the Nohrian counterpart to the Diviner, itself an {{Expy}} of the standard Mage, with the added ability of wielding the game's sole dark magic tome, Nosferatu.
* NonindicativeName: Despite their name and appearance, Dark Knights are not actually capable of using dark magic unless they have the Shadowgift skill, instead being just another name for the Mage Knight. The only exception to this might be Leo, as his Brynhildr tome is stated to be dark magic, although he still can't use Nosferatu unless he reclasses into a Sorcerer. Finally remedied in ''Three Houses'' where Dark Knights has Dark Tomefaire as their class skill and dark magic is based on character instead of being restricted to the class itself.
* PoisonedWeapon:
** Jormungand in ''Thracia 776'' inflicts the target with the poison status, but only when used by enemies.
** Dark Mages in ''Three Houses'' learn Poison Strike upon mastering the class.
* PowerOfTheVoid:
** Apocalypse, one of the Divine Weapons of Elibe, emits a rune which summons a black hole.
** Ginnungagap in ''Fates'', where the spell [[YinYangBomb covers the enemy in a black vortex, then suffocates them
* RedMage:
*
* {{Stripperiffic}}: Dark Mages and Sorcerers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' wear some
* SummonMagic: The Cantor, Summoner, and the Necromancer can summon units to fight for them.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Seal Magic, which reduces the enemy's magic, is available to Dark Knights in ''Fates''. In ''Three Houses'', they instead learn Seal Resistance, and in Maddening Mode, enemy Dark Mages have Seal
* StatusBuff:
* SupportPartyMember: They get a number of Skills to buff or otherwise assist allies. "Solidarity" increases
* UniqueEnemy:
** Inverted in ''Sacred Stones'', as you never encounter enemy Summoners. In addition, Necromancers (read: Lyon) never use their summon ability as enemies, while they can summon Phantoms in the player's hands.
** Zigzagged with ''Radiant Dawn'', as there are enemy-only Druids that appear sporadically in the game, usually Part 3
** Zigzagged with the DS remakes, as while Etzel is a playable Sorcerer (the advanced version of Dark Mage), you never encounter a playable Dark Mage without reclassing one of your units. In addition, in ''Shadow Dragon'', you never encounter any enemy Dark Mages outside of side chapters, besides [[TheDragon Gharnef]].
* WeaponSpecialization: Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'' mainly focus on lances instead of swords, although they can still wield the latter.
Changed line(s) 579,596 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Troubadour]]
!!Troubadour
[[quoteright:164:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_troubadour_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:164:Troubadours in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:141:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesmaidportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:141:Maids in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hvalkyrie.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Valkyries in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/974g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
A female-exclusive WhiteMage class introduced in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' which makes occasional, if inconsistent, appearances. The Troubadour is basically the mounted equivalent of the Priest with slightly lower stats to compensate for having higher movement.\\\
The Troubadour class is one of the most variable in the series in terms of Class Change progression and weaponry. In most games, they wield only staves and start off purely as a support class, but they additionally wield swords in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''. They normally Class Change into the '''Valkyrie''' like the Priest, which turns them into a CombatMedic that gains the ability to use offensive magic (Anima or Light depending on the game) in every game except ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''; in those games, where the class is exclusive to Mist, Valkyrie gains the ability to use swords. In ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'', Troubadour instead Class Changes into '''Paladin''' (not to be confused with the normal Paladin) and gains the ability to wield lances alongside swords and staves.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', they can choose to Class Change into the '''Mage Knight'''[[note]]not to be confused with the similarly-named class from Jugdral, which is an evolution of the unmounted Mage[[/note]], which is effectively a Valkyrie that uses Anima magic instead of Light magic[[note]]Valkyries use Light magic in ''Sacred Stones''[[/note]]. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', they can instead choose to discard their mount and Class Change into '''War Cleric''', which gains the use of axes. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Troubadours are unisexual[[note]]they were known as Rod Knight in the Japanese version[[/note]]. They Class Change into the '''Strategist''' class (effectively the Valkyrie with a different name to reflect the fact that they're no longer AlwaysFemale) or branch into the '''Maid/Butler''' class, which substitutes offensive magic for knives/shuriken, ditches the horse, and has the best staff rank in the game. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'', the Troubadour class itself is absent, but the master class, '''Holy Knight''', is reminiscent of ''The Sacred Stones''[='=] Valkyries and Jugdral Paladins. They specialize in Faith, Lances, and Riding. The Valkyrie class would later reappear in the game as part of the Wave 4 DLC, specializing in both Black and Dark magic alongside Riding.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Ethlyn, Nanna/Jeanne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Nanna, Amalda (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Clarine, Cecilia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Priscilla (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); L'Arachel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Maribelle (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Felicia, Jakob, Elise, Flora, Dwyer, Forrest (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Hapi (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
!!Troubadour
[[quoteright:164:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_troubadour_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:164:Troubadours in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:141:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesmaidportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:141:Maids in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hvalkyrie.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Valkyries in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/974g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
A female-exclusive WhiteMage class introduced in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' which makes occasional, if inconsistent, appearances. The Troubadour is basically the mounted equivalent of the Priest with slightly lower stats to compensate for having higher movement.\\\
The Troubadour class is one of the most variable in the series in terms of Class Change progression and weaponry. In most games, they wield only staves and start off purely as a support class, but they additionally wield swords in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''. They normally Class Change into the '''Valkyrie''' like the Priest, which turns them into a CombatMedic that gains the ability to use offensive magic (Anima or Light depending on the game) in every game except ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''; in those games, where the class is exclusive to Mist, Valkyrie gains the ability to use swords. In ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'', Troubadour instead Class Changes into '''Paladin''' (not to be confused with the normal Paladin) and gains the ability to wield lances alongside swords and staves.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', they can choose to Class Change into the '''Mage Knight'''[[note]]not to be confused with the similarly-named class from Jugdral, which is an evolution of the unmounted Mage[[/note]], which is effectively a Valkyrie that uses Anima magic instead of Light magic[[note]]Valkyries use Light magic in ''Sacred Stones''[[/note]]. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', they can instead choose to discard their mount and Class Change into '''War Cleric''', which gains the use of axes. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Troubadours are unisexual[[note]]they were known as Rod Knight in the Japanese version[[/note]]. They Class Change into the '''Strategist''' class (effectively the Valkyrie with a different name to reflect the fact that they're no longer AlwaysFemale) or branch into the '''Maid/Butler''' class, which substitutes offensive magic for knives/shuriken, ditches the horse, and has the best staff rank in the game. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'', the Troubadour class itself is absent, but the master class, '''Holy Knight''', is reminiscent of ''The Sacred Stones''[='=] Valkyries and Jugdral Paladins. They specialize in Faith, Lances, and Riding. The Valkyrie class would later reappear in the game as part of the Wave 4 DLC, specializing in both Black and Dark magic alongside Riding.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Ethlyn, Nanna/Jeanne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Nanna, Amalda (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Clarine, Cecilia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Priscilla (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); L'Arachel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Maribelle (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Felicia, Jakob, Elise, Flora, Dwyer, Forrest (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Hapi (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
to:
!!Troubadour
[[quoteright:164:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_troubadour_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:164:Troubadours in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:141:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesmaidportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:141:Maids in ''Fates'']]
!!Brawler
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/986g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:War Master in ''Three Houses'']]
A
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', they can choose to Class Change into the '''Mage Knight'''[[note]]not to be confused with the similarly-named class from Jugdral, which is an evolution of the unmounted Mage[[/note]], which is effectively a Valkyrie that uses Anima magic instead of Light magic[[note]]Valkyries use Light magic in ''Sacred Stones''[[/note]]. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', they can instead choose to discard their mount and Class Change into '''War Cleric''', which gains the use of axes. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Troubadours are unisexual[[note]]they were known as Rod Knight in the Japanese version[[/note]]. They Class Change into the '''Strategist''' class (effectively the Valkyrie with a different name to reflect the fact that they're no longer AlwaysFemale) or branch into the '''Maid/Butler''' class, which substitutes offensive magic for knives/shuriken, ditches the horse, and has the best staff rank in the game. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'', the Troubadour class itself is absent, but the master class, '''Holy Knight''', is reminiscent of ''The Sacred Stones''[='=] Valkyries and Jugdral Paladins. They specialize in Faith, Lances, and Riding. The Valkyrie class would later reappear in the game as part of the Wave 4 DLC, specializing in both Black and Dark magic alongside Riding.\\\
Changed line(s) 598,625 (click to see context) from:
* AchillesHeel: Like Cavaliers, they are vulnerable to Horse-slaying weapons... except in ''Binding Blade'' and ''Path of Radiance'', where they are unaffected by Horse-slaying weapons, presumably due to an oversight.
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Valkryies in ''Three Houses'' gain ''Uncanny Blow'' upon mastering the class. It gives 30 extra hit when attacking.
* AlwaysFemale: Except in ''Fates'', all troubadours/valkyries were female. Female-exclusive Valkyries are entirely consistent with Norse mythology constantly referenced in the series, but "troubadour" was a name for a male bard historically.
* AutomatonHorses: Their horses are only seen in combat.
* BattleButler: The Butler class.
* BlackMage: Unlike most depictions of the class, ''Three Houses'' grants the class skills that focus on the strictly offensive black and dark magic spells. They can still use white magic and it is one of their proficiencies, but this incarnation is meant to be the offensive mage rider in contrast to the Holy Knight. Interestingly, this makes them a female counterpart to the Dark Knight, which also focuses on black and dark magic (the Tomefaire variants specifically).
* CastingAShadow: Of a sort. In a first for the series, ''Three Houses'' grants them a skill to extend the range of the user's dark magic spells, making them the only other class that females can access besides Gremory with some sort of dark magic skill.
* CombatMedic: Valkyries have offensive magic/the use of swords in addition to healing with staves. In the Jugdral games, troubadours can use swords from the start. In ''Fates'', they gain shuriken/daggers as their weapons as Maids and Butlers. In ''Three Houses'', Holy Knights can wield lances and have native access to White Tomefaire.
* CoolHorse: Troubadours are always mounted on them.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Resistance, a skill that boosts resistance by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Valkyries were called "Paladins" in Jugdral. They were wisely renamed Valkyries with the GBA installments to avoid confusion with regular Paladins, especially female ones like Midia.
* GenderBlenderName: Despite the class being all-female until ''Fates'', actual real-life troubadours (who were poets, not magical mounted staff users) were exclusively male, and the female term is Troubaritz. Strangely, these sorts of real-life Troubadours ''actually exist'' in the ''Fire Emblem'' universe as well, at least in the Tellius series[[note]]which lacks the unprompted Troubadour class; its sole Valkyrie, Mist, starts out as a Cleric[[/note]], as the ending of ''Path of Radiance'' mentions troubadours and one of the early chapter narrations for ''Radiant Dawn'' includes the phrase "or so the troubadours sing".
* HitAndRunTactics: Troubadours and Valkyries in the Jugdral and Tellius games can attack or heal and then move again with their remaining movement. Troubadours in the GBA games can only move again if they use a non-attacking or non-healing command.
* LightEmUp: The Valkyries in ''Sacred Stones'' and Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' excel in light magic. Holy Knights are highly specialized in Faith magic, as they can gain White Tomefaire, which increases their damage by 5.
* MageKiller: Their high Resistance stat allows them to deal with enemy mages. Maids and Butlers get the Tomebreaker skill and the ability to use shuriken/daggers, the latter being effective against tomes in ''Fates''[='=] Weapon Triangle[[note]]tomes share their place with swords, while hidden weapons share their place with lances[[/note]] and targets [[SquishyWizard their usually weak defense stat]].
* MagicKnight: The Holy Knights excel in faith magic and lances. In addition, they have White Tomefaire as their class skill, increasing their damage by 5 when using faith magic like Nosferatu and Aura.
* TheMedic: Their main battlefield role.
* NinjaMaid: The Maid class, exemplified with their combat style and shurikens as their weapons.
* ThePaladin: An ''actual'' depiction of the Paladin in the form of the Holy Knight, who are horse-riding knights that specialize in Faith (white magic).
* RedMage: Typically becomes a mounted version after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is if you class change into a [[CombatMedic War Cleric or Maid/Butler]], which lose the horse and use physical weapons rather than offensive magic.
* SquishyWizard: They have high Magic and Luck to aid in their healing abilities, but they're defensively weak physically and typically can't fight back at first.
* StatusBuff:
** Troubadours have Demoiselle for females in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', and Gentilhomme for males in ''Fates''; Demoiselle in ''Awakening'' grants all males within 3 tiles of the user +10 Avoid and Critical Dodge, and both skills in ''Fates'' grant -2 damage taken to all allies within 2 spaces, depending on what skill is equipped and the recipient's gender.
** Valkyries in ''Awakening'' and Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Rally Resistance, which gives a boost to resistance to allies when commanded.
** Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Inspiration, which grants all allies within 2 tiles of the user +2 damage given and -2 damage taken.
* SupportPartyMember: While they were originally sword-wielders in their first tier, later games relegated them solely to healing and buffing allies before class change.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. There are no enemy Butlers in ''Fates'', making Butler a player-only class.
* WhiteMagicianGirl: This is a very common archetype for the class.
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Valkryies in ''Three Houses'' gain ''Uncanny Blow'' upon mastering the class. It gives 30 extra hit when attacking.
* AlwaysFemale: Except in ''Fates'', all troubadours/valkyries were female. Female-exclusive Valkyries are entirely consistent with Norse mythology constantly referenced in the series, but "troubadour" was a name for a male bard historically.
* AutomatonHorses: Their horses are only seen in combat.
* BattleButler: The Butler class.
* BlackMage: Unlike most depictions of the class, ''Three Houses'' grants the class skills that focus on the strictly offensive black and dark magic spells. They can still use white magic and it is one of their proficiencies, but this incarnation is meant to be the offensive mage rider in contrast to the Holy Knight. Interestingly, this makes them a female counterpart to the Dark Knight, which also focuses on black and dark magic (the Tomefaire variants specifically).
* CastingAShadow: Of a sort. In a first for the series, ''Three Houses'' grants them a skill to extend the range of the user's dark magic spells, making them the only other class that females can access besides Gremory with some sort of dark magic skill.
* CombatMedic: Valkyries have offensive magic/the use of swords in addition to healing with staves. In the Jugdral games, troubadours can use swords from the start. In ''Fates'', they gain shuriken/daggers as their weapons as Maids and Butlers. In ''Three Houses'', Holy Knights can wield lances and have native access to White Tomefaire.
* CoolHorse: Troubadours are always mounted on them.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Resistance, a skill that boosts resistance by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Valkyries were called "Paladins" in Jugdral. They were wisely renamed Valkyries with the GBA installments to avoid confusion with regular Paladins, especially female ones like Midia.
* GenderBlenderName: Despite the class being all-female until ''Fates'', actual real-life troubadours (who were poets, not magical mounted staff users) were exclusively male, and the female term is Troubaritz. Strangely, these sorts of real-life Troubadours ''actually exist'' in the ''Fire Emblem'' universe as well, at least in the Tellius series[[note]]which lacks the unprompted Troubadour class; its sole Valkyrie, Mist, starts out as a Cleric[[/note]], as the ending of ''Path of Radiance'' mentions troubadours and one of the early chapter narrations for ''Radiant Dawn'' includes the phrase "or so the troubadours sing".
* HitAndRunTactics: Troubadours and Valkyries in the Jugdral and Tellius games can attack or heal and then move again with their remaining movement. Troubadours in the GBA games can only move again if they use a non-attacking or non-healing command.
* LightEmUp: The Valkyries in ''Sacred Stones'' and Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' excel in light magic. Holy Knights are highly specialized in Faith magic, as they can gain White Tomefaire, which increases their damage by 5.
* MageKiller: Their high Resistance stat allows them to deal with enemy mages. Maids and Butlers get the Tomebreaker skill and the ability to use shuriken/daggers, the latter being effective against tomes in ''Fates''[='=] Weapon Triangle[[note]]tomes share their place with swords, while hidden weapons share their place with lances[[/note]] and targets [[SquishyWizard their usually weak defense stat]].
* MagicKnight: The Holy Knights excel in faith magic and lances. In addition, they have White Tomefaire as their class skill, increasing their damage by 5 when using faith magic like Nosferatu and Aura.
* TheMedic: Their main battlefield role.
* NinjaMaid: The Maid class, exemplified with their combat style and shurikens as their weapons.
* ThePaladin: An ''actual'' depiction of the Paladin in the form of the Holy Knight, who are horse-riding knights that specialize in Faith (white magic).
* RedMage: Typically becomes a mounted version after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is if you class change into a [[CombatMedic War Cleric or Maid/Butler]], which lose the horse and use physical weapons rather than offensive magic.
* SquishyWizard: They have high Magic and Luck to aid in their healing abilities, but they're defensively weak physically and typically can't fight back at first.
* StatusBuff:
** Troubadours have Demoiselle for females in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', and Gentilhomme for males in ''Fates''; Demoiselle in ''Awakening'' grants all males within 3 tiles of the user +10 Avoid and Critical Dodge, and both skills in ''Fates'' grant -2 damage taken to all allies within 2 spaces, depending on what skill is equipped and the recipient's gender.
** Valkyries in ''Awakening'' and Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Rally Resistance, which gives a boost to resistance to allies when commanded.
** Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Inspiration, which grants all allies within 2 tiles of the user +2 damage given and -2 damage taken.
* SupportPartyMember: While they were originally sword-wielders in their first tier, later games relegated them solely to healing and buffing allies before class change.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. There are no enemy Butlers in ''Fates'', making Butler a player-only class.
* WhiteMagicianGirl: This is a very common archetype for the class.
to:
* AchillesHeel: Like Cavaliers, ActionInitiative: Upon mastering War Master, they gain Quick Riposte, allowing them to deal follow-up attacks if they are vulnerable to Horse-slaying weapons... except in ''Binding Blade'' attacked and ''Path of Radiance'', where they above their HP threshold. Also, unlike in ''Heroes'', the attacker will not follow-up attack if the unit is equipped with Quick Riposte.
* AlwaysMale: Brawlers, Grapplers and War Masters areunaffected male-only.
* BareFistedMonk: Their primary weapon as indicated byHorse-slaying weapons, presumably due to an oversight.
the skill "Unarmed Combat". Grapplers also gain the skill Fistfaire, which increases their damage when wielding gauntlets.
*AlwaysAccurateAttack: Valkryies ChainedByFashion: Grapplers in ''Three Houses'' gain ''Uncanny Blow'' upon mastering the class. It gives 30 extra hit when attacking.
have chains attached to their armor.
*AlwaysFemale: Except in ''Fates'', all troubadours/valkyries were female. Female-exclusive Valkyries are entirely consistent with Norse mythology constantly referenced in the series, but "troubadour" was a name for a male bard historically.
ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Brawlers and War Masters can use axes and gauntlets.
*AutomatonHorses: Their horses are only seen in combat.
* BattleButler: The Butler class.
* BlackMage: Unlike most depictions of the class, ''Three Houses'' grants theCriticalHitClass: War Masters get Crit+20 as their class skills that focus on the strictly offensive black and dark magic spells. They can still use white magic and it is one of their proficiencies, but this incarnation is meant to be the offensive mage rider ability. As they are proficient in contrast to the Holy Knight. Interestingly, axes, this makes them a female counterpart very similar to Berserkers in the Dark Knight, which also focuses on black other games.
* LightningBruiser: War Masters have stats anddark magic (the Tomefaire variants specifically).
* CastingAShadow: Of a sort. In a first for the series, ''Three Houses'' grants them a skill to extend the rangegrowths on par with Wyvern Riders, paired with an addition of the user's dark magic spells, a Crit+20, making them the only other class that females can access besides Gremory with some sort of dark magic skill.
* CombatMedic: Valkyries have offensive magic/the use of swords in addition to healing with staves. In the Jugdral games, troubadours can use swords from the start. In ''Fates'', they gain shuriken/daggers as their weapons as Maids and Butlers. In ''Three Houses'', Holy Knights can wield lances and have native access to White Tomefaire.
* CoolHorse: Troubadours are always mounted on them.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Resistance, a skill that boosts resistance by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Valkyries were called "Paladins" in Jugdral. They were wisely renamed Valkyries with the GBA installments to avoid confusion with regular Paladins, especially female ones like Midia.
* GenderBlenderName: Despite the class being all-female until ''Fates'', actual real-life troubadours (who were poets, not magical mounted staff users) were exclusively male, and the female term is Troubaritz. Strangely, these sorts of real-life Troubadours ''actually exist'' in the ''Fire Emblem'' universe as well, at least in the Tellius series[[note]]which lacks the unprompted Troubadour class; its sole Valkyrie, Mist, starts out as a Cleric[[/note]], as the ending of ''Path of Radiance'' mentions troubadours andone of the early chapter narrations for ''Radiant Dawn'' includes the phrase "or so the troubadours sing".
* HitAndRunTactics: Troubadours and Valkyries in the Jugdral and Tellius games can attack or heal and then move againmore dangerous footlocked units. Fighting one with their remaining movement. Troubadours in Killer Knuckles is just asking for trouble.
* MageKiller: While theGBA games class does not offer Resistance growth bonuses, Grapplers can only move again if they use a non-attacking or non-healing command.
* LightEmUp: The Valkyries in ''Sacred Stones'' and Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' excel in light magic. Holy Knights are highly specialized in Faith magic, as they can gain White Tomefaire,learn Tomebreaker, which increases their damage by 5.
Hit and Avoid against Tome-wielding users.
*MageKiller: Their high Resistance stat allows them SecretArt:
** Grapplers have Fierce Iron Fist, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to them, where they dealwith enemy mages. Maids and Butlers get the Tomebreaker skill and the ability three consecutive attacks.
** War Master's Strike, a mastery Combat Art exclusive touse shuriken/daggers, the latter being War Masters. It grants effective bonus damage against tomes in ''Fates''[='=] Weapon Triangle[[note]]tomes share their place with swords, while hidden weapons share their place with lances[[/note]] and targets [[SquishyWizard their usually weak defense stat]].
* MagicKnight: The Holy Knights excel in faith magic and lances. In addition, they have White Tomefaire as their class skill, increasing their damage by 5 when using faith magic like Nosferatu and Aura.
* TheMedic: Their main battlefield role.
* NinjaMaid: The Maid class, exemplified with their combat style and shurikens as their weapons.
* ThePaladin: An ''actual'' depiction of the Paladin in the form of the Holy Knight, who are horse-riding knights that specialize in Faith (white magic).
* RedMage: Typically becomes a mounted version after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is if you class change into a [[CombatMedic War Cleric or Maid/Butler]], which lose the horse and use physical weapons rather than offensive magic.
* SquishyWizard: They have high Magic and Luck to aid in their healing abilities, but they're defensively weak physically and typically can't fight back at first.
* StatusBuff:
** Troubadours have Demoiselle for females in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', and Gentilhomme for males in ''Fates''; Demoiselle in ''Awakening'' grantsall males within 3 tiles of the user +10 Avoid and Critical Dodge, and both skills in ''Fates'' grant -2 damage taken to all allies within 2 spaces, depending on what skill is equipped and the recipient's gender.
** Valkyries in ''Awakening'' and Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Rally Resistance, which gives a boost to resistance to allies when commanded.
** Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Inspiration, which grants all allies within 2 tiles of the user +2 damage given and -2 damage taken.
* SupportPartyMember: While they were originally sword-wielders in their first tier, later games relegated them solely to healing and buffing allies before class change.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. There are no enemy Butlers in ''Fates'', making Butler a player-only class.
* WhiteMagicianGirl: This is a very common archetype for the class.foes.
* AlwaysMale: Brawlers, Grapplers and War Masters are
* BareFistedMonk: Their primary weapon as indicated by
*
*
*
* BattleButler: The Butler class.
* BlackMage: Unlike most depictions of the class, ''Three Houses'' grants the
* LightningBruiser: War Masters have stats and
* CastingAShadow: Of a sort. In a first for the series, ''Three Houses'' grants them a skill to extend the range
* CombatMedic: Valkyries have offensive magic/the use of swords in addition to healing with staves. In the Jugdral games, troubadours can use swords from the start. In ''Fates'', they gain shuriken/daggers as their weapons as Maids and Butlers. In ''Three Houses'', Holy Knights can wield lances and have native access to White Tomefaire.
* CoolHorse: Troubadours are always mounted on them.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Resistance, a skill that boosts resistance by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Valkyries were called "Paladins" in Jugdral. They were wisely renamed Valkyries with the GBA installments to avoid confusion with regular Paladins, especially female ones like Midia.
* GenderBlenderName: Despite the class being all-female until ''Fates'', actual real-life troubadours (who were poets, not magical mounted staff users) were exclusively male, and the female term is Troubaritz. Strangely, these sorts of real-life Troubadours ''actually exist'' in the ''Fire Emblem'' universe as well, at least in the Tellius series[[note]]which lacks the unprompted Troubadour class; its sole Valkyrie, Mist, starts out as a Cleric[[/note]], as the ending of ''Path of Radiance'' mentions troubadours and
* HitAndRunTactics: Troubadours and Valkyries in the Jugdral and Tellius games can attack or heal and then move again
* MageKiller: While the
* LightEmUp: The Valkyries in ''Sacred Stones'' and Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' excel in light magic. Holy Knights are highly specialized in Faith magic, as they can gain White Tomefaire,
*
** Grapplers have Fierce Iron Fist, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to them, where they deal
** War Master's Strike, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to
* MagicKnight: The Holy Knights excel in faith magic and lances. In addition, they have White Tomefaire as their class skill, increasing their damage by 5 when using faith magic like Nosferatu and Aura.
* TheMedic: Their main battlefield role.
* NinjaMaid: The Maid class, exemplified with their combat style and shurikens as their weapons.
* ThePaladin: An ''actual'' depiction of the Paladin in the form of the Holy Knight, who are horse-riding knights that specialize in Faith (white magic).
* RedMage: Typically becomes a mounted version after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is if you class change into a [[CombatMedic War Cleric or Maid/Butler]], which lose the horse and use physical weapons rather than offensive magic.
* SquishyWizard: They have high Magic and Luck to aid in their healing abilities, but they're defensively weak physically and typically can't fight back at first.
* StatusBuff:
** Troubadours have Demoiselle for females in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', and Gentilhomme for males in ''Fates''; Demoiselle in ''Awakening'' grants
** Valkyries in ''Awakening'' and Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Rally Resistance, which gives a boost to resistance to allies when commanded.
** Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Inspiration, which grants all allies within 2 tiles of the user +2 damage given and -2 damage taken.
* SupportPartyMember: While they were originally sword-wielders in their first tier, later games relegated them solely to healing and buffing allies before class change.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. There are no enemy Butlers in ''Fates'', making Butler a player-only class.
* WhiteMagicianGirl: This is a very common archetype for the class.
Changed line(s) 628,647 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Pegasus Knight]]
!!Pegasus Knight
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/852g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/929g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hdarkflier.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Fliers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:185:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_kinshi_knight_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:185:Kinshi Knights in ''Fates'']]
One of the two flying mounted classes, Pegasus Knights are [[AlwaysFemale female-only]] knights who fly on pegasi. They're defined by their excellent Speed and Resistance at the cost of having pathetic Defense and HP; they're generally [[MageKiller great for eliminating mages]]. They usually Class Change into the '''Falcon Knight''' class, which adds the ability to use either swords or staves depending on the game, and in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' Class Changes further to the '''Seraph Knight'''. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', Pegasus Knights gain the alternate Class Change opition of '''Dark Flier''', which allows them to use magic. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', they had the alternate Class Change option of '''Wyvern Knight''' (see below): in the Archanea games, '''Dracoknights''' were their only advance class (though the remakes allowed them to class change to Falcon Knights through a DLC item). In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they were changed into the unisex '''Sky Knight''', which class change into the '''Falcon Knight''' or '''Kinshi Knight''', the first aerial class that can use Bows. The Dark Flier reappears as its own separate class in ''Fates'' renamed '''Dark Falcon''', accessible via an item that can be obtained either by owning all three campaigns or as a reward from a DLC map.\\\
''Engage'' makes pegasus riders the sole basic flying class separated by weapon types: '''Sword Flier''', '''Lance Flier''', and '''Axe Flier'''. They can either class change into '''Griffin Knight''', which adds staves to their arsenal, or '''Wyvern Knight''', which gives them another weapon rank.\\\
Pegasus Knights can be considered among the most iconic classes in the series, and Intelligent Systems [[DisneyOwnsThisTrope currently has their name trademarked]].\\\
Related are the '''Princess Crimea''' and '''Queen''' classes, exclusive to Elincia in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''Radiant Dawn'', respectively, both classes wield swords and staves, but are otherwise identical to the normal pegasus classes, and '''Wing Tamer''' and '''Sleipnir Rider''', exclusive to Hortensia in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'', both classes that wields magic and staves.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Caeda, Palla, Catria, Est (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and The Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of The Emblem]]''); Clair, Palla, Catria, Est (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Erinys, Fee/Hermina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''), Karin and Misha (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Shanna, Thea, Juno (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Florina, Fiora, Farina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''), Vanessa, Tana, Syrene (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Marcia, Tanith, Elincia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Sigrun (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Sumia, Cordelia, Cynthia, Aversa (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Subaki, Hinoka, Reina, Shigure, Caeldori (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Ingrid, Constance (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Chloé, Hortensia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Pegasus Knight
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/852g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/929g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hdarkflier.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Fliers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:185:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_kinshi_knight_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:185:Kinshi Knights in ''Fates'']]
One of the two flying mounted classes, Pegasus Knights are [[AlwaysFemale female-only]] knights who fly on pegasi. They're defined by their excellent Speed and Resistance at the cost of having pathetic Defense and HP; they're generally [[MageKiller great for eliminating mages]]. They usually Class Change into the '''Falcon Knight''' class, which adds the ability to use either swords or staves depending on the game, and in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' Class Changes further to the '''Seraph Knight'''. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', Pegasus Knights gain the alternate Class Change opition of '''Dark Flier''', which allows them to use magic. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', they had the alternate Class Change option of '''Wyvern Knight''' (see below): in the Archanea games, '''Dracoknights''' were their only advance class (though the remakes allowed them to class change to Falcon Knights through a DLC item). In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they were changed into the unisex '''Sky Knight''', which class change into the '''Falcon Knight''' or '''Kinshi Knight''', the first aerial class that can use Bows. The Dark Flier reappears as its own separate class in ''Fates'' renamed '''Dark Falcon''', accessible via an item that can be obtained either by owning all three campaigns or as a reward from a DLC map.\\\
''Engage'' makes pegasus riders the sole basic flying class separated by weapon types: '''Sword Flier''', '''Lance Flier''', and '''Axe Flier'''. They can either class change into '''Griffin Knight''', which adds staves to their arsenal, or '''Wyvern Knight''', which gives them another weapon rank.\\\
Pegasus Knights can be considered among the most iconic classes in the series, and Intelligent Systems [[DisneyOwnsThisTrope currently has their name trademarked]].\\\
Related are the '''Princess Crimea''' and '''Queen''' classes, exclusive to Elincia in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''Radiant Dawn'', respectively, both classes wield swords and staves, but are otherwise identical to the normal pegasus classes, and '''Wing Tamer''' and '''Sleipnir Rider''', exclusive to Hortensia in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'', both classes that wields magic and staves.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Caeda, Palla, Catria, Est (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and The Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of The Emblem]]''); Clair, Palla, Catria, Est (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Erinys, Fee/Hermina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''), Karin and Misha (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Shanna, Thea, Juno (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Florina, Fiora, Farina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''), Vanessa, Tana, Syrene (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Marcia, Tanith, Elincia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Sigrun (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Sumia, Cordelia, Cynthia, Aversa (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Subaki, Hinoka, Reina, Shigure, Caeldori (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Ingrid, Constance (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Chloé, Hortensia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Pegasus Knight
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/852g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/929g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hdarkflier.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Fliers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:185:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_kinshi_knight_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:185:Kinshi Knights in ''Fates'']]
One
!!Manakete ''(Mamkute)''
A common feature of most titles is the existence of the
Related are the '''Princess Crimea''' and '''Queen''' classes, exclusive to Elincia in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''Radiant Dawn'', respectively, both classes wield swords and staves, but are otherwise identical to the normal pegasus classes, and '''Wing Tamer''' and '''Sleipnir Rider''', exclusive to Hortensia in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'', both classes that wields magic and staves.\\\
->'''Playable
Changed line(s) 649,681 (click to see context) from:
* AchillesHeel: Pegasus Knights [[AntiAir suffer additional damage from bows and (sometimes) wind magic]] due to their status as flying units. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', they are also weak to anti-beast weapons.
* AlwaysFemale: Playable Pegasus Knights are always female, though as mentioned in EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, enemy ones were male in ''Mystery''. ''Fates'' averts this, although the explanation is different depending on the version of the game: the Japanese version calls them Tenma (the Japanese word for Pegasus, confusingly used for regular Pegasi in the past), while the English version simply says that they are a different breed from the traditional depiction. However, it's still played with, as the men who have this class, Subaki and Shigure, are known to be very pretty. Pegasus Knights go back to being female-only in ''Three Houses''. Notably pegasi are known to accept a man as an additional passenger to a female rider (as seen when Sumia rescues Chrom in ''Awakening''), and may carry a man they trust (by picking him up with their mouth as seen in the ''Three Hopes'' support conversation between Ignatz and Marianne), they just draw the line at the man riding on their back and directing them.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Falcon Knights in most games can use swords and lances.
* CombatMedic: Falcon Knights in the Jugdral games, ''Awakening'', and ''Fates'' can use healing staves.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Avoid, a skill that boosts avoid by 30 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DamageReduction: Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts Resistance by 20 if the user initiates combat.
* DifficultButAwesome: Pegasus Knights are among the (physically] squishiest classes in the series, which gives them relatively poor matchups against most other physical units (''especially'' archers), but any seasoned veteran will tell you that they are worth the effort of training, as flying mobility is more often than not the best type of mobility and their high speed rates make up for their occasionally lacking strength and durability, not to mention the rescue and pair-up shenanigans that one can perform with them.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Pegasi become dragons in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', in contrast to the two classes being foils to each other later on. It's {{Hand Wave}}d in some supports of ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', where Minerva releases her old pegasus for a more powerful wyvern mount. In addition, the DS remakes have the Elysian Whip, which allows Pegasus Knights to Class Change into Falcon Knights.
** Pegasus Knight {{Mook}}s were male in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. The stat interface also suggests that they're male in the GBA installments as well, as their "Rescue" stat (which is pretty much irrelevant to enemy units since they never use the rescue command unless you use the enemy control glitch to take control of them) is 25 minus their Constitution (same as your male mounted units; your female ones are only 20 minus their Con).
** Pegasus Knights could use both swords and lances at base in the earlier games, a trait that was given to Falcon Knights in the GBA games, Tellius games, the DS remake, and ''Three Houses''.
* EnergyAbsorption: Dark Fliers in ''Three Houses'' have the skill Transmute, which grants them boosts to all stats when hit by magic attacks during the enemy's phase. The stat buffs last until the end of the user's next phase.
* ExtraTurn: The Galeforce skill exclusive to Dark Fliers allows the user to take another action upon initiating an attack that defeats an enemy unit. ''Fates'' nerfed the skill so that it only activates when the user isn't supported by Attack and Guard Stances.
* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: As a result of being female-exclusive classes and the series lacking in high-ranking female villains[[note]]and even if they do, they are rarely going to be of this class[[/note]], Pegasus Knight factions are usually depicted more sympathetically and protagonist-friendly. The few times they are assigned to antagonize the players, it is usually fringe rebels revolting against their own respective kingdoms (Silesse and Ilia) or the players are intended to conquer them (Hoshido in ''Conquest''). ''Three Houses'', ironically, makes the Pegasus Knights the go-to enemy flier used by the Adrestian Empire, as Wyvern Riders are largely associated with the foreign Almyra.
* FragileFlyer: Their high Speed typically allows them to get in at least two hits. However, they're vulnerable to arrows and wind-related magic.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* HitAndRunTactics: Pegasus Knights in the Jugdral and Tellius games can move again after attacking, moving them to a safe distance to compensate for their low durability. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* HunterOfTheirOwnKind: Kinshi Knights are specialized in attacking other flying units, because they can wield bows and have the skill ''Air Superiority'', which gives them a hit/avoid boost against flying units.
* InconsistentSpelling: "Falcon Knight" has been variously rendered as "Falcoknight", "Falconknight", and "Falcon Knight" in the English games.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: In many games, there are shield items which, when held by a flyer, negates their weakness to bows. In ''Awakening'', Iote's Shield is a skill instead, acquired through clearing the Smash Brethren 3 [[DownloadableContent DLC]]. ''Fates'' has the same skill under the name Wing Shield, which is exclusive to Hinoka as an enemy in the ''Conquest'' route.
* JoustingLance: The starting and main weapon for Pegasus Knights are lances. Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' gain Lancefaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding lances.
* MageKiller: They're frequently lauded as such, given their high Resistance and access to physical weapons. Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts their Resistance by 20 when they initiate an attack.
* MagicKnight: Dark Fliers use offensive magic and lances.
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Falcoknight with an Elysian Whip, she is unable to reclass into Dracoknight.
* NobleBirdOfPrey: Kinshi Knights ditch the pegasus for a gigantic mythical bird known as a Kinshi.
* NonindicativeName: Like Dark Knight, Dark Fliers cannot use dark magic, despite their name, with the exception of Aversa, who has an exclusive skill named Shadowgift. This is remedied in ''Three Houses'', as dark magic is not locked in class, but they don't have Dark Tomefaire as one of their innate skills.
* TheParalyzer: Falcon Knights and Seraph Knights in the Tellius games have the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn (if they survive).
* {{Pegasus}}: They come in two different species as well. The one commonly seen in the series are known as Pegasus, but incorporate an aspect of the unicorn: the myth that unicorns would only accept pure-hearted maidens as their riders, though [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness this isn't the case]] in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. A support in ''Fates'' claims that the Pegasi in the game are actually [[Myth/ChineseMythology Tenma]], which are similar in appearance but do not care about gender (despite ''[=FE3=]'' depicting male Pegasus Knights). Though this is made confusing, as past games in Japan have used ''Tenma'' to refer to regular Pegasi. The English version of the same conversation changes this, saying that the Pegasi of ''Fates'' are a different breed.
* {{Retcon}}: Male Pegasus Knights may have been retconned as impossible based on a Support in ''Fates''. In the original ''Mystery of the Emblem'', enemy Pegasus Knights were explicitly male and Karin's explanation in ''Thracia 776'' left elbow room for potential exceptions.
* RuleOfThree: Traditionally, there are three available pegasus-riding units, often related to each other either through family or through job, who can execute a "Triangle Attack" when together. The Jugdral games are the only exceptions; the player never gets more than two Pegasus Knights in the same game, and in ''Genealogy'', the two are in different generations. ''Genealogy'' actually has a trio of ''enemy'' Falcon Knights who can Triangle Attack! The attack was absent in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', but was brought back in ''Shadows of Valentia'', albeit as a combat art. Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'' can get the Triangle Attack Combat Art when mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Rally Speed, which gives a boost to allies' Speed when commanded.
* WhiteStallion: Their pegasi almost always have marble white coat, with the obvious exception of the Dark Fliers.
* WingedUnicorn: Normally, their mounts look like this after class changing to Falcon Knight, though it's entirely possible that the horn is just part of the pegasus' head armor. In ''Three Hopes'' it is made clear that at least their version of promoted pegasi have a real horn growing from their forehead, as promoted pegasi without their battle armor can be seen in the stables of the army base camp.
* AlwaysFemale: Playable Pegasus Knights are always female, though as mentioned in EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, enemy ones were male in ''Mystery''. ''Fates'' averts this, although the explanation is different depending on the version of the game: the Japanese version calls them Tenma (the Japanese word for Pegasus, confusingly used for regular Pegasi in the past), while the English version simply says that they are a different breed from the traditional depiction. However, it's still played with, as the men who have this class, Subaki and Shigure, are known to be very pretty. Pegasus Knights go back to being female-only in ''Three Houses''. Notably pegasi are known to accept a man as an additional passenger to a female rider (as seen when Sumia rescues Chrom in ''Awakening''), and may carry a man they trust (by picking him up with their mouth as seen in the ''Three Hopes'' support conversation between Ignatz and Marianne), they just draw the line at the man riding on their back and directing them.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Falcon Knights in most games can use swords and lances.
* CombatMedic: Falcon Knights in the Jugdral games, ''Awakening'', and ''Fates'' can use healing staves.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Avoid, a skill that boosts avoid by 30 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DamageReduction: Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts Resistance by 20 if the user initiates combat.
* DifficultButAwesome: Pegasus Knights are among the (physically] squishiest classes in the series, which gives them relatively poor matchups against most other physical units (''especially'' archers), but any seasoned veteran will tell you that they are worth the effort of training, as flying mobility is more often than not the best type of mobility and their high speed rates make up for their occasionally lacking strength and durability, not to mention the rescue and pair-up shenanigans that one can perform with them.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Pegasi become dragons in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', in contrast to the two classes being foils to each other later on. It's {{Hand Wave}}d in some supports of ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', where Minerva releases her old pegasus for a more powerful wyvern mount. In addition, the DS remakes have the Elysian Whip, which allows Pegasus Knights to Class Change into Falcon Knights.
** Pegasus Knight {{Mook}}s were male in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. The stat interface also suggests that they're male in the GBA installments as well, as their "Rescue" stat (which is pretty much irrelevant to enemy units since they never use the rescue command unless you use the enemy control glitch to take control of them) is 25 minus their Constitution (same as your male mounted units; your female ones are only 20 minus their Con).
** Pegasus Knights could use both swords and lances at base in the earlier games, a trait that was given to Falcon Knights in the GBA games, Tellius games, the DS remake, and ''Three Houses''.
* EnergyAbsorption: Dark Fliers in ''Three Houses'' have the skill Transmute, which grants them boosts to all stats when hit by magic attacks during the enemy's phase. The stat buffs last until the end of the user's next phase.
* ExtraTurn: The Galeforce skill exclusive to Dark Fliers allows the user to take another action upon initiating an attack that defeats an enemy unit. ''Fates'' nerfed the skill so that it only activates when the user isn't supported by Attack and Guard Stances.
* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: As a result of being female-exclusive classes and the series lacking in high-ranking female villains[[note]]and even if they do, they are rarely going to be of this class[[/note]], Pegasus Knight factions are usually depicted more sympathetically and protagonist-friendly. The few times they are assigned to antagonize the players, it is usually fringe rebels revolting against their own respective kingdoms (Silesse and Ilia) or the players are intended to conquer them (Hoshido in ''Conquest''). ''Three Houses'', ironically, makes the Pegasus Knights the go-to enemy flier used by the Adrestian Empire, as Wyvern Riders are largely associated with the foreign Almyra.
* FragileFlyer: Their high Speed typically allows them to get in at least two hits. However, they're vulnerable to arrows and wind-related magic.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* HitAndRunTactics: Pegasus Knights in the Jugdral and Tellius games can move again after attacking, moving them to a safe distance to compensate for their low durability. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* HunterOfTheirOwnKind: Kinshi Knights are specialized in attacking other flying units, because they can wield bows and have the skill ''Air Superiority'', which gives them a hit/avoid boost against flying units.
* InconsistentSpelling: "Falcon Knight" has been variously rendered as "Falcoknight", "Falconknight", and "Falcon Knight" in the English games.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: In many games, there are shield items which, when held by a flyer, negates their weakness to bows. In ''Awakening'', Iote's Shield is a skill instead, acquired through clearing the Smash Brethren 3 [[DownloadableContent DLC]]. ''Fates'' has the same skill under the name Wing Shield, which is exclusive to Hinoka as an enemy in the ''Conquest'' route.
* JoustingLance: The starting and main weapon for Pegasus Knights are lances. Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' gain Lancefaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding lances.
* MageKiller: They're frequently lauded as such, given their high Resistance and access to physical weapons. Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts their Resistance by 20 when they initiate an attack.
* MagicKnight: Dark Fliers use offensive magic and lances.
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Falcoknight with an Elysian Whip, she is unable to reclass into Dracoknight.
* NobleBirdOfPrey: Kinshi Knights ditch the pegasus for a gigantic mythical bird known as a Kinshi.
* NonindicativeName: Like Dark Knight, Dark Fliers cannot use dark magic, despite their name, with the exception of Aversa, who has an exclusive skill named Shadowgift. This is remedied in ''Three Houses'', as dark magic is not locked in class, but they don't have Dark Tomefaire as one of their innate skills.
* TheParalyzer: Falcon Knights and Seraph Knights in the Tellius games have the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn (if they survive).
* {{Pegasus}}: They come in two different species as well. The one commonly seen in the series are known as Pegasus, but incorporate an aspect of the unicorn: the myth that unicorns would only accept pure-hearted maidens as their riders, though [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness this isn't the case]] in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. A support in ''Fates'' claims that the Pegasi in the game are actually [[Myth/ChineseMythology Tenma]], which are similar in appearance but do not care about gender (despite ''[=FE3=]'' depicting male Pegasus Knights). Though this is made confusing, as past games in Japan have used ''Tenma'' to refer to regular Pegasi. The English version of the same conversation changes this, saying that the Pegasi of ''Fates'' are a different breed.
* {{Retcon}}: Male Pegasus Knights may have been retconned as impossible based on a Support in ''Fates''. In the original ''Mystery of the Emblem'', enemy Pegasus Knights were explicitly male and Karin's explanation in ''Thracia 776'' left elbow room for potential exceptions.
* RuleOfThree: Traditionally, there are three available pegasus-riding units, often related to each other either through family or through job, who can execute a "Triangle Attack" when together. The Jugdral games are the only exceptions; the player never gets more than two Pegasus Knights in the same game, and in ''Genealogy'', the two are in different generations. ''Genealogy'' actually has a trio of ''enemy'' Falcon Knights who can Triangle Attack! The attack was absent in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', but was brought back in ''Shadows of Valentia'', albeit as a combat art. Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'' can get the Triangle Attack Combat Art when mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Rally Speed, which gives a boost to allies' Speed when commanded.
* WhiteStallion: Their pegasi almost always have marble white coat, with the obvious exception of the Dark Fliers.
* WingedUnicorn: Normally, their mounts look like this after class changing to Falcon Knight, though it's entirely possible that the horn is just part of the pegasus' head armor. In ''Three Hopes'' it is made clear that at least their version of promoted pegasi have a real horn growing from their forehead, as promoted pegasi without their battle armor can be seen in the stables of the army base camp.
to:
* AchillesHeel: Pegasus Knights [[AntiAir suffer additional damage from bows and (sometimes) wind magic]] due to their status as flying units. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', they They are vulnerable to anti-dragon weapons like Wyrmslayer. Myrrh in ''Sacred Stones'' is also weak to anti-beast weapons.
* AlwaysFemale: Playable Pegasus Knights are always female, thoughbows as mentioned in EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, enemy ones were male in ''Mystery''. ''Fates'' averts this, although the explanation she is different depending on the version of the game: the Japanese version calls them Tenma (the Japanese word for Pegasus, confusingly used for regular Pegasi in the past), while the English version simply says that they are also a different breed from the traditional depiction. However, it's still played with, as the men who have this class, Subaki and Shigure, are known to be very pretty. Pegasus Knights go back to being female-only in ''Three Houses''. Notably pegasi are known to accept a man as an additional passenger to a female rider (as seen when Sumia rescues Chrom in ''Awakening''), and may carry a man they trust (by picking him up with their mouth as seen in the ''Three Hopes'' support conversation between Ignatz and Marianne), they just draw the line at the man riding on their back and directing them.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Falcon Knights in most games can use swords and lances.
* CombatMedic: Falcon Knights in the Jugdral games, ''Awakening'', and ''Fates'' can use healing staves.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Avoid, a skill that boosts avoid by 30 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DamageReduction: Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts Resistance by 20 if the user initiates combat.
* DifficultButAwesome: Pegasus Knights are among the (physically] squishiest classes in the series, which gives them relatively poor matchups against most other physical units (''especially'' archers), but any seasoned veteran will tell you that they are worth the effort of training, asflying mobility is more often than not unit. In the best type of mobility and their high speed rates make up for their occasionally lacking strength and durability, not to mention the rescue and pair-up shenanigans that one can perform with them.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Pegasi become dragons in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', in contrast to the two classes being foils to each other later on. It's {{Hand Wave}}d in some supports of ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', where Minerva releases her old pegasus for a more powerful wyvern mount. In addition, the DS remakes have the Elysian Whip, which allows Pegasus Knights to Class Change into Falcon Knights.
** Pegasus Knight {{Mook}}s were male in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. The stat interface also suggests that they're male in the GBA installments as well, as their "Rescue" stat (which is pretty much irrelevant to enemy units since they never use the rescue command unless you use the enemy control glitch to take control of them) is 25 minus their Constitution (same as your male mounted units; your female ones are only 20 minus their Con).
** Pegasus Knights could use both swords and lances at base in the earlier games, a trait that was given to Falcon Knights in the GBA games,Tellius games, the DS remake, and ''Three Houses''.
* EnergyAbsorption: Dark Fliers in ''Three Houses'' have the skill Transmute, which grants them boosts to all stats when hit by magic attacks during the enemy's phase. The stat buffs last until the end of the user's next phase.
* ExtraTurn: The Galeforce skill exclusive to Dark Fliers allows the user to take another action upon initiating an attack that defeats an enemy unit. ''Fates'' nerfed the skill so that it only activates when the user isn't supported by Attack and Guard Stances.
* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: As a result of being female-exclusive classes and the series lacking in high-ranking female villains[[note]]and even if they do, theyDragon Laguz are rarely going to be of this class[[/note]], Pegasus Knight factions are usually depicted more sympathetically and protagonist-friendly. The few times they are assigned to antagonize the players, it is usually fringe rebels revolting against their own respective kingdoms (Silesse and Ilia) or the players are intended to conquer them (Hoshido in ''Conquest''). ''Three Houses'', ironically, makes the Pegasus Knights the go-to enemy flier used by the Adrestian Empire, as Wyvern Riders are largely associated with the foreign Almyra.
* FragileFlyer: Their high Speed typically allows them to get in at least two hits. However, they'revulnerable to arrows anti-Laguz weapons and wind-related magic.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* HitAndRunTactics: Pegasus Knights in the Jugdral and Tellius games can move again after attacking, moving them to a safe distance to compensate for their low durability. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* HunterOfTheirOwnKind: Kinshi Knights are specialized in attacking other flying units, because they can wield bows and have the skill ''Air Superiority'', which gives them a hit/avoid boost against flying units.
* InconsistentSpelling: "Falcon Knight" has been variously rendered as "Falcoknight", "Falconknight", and "Falcon Knight" in the English games.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: In many games, there are shield items which, when held by a flyer, negates their weakness to bows.thunder magic. In ''Awakening'', Iote's Shield is a skill instead, acquired through clearing the Smash Brethren 3 [[DownloadableContent DLC]]. ''Fates'' has the same skill under the name Wing Shield, which is exclusive to Hinoka as an enemy in the ''Conquest'' route.
* JoustingLance: The startingand main weapon for Pegasus Knights are lances. Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' gain Lancefaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding lances.
* MageKiller: They're frequently lauded as such, given their high Resistance and access to physical weapons. Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts their Resistance by 20 when''Engage'', even if they initiate an attack.
* MagicKnight: Dark Fliers use offensive magic and lances.
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Falcoknight with an Elysian Whip, she is unable toreclass into Dracoknight.
* NobleBirdOfPrey: Kinshi Knights ditch the pegasus for a gigantic mythical bird known as a Kinshi.
* NonindicativeName: Like Dark Knight, Dark Fliers cannot use dark magic, despite their name, with the exceptionoutside of Aversa, who has an exclusive skill named Shadowgift. This is remedied in ''Three Houses'', as dark magic is not locked in class, but Manakete, they don't have Dark Tomefaire as one are still dragons because of their innate heritage and are still vulnerable to anti-dragon weapons and skills.
*TheParalyzer: Falcon Knights and Seraph Knights in the Tellius games have the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn (if they survive).
* {{Pegasus}}: They come in two different species as well. The one commonly seen in the series are known as Pegasus, but incorporate an aspect of the unicorn: the myth that unicorns would only accept pure-hearted maidens as their riders, though [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness this isn't the case]] in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. A support in ''Fates'' claims that the Pegasi in the game are actually [[Myth/ChineseMythology Tenma]], which are similar in appearance but do not care about gender (despite ''[=FE3=]'' depicting male Pegasus Knights). Though this is made confusing, as past games in Japan have used ''Tenma'' to refer to regular Pegasi. The English version of the same conversation changes this, saying that the Pegasi of ''Fates'' are a different breed.
* {{Retcon}}: Male Pegasus Knights may have been retconned as impossible based on a Support in ''Fates''.ArmorPiercingAttack: In the original ''Mystery of the Emblem'', enemy Pegasus Knights were explicitly dragon's breaths completely ignores defense so any fragile units need to watch out for them as their attack will directly target their already low HP.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Most dragons did this in ''Fates'' by becoming spirits. The ones that didn't either went insane or have been able to escape such a fate.
* BreathWeapon: Dragons tend to attack with their breath. Averted with ''Fates'' where they physically maul their enemies.
* CastingAShadow:
** The [[NonIndicativeName Earth Dragons]] uses Dark Breath along with their earth-based abilities.
** The Silent Dragons of ''Fates'' utilizes dark powers combined with MakingASplash when fully corrupted.
** The Fell Dragons of ''Engage'' use shadowy breath attacks.
* CuteMonsterGirl: Only five recruitable Manaketes are not children[[note]]Bantu, Nagi, adult Tiki, Corrin, and [[spoiler:Rafal]][[/note]]. This is excluding the Dragon Laguz, who, while they can transform into dragons, aren't called manaketes. Of the four playable ones, 3 are male andKarin's explanation in ''Thracia 776'' left elbow room for potential exceptions.
the youngest male looks at least 14.
*RuleOfThree: Traditionally, there are three available pegasus-riding units, often related to each ChuckCunninghamSyndrome:
** The othereither through family or through job, who can execute a "Triangle Attack" when together. The Jugdral games Manakete Tribes are the only exceptions; the player never gets more than two Pegasus Knights in the same game, and in ''Genealogy'', the two are in different generations. ''Genealogy'' actually has a trio of ''enemy'' Falcon Knights who can Triangle Attack! The attack was absent nowhere to be found in ''Awakening'' despite major roles in the Archanea series.
** ''Fates'' contains an odd example in the form of the term "Manakete" - the avatar, and any child they have will fall under this archetype, but they are never referred to as such. In fact, the term only appears once in the entire game, in an extremely well hidden support conversation, and the context given by said support implies that the word may have an entirely different meaning in the world of ''Fates''.
* DarkIsEvil: None of the Earth Dragons has remained friendly since they either allow themselves to degenerate like most dragons or are indulged in dark powers as a sign of rebellion against humankind. Kaga's plans would've averted this, though.
* DarkIsNotEvil: The Fell Dragons in ''Engage'' are very much not evil. Well, [[BigBad one]] is, but others are either BrainwashedAndCrazy, or just straight-up allies.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Tellius games introduced three types of Dragons the player could use in the game, each one being slightly different from the other in terms of damage and stats. Notably the White Dragons deal damage using Magic instead of Strength.
* DyingRace: Almost all of them are on their last legs, their glory days clearly over. Averted with the Dragon Laguz, whose kingdom is [[HiddenElfVillage isolated]], but still [[AwakenTheSleepingGiant rather powerful]].
* EleventhHourSuperpower: While they usually become available earlier than this, games in which there are only a finite number of uses to the dragonstone tend to lend themselves to using them on the final couple of levels, which are usually filled with enemies that the dragonstone does massive damage to (dragons in the Archanea games and ''Binding Blade'' and monsters in ''Sacred Stones''.)
* TheFourGods: The Four Dragon symbols for Dragon Veins in ''Fates'' are based on them. The Fire Dragon is birdlike, similar to the Vermilion Bird, the Water Dragon has a snake for a tail like the one that accompanies the Black Tortoise, the Ground Dragon has fur and is vaguely feline in shape like the White Tiger, and the Wind Dragon has a lean appearance much like the Azure Dragon.
* GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: Divine Dragons have this color scheme.
* HalfHumanHybrid: A number of them have appeared in the series, including Nils, Ninian, Nah, the Avatar of ''Fates'',but was brought back in ''Shadows of Valentia'', albeit as a combat art. Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'' can get etc. Tiki mentions that Nah is the Triangle Attack Combat Art when mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Falcon Knightsonly one of her kind seen in ''Awakening'' and Ylisse, while ''all'' Manaketes with dragonstones in ''Fates'' gain Rally Speed, which gives a boost are shown to allies' Speed when commanded.
be hybrids.
*WhiteStallion: Their pegasi almost always have marble white coat, with the obvious exception of the Dark Fliers.
* WingedUnicorn:HiddenElfVillage: Normally, their mounts civilizations are hidden from mankind -- if they still exist, that is.
* AnIcePerson: Ice Dragons/Icestone-wielding Manaketes use ice-based attacks.
* LightEmUp: The Divine Dragons, the strongest of the dragon tribes.
* LightningBruiser: In and of themselves, Manaketes tend to have rather poor stats, but with a dragonstone, they shoot through the roof and turn them into this, almost to the point of game-breaking.
* LightIsGood: Every Divine Dragon that shows up in the series has been friendly.
* LongLived: To the point that a Manakete can be a child by their species' years but really over 1000 years old. In the case of truly old Manaketes like Bantu, they're suggest to be ''thousands'' of years old. It also turns out that half-blood Manaketes inherit this long life-span as well, in the case of Ninian, Nils, Sophia, Corrin, Kana, Nah and (optionally) Morgan.
* MagicAndPowers: Mage Dragons and the Magestone.
* MakingASplash: The Silent Dragons have this as their main power.
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Enemy Manaketes (other than in ''Heroes'') and Manakete villains are always male. [[FemalesAreMoreInnocent No Manakete female has been a true villain]], although the closest the series has come to it is [[EmptyShell Idunn]] from ''Binding Blade''.
* MightyGlacier: To contrast the Taguel in ''Awakening'', Manaketes hit harder and take hits better, but are slower.
* NoSell: Mage Dragons is known to either have high resistance or completely resist magic.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Most characters may look likethis after class changing kids to Falcon Knight, young adults but [[Really700YearsOld they're actually more than 1,000 years old.]]
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: They're dragons capable of taking on human form. In battle, they can transform back to dragons with the use of their dragonstones.
* PlayingWithFire: Fire Dragons, or when wielding a Firestone.
* PointyEars: One of the manaketes' most defining physical characteristics, though a few are depicted without them, more notably the ones from ''Engage'', excluding Sombron.
* SupportPartyMember: The dragons in ''Radiant Dawn'' have skills that can increase certain stats of adjacent allies during combat, making them useful against the endgame bosses in that game. Blood Tide raises Strength and Skill, Night Tide raises Defense and Resistance, while White Pool raises Magic and Speed.
* TooAwesomeToUse: Often, there's only one dragonstone with finite uses available in the course of the game. While it'sentirely possible often enough to level a Manakete to level 20, you're not going to get all that much use out of them once you start, so it's quite common to hesitate to use Manaketes.
** Averted in ''Awakening'', where you can buy Dragonstones (although they are not cheap).
** Averted in ''Shadow Dragon and thehorn is just part Blade of the pegasus' head armor. In ''Three Hopes'' it is made clear that Light'', ''Fates'' and ''Engage'', where Dragonstones have infinite durability.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Divine Dragons who are always friendly are either non-reptilian or at leasttheir version of promoted pegasi less so than the other Dragon Tribes.
* WereDragon: They alternate between humanoid and dragon forms.
* WingedHumanoid: Divine Dragons tend to havea real horn growing from their forehead, as promoted pegasi without their battle armor can be seen in feathery wings similar to Angels, while the stables of the army base camp.other Dragon tribes have dragon wings in Manakete form.
* AlwaysFemale: Playable Pegasus Knights are always female, though
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Falcon Knights in most games can use swords and lances.
* CombatMedic: Falcon Knights in the Jugdral games, ''Awakening'', and ''Fates'' can use healing staves.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Avoid, a skill that boosts avoid by 30 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DamageReduction: Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts Resistance by 20 if the user initiates combat.
* DifficultButAwesome: Pegasus Knights are among the (physically] squishiest classes in the series, which gives them relatively poor matchups against most other physical units (''especially'' archers), but any seasoned veteran will tell you that they are worth the effort of training, as
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Pegasi become dragons in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', in contrast to the two classes being foils to each other later on. It's {{Hand Wave}}d in some supports of ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', where Minerva releases her old pegasus for a more powerful wyvern mount. In addition, the DS remakes have the Elysian Whip, which allows Pegasus Knights to Class Change into Falcon Knights.
** Pegasus Knight {{Mook}}s were male in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. The stat interface also suggests that they're male in the GBA installments as well, as their "Rescue" stat (which is pretty much irrelevant to enemy units since they never use the rescue command unless you use the enemy control glitch to take control of them) is 25 minus their Constitution (same as your male mounted units; your female ones are only 20 minus their Con).
** Pegasus Knights could use both swords and lances at base in the earlier games, a trait that was given to Falcon Knights in the GBA games,
* EnergyAbsorption: Dark Fliers in ''Three Houses'' have the skill Transmute, which grants them boosts to all stats when hit by magic attacks during the enemy's phase. The stat buffs last until the end of the user's next phase.
* ExtraTurn: The Galeforce skill exclusive to Dark Fliers allows the user to take another action upon initiating an attack that defeats an enemy unit. ''Fates'' nerfed the skill so that it only activates when the user isn't supported by Attack and Guard Stances.
* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: As a result of being female-exclusive classes and the series lacking in high-ranking female villains[[note]]and even if they do, they
* FragileFlyer: Their high Speed typically allows them to get in at least two hits. However, they're
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* HitAndRunTactics: Pegasus Knights in the Jugdral and Tellius games can move again after attacking, moving them to a safe distance to compensate for their low durability. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* HunterOfTheirOwnKind: Kinshi Knights are specialized in attacking other flying units, because they can wield bows and have the skill ''Air Superiority'', which gives them a hit/avoid boost against flying units.
* InconsistentSpelling: "Falcon Knight" has been variously rendered as "Falcoknight", "Falconknight", and "Falcon Knight" in the English games.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: In many games, there are shield items which, when held by a flyer, negates their weakness to bows.
* JoustingLance: The starting
* MageKiller: They're frequently lauded as such, given their high Resistance and access to physical weapons. Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts their Resistance by 20 when
* MagicKnight: Dark Fliers use offensive magic and lances.
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Falcoknight with an Elysian Whip, she is unable to
* NobleBirdOfPrey: Kinshi Knights ditch the pegasus for a gigantic mythical bird known as a Kinshi.
* NonindicativeName: Like Dark Knight, Dark Fliers cannot use dark magic, despite their name, with the exception
*
* {{Pegasus}}: They come in two different species as well. The one commonly seen in the series are known as Pegasus, but incorporate an aspect of the unicorn: the myth that unicorns would only accept pure-hearted maidens as their riders, though [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness this isn't the case]] in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. A support in ''Fates'' claims that the Pegasi in the game are actually [[Myth/ChineseMythology Tenma]], which are similar in appearance but do not care about gender (despite ''[=FE3=]'' depicting male Pegasus Knights). Though this is made confusing, as past games in Japan have used ''Tenma'' to refer to regular Pegasi. The English version of the same conversation changes this, saying that the Pegasi of ''Fates'' are a different breed.
* {{Retcon}}: Male Pegasus Knights may have been retconned as impossible based on a Support in ''Fates''.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Most dragons did this in ''Fates'' by becoming spirits. The ones that didn't either went insane or have been able to escape such a fate.
* BreathWeapon: Dragons tend to attack with their breath. Averted with ''Fates'' where they physically maul their enemies.
* CastingAShadow:
** The [[NonIndicativeName Earth Dragons]] uses Dark Breath along with their earth-based abilities.
** The Silent Dragons of ''Fates'' utilizes dark powers combined with MakingASplash when fully corrupted.
** The Fell Dragons of ''Engage'' use shadowy breath attacks.
* CuteMonsterGirl: Only five recruitable Manaketes are not children[[note]]Bantu, Nagi, adult Tiki, Corrin, and [[spoiler:Rafal]][[/note]]. This is excluding the Dragon Laguz, who, while they can transform into dragons, aren't called manaketes. Of the four playable ones, 3 are male and
*
** The other
** ''Fates'' contains an odd example in the form of the term "Manakete" - the avatar, and any child they have will fall under this archetype, but they are never referred to as such. In fact, the term only appears once in the entire game, in an extremely well hidden support conversation, and the context given by said support implies that the word may have an entirely different meaning in the world of ''Fates''.
* DarkIsEvil: None of the Earth Dragons has remained friendly since they either allow themselves to degenerate like most dragons or are indulged in dark powers as a sign of rebellion against humankind. Kaga's plans would've averted this, though.
* DarkIsNotEvil: The Fell Dragons in ''Engage'' are very much not evil. Well, [[BigBad one]] is, but others are either BrainwashedAndCrazy, or just straight-up allies.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Tellius games introduced three types of Dragons the player could use in the game, each one being slightly different from the other in terms of damage and stats. Notably the White Dragons deal damage using Magic instead of Strength.
* DyingRace: Almost all of them are on their last legs, their glory days clearly over. Averted with the Dragon Laguz, whose kingdom is [[HiddenElfVillage isolated]], but still [[AwakenTheSleepingGiant rather powerful]].
* EleventhHourSuperpower: While they usually become available earlier than this, games in which there are only a finite number of uses to the dragonstone tend to lend themselves to using them on the final couple of levels, which are usually filled with enemies that the dragonstone does massive damage to (dragons in the Archanea games and ''Binding Blade'' and monsters in ''Sacred Stones''.)
* TheFourGods: The Four Dragon symbols for Dragon Veins in ''Fates'' are based on them. The Fire Dragon is birdlike, similar to the Vermilion Bird, the Water Dragon has a snake for a tail like the one that accompanies the Black Tortoise, the Ground Dragon has fur and is vaguely feline in shape like the White Tiger, and the Wind Dragon has a lean appearance much like the Azure Dragon.
* GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: Divine Dragons have this color scheme.
* HalfHumanHybrid: A number of them have appeared in the series, including Nils, Ninian, Nah, the Avatar of ''Fates'',
* StatusBuff: Falcon Knights
*
* WingedUnicorn:
* AnIcePerson: Ice Dragons/Icestone-wielding Manaketes use ice-based attacks.
* LightEmUp: The Divine Dragons, the strongest of the dragon tribes.
* LightningBruiser: In and of themselves, Manaketes tend to have rather poor stats, but with a dragonstone, they shoot through the roof and turn them into this, almost to the point of game-breaking.
* LightIsGood: Every Divine Dragon that shows up in the series has been friendly.
* LongLived: To the point that a Manakete can be a child by their species' years but really over 1000 years old. In the case of truly old Manaketes like Bantu, they're suggest to be ''thousands'' of years old. It also turns out that half-blood Manaketes inherit this long life-span as well, in the case of Ninian, Nils, Sophia, Corrin, Kana, Nah and (optionally) Morgan.
* MagicAndPowers: Mage Dragons and the Magestone.
* MakingASplash: The Silent Dragons have this as their main power.
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Enemy Manaketes (other than in ''Heroes'') and Manakete villains are always male. [[FemalesAreMoreInnocent No Manakete female has been a true villain]], although the closest the series has come to it is [[EmptyShell Idunn]] from ''Binding Blade''.
* MightyGlacier: To contrast the Taguel in ''Awakening'', Manaketes hit harder and take hits better, but are slower.
* NoSell: Mage Dragons is known to either have high resistance or completely resist magic.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Most characters may look like
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: They're dragons capable of taking on human form. In battle, they can transform back to dragons with the use of their dragonstones.
* PlayingWithFire: Fire Dragons, or when wielding a Firestone.
* PointyEars: One of the manaketes' most defining physical characteristics, though a few are depicted without them, more notably the ones from ''Engage'', excluding Sombron.
* SupportPartyMember: The dragons in ''Radiant Dawn'' have skills that can increase certain stats of adjacent allies during combat, making them useful against the endgame bosses in that game. Blood Tide raises Strength and Skill, Night Tide raises Defense and Resistance, while White Pool raises Magic and Speed.
* TooAwesomeToUse: Often, there's only one dragonstone with finite uses available in the course of the game. While it's
** Averted in ''Awakening'', where you can buy Dragonstones (although they are not cheap).
** Averted in ''Shadow Dragon and the
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Divine Dragons who are always friendly are either non-reptilian or at least
* WereDragon: They alternate between humanoid and dragon forms.
* WingedHumanoid: Divine Dragons tend to have
Changed line(s) 684,701 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Wyvern Rider/Dracoknight (''Dragon Knight'')]]
!!Wyvern Rider/Dracoknight (''Dragon Knight'')
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/856g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Wyvern Rider in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/933g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Wyvern Lords in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/revenant_knight.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Malig Knights in ''Fates'']]
Wyvern Riders (sometimes known instead as Dracoknight) are the second of the two recurring flying mounted classes, this time riding into battle on the backs of dragons. Originating as the Class Change for Pegasus Knights in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', Wyvern Riders were later were spun off into their own entirely separate class family, starting in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''. Compared to their pegasus counterparts, they tend toward hardier, bulkier compositions at the expense of Speed and Resistance, with a weakness to anti-dragon weaponry on top of the standard flier weakness to bows. The Wyvern Rider's weapon selection has varied over the course of the series, having used all three main weapon types at different points, though from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' onward, they primarily use axes.\\\
Wyvern Riders generally Class Change into the '''Wyvern Lord''' ('''Dragon Master''' in Japanese), which usually gives them access to a secondary melee weapon. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', they can alternatively Class Change into the '''Wyvern Knight''', which only wields lances, but compensates for the lack of weapon diversity with [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer raw offensive stats]] and [[ArmorPiercingAttack a unique skill]]. In ''Radiant Dawn'', they can Class Change again into the third-tier '''Dragonlord''' class ('''Lindwurm''' in Japanese). The Jugdral games feature the weaker '''Dragon Rider''' class, which was made the first tier to the (now second-tier) Dragon Knight in ''Thracia 776''. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', they gain the alternate Class Change of '''Griffon Rider''', a [[JackOfAllStats generally well-balanced class]]. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they gain the alternate Class Change of '''Malig Knight''', a MagicKnight class that uses axes and tomes.\\\
Related is the '''King Daein''' class, exclusive to Ashnard in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'', the class family '''Wyvern Master''' and '''Barbarossa''', exclusive to Claude in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'', which primarily wields bows, and the class family '''Wing Tamer''' and '''Lindwurm''', exclusive to Ivy, which wields tomes and staves, and '''Melusine''', exclusive to Zephia/Zelestia, which wields swords and tomes, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''.\\\
Not to be confused with the "normal" dragons which figure heavily into the plots of most games, though in Archanea, ''these'' dragons are degenerate wild relatives of ''those'' dragons called Wyverns.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Minerva (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade Of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Altena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Dean and Eda (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Miledy and Zeiss (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Heath and Vaida (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Cormag (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Jill and Haar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Michalis (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Cherche and Gerome (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Camilla, Beruka, Scarlet and Percy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Cyril, Seteth (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Ivy, Rosado, Zelestia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Wyvern Rider/Dracoknight (''Dragon Knight'')
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/856g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Wyvern Rider in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/933g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Wyvern Lords in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/revenant_knight.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Malig Knights in ''Fates'']]
Wyvern Riders (sometimes known instead as Dracoknight) are the second of the two recurring flying mounted classes, this time riding into battle on the backs of dragons. Originating as the Class Change for Pegasus Knights in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', Wyvern Riders were later were spun off into their own entirely separate class family, starting in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''. Compared to their pegasus counterparts, they tend toward hardier, bulkier compositions at the expense of Speed and Resistance, with a weakness to anti-dragon weaponry on top of the standard flier weakness to bows. The Wyvern Rider's weapon selection has varied over the course of the series, having used all three main weapon types at different points, though from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' onward, they primarily use axes.\\\
Wyvern Riders generally Class Change into the '''Wyvern Lord''' ('''Dragon Master''' in Japanese), which usually gives them access to a secondary melee weapon. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', they can alternatively Class Change into the '''Wyvern Knight''', which only wields lances, but compensates for the lack of weapon diversity with [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer raw offensive stats]] and [[ArmorPiercingAttack a unique skill]]. In ''Radiant Dawn'', they can Class Change again into the third-tier '''Dragonlord''' class ('''Lindwurm''' in Japanese). The Jugdral games feature the weaker '''Dragon Rider''' class, which was made the first tier to the (now second-tier) Dragon Knight in ''Thracia 776''. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', they gain the alternate Class Change of '''Griffon Rider''', a [[JackOfAllStats generally well-balanced class]]. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they gain the alternate Class Change of '''Malig Knight''', a MagicKnight class that uses axes and tomes.\\\
Related is the '''King Daein''' class, exclusive to Ashnard in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'', the class family '''Wyvern Master''' and '''Barbarossa''', exclusive to Claude in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'', which primarily wields bows, and the class family '''Wing Tamer''' and '''Lindwurm''', exclusive to Ivy, which wields tomes and staves, and '''Melusine''', exclusive to Zephia/Zelestia, which wields swords and tomes, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''.\\\
Not to be confused with the "normal" dragons which figure heavily into the plots of most games, though in Archanea, ''these'' dragons are degenerate wild relatives of ''those'' dragons called Wyverns.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Minerva (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade Of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Altena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Dean and Eda (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Miledy and Zeiss (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Heath and Vaida (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Cormag (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Jill and Haar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Michalis (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Cherche and Gerome (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Camilla, Beruka, Scarlet and Percy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Cyril, Seteth (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Ivy, Rosado, Zelestia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Wyvern Rider/Dracoknight (''Dragon Knight'')
[[quoteright:350:https://static.
!!Beasts
[[quoteright:223:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/933g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Wyvern Lords in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesgarouportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:255:Wolfskins in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_wolfssegner_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Wolfsegnar in ''Fates'']]
Changed line(s) 703,746 (click to see context) from:
* AchillesHeel:
** Just like the other flying units, Wyvern classes are [[AntiAir weak to Bows]]. The sole exception being ''Radiant Dawn''
** In many games, Wyvern classes are specifically weak to wind magic, [[AntiAir being flying units]] or any other anti-Dragon weapons. ''Radiant Dawn'' changed their weakness wind magic to thunder magic, the same weakness as Dragon Laguz.
** In some games, , Wyvern riding classes take extra Wyrmslayers and other dragon slaying weapons.
** Wyvern riding classes always have a terrible resistance stat. In most games, Wyvern classes have the worst resistance stat around, outside of GlassCannon classes.
* AntiInfantry: The Malig Knight's Trample skill deals 5 bonus damage to unmounted enemies.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Wyvern Knight's skill, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pierce]], in ''The Sacred Stones''. Its usefulness is offset by being linked to [[GameBreakingBug a nasty glitch]] which locks up the game under certain (rare) circumstances which, oddly enough, only occurs in English copies of the game.
* BreathWeapon:
** Averted; most of the time the wyverns do not breathe fire. It becomes odd when fighting against feral wyverns in ''Mystery of the Emblem'' which breathe fire, implying that they lost their ability to breathe fire to domestication.
** Played straight with Malig Knights in ''Fates''. They learn Savage Blow, which was called Deathly Breath in the Japanese version, which implies that the undead wyvern is exhaling a poisonous gas.
** In ''Three Houses'' only certain, special wyverns (namely the white variety Claude uses for his unique classes) are shown to be able to breathe fire.
* CoolHelmet: Wyvern Lords and Malig Knights wear helmets that resemble dragons, while Griffon Riders wear helmets resembling a griffon.
* CoolMask: The Wyvern Riders in ''Awakening'' wear masks that resemble a dragon's jaws on the lower halves of their faces.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Wyvern Lord in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Critical, a skill that boosts critical hit rate by 50% while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DependingOnTheArtist: There's pretty much no consistency with the appearance of the dragon mounts between games; it's pretty much justified by the different universes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The dragon-riding family slowly evolved from the pegasus family into the distinct class tree with different strengths it is today.
* {{Dracolich}}: Malig Knights ride on undead wyverns.
* DragonRider:
** You don't say. The Wyvern mount is almost never seen attacking directly, outside of ading momentum to their rider's attacks. That said many of the games with dismounting show Wyvern riding characters lose alot of strength and defense when they dismount their wyvern.
** Averted with the Griffon Rider in ''Awakening''.
* FragileSpeedster: The Wyvern Knight from ''Sacred Stones'', being accessible from both the pegasus and wyvern lines, takes after pegasi in the speed department while also having the Constitution of a wyvern to be lightning fast all-around - to compensate, however, it has less HP and also inherits the weaker defense and resistance of both, and being locked to lances means it always has to remain cautious around the hard-hitting axe users that most classes would normally shrug off by the point in the game you get your first Wyvern Knight.
* GatheringSteam: Inverted for the Wyvern Lord in ''Awakening'', as they get the skill Quick Burn, which gives them 15 hit and avoid at the start of the battle but loses effect for each turn.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* GiantFlyer: In the SNES, GBA games and ''Radiant Dawn'' in particular, they're downright enormous.
* HeelFaceTurn: Typically, the dragon mount species is associated with an/the enemy kingdom (Macedon, Thracia, Bern, Grado, Daein, Nohr) and dragon riders are a mainstay of the respective army, and so almost every allied Dragon Rider is recruited from the enemy. The only exceptions to this in the series are in the Archanea games and ''The Sacred Stones'', where your Pegasus Knights can class change into them, and ''Awakening'', where the "recruited" dragon rider is from a different nation than the "enemy" dragon riders earlier in the game. In cases like Macedon and Begnion where they have both pegasus and wyvern armies, there is a notable infighting between the two and the wyvern side would be the more hostile one. ''Three Houses'' also subverts the antagonistic role, as Wyvern Riders are rare among the Imperial ranks and "those who slither in the dark", though the one nation that specializes in wyverns is Almyra, a nation neighboring Fodlan with minimal involvement in the conflict (though it does have a history of [[BloodKnight picking fights with Fódlan for fun]]) and was the home of Cyril and [[spoiler:Claude]].
* HerdHittingAttack: Malig Knights can learn the Savage Blow skill, which applies a 20% HP reduction to all units that were within 2 spaces of their range.
* HitAndRunTactics: Like Pegasus Knights, they can move again to a safe distance in the Jugdral and Tellius games. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* InconsistentSpelling:
** There is one hell of a naming inconsistency with this class family. For ''The Blazing Blade'', the first English release, they were renamed "Wyvern Rider" and "Wyvern Lord" to distinguish them from the proper dragons that are not domesticated as mounts and figured heavily into the plot of the game; ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Path of Radiance'' stuck to this. The Japanese version of ''The Sacred Stones'' introduced the "Wyvern Knight" class, part of the Wyvern family of dragons, and looking more like traditional wyverns from ''Mystery of the Emblem''; they were still called "Wyvern Knights" in the English version and the matter of their physical difference wasn't addressed. ''Radiant Dawn''[='s=] translation discarded the "wyvern" name for the classes themselves, going with variations of "Dracoknight"; however, in dialogue, the species are still called wyverns, again to differentiate from the game's fairly important actual dragons. This remained the case for ''Shadow Dragon'', though the [[NoExportForYou Japan only]] remake of the sequel shows the dragon mounts are indeed named Wyverns. Then in ''Awakening'', it's back to Wyvern Rider and Wyvern Lord. The Switch port for ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' then renames it "Wyvern Knight".
** The Japanese version alone isn't much better. The base class is called Dragon Rider in most games, but the Jugdral games and ''Radiant Dawn'' call it Dragon Knight. The advanced class is called either Dragon Master or Dragon Lord depending on the game, which becomes really confusing when you consider the name of the third-tier advanced class from ''Radiant Dawn'': Dragonlord (Lindwurm in Japanese).
* IWorkAlone: Only in ''Awakening'', but Wyvern Riders gain the skill Tantivy, which grants the user +10 Hit and Evasion if there are no allies within 3 spaces of them.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: They can remove their weaknesses to bows by equipping specific shields if there is any. Averted, however, against anti-dragon weapons save for the Full Guard in ''Path of Radiance''.
* LightningBruiser: They are one of the strongest physical classes thanks to their high Strength, Skill, Defense, and movement range. This is particularly true in the NES/SNES Archanea duology (which lacked stat caps), as well as ''Three Houses'', where they have high Speed caps. Enemy factions would sporadically deploy them early-game to serve as BossInMookClothing, and then field even more of them in the late-game chapters. Most playable Wyvern Riders join mid-to-late game because of their powerhouse status.
* MagicKnight: Malig Knights specialize in both axes and tomes, in addition to their magic stats. It is one of the few classes that can reliably use the Bolt Axe.
* MightyGlacier: What the class is almost always in game with class specific caps. While in their earlier incarnations, they were basically stronger Pegasus Knights but without their MageKiller capabilities, starting with ''Genealogy Of the Holy War'' have settled for making them aerial tanks with high Attack and Defense but low Speed and Resistance, in order to make them more of a {{Foil}} to the [[FragileSpeedster Pegasus Knights]]. In ''Radiant Dawn'', Dragonlord's speed cap is even worse than Marshall. The only exception is in ''Three Houses'', where Wyvern Lords have the stats of a LightningBruiser
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Dracoknight with a Master Seal, she is unable to reclass into Falcoknight.
* MythologyGag: The Wyvern Knight class in ''[=FE8=]'' rides a mount identical to the [=DracoKnights=] of ''[=FE3=]'' and can be class changed from Pegasus Knights.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The appearance of the Dragon/Wyvern Mounts vary wildly across different universes. What varies most are whether they stand on two legs or four and if they have no arms like a wyvern or their arms are like a western dragon.
* OurGryphonsAreDifferent: The Griffon Riders that appear in ''Awakening''.
* TheParalyzer: Wyvern Lords and Dragonlords in the Tellius games has the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Wyvern Riders in ''Three Houses'' learn Seal Defense, a skill that reduces the enemy's defense by 6 after combat, upon mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Wyvern Lords in ''Fates'' gain Rally Defense, which gives a boost to defense to allies when commanded.
* WeakToMagic: In contrast to [[MageKiller Pegasus Knights]], Wyvern Riders tend to have a high Defense but the worst Resistance around, tied with Warriors. In some games, wyvern riders are also weak to wind or thunder magic.
* WeaponSpecialization: Traditionally, lances and axes are the family's primary weapon.
** Just like the other flying units, Wyvern classes are [[AntiAir weak to Bows]]. The sole exception being ''Radiant Dawn''
** In many games, Wyvern classes are specifically weak to wind magic, [[AntiAir being flying units]] or any other anti-Dragon weapons. ''Radiant Dawn'' changed their weakness wind magic to thunder magic, the same weakness as Dragon Laguz.
** In some games, , Wyvern riding classes take extra Wyrmslayers and other dragon slaying weapons.
** Wyvern riding classes always have a terrible resistance stat. In most games, Wyvern classes have the worst resistance stat around, outside of GlassCannon classes.
* AntiInfantry: The Malig Knight's Trample skill deals 5 bonus damage to unmounted enemies.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Wyvern Knight's skill, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pierce]], in ''The Sacred Stones''. Its usefulness is offset by being linked to [[GameBreakingBug a nasty glitch]] which locks up the game under certain (rare) circumstances which, oddly enough, only occurs in English copies of the game.
* BreathWeapon:
** Averted; most of the time the wyverns do not breathe fire. It becomes odd when fighting against feral wyverns in ''Mystery of the Emblem'' which breathe fire, implying that they lost their ability to breathe fire to domestication.
** Played straight with Malig Knights in ''Fates''. They learn Savage Blow, which was called Deathly Breath in the Japanese version, which implies that the undead wyvern is exhaling a poisonous gas.
** In ''Three Houses'' only certain, special wyverns (namely the white variety Claude uses for his unique classes) are shown to be able to breathe fire.
* CoolHelmet: Wyvern Lords and Malig Knights wear helmets that resemble dragons, while Griffon Riders wear helmets resembling a griffon.
* CoolMask: The Wyvern Riders in ''Awakening'' wear masks that resemble a dragon's jaws on the lower halves of their faces.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Wyvern Lord in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Critical, a skill that boosts critical hit rate by 50% while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DependingOnTheArtist: There's pretty much no consistency with the appearance of the dragon mounts between games; it's pretty much justified by the different universes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The dragon-riding family slowly evolved from the pegasus family into the distinct class tree with different strengths it is today.
* {{Dracolich}}: Malig Knights ride on undead wyverns.
* DragonRider:
** You don't say. The Wyvern mount is almost never seen attacking directly, outside of ading momentum to their rider's attacks. That said many of the games with dismounting show Wyvern riding characters lose alot of strength and defense when they dismount their wyvern.
** Averted with the Griffon Rider in ''Awakening''.
* FragileSpeedster: The Wyvern Knight from ''Sacred Stones'', being accessible from both the pegasus and wyvern lines, takes after pegasi in the speed department while also having the Constitution of a wyvern to be lightning fast all-around - to compensate, however, it has less HP and also inherits the weaker defense and resistance of both, and being locked to lances means it always has to remain cautious around the hard-hitting axe users that most classes would normally shrug off by the point in the game you get your first Wyvern Knight.
* GatheringSteam: Inverted for the Wyvern Lord in ''Awakening'', as they get the skill Quick Burn, which gives them 15 hit and avoid at the start of the battle but loses effect for each turn.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* GiantFlyer: In the SNES, GBA games and ''Radiant Dawn'' in particular, they're downright enormous.
* HeelFaceTurn: Typically, the dragon mount species is associated with an/the enemy kingdom (Macedon, Thracia, Bern, Grado, Daein, Nohr) and dragon riders are a mainstay of the respective army, and so almost every allied Dragon Rider is recruited from the enemy. The only exceptions to this in the series are in the Archanea games and ''The Sacred Stones'', where your Pegasus Knights can class change into them, and ''Awakening'', where the "recruited" dragon rider is from a different nation than the "enemy" dragon riders earlier in the game. In cases like Macedon and Begnion where they have both pegasus and wyvern armies, there is a notable infighting between the two and the wyvern side would be the more hostile one. ''Three Houses'' also subverts the antagonistic role, as Wyvern Riders are rare among the Imperial ranks and "those who slither in the dark", though the one nation that specializes in wyverns is Almyra, a nation neighboring Fodlan with minimal involvement in the conflict (though it does have a history of [[BloodKnight picking fights with Fódlan for fun]]) and was the home of Cyril and [[spoiler:Claude]].
* HerdHittingAttack: Malig Knights can learn the Savage Blow skill, which applies a 20% HP reduction to all units that were within 2 spaces of their range.
* HitAndRunTactics: Like Pegasus Knights, they can move again to a safe distance in the Jugdral and Tellius games. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* InconsistentSpelling:
** There is one hell of a naming inconsistency with this class family. For ''The Blazing Blade'', the first English release, they were renamed "Wyvern Rider" and "Wyvern Lord" to distinguish them from the proper dragons that are not domesticated as mounts and figured heavily into the plot of the game; ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Path of Radiance'' stuck to this. The Japanese version of ''The Sacred Stones'' introduced the "Wyvern Knight" class, part of the Wyvern family of dragons, and looking more like traditional wyverns from ''Mystery of the Emblem''; they were still called "Wyvern Knights" in the English version and the matter of their physical difference wasn't addressed. ''Radiant Dawn''[='s=] translation discarded the "wyvern" name for the classes themselves, going with variations of "Dracoknight"; however, in dialogue, the species are still called wyverns, again to differentiate from the game's fairly important actual dragons. This remained the case for ''Shadow Dragon'', though the [[NoExportForYou Japan only]] remake of the sequel shows the dragon mounts are indeed named Wyverns. Then in ''Awakening'', it's back to Wyvern Rider and Wyvern Lord. The Switch port for ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' then renames it "Wyvern Knight".
** The Japanese version alone isn't much better. The base class is called Dragon Rider in most games, but the Jugdral games and ''Radiant Dawn'' call it Dragon Knight. The advanced class is called either Dragon Master or Dragon Lord depending on the game, which becomes really confusing when you consider the name of the third-tier advanced class from ''Radiant Dawn'': Dragonlord (Lindwurm in Japanese).
* IWorkAlone: Only in ''Awakening'', but Wyvern Riders gain the skill Tantivy, which grants the user +10 Hit and Evasion if there are no allies within 3 spaces of them.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: They can remove their weaknesses to bows by equipping specific shields if there is any. Averted, however, against anti-dragon weapons save for the Full Guard in ''Path of Radiance''.
* LightningBruiser: They are one of the strongest physical classes thanks to their high Strength, Skill, Defense, and movement range. This is particularly true in the NES/SNES Archanea duology (which lacked stat caps), as well as ''Three Houses'', where they have high Speed caps. Enemy factions would sporadically deploy them early-game to serve as BossInMookClothing, and then field even more of them in the late-game chapters. Most playable Wyvern Riders join mid-to-late game because of their powerhouse status.
* MagicKnight: Malig Knights specialize in both axes and tomes, in addition to their magic stats. It is one of the few classes that can reliably use the Bolt Axe.
* MightyGlacier: What the class is almost always in game with class specific caps. While in their earlier incarnations, they were basically stronger Pegasus Knights but without their MageKiller capabilities, starting with ''Genealogy Of the Holy War'' have settled for making them aerial tanks with high Attack and Defense but low Speed and Resistance, in order to make them more of a {{Foil}} to the [[FragileSpeedster Pegasus Knights]]. In ''Radiant Dawn'', Dragonlord's speed cap is even worse than Marshall. The only exception is in ''Three Houses'', where Wyvern Lords have the stats of a LightningBruiser
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Dracoknight with a Master Seal, she is unable to reclass into Falcoknight.
* MythologyGag: The Wyvern Knight class in ''[=FE8=]'' rides a mount identical to the [=DracoKnights=] of ''[=FE3=]'' and can be class changed from Pegasus Knights.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The appearance of the Dragon/Wyvern Mounts vary wildly across different universes. What varies most are whether they stand on two legs or four and if they have no arms like a wyvern or their arms are like a western dragon.
* OurGryphonsAreDifferent: The Griffon Riders that appear in ''Awakening''.
* TheParalyzer: Wyvern Lords and Dragonlords in the Tellius games has the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Wyvern Riders in ''Three Houses'' learn Seal Defense, a skill that reduces the enemy's defense by 6 after combat, upon mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Wyvern Lords in ''Fates'' gain Rally Defense, which gives a boost to defense to allies when commanded.
* WeakToMagic: In contrast to [[MageKiller Pegasus Knights]], Wyvern Riders tend to have a high Defense but the worst Resistance around, tied with Warriors. In some games, wyvern riders are also weak to wind or thunder magic.
* WeaponSpecialization: Traditionally, lances and axes are the family's primary weapon.
to:
* AchillesHeel:
** Just like the other flying units, Wyvern classesAchillesHeel: Laguz are [[AntiAir weak to Bows]]. anti-Laguz weapons and Fire/Wind magic. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', they are weak to anti-beast weapons and skills, even when outside of their beast class.
* {{Animorphism}}: Using beaststones, or the natural ability of the Laguz, they can take on an animal form for combat.
* AsianFoxSpirit: Thesole exception being ''Radiant Dawn''
Kitsune and Ninetails class. They also have foxfires that surround them when transformed.
* DireBeast: Their animal forms are huge compared to regular animals. Small Cat laguz are the size of real life Big Cats. Lions and Hawks tower over human beings. Rabbits are similarly the size of Big Cats, and it's taken to the extreme with Wolfskins, who are literal monsters.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution:
** Inmany games where multiple types of beast units exist, they typically are given differences to make them each distinct from each other.
** In the Tellius games,Wyvern classes the Beast tribes are split between the Cat, Tiger, Lion, and Wolf. The Cat is a FragileSpeedster, the Tiger is a MightyGlacier, the Lion is a LightningBruiser, and the Wolves are more of a JackOfAllStats.
** Also in the Tellius games, the Bird tribes are split between the Hawks, Ravens, and Herons. The Hawks are more akin to LightningBruiser, the Ravens are FragileSpeedster, while the Herons are Dancers.
* DyingRace: The Wolf Tribe in the Tellius games have lost much of their numbers; nevertheless, they recover in the epilogue. The Heron Laguz are even worse, since the few remaining ones are the LastOfTheirKind. The Taguel are also the LastOfTheirKind, with only one full-blooded Taguel (Panne) left.[[note]](The half-blooded Taguel Yarne is specificallyweak said to wind magic, [[AntiAir being have much stronger Taguel genes, while a Morgan parented by either of them has stronger human ones.)[[/note]]
* {{Expy}}: The Tellius games make the various species of Laguz effectively animal copies of their Human counterparts in terms of class. To elaborate:
** Beast Tribe: Cats are essentially Myrmidons (high Speed and Luck but almost no bulk), Tigers are either Fighters (high Strength and HP, but lower Defense), or Knights (high HP, Strength, and Defense, but slow), Lions are similar to Paladins (use virtually all physical related stats well with high damage), and Wolves are Mercenaries (balanced offensive stats, with solid bulk).
** Bird Tribes: The Bird Tribes are airborne and can also move after attacking, making them similar to the flyingunits]] or any other anti-Dragon weapons. classes. Hawks are essentially faster Wyvern Riders (focus on strength with average physical bulk), Ravens are essentially Pegasus Knights (High Speed, Resistance, and Luck but low bulk and Strength), while Herons are Dancers.
* HitAndRunTactics: The Bird Tribe in ''Radiant Dawn''changed their weakness wind magic to thunder magic, the same weakness as Dragon Laguz.
** In some games, , Wyvern riding classes take extra Wyrmslayers and other dragon slaying weapons.
** Wyvern riding classes always have a terrible resistance stat. In most games, Wyvern classes have the worst resistance stat around, outside of GlassCannon classes.
* AntiInfantry: The Malig Knight's Trample skill deals 5 bonus damage to unmounted enemies.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Wyvern Knight's skill, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pierce]], in ''The Sacred Stones''. Its usefulness is offset by being linked to [[GameBreakingBug a nasty glitch]] which locks up the game under certain (rare) circumstances which, oddly enough, only occurs in English copies of the game.
* BreathWeapon:
** Averted; most of the time the wyverns do not breathe fire. It becomes odd when fighting against feral wyverns in ''Mystery of the Emblem'' which breathe fire, implying that they lost their ability to breathe fire to domestication.
** Played straight with Malig Knights in ''Fates''. They learn Savage Blow, which was called Deathly Breath in the Japanese version, which implies that the undead wyvern is exhaling a poisonous gas.
** In ''Three Houses'' only certain, special wyverns (namely the white variety Claude uses for his unique classes) are shown to be able to breathe fire.
* CoolHelmet: Wyvern Lords and Malig Knights wear helmets that resemble dragons, while Griffon Riders wear helmets resembling a griffon.
* CoolMask: The Wyvern Riders in ''Awakening'' wear masks that resemble a dragon's jaws on the lower halves of their faces.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Wyvern Lord in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Critical, a skill that boosts critical hit rate by 50% while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DependingOnTheArtist: There's pretty much no consistency with the appearance of the dragon mounts between games; it's pretty much justified by the different universes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The dragon-riding family slowly evolved from the pegasus family into the distinct class tree with different strengths it is today.
* {{Dracolich}}: Malig Knights ride on undead wyverns.
* DragonRider:
** You don't say. The Wyvern mount is almost never seen attacking directly, outside of ading momentum to their rider's attacks. That said many of the games with dismounting show Wyvern riding characters lose alot of strength and defense when they dismount their wyvern.
** Averted with the Griffon Rider in ''Awakening''.
* FragileSpeedster: The Wyvern Knight from ''Sacred Stones'', being accessible from both the pegasus and wyvern lines, takes after pegasi in the speed department while also having the Constitution of a wyvern to be lightning fast all-around - to compensate, however, it has less HP and also inherits the weaker defense and resistance of both, and being locked to lances means it always has to remain cautious around the hard-hitting axe users that most classes would normally shrug off by the point in the game you get your first Wyvern Knight.
* GatheringSteam: Inverted for the Wyvern Lord in ''Awakening'', as they get the skill Quick Burn, which gives them 15 hit and avoid at the start of the battle but loses effect for each turn.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* GiantFlyer: In the SNES, GBA games and ''Radiant Dawn'' in particular, they're downright enormous.
* HeelFaceTurn: Typically, the dragon mount species is associated with an/the enemy kingdom (Macedon, Thracia, Bern, Grado, Daein, Nohr) and dragon riders are a mainstay of the respective army, and so almost every allied Dragon Rider is recruited from the enemy. The only exceptions to this in the series are in the Archanea games and ''The Sacred Stones'', where your Pegasus Knights can class change into them, and ''Awakening'', where the "recruited" dragon rider is from a different nation than the "enemy" dragon riders earlier in the game. In cases like Macedon and Begnion where they have both pegasus and wyvern armies, there is a notable infighting between the two and the wyvern side would be the more hostile one. ''Three Houses'' also subverts the antagonistic role, as Wyvern Riders are rare among the Imperial ranks and "those who slither in the dark", though the one nation that specializes in wyverns is Almyra, a nation neighboring Fodlan with minimal involvement in the conflict (though it does have a history of [[BloodKnight picking fights with Fódlan for fun]]) and was the home of Cyril and [[spoiler:Claude]].
* HerdHittingAttack: Malig Knights can learn the Savage Blow skill, which applies a 20% HP reduction to all units that were within 2 spaces of their range.
* HitAndRunTactics: Like Pegasus Knights, theycan move again to a safe distance in the Jugdral and Tellius games. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* InconsistentSpelling:
** There is one hell of a naming inconsistency with this class family. For ''The Blazing Blade'', the first English release, they were renamed "Wyvern Rider" and "Wyvern Lord" to distinguish them from the proper dragons that are not domesticated as mounts and figured heavily into the plot of the game; ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Path of Radiance'' stuck to this.after attacking or singing. The Japanese version of ''The Sacred Stones'' introduced the "Wyvern Knight" class, part of the Wyvern family of dragons, and looking more like traditional wyverns from ''Mystery of the Emblem''; they were still called "Wyvern Knights" in the English version and the matter of their physical difference wasn't addressed. ''Radiant Dawn''[='s=] translation discarded the "wyvern" name for the classes themselves, going with variations of "Dracoknight"; however, in dialogue, the species are still called wyverns, again to differentiate from the game's fairly important actual dragons. This remained the case for ''Shadow Dragon'', though the [[NoExportForYou Japan only]] remake of the sequel shows the dragon mounts are indeed named Wyverns. Then in ''Awakening'', it's back to Wyvern Rider and Wyvern Lord. The Switch port for ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' then renames it "Wyvern Knight".
** The Japanese version alone isn't much better. The base classexception is called Dragon Rider in most games, but the Jugdral games and ''Radiant Dawn'' call it Dragon Knight. The advanced class Rafiel as he is called either Dragon Master or Dragon Lord depending on the game, which becomes really confusing when you consider the name of the third-tier advanced class from ''Radiant Dawn'': Dragonlord (Lindwurm in Japanese).
* IWorkAlone: Only in ''Awakening'', but Wyvern Riders gain the skill Tantivy, which grants the user +10 Hit and Evasion if there are no allies within 3 spaces of them.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: They can remove their weaknesses to bowsgrounded by equipping specific shields if there is any. Averted, however, against anti-dragon weapons save for the Full Guard in ''Path of Radiance''.
his clipped wings.
* LightningBruiser:They are one of the strongest physical classes thanks to their high Strength, Skill, Defense, and movement range. This is particularly true in the NES/SNES Archanea duology (which lacked stat caps), as well as ''Three Houses'', where While they have high Speed caps. Enemy factions would sporadically deploy them early-game different specialties depending on species, compared to serve as BossInMookClothing, human units, they are all extremely fast and then field even more of them in strong. The Tiger Laguz are the late-game chapters. Most playable Wyvern Riders join mid-to-late game because only ones lacking in this area.
* LittleBitBeastly: They all exhibit some traits of theirpowerhouse status.
* MagicKnight: Malig Knights specializebeast form even in both axes human form. Usually [[CatGirl ears and tomes, tails]], or [[WingedHumanoid wings]] in addition the case of the bird tribes. Dragons/manaketes in contrast are usually much more subtle.
* LongLived: [[DownplayedTrope To a lesser extent]] compared to Manaketes (who's life expectancy is in the ''plural'' of thousands), but beastfolk often tend to have very long life-spans in spite of such. The shortest lived among the Laguz, the Lions, live for ''180 years on average'', with class blurbs like the Kitsune in ''Fates'' outright noting the species has a long live span even compared to other beastfolk due to their spirit magic and beast heritage.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Beasts are more physically-oriented, while their dragon counterparts have better magic stats.It is one of the few classes that can reliably use the Bolt Axe.
* MightyGlacier: What the class isThis translate into almost always in game with class specific caps. While all Beast units, save the Kitsune, having poor Resistance stats.
* NaturalWeapon: The Laguz uses their own claw, talons, and beaks when fighting in theirearlier incarnations, they were basically stronger Pegasus Knights but without their MageKiller capabilities, starting with ''Genealogy Of the Holy War'' have settled for making them aerial tanks with high Attack and Defense but low Speed and Resistance, in order to make them more of a {{Foil}} to the [[FragileSpeedster Pegasus Knights]]. beast forms. In ''Radiant Dawn'', Dragonlord's speed cap is even worse than Marshall. The only exception is in ''Three Houses'', where Wyvern Lords have the stats of a LightningBruiser
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Dracoknight with a Master Seal, she is unable to reclass into Falcoknight.
* MythologyGag: The Wyvern Knight class in ''[=FE8=]'' rides a mount identical to the [=DracoKnights=] of ''[=FE3=]'' and can be class changed from Pegasus Knights.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The appearance of the Dragon/Wyvern Mounts vary wildly across different universes. What varies most are whether they stand on two legs or four and ifthey have no arms like a wyvern or special weapon rank called Strike which improves their arms are attacks upon raising their weapon rank. {{Avert}}ed with Beast classes since ''Awakening'' as they wield Stones like a western dragon.
Manaketes.
*OurGryphonsAreDifferent: NoSell: The Griffon Riders that appear in ''Awakening''.
* TheParalyzer: Wyvern Lords and Dragonlords in the Tellius games has the StunHawk Laguz's mastery skill, skill in Path of Radiance was Cancel (or Wing Guard), which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn.
lets them nullify damage based on their skill.
*StatusInflictionAttack: Wyvern Riders in ''Three Houses'' learn Seal Defense, a skill that reduces the enemy's defense by 6 after combat, upon mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Wyvern Lords in ''Fates'' gain Rally Defense, which gives a boost to defense to allies when commanded.
* WeakToMagic: In contrast to [[MageKiller Pegasus Knights]], Wyvern Riders tend to have a high Defense but the worst Resistance around, tiedOurWerewolvesAreDifferent: The Wolfskin and Wolfsegner look less like wolves and more like gorillas with Warriors. In some games, wyvern riders are also weak to wind or thunder magic.
* WeaponSpecialization: Traditionally, lanceskoala and axes are wolf traits.
* PantheraAwesome: The Tiger and thefamily's primary weapon.Lion Laguz of the Beast Tribe, especially the Lion Laguz as one is their king.
** Just like the other flying units, Wyvern classes
* {{Animorphism}}: Using beaststones, or the natural ability of the Laguz, they can take on an animal form for combat.
* AsianFoxSpirit: The
* DireBeast: Their animal forms are huge compared to regular animals. Small Cat laguz are the size of real life Big Cats. Lions and Hawks tower over human beings. Rabbits are similarly the size of Big Cats, and it's taken to the extreme with Wolfskins, who are literal monsters.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution:
** In
** In the Tellius games,
** Also in the Tellius games, the Bird tribes are split between the Hawks, Ravens, and Herons. The Hawks are more akin to LightningBruiser, the Ravens are FragileSpeedster, while the Herons are Dancers.
* DyingRace: The Wolf Tribe in the Tellius games have lost much of their numbers; nevertheless, they recover in the epilogue. The Heron Laguz are even worse, since the few remaining ones are the LastOfTheirKind. The Taguel are also the LastOfTheirKind, with only one full-blooded Taguel (Panne) left.[[note]](The half-blooded Taguel Yarne is specifically
* {{Expy}}: The Tellius games make the various species of Laguz effectively animal copies of their Human counterparts in terms of class. To elaborate:
** Beast Tribe: Cats are essentially Myrmidons (high Speed and Luck but almost no bulk), Tigers are either Fighters (high Strength and HP, but lower Defense), or Knights (high HP, Strength, and Defense, but slow), Lions are similar to Paladins (use virtually all physical related stats well with high damage), and Wolves are Mercenaries (balanced offensive stats, with solid bulk).
** Bird Tribes: The Bird Tribes are airborne and can also move after attacking, making them similar to the flying
* HitAndRunTactics: The Bird Tribe in ''Radiant Dawn''
** In some games, , Wyvern riding classes take extra Wyrmslayers and other dragon slaying weapons.
** Wyvern riding classes always have a terrible resistance stat. In most games, Wyvern classes have the worst resistance stat around, outside of GlassCannon classes.
* AntiInfantry: The Malig Knight's Trample skill deals 5 bonus damage to unmounted enemies.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Wyvern Knight's skill, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pierce]], in ''The Sacred Stones''. Its usefulness is offset by being linked to [[GameBreakingBug a nasty glitch]] which locks up the game under certain (rare) circumstances which, oddly enough, only occurs in English copies of the game.
* BreathWeapon:
** Averted; most of the time the wyverns do not breathe fire. It becomes odd when fighting against feral wyverns in ''Mystery of the Emblem'' which breathe fire, implying that they lost their ability to breathe fire to domestication.
** Played straight with Malig Knights in ''Fates''. They learn Savage Blow, which was called Deathly Breath in the Japanese version, which implies that the undead wyvern is exhaling a poisonous gas.
** In ''Three Houses'' only certain, special wyverns (namely the white variety Claude uses for his unique classes) are shown to be able to breathe fire.
* CoolHelmet: Wyvern Lords and Malig Knights wear helmets that resemble dragons, while Griffon Riders wear helmets resembling a griffon.
* CoolMask: The Wyvern Riders in ''Awakening'' wear masks that resemble a dragon's jaws on the lower halves of their faces.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Wyvern Lord in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Critical, a skill that boosts critical hit rate by 50% while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DependingOnTheArtist: There's pretty much no consistency with the appearance of the dragon mounts between games; it's pretty much justified by the different universes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The dragon-riding family slowly evolved from the pegasus family into the distinct class tree with different strengths it is today.
* {{Dracolich}}: Malig Knights ride on undead wyverns.
* DragonRider:
** You don't say. The Wyvern mount is almost never seen attacking directly, outside of ading momentum to their rider's attacks. That said many of the games with dismounting show Wyvern riding characters lose alot of strength and defense when they dismount their wyvern.
** Averted with the Griffon Rider in ''Awakening''.
* FragileSpeedster: The Wyvern Knight from ''Sacred Stones'', being accessible from both the pegasus and wyvern lines, takes after pegasi in the speed department while also having the Constitution of a wyvern to be lightning fast all-around - to compensate, however, it has less HP and also inherits the weaker defense and resistance of both, and being locked to lances means it always has to remain cautious around the hard-hitting axe users that most classes would normally shrug off by the point in the game you get your first Wyvern Knight.
* GatheringSteam: Inverted for the Wyvern Lord in ''Awakening'', as they get the skill Quick Burn, which gives them 15 hit and avoid at the start of the battle but loses effect for each turn.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* GiantFlyer: In the SNES, GBA games and ''Radiant Dawn'' in particular, they're downright enormous.
* HeelFaceTurn: Typically, the dragon mount species is associated with an/the enemy kingdom (Macedon, Thracia, Bern, Grado, Daein, Nohr) and dragon riders are a mainstay of the respective army, and so almost every allied Dragon Rider is recruited from the enemy. The only exceptions to this in the series are in the Archanea games and ''The Sacred Stones'', where your Pegasus Knights can class change into them, and ''Awakening'', where the "recruited" dragon rider is from a different nation than the "enemy" dragon riders earlier in the game. In cases like Macedon and Begnion where they have both pegasus and wyvern armies, there is a notable infighting between the two and the wyvern side would be the more hostile one. ''Three Houses'' also subverts the antagonistic role, as Wyvern Riders are rare among the Imperial ranks and "those who slither in the dark", though the one nation that specializes in wyverns is Almyra, a nation neighboring Fodlan with minimal involvement in the conflict (though it does have a history of [[BloodKnight picking fights with Fódlan for fun]]) and was the home of Cyril and [[spoiler:Claude]].
* HerdHittingAttack: Malig Knights can learn the Savage Blow skill, which applies a 20% HP reduction to all units that were within 2 spaces of their range.
* HitAndRunTactics: Like Pegasus Knights, they
* InconsistentSpelling:
** There is one hell of a naming inconsistency with this class family. For ''The Blazing Blade'', the first English release, they were renamed "Wyvern Rider" and "Wyvern Lord" to distinguish them from the proper dragons that are not domesticated as mounts and figured heavily into the plot of the game; ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Path of Radiance'' stuck to this.
** The Japanese version alone isn't much better. The base class
* IWorkAlone: Only in ''Awakening'', but Wyvern Riders gain the skill Tantivy, which grants the user +10 Hit and Evasion if there are no allies within 3 spaces of them.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: They can remove their weaknesses to bows
* LightningBruiser:
* LittleBitBeastly: They all exhibit some traits of their
* MagicKnight: Malig Knights specialize
* LongLived: [[DownplayedTrope To a lesser extent]] compared to Manaketes (who's life expectancy is in the ''plural'' of thousands), but beastfolk often tend to have very long life-spans in spite of such. The shortest lived among the Laguz, the Lions, live for ''180 years on average'', with class blurbs like the Kitsune in ''Fates'' outright noting the species has a long live span even compared to other beastfolk due to their spirit magic and beast heritage.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Beasts are more physically-oriented, while their dragon counterparts have better magic stats.
* MightyGlacier: What the class is
* NaturalWeapon: The Laguz uses their own claw, talons, and beaks when fighting in their
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Dracoknight with a Master Seal, she is unable to reclass into Falcoknight.
* MythologyGag: The Wyvern Knight class in ''[=FE8=]'' rides a mount identical to the [=DracoKnights=] of ''[=FE3=]'' and can be class changed from Pegasus Knights.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The appearance of the Dragon/Wyvern Mounts vary wildly across different universes. What varies most are whether they stand on two legs or four and if
*
* TheParalyzer: Wyvern Lords and Dragonlords in the Tellius games has the Stun
*
* StatusBuff: Wyvern Lords in ''Fates'' gain Rally Defense, which gives a boost to defense to allies when commanded.
* WeakToMagic: In contrast to [[MageKiller Pegasus Knights]], Wyvern Riders tend to have a high Defense but the worst Resistance around, tied
* WeaponSpecialization: Traditionally, lances
* PantheraAwesome: The Tiger and the
Changed line(s) 749,762 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Dancer]]
!!Dancer and variants
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/998g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dancers in ''Three Houses'']]
The Dancer is a recurring [[UtilityPartyMember utility]] and [[SupportPartyMember support]] class that puts on a magical performances to [[ExtraTurn allow adjacent units which have already moved in a turn to move again]]. The most common iteration is a female dancer, hence the name, with variants including Bards (males that play musical instruments) from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'', the Heron laguz (BirdPeople of either gender that can sing MagicMusic called galdrar) in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'', and the Songstress (a female singer) in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. Outside of their unique ability to provide {{Extra Turn}}s, Dancers are notable for being one of the few classes exclusive to the player in most games they appear in.\\\
The Dancer and its variants tend to either be completely unarmed or are lacking in combat prowess due to their focus on being support, though when they can fight, they almost always use swords. As far as stats go, [[FragileSpeedster they tend to be on the frailer side, but make up for it with high Speed and Luck stats to help them dodge attacks]].\\\
If a game has multiple Dancers, only one of these characters will usable at any given time for balance reasons. This is because having two of them on one map would allow them to continuously grind for experience and potentially reach anywhere on the map in a single turn by being able to indefinitely dance for each other.\\\
The Bard class mentioned here is not to be confused with the Bard from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'', which is a magic-wielding class exclusive to Lewyn and Homer in their respective games. Dancers exist in their normal function in those games, though.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Phina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Sylvia and Lene/Laylea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Lara[[note]]She starts as a Thief and only becomes a Dancer by activating a special event.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Elphin and Lalum (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Nils and Ninian (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Tethys (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Reyson, Rafiel, and Leanne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''[[note]]Reyson only[[/note]] and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Olivia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Azura (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Dorothea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Seadall (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Dancer and variants
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/998g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dancers in ''Three Houses'']]
The Dancer is a recurring [[UtilityPartyMember utility]] and [[SupportPartyMember support]] class that puts on a magical performances to [[ExtraTurn allow adjacent units which have already moved in a turn to move again]]. The most common iteration is a female dancer, hence the name, with variants including Bards (males that play musical instruments) from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'', the Heron laguz (BirdPeople of either gender that can sing MagicMusic called galdrar) in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'', and the Songstress (a female singer) in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. Outside of their unique ability to provide {{Extra Turn}}s, Dancers are notable for being one of the few classes exclusive to the player in most games they appear in.\\\
The Dancer and its variants tend to either be completely unarmed or are lacking in combat prowess due to their focus on being support, though when they can fight, they almost always use swords. As far as stats go, [[FragileSpeedster they tend to be on the frailer side, but make up for it with high Speed and Luck stats to help them dodge attacks]].\\\
If a game has multiple Dancers, only one of these characters will usable at any given time for balance reasons. This is because having two of them on one map would allow them to continuously grind for experience and potentially reach anywhere on the map in a single turn by being able to indefinitely dance for each other.\\\
The Bard class mentioned here is not to be confused with the Bard from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'', which is a magic-wielding class exclusive to Lewyn and Homer in their respective games. Dancers exist in their normal function in those games, though.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Phina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Sylvia and Lene/Laylea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Lara[[note]]She starts as a Thief and only becomes a Dancer by activating a special event.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Elphin and Lalum (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Nils and Ninian (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Tethys (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Reyson, Rafiel, and Leanne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''[[note]]Reyson only[[/note]] and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Olivia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Azura (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Dorothea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Seadall (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Dancer
!!Emperor (and variants)
If the final boss isn't a dark magician, a dragon, or a god, this is what they'll be -- a king decked out in enormous armour or finery, dwarfing every other unit (except maybe Manaketes/laguz) in sheer size, wielding a huge AncestralWeapon, and
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/998g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dancers
The Dancer is a recurring [[UtilityPartyMember utility]] and [[SupportPartyMember support]] class that puts on a magical performances to [[ExtraTurn allow adjacent units which have already moved in a turn to move again]]. The most common iteration is a female dancer, hence the name, with variants including Bards (males that play musical instruments) from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'', the Heron laguz (BirdPeople of either gender that can sing MagicMusic called galdrar) in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'', and the Songstress (a female singer) in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. Outside of their unique ability to provide {{Extra Turn}}s, Dancers are notable for being one of the few classes exclusive to the player in most games they appear in.
If a game has multiple Dancers, only one of these characters will usable at any given time for balance reasons. This is because having two of them on one map would allow them to continuously grind for experience and potentially reach anywhere on the map in a single turn by being able to indefinitely dance for each other.\\\
The Bard class mentioned here is not to be confused with the Bard from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'', which is a magic-wielding class exclusive to Lewyn and Homer in their respective games. Dancers exist in their normal function in those games, though.\\\
Changed line(s) 764,781 (click to see context) from:
* AlwaysFemale: The default Dancer class has almost always been female-only. ''Three Houses'' is the first game in the series where the Dancer is available to both males and females. Averted in ''Engage'' where Seadall, the game's dancer, is a man.
* DanceBattler: In the Jugdral and Archanea games and ''Awakening'', in which they also wield swords... just not very well. The ''Fates'' version, the Songstress, wields lances/naginata instead. The ''Engage'' version uses body arts instead.
* ExtraTurn: Their abilities grant units that have already acted during their phase a second action in the same phase.
* FragileSpeedster: Dancers are characterized as fast and dodgy with their best stats being speed and luck. However, because of their nature as support units, their terrible durability, and, in some games, inability to fight, they must be protected and should not be in the front line.
* MagicDance: Averted; the ability of Dancers to grant other units an extra turn is mundane, although it functions like magic. The only exception is Ninian.
* MagicKnight: Dancers in ''Three Houses'' use swords and magic.
* MagicMusic: Nils, the Heron Laguz, and Azura can all play MagicMusic. Although Elphin plays music as well, he's more like other dancers in that he has no magical ability.
* MsFanservice: Dancers tend to be this to some extent, thanks to their minimal clothing and sultry dances. The only one who doesn't solidly fit this description is Ninian and [[MrFanservice Seadall]].
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: If there is more than one Dancer in a single game, circumstances will conspire to ensure that they can never be in the party at the same time. The sole exception, ''Fire Emblem Heroes'', has an ObviousRulePatch to have them unable to refresh each other if the other unit has Dance or Sing equipped. Subverted in ''Three Houses'' where they can be refreshed with a Dancer Battalion, but it only works once per map, and in ''Engage'', where they can be refreshed with Emblem Byleth's Goddess Dance and Emblem Veronica's Contract, but the former only works once per engage and the latter, beside being unable to move for the duration of the extra action, has the Dance option disabled for that action's duration.
* QuirkyBard: Actually not ''that'' spoony. It's true that they have (depending on the game) little or no means to defend themselves and low-to-average defense/HP, but a well-trained character of this class can have ''massive'' Speed and Luck, thus they will dodge a good part of the attacks thrown at them. (Additionally, Tethys has good HP growths.)
* SpearCounterpart: In ''Binding Blade'' and ''Blazing Blade'', you get the Bard class, which are male dancers with the same ability to "sing" which refreshes an ally like Dancers. Though the Bard class exists in the Jugdral games, there are just glorified version of Mages.
* StatusBuff:
** In ''Blazing Blade'', there are special rings that can raises a unit's stat by 10 for a single turn. Filla's Might increases attack, Ninis's Grace increases defensive stats, Thor's Ire increases critical, and Set's Litany increases avoid.
** In ''Radiant Dawn'', Herons has five different galdrar which are gain through level ups. Vigor functions like dancing (which they start by default but its effect differs for each Heron), Bliss raises the unit's biorhythm to its highest while Sorrow lowers enemy's biorhythm to its worst, Valor instantly raise Laguz's transformation gauge to its maximum, and Recovery instantly restores HP and remove conditions.
** ''Awakening'' onwards has a skill called Special Dance, though in ''Fates'', it is called Inspiring Song. In ''Awakening'', Special Dance increases +2 to Strength/Magic/Defense/Resistance while ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses'' increases +3/+4 to Skill/Speed/Luck. Unlike the earlier examples, the stat buffs stack with giving other units ExtraTurn instead of being mutually exclusive.
* SultryBellyDancer: Dancers tend to dress in fanservice-y belly dancer outfits that leave little to the imagination regarding their figures.
* SupportPartyMember: Dancer variants from the GBA and Tellius games can't attack enemies at all, and rely solely on their refreshing abilities. And even in the games where they are capable of fighting, their refreshing ability is so valuable that they'll rarely see combat.
* WanderingMinstrel: Most of them come across as this initially.
* DanceBattler: In the Jugdral and Archanea games and ''Awakening'', in which they also wield swords... just not very well. The ''Fates'' version, the Songstress, wields lances/naginata instead. The ''Engage'' version uses body arts instead.
* ExtraTurn: Their abilities grant units that have already acted during their phase a second action in the same phase.
* FragileSpeedster: Dancers are characterized as fast and dodgy with their best stats being speed and luck. However, because of their nature as support units, their terrible durability, and, in some games, inability to fight, they must be protected and should not be in the front line.
* MagicDance: Averted; the ability of Dancers to grant other units an extra turn is mundane, although it functions like magic. The only exception is Ninian.
* MagicKnight: Dancers in ''Three Houses'' use swords and magic.
* MagicMusic: Nils, the Heron Laguz, and Azura can all play MagicMusic. Although Elphin plays music as well, he's more like other dancers in that he has no magical ability.
* MsFanservice: Dancers tend to be this to some extent, thanks to their minimal clothing and sultry dances. The only one who doesn't solidly fit this description is Ninian and [[MrFanservice Seadall]].
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: If there is more than one Dancer in a single game, circumstances will conspire to ensure that they can never be in the party at the same time. The sole exception, ''Fire Emblem Heroes'', has an ObviousRulePatch to have them unable to refresh each other if the other unit has Dance or Sing equipped. Subverted in ''Three Houses'' where they can be refreshed with a Dancer Battalion, but it only works once per map, and in ''Engage'', where they can be refreshed with Emblem Byleth's Goddess Dance and Emblem Veronica's Contract, but the former only works once per engage and the latter, beside being unable to move for the duration of the extra action, has the Dance option disabled for that action's duration.
* QuirkyBard: Actually not ''that'' spoony. It's true that they have (depending on the game) little or no means to defend themselves and low-to-average defense/HP, but a well-trained character of this class can have ''massive'' Speed and Luck, thus they will dodge a good part of the attacks thrown at them. (Additionally, Tethys has good HP growths.)
* SpearCounterpart: In ''Binding Blade'' and ''Blazing Blade'', you get the Bard class, which are male dancers with the same ability to "sing" which refreshes an ally like Dancers. Though the Bard class exists in the Jugdral games, there are just glorified version of Mages.
* StatusBuff:
** In ''Blazing Blade'', there are special rings that can raises a unit's stat by 10 for a single turn. Filla's Might increases attack, Ninis's Grace increases defensive stats, Thor's Ire increases critical, and Set's Litany increases avoid.
** In ''Radiant Dawn'', Herons has five different galdrar which are gain through level ups. Vigor functions like dancing (which they start by default but its effect differs for each Heron), Bliss raises the unit's biorhythm to its highest while Sorrow lowers enemy's biorhythm to its worst, Valor instantly raise Laguz's transformation gauge to its maximum, and Recovery instantly restores HP and remove conditions.
** ''Awakening'' onwards has a skill called Special Dance, though in ''Fates'', it is called Inspiring Song. In ''Awakening'', Special Dance increases +2 to Strength/Magic/Defense/Resistance while ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses'' increases +3/+4 to Skill/Speed/Luck. Unlike the earlier examples, the stat buffs stack with giving other units ExtraTurn instead of being mutually exclusive.
* SultryBellyDancer: Dancers tend to dress in fanservice-y belly dancer outfits that leave little to the imagination regarding their figures.
* SupportPartyMember: Dancer variants from the GBA and Tellius games can't attack enemies at all, and rely solely on their refreshing abilities. And even in the games where they are capable of fighting, their refreshing ability is so valuable that they'll rarely see combat.
* WanderingMinstrel: Most of them come across as this initially.
to:
* AlwaysFemale: AncestralWeapon: All of them wield personal weapons.
* ArmorAndMagicDontMix: Inverted with Thedefault Dancer Baron class has almost always been female-only. ''Three Houses'' is and Jugdral Emperor class. Both classes are even more armored than the General class, they also have the most powerful magic abilities around.
* {{BFS}}: As fitting their position, their weapons are often very large. Averted by Arvis, who uses the magic tome [[PlayingWithFire Valflame]] instead (though he ''does'' have a Silver Blade, the strongest non-legendary sword, [[OrnamentalWeapon in his inventory]], even if he was hacked to not be able to use Valflame, Arvis will not use the Silver Blade).
* ContractualBossImmunity: To prevent them from being easily defeated, they usually have skills that negate weapon effectiveness against their movement type, or their personal classes don't have those weaknesses in the firstgame place.
* DegradedBoss: Barons are encountered as generic enemies in theseries where final chapter of ''Genealogy of the Dancer Holy War'' after the more powerful Emperor class is available introduced in the story. The final arena opponent of the same chapter belongs to both males the Emperor class as well.
* TheEmperor: The majority of character in these classes are the ruler of a hostile empire or kingdom.
* {{Expy}}: Much like the Lords, they have unique classes that are basically based off of existing classes, but individualized to fit the character using the class.
** King Zephiel, Emperor Hardin, Nohrian King Garon, andfemales. Averted Emperor Edelgard all have similarities to the General class, be it through similar stat lines, being armored, or both. Zephiel uses a sword while Generals in ''Engage'' where Seadall, his game can't, while the Black Knight is also related to the third tier Marshall class by proxy.
** Emperor Arvis is basically a souped up Baron class. The Baron class itself is also similar to the General class but with access to magic, and is used by Raydrik.
** King Ashnard is essentially a better version of the Wyvern Lord class, but Ashnard uses a sword rather than a lance.
** Walhart the Conqueror is very similar to the Great Knight class.
* FinalBoss: Often your last opponent, but there'll frequently be a TrueFinalBoss after them.
* {{Foil}}: Essentially the opposite of the Lord class, being classes that are mostly exclusive to one particular character in the games they appear in, gets unique (possibly legendary) weapons to wield, and is the leader of their army, but the Lord class belongs to the main playable character while the Emperor class belongs to the game'sdancer, main villain (or one of them, though typically one that is working in the foreground).
* LargeAndInCharge: Their sprites tend to dwarf the others in the game. Usually, this is aman.
product of having bulky, intimidating armor.
*DanceBattler: In LightningBruiser: They have fantastic, if not outright maxed, stats across the Jugdral board. This includes Speed, in spite of their huge size and Archanea games heavy armor.
* MagicKnight: Barons and Jugdral's Emperors can use anima magic in addition to all physical weapons.
* PromotedToPlayable: Twice, first with Walhart in ''Awakening'',in which they also wield swords... just not very well. The ''Fates'' version, the Songstress, wields lances/naginata instead. The ''Engage'' version uses body arts instead.
* ExtraTurn: Their abilities grant units that have already acted during their phase a second action in the same phase.
* FragileSpeedster: Dancers are characterized as fast and dodgy with their best stats being speed and luck. However, because of their nature as support units, their terrible durability, and, in some games, inability to fight, they must be protected and should not be in the front line.
* MagicDance: Averted; the ability of Dancers to grant other units an extra turn is mundane, although it functions like magic. The only exception is Ninian.
* MagicKnight: Dancersthen Edelgard in ''Three Houses'' use swords and magic.
Houses''.
*MagicMusic: Nils, the Heron Laguz, and Azura can all play MagicMusic. Although Elphin plays music as well, he's more like other dancers in that he has no magical ability.
* MsFanservice: Dancers tend to be this to some extent, thanks to their minimal clothing and sultry dances.RankScalesWithAsskicking: The only one who doesn't solidly fit this description is Ninian and [[MrFanservice Seadall]].
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: If there is more than one Dancer in a single game, circumstances will conspire to ensure that they can never be in the party at the same time. The sole exception, ''Fire Emblem Heroes'', has an ObviousRulePatch to have them unable to refresh each other if the other unit has Dance or Sing equipped. Subverted in ''Three Houses'' where they can be refreshed with a Dancer Battalion, but it only works once per map, and in ''Engage'', where they can be refreshed with Emblem Byleth's Goddess Dance and Emblem Veronica's Contract, but the former only works once per engage and the latter, beside being unable to move for the duration of the extra action, has the Dance option disabled for that action's duration.
* QuirkyBard: Actually not ''that'' spoony. It's true that they have (depending on the game) little or no means to defend themselves and low-to-average defense/HP, but a well-trained character of this class can have ''massive'' Speed and Luck, thus they will dodge a good part of the attacks thrown at them. (Additionally, Tethys has good HP growths.)
* SpearCounterpart: In ''Binding Blade'' and ''Blazing Blade'', you get the Bard class, which are male dancers with the same ability to "sing" which refreshes an ally like Dancers. Though the Bard class exists in the Jugdral games, there are just glorified version of Mages.
* StatusBuff:
** In ''Blazing Blade'', there are special rings that can raises a unit's stat by 10 for a single turn. Filla's Might increases attack, Ninis's Grace increases defensive stats, Thor's Ire increases critical, and Set's Litany increases avoid.
** In ''Radiant Dawn'', Herons has five different galdrar which are gain through level ups. Vigor functions like dancing (which they start by default but its effect differs for each Heron), Bliss raises the unit's biorhythm to its highest while Sorrow lowers enemy's biorhythm to its worst, Valor instantly raise Laguz's transformation gauge to its maximum, and Recovery instantly restores HP and remove conditions.
** ''Awakening'' onwards has a skill called Special Dance, though in ''Fates'', it is called Inspiring Song. In ''Awakening'', Special Dance increases +2 to Strength/Magic/Defense/Resistance while ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses'' increases +3/+4 to Skill/Speed/Luck. Unlike the earlier examples, the stat buffs stack with giving other units ExtraTurn instead of being mutually exclusive.
* SultryBellyDancer: Dancers tend to dress in fanservice-y belly dancer outfits that leave little to the imagination regarding their figures.
* SupportPartyMember: Dancer variants from the GBA and Tellius games can't attack enemies at all, and rely solely on their refreshing abilities. And even in the games where they are capable of fighting, their refreshing ability is so valuable that they'll rarely see combat.
* WanderingMinstrel: Mostmajority of them come across as this initially.are authority figures who are much more powerful then their troops.
* TinTyrant: They're almost always covered in armor.
* WalkingArmory: Arvis can use all weapon types but Dark and Light Magic.
* ArmorAndMagicDontMix: Inverted with The
* {{BFS}}: As fitting their position, their weapons are often very large. Averted by Arvis, who uses the magic tome [[PlayingWithFire Valflame]] instead (though he ''does'' have a Silver Blade, the strongest non-legendary sword, [[OrnamentalWeapon in his inventory]], even if he was hacked to not be able to use Valflame, Arvis will not use the Silver Blade).
* ContractualBossImmunity: To prevent them from being easily defeated, they usually have skills that negate weapon effectiveness against their movement type, or their personal classes don't have those weaknesses in the first
* DegradedBoss: Barons are encountered as generic enemies in the
* TheEmperor: The majority of character in these classes are the ruler of a hostile empire or kingdom.
* {{Expy}}: Much like the Lords, they have unique classes that are basically based off of existing classes, but individualized to fit the character using the class.
** King Zephiel, Emperor Hardin, Nohrian King Garon, and
** Emperor Arvis is basically a souped up Baron class. The Baron class itself is also similar to the General class but with access to magic, and is used by Raydrik.
** King Ashnard is essentially a better version of the Wyvern Lord class, but Ashnard uses a sword rather than a lance.
** Walhart the Conqueror is very similar to the Great Knight class.
* FinalBoss: Often your last opponent, but there'll frequently be a TrueFinalBoss after them.
* {{Foil}}: Essentially the opposite of the Lord class, being classes that are mostly exclusive to one particular character in the games they appear in, gets unique (possibly legendary) weapons to wield, and is the leader of their army, but the Lord class belongs to the main playable character while the Emperor class belongs to the game's
* LargeAndInCharge: Their sprites tend to dwarf the others in the game. Usually, this is a
*
* MagicKnight: Barons and Jugdral's Emperors can use anima magic in addition to all physical weapons.
* PromotedToPlayable: Twice, first with Walhart in ''Awakening'',
* ExtraTurn: Their abilities grant units that have already acted during their phase a second action in the same phase.
* FragileSpeedster: Dancers are characterized as fast and dodgy with their best stats being speed and luck. However, because of their nature as support units, their terrible durability, and, in some games, inability to fight, they must be protected and should not be in the front line.
* MagicDance: Averted; the ability of Dancers to grant other units an extra turn is mundane, although it functions like magic. The only exception is Ninian.
* MagicKnight: Dancers
*
* MsFanservice: Dancers tend to be this to some extent, thanks to their minimal clothing and sultry dances.
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: If there is more than one Dancer in a single game, circumstances will conspire to ensure that they can never be in the party at the same time. The sole exception, ''Fire Emblem Heroes'', has an ObviousRulePatch to have them unable to refresh each other if the other unit has Dance or Sing equipped. Subverted in ''Three Houses'' where they can be refreshed with a Dancer Battalion, but it only works once per map, and in ''Engage'', where they can be refreshed with Emblem Byleth's Goddess Dance and Emblem Veronica's Contract, but the former only works once per engage and the latter, beside being unable to move for the duration of the extra action, has the Dance option disabled for that action's duration.
* QuirkyBard: Actually not ''that'' spoony. It's true that they have (depending on the game) little or no means to defend themselves and low-to-average defense/HP, but a well-trained character of this class can have ''massive'' Speed and Luck, thus they will dodge a good part of the attacks thrown at them. (Additionally, Tethys has good HP growths.)
* SpearCounterpart: In ''Binding Blade'' and ''Blazing Blade'', you get the Bard class, which are male dancers with the same ability to "sing" which refreshes an ally like Dancers. Though the Bard class exists in the Jugdral games, there are just glorified version of Mages.
* StatusBuff:
** In ''Blazing Blade'', there are special rings that can raises a unit's stat by 10 for a single turn. Filla's Might increases attack, Ninis's Grace increases defensive stats, Thor's Ire increases critical, and Set's Litany increases avoid.
** In ''Radiant Dawn'', Herons has five different galdrar which are gain through level ups. Vigor functions like dancing (which they start by default but its effect differs for each Heron), Bliss raises the unit's biorhythm to its highest while Sorrow lowers enemy's biorhythm to its worst, Valor instantly raise Laguz's transformation gauge to its maximum, and Recovery instantly restores HP and remove conditions.
** ''Awakening'' onwards has a skill called Special Dance, though in ''Fates'', it is called Inspiring Song. In ''Awakening'', Special Dance increases +2 to Strength/Magic/Defense/Resistance while ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses'' increases +3/+4 to Skill/Speed/Luck. Unlike the earlier examples, the stat buffs stack with giving other units ExtraTurn instead of being mutually exclusive.
* SultryBellyDancer: Dancers tend to dress in fanservice-y belly dancer outfits that leave little to the imagination regarding their figures.
* SupportPartyMember: Dancer variants from the GBA and Tellius games can't attack enemies at all, and rely solely on their refreshing abilities. And even in the games where they are capable of fighting, their refreshing ability is so valuable that they'll rarely see combat.
* WanderingMinstrel: Most
* TinTyrant: They're almost always covered in armor.
* WalkingArmory: Arvis can use all weapon types but Dark and Light Magic.
Changed line(s) 784,803 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Thief]]
!!Thief
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/743g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Thieves in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/836g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Assassins in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/78001.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Tricksters in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ninja.png]]
[[caption-width-right:255:Ninja in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elite_ninja.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Master Ninja in ''Fates'']]
A class specializing in stealing things. Generally not too impressive in combat, [[UtilityPartyMember they are designed to be used for their utility]]; Thieves can unlock chests and doors with lockpicks (or sometimes a Skill) instead of keys and occasionally have the ability to steal items right off of enemy units. If they do get caught in a fight, they'll defend themselves with swords or occasionally knives[[note]]Many games depict them wielding knives in the combat animations despite having a sword equipped, though this is purely aesthetic.[[/note]].\\\
The Thief's options for Class Changing have varied over the course of the series. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'' they Class Change into the '''Thief Fighter''' (though Lara can optionally Class Change into Dancer in ''Thracia 776''), which upgrades their combat prowess. Many games from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'' onward allow them to become the '''Assassin''', turning them into a powerful offensive class that has a chance to OneHitKill enemies with the Lethality skill often at the cost of becoming unable to steal from enemies. ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' alternatively have the '''Rogue''', which bumps up their combat ability slightly without losing the capability to steal. In ''Radiant Dawn'' they can Class Change once again into the third-tier '''Whisper''' class that once again boosts their combat prowess, while Assassins are treated as a separate third-tier class exclusive to one character. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' they gain the alternate Class Change option of '''Trickster''', which gives them the ability to use staves. The Trickster class makes a return in ''Three Houses'' as part of the Wave 4 DLC, which allows them to use some Reason and Faith magic.\\\
''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' split and retooled the Thief into counterparts of the Archer and Cavalier classes. The Archer counterpart, found in Nohr, is referred to as the '''Outlaw''' and uses bows instead of swords. They can Class Change into '''Bow Knight''' and '''Adventurer''', with the former gaining a mount and the ability to use swords and the latter gaining the ability to use staves. The Cavalier counterpart is called '''Ninja''' as a result of Hoshido having a strong oriental theme: Ninjas play more like the classic Thieves with the ability to use knives/shuriken similar to their Tellius incarnations. They can class change into '''Master Ninjas''' (''Fates''[='=] Assassin) and '''Mechanist''', which gains bows and a mount.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Julian, Rickard (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Dew, Patty/Daisy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Lifis, Lara, Perne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Chad, Astol, Cath (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Matthew, Legault, Jaffar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Colm, Rennac (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Volke, Sothe (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Heather (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Anna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Gaius, Gangrel, Leif (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Kaze, Saizo, Kagero, Niles, Shura, Asugi, Nina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Petra, Yuri (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Yunaka, Zelkov (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Thief
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/743g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Thieves in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/836g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Assassins in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/78001.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Tricksters in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ninja.png]]
[[caption-width-right:255:Ninja in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elite_ninja.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Master Ninja in ''Fates'']]
A class specializing in stealing things. Generally not too impressive in combat, [[UtilityPartyMember they are designed to be used for their utility]]; Thieves can unlock chests and doors with lockpicks (or sometimes a Skill) instead of keys and occasionally have the ability to steal items right off of enemy units. If they do get caught in a fight, they'll defend themselves with swords or occasionally knives[[note]]Many games depict them wielding knives in the combat animations despite having a sword equipped, though this is purely aesthetic.[[/note]].\\\
The Thief's options for Class Changing have varied over the course of the series. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'' they Class Change into the '''Thief Fighter''' (though Lara can optionally Class Change into Dancer in ''Thracia 776''), which upgrades their combat prowess. Many games from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'' onward allow them to become the '''Assassin''', turning them into a powerful offensive class that has a chance to OneHitKill enemies with the Lethality skill often at the cost of becoming unable to steal from enemies. ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' alternatively have the '''Rogue''', which bumps up their combat ability slightly without losing the capability to steal. In ''Radiant Dawn'' they can Class Change once again into the third-tier '''Whisper''' class that once again boosts their combat prowess, while Assassins are treated as a separate third-tier class exclusive to one character. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' they gain the alternate Class Change option of '''Trickster''', which gives them the ability to use staves. The Trickster class makes a return in ''Three Houses'' as part of the Wave 4 DLC, which allows them to use some Reason and Faith magic.\\\
''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' split and retooled the Thief into counterparts of the Archer and Cavalier classes. The Archer counterpart, found in Nohr, is referred to as the '''Outlaw''' and uses bows instead of swords. They can Class Change into '''Bow Knight''' and '''Adventurer''', with the former gaining a mount and the ability to use swords and the latter gaining the ability to use staves. The Cavalier counterpart is called '''Ninja''' as a result of Hoshido having a strong oriental theme: Ninjas play more like the classic Thieves with the ability to use knives/shuriken similar to their Tellius incarnations. They can class change into '''Master Ninjas''' (''Fates''[='=] Assassin) and '''Mechanist''', which gains bows and a mount.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Julian, Rickard (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Dew, Patty/Daisy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Lifis, Lara, Perne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Chad, Astol, Cath (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Matthew, Legault, Jaffar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Colm, Rennac (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Volke, Sothe (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Heather (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Anna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Gaius, Gangrel, Leif (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Kaze, Saizo, Kagero, Niles, Shura, Asugi, Nina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Petra, Yuri (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Yunaka, Zelkov (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Thief
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/743g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Thieves in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/836g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Assassins in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/78001.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Tricksters in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ninja.png]]
[[caption-width-right:255:Ninja in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elite_ninja.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Master Ninja in ''Fates'']]
A class specializing in stealing things. Generally not too impressive in combat, [[UtilityPartyMember they are designed
!!Monsters
In addition to
The Thief's options for Class Changing have varied over the course of the series. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'' they Class Change into the '''Thief Fighter''' (though Lara can optionally Class Change into Dancer in ''Thracia 776''), which upgrades their combat prowess. Many games from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'' onward allow them to become the '''Assassin''', turning them into a powerful offensive class that has a chance to OneHitKill enemies with the Lethality skill often at the cost of becoming unable to steal from enemies. ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The
!! Introduced in ''Gaiden'' and ''Shadows of Valentia''
* Revenants/Entombed: Zombie-like creatures that attack with claws. They have high HP but extremely low stats otherwise. In addition to appearing in both ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones'', they reappeared in ''Fire Emblem Awakening'' as
* Bonewalkers: Skeletal soldiers that wield a variety of weapon types. Their advanced equivalent is known as the Lich in ''Gaiden'' and the Wight in ''Sacred Stones''. ''Echoes'' additionally introduces two stronger variants: the Titan (a giant and stronger axe-wielding version of the
* Mogalls (Bigls in the Japanese version): Small [[{{Oculothorax}} floating eyes]] that wield Dark magic. In ''Sacred Stones'' they have an advanced version called Arch Mogalls and in ''Echoes'' the Balor appears in the former's place.
* Fiends: Demonic Barons exclusive to ''Gaiden'' and its remake. The Guardian introduced in Echoes is a redder, more powerful variant of the Fiend.
* Gargoyles: Flying creatures wielding lances. Their advanced equivalent is the Balrog in ''Gaiden'' and the Deathgoyle in ''Sacred Stones''. Stronger than even the Deathgoyle is the Garuda introduced in ''Echoes''.
!! Introduced in ''The Sacred Stones''
* Baels/Elder Baels: Spiderlike creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. They attack with deadly claws that may sometimes be poisoned.
* Tarvos/Maelduins: Centaurlike creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. They wield axes, and the "advanced" Maelduins also use bows.
* Mauthe Doogs/Gwyllgis: Speedy demon dogs that attack with fangs. Exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''.
* Gorgons: Scaly creatures hatching from eggs that wield a variety of nasty dark magic spells. Exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''.
* Cyclopes: Massive axe-wielding creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. Their HP cap is higher than that of other units.
* Draco Zombies (Dragon Zombies in the Japanese version, Necrodragons in ''Shadows of Valentia''): [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Like dragons, only deader]]. In ''Gaiden'' and its remake, they have a "advanced" version called White Dragons. ''Echoes'' further introduces the Fafnir, a monstrous, ancient dragon that has survived since antiquity.
* Phantom (Spirit Warriors in the Japanese version): A spirit exclusive to ''Sacred Stones'', they are summoned by a Summoner or Necromancer.
!! Introduced in ''Fates''
* Faceless: Humanoid creatures made from dark magic, debuting in ''Fates''. In contrast to the Revenants[=/=]Entombed, they are rather large and bulky, and attack with their fists instead of their claws.
* Stoneborn: Moving statues who debuted in ''Fates''. They attack by launching rocks from afar.
* Automaton: Puppets moving by clockwork who debuted in ''Fates''. They attack with saws and yumi (eastern bows) and is the first monster class capable of using both normal and monster weapons.
* Empty Vessel: [[spoiler:Garon]]'s true form in ''Conquest'', it is a slime monster made of water that attacks with axes. Debuting in ''Fates'', it is the first monster class seen since ''Sacred Stones'' to only use a normal weapon instead of an enemy-only monster weapon.
!! Introduced in ''Three Houses''
* Black Beast: A crazed [[spoiler:transformed Miklan when the Lance of Ruin's crest stone consumed him for his lack of a crest]].
* Wandering Beast: A mad creature that lurks in the wild. [[spoiler:A bestial form of Maurice, a forgotten Elite.]]
* Hegemon Husk: An emperor's corpse hellbent on world conquest. [[spoiler:Edelgard's OneWingedAngel transformation on Azure Moon, utilizing her twin crests to their fullest extent.]]
* Wild Demonic Beasts: A feral Demonic Beast spotted in the wilds. Can breathes poisonous breath.
* Experimental Demonic Beast: [[spoiler:A human-transformed Beast by the power of crest stones embedded on their forehead.]]
* Demonic Beast: Demonic Beasts under the control of the [[spoiler:Imperial]] army. Upgrades of the Experimental Demonic Beast.
* Flying Demonic Beast: Agile flying Demonic Beasts.
* Altered Demonic Beast: Demonic Beasts with an anti-magic armor, granting them immunity to magic damage.
* Giant Demonic Beast: A gigantic version of human-transformed beasts. [[spoiler:Dedue]] takes on this form in the Crimson Flower route.
* Umbral Beast: A powerful monster created by the Chalice of Beginnings in the ''Cindered Shadows'' expansion. [[spoiler:Aelfric's transformation after he is absorbed by the Chalice and fused with Sitri's corpse.]]
* Golem: Mechanized automatons in the service of the Church of Seiros.
* Altered Golem: Stronger golems wield by the Church of Seiros. They are immune to magic.
* Guardian Golem: A unique golem tasked with protecting the Chalice of Beginnings in the ''Cindered Shadows'' expansion.
* Titanus: A mechanized weapon created by Agarthan technology.
* White Beast: [[spoiler:Cardinals of the Church transformed by the will of the Immaculate One]].
* Lord of the Lake: A giant tortoise-like monster that lives in the lake. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Indech]].
* Lord of the Desert: A giant bird-like monster that lives in the desert. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Macuil]].
* The Immaculate One: A giant white-dragon revered in the teachings of the Church of Seiros. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Seiros/Rhea]].
* Giant Bird: A bird that grew enormous due to magic.
* Giant Crawler: A worm that grew enormous due to magic.
* Giant Wolf: A wolf that grew enormous due to magic.
!! Introduced in ''Engage''
All three of these types have a Fabrication[[note]]Refered to as Phantom ingame[[/note]] variant, which are aligned with the Divine Dragons and Emblems, and a Corrupted variant, which are aligned with the Fell Dragons.
* Wyrm: Large but slow-moving, draconic creatures that have a large attack range that allows them to
''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' split and retooled the Thief into counterparts of the Archer and Cavalier classes. The Archer counterpart, found in Nohr, is referred to as the '''Outlaw''' and uses bows instead of swords.
* Wyvern: DLC-Exclusive. They
* Wolf: DLC-Exclusive. They are undead wolves that bite with poisonous fangs and, like
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Julian, Rickard (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Dew, Patty/Daisy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Lifis, Lara, Perne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Chad, Astol, Cath (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Matthew, Legault, Jaffar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Colm, Rennac (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Volke, Sothe (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Heather (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Anna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Gaius, Gangrel, Leif (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Kaze, Saizo, Kagero, Niles, Shura, Asugi, Nina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Petra, Yuri (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Yunaka, Zelkov (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
Changed line(s) 805,847 (click to see context) from:
* AchillesHeel:
** As a "criminal" class, thieves suffer effective damage when hit by the Ladyblade in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. This effect never appears again, note even in the remake of ''Mystery of the Emblem''.
** In ''The Sacred Stones'', Thieves, Rogues and Assassins all take effective damage from the Swordslayer axe.
* AllSwordsAreTheSame: A particularly amusing exaggeration: in the Archanea[[note]]NES version[[/note]], Jugdral[[note]]in the map animations[[/note]], and GBA games, all swords look like ''knives'' when used by members of the Thief class family!
* AnimalMotifs: Assassins in ''Three Houses'' wear [[ScaryScorpions scorpion-themed]] outfits reflecting their stealth and efficiency as surprise killers.
* ArmCannon: Not in the conventional sense, but to go along with launching magic with {{Finger Gun}}s, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' have their critical animation use their right arm ending in a fist as one to fire off magic as well.
* BanditMook: When they're enemies. Usually they target treasure chests, though in some games they can destroy villages which give out items and money, which is a role sometimes shared with Brigands/Pirates/Barbarians.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: ''Awakening''[='=]s Assassins has three blades attached on each arm. Ninjas have one on every wrist, and Master Ninjas attach them all over their arms; from shoulder to wrist.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: Assassins in ''Awakening'' and Bow Knights in ''Fates''. Thieves in ''Three Houses'' also wield bows and swords.
* CombatMedic: Tricksters and Adventurers gain the use of staves with swords and bows respectively.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: In ''Fates'', all knives and shurikens have the added effect of lowering the target's defensive stats.
* DeepCoverAgent: The thieves which are not [[GentlemanThief Gentleman Thieves]] or {{Classy Cat Burglar}}s tend to be working for some noble family.
* DefogOfWar: With the exception of ''Thracia 776'' ([[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the first game to introduce fog of war, mind you]]), ''Path of Radiance'', the DS remakes, and ''Three Houses'', thieves have really high vision in fog of war, making them good asset to bring them in. Combine it with the Torch item, they'll likely uncover most of the map.
* DeviousDaggers: Almost every one of their appearances draws their swords as knives for some reason; they didn't become full-fledged knife-wielders until Tellius, when knives became a weapon type. Master Ninja in ''Fates'' gain Shurikenfaire, which boost their damage output for wielding shuriken/daggers. ''Heroes'' has a tendency to change sword-wielding Thieves and Assassins to using daggers.
* ExperienceBooster: Interestingly, they're on the giving ''and'' receiving end of this trope in some games, where they receive extra experience from combat due to being considered a "low-power" class (on the same level as [[TheGoomba Soldiers]] and [[SupportPartyMember Clerics]], for example), but to compensate for the player, enemy Thieves have a flat bonus to experience given - which typically results in them actually giving out ''more'' experience than other enemies. Also, whenever Lethality is activated in the GBA games, you gain double the amount of experience.
* FingerGun: For some inexplicable reason, Tricksters do this in ''Three Houses'' for some of their magic casting (as far as anyone can tell you firearms have yet to see the light of day in the franchise)[[note]]Ship cannons are seen on the Almyran ships in the Derdriu map in ''Three Houses'', but are never seen being used at all, hinting that there are firearms outside of Fódlan, and while there are usable cannons in ''Engage'', the ones wielded by Mage Cannoneers are more magical in nature and the statonary ones that launches fire are more likely propelled by fire itself and not gunpowder[[/note]]. Heck, even their critical animation fires off spells as if they have an ArmCannon.
* FlashStep: Assassins and Ninjas are practitioners of this art.
* FragileSpeedster: Thieves have horribly lackluster defenses, but make up for it with their immense Speed, allowing them to dodge practically everything not backed by a weapon triangle or terrain advantage.
** In addition, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn ''Duelist's Blow'' upon mastering the class. Duelist's Blow raise evasion by 20 when attacking.
* GentlemanThief: Most allied thieves tend toward this (except for Heather, who's more of a ClassyCatBurglar); the only real exception is [[{{Jerkass}} Lifis]].
* HPToOne: Bane, the mastery skill of Whispers.
* KleptomaniacHero: When allied.
* InstakillMook: Averted. Throughout the series, the developers went out of their way to make sure enemy Assassins ''never'' have Lethality. In ''Blazing Blade'', the only Assassin boss has magic swords that prevent him from dealing critical hits and, in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', generic Assassins are programmed to never randomly generate the Lethality skill, no matter how the RNG rolls. This is because having an enemy that could randomly kill your units in [[{{Permadeath}} Classic]] mode is completely unfair. The only time enemy Assassins have Lethality is [[spoiler:one paralogue in ''Awakening'' but because the enemy is copied from your party, you can control whether the enemy has Lethality or not. In turn, Jaffar having it in Rogues & Redeemers is for the challenge]].
* LuckySeven: The Trickster in ''Awakening'' and Adventurer in ''Fates'' get the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Lucky Seven]] skill at Level 5. The skill gives them +20 Hit and Avoid for the first 7 turns. In ''Three Houses'', Lucky Seven became the Trickster's class skill and it functions differently. It increases one of seven stats by 5: Strength, Magic, Speed, Defense, Resistance, or Hit and Avoid, at the start of the unit's turn.
* MageKiller: Ninja in ''Fates'' have high Resistance to complement the modified weapon triangle, in which knives/shuriken are effective against tomes, making them even more effective than Sky Knights in this role.
* MagicKnight: Tricksters can use magic staves in ''Awakening'', allowing them to function as a CombatMedic of sorts. In ''Three Houses'', they can use a slew of Faith and Reason magic spells, making them more akin to a RedMage.
* MagikarpPower: You'd be mad to put a thief in the thick of combat. Then they become Assassins. Shit starts dying en masse. Averted in ''Fates''. Ninja are fast and extremely useful debuffers throughout the game, while Outlaws are the only unpromoted Nohrian unit type that can use bows.
* MasterOfUnlocking: Locktouch, their innate skill, allows them to unlock doors and chests without the use of keys. In ''Path of Radiance'' and onward, there are no Lockpicks and they can instead open doors and chests as a passive ability.
* {{Ninja}}: The Ninja/Master Ninja class in ''Fates''.
* OneHitKill: Lethality, the mastery skill of Assassins and Master Ninja, and also Assassinate, the mastery Combat Art of Assassins in ''Three Houses''. However, its activation rate is lower compared to other skills.[[note]]Half the CriticalHit rate in ''Blazing Blade'', ''Sacred Stones'', and ''Path of Radiance''; Skill divided by 2 in ''Radiant Dawn''; Skill divided by 4 in ''Awakening'', ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses''.[[/note]]
** Noteworthy is that enemy Assassins or Master Ninja will never have Lethality, [[spoiler:with exception of four maps in ''Awakening'']] and in ''Blazing Blade'', an Assassin boss always carries a magic sword which can never deal critical hits. This is so that these enemies doesn't kill your unit in one hit in a game with permadeath.
* PhantomThief: Trickster in ''Awakening'' is literally described as a glamorous phantom thief.
* PoisonedWeapons:
** The Poison Strike skill learned by the Ninja class inflicts damage equal to 20% of the enemy's maximum HP after every combat should the skill's wielder survive, regardless if the attack hits or not.
** In ''Three Houses'', Assassins in Maddening Mode will have the Poison skill, which may let them inflict poison to your units.
* ReverseGrip: They typically wield their bladed weapons like this, from daggers to swords.
* SecretArt: [[OneHitKill Lethality]].
* StatusBuff: In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Bow Knights gain Rally Skill.
* SwapTeleportation: Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn the Foul Play combat art upon mastering the class. Foul Play allow the Trickster to swap positions with an ally within 1 to 5 range. This combat art is exclusive to Tricksters.
* ThiefBag: The Thief and Rogue sprites in the GBA games are depicted carrying sacks.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. Assassins in the GBA games and the Tellius games are exclusively a player-only class, because having an enemy class that can one-shot your units can be very unfair. Averted with ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' as Assassins are used but will never generate Lethality (or Assassinate in ''Three Houses'').
* VideoGameStealing: Depends on the game, but they can typically steal either gear or gold from enemies. But in all of the games, they have the ability to open chests and steal their contents.
* WeakButSkilled: They usually have very low Strength which makes them not great for combat, but they typically have very high Skill which, coupled with their equally high Speed, can make them quite deadly if properly trained.
** As a "criminal" class, thieves suffer effective damage when hit by the Ladyblade in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. This effect never appears again, note even in the remake of ''Mystery of the Emblem''.
** In ''The Sacred Stones'', Thieves, Rogues and Assassins all take effective damage from the Swordslayer axe.
* AllSwordsAreTheSame: A particularly amusing exaggeration: in the Archanea[[note]]NES version[[/note]], Jugdral[[note]]in the map animations[[/note]], and GBA games, all swords look like ''knives'' when used by members of the Thief class family!
* AnimalMotifs: Assassins in ''Three Houses'' wear [[ScaryScorpions scorpion-themed]] outfits reflecting their stealth and efficiency as surprise killers.
* ArmCannon: Not in the conventional sense, but to go along with launching magic with {{Finger Gun}}s, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' have their critical animation use their right arm ending in a fist as one to fire off magic as well.
* BanditMook: When they're enemies. Usually they target treasure chests, though in some games they can destroy villages which give out items and money, which is a role sometimes shared with Brigands/Pirates/Barbarians.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: ''Awakening''[='=]s Assassins has three blades attached on each arm. Ninjas have one on every wrist, and Master Ninjas attach them all over their arms; from shoulder to wrist.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: Assassins in ''Awakening'' and Bow Knights in ''Fates''. Thieves in ''Three Houses'' also wield bows and swords.
* CombatMedic: Tricksters and Adventurers gain the use of staves with swords and bows respectively.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: In ''Fates'', all knives and shurikens have the added effect of lowering the target's defensive stats.
* DeepCoverAgent: The thieves which are not [[GentlemanThief Gentleman Thieves]] or {{Classy Cat Burglar}}s tend to be working for some noble family.
* DefogOfWar: With the exception of ''Thracia 776'' ([[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the first game to introduce fog of war, mind you]]), ''Path of Radiance'', the DS remakes, and ''Three Houses'', thieves have really high vision in fog of war, making them good asset to bring them in. Combine it with the Torch item, they'll likely uncover most of the map.
* DeviousDaggers: Almost every one of their appearances draws their swords as knives for some reason; they didn't become full-fledged knife-wielders until Tellius, when knives became a weapon type. Master Ninja in ''Fates'' gain Shurikenfaire, which boost their damage output for wielding shuriken/daggers. ''Heroes'' has a tendency to change sword-wielding Thieves and Assassins to using daggers.
* ExperienceBooster: Interestingly, they're on the giving ''and'' receiving end of this trope in some games, where they receive extra experience from combat due to being considered a "low-power" class (on the same level as [[TheGoomba Soldiers]] and [[SupportPartyMember Clerics]], for example), but to compensate for the player, enemy Thieves have a flat bonus to experience given - which typically results in them actually giving out ''more'' experience than other enemies. Also, whenever Lethality is activated in the GBA games, you gain double the amount of experience.
* FingerGun: For some inexplicable reason, Tricksters do this in ''Three Houses'' for some of their magic casting (as far as anyone can tell you firearms have yet to see the light of day in the franchise)[[note]]Ship cannons are seen on the Almyran ships in the Derdriu map in ''Three Houses'', but are never seen being used at all, hinting that there are firearms outside of Fódlan, and while there are usable cannons in ''Engage'', the ones wielded by Mage Cannoneers are more magical in nature and the statonary ones that launches fire are more likely propelled by fire itself and not gunpowder[[/note]]. Heck, even their critical animation fires off spells as if they have an ArmCannon.
* FlashStep: Assassins and Ninjas are practitioners of this art.
* FragileSpeedster: Thieves have horribly lackluster defenses, but make up for it with their immense Speed, allowing them to dodge practically everything not backed by a weapon triangle or terrain advantage.
** In addition, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn ''Duelist's Blow'' upon mastering the class. Duelist's Blow raise evasion by 20 when attacking.
* GentlemanThief: Most allied thieves tend toward this (except for Heather, who's more of a ClassyCatBurglar); the only real exception is [[{{Jerkass}} Lifis]].
* HPToOne: Bane, the mastery skill of Whispers.
* KleptomaniacHero: When allied.
* InstakillMook: Averted. Throughout the series, the developers went out of their way to make sure enemy Assassins ''never'' have Lethality. In ''Blazing Blade'', the only Assassin boss has magic swords that prevent him from dealing critical hits and, in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', generic Assassins are programmed to never randomly generate the Lethality skill, no matter how the RNG rolls. This is because having an enemy that could randomly kill your units in [[{{Permadeath}} Classic]] mode is completely unfair. The only time enemy Assassins have Lethality is [[spoiler:one paralogue in ''Awakening'' but because the enemy is copied from your party, you can control whether the enemy has Lethality or not. In turn, Jaffar having it in Rogues & Redeemers is for the challenge]].
* LuckySeven: The Trickster in ''Awakening'' and Adventurer in ''Fates'' get the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Lucky Seven]] skill at Level 5. The skill gives them +20 Hit and Avoid for the first 7 turns. In ''Three Houses'', Lucky Seven became the Trickster's class skill and it functions differently. It increases one of seven stats by 5: Strength, Magic, Speed, Defense, Resistance, or Hit and Avoid, at the start of the unit's turn.
* MageKiller: Ninja in ''Fates'' have high Resistance to complement the modified weapon triangle, in which knives/shuriken are effective against tomes, making them even more effective than Sky Knights in this role.
* MagicKnight: Tricksters can use magic staves in ''Awakening'', allowing them to function as a CombatMedic of sorts. In ''Three Houses'', they can use a slew of Faith and Reason magic spells, making them more akin to a RedMage.
* MagikarpPower: You'd be mad to put a thief in the thick of combat. Then they become Assassins. Shit starts dying en masse. Averted in ''Fates''. Ninja are fast and extremely useful debuffers throughout the game, while Outlaws are the only unpromoted Nohrian unit type that can use bows.
* MasterOfUnlocking: Locktouch, their innate skill, allows them to unlock doors and chests without the use of keys. In ''Path of Radiance'' and onward, there are no Lockpicks and they can instead open doors and chests as a passive ability.
* {{Ninja}}: The Ninja/Master Ninja class in ''Fates''.
* OneHitKill: Lethality, the mastery skill of Assassins and Master Ninja, and also Assassinate, the mastery Combat Art of Assassins in ''Three Houses''. However, its activation rate is lower compared to other skills.[[note]]Half the CriticalHit rate in ''Blazing Blade'', ''Sacred Stones'', and ''Path of Radiance''; Skill divided by 2 in ''Radiant Dawn''; Skill divided by 4 in ''Awakening'', ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses''.[[/note]]
** Noteworthy is that enemy Assassins or Master Ninja will never have Lethality, [[spoiler:with exception of four maps in ''Awakening'']] and in ''Blazing Blade'', an Assassin boss always carries a magic sword which can never deal critical hits. This is so that these enemies doesn't kill your unit in one hit in a game with permadeath.
* PhantomThief: Trickster in ''Awakening'' is literally described as a glamorous phantom thief.
* PoisonedWeapons:
** The Poison Strike skill learned by the Ninja class inflicts damage equal to 20% of the enemy's maximum HP after every combat should the skill's wielder survive, regardless if the attack hits or not.
** In ''Three Houses'', Assassins in Maddening Mode will have the Poison skill, which may let them inflict poison to your units.
* ReverseGrip: They typically wield their bladed weapons like this, from daggers to swords.
* SecretArt: [[OneHitKill Lethality]].
* StatusBuff: In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Bow Knights gain Rally Skill.
* SwapTeleportation: Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn the Foul Play combat art upon mastering the class. Foul Play allow the Trickster to swap positions with an ally within 1 to 5 range. This combat art is exclusive to Tricksters.
* ThiefBag: The Thief and Rogue sprites in the GBA games are depicted carrying sacks.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. Assassins in the GBA games and the Tellius games are exclusively a player-only class, because having an enemy class that can one-shot your units can be very unfair. Averted with ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' as Assassins are used but will never generate Lethality (or Assassinate in ''Three Houses'').
* VideoGameStealing: Depends on the game, but they can typically steal either gear or gold from enemies. But in all of the games, they have the ability to open chests and steal their contents.
* WeakButSkilled: They usually have very low Strength which makes them not great for combat, but they typically have very high Skill which, coupled with their equally high Speed, can make them quite deadly if properly trained.
to:
* AchillesHeel:
** AsAchillesHeel: All monsters are weak against the Bishop's Slayer skill, the Falcon Knight's Banish skill, and the Sacred Twin weapons (except for Gleipnir). Giant Crawlers are able to negate this weakness as a "criminal" class, thieves suffer effective latent ability when down to their last healthbars [[spoiler:and Hegemon Husk Edelgard negates her monster weakness from the outset of fighting her.]] In addition, Gargoyles/Deathgoyles/Garuda, Draco Zombies/White Dragons/Fafnirs, Giant Birds,and White Beasts are treated as flying units and are thereby weak to bows and the Wind Sword, and Tarvos/Maelduins are treated as mounted units and are weak to weapons that do additional damage when hit by to them. Lastly, all Demonic Beast variants (wild, exp. base, winged, and giant), the Ladyblade in ''Mystery Lord of the Emblem''. This effect never appears again, note even in the remake of ''Mystery Lake, Lord of the Emblem''.
**Desert, White Beasts, and The Immaculate One are all dragons meaning they also share a weakness to anti-dragon weaponry and abilities.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: Dracozombie's attacks completely ignore defense so watch your units that have less HP than their attack. [[spoiler:The Immaculate One's Staggering Blow in Silver Snow, Hoarfrost, completely ignore any defenses.]]
* {{BFS}}: A Titanus carries one called a Giant Katar, wielding it in one hand and it's capable of firing [[SwordBeam energy beams]] from it for ranged combat.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Baels and Elder Baels, which are absolutely ''huge'' spiders.
* BlowYouAway: The Lord of the Desert utilizes magical wind to attack his foes, with his bird-like design helping the mofit. Giant Wolves and Giant Crawlers will also make use of this for their staggering blows--quickly spinning or sweeping in place to generate a harsh gust of wind, and Winged Demonic Beasts generate sharp wind crescents for ranged combat.
* BossInMookClothing: Draco Zombies (and White Dragons in ''Gaiden''). In''The Sacred fact, unless you do [[BonusDungeon the Lagdou Ruins]] in their entirety ''as soon'' as they become available, the first one you encounter in ''Sacred Stones'' will actually ''be'' a boss, complete with unique sprite! [[spoiler:Technically speaking, though, his class is still listed as Manakete...]]
* BreathWeapon: Draco Zombies usually attack with a dark breath. In ''Three Houses'', all Demonic Beast variants save for the Giant Demonic Beasts are capable of breathing fire (or poison for the Wild Demonic Beasts), and White Beasts on the other hand sport magic, holy blue flames instead.[[spoiler:The Immaculate One can also exple holy blue flames or a vaporizing beam of light).]]
* CastingAShadow: Mogalls/Arch Mogalls and Gorgons. Draco Zombies also have wretched air, a stream of fetid dark flames spewed at their target.
* {{Cyclops}}: The fittingly named [[ClassicalCyclops Cyclops]] in ''Sacred Stones'',Thieves, Rogues which is one of the more powerful monsters. ''Echoes'' redesigns the Lich as well as introduces the Titan and Assassins all Deimos to have this look; the artbook suggests that the Lich and Titan respectively had the heads of one-eyed goats or bulls while the Deimos wore a sone-eyed monster's skull for a mask.
* DamageReduction: The Titanus and the Lord of the Lake are both outfitted with Pavise and Aegis as long as their barriers are up, making it even more difficult to takeeffective damage them down.
* DracoLich: The fittingly named Draco Zombies are among the toughest foes in all three of their appearances which consist of ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* DishingOutDirt: A Stoneborn attacks by hurling out giant boulders from theSwordslayer axe.
cavity under its mask. Giant Crawlers, Giant Wolves, and Giant Demonic Beasts will also pick up giant rocks and hurl them at their enemies as ranged attacks.
*AllSwordsAreTheSame: A particularly amusing exaggeration: EvilCounterpart: Several Monster classes have human counterparts. The Titanus can function as one to the Golem and Altered Golem, with the latter two having close ties to the Chruch of Seiros while the former is employed by one of the two church's enemy factions[[spoiler:--Those who Slither in the Archanea[[note]]NES version[[/note]], Jugdral[[note]]in Dark]]. In ''Engage'', the map animations[[/note]], Fell-Dragon aligned corrupted variants of this game's monsters serve as this to the fabrication variants of them, as the latter are created by the Divine Dragons and GBA games, all swords look like ''knives'' when used by members Emblems.
* FeatherFlechettes: Giant Birds will fire off their feathers as their ranged attack and also [[FlechetteStorm unleash a barrage of them]] as their staggering blow.
* FragileSpeedster: Mauthe Doogs and Gwyllgis are theThief class family!
* AnimalMotifs: Assassinsmonster counterparts to the Myrmidon line. Also, the giant animals in ''Three Houses'' wear [[ScaryScorpions scorpion-themed]] outfits reflecting are considerably faster and harder to hit compared to most other monsters of the Demonic Beast build, but their stealth barriers are more easily broken and efficiency they typically do not hit as surprise killers.
hard.
*ArmCannon: Not GeoEffects: Phantoms completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties because they are ethereal beings with no solid, tangible forms.
* GiantMook: Monsters in ''Three Houses'' are large, take up to at least 4 spaces rather than 1 space like most units. Their giant size can either block or be blocked by units, they can be roadblocked by obstacles or units that have only one space gap. [[spoiler:Hegemon Husk Edelgard is the exception to this trope, being no bigger than a regular unit map-wise.]]
* HealingFactor: The Lord of the Lake possesses this ability in addition to its myriad of defensive skills and the [[LastChanceHitPoint Miracle]] ability.
* {{Hellhound}}: The Mauthe Doogs and the Gwyllgis in ''Sacred Stones''. The latter had three heads instead of one and were even called Cerberus in theconventional sense, but to go along Japanese version.
* HumongousMecha: The Golems, Altered Golems, and Titanuses are massive automatons withlaunching equally large armaments (lances of light for the golems and giant katars for the Titanuses).
* IFightForTheStrongestSide: Faceless are created with no minds of their own and simply act on primal bestial instinct to attack others. Practitioners of Dark Magic are able to bend and enslave them to their will. Such people include Iago, Leo, and Rhajat.
* LastChanceHitPoint: The Lord of the Lake and White Beasts possess Miracle which may save them from an otherwise fatal blow, ensuring that they will not be easy to take down )especially the White Beasts with their high Luck stat factoring into it).
* TheLegionsOfHell: Dolth, a boss in the original ''Gaiden'' says in his MagicalIncantation that he's summoning the Dracozombies from Hell. Fiends are described as from the nether realm in ''Shadows of Valentia''.
* LightIsNotGood: The White Beasts are frenzied dragons that expel holy blue flames as their attack. The same can be said of the Golems and Altered Golems [[spoiler:should Rhea descend into insanity]]. [[spoiler:The Immaculate One, whether willingly antagonistic or degenerated, also counts with both the holy blue flames or her vaporizing light breath.]]
* MakingASplash: The Lord of the Lake utilizes magic water to attack foes and is suitably designed after a turtle, a potentially aquatic creature.
* MightyGlacier: Cyclopes, who wield strong axes and has high defenses and bloated HP, they are very slow to which they can be compared to Knights. Although their stat caps tend towards LightningBruiser with{{Finger Gun}}s, Tricksters high Speed and Skill, few Cyclops enemies get close to those caps. The majority of monsters in ''Three Houses'' besides the giant animals are typically like this.
* MultipleLifeBars: The monsters in ''Three Houses'' have several health bars. With each depleted bar, they may gain stat boosts and an additional skill.
* NoSell: Altered Demonic Beasts and Altered Golems have armor that grants them complete immunity to magic damage until the armor breaks.
* NotUsingTheZWord: Averted in the Japanese version, where Revenants are called Zombies.
* {{Oculothorax}}: Mogalls, Arch Mogalls, and Balors are giant eyeballs with tentacles.
* OneHitPointWonder: Phantoms have only 1 HP. If they are summoned with a Devil Axe equipped, it is possible for it to die attacking before an enemy attacks.
* OurCentaursAreDifferent: Tarvos and Maelduin appear like traditional savage centaurs except with dark grey/black skin. They use axes and bows.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The Demonic Beasts are dragon-like creatures, thus vulnerable to anti-dragon attacks. [[spoiler:Indech and Macuil's dragon form is based on a turtle and bird, respectively.]]
* OurMonstersAreDifferent: They appear to lack sentience of theircritical animation use own, and mindlessly carry out the bidding of their right arm ending summoner.
* PermanentlyMissableContent: Phantoms cannot trade, so if it kills an enemy and obtains an item from it, the item will be inaccessible to other units.
* PinataEnemy: Revenants and Entombed are fairly unimposing aside from their large stores of HP, but give out great amounts of EXP -- the latter is pretty much a guaranteed level-up for an base-class unit. (This has carried over to ''Awakening''.) Also, Gorgon Eggs are immobile and incapable of attacking and give out exactly 50 EXP when destroyed regardless of the attacking unit's level. Also, they start out with only a few HP and start healing every turn at a certain point, and if allowed to heal to full, they turn into [[GoddamnedBats Gorgons.]] Tomb Lords, introduced in ''Echoes'', are more of afist downplayed example as one to fire off magic as well.
* BanditMook: Whenwhile they do give out large amounts of EXP, they're enemies. Usually also difficult to take down and are easily capable of killing just about anyone.
* PoisonousPerson: Wild Demonic Beasts are poisonous creatures, theytarget treasure chests, though in some games they can destroy villages have the Poison and Poison Strike skills. Some Tomb Lords may also possess venin claws, which give out items and money, which is a role sometimes shared with Brigands/Pirates/Barbarians.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: ''Awakening''[='=]s Assassins has three blades attachedon each arm. Ninjas have one on every wrist, and Master Ninjas attach them all over top of their arms; from shoulder to wrist.
scary strength makes them more dangerous.
*BowAndSwordInAccord: Assassins in ''Awakening'' and Bow Knights in ''Fates''. Thieves RoarBeforeBeating: Monster units in ''Three Houses'' also wield bows and swords.
* CombatMedic: Tricksters and Adventurers gain the use of staves with swords and bows respectively.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: In ''Fates'', all knives and shurikens have the added effect of lowering the target's defensive stats.
* DeepCoverAgent: The thieves which are not [[GentlemanThief Gentleman Thieves]] or {{Classy Cat Burglar}}s tend to be working for some noble family.
* DefogOfWar: With the exception of ''Thracia 776'' ([[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the first game to introduce fog of war, mind you]]), ''Path of Radiance'', the DS remakes, and ''Three Houses'', thieves have really high vision in fog of war, making them good asset to bring them in. Combine it with the Torch item, they'll likely uncover most of the map.
* DeviousDaggers: Almost every one ofdo this as they prepare their appearances draws their swords as knives for some reason; they didn't become full-fledged knife-wielders until Tellius, when knives became a weapon type. Master Ninja in ''Fates'' gain Shurikenfaire, which boost their damage output for wielding shuriken/daggers. ''Heroes'' has a tendency to change sword-wielding Thieves and Assassins to using daggers.
* ExperienceBooster: Interestingly, they're on the giving ''and'' receiving endStaggering Blow--a meaty {{area of this trope in some games, where they receive extra experience effect}} attack that can hit from combat due to being considered a "low-power" class (on the same level as [[TheGoomba Soldiers]] 8, 10, or 12 squares in two rows of four/five or three rows of four up in front of it and [[SupportPartyMember Clerics]], for example), but to compensate for the player, enemy Thieves have a flat bonus to experience given - which cannot be countered, typically results reducing the victims' stats and inflicting various status effects (including against allied units). All opposing factions had best fell the monster, break its barries, or get out of dodge before then.
* SandWorm: The Giant Crawlers are earthworms jacked up to a huge size and are capable of moving through the much-maligned desert tiles with no issue.
* SelfDuplication: Mogalls and Balors possess the ability to make copies of themselves in ''Gaiden'' and ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia''.
* SinisterScimitar: Melee Bonewalkers use this in both ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* SinisterScythe: Gargoyles and their relatives wield scythes in ''Gaiden''.
* SquishyWizard: Mogalls and Arch Mogalls.
* SummonMagic: Phantoms can be summoned by the Summoner and Necromancer Classes in ''Sacred Stones''. Certain player and enemy units could also summon units as AI allies.
* SuperToughness: The Lord of the Lake and the Lord of the Desert (as well as The Immaculate One) possess Ancient Dragonskin, naturally halving all incoming damage, and so long as their barriers are up they have access to Dragon-Scale Wall that reduces the damage even further by a whopping ''70%''.
* TakenForGranite: Gorgon enemies can cast a spell called "Stone" which petrifies your units. Petrified units cannot move and any attack against themactually giving out ''more'' experience than other enemies. Also, whenever Lethality is activated in will have a 100% chance of hitting and a 30% chance of being a critical hit.
* WasOnceAMan: Many of theGBA games, you gain double the amount of experience.
* FingerGun: For some inexplicable reason, Tricksters do thismonster classes in ''Three Houses'' for some of their magic casting (as far as anyone can tell you firearms have yet to see [[spoiler:were humans transformed by crest stones. Especially, the light of day in Black Beast from Miklan, the franchise)[[note]]Ship cannons are seen on Wandering Beast from Maurice, the Almyran ships in Giant Demonic Beast from Dedue, the Derdriu map in ''Three Houses'', but are never seen being used at all, hinting that there are firearms outside of Fódlan, cardinals turned White Beasts, and while there are usable cannons in ''Engage'', Edelgard as the ones wielded by Mage Cannoneers are more magical in nature and the statonary ones that launches fire are more likely propelled by fire itself and not gunpowder[[/note]]. Heck, even their critical animation fires off spells as if they have an ArmCannon.
Hegemon Husk.]]
*FlashStep: Assassins and Ninjas are practitioners of this art.
* FragileSpeedster: Thieves have horribly lackluster defenses, but make up for itWolfpackBoss: The Lagdou Ruins end with their immense Speed, allowing them to dodge practically everything not backed by a weapon triangle or terrain advantage.
** In addition, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn ''Duelist's Blow'' upon mastering the class. Duelist's Blow raise evasion by 20 when attacking.
* GentlemanThief: Most allied thieves tend toward this (except for Heather, who's more of a ClassyCatBurglar); the only real exception is [[{{Jerkass}} Lifis]].
* HPToOne: Bane, the mastery skill of Whispers.
* KleptomaniacHero: When allied.
* InstakillMook: Averted. Throughout the series, the developers went out of their way to make sure enemy Assassins ''never'' have Lethality. In ''Blazing Blade'', the only Assassin boss has magic swords that prevent him from dealing critical hits and, in ''Awakening''stage containing eight Draco Zombies and ''Fates'', generic Assassins are programmed to never randomly generate the Lethality skill, no matter how the RNG rolls. This is because having an enemy that could randomly kill your units in [[{{Permadeath}} Classic]] mode is completely unfair. The only time enemy Assassins have Lethality is [[spoiler:one paralogue in ''Awakening'' but because the enemy is copied from your party, you can control whether the enemy has Lethality or not. In turn, Jaffar having it in Rogues & Redeemers is for the challenge]].
* LuckySeven: The Trickster in ''Awakening'' and Adventurer in ''Fates'' get the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Lucky Seven]] skill at Level 5. The skill gives them +20 Hit and Avoid for the first 7 turns. In ''Three Houses'', Lucky Seven became the Trickster's class skill and it functions differently. It increases one of seven stats by 5: Strength, Magic, Speed, Defense, Resistance, or Hit and Avoid, at the start of the unit's turn.
* MageKiller: Ninja in ''Fates'' have high Resistance to complement the modified weapon triangle, in which knives/shuriken are effective against tomes, making them even more effective than Sky Knights in this role.
* MagicKnight: Tricksters can use magic staves in ''Awakening'', allowing them to function as a CombatMedic of sorts. In ''Three Houses'', they can use a slew of Faith and Reason magic spells, making them more akin to a RedMage.
* MagikarpPower: You'd be mad to put a thief in the thick of combat. Then they become Assassins. Shit starts dying en masse. Averted in ''Fates''. Ninja are fast and extremely useful debuffers throughout the game, while Outlaws are the only unpromoted Nohrian unit type that can use bows.
* MasterOfUnlocking: Locktouch, their innate skill, allows them to unlock doors and chests without the use of keys. In ''Path of Radiance'' and onward, there are no Lockpicks and they can instead open doors and chests as a passive ability.
* {{Ninja}}: The Ninja/Master Ninja class in ''Fates''.
* OneHitKill: Lethality, the mastery skill of Assassins and Master Ninja, and also Assassinate, the mastery Combat Art of Assassins in ''Three Houses''. However, its activation rate is lower compared toother skills.[[note]]Half the CriticalHit rate in ''Blazing Blade'', ''Sacred Stones'', and ''Path of Radiance''; Skill divided by 2 in ''Radiant Dawn''; Skill divided by 4 in ''Awakening'', ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses''.[[/note]]
** Noteworthy is that enemy Assassins or Master Ninja will never have Lethality, [[spoiler:with exception of four maps in ''Awakening'']] and in ''Blazing Blade'', an Assassin boss always carries a magic sword which can never deal critical hits. This is so that these enemies doesn't kill your unit in one hit in a game with permadeath.
* PhantomThief: Trickster in ''Awakening'' is literally described as a glamorous phantom thief.
* PoisonedWeapons:
** The Poison Strike skill learned by the Ninja class inflicts damage equal to 20% of the enemy's maximum HP after every combat should the skill's wielder survive, regardless if the attack hits or not.
** In ''Three Houses'', Assassins in Maddening Mode will have the Poison skill, which may let them inflict poison to your units.
* ReverseGrip: They typically wield their bladed weapons like this, from daggers to swords.
* SecretArt: [[OneHitKill Lethality]].
* StatusBuff: In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Bow Knights gain Rally Skill.
* SwapTeleportation: Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn the Foul Play combat art upon mastering the class. Foul Play allow the Trickster to swap positions with an ally within 1 to 5 range. This combat art is exclusive to Tricksters.
* ThiefBag: The Thief and Rogue sprites in the GBA games are depicted carrying sacks.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. Assassins in the GBA games and the Tellius games are exclusively a player-only class, because having an enemy class that can one-shot your units can be very unfair. Averted with ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' as Assassins are used but will never generate Lethality (or Assassinate in ''Three Houses'').
* VideoGameStealing: Depends on the game, but they can typically steal either gear or gold from enemies. But in all of the games, they have the ability to open chests and steal their contents.
* WeakButSkilled: They usually have very low Strength which makes them not great for combat, but they typically have very high Skill which, coupled with their equally high Speed, can make them quite deadly if properly trained.enemies.
** As
**
* ArmorPiercingAttack: Dracozombie's attacks completely ignore defense so watch your units that have less HP than their attack. [[spoiler:The Immaculate One's Staggering Blow in Silver Snow, Hoarfrost, completely ignore any defenses.]]
* {{BFS}}: A Titanus carries one called a Giant Katar, wielding it in one hand and it's capable of firing [[SwordBeam energy beams]] from it for ranged combat.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Baels and Elder Baels, which are absolutely ''huge'' spiders.
* BlowYouAway: The Lord of the Desert utilizes magical wind to attack his foes, with his bird-like design helping the mofit. Giant Wolves and Giant Crawlers will also make use of this for their staggering blows--quickly spinning or sweeping in place to generate a harsh gust of wind, and Winged Demonic Beasts generate sharp wind crescents for ranged combat.
* BossInMookClothing: Draco Zombies (and White Dragons in ''Gaiden''). In
* BreathWeapon: Draco Zombies usually attack with a dark breath. In ''Three Houses'', all Demonic Beast variants save for the Giant Demonic Beasts are capable of breathing fire (or poison for the Wild Demonic Beasts), and White Beasts on the other hand sport magic, holy blue flames instead.[[spoiler:The Immaculate One can also exple holy blue flames or a vaporizing beam of light).]]
* CastingAShadow: Mogalls/Arch Mogalls and Gorgons. Draco Zombies also have wretched air, a stream of fetid dark flames spewed at their target.
* {{Cyclops}}: The fittingly named [[ClassicalCyclops Cyclops]] in ''Sacred Stones'',
* DamageReduction: The Titanus and the Lord of the Lake are both outfitted with Pavise and Aegis as long as their barriers are up, making it even more difficult to take
* DracoLich: The fittingly named Draco Zombies are among the toughest foes in all three of their appearances which consist of ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* DishingOutDirt: A Stoneborn attacks by hurling out giant boulders from the
*
* FeatherFlechettes: Giant Birds will fire off their feathers as their ranged attack and also [[FlechetteStorm unleash a barrage of them]] as their staggering blow.
* FragileSpeedster: Mauthe Doogs and Gwyllgis are the
* AnimalMotifs: Assassins
*
* GiantMook: Monsters in ''Three Houses'' are large, take up to at least 4 spaces rather than 1 space like most units. Their giant size can either block or be blocked by units, they can be roadblocked by obstacles or units that have only one space gap. [[spoiler:Hegemon Husk Edelgard is the exception to this trope, being no bigger than a regular unit map-wise.]]
* HealingFactor: The Lord of the Lake possesses this ability in addition to its myriad of defensive skills and the [[LastChanceHitPoint Miracle]] ability.
* {{Hellhound}}: The Mauthe Doogs and the Gwyllgis in ''Sacred Stones''. The latter had three heads instead of one and were even called Cerberus in the
* HumongousMecha: The Golems, Altered Golems, and Titanuses are massive automatons with
* IFightForTheStrongestSide: Faceless are created with no minds of their own and simply act on primal bestial instinct to attack others. Practitioners of Dark Magic are able to bend and enslave them to their will. Such people include Iago, Leo, and Rhajat.
* LastChanceHitPoint: The Lord of the Lake and White Beasts possess Miracle which may save them from an otherwise fatal blow, ensuring that they will not be easy to take down )especially the White Beasts with their high Luck stat factoring into it).
* TheLegionsOfHell: Dolth, a boss in the original ''Gaiden'' says in his MagicalIncantation that he's summoning the Dracozombies from Hell. Fiends are described as from the nether realm in ''Shadows of Valentia''.
* LightIsNotGood: The White Beasts are frenzied dragons that expel holy blue flames as their attack. The same can be said of the Golems and Altered Golems [[spoiler:should Rhea descend into insanity]]. [[spoiler:The Immaculate One, whether willingly antagonistic or degenerated, also counts with both the holy blue flames or her vaporizing light breath.]]
* MakingASplash: The Lord of the Lake utilizes magic water to attack foes and is suitably designed after a turtle, a potentially aquatic creature.
* MightyGlacier: Cyclopes, who wield strong axes and has high defenses and bloated HP, they are very slow to which they can be compared to Knights. Although their stat caps tend towards LightningBruiser with
* MultipleLifeBars: The monsters in ''Three Houses'' have several health bars. With each depleted bar, they may gain stat boosts and an additional skill.
* NoSell: Altered Demonic Beasts and Altered Golems have armor that grants them complete immunity to magic damage until the armor breaks.
* NotUsingTheZWord: Averted in the Japanese version, where Revenants are called Zombies.
* {{Oculothorax}}: Mogalls, Arch Mogalls, and Balors are giant eyeballs with tentacles.
* OneHitPointWonder: Phantoms have only 1 HP. If they are summoned with a Devil Axe equipped, it is possible for it to die attacking before an enemy attacks.
* OurCentaursAreDifferent: Tarvos and Maelduin appear like traditional savage centaurs except with dark grey/black skin. They use axes and bows.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The Demonic Beasts are dragon-like creatures, thus vulnerable to anti-dragon attacks. [[spoiler:Indech and Macuil's dragon form is based on a turtle and bird, respectively.]]
* OurMonstersAreDifferent: They appear to lack sentience of their
* PermanentlyMissableContent: Phantoms cannot trade, so if it kills an enemy and obtains an item from it, the item will be inaccessible to other units.
* PinataEnemy: Revenants and Entombed are fairly unimposing aside from their large stores of HP, but give out great amounts of EXP -- the latter is pretty much a guaranteed level-up for an base-class unit. (This has carried over to ''Awakening''.) Also, Gorgon Eggs are immobile and incapable of attacking and give out exactly 50 EXP when destroyed regardless of the attacking unit's level. Also, they start out with only a few HP and start healing every turn at a certain point, and if allowed to heal to full, they turn into [[GoddamnedBats Gorgons.]] Tomb Lords, introduced in ''Echoes'', are more of a
* BanditMook: When
* PoisonousPerson: Wild Demonic Beasts are poisonous creatures, they
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: ''Awakening''[='=]s Assassins has three blades attached
*
* CombatMedic: Tricksters and Adventurers gain the use of staves with swords and bows respectively.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: In ''Fates'', all knives and shurikens have the added effect of lowering the target's defensive stats.
* DeepCoverAgent: The thieves which are not [[GentlemanThief Gentleman Thieves]] or {{Classy Cat Burglar}}s tend to be working for some noble family.
* DefogOfWar: With the exception of ''Thracia 776'' ([[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the first game to introduce fog of war, mind you]]), ''Path of Radiance'', the DS remakes, and ''Three Houses'', thieves have really high vision in fog of war, making them good asset to bring them in. Combine it with the Torch item, they'll likely uncover most of the map.
* DeviousDaggers: Almost every one of
* ExperienceBooster: Interestingly, they're on the giving ''and'' receiving end
* SandWorm: The Giant Crawlers are earthworms jacked up to a huge size and are capable of moving through the much-maligned desert tiles with no issue.
* SelfDuplication: Mogalls and Balors possess the ability to make copies of themselves in ''Gaiden'' and ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia''.
* SinisterScimitar: Melee Bonewalkers use this in both ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* SinisterScythe: Gargoyles and their relatives wield scythes in ''Gaiden''.
* SquishyWizard: Mogalls and Arch Mogalls.
* SummonMagic: Phantoms can be summoned by the Summoner and Necromancer Classes in ''Sacred Stones''. Certain player and enemy units could also summon units as AI allies.
* SuperToughness: The Lord of the Lake and the Lord of the Desert (as well as The Immaculate One) possess Ancient Dragonskin, naturally halving all incoming damage, and so long as their barriers are up they have access to Dragon-Scale Wall that reduces the damage even further by a whopping ''70%''.
* TakenForGranite: Gorgon enemies can cast a spell called "Stone" which petrifies your units. Petrified units cannot move and any attack against them
* WasOnceAMan: Many of the
* FingerGun: For some inexplicable reason, Tricksters do this
*
* FragileSpeedster: Thieves have horribly lackluster defenses, but make up for it
** In addition, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn ''Duelist's Blow'' upon mastering the class. Duelist's Blow raise evasion by 20 when attacking.
* GentlemanThief: Most allied thieves tend toward this (except for Heather, who's more of a ClassyCatBurglar); the only real exception is [[{{Jerkass}} Lifis]].
* HPToOne: Bane, the mastery skill of Whispers.
* KleptomaniacHero: When allied.
* InstakillMook: Averted. Throughout the series, the developers went out of their way to make sure enemy Assassins ''never'' have Lethality. In ''Blazing Blade'', the only Assassin boss has magic swords that prevent him from dealing critical hits and, in ''Awakening''
* LuckySeven: The Trickster in ''Awakening'' and Adventurer in ''Fates'' get the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Lucky Seven]] skill at Level 5. The skill gives them +20 Hit and Avoid for the first 7 turns. In ''Three Houses'', Lucky Seven became the Trickster's class skill and it functions differently. It increases one of seven stats by 5: Strength, Magic, Speed, Defense, Resistance, or Hit and Avoid, at the start of the unit's turn.
* MageKiller: Ninja in ''Fates'' have high Resistance to complement the modified weapon triangle, in which knives/shuriken are effective against tomes, making them even more effective than Sky Knights in this role.
* MagicKnight: Tricksters can use magic staves in ''Awakening'', allowing them to function as a CombatMedic of sorts. In ''Three Houses'', they can use a slew of Faith and Reason magic spells, making them more akin to a RedMage.
* MagikarpPower: You'd be mad to put a thief in the thick of combat. Then they become Assassins. Shit starts dying en masse. Averted in ''Fates''. Ninja are fast and extremely useful debuffers throughout the game, while Outlaws are the only unpromoted Nohrian unit type that can use bows.
* MasterOfUnlocking: Locktouch, their innate skill, allows them to unlock doors and chests without the use of keys. In ''Path of Radiance'' and onward, there are no Lockpicks and they can instead open doors and chests as a passive ability.
* {{Ninja}}: The Ninja/Master Ninja class in ''Fates''.
* OneHitKill: Lethality, the mastery skill of Assassins and Master Ninja, and also Assassinate, the mastery Combat Art of Assassins in ''Three Houses''. However, its activation rate is lower compared to
** Noteworthy is that enemy Assassins or Master Ninja will never have Lethality, [[spoiler:with exception of four maps in ''Awakening'']] and in ''Blazing Blade'', an Assassin boss always carries a magic sword which can never deal critical hits. This is so that these enemies doesn't kill your unit in one hit in a game with permadeath.
* PhantomThief: Trickster in ''Awakening'' is literally described as a glamorous phantom thief.
* PoisonedWeapons:
** The Poison Strike skill learned by the Ninja class inflicts damage equal to 20% of the enemy's maximum HP after every combat should the skill's wielder survive, regardless if the attack hits or not.
** In ''Three Houses'', Assassins in Maddening Mode will have the Poison skill, which may let them inflict poison to your units.
* ReverseGrip: They typically wield their bladed weapons like this, from daggers to swords.
* SecretArt: [[OneHitKill Lethality]].
* StatusBuff: In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Bow Knights gain Rally Skill.
* SwapTeleportation: Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn the Foul Play combat art upon mastering the class. Foul Play allow the Trickster to swap positions with an ally within 1 to 5 range. This combat art is exclusive to Tricksters.
* ThiefBag: The Thief and Rogue sprites in the GBA games are depicted carrying sacks.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. Assassins in the GBA games and the Tellius games are exclusively a player-only class, because having an enemy class that can one-shot your units can be very unfair. Averted with ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' as Assassins are used but will never generate Lethality (or Assassinate in ''Three Houses'').
* VideoGameStealing: Depends on the game, but they can typically steal either gear or gold from enemies. But in all of the games, they have the ability to open chests and steal their contents.
* WeakButSkilled: They usually have very low Strength which makes them not great for combat, but they typically have very high Skill which, coupled with their equally high Speed, can make them quite deadly if properly trained.
Changed line(s) 850,865 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Witch]]
!!Witch
[[quoteright:228:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/witch_echoes_portrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:228:Witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/994g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Gremories in ''Three Houses'']]
The Witch is a very rare class, only appearing in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' (and ''Shadows of Valentia'' by extension) and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. They are powerful female spellcasters that have the unique Warp ability, which allows them to instantly travel anywhere on the map (''Gaiden'') or teleport adjacent to any ally (''Fates'').\\\
In ''Gaiden'' and ''Shadows of Valentia'', Witches are exclusively [=NPCs=]. Here, they are said to be women who sacrificed themselves to Duma for power, either willingly or unwillingly, which also gives them a pale complexion. ''SOV'' also introduces the similarly-themed '''Vestal''' class, which are flaming spirits.\\\
In ''Fates'', the Witch is a special playable class only obtainable via DLC. Using an item called a Witch's Mark, any female character is able to Class Change into one. They can use Dark Magic (otherwise exclusive to Dark Mages and Sorcerers) via the "Shadowgift" Skill and are capable of getting S-Rank in Tomes/Scrolls.\\\
While the Witch class does not return in ''Three Houses'', it introduces the '''Gremory''' class, which shares traits of the Witch class, including being exclusive to female units and the use of Dark and Black Magic (along with White Magic).
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Lysithea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
!!Witch
[[quoteright:228:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/witch_echoes_portrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:228:Witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/994g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Gremories in ''Three Houses'']]
The Witch is a very rare class, only appearing in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' (and ''Shadows of Valentia'' by extension) and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. They are powerful female spellcasters that have the unique Warp ability, which allows them to instantly travel anywhere on the map (''Gaiden'') or teleport adjacent to any ally (''Fates'').\\\
In ''Gaiden'' and ''Shadows of Valentia'', Witches are exclusively [=NPCs=]. Here, they are said to be women who sacrificed themselves to Duma for power, either willingly or unwillingly, which also gives them a pale complexion. ''SOV'' also introduces the similarly-themed '''Vestal''' class, which are flaming spirits.\\\
In ''Fates'', the Witch is a special playable class only obtainable via DLC. Using an item called a Witch's Mark, any female character is able to Class Change into one. They can use Dark Magic (otherwise exclusive to Dark Mages and Sorcerers) via the "Shadowgift" Skill and are capable of getting S-Rank in Tomes/Scrolls.\\\
While the Witch class does not return in ''Three Houses'', it introduces the '''Gremory''' class, which shares traits of the Witch class, including being exclusive to female units and the use of Dark and Black Magic (along with White Magic).
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Lysithea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
to:
!!Witch
[[quoteright:228:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/witch_echoes_portrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:228:Witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/994g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Gremories in ''Three Houses'']]
The Witch is a very rare class, only appearing in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' (and ''Shadows of Valentia'' by extension) and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. They
!!Overclasses
Overclasses are
In ''Gaiden'' and ''Shadows
* Conqueror: An advanced-tier for the
In ''Fates'', the Witch is a special playable class only obtainable via DLC. Using an item called a Witch's Mark, any female character is able to Class Change into one. They can use Dark Magic (otherwise
* Rigain: An advanced-tier for the
While the Witch class does not return in ''Three Houses'', it introduces the '''Gremory'''
* Spartan: An advanced-tier for the
->'''Playable characters of this
* Enchantress: An advanced-tier for the Priestess class.
* Skogul: An advanced-tier for the Gold Knight class.
* Yasha: An advanced-tier for the Dread Fighter class.
* Harrier: An advanced-tier for the Falcon Knight class.
* Exemplar: An advanced-tier for the Saint class.
* Guru: An advanced-tier for the Sage class.
* Oliphantier: An advanced-tier for the Bow Knight class.
Changed line(s) 867,881 (click to see context) from:
* AlwaysFemale: Witch is a female-only class.
* ArtificialStupidity: Witches' behaviors in ''Gaiden'' are... sporadic to say the least. This is a case of AcceptableBreaksFromReality as making them "smarter" on top of having the ability to move anywhere at will would make them very unbearable to face.
* DealWithTheDevil: In ''Gaiden'', Witches are the result of women sacrificing themselves to Duma for power. [[spoiler:Not always, some of them (Rinea, Sonya's sisters, Delthea, and Celica) didn't necessarily exactly want to become such.]]
* EmptyShell: In ''Gaiden'''s lore, Witches are women who offered their souls to Duma in exchange for great magical power, but lost their free will and became living husks.
* EvilRedhead: In ''Gaiden'', with the exception of the brainwashed Delthea, all Witches are redheads and happen to be antagonistic.
* FacelessGoons: Generic Gremories in ''Three Houses'' have veils covering their faces.
* FanDisservice: The Witches from ''Shadows of Valentia'' are beautiful women whose looks appeal to many fetishes, but their actual situations make them less appealing.
* {{Nerf}}: In ''Gaiden'', their signature Warp ability lets them travel to any spot on the map. ''Fates'' changes it so they can only teleport to squares cardinally adjacent to allies.
* PowerCrutch: In ''Fates'', Witches channel their magic through a lantern instead of having their equipped tomes visible in their battle model.
* PowerFloats: The witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'' are seen levitating to show their power given to them by Duma.
* RedMage: Gremories are skilled in both offensive and supportive magic.
* RobeAndWizardHat: While in ''Gaiden'' they were just recolored female mages, their outfit in ''Fates'' gives them a large pointed hat and a sleek robe.
* SquishyWizard: The Witch is the strongest magic-using class in ''Fates'', though its Defense is also less than stellar. This is especially prevalent in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, where they also have extremely low HP and can often be downed in a single physical attack.
* StatusInflictionAttack: ''Fates''[='=] Witches get the skill Toxic Brew, which has a chance of 1.5% times the Skill stat to freeze an enemy unit in place for a turn whenever the skill's wielder initiates an attack.
* TeleportSpam: Witches have this as a a SignatureMove, enabling them to warp to any tile on the map, making them extremely dangerous to units with low resistance. Their playable incarnation can only warp to tiles adjacent to allies, however.
* ArtificialStupidity: Witches' behaviors in ''Gaiden'' are... sporadic to say the least. This is a case of AcceptableBreaksFromReality as making them "smarter" on top of having the ability to move anywhere at will would make them very unbearable to face.
* DealWithTheDevil: In ''Gaiden'', Witches are the result of women sacrificing themselves to Duma for power. [[spoiler:Not always, some of them (Rinea, Sonya's sisters, Delthea, and Celica) didn't necessarily exactly want to become such.]]
* EmptyShell: In ''Gaiden'''s lore, Witches are women who offered their souls to Duma in exchange for great magical power, but lost their free will and became living husks.
* EvilRedhead: In ''Gaiden'', with the exception of the brainwashed Delthea, all Witches are redheads and happen to be antagonistic.
* FacelessGoons: Generic Gremories in ''Three Houses'' have veils covering their faces.
* FanDisservice: The Witches from ''Shadows of Valentia'' are beautiful women whose looks appeal to many fetishes, but their actual situations make them less appealing.
* {{Nerf}}: In ''Gaiden'', their signature Warp ability lets them travel to any spot on the map. ''Fates'' changes it so they can only teleport to squares cardinally adjacent to allies.
* PowerCrutch: In ''Fates'', Witches channel their magic through a lantern instead of having their equipped tomes visible in their battle model.
* PowerFloats: The witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'' are seen levitating to show their power given to them by Duma.
* RedMage: Gremories are skilled in both offensive and supportive magic.
* RobeAndWizardHat: While in ''Gaiden'' they were just recolored female mages, their outfit in ''Fates'' gives them a large pointed hat and a sleek robe.
* SquishyWizard: The Witch is the strongest magic-using class in ''Fates'', though its Defense is also less than stellar. This is especially prevalent in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, where they also have extremely low HP and can often be downed in a single physical attack.
* StatusInflictionAttack: ''Fates''[='=] Witches get the skill Toxic Brew, which has a chance of 1.5% times the Skill stat to freeze an enemy unit in place for a turn whenever the skill's wielder initiates an attack.
* TeleportSpam: Witches have this as a a SignatureMove, enabling them to warp to any tile on the map, making them extremely dangerous to units with low resistance. Their playable incarnation can only warp to tiles adjacent to allies, however.
to:
* AlwaysFemale: Witch is a female-only class.
* ArtificialStupidity: Witches' behaviors in ''Gaiden'' are... sporadic to say the least. This is a caseAnimalMotifs: Oliphantiers's horse mounts are fitted with pieces of AcceptableBreaksFromReality as making them "smarter" on top of having the ability to move anywhere at will would armor that make them very unbearable resemble elephants, adding to face.
* DealWithTheDevil: In ''Gaiden'', Witches arethe result of women sacrificing themselves to Duma for power. [[spoiler:Not always, some of them (Rinea, Sonya's sisters, Delthea, and Celica) didn't necessarily exactly want to become such.]]
* EmptyShell: In ''Gaiden'''s lore, Witches are women who offered their souls to Duma in exchange for great magical power, but lost their free will and became living husks.
* EvilRedhead: In ''Gaiden'', withelephant archer aesthetic the exception class goes for.
* BadassCape: All of thebrainwashed Delthea, Overclasses except for the Oliphantier have a cape.
* BlingOfWar: They allWitches are redheads have gold or silver accents in some shape, form, or fashion.
* BribingYourWayToVictory: They're DLC classes. Granted, the fact that you need to have a character at level 20 andhappen at the highest tier of their class means you'd have to grind to be antagonistic.
able to use them.
*FacelessGoons: Generic Gremories in ''Three Houses'' have veils covering their faces.
* FanDisservice:CallForward: The Witches from ''Shadows Alm exclusive Conqueror class shares its name with that of Valentia'' his descendant Walhart's personal class (though Walhart's version is closer to the Emperor class in spirit and in gameplay functions more like an improved Great Knight than a Lord), and even has horns on it's headgear, a feature that Walhart takes to an exaggerated level.
* DarkIsNotEvil: The Enchantress can learn Death and Mire, which arebeautiful women whose looks appeal exclusive to many fetishes, but their actual situations make them less appealing.
enemy mages, the Harrier rides a dark horse and the Guru can summon Terrors.
*{{Nerf}}: In ''Gaiden'', their signature Warp ability lets them travel to any spot EasterEgg: The pattern on the map. ''Fates'' Enchantress's cape is derived from Celtic knots, a design motif prominent in ''Fire Emblem Heroes''.
* HolyHandGrenade: Rigain grants Celica the Aura spell when she class changesit so they to it.
* MagicKnight: Aside from the Rigain and the Enchantress who already class changed from one, the Harrier canonly teleport learn spells and use their spears in tandem, just like Dark Fliers.
* MeaningfulName: "Rigain" is Old Irish for queen.
* NavelDeepNeckline: The Harrier's uniform has one going past their navel.
* {{Necromancer}}: Gurus can learn Lemegeton, allowing them tosquares cardinally conjure Terrors of their own.
* NoSell: The Phalanx skill on Spartans allow the user to have a chance to negate damage taken equal to their Defense/2%, which can also be multiplied for every adjacentto allies.
ally.
*PowerCrutch: In ''Fates'', Witches channel their magic through a lantern instead of having their equipped tomes visible in their battle model.
* PowerFloats:PoisonedWeapons: The witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'' are seen levitating to show their power given to them by Duma.
* RedMage: Gremories are skilled in both offensive and supportive magic.
* RobeAndWizardHat: While in ''Gaiden'' they were just recolored female mages, their outfit in ''Fates''Yasha's skill Tri-Affliction gives them a large pointed hat and a sleek robe.
* SquishyWizard: The Witch is the strongest magic-using class in ''Fates'', though its Defense is also less than stellar. This is especially prevalent in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, where they also have extremely low HP and can often be downed in a single physical attack.
* StatusInflictionAttack: ''Fates''[='=] Witches get the skill Toxic Brew, which has achance of 1.5% times to poison enemies on hit.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: The Spartan's skill Phalanx allows him to negate all damage, theSkill stat to freeze an enemy unit in place for a turn whenever odds of it triggering increasing the skill's wielder initiates an attack.
* TeleportSpam: Witches have this as a a SignatureMove, enabling them to warp to any tile on the map, making them extremely dangerous to units with low resistance. Their playable incarnation can only warp to tiles adjacent to allies, however.more allies are nearby.
* ArtificialStupidity: Witches' behaviors in ''Gaiden'' are... sporadic to say the least. This is a case
* DealWithTheDevil: In ''Gaiden'', Witches are
* EmptyShell: In ''Gaiden'''s lore, Witches are women who offered their souls to Duma in exchange for great magical power, but lost their free will and became living husks.
* EvilRedhead: In ''Gaiden'', with
* BadassCape: All of the
* BlingOfWar: They all
* BribingYourWayToVictory: They're DLC classes. Granted, the fact that you need to have a character at level 20 and
*
* FanDisservice:
* DarkIsNotEvil: The Enchantress can learn Death and Mire, which are
*
* HolyHandGrenade: Rigain grants Celica the Aura spell when she class changes
* MagicKnight: Aside from the Rigain and the Enchantress who already class changed from one, the Harrier can
* MeaningfulName: "Rigain" is Old Irish for queen.
* NavelDeepNeckline: The Harrier's uniform has one going past their navel.
* {{Necromancer}}: Gurus can learn Lemegeton, allowing them to
* NoSell: The Phalanx skill on Spartans allow the user to have a chance to negate damage taken equal to their Defense/2%, which can also be multiplied for every adjacent
*
* PowerFloats:
* RedMage: Gremories are skilled in both offensive and supportive magic.
* RobeAndWizardHat: While in ''Gaiden'' they were just recolored female mages, their outfit in ''Fates''
* SquishyWizard: The Witch is the strongest magic-using class in ''Fates'', though its Defense is also less than stellar. This is especially prevalent in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, where they also have extremely low HP and can often be downed in a single physical attack.
* StatusInflictionAttack: ''Fates''[='=] Witches get the skill Toxic Brew, which has a
* ThePowerOfFriendship: The Spartan's skill Phalanx allows him to negate all damage, the
* TeleportSpam: Witches have this as a a SignatureMove, enabling them to warp to any tile on the map, making them extremely dangerous to units with low resistance. Their playable incarnation can only warp to tiles adjacent to allies, however.
Deleted line(s) 883,1207 (click to see context) :
[[folder:Dread Fighter]]
!!Dread Fighter
[[quoteright:234:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dread_fighter_echoes_portrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:234:Dread Fighters in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
Dread Fighter is one of the rarer classes, only appearing in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'', its remake ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. It is part of the Mercenary line in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, acting as the line's third and final Class Change before allowing a loop back into Villager. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Dread Fighter is a standalone class that is only available via DLC. ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'' adds an Overclass called Yasha, which is also only available via DLC. Most incarnations are exclusive to male characters.\\\
Dread Fighter is defined by its {{ninja}}-esque costume design and [[MageKiller anti-magic build]]. The class sports Skills designed to mitigate magical damage, allowing for safe approaches against mages.\\\
For weapon specializations, Dread Fighter only has access to swords in ''Gaiden'' and its remake. ''Awakening'' adds axes and tomes, while ''Fates'' replaces tomes with knives/shuriken.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' DLC Alm (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'')
----
* AlwaysMale: Outside of ''Fates'', Dread Fighter is exclusive to male characters.
* DeviousDaggers: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' uses knives instead of tomes to go with their ninja motif. Fittingly, knives and shuriken beats tomes in the game's version of the weapon triangle.
* MageKiller: They are designed to take little damage from magical sources and slay magic users.
** ''Awakening'' gives a massive boost to their Resistance with the Resistance+10 skill.
** ''Fates'' has Iron Will-which causes them to receive 4 less damage from magic attacks when attacked, and Even Keel-where the user receive 4 less damage from magic attacks during even-numbered turns.
** ''Shadows of Valentia'' provides the class with Resistance+5 and Apotrope skills. Apotrope is a more powerful version of Iron Will, as it halves damage taken from magic attacks.
* MagicKnight: Dread Fighters in ''Awakening'' use tomes in addition to swords and axes.
* {{Ninja}}: They appear to have ninja-like aesthetics, and even fight like them with TeleportSpam and {{Flash Step}}s.
* ReverseGrip: While in ''Fates'' they wield swords and daggers like the Ninjas and Master Ninjas, they also wield ''axes'' and ''clubs'' in the same way.
* SwordAndFist: Dread Fighters in ''Shadows of Valentia'' have them incorporate kicks alongside their sword strikes against the enemy.
* WalkingArmory: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' use swords, axes, and knives, allowing them to fully cover the weapon triangle (with knives sharing their spot with lances).
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: They have a tendency to rest their weapons on their shoulders.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Tactician/Grandmaster]]
!!Tactician and Grandmaster
The Tactician and its Class Change, Grandmaster, are a class line introduced in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''. They are more or less made specifically for the Avatar of ''Awakening'' and their children, though [=SpotPass=], [=StreetPass=], and DLC characters are capable of using Second Seals to reclass into the line. The Tactician and Grandmaster are powerful {{Magic Knight}}s that use swords and tomes, have overall high stats, and can support allies thanks to a couple of exclusive support Skills such as "Solidarity" and "Rally Spectrum".\\\
The Grandmaster returns in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' as a special class obtained by using a Fell Brand (received from completing ''Hidden Truths 1'' DLC or using the Robin Toys/{{amiibo}}) on a male unit. It does not Class Change to or from anything, but otherwise functions the same as it did in ''Awakening''.\\\
It returns once again in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'' as Céline's version of the '''Noble''' class: while it no longer has any of its support skills as a result of being standardized to be more in line with the rest of the game's classes, its promotion into '''Vidame''' grants access to staves.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Robin, Morgan [[note]]Morgan needs to have specific mothers/fathers to start out as Tactician, otherwise they will join as a different class (based on their non-Robin parent) and need to reclass into it.[[/note]], DLC Katarina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Toys/{{amiibo}} Robin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''), Céline (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----
* AlwaysMale: In ''Fates'', Grandmaster is a male-only class.
* JackOfAllStats: Somewhere between this and MasterOfAll in ''Awakening'', where their stats are generally high in all areas but not necessarily the best possible. They're straighter examples in their subsequent appearances [[ProtagonistPowerUpPrivileges where the class is no longer attached to the main character]].
* MagicKnight: They use both swords and tomes and have good Strength and Magic. In ''Awakening'' they are equally proficient with Swords and Tomes (both top at "A"), while the ''Fates'' Grandmaster and ''Engage'' Vidame lean more on the Magic side with a higher max Tome rank (Swords go to "B" while Tomes go to "A").
* RedMage: As a Vidame, Céline can use staves in addition to swords and tomes.
* SpellBlade: In all of its appearances, the class line is capable of learning [[PlayingWithFire Ignis]], a skill that uses half of their Strength or Magic to boost the other stat when they attack, depending on whether they're using a physical or magical attack.
* StatusBuff: Their "Rally Spectrum" Skill gives a one-turn boost to all stats for every ally within 3 (''Awakening'') or 4 (''Fates'') spaces.
* SupportPartyMember: They get a number of Skills to buff or otherwise assist allies. "Solidarity" increases Crit rate and Dodge by 10 for adjacent allies, "Tactical Advice" provides a Hit rate bonus for the lead unit of an Attack Stance, and "Rally Spectrum" provides a one-turn StatusBuff to all allies within 3/4 spaces.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Brawler]]
!!Brawler
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/783g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Brawlers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/892g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Grapplers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/986g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:War Master in ''Three Houses'']]
A new class series introduced in ''Three Houses''. Brawlers and their Advanced and Master Class promotions, the '''Grappler''' and '''War Master''', primarily use axes and gauntlets.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Raphael, Balthus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
----
* ActionInitiative: Upon mastering War Master, they gain Quick Riposte, allowing them to deal follow-up attacks if they are attacked and above their HP threshold. Also, unlike in ''Heroes'', the attacker will not follow-up attack if the unit is equipped with Quick Riposte.
* AlwaysMale: Brawlers, Grapplers and War Masters are male-only.
* BareFistedMonk: Their primary weapon as indicated by the skill "Unarmed Combat". Grapplers also gain the skill Fistfaire, which increases their damage when wielding gauntlets.
* ChainedByFashion: Grapplers in ''Three Houses'' have chains attached to their armor.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Brawlers and War Masters can use axes and gauntlets.
* CriticalHitClass: War Masters get Crit+20 as their class ability. As they are proficient in axes, this makes them very similar to Berserkers in the other games.
* LightningBruiser: War Masters have stats and growths on par with Wyvern Riders, paired with an addition of a Crit+20, making them one of the more dangerous footlocked units. Fighting one with Killer Knuckles is just asking for trouble.
* MageKiller: While the class does not offer Resistance growth bonuses, Grapplers can learn Tomebreaker, which increases their Hit and Avoid against Tome-wielding users.
* SecretArt:
** Grapplers have Fierce Iron Fist, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to them, where they deal three consecutive attacks.
** War Master's Strike, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to War Masters. It grants effective bonus damage against all foes.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Manakete ''(Mamkute)'']]
!!Manakete ''(Mamkute)''
A common feature of most titles is the existence of the Manakete tribe, a species of sentient dragon shapeshifters who appear as humans with a few differences. They fight using dragonstones, rare gems which allow them to transform into their dragon form to attack.\\\
Related are the '''Dragon Laguz''' of the Tellius canon, which are pretty much the same thing but fitting into the laguz concept of that universe, and by extension the rest of the laguz. Another related group are the Dragons of ''Fates'', which are not called Manaketes, but have a similar, if slightly different history to them.\\\
-->'''Playable characters of this class:''' Bantu and Tiki (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Fae (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Myrrh (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Ena, Nasir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Gareth and Kurthnaga (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Nagi (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragon Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemNewMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Nowi, Nah and Tiki [[note]]a female Morgan born from any of them will have access to the class[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Corrin and Kana [[note]]While Corrin is '''the''' Lord of ''Fates'', and Kana and any of his/her possible siblings obtain the Nohr Prince/Princess class from Corrin, they are also technically Manaketes because they are the only ones that can use Dragonstones.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Nel, [[spoiler:Rafal]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'');
----
* AchillesHeel: They are vulnerable to anti-dragon weapons like Wyrmslayer. Myrrh in ''Sacred Stones'' is also weak to bows as she is also a flying unit. In the Tellius games, Dragon Laguz are vulnerable to anti-Laguz weapons and thunder magic. In ''Awakening'', ''Fates'' and ''Engage'', even if they reclass outside of Manakete, they are still dragons because of their heritage and are still vulnerable to anti-dragon weapons and skills.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: In ''Mystery of the Emblem'', dragon's breaths completely ignores defense so any fragile units need to watch out for them as their attack will directly target their already low HP.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Most dragons did this in ''Fates'' by becoming spirits. The ones that didn't either went insane or have been able to escape such a fate.
* BreathWeapon: Dragons tend to attack with their breath. Averted with ''Fates'' where they physically maul their enemies.
* CastingAShadow:
** The [[NonIndicativeName Earth Dragons]] uses Dark Breath along with their earth-based abilities.
** The Silent Dragons of ''Fates'' utilizes dark powers combined with MakingASplash when fully corrupted.
** The Fell Dragons of ''Engage'' use shadowy breath attacks.
* CuteMonsterGirl: Only five recruitable Manaketes are not children[[note]]Bantu, Nagi, adult Tiki, Corrin, and [[spoiler:Rafal]][[/note]]. This is excluding the Dragon Laguz, who, while they can transform into dragons, aren't called manaketes. Of the four playable ones, 3 are male and the youngest male looks at least 14.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome:
** The other Manakete Tribes are nowhere to be found in ''Awakening'' despite major roles in the Archanea series.
** ''Fates'' contains an odd example in the form of the term "Manakete" - the avatar, and any child they have will fall under this archetype, but they are never referred to as such. In fact, the term only appears once in the entire game, in an extremely well hidden support conversation, and the context given by said support implies that the word may have an entirely different meaning in the world of ''Fates''.
* DarkIsEvil: None of the Earth Dragons has remained friendly since they either allow themselves to degenerate like most dragons or are indulged in dark powers as a sign of rebellion against humankind. Kaga's plans would've averted this, though.
* DarkIsNotEvil: The Fell Dragons in ''Engage'' are very much not evil. Well, [[BigBad one]] is, but others are either BrainwashedAndCrazy, or just straight-up allies.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Tellius games introduced three types of Dragons the player could use in the game, each one being slightly different from the other in terms of damage and stats. Notably the White Dragons deal damage using Magic instead of Strength.
* DyingRace: Almost all of them are on their last legs, their glory days clearly over. Averted with the Dragon Laguz, whose kingdom is [[HiddenElfVillage isolated]], but still [[AwakenTheSleepingGiant rather powerful]].
* EleventhHourSuperpower: While they usually become available earlier than this, games in which there are only a finite number of uses to the dragonstone tend to lend themselves to using them on the final couple of levels, which are usually filled with enemies that the dragonstone does massive damage to (dragons in the Archanea games and ''Binding Blade'' and monsters in ''Sacred Stones''.)
* TheFourGods: The Four Dragon symbols for Dragon Veins in ''Fates'' are based on them. The Fire Dragon is birdlike, similar to the Vermilion Bird, the Water Dragon has a snake for a tail like the one that accompanies the Black Tortoise, the Ground Dragon has fur and is vaguely feline in shape like the White Tiger, and the Wind Dragon has a lean appearance much like the Azure Dragon.
* GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: Divine Dragons have this color scheme.
* HalfHumanHybrid: A number of them have appeared in the series, including Nils, Ninian, Nah, the Avatar of ''Fates'', etc. Tiki mentions that Nah is the only one of her kind seen in Ylisse, while ''all'' Manaketes with dragonstones in ''Fates'' are shown to be hybrids.
* HiddenElfVillage: Normally, their civilizations are hidden from mankind -- if they still exist, that is.
* AnIcePerson: Ice Dragons/Icestone-wielding Manaketes use ice-based attacks.
* LightEmUp: The Divine Dragons, the strongest of the dragon tribes.
* LightningBruiser: In and of themselves, Manaketes tend to have rather poor stats, but with a dragonstone, they shoot through the roof and turn them into this, almost to the point of game-breaking.
* LightIsGood: Every Divine Dragon that shows up in the series has been friendly.
* LongLived: To the point that a Manakete can be a child by their species' years but really over 1000 years old. In the case of truly old Manaketes like Bantu, they're suggest to be ''thousands'' of years old. It also turns out that half-blood Manaketes inherit this long life-span as well, in the case of Ninian, Nils, Sophia, Corrin, Kana, Nah and (optionally) Morgan.
* MagicAndPowers: Mage Dragons and the Magestone.
* MakingASplash: The Silent Dragons have this as their main power.
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Enemy Manaketes (other than in ''Heroes'') and Manakete villains are always male. [[FemalesAreMoreInnocent No Manakete female has been a true villain]], although the closest the series has come to it is [[EmptyShell Idunn]] from ''Binding Blade''.
* MightyGlacier: To contrast the Taguel in ''Awakening'', Manaketes hit harder and take hits better, but are slower.
* NoSell: Mage Dragons is known to either have high resistance or completely resist magic.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Most characters may look like kids to young adults but [[Really700YearsOld they're actually more than 1,000 years old.]]
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: They're dragons capable of taking on human form. In battle, they can transform back to dragons with the use of their dragonstones.
* PlayingWithFire: Fire Dragons, or when wielding a Firestone.
* PointyEars: One of the manaketes' most defining physical characteristics, though a few are depicted without them, more notably the ones from ''Engage'', excluding Sombron.
* SupportPartyMember: The dragons in ''Radiant Dawn'' have skills that can increase certain stats of adjacent allies during combat, making them useful against the endgame bosses in that game. Blood Tide raises Strength and Skill, Night Tide raises Defense and Resistance, while White Pool raises Magic and Speed.
* TooAwesomeToUse: Often, there's only one dragonstone with finite uses available in the course of the game. While it's often enough to level a Manakete to level 20, you're not going to get all that much use out of them once you start, so it's quite common to hesitate to use Manaketes.
** Averted in ''Awakening'', where you can buy Dragonstones (although they are not cheap).
** Averted in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', ''Fates'' and ''Engage'', where Dragonstones have infinite durability.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Divine Dragons who are always friendly are either non-reptilian or at least less so than the other Dragon Tribes.
* WereDragon: They alternate between humanoid and dragon forms.
* WingedHumanoid: Divine Dragons tend to have feathery wings similar to Angels, while the other Dragon tribes have dragon wings in Manakete form.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Beasts]]
!!Beasts
[[quoteright:223:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesyoukoportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:223:Kitsune in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesninetailedfoxportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Ninetails in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesgarouportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:255:Wolfskins in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_wolfssegner_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Wolfsegnar in ''Fates'']]
When Manaketes were re-imagined as Dragon Laguz in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'', other similar tribes of animal shapeshifters were introduced.\\\
In new titles since, these units use Beaststones to transform in contrast to the Manaketes' Dragonstone, and can be seen as a counterpart to the class.\\\
So far, beasts of this kind have included Lions, Tigers, Cats, Wolves, Hawks, Ravens, Rabbits (Taguel), Foxes (Kitsune), and Werewolves (Wolfskins). Dragon Tribe Laguz are covered by the Manaketes, and Heron Laguz function as Bards/Dancers.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class:''' Lethe, Ranulf, Mordecai, Muarim, Giffca, Janaff, Ulki, Tibarn and Naesala (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Lyre, Kyza, Skrimir, Vika, Nealuchi, Volug and Nailah (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' only); Panne and Yarne [[note]](a Morgan born from any of them will have access to the class)[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Kaden, Keaton, Selkie and Velouria [[note]]Kana and Shigure born from any of them will have access to the class[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'')
----
* AchillesHeel: Laguz are weak to anti-Laguz weapons and Fire/Wind magic. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', they are weak to anti-beast weapons and skills, even when outside of their beast class.
* {{Animorphism}}: Using beaststones, or the natural ability of the Laguz, they can take on an animal form for combat.
* AsianFoxSpirit: The Kitsune and Ninetails class. They also have foxfires that surround them when transformed.
* DireBeast: Their animal forms are huge compared to regular animals. Small Cat laguz are the size of real life Big Cats. Lions and Hawks tower over human beings. Rabbits are similarly the size of Big Cats, and it's taken to the extreme with Wolfskins, who are literal monsters.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution:
** In games where multiple types of beast units exist, they typically are given differences to make them each distinct from each other.
** In the Tellius games, the Beast tribes are split between the Cat, Tiger, Lion, and Wolf. The Cat is a FragileSpeedster, the Tiger is a MightyGlacier, the Lion is a LightningBruiser, and the Wolves are more of a JackOfAllStats.
** Also in the Tellius games, the Bird tribes are split between the Hawks, Ravens, and Herons. The Hawks are more akin to LightningBruiser, the Ravens are FragileSpeedster, while the Herons are Dancers.
* DyingRace: The Wolf Tribe in the Tellius games have lost much of their numbers; nevertheless, they recover in the epilogue. The Heron Laguz are even worse, since the few remaining ones are the LastOfTheirKind. The Taguel are also the LastOfTheirKind, with only one full-blooded Taguel (Panne) left.[[note]](The half-blooded Taguel Yarne is specifically said to have much stronger Taguel genes, while a Morgan parented by either of them has stronger human ones.)[[/note]]
* {{Expy}}: The Tellius games make the various species of Laguz effectively animal copies of their Human counterparts in terms of class. To elaborate:
** Beast Tribe: Cats are essentially Myrmidons (high Speed and Luck but almost no bulk), Tigers are either Fighters (high Strength and HP, but lower Defense), or Knights (high HP, Strength, and Defense, but slow), Lions are similar to Paladins (use virtually all physical related stats well with high damage), and Wolves are Mercenaries (balanced offensive stats, with solid bulk).
** Bird Tribes: The Bird Tribes are airborne and can also move after attacking, making them similar to the flying classes. Hawks are essentially faster Wyvern Riders (focus on strength with average physical bulk), Ravens are essentially Pegasus Knights (High Speed, Resistance, and Luck but low bulk and Strength), while Herons are Dancers.
* HitAndRunTactics: The Bird Tribe in ''Radiant Dawn'' can move again after attacking or singing. The exception is Rafiel as he is grounded by his clipped wings.
* LightningBruiser: While they have different specialties depending on species, compared to human units, they are all extremely fast and strong. The Tiger Laguz are the only ones lacking in this area.
* LittleBitBeastly: They all exhibit some traits of their beast form even in human form. Usually [[CatGirl ears and tails]], or [[WingedHumanoid wings]] in the case of the bird tribes. Dragons/manaketes in contrast are usually much more subtle.
* LongLived: [[DownplayedTrope To a lesser extent]] compared to Manaketes (who's life expectancy is in the ''plural'' of thousands), but beastfolk often tend to have very long life-spans in spite of such. The shortest lived among the Laguz, the Lions, live for ''180 years on average'', with class blurbs like the Kitsune in ''Fates'' outright noting the species has a long live span even compared to other beastfolk due to their spirit magic and beast heritage.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Beasts are more physically-oriented, while their dragon counterparts have better magic stats. This translate into almost all Beast units, save the Kitsune, having poor Resistance stats.
* NaturalWeapon: The Laguz uses their own claw, talons, and beaks when fighting in their beast forms. In ''Radiant Dawn'', they have a special weapon rank called Strike which improves their attacks upon raising their weapon rank. {{Avert}}ed with Beast classes since ''Awakening'' as they wield Stones like Manaketes.
* NoSell: The Hawk Laguz's mastery skill in Path of Radiance was Cancel (or Wing Guard), which lets them nullify damage based on their skill.
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: The Wolfskin and Wolfsegner look less like wolves and more like gorillas with koala and wolf traits.
* PantheraAwesome: The Tiger and the Lion Laguz of the Beast Tribe, especially the Lion Laguz as one is their king.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Emperor]]
!!Emperor (and variants)
If the final boss isn't a dark magician, a dragon, or a god, this is what they'll be -- a king decked out in enormous armour or finery, dwarfing every other unit (except maybe Manaketes/laguz) in sheer size, wielding a huge AncestralWeapon, and possessing astronomical physical stats. More often than not, though, there'll be a TrueFinalBoss after them. Specifically, this refers to '''Emperor''' Hardin of ''Mystery of the Emblem'', '''Emperor''' Arvis of ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', '''Baron''' Raydrik of ''Thracia 776'', '''King''' Zephiel of ''The Binding Blade'', Ashnard, '''King Daein''', of ''Path of Radiance'' (who is also similar to a Dragon Rider), Walhart the '''Conqueror''' of ''Awakening'', '''Nohrian King''' Garon in ''Fates'', and '''[[SheIsTheKing Emperor]]''' Edelgard of ''Three Houses''.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class:''' Walhart (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Edelgard (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
----
* AncestralWeapon: All of them wield personal weapons.
* ArmorAndMagicDontMix: Inverted with The Baron class and Jugdral Emperor class. Both classes are even more armored than the General class, they also have the most powerful magic abilities around.
* {{BFS}}: As fitting their position, their weapons are often very large. Averted by Arvis, who uses the magic tome [[PlayingWithFire Valflame]] instead (though he ''does'' have a Silver Blade, the strongest non-legendary sword, [[OrnamentalWeapon in his inventory]], even if he was hacked to not be able to use Valflame, Arvis will not use the Silver Blade).
* ContractualBossImmunity: To prevent them from being easily defeated, they usually have skills that negate weapon effectiveness against their movement type, or their personal classes don't have those weaknesses in the first place.
* DegradedBoss: Barons are encountered as generic enemies in the final chapter of ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' after the more powerful Emperor class is introduced in the story. The final arena opponent of the same chapter belongs to the Emperor class as well.
* TheEmperor: The majority of character in these classes are the ruler of a hostile empire or kingdom.
* {{Expy}}: Much like the Lords, they have unique classes that are basically based off of existing classes, but individualized to fit the character using the class.
** King Zephiel, Emperor Hardin, Nohrian King Garon, and Emperor Edelgard all have similarities to the General class, be it through similar stat lines, being armored, or both. Zephiel uses a sword while Generals in his game can't, while the Black Knight is also related to the third tier Marshall class by proxy.
** Emperor Arvis is basically a souped up Baron class. The Baron class itself is also similar to the General class but with access to magic, and is used by Raydrik.
** King Ashnard is essentially a better version of the Wyvern Lord class, but Ashnard uses a sword rather than a lance.
** Walhart the Conqueror is very similar to the Great Knight class.
* FinalBoss: Often your last opponent, but there'll frequently be a TrueFinalBoss after them.
* {{Foil}}: Essentially the opposite of the Lord class, being classes that are mostly exclusive to one particular character in the games they appear in, gets unique (possibly legendary) weapons to wield, and is the leader of their army, but the Lord class belongs to the main playable character while the Emperor class belongs to the game's main villain (or one of them, though typically one that is working in the foreground).
* LargeAndInCharge: Their sprites tend to dwarf the others in the game. Usually, this is a product of having bulky, intimidating armor.
* LightningBruiser: They have fantastic, if not outright maxed, stats across the board. This includes Speed, in spite of their huge size and heavy armor.
* MagicKnight: Barons and Jugdral's Emperors can use anima magic in addition to all physical weapons.
* PromotedToPlayable: Twice, first with Walhart in ''Awakening'', then Edelgard in ''Three Houses''.
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: The majority of them are authority figures who are much more powerful then their troops.
* TinTyrant: They're almost always covered in armor.
* WalkingArmory: Arvis can use all weapon types but Dark and Light Magic.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Monsters]]
!!Monsters
In addition to the usual human and draconic enemies, ''Gaiden'', ''The Sacred Stones'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' contain a wide variety of monstrous enemies. They come in the following types:
!! Introduced in ''Gaiden'' and ''Shadows of Valentia''
* Revenants/Entombed: Zombie-like creatures that attack with claws. They have high HP but extremely low stats otherwise. In addition to appearing in both ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones'', they reappeared in ''Fire Emblem Awakening'' as a type of Risen and the only monster class in that game. ''Echoes'' introduces a stronger [[EvilIsBigger and bigger]] variant for the Revenant known as a Dracul and what has to be the monster equivalent of an overclass for the Entombed called the Tomb Lord.
* Bonewalkers: Skeletal soldiers that wield a variety of weapon types. Their advanced equivalent is known as the Lich in ''Gaiden'' and the Wight in ''Sacred Stones''. ''Echoes'' additionally introduces two stronger variants: the Titan (a giant and stronger axe-wielding version of the Lich) and the Deimos (an axe-wielding shaman arisen that wields potent purging fire).
* Mogalls (Bigls in the Japanese version): Small [[{{Oculothorax}} floating eyes]] that wield Dark magic. In ''Sacred Stones'' they have an advanced version called Arch Mogalls and in ''Echoes'' the Balor appears in the former's place.
* Fiends: Demonic Barons exclusive to ''Gaiden'' and its remake. The Guardian introduced in Echoes is a redder, more powerful variant of the Fiend.
* Gargoyles: Flying creatures wielding lances. Their advanced equivalent is the Balrog in ''Gaiden'' and the Deathgoyle in ''Sacred Stones''. Stronger than even the Deathgoyle is the Garuda introduced in ''Echoes''.
!! Introduced in ''The Sacred Stones''
* Baels/Elder Baels: Spiderlike creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. They attack with deadly claws that may sometimes be poisoned.
* Tarvos/Maelduins: Centaurlike creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. They wield axes, and the "advanced" Maelduins also use bows.
* Mauthe Doogs/Gwyllgis: Speedy demon dogs that attack with fangs. Exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''.
* Gorgons: Scaly creatures hatching from eggs that wield a variety of nasty dark magic spells. Exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''.
* Cyclopes: Massive axe-wielding creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. Their HP cap is higher than that of other units.
* Draco Zombies (Dragon Zombies in the Japanese version, Necrodragons in ''Shadows of Valentia''): [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Like dragons, only deader]]. In ''Gaiden'' and its remake, they have a "advanced" version called White Dragons. ''Echoes'' further introduces the Fafnir, a monstrous, ancient dragon that has survived since antiquity.
* Phantom (Spirit Warriors in the Japanese version): A spirit exclusive to ''Sacred Stones'', they are summoned by a Summoner or Necromancer.
!! Introduced in ''Fates''
* Faceless: Humanoid creatures made from dark magic, debuting in ''Fates''. In contrast to the Revenants[=/=]Entombed, they are rather large and bulky, and attack with their fists instead of their claws.
* Stoneborn: Moving statues who debuted in ''Fates''. They attack by launching rocks from afar.
* Automaton: Puppets moving by clockwork who debuted in ''Fates''. They attack with saws and yumi (eastern bows) and is the first monster class capable of using both normal and monster weapons.
* Empty Vessel: [[spoiler:Garon]]'s true form in ''Conquest'', it is a slime monster made of water that attacks with axes. Debuting in ''Fates'', it is the first monster class seen since ''Sacred Stones'' to only use a normal weapon instead of an enemy-only monster weapon.
!! Introduced in ''Three Houses''
* Black Beast: A crazed [[spoiler:transformed Miklan when the Lance of Ruin's crest stone consumed him for his lack of a crest]].
* Wandering Beast: A mad creature that lurks in the wild. [[spoiler:A bestial form of Maurice, a forgotten Elite.]]
* Hegemon Husk: An emperor's corpse hellbent on world conquest. [[spoiler:Edelgard's OneWingedAngel transformation on Azure Moon, utilizing her twin crests to their fullest extent.]]
* Wild Demonic Beasts: A feral Demonic Beast spotted in the wilds. Can breathes poisonous breath.
* Experimental Demonic Beast: [[spoiler:A human-transformed Beast by the power of crest stones embedded on their forehead.]]
* Demonic Beast: Demonic Beasts under the control of the [[spoiler:Imperial]] army. Upgrades of the Experimental Demonic Beast.
* Flying Demonic Beast: Agile flying Demonic Beasts.
* Altered Demonic Beast: Demonic Beasts with an anti-magic armor, granting them immunity to magic damage.
* Giant Demonic Beast: A gigantic version of human-transformed beasts. [[spoiler:Dedue]] takes on this form in the Crimson Flower route.
* Umbral Beast: A powerful monster created by the Chalice of Beginnings in the ''Cindered Shadows'' expansion. [[spoiler:Aelfric's transformation after he is absorbed by the Chalice and fused with Sitri's corpse.]]
* Golem: Mechanized automatons in the service of the Church of Seiros.
* Altered Golem: Stronger golems wield by the Church of Seiros. They are immune to magic.
* Guardian Golem: A unique golem tasked with protecting the Chalice of Beginnings in the ''Cindered Shadows'' expansion.
* Titanus: A mechanized weapon created by Agarthan technology.
* White Beast: [[spoiler:Cardinals of the Church transformed by the will of the Immaculate One]].
* Lord of the Lake: A giant tortoise-like monster that lives in the lake. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Indech]].
* Lord of the Desert: A giant bird-like monster that lives in the desert. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Macuil]].
* The Immaculate One: A giant white-dragon revered in the teachings of the Church of Seiros. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Seiros/Rhea]].
* Giant Bird: A bird that grew enormous due to magic.
* Giant Crawler: A worm that grew enormous due to magic.
* Giant Wolf: A wolf that grew enormous due to magic.
!! Introduced in ''Engage''
All three of these types have a Fabrication[[note]]Refered to as Phantom ingame[[/note]] variant, which are aligned with the Divine Dragons and Emblems, and a Corrupted variant, which are aligned with the Fell Dragons.
* Wyrm: Large but slow-moving, draconic creatures that have a large attack range that allows them to shoot breaths from afar.
* Wyvern: DLC-Exclusive. They are undead wyverns that spit out powerful breaths. They also change the terrain of their surroundings, with the Fabrication variant creating frost, and the Corrupted variant creating miasma. The corrupted variant also have a wider attack range than its Fabrication counterpart.
* Wolf: DLC-Exclusive. They are undead wolves that bite with poisonous fangs and, like ordinary wolves, fight in packs.
----
* AchillesHeel: All monsters are weak against the Bishop's Slayer skill, the Falcon Knight's Banish skill, and the Sacred Twin weapons (except for Gleipnir). Giant Crawlers are able to negate this weakness as a latent ability when down to their last healthbars [[spoiler:and Hegemon Husk Edelgard negates her monster weakness from the outset of fighting her.]] In addition, Gargoyles/Deathgoyles/Garuda, Draco Zombies/White Dragons/Fafnirs, Giant Birds,and White Beasts are treated as flying units and are thereby weak to bows and the Wind Sword, and Tarvos/Maelduins are treated as mounted units and are weak to weapons that do additional damage to them. Lastly, all Demonic Beast variants (wild, exp. base, winged, and giant), the Lord of the Lake, Lord of the Desert, White Beasts, and The Immaculate One are all dragons meaning they also share a weakness to anti-dragon weaponry and abilities.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: Dracozombie's attacks completely ignore defense so watch your units that have less HP than their attack. [[spoiler:The Immaculate One's Staggering Blow in Silver Snow, Hoarfrost, completely ignore any defenses.]]
* {{BFS}}: A Titanus carries one called a Giant Katar, wielding it in one hand and it's capable of firing [[SwordBeam energy beams]] from it for ranged combat.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Baels and Elder Baels, which are absolutely ''huge'' spiders.
* BlowYouAway: The Lord of the Desert utilizes magical wind to attack his foes, with his bird-like design helping the mofit. Giant Wolves and Giant Crawlers will also make use of this for their staggering blows--quickly spinning or sweeping in place to generate a harsh gust of wind, and Winged Demonic Beasts generate sharp wind crescents for ranged combat.
* BossInMookClothing: Draco Zombies (and White Dragons in ''Gaiden''). In fact, unless you do [[BonusDungeon the Lagdou Ruins]] in their entirety ''as soon'' as they become available, the first one you encounter in ''Sacred Stones'' will actually ''be'' a boss, complete with unique sprite! [[spoiler:Technically speaking, though, his class is still listed as Manakete...]]
* BreathWeapon: Draco Zombies usually attack with a dark breath. In ''Three Houses'', all Demonic Beast variants save for the Giant Demonic Beasts are capable of breathing fire (or poison for the Wild Demonic Beasts), and White Beasts on the other hand sport magic, holy blue flames instead.[[spoiler:The Immaculate One can also exple holy blue flames or a vaporizing beam of light).]]
* CastingAShadow: Mogalls/Arch Mogalls and Gorgons. Draco Zombies also have wretched air, a stream of fetid dark flames spewed at their target.
* {{Cyclops}}: The fittingly named [[ClassicalCyclops Cyclops]] in ''Sacred Stones'', which is one of the more powerful monsters. ''Echoes'' redesigns the Lich as well as introduces the Titan and Deimos to have this look; the artbook suggests that the Lich and Titan respectively had the heads of one-eyed goats or bulls while the Deimos wore a sone-eyed monster's skull for a mask.
* DamageReduction: The Titanus and the Lord of the Lake are both outfitted with Pavise and Aegis as long as their barriers are up, making it even more difficult to take them down.
* DracoLich: The fittingly named Draco Zombies are among the toughest foes in all three of their appearances which consist of ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* DishingOutDirt: A Stoneborn attacks by hurling out giant boulders from the cavity under its mask. Giant Crawlers, Giant Wolves, and Giant Demonic Beasts will also pick up giant rocks and hurl them at their enemies as ranged attacks.
* EvilCounterpart: Several Monster classes have human counterparts. The Titanus can function as one to the Golem and Altered Golem, with the latter two having close ties to the Chruch of Seiros while the former is employed by one of the two church's enemy factions[[spoiler:--Those who Slither in the Dark]]. In ''Engage'', the Fell-Dragon aligned corrupted variants of this game's monsters serve as this to the fabrication variants of them, as the latter are created by the Divine Dragons and Emblems.
* FeatherFlechettes: Giant Birds will fire off their feathers as their ranged attack and also [[FlechetteStorm unleash a barrage of them]] as their staggering blow.
* FragileSpeedster: Mauthe Doogs and Gwyllgis are the monster counterparts to the Myrmidon line. Also, the giant animals in ''Three Houses'' are considerably faster and harder to hit compared to most other monsters of the Demonic Beast build, but their barriers are more easily broken and they typically do not hit as hard.
* GeoEffects: Phantoms completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties because they are ethereal beings with no solid, tangible forms.
* GiantMook: Monsters in ''Three Houses'' are large, take up to at least 4 spaces rather than 1 space like most units. Their giant size can either block or be blocked by units, they can be roadblocked by obstacles or units that have only one space gap. [[spoiler:Hegemon Husk Edelgard is the exception to this trope, being no bigger than a regular unit map-wise.]]
* HealingFactor: The Lord of the Lake possesses this ability in addition to its myriad of defensive skills and the [[LastChanceHitPoint Miracle]] ability.
* {{Hellhound}}: The Mauthe Doogs and the Gwyllgis in ''Sacred Stones''. The latter had three heads instead of one and were even called Cerberus in the Japanese version.
* HumongousMecha: The Golems, Altered Golems, and Titanuses are massive automatons with equally large armaments (lances of light for the golems and giant katars for the Titanuses).
* IFightForTheStrongestSide: Faceless are created with no minds of their own and simply act on primal bestial instinct to attack others. Practitioners of Dark Magic are able to bend and enslave them to their will. Such people include Iago, Leo, and Rhajat.
* LastChanceHitPoint: The Lord of the Lake and White Beasts possess Miracle which may save them from an otherwise fatal blow, ensuring that they will not be easy to take down )especially the White Beasts with their high Luck stat factoring into it).
* TheLegionsOfHell: Dolth, a boss in the original ''Gaiden'' says in his MagicalIncantation that he's summoning the Dracozombies from Hell. Fiends are described as from the nether realm in ''Shadows of Valentia''.
* LightIsNotGood: The White Beasts are frenzied dragons that expel holy blue flames as their attack. The same can be said of the Golems and Altered Golems [[spoiler:should Rhea descend into insanity]]. [[spoiler:The Immaculate One, whether willingly antagonistic or degenerated, also counts with both the holy blue flames or her vaporizing light breath.]]
* MakingASplash: The Lord of the Lake utilizes magic water to attack foes and is suitably designed after a turtle, a potentially aquatic creature.
* MightyGlacier: Cyclopes, who wield strong axes and has high defenses and bloated HP, they are very slow to which they can be compared to Knights. Although their stat caps tend towards LightningBruiser with high Speed and Skill, few Cyclops enemies get close to those caps. The majority of monsters in ''Three Houses'' besides the giant animals are typically like this.
* MultipleLifeBars: The monsters in ''Three Houses'' have several health bars. With each depleted bar, they may gain stat boosts and an additional skill.
* NoSell: Altered Demonic Beasts and Altered Golems have armor that grants them complete immunity to magic damage until the armor breaks.
* NotUsingTheZWord: Averted in the Japanese version, where Revenants are called Zombies.
* {{Oculothorax}}: Mogalls, Arch Mogalls, and Balors are giant eyeballs with tentacles.
* OneHitPointWonder: Phantoms have only 1 HP. If they are summoned with a Devil Axe equipped, it is possible for it to die attacking before an enemy attacks.
* OurCentaursAreDifferent: Tarvos and Maelduin appear like traditional savage centaurs except with dark grey/black skin. They use axes and bows.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The Demonic Beasts are dragon-like creatures, thus vulnerable to anti-dragon attacks. [[spoiler:Indech and Macuil's dragon form is based on a turtle and bird, respectively.]]
* OurMonstersAreDifferent: They appear to lack sentience of their own, and mindlessly carry out the bidding of their summoner.
* PermanentlyMissableContent: Phantoms cannot trade, so if it kills an enemy and obtains an item from it, the item will be inaccessible to other units.
* PinataEnemy: Revenants and Entombed are fairly unimposing aside from their large stores of HP, but give out great amounts of EXP -- the latter is pretty much a guaranteed level-up for an base-class unit. (This has carried over to ''Awakening''.) Also, Gorgon Eggs are immobile and incapable of attacking and give out exactly 50 EXP when destroyed regardless of the attacking unit's level. Also, they start out with only a few HP and start healing every turn at a certain point, and if allowed to heal to full, they turn into [[GoddamnedBats Gorgons.]] Tomb Lords, introduced in ''Echoes'', are more of a downplayed example as while they do give out large amounts of EXP, they're also difficult to take down and are easily capable of killing just about anyone.
* PoisonousPerson: Wild Demonic Beasts are poisonous creatures, they have the Poison and Poison Strike skills. Some Tomb Lords may also possess venin claws, which on top of their scary strength makes them more dangerous.
* RoarBeforeBeating: Monster units in ''Three Houses'' do this as they prepare their Staggering Blow--a meaty {{area of effect}} attack that can hit from 8, 10, or 12 squares in two rows of four/five or three rows of four up in front of it and cannot be countered, typically reducing the victims' stats and inflicting various status effects (including against allied units). All opposing factions had best fell the monster, break its barries, or get out of dodge before then.
* SandWorm: The Giant Crawlers are earthworms jacked up to a huge size and are capable of moving through the much-maligned desert tiles with no issue.
* SelfDuplication: Mogalls and Balors possess the ability to make copies of themselves in ''Gaiden'' and ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia''.
* SinisterScimitar: Melee Bonewalkers use this in both ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* SinisterScythe: Gargoyles and their relatives wield scythes in ''Gaiden''.
* SquishyWizard: Mogalls and Arch Mogalls.
* SummonMagic: Phantoms can be summoned by the Summoner and Necromancer Classes in ''Sacred Stones''. Certain player and enemy units could also summon units as AI allies.
* SuperToughness: The Lord of the Lake and the Lord of the Desert (as well as The Immaculate One) possess Ancient Dragonskin, naturally halving all incoming damage, and so long as their barriers are up they have access to Dragon-Scale Wall that reduces the damage even further by a whopping ''70%''.
* TakenForGranite: Gorgon enemies can cast a spell called "Stone" which petrifies your units. Petrified units cannot move and any attack against them will have a 100% chance of hitting and a 30% chance of being a critical hit.
* WasOnceAMan: Many of the monster classes in ''Three Houses'' [[spoiler:were humans transformed by crest stones. Especially, the Black Beast from Miklan, the Wandering Beast from Maurice, the Giant Demonic Beast from Dedue, the cardinals turned White Beasts, and Edelgard as the Hegemon Husk.]]
* WolfpackBoss: The Lagdou Ruins end with a stage containing eight Draco Zombies and no other enemies.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Overclasses]]
!!Overclasses
Overclasses are a new tier of classes available as DLC for ''Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'', accessible when units are at their most powerful: in the highest-tier available class and at Level 20. Among them are:
* Conqueror: An advanced-tier for the Hero class, thus making it exclusive to Alm.
* Rigain: An advanced-tier for the Princess class, thus making it exclusive to Celica.
* Spartan: An advanced-tier for the Baron. The class is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: a warrior wearing armor based on what the Spartans wore.
* Enchantress: An advanced-tier for the Priestess class.
* Skogul: An advanced-tier for the Gold Knight class.
* Yasha: An advanced-tier for the Dread Fighter class.
* Harrier: An advanced-tier for the Falcon Knight class.
* Exemplar: An advanced-tier for the Saint class.
* Guru: An advanced-tier for the Sage class.
* Oliphantier: An advanced-tier for the Bow Knight class.
----
* AnimalMotifs: Oliphantiers's horse mounts are fitted with pieces of armor that make them resemble elephants, adding to the elephant archer aesthetic the class goes for.
* BadassCape: All of the Overclasses except for the Oliphantier have a cape.
* BlingOfWar: They all have gold or silver accents in some shape, form, or fashion.
* BribingYourWayToVictory: They're DLC classes. Granted, the fact that you need to have a character at level 20 and at the highest tier of their class means you'd have to grind to be able to use them.
* CallForward: The Alm exclusive Conqueror class shares its name with that of his descendant Walhart's personal class (though Walhart's version is closer to the Emperor class in spirit and in gameplay functions more like an improved Great Knight than a Lord), and even has horns on it's headgear, a feature that Walhart takes to an exaggerated level.
* DarkIsNotEvil: The Enchantress can learn Death and Mire, which are exclusive to enemy mages, the Harrier rides a dark horse and the Guru can summon Terrors.
* EasterEgg: The pattern on the Enchantress's cape is derived from Celtic knots, a design motif prominent in ''Fire Emblem Heroes''.
* HolyHandGrenade: Rigain grants Celica the Aura spell when she class changes to it.
* MagicKnight: Aside from the Rigain and the Enchantress who already class changed from one, the Harrier can learn spells and use their spears in tandem, just like Dark Fliers.
* MeaningfulName: "Rigain" is Old Irish for queen.
* NavelDeepNeckline: The Harrier's uniform has one going past their navel.
* {{Necromancer}}: Gurus can learn Lemegeton, allowing them to conjure Terrors of their own.
* NoSell: The Phalanx skill on Spartans allow the user to have a chance to negate damage taken equal to their Defense/2%, which can also be multiplied for every adjacent ally.
* PoisonedWeapons: The Yasha's skill Tri-Affliction gives them a chance to poison enemies on hit.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: The Spartan's skill Phalanx allows him to negate all damage, the odds of it triggering increasing the more allies are nearby.
[[/folder]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 6,7 (click to see context) from:
* Characters/FireEmblemOriginalClasses Early Classes]]
* Characters/FireEmblemLaterClasses Later Classes]]
* Characters/FireEmblemLaterClasses Later Classes]]
to:
* Characters/FireEmblemOriginalClasses [[Characters/FireEmblemOriginalClasses Early Classes]]
*Characters/FireEmblemLaterClasses [[Characters/FireEmblemLaterClasses Later Classes]]
*
Changed line(s) 44,63 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Cavalier ''(Social Knight)'']]
!!Cavalier ''(Social Knight)''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/757g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Cavaliers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/850g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Paladin in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/947g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Great Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/echoes_gold_knight_m_2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Gold Knights in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
One of the most common and basic of classes, Cavaliers are horse-mounted knights that have been in the series since the beginning. [[JackOfAllStats They tend to have balanced stats]] and almost always wield swords and lances. Cavaliers usually Class Change into '''Paladins''', which occasionally gives them access to another weapon such as axes while also providing a Movement buff. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they have the alternate Class Change option of '''Great Knight'''; this increases their Defense and gives them the ability to use axes, but comes at the cost of lower Speed, reduced movement, and a weakness to AntiArmor weapons. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' they can Class Change once again into '''Gold Knight''', which only uses lances in ''Gaiden'' and swords and axes in ''Radiant Dawn'', and also the '''Silver Knight''', which uses lances and bows.\\\
The Judgral and Tellius games split the Cavalier class into four separate horseback classes, each specializing in a different weapon type: the '''Blade Knight''' [[note]]"Free Knight" in Jugdral[[/note]], '''Lance Knight''', '''Axe Knight''', and '''Bow Knight''' [[note]]"Arch Knight" in Jugdral[[/note]]. The Tellius games have them all class change into Paladins (in ''Radiant Dawn'', the Paladin class is split similarly), but the Jugdral games give them all their own advanced class: the '''Forrest Knight'''[[note]]also appears in ''The Sacred Stones'' as an advanced option for Archers and Mercenaries, where it is called the '''Ranger'''[[/note]], '''Duke Knight''', '''Great Knight''', and '''Bow Knight'''[[note]]not to be confused with the Arch Knights they class change ''from''[[/note]].\\\
''Engage'' features the class with three weapon variations: '''Sword Cavalier''', '''Lance Cavalier''', and '''Axe Cavalier'''. They can either class change into Paladin (with the variation depending on their primary weapon) or the newly introduced '''Wolf Knight''', a wolf rider who wields daggers and their primary weapon.\\\
Distantly related is the bow-wielding '''Nomad''' class of the Elibe games (see the Archer section), which is pretty much a Bow Knight with a tribal flavoring and slightly different stat distribution. They Class Change to the '''Nomadic Trooper''' class, which gains the use of [[BowAndSwordInAccord swords]] as well. Also related is the '''Mage Knight''' of the Jugdral games[[note]]not of ''The Sacred Stones'', which is a magic-only class[[/note]], and the '''Dark Knight''' of ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', which wield both magic and swords. The ''Awakening'' incarnation of the '''Conqueror''' class, a class exclusive to Walhart, is also related to this line, being similar to the Great Knight and even using the same weapons. Also related are the class families '''Noble''' and '''Avenir''', exclusive to Alfred, which both classes wields lances and the latter also wielding swords, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Cain, Abel, Jagen, Matthis, Hardin, Roshea, Vyland, Midia, Arran, (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Clive, Mathilda, Zeke, Mycen (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Cecil, Roderick, Luke, Sirius (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Alec, Naoise, Lex, Quan, Finn, Midir, Beowolf, Oifey, Diarmuid/Tristan, Lester/Deimne, Iuchar, Ares (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Finn, Brighton, Fergus, Hicks, Carrion, Selfina, Cain, Alva, Robert, Fred, Glade, Conomor, Diarmuid (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Alan, Lance, Marcus, Noah, Treck, Zealot, Perceval (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Sain, Kent, Marcus, Lowen, Isadora (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Seth, Franz, Forde, Kyle, Orson, Duessel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Titania, Oscar, Kieran, Astrid, Makalov, Geoffrey (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Fiona, Renning (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Frey (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Reiden, Belf (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Frederick, Stahl, Sully, Ephraim (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Gunter, Silas, Peri, Xander, Sophie, Siegbert (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Conrad (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Shadows of Valentia]]''); Ferdinand, Sylvain, Lorenz, Leonie (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''), Vander, Alfred, Amber, Merrin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Cavalier ''(Social Knight)''
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/757g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Cavaliers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/850g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Paladin in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/947g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Great Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/echoes_gold_knight_m_2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Gold Knights in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
One of the most common and basic of classes, Cavaliers are horse-mounted knights that have been in the series since the beginning. [[JackOfAllStats They tend to have balanced stats]] and almost always wield swords and lances. Cavaliers usually Class Change into '''Paladins''', which occasionally gives them access to another weapon such as axes while also providing a Movement buff. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they have the alternate Class Change option of '''Great Knight'''; this increases their Defense and gives them the ability to use axes, but comes at the cost of lower Speed, reduced movement, and a weakness to AntiArmor weapons. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' they can Class Change once again into '''Gold Knight''', which only uses lances in ''Gaiden'' and swords and axes in ''Radiant Dawn'', and also the '''Silver Knight''', which uses lances and bows.\\\
The Judgral and Tellius games split the Cavalier class into four separate horseback classes, each specializing in a different weapon type: the '''Blade Knight''' [[note]]"Free Knight" in Jugdral[[/note]], '''Lance Knight''', '''Axe Knight''', and '''Bow Knight''' [[note]]"Arch Knight" in Jugdral[[/note]]. The Tellius games have them all class change into Paladins (in ''Radiant Dawn'', the Paladin class is split similarly), but the Jugdral games give them all their own advanced class: the '''Forrest Knight'''[[note]]also appears in ''The Sacred Stones'' as an advanced option for Archers and Mercenaries, where it is called the '''Ranger'''[[/note]], '''Duke Knight''', '''Great Knight''', and '''Bow Knight'''[[note]]not to be confused with the Arch Knights they class change ''from''[[/note]].\\\
''Engage'' features the class with three weapon variations: '''Sword Cavalier''', '''Lance Cavalier''', and '''Axe Cavalier'''. They can either class change into Paladin (with the variation depending on their primary weapon) or the newly introduced '''Wolf Knight''', a wolf rider who wields daggers and their primary weapon.\\\
Distantly related is the bow-wielding '''Nomad''' class of the Elibe games (see the Archer section), which is pretty much a Bow Knight with a tribal flavoring and slightly different stat distribution. They Class Change to the '''Nomadic Trooper''' class, which gains the use of [[BowAndSwordInAccord swords]] as well. Also related is the '''Mage Knight''' of the Jugdral games[[note]]not of ''The Sacred Stones'', which is a magic-only class[[/note]], and the '''Dark Knight''' of ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', which wield both magic and swords. The ''Awakening'' incarnation of the '''Conqueror''' class, a class exclusive to Walhart, is also related to this line, being similar to the Great Knight and even using the same weapons. Also related are the class families '''Noble''' and '''Avenir''', exclusive to Alfred, which both classes wields lances and the latter also wielding swords, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Cain, Abel, Jagen, Matthis, Hardin, Roshea, Vyland, Midia, Arran, (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Clive, Mathilda, Zeke, Mycen (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Cecil, Roderick, Luke, Sirius (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Alec, Naoise, Lex, Quan, Finn, Midir, Beowolf, Oifey, Diarmuid/Tristan, Lester/Deimne, Iuchar, Ares (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Finn, Brighton, Fergus, Hicks, Carrion, Selfina, Cain, Alva, Robert, Fred, Glade, Conomor, Diarmuid (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Alan, Lance, Marcus, Noah, Treck, Zealot, Perceval (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Sain, Kent, Marcus, Lowen, Isadora (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Seth, Franz, Forde, Kyle, Orson, Duessel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Titania, Oscar, Kieran, Astrid, Makalov, Geoffrey (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Fiona, Renning (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Frey (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Reiden, Belf (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Frederick, Stahl, Sully, Ephraim (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Gunter, Silas, Peri, Xander, Sophie, Siegbert (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Conrad (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Shadows of Valentia]]''); Ferdinand, Sylvain, Lorenz, Leonie (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''), Vander, Alfred, Amber, Merrin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Cavalier ''(Social Knight)''
!!Soldier
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[caption-width-right:350:Paladin in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/947g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Great Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[caption-width-right:256:Gold Knights
[[caption-width-right:256:Spear Fighter in
One of the
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesholylancerportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Spear Master in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesbasaraportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Basara in ''Fates'']]
Soldiers are lance-wielding footsoldiers that are typically treated as a {{mook|s}} class in most
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''
Changed line(s) 65,105 (click to see context) from:
* AchillesHeel: [[AntiCavalry Horse-slaying weapons]], like the Poleaxe and Longsword, along with a majority of the lords' starting exclusive weapons, can deal effective damage to them. Whether or not mounted archers are affected by Horse-slaying weapons varies by game.
* ActionInitiative: Cavaliers in ''Three Houses'' learn Desperation upon mastering the class. It allows them to immediately execute both of their attacks if they can follow-up while under half of their HP. In case the last sentence was confusing; the foe doesn't get to counterattack until the user of Desperation has performed ''all'' of their attacks... assuming that the foe is still standing.
* AlwaysMale: Strangely, female units cannot reclass to Cavalier in ''Shadow Dragon'', despite Paladin being unisex with Midia starting as a Paladin. This is rectified in ''New Mystery'', as females can access Cavalier and Cecil starts as one.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: ''Awakening'' and ''Fates''[='=] Great Knights can learn the Luna skill to halve the opponent's defense.
* AutomatonHorses: There's no sign that the horses used by Cavalier variants ever need rest; odds are they do after battles, but it's never discussed. There was a pseudo exception to this with the dismount feature in ''Mystery of the Emblem'' and ''Thracia 776'' (only Seliph can do this in ''Genealogy''), but [[ScrappyMechanic the feature proved unpopular]] until it was refined in ''Three Houses''.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: Typical for the advanced bow-using variation, whether it is part of the Cavalier line or not.
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: The Axe cavalry variant of Great Knight wears scary armor with HornsOfBarbarism. Characters of the axe cavalry variant also tend to be more brawny and brutish then characters in the other cavalry classes.
* TheCavalry: Many enemy armies treat them as this[[note]]fitting, given the name of the class[[/note]], bringing in waves of cavaliers and related classes as mid-level reinforcements; this is particularly effective given their high movement rate, allowing them to quickly sweep in and potentially catch the player's troops by surprise.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Typically, Cavaliers are the only base class to wield two weapons (usually swords and lances). In ''Three Houses'', Great Knights specialize in axes and lances.
* CoolHorse: Their horses give them greater movement than your units on foot, and most of their attack animations show that the horse is rather in-tune with its rider.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Cavaliers in ''Three Houses'' gain Desperation, a skill that allows the unit to deal a follow-up attack before the enemy could counterattack when under 50% HP, upon mastering the class.
** Great Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Defense, a skill that boosts defense by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* CrutchCharacter: Cavaliers and their promoted classes tend to serve this role in the series due to their ability to use multiple weapons, having good movement, and the fact that they use almost every stat save magic. The fact that the Jagen archetype is almost always a Paladin or Great Knight only furthers the CrutchCharacter role, and the player usually gets two or three unpromoted Cavaliers at the start of the game as well. Later games used the Great Knight for this role instead, giving them access to the three main physical weapons to counter most enemies early on.
* DamageReduction: Paladins in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' have Aegis, which on activation halves damage taken from enemies equipped with Bows, Tomes, and Dragonstones, and only in ''Fates'', Breaths, Shurikens, and Boulders. Great Knights in ''Fates'' have Armored Blow, which, on initiation, grants the user +10 Defense.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** For a good portion of the series, Cavaliers could only promote to Paladin. This meant all Cavaliers were similar, not helped by their propensities for having statlines that only differed from their peers by very slight, usually inconsequential amounts. The creation of the Great Knight helped clear this issue up by making it possible for more unique options for Cavaliers.
** In some games, there were weapon-based Cavalier classes instead of one Cavalier class. For example, you would have Axe Cavaliers, Sword Cavaliers, and even Bow Cavaliers, which meant their promotion was a variant of the Paladin, but focused on the same weapon. The Great Knight also addressed this by making Paladins focused on swords and lances, while Great Knights were focused on weaponizing the whole weapon triangle.
** In ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', the Ridersbane is effective against Cavaliers... [[ExactWords and]] '''[[ExactWords only]]''' [[ExactWords against Cavaliers]]. It does normal damage against Paladins.
* ExperienceBooster: Only in ''Awakening'', but Cavaliers learn the skill Discipline, which doubles weapon experience gained.
* {{Foil}}: To Knights. Both classes are heavily tied to knighthood (Cavaliers moreso than Knights), frequently enlisted by TheEmpire, and class change with the Knight Crest in the earlier games, but Cavaliers focus on chasing down enemies with their high movement and are encouraged to fight on the open field, while Knights make use of terrain bonuses and block chokepoints due to their lower movement and high Defense. Some skills they get in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' also contrast each other and may help with their specializations.
* FragileSpeedster: Wolf Knights in ''Engage'' have are more Speed-focused than Paladins, albeit at the cost of having less Defense and Strength compared to them.
* GoldColoredSuperiority: Gold Knights in ''Gaiden'' and ''Radiant Dawn'' are superior to Paladins, as they are the third-tier advanced class in the Cavalier line. In ''Radiant Dawn'', Blade and Axe Paladins class change into Gold Knights, while Lance and Bow Paladins class change into Silver Paladins instead.
* HitAndRunTactics: In the Jugdral and Tellius games and ''Three Houses'', Cavaliers can move again with their remaining moves after performing an attack. In the GBA games, this is limited to non-attacking commands.
* HorseOfADifferentColor: The Wolf Knight rides giant wolves, instead of horses.
* JackOfAllStats: They tend to be the most balanced of the mounted/flying units and are typically the only unit who are capable of wielding more than one type of weapon before class change.
* LightningBruiser: Really, really common. Cavaliers generally have balanced growths in all areas and amazing base stats. Paladins especially become this if the unit has even remotely decent physical growths; by end game, Paladins can practically hold off most enemies with ease (well, except for the odd AntiCavalry weapon-wielder).
* LifeDrain: The Gold and Silver Knights' mastery skill, Sol.
* MageKiller: Paladins are one of the few physical-fighting units with passable resistance, making them decent against mages. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', they even get the Aegis skill, a skill similar to Pavise, which reduces damage taken from most ranged weapons, including magic.
* MightyGlacier:
** Great Knights focus more on HP and Defense, making them very tanky, but often very slow as a result.
** Cavaliers and Paladins in ''Three Houses'', though still very mobile, lack speed compared to other units or even other games.
* MountedMook: Cavaliers are the main mounted adversaries of the series. They are soldiers riding on horses that give them great mobility range and the ability to move a little after making an attack. They normally carry spears and, being an intermediate class, possess decent attack and speed stats.
* MultiMeleeMaster: Cavaliers are usually the only non-advanced class that can wield multiple weapon types. Additionally, Paladins in Elibe games and Great Knights in ''The Sacred Stones'', ''Awakening'', and ''Fates'' can use all three melee weapons, and the Paladin of ''Fates'' is the only normal class capable of getting both of its usable weapon types up to A Rank, granting them potential use of every Sword and Lance-type weapon in the game except for the Legendary weapons.
* NotSoSimilar: There are two versions of Great Knights. While they are known for being horseback units who wield axes, their gameplay traits vary:
** The Axe Cavalier: Exclusive to games with cavalry class separation by weapon types, they wield axes exclusively and focus on Strength.
** The Armored Cavalry: Exclusive to games with branching class change options, this variant mixes traits of both Paladins (mobility and anti-cavalry weakness) and Generals (high Defense, weapon usage, poor speed, and anti-armor weakness), functioning as an in-between of the two classes.
* ThePaladin: Averted; the Paladin class has nothing to do with holy warriors and cannot use any sort of magic. They're generally upstanding, moral, and loyal knights, but not holy by any means.
* StatusBuff: Great Knights in ''Fates'' get Armored Blow at Level 15, which reduces physical damage by 10 when attacking.
* WalkingArmory: The Great Knights of ''Sacred Stones'', ''Awakening'', and ''Fates'' cover the weapon triangle completely with lances, swords, and axes.
* WeaponSpecialization: Cavaliers have been often associated with lances, even in games where they could wield both swords and lances. In some games, there are Lance Knights that are cavaliers that exclusively use lances, while ''Gaiden''[='=]s Cavalier class line exclusively uses lances. In ''Three Houses'', Paladins gain Lancefaire.
* WhiteStallion: Paladins ride on white stallions to show their status as experienced knights.
* ActionInitiative: Cavaliers in ''Three Houses'' learn Desperation upon mastering the class. It allows them to immediately execute both of their attacks if they can follow-up while under half of their HP. In case the last sentence was confusing; the foe doesn't get to counterattack until the user of Desperation has performed ''all'' of their attacks... assuming that the foe is still standing.
* AlwaysMale: Strangely, female units cannot reclass to Cavalier in ''Shadow Dragon'', despite Paladin being unisex with Midia starting as a Paladin. This is rectified in ''New Mystery'', as females can access Cavalier and Cecil starts as one.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: ''Awakening'' and ''Fates''[='=] Great Knights can learn the Luna skill to halve the opponent's defense.
* AutomatonHorses: There's no sign that the horses used by Cavalier variants ever need rest; odds are they do after battles, but it's never discussed. There was a pseudo exception to this with the dismount feature in ''Mystery of the Emblem'' and ''Thracia 776'' (only Seliph can do this in ''Genealogy''), but [[ScrappyMechanic the feature proved unpopular]] until it was refined in ''Three Houses''.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: Typical for the advanced bow-using variation, whether it is part of the Cavalier line or not.
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: The Axe cavalry variant of Great Knight wears scary armor with HornsOfBarbarism. Characters of the axe cavalry variant also tend to be more brawny and brutish then characters in the other cavalry classes.
* TheCavalry: Many enemy armies treat them as this[[note]]fitting, given the name of the class[[/note]], bringing in waves of cavaliers and related classes as mid-level reinforcements; this is particularly effective given their high movement rate, allowing them to quickly sweep in and potentially catch the player's troops by surprise.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Typically, Cavaliers are the only base class to wield two weapons (usually swords and lances). In ''Three Houses'', Great Knights specialize in axes and lances.
* CoolHorse: Their horses give them greater movement than your units on foot, and most of their attack animations show that the horse is rather in-tune with its rider.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Cavaliers in ''Three Houses'' gain Desperation, a skill that allows the unit to deal a follow-up attack before the enemy could counterattack when under 50% HP, upon mastering the class.
** Great Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Defense, a skill that boosts defense by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* CrutchCharacter: Cavaliers and their promoted classes tend to serve this role in the series due to their ability to use multiple weapons, having good movement, and the fact that they use almost every stat save magic. The fact that the Jagen archetype is almost always a Paladin or Great Knight only furthers the CrutchCharacter role, and the player usually gets two or three unpromoted Cavaliers at the start of the game as well. Later games used the Great Knight for this role instead, giving them access to the three main physical weapons to counter most enemies early on.
* DamageReduction: Paladins in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' have Aegis, which on activation halves damage taken from enemies equipped with Bows, Tomes, and Dragonstones, and only in ''Fates'', Breaths, Shurikens, and Boulders. Great Knights in ''Fates'' have Armored Blow, which, on initiation, grants the user +10 Defense.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** For a good portion of the series, Cavaliers could only promote to Paladin. This meant all Cavaliers were similar, not helped by their propensities for having statlines that only differed from their peers by very slight, usually inconsequential amounts. The creation of the Great Knight helped clear this issue up by making it possible for more unique options for Cavaliers.
** In some games, there were weapon-based Cavalier classes instead of one Cavalier class. For example, you would have Axe Cavaliers, Sword Cavaliers, and even Bow Cavaliers, which meant their promotion was a variant of the Paladin, but focused on the same weapon. The Great Knight also addressed this by making Paladins focused on swords and lances, while Great Knights were focused on weaponizing the whole weapon triangle.
** In ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', the Ridersbane is effective against Cavaliers... [[ExactWords and]] '''[[ExactWords only]]''' [[ExactWords against Cavaliers]]. It does normal damage against Paladins.
* ExperienceBooster: Only in ''Awakening'', but Cavaliers learn the skill Discipline, which doubles weapon experience gained.
* {{Foil}}: To Knights. Both classes are heavily tied to knighthood (Cavaliers moreso than Knights), frequently enlisted by TheEmpire, and class change with the Knight Crest in the earlier games, but Cavaliers focus on chasing down enemies with their high movement and are encouraged to fight on the open field, while Knights make use of terrain bonuses and block chokepoints due to their lower movement and high Defense. Some skills they get in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' also contrast each other and may help with their specializations.
* FragileSpeedster: Wolf Knights in ''Engage'' have are more Speed-focused than Paladins, albeit at the cost of having less Defense and Strength compared to them.
* GoldColoredSuperiority: Gold Knights in ''Gaiden'' and ''Radiant Dawn'' are superior to Paladins, as they are the third-tier advanced class in the Cavalier line. In ''Radiant Dawn'', Blade and Axe Paladins class change into Gold Knights, while Lance and Bow Paladins class change into Silver Paladins instead.
* HitAndRunTactics: In the Jugdral and Tellius games and ''Three Houses'', Cavaliers can move again with their remaining moves after performing an attack. In the GBA games, this is limited to non-attacking commands.
* HorseOfADifferentColor: The Wolf Knight rides giant wolves, instead of horses.
* JackOfAllStats: They tend to be the most balanced of the mounted/flying units and are typically the only unit who are capable of wielding more than one type of weapon before class change.
* LightningBruiser: Really, really common. Cavaliers generally have balanced growths in all areas and amazing base stats. Paladins especially become this if the unit has even remotely decent physical growths; by end game, Paladins can practically hold off most enemies with ease (well, except for the odd AntiCavalry weapon-wielder).
* LifeDrain: The Gold and Silver Knights' mastery skill, Sol.
* MageKiller: Paladins are one of the few physical-fighting units with passable resistance, making them decent against mages. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', they even get the Aegis skill, a skill similar to Pavise, which reduces damage taken from most ranged weapons, including magic.
* MightyGlacier:
** Great Knights focus more on HP and Defense, making them very tanky, but often very slow as a result.
** Cavaliers and Paladins in ''Three Houses'', though still very mobile, lack speed compared to other units or even other games.
* MountedMook: Cavaliers are the main mounted adversaries of the series. They are soldiers riding on horses that give them great mobility range and the ability to move a little after making an attack. They normally carry spears and, being an intermediate class, possess decent attack and speed stats.
* MultiMeleeMaster: Cavaliers are usually the only non-advanced class that can wield multiple weapon types. Additionally, Paladins in Elibe games and Great Knights in ''The Sacred Stones'', ''Awakening'', and ''Fates'' can use all three melee weapons, and the Paladin of ''Fates'' is the only normal class capable of getting both of its usable weapon types up to A Rank, granting them potential use of every Sword and Lance-type weapon in the game except for the Legendary weapons.
* NotSoSimilar: There are two versions of Great Knights. While they are known for being horseback units who wield axes, their gameplay traits vary:
** The Axe Cavalier: Exclusive to games with cavalry class separation by weapon types, they wield axes exclusively and focus on Strength.
** The Armored Cavalry: Exclusive to games with branching class change options, this variant mixes traits of both Paladins (mobility and anti-cavalry weakness) and Generals (high Defense, weapon usage, poor speed, and anti-armor weakness), functioning as an in-between of the two classes.
* ThePaladin: Averted; the Paladin class has nothing to do with holy warriors and cannot use any sort of magic. They're generally upstanding, moral, and loyal knights, but not holy by any means.
* StatusBuff: Great Knights in ''Fates'' get Armored Blow at Level 15, which reduces physical damage by 10 when attacking.
* WalkingArmory: The Great Knights of ''Sacred Stones'', ''Awakening'', and ''Fates'' cover the weapon triangle completely with lances, swords, and axes.
* WeaponSpecialization: Cavaliers have been often associated with lances, even in games where they could wield both swords and lances. In some games, there are Lance Knights that are cavaliers that exclusively use lances, while ''Gaiden''[='=]s Cavalier class line exclusively uses lances. In ''Three Houses'', Paladins gain Lancefaire.
* WhiteStallion: Paladins ride on white stallions to show their status as experienced knights.
to:
* AlwaysMale:
* ArmorPiercingAttack:
* AscendedExtra: The class started off as the starting class for the Knight class in ''Gaiden'', and
* AutomatonHorses: There's no sign that the horses used by Cavalier variants ever need rest; odds
* BowAndSwordInAccord: Typical for the advanced bow-using variation, whether it is part of the Cavalier line or not.
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: The Axe cavalry variant of Great Knight wears scary armor with HornsOfBarbarism. Characters of the axe cavalry variant also tend to be more brawny and brutish then characters in the other cavalry classes.
* TheCavalry: Many enemy armies treat them as this[[note]]fitting, given the name of the class[[/note]], bringing in waves of cavaliers and related classes as mid-level reinforcements; this is particularly effective given their high movement rate, allowing them to quickly sweep in and potentially catch the player's troops by surprise.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Typically, Cavaliers are the only base
* CoolHorse: Their horses give them greater movement than your units on foot, and most of their attack animations show that
* CriticalStatusBuff: Cavaliers in ''Three Houses'' gain Desperation, a skill that allows the unit to deal a follow-up attack before the enemy could counterattack when under 50% HP, upon mastering the class.
** Great Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Defense, a skill that boosts defense by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* CrutchCharacter: Cavaliers and their promoted classes tend to serve this role in the series due to their ability to use multiple weapons, having good movement, and the fact that
* DamageReduction: Paladins in ''Awakening'' and
* CastFromHitpoints: Royal Knight's class skill, Reforge, allows the unit to remove an adjacent ally's broken status after combat at a cost of 10 of their own HP. However, they must have
* CriticalHit: The Sentinel's Impale mastery skill, which
* CriticalHitClass: Halberdiers and
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: The Spear Fighters in ''Fates'' have
*
** For
** In some games, there were weapon-based Cavalier classes instead of one Cavalier class. For example, you would have Axe Cavaliers, Sword Cavaliers, and
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: Started out as a 1st tier of the
** In ''Shadow Dragon
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In ''Gaiden'', they're essentially Armor Knights, and are playable. While unplayable in ''Mystery of the
* ExperienceBooster: Only in ''Awakening'', but Cavaliers learn
* {{Expy}}: The Spear Fighter is pretty much the Soldier except more eastern-themed.
* {{Foil}}: To Knights. Both classes are
* FragileSpeedster: Wolf Knights in ''Engage'' have are more Speed-focused
* GoldColoredSuperiority: Gold Knights in ''Gaiden'' and ''Radiant Dawn'' are superior to Paladins, as they are the third-tier advanced class in the Cavalier line. In ''Radiant Dawn'', Blade and Axe Paladins class change into Gold
* HitAndRunTactics: In the Jugdral and Tellius games and ''Three Houses'', Cavaliers can move again with their remaining moves after performing an attack. In the GBA games, this is limited to non-attacking commands.
* HorseOfADifferentColor: The Wolf Knight rides giant wolves, instead of horses.
* JackOfAllStats: They tend to be the most balanced of the mounted/flying units and are typically the only unit
*
* LifeDrain: The Gold and Silver Knights' mastery skill, Sol.
* MageKiller: Paladins are one of the few physical-fighting units with passable resistance, making them decent against mages.
* MightyGlacier:
** Great Knights focus more on HP and Defense, making them
** Cavaliers
* MountedMook: Cavaliers
* MultiMeleeMaster: Cavaliers are usually the only non-advanced class that can wield multiple weapon types.
* NotSoSimilar: There are two versions
** The Axe Cavalier: Exclusive to games with cavalry class separation by weapon types, they wield axes exclusively and focus
* ThePaladin: Averted; the Paladin class has nothing to do with holy warriors and cannot use any sort of magic. They're
* MightyGlacier: Soldiers in ''Gaiden'' have stats geared towards defense, as they share the class line with the bulky armored Knights. As mentioned in JackofAllStats above, the other versions still have an unusually high defense compared to other infantry.
* {{Mook}}: Their role when unplayable is usually [[CannonFodder sparsely-trained and
*
* PutOnABus: For a long time, they were often pushed aside in favor of Knights, Trainees, or Cavaliers. It wasn't until the Tellius games that they reappeared, and they would sit on the side for a few more years before returning in ''Fates''.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Their skills ''Seal Defense'' and ''Seal Speed'', which reduces
* WalkingArmory: The Great Knights of ''Sacred Stones'', ''Awakening'',
*
* TookALevelInBadass: Naturally, when they're playable and not just mere {{mook}}s. Soldiers have been buffed up and able to class change, so later on enemy Soldiers/Halberdiers/Sentinels remain as threatening as other enemies too.
* WeaponSpecialization: The pure-lance infantry class, much like Myrmidons are to swords. Spear Masters in ''Fates'' gain
* WhiteStallion: Paladins ride on white stallions to show
Changed line(s) 108,123 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Knight (''Armor Knight'')]]
!!Knight (''Armor Knight'')
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/755g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Armored Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/848g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Fortress Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
Knights (or Armored Knight in ''Three Houses'') are heavily-armored footsoldiers. They usually wield lances and tend to be very bulky, but this comes at the cost of their Speed and Movement on top of giving them a weakness to AntiArmor weapons and terrain restrictions. Their Resistance is lower than their defense which, combined with their low speed, makes magic an effective way to take them out.\\\
Knights generally Class Change to '''Generals''', which occasionally grants them a secondary weapon such as axes, swords, bows, or even all three. Third-tier Knights are known as '''Barons''' in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'', and '''Marshalls''' in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' they have '''Great Knight''' as an alternative Class Change option.\\\
The Jugdral games, ''Radiant Dawn'' and ''Heroes'' split the Knight class into four separate armoured classes, each specializing in a different weapon type: the '''Sword Armor''', '''Lance Armor''', '''Axe Armor''', and '''Bow Armor'''[[note]]Jugdral only[[/note]]. They all class change into similarly weapon-specific variants of the General[[note]]in ''[=FE4=]''/''[=FE5=]'', only the Sword Armor/Axe Armor can class change; the others are enemy-only and thus don't class change, though the Jugdral General can use all four weapon types anyway, implying that the others would also class change into it[[/note]]. In ''Gaiden'', the Armor Knight serves as a second-tier class for the '''Soldier''' (see below).\\\
Related to this class is the '''Emperor''' class and its variants (detailed below). Also related is the '''BlackKnight''' of ''Radiant Dawn'', a class which is exclusive to the Black Knight. The enemy-only '''Baron''' class of the Jugdral games (not to be confused with the third-tier Baron of ''Gaiden'', which is basically a General) is also related to the class, but is able to use every weapon type except for Light and Dark Magic.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Draug, Roger, Dolph, Macellan, Lorenz (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Valbar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Sheena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Arden, Hannibal (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Dalsin, Xavier (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Bors, Barthe, Gwendolyn, Douglas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Wallace, Oswin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Gilliam (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Gatrie, Brom, Tauroneo (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Meg, Black Knight (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Horace (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Kellam, Kjelle (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Effie, Benny, Ignatius (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Dedue, Gilbert (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Louis, Jade, Bunet, Madeline (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Knight (''Armor Knight'')
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/755g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Armored Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/848g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Fortress Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
Knights (or Armored Knight in ''Three Houses'') are heavily-armored footsoldiers. They usually wield lances and tend to be very bulky, but this comes at the cost of their Speed and Movement on top of giving them a weakness to AntiArmor weapons and terrain restrictions. Their Resistance is lower than their defense which, combined with their low speed, makes magic an effective way to take them out.\\\
Knights generally Class Change to '''Generals''', which occasionally grants them a secondary weapon such as axes, swords, bows, or even all three. Third-tier Knights are known as '''Barons''' in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'', and '''Marshalls''' in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' they have '''Great Knight''' as an alternative Class Change option.\\\
The Jugdral games, ''Radiant Dawn'' and ''Heroes'' split the Knight class into four separate armoured classes, each specializing in a different weapon type: the '''Sword Armor''', '''Lance Armor''', '''Axe Armor''', and '''Bow Armor'''[[note]]Jugdral only[[/note]]. They all class change into similarly weapon-specific variants of the General[[note]]in ''[=FE4=]''/''[=FE5=]'', only the Sword Armor/Axe Armor can class change; the others are enemy-only and thus don't class change, though the Jugdral General can use all four weapon types anyway, implying that the others would also class change into it[[/note]]. In ''Gaiden'', the Armor Knight serves as a second-tier class for the '''Soldier''' (see below).\\\
Related to this class is the '''Emperor''' class and its variants (detailed below). Also related is the '''BlackKnight''' of ''Radiant Dawn'', a class which is exclusive to the Black Knight. The enemy-only '''Baron''' class of the Jugdral games (not to be confused with the third-tier Baron of ''Gaiden'', which is basically a General) is also related to the class, but is able to use every weapon type except for Light and Dark Magic.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Draug, Roger, Dolph, Macellan, Lorenz (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Valbar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Sheena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Arden, Hannibal (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Dalsin, Xavier (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Bors, Barthe, Gwendolyn, Douglas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Wallace, Oswin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Gilliam (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Gatrie, Brom, Tauroneo (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Meg, Black Knight (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Horace (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Kellam, Kjelle (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Effie, Benny, Ignatius (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Dedue, Gilbert (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Louis, Jade, Bunet, Madeline (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Knight (''Armor Knight'')
!!Mercenary
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
They Class Change into '''Hero'''[[note]]'''Forrest''' in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the
* ActionInitiative: Heroes in ''Three Houses'' gain the Vantage skill, which allows them to act first when their health is low, as a class skill while Mercenaries can learn the skill upon mastering the class.
* AchillesHeel: The rarely appearing [=SwordSlayer=], introduced in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', deals effective damage towards Mercenaries and Heroes even if they aren't wielding a sword.
* AlwaysMale:
** The Mercenary line is exclusive to males in ''Shadow Dragon''. Malice was originally a Mercenary in ''BS Fire Emblem'' (though Myrmidon didn't exist until ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Binding Blade'' and in that game, animation are off by default to both save time for its limited duration and to hide a class that only had male characters), but was made into a Myrmidon in ''New Mystery of the Emblem''.
** The Mercenary line in ''Gaiden'' is locked to male units, so Faye or other female units that used the Pitchfork item cannot get Mercenary.
** The Hero class in ''Three Houses'' can only be accessed by men.
* {{BFS}}: The swords wielded by the Mercenary class in the GBA and DS games are depicted as large swords. They also possess a high enough Constitution in order to effectively wield heavier swords such as blades, [[AntiCavalry Longswords]], or [[AntiArmor Armorslayers]].
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: In contrast to Swordmasters, Heroes can wield axes as well as swords and are built to be stronger but slower than them, and are a promote of the Mercenary Class.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Heroes in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Strength, a skill that boosts strength by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* CombatParkour: ''Awakening's'' Heroes backflip when they dodge attacks, while Mercenaries and Heroes flip to attack in the GBA games.
* HealingFactor: Mercenaries in ''Fates'' get the Good Fortune skill, where they have a chance (based on their Luck stat) to recover 20% of their max HP at the start of the turn.
* HeroesPreferSwords: In a literal example of this trope, the Hero class can wield -- and oftentimes specializes in -- swords. However, the Hero class can also be promoted from the axe-wielding Fighter class in some games, making this more of a DownplayedTrope. Heroes in ''Three Houses'' gain Swordfaire as a class skill.
* InASingleBound: Older games seems to like having Mercenaries and Heroes leap massive lengths into action.
* ItemAmplifier: In ''Awakening'', Mercenaries have Armsthrift, which grants a (Luck*2) chance of not degrading their weapon.
* IShallTauntYou: The Mercenary's crit animation in the GBA games begins with a taunting motion, and transfers into an enormous forward flip.
* JackOfAllStats: Mercenaries have high and well-balanced stats all-round, in contrast to the other infantry classes, though like most sword-wielding classes they tend to have high speed above all else.
* LifeDrain: Heroes in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' can learn Sol, a skill that allows them to regain health equal to half the damage dealt.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: In many games (most notably the Super Famicom, GBA, and DS games), Heroes and Forrests wear shields and use them to "block" attacks that miss them.
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Their critical animations often involve tossing their weapon into the air, then jumping after it while [[UnnecessaryCombatRoll somersaulting several times]] before catching it and coming back down for the strike.
* UnorthodoxSheathing: In the GBA games, Heroes sheathe their weapon into their shield while in midair. Their critical hit animation has them throwing their shield in the air before jumping after it, unsheathing their weapon, and hitting their opponent.
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: Often their default pose.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Myrmidon (''Swordfighter'', ''Blade'')]]
!!Myrmidon (''Swordfighter'', ''Blade'')
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/679g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Myrmidon in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/824g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Swordmasters in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/945g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_master_of_arms_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Master of Arms in ''Fates'']]
A class closely related to the Mercenary, originally deriving from Mercenaries with specifically different gameplay constitutions; whereas Mercenaries are balanced, Myrmidons turn up the Speed to near-ridiculous levels at the expense of Defense.\\\
They Class Change into '''Swordmaster''', and in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' can go further into the '''Trueblade''' class. The Myrmidon class technically replaced the Mercenary class in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'' (and thus, some could Class Change to '''Hero/Forrest'''), but was functionally a bit of a mix of the two; the full, separate Myrmidon class in and of itself as we know it today debuted in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', Myrmidons can also branch into '''Assassins'''; the latter game allows them to use BowAndSwordInAccord. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Myrmidons are called '''Samurai''' (a Hoshidan class), which also Class Changes into the '''Swordmaster'''. They also can branch into the '''Master of Arms''', which cuts down on their Speed for some bulk and utilizes all the basic weapons of the weapon triangle. ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' also introduces the '''Mortal Savant''' class, a Swordmaster with inclinations of magic.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''[[note]]Characters marked with an * were originally Mercenaries in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', ''Mystery of the Emblem'' and ''Archanea Saga''[[/note]] Ayra, Chulainn, Larcei/Creidne, Scáthach/Dalvin, Shannan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Eyvel, Machyua, Shiva, Mareeta, Trewd, Ralph, Shannam, Galzus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Rutger, Fir, Karel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Guy, Karel, Karla (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Joshua, Marisa (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Mia, Zihark, Lucia, Stefan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Edward (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Navarre*, Radd*, Athena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Samuel, Malice* (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Lon'qu, Say'ri, Owain, Yen'fay, Seliph, Lyn, [=SpotPass=] Eirika (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Hana, Hinata, Ryoma, Hisame, Fuga (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Felix, Catherine (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Lapis, Kagetsu (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----
* AchillesHeel: The rarely appearing [=SwordSlayer=], introduced in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', deals effective damage towards Mercenaries and Heroes even if they aren't wielding a sword.
* AlwaysMale:
** The Mercenary line is exclusive to males in ''Shadow Dragon''. Malice was originally a Mercenary in ''BS Fire Emblem'' (though Myrmidon didn't exist until ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Binding Blade'' and in that game, animation are off by default to both save time for its limited duration and to hide a class that only had male characters), but was made into a Myrmidon in ''New Mystery of the Emblem''.
** The Mercenary line in ''Gaiden'' is locked to male units, so Faye or other female units that used the Pitchfork item cannot get Mercenary.
** The Hero class in ''Three Houses'' can only be accessed by men.
* {{BFS}}: The swords wielded by the Mercenary class in the GBA and DS games are depicted as large swords. They also possess a high enough Constitution in order to effectively wield heavier swords such as blades, [[AntiCavalry Longswords]], or [[AntiArmor Armorslayers]].
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: In contrast to Swordmasters, Heroes can wield axes as well as swords and are built to be stronger but slower than them, and are a promote of the Mercenary Class.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Heroes in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Strength, a skill that boosts strength by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* CombatParkour: ''Awakening's'' Heroes backflip when they dodge attacks, while Mercenaries and Heroes flip to attack in the GBA games.
* HealingFactor: Mercenaries in ''Fates'' get the Good Fortune skill, where they have a chance (based on their Luck stat) to recover 20% of their max HP at the start of the turn.
* HeroesPreferSwords: In a literal example of this trope, the Hero class can wield -- and oftentimes specializes in -- swords. However, the Hero class can also be promoted from the axe-wielding Fighter class in some games, making this more of a DownplayedTrope. Heroes in ''Three Houses'' gain Swordfaire as a class skill.
* InASingleBound: Older games seems to like having Mercenaries and Heroes leap massive lengths into action.
* ItemAmplifier: In ''Awakening'', Mercenaries have Armsthrift, which grants a (Luck*2) chance of not degrading their weapon.
* IShallTauntYou: The Mercenary's crit animation in the GBA games begins with a taunting motion, and transfers into an enormous forward flip.
* JackOfAllStats: Mercenaries have high and well-balanced stats all-round, in contrast to the other infantry classes, though like most sword-wielding classes they tend to have high speed above all else.
* LifeDrain: Heroes in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' can learn Sol, a skill that allows them to regain health equal to half the damage dealt.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: In many games (most notably the Super Famicom, GBA, and DS games), Heroes and Forrests wear shields and use them to "block" attacks that miss them.
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Their critical animations often involve tossing their weapon into the air, then jumping after it while [[UnnecessaryCombatRoll somersaulting several times]] before catching it and coming back down for the strike.
* UnorthodoxSheathing: In the GBA games, Heroes sheathe their weapon into their shield while in midair. Their critical hit animation has them throwing their shield in the air before jumping after it, unsheathing their weapon, and hitting their opponent.
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: Often their default pose.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Myrmidon (''Swordfighter'', ''Blade'')]]
!!Myrmidon (''Swordfighter'', ''Blade'')
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/679g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Myrmidon in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/824g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Swordmasters in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/945g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_master_of_arms_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Master of Arms in ''Fates'']]
A class closely related to the Mercenary, originally deriving from Mercenaries with specifically different gameplay constitutions; whereas Mercenaries are balanced, Myrmidons turn up the Speed to near-ridiculous levels at the expense of Defense.\\\
They Class Change into '''Swordmaster''', and in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' can go further into the '''Trueblade''' class. The Myrmidon class technically replaced the Mercenary class in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'' (and thus, some could Class Change to '''Hero/Forrest'''), but was functionally a bit of a mix of the two; the full, separate Myrmidon class in and of itself as we know it today debuted in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', Myrmidons can also branch into '''Assassins'''; the latter game allows them to use BowAndSwordInAccord. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Myrmidons are called '''Samurai''' (a Hoshidan class), which also Class Changes into the '''Swordmaster'''. They also can branch into the '''Master of Arms''', which cuts down on their Speed for some bulk and utilizes all the basic weapons of the weapon triangle. ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' also introduces the '''Mortal Savant''' class, a Swordmaster with inclinations of magic.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''[[note]]Characters marked with an * were originally Mercenaries in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', ''Mystery of the Emblem'' and ''Archanea Saga''[[/note]] Ayra, Chulainn, Larcei/Creidne, Scáthach/Dalvin, Shannan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Eyvel, Machyua, Shiva, Mareeta, Trewd, Ralph, Shannam, Galzus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Rutger, Fir, Karel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Guy, Karel, Karla (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Joshua, Marisa (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Mia, Zihark, Lucia, Stefan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Edward (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Navarre*, Radd*, Athena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Samuel, Malice* (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Lon'qu, Say'ri, Owain, Yen'fay, Seliph, Lyn, [=SpotPass=] Eirika (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Hana, Hinata, Ryoma, Hisame, Fuga (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Felix, Catherine (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Lapis, Kagetsu (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----
Changed line(s) 126,176 (click to see context) from:
** Anti-armor weapons, like the Hammer and Heavy Spear, and, again, most of the lords' starting exclusive weapons.
** Armored Knights have incredibly low movement and speed. Low movement means they often can't get to their destination in time and this is exacerbated by their inability to cross certain terrain, with ''Heroes'' being the sole exception. Their low speed means nearly every other unit can launch two attacks on them in one round, which is especially bad when facing magic users or units with anti armor weapons.
** ZigZagged with their vulnerability to magic-based units. They have average to great resistance stats (the latter especially for Jugdral's Barons and the Tellius armored line), but thier resistance is always lower than their huge defense. Combined with their low speed meaning mages can double them and armored classes have reason to avoid magic enemies. Ironically, they have weapon triangle advantage in ''Fates'' since Tomes are in place with Swords, which are bad against lances. In addition, they can usually take at least one Armorslayer hit to the face, since they initially wield lances that gives them weapon triangle advantage over sword-wielding units.
* AdaptationalComicRelief: ''Awakening'' uniquely depicted them as much goofier with nipples on their armor, and they frequently tripped in their battle animations.
* AdaptationNameChange: Generals are known as Barons in ''Gaiden'' and its remake; later, this would become the name of a separate class. In ''Three Houses'', regular Knights are known as Armored Knights and Generals are known as Fortress Knights.
* AnnoyingArrows: The Barons in ''Shadows of Valentia'' gain the Heavy Armor skill, which halves all damage from bows.
* AlwaysMale: The Soldier line, which extends to the Knight and Baron class, is exclusive to males in ''Echoes''.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The General and Marshall's mastery skill, Luna, in the Tellius games. Black Knight has the special version of Luna, known as Eclipse, in ''Radiant Dawn''.
* {{BFS}}:
** Generals in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Sacred Stones'' wield massive claymores when wielding swords. In fact, General's swords in ''Shadow Dragon'' are [[SinisterScimitar curved]].
** Generals in ''Path of Radiance'' can wield swords, though the way they swing their swords make it look clumsy. Of course, the Black Knight has a different animation to make him an imposing menace.
* ArmorAndMagicDontMix: Whilst a magic variant of Armored knight exists, Baron, exists in the series, unlike the cavalry magic variants like Mage Knight and Dark Knight, it appears only in a few games. It also has never been available to the player despite having unused game data as a playable class.
* BladeOnARope: In the GBA games, the General has chains attached to their lances and axes used in retracting the weapon back during direct combat.
* BoringButPractical: They [[StealthPun generally]] aren't reaching their destinations without help any quicker or are known for flashy, offensive plays, but there's no better class for utilizing chokepoints or defensive maps better than these guys are (assuming that they can ''reach'' the choke point before the enemy...).
* BowAndSwordInAccord: In Jugdral and the DS remakes, Generals can use bows and lances, the former also allowing them to use axes and swords too. Particularly in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', player and enemy Generals almost always had one melee weapon and one bow within their inventory.
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: Whilst Armored classes are more civilized than Fighters and Brigands, they are still extremely tall and muscular men wearing scary armor. With this in mind, it isn't surprising that axes are their most common weapon after lances.
* CantCatchUp: [[ZigZaggedTrope Played With]]. On the one hand, Armor Knights ultimately are entirely usable even in a high-level run and can potentially even become [=MVP=]s in their own right; hell, one of the most iconic Armor Knights in the series, [[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance the Black Knight]], is a horrifying LightningBruiser who's described as inhumanly fast for a guy in that much armor, and given how the series is designed with the RandomNumberGod and favoritism in mind, it's often ''very'' easy to turn any Armor Knight into a powerhouse worth talking about, [[CoolButInefficient even if there's usually better uses of those resources]]. However, because Armor Knights are slow in ''both'' [[GodStat God Stats]] (Speed and Move), this leads them to often being ''literally'' unable to catch up to the battle for more mobile armies unless the player takes the time to slow down for them to catch up. This gets to the point it becomes a DeconstructedCharacterArchetype with Arden in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', who's the resident ButtMonkey due to being the first generation's token Armor Knight in a game with country-spanning maps and often struggling just to keep up to the fighting -- to the point Arden would note in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'' that due to the far smaller maps, he does far better there than he'd usually do.
* DamageReduction:
** Barons in ''Shadows of Valentia'' have Heavy Armor as their innate skill, which lowers damage taken by bows by half of the damage inflicted.
** Generals and Fortress Knights can learn Pavise, which can lower damage from swords, lances, and axes by half of the damage inflicted.
** Armored Knights in ''Three Houses'' can learn Armored Blow, which reduces physical damage by 6 when attacking, upon mastering the class.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Knights couldn't class change in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' despite the fact that Generals exist. This is remedied in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', where Knights class changed into Generals with a Knight Crest.
** Knights could also use swords in addition to Lances in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' but Generals can only use swords.
** Knights could class change in ''Gaiden'', but were a second-tier class advancing from Soldier. While Generals were an advance class of Knights, they were a third-tier class and had been renamed ''Baron'', whose name would later be re-used for a Boss class in Jugdral.
* {{Foil}}:
** To Cavaliers. Both classes are heavily tied to knighthood (Cavaliers to the horse and questing part of knighthood, Knights to the armor and castle protection part of knightood), frequently enlisted by TheEmpire and class change with the Knight Crest in the earlier games, but Knights make use of terrain bonuses and block chokepoints due to their lower movement and high Defense while Cavaliers focus on chasing down enemies with their high movement and are encouraged to fight on the open field. Some skills they get in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' also contrast each other and may help with their specializations.
** To Soldiers. Both classes are lance-wielding soldiers that serve as the backbone to the army of TheEmpire, but Knights are lot more durable and stronger than Soldiers, while Soldiers are generalists in battle with slightly more speed and movement than Knights.
* HeavilyArmoredMook: Knights boast the highest defense of any class, but are usually slow, always lumbering, and weak to anti-armor weapons like Armorslayer and Hammer.
* JoustingLance: In the mainline ''Fire Emblem'' games, Knights and their promotions always wield lances, though sometimes they appear alongside weapon-specific variants, such as in the Jugdral games and ''Radiant Dawn''. Generals get a secondary weapon type (or three!) which varies depending on the game in question, though they usually gain an axe or [[CoolSword sword]].
* MageKiller: In ''Radiant Dawn'', Generals have unusually high resistance that even rivals the '''Falcon Knight'''. That said, they are still slow enough to be doubled by most magic users.
* MightyGlacier: Two defining traits of this class category are great Strength and minimal Speed. The skill Wary Fighter improves their tanking capabilities, as it prevents them from being doubled regardless of the enemy's speed (unless they have a Brave weapon); this comes at the cost of preventing them from naturally double attacking as well, which doesn't matter because they have low speed anyways.
* MultiMeleeMaster: Generals in the Jugdral games and ''Sacred Stones'' are capable of wielding swords, lances, and axes (though Generals can also wield bows as well), allowing them to control the weapon triangle. Especially since Armor Knights come in different variance with one specializing a weapon type in the Jugdral games (though you only control a Sword and Axe-wielding Armor Knight in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'', respectively).
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: A lot of Knights throughout the series often carry massive shields, translating to them having higher defense than most units. They also show blocking attacks in several games that deflect blows (even magic in ''Radiant Dawn''). Rather ridiculous, the Knights in the GBA games are used as chest protection before they take them out to attack.
* NoSell:
** Great Shield (translated in later games as Pavise), a skill belonging to this class in the ''Jugdral'' games and ''The Sacred Stones'' which completely protects the unit from any damage whatsoever when it randomly activates. In ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'', [[DamageReduction it only reduces the damage by half]] taken from enemies equipped with Swords, Lances, Axes, Beaststones, Monster weapons, in ''Fates'', Puppet weapons, and in ''Three Houses'', Gauntlets and Gambits.
** Knights and Generals in ''Engage'' are the few classes with the Armored Battle Style (the one other being the Mage Cannoneer), which makes them immune to Break from weapon triangle disadvantage attacks.
* PinkMeansFeminine: If there's a female Armor Knight, chances are, they are wearing pink-colored armor, as seen in Sheena, Gwendolyn, Meg, and Effie. Though any female units can be an Armored Knight in ''Three Houses'', the one female character to have a pink palette is Hilda.
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: Many Generals are powerful authority figures, often [[MeaningfulName Generals]] of a large army.
* ShieldBash: The Knights in ''Fates'' and ''Shadows of Valentia'' use their shields as rams in some attack animations. Generals in ''Fates'' also bash their shields at the enemy if they are going to kill someone with an axe.
* ShouldersOfDoom: To match with their high defense, they are often seen with large pauldrons. The Generals, Barons and Emperors in the Jugdral games, however, takes this to [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/fireemblem/images/c/cd/FE4GeneralConcept.gif/revision/latest?cb=20190322021304 an]] [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/fireemblem/images/a/af/Baron_art_work.gif/revision/latest?cb=20190322022441 exaggerated]] [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/fireemblem/images/8/82/EMPELER.gif/revision/latest?cb=20151021152511 extent]].
* SpectacularSpinning: Knights and Generals spin their weapons when their attack is a critical hit. Generals in ''Fates'' spin their lances following a kill.
* StatusBuff: Generals in ''Awakening'' gain Rally Defense, which gives a boost to defense to allies when commanded.
* StoneWall: If not this trope statistically, then they definitely play this role in terms of gameplay style. Because of their dismal movement, they're best suited for holding down either [[ChokepointGeography chokepoints]], so that the enemy hordes can't pass; or terrain tiles with high defensive bonuses, to lure out enemies and put them in a more vulnerable position for other units. The skills Wary Fighter, which prevents either the attacker or defender from doubling, and Pavise, which randomly [[NoSell cancels out the attacker's attack]], further enhance their defensive capabilities.
* SwordAndFist: Knights and Barons in ''Shadows of Valentia'' have several attacks in which they kick their foes.
* TwentyFourHourArmor: Like the Cavaliers' AutomatonHorse, possibly. The only time a Knight variant is ever seen without their armor is Brom's first appearance in ''Radiant Dawn'', and that's only because he was out farming before the fight came along.
* WakeUpCallBoss: Traditionally, a General will appear as the first advanced boss, and will accordingly serve this role. A good amount of them tend to be {{Climax Boss}}es as well.
* WalkingArmory: They can use the entire weapon triangle in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'', [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones in Sacred Stones]], and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn in Radiant Dawn]] as Marshalls. In the former game, they even get bows. Barons and Emperors are able to wield ''every single weapon type'' in the game except for Light and Dark magic.
* WeakToMagic:
** DoubleSubversion. Knights have average or even great Resistance, but most are slow enough that even low level mages can launch two attacks in one round. Combined with their resistance always being notably lower then their incredibly high defense so magical attacks can easily take them out. Playable Knights play with this, in games where Resistance isn't a luxury, since the promotion bonus to General usually gives ''more'' Resistance than other promotions, and they can be outright better at taking magic in games where they have decent Res to begin with (e.g. ''The Blazing Blade'' and ''Radiant Dawn'') or where player Resistance is low overall (e.g. ''The Binding Blade'' and ''Shadow Dragon'').
** Engage's incarnation of Knight/General plays this 100% straight.
** Armored Knights have incredibly low movement and speed. Low movement means they often can't get to their destination in time and this is exacerbated by their inability to cross certain terrain, with ''Heroes'' being the sole exception. Their low speed means nearly every other unit can launch two attacks on them in one round, which is especially bad when facing magic users or units with anti armor weapons.
** ZigZagged with their vulnerability to magic-based units. They have average to great resistance stats (the latter especially for Jugdral's Barons and the Tellius armored line), but thier resistance is always lower than their huge defense. Combined with their low speed meaning mages can double them and armored classes have reason to avoid magic enemies. Ironically, they have weapon triangle advantage in ''Fates'' since Tomes are in place with Swords, which are bad against lances. In addition, they can usually take at least one Armorslayer hit to the face, since they initially wield lances that gives them weapon triangle advantage over sword-wielding units.
* AdaptationalComicRelief: ''Awakening'' uniquely depicted them as much goofier with nipples on their armor, and they frequently tripped in their battle animations.
* AdaptationNameChange: Generals are known as Barons in ''Gaiden'' and its remake; later, this would become the name of a separate class. In ''Three Houses'', regular Knights are known as Armored Knights and Generals are known as Fortress Knights.
* AnnoyingArrows: The Barons in ''Shadows of Valentia'' gain the Heavy Armor skill, which halves all damage from bows.
* AlwaysMale: The Soldier line, which extends to the Knight and Baron class, is exclusive to males in ''Echoes''.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The General and Marshall's mastery skill, Luna, in the Tellius games. Black Knight has the special version of Luna, known as Eclipse, in ''Radiant Dawn''.
* {{BFS}}:
** Generals in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Sacred Stones'' wield massive claymores when wielding swords. In fact, General's swords in ''Shadow Dragon'' are [[SinisterScimitar curved]].
** Generals in ''Path of Radiance'' can wield swords, though the way they swing their swords make it look clumsy. Of course, the Black Knight has a different animation to make him an imposing menace.
* ArmorAndMagicDontMix: Whilst a magic variant of Armored knight exists, Baron, exists in the series, unlike the cavalry magic variants like Mage Knight and Dark Knight, it appears only in a few games. It also has never been available to the player despite having unused game data as a playable class.
* BladeOnARope: In the GBA games, the General has chains attached to their lances and axes used in retracting the weapon back during direct combat.
* BoringButPractical: They [[StealthPun generally]] aren't reaching their destinations without help any quicker or are known for flashy, offensive plays, but there's no better class for utilizing chokepoints or defensive maps better than these guys are (assuming that they can ''reach'' the choke point before the enemy...).
* BowAndSwordInAccord: In Jugdral and the DS remakes, Generals can use bows and lances, the former also allowing them to use axes and swords too. Particularly in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', player and enemy Generals almost always had one melee weapon and one bow within their inventory.
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: Whilst Armored classes are more civilized than Fighters and Brigands, they are still extremely tall and muscular men wearing scary armor. With this in mind, it isn't surprising that axes are their most common weapon after lances.
* CantCatchUp: [[ZigZaggedTrope Played With]]. On the one hand, Armor Knights ultimately are entirely usable even in a high-level run and can potentially even become [=MVP=]s in their own right; hell, one of the most iconic Armor Knights in the series, [[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance the Black Knight]], is a horrifying LightningBruiser who's described as inhumanly fast for a guy in that much armor, and given how the series is designed with the RandomNumberGod and favoritism in mind, it's often ''very'' easy to turn any Armor Knight into a powerhouse worth talking about, [[CoolButInefficient even if there's usually better uses of those resources]]. However, because Armor Knights are slow in ''both'' [[GodStat God Stats]] (Speed and Move), this leads them to often being ''literally'' unable to catch up to the battle for more mobile armies unless the player takes the time to slow down for them to catch up. This gets to the point it becomes a DeconstructedCharacterArchetype with Arden in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', who's the resident ButtMonkey due to being the first generation's token Armor Knight in a game with country-spanning maps and often struggling just to keep up to the fighting -- to the point Arden would note in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'' that due to the far smaller maps, he does far better there than he'd usually do.
* DamageReduction:
** Barons in ''Shadows of Valentia'' have Heavy Armor as their innate skill, which lowers damage taken by bows by half of the damage inflicted.
** Generals and Fortress Knights can learn Pavise, which can lower damage from swords, lances, and axes by half of the damage inflicted.
** Armored Knights in ''Three Houses'' can learn Armored Blow, which reduces physical damage by 6 when attacking, upon mastering the class.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Knights couldn't class change in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' despite the fact that Generals exist. This is remedied in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', where Knights class changed into Generals with a Knight Crest.
** Knights could also use swords in addition to Lances in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' but Generals can only use swords.
** Knights could class change in ''Gaiden'', but were a second-tier class advancing from Soldier. While Generals were an advance class of Knights, they were a third-tier class and had been renamed ''Baron'', whose name would later be re-used for a Boss class in Jugdral.
* {{Foil}}:
** To Cavaliers. Both classes are heavily tied to knighthood (Cavaliers to the horse and questing part of knighthood, Knights to the armor and castle protection part of knightood), frequently enlisted by TheEmpire and class change with the Knight Crest in the earlier games, but Knights make use of terrain bonuses and block chokepoints due to their lower movement and high Defense while Cavaliers focus on chasing down enemies with their high movement and are encouraged to fight on the open field. Some skills they get in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' also contrast each other and may help with their specializations.
** To Soldiers. Both classes are lance-wielding soldiers that serve as the backbone to the army of TheEmpire, but Knights are lot more durable and stronger than Soldiers, while Soldiers are generalists in battle with slightly more speed and movement than Knights.
* HeavilyArmoredMook: Knights boast the highest defense of any class, but are usually slow, always lumbering, and weak to anti-armor weapons like Armorslayer and Hammer.
* JoustingLance: In the mainline ''Fire Emblem'' games, Knights and their promotions always wield lances, though sometimes they appear alongside weapon-specific variants, such as in the Jugdral games and ''Radiant Dawn''. Generals get a secondary weapon type (or three!) which varies depending on the game in question, though they usually gain an axe or [[CoolSword sword]].
* MageKiller: In ''Radiant Dawn'', Generals have unusually high resistance that even rivals the '''Falcon Knight'''. That said, they are still slow enough to be doubled by most magic users.
* MightyGlacier: Two defining traits of this class category are great Strength and minimal Speed. The skill Wary Fighter improves their tanking capabilities, as it prevents them from being doubled regardless of the enemy's speed (unless they have a Brave weapon); this comes at the cost of preventing them from naturally double attacking as well, which doesn't matter because they have low speed anyways.
* MultiMeleeMaster: Generals in the Jugdral games and ''Sacred Stones'' are capable of wielding swords, lances, and axes (though Generals can also wield bows as well), allowing them to control the weapon triangle. Especially since Armor Knights come in different variance with one specializing a weapon type in the Jugdral games (though you only control a Sword and Axe-wielding Armor Knight in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'', respectively).
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: A lot of Knights throughout the series often carry massive shields, translating to them having higher defense than most units. They also show blocking attacks in several games that deflect blows (even magic in ''Radiant Dawn''). Rather ridiculous, the Knights in the GBA games are used as chest protection before they take them out to attack.
* NoSell:
** Great Shield (translated in later games as Pavise), a skill belonging to this class in the ''Jugdral'' games and ''The Sacred Stones'' which completely protects the unit from any damage whatsoever when it randomly activates. In ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'', [[DamageReduction it only reduces the damage by half]] taken from enemies equipped with Swords, Lances, Axes, Beaststones, Monster weapons, in ''Fates'', Puppet weapons, and in ''Three Houses'', Gauntlets and Gambits.
** Knights and Generals in ''Engage'' are the few classes with the Armored Battle Style (the one other being the Mage Cannoneer), which makes them immune to Break from weapon triangle disadvantage attacks.
* PinkMeansFeminine: If there's a female Armor Knight, chances are, they are wearing pink-colored armor, as seen in Sheena, Gwendolyn, Meg, and Effie. Though any female units can be an Armored Knight in ''Three Houses'', the one female character to have a pink palette is Hilda.
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: Many Generals are powerful authority figures, often [[MeaningfulName Generals]] of a large army.
* ShieldBash: The Knights in ''Fates'' and ''Shadows of Valentia'' use their shields as rams in some attack animations. Generals in ''Fates'' also bash their shields at the enemy if they are going to kill someone with an axe.
* ShouldersOfDoom: To match with their high defense, they are often seen with large pauldrons. The Generals, Barons and Emperors in the Jugdral games, however, takes this to [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/fireemblem/images/c/cd/FE4GeneralConcept.gif/revision/latest?cb=20190322021304 an]] [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/fireemblem/images/a/af/Baron_art_work.gif/revision/latest?cb=20190322022441 exaggerated]] [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/fireemblem/images/8/82/EMPELER.gif/revision/latest?cb=20151021152511 extent]].
* SpectacularSpinning: Knights and Generals spin their weapons when their attack is a critical hit. Generals in ''Fates'' spin their lances following a kill.
* StatusBuff: Generals in ''Awakening'' gain Rally Defense, which gives a boost to defense to allies when commanded.
* StoneWall: If not this trope statistically, then they definitely play this role in terms of gameplay style. Because of their dismal movement, they're best suited for holding down either [[ChokepointGeography chokepoints]], so that the enemy hordes can't pass; or terrain tiles with high defensive bonuses, to lure out enemies and put them in a more vulnerable position for other units. The skills Wary Fighter, which prevents either the attacker or defender from doubling, and Pavise, which randomly [[NoSell cancels out the attacker's attack]], further enhance their defensive capabilities.
* SwordAndFist: Knights and Barons in ''Shadows of Valentia'' have several attacks in which they kick their foes.
* TwentyFourHourArmor: Like the Cavaliers' AutomatonHorse, possibly. The only time a Knight variant is ever seen without their armor is Brom's first appearance in ''Radiant Dawn'', and that's only because he was out farming before the fight came along.
* WakeUpCallBoss: Traditionally, a General will appear as the first advanced boss, and will accordingly serve this role. A good amount of them tend to be {{Climax Boss}}es as well.
* WalkingArmory: They can use the entire weapon triangle in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'', [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones in Sacred Stones]], and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn in Radiant Dawn]] as Marshalls. In the former game, they even get bows. Barons and Emperors are able to wield ''every single weapon type'' in the game except for Light and Dark magic.
* WeakToMagic:
** DoubleSubversion. Knights have average or even great Resistance, but most are slow enough that even low level mages can launch two attacks in one round. Combined with their resistance always being notably lower then their incredibly high defense so magical attacks can easily take them out. Playable Knights play with this, in games where Resistance isn't a luxury, since the promotion bonus to General usually gives ''more'' Resistance than other promotions, and they can be outright better at taking magic in games where they have decent Res to begin with (e.g. ''The Blazing Blade'' and ''Radiant Dawn'') or where player Resistance is low overall (e.g. ''The Binding Blade'' and ''Shadow Dragon'').
** Engage's incarnation of Knight/General plays this 100% straight.
to:
** Anti-armor weapons, The SwordSlayer weapon in'' The Blazing Blade'' ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Heroes of Light and Shadow'' deals much more damage when used on Myrmidons and their Swordmaster promotion.
** In many games, the low attack of Myrmidons means they'll have trouble when placed against a high defense opponent like a Wyvern rider or Knight.
* ActionInitiative: In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', they gain Vantage, which allows them to attack first when their HP is below 50%.
* CriticalHitClass: They have high Skill and Speed to help them inflict critical hits more easily. In theHammer GBA games, Tellius games, and Heavy Spear, and, again, most of ''Fates'', they gain a critical boost, especially in the lords' starting Elibe games, where it is possible to stack up all methods of increasing critical hit rate to ''exceed 100%''!
* DamageReduction: Mortal Savant learns Warding Blow, a skill that reduces magic damage by 6 when attacking, upon mastering the class.
* DeathOfAThousandCuts: The [[SecretArt Astra]] skill; it's the mastery skill for Swordmasters and Trueblades in the Tellius games, and is pretty much exclusively associated with the Isaach royal family (all of whom are Swordfighters, Swordmasters, and Forrests) in the Jugdral games. In ''Three Houses'', Astra is a Combat Art exclusiveweapons.to Swordmasters and doesn't get carried over to other classes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Myrmidon class originated as the ''Gaiden'' equivalent of the Hero (as "Hero" was Alm's advance class). In the Jugdral games, the class was a functional mix of the Mercenary and Myrmidon classes, class changing into either Swordmaster or Forrest depending on the character. Starting from ''The Binding Blade'', the two classes have become distinct from one another.
* DoppelgangerSpin: GBA Swordmasters move so fast that they leave behind illusions of themselves in their critical animation.
* DualWielding: ''Fates''' Swordmasters are capable of dual wielding some, but not all, swords. This is merely aesthetic and doesn't affect gameplay.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: With the exception of Archanea (because they didn't exist at the time until the remake) and Tellius, most myrmidons hail from a fictional version of an East Asian culture like the Mongols (Sacae) and Japanese (Chon'sin, Hoshido). Jehanna (a Middle Eastern-inspired desert nation) and Isaach don't follow this theme, although Isaach is described as an Eastern kingdom, are known to train Swordmasters and their AncestralWeapon loosely resembles a katana. The Swordmasters and Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'' retain the samurai aesthetic despite the lack of their version of Japan.
** Armored Knights have incredibly low movement * FragileSpeedster: Myrmidons are very weak and speed. Low movement means they often can't get fragile compared to their destination in time and this is exacerbated by their inability to cross certain terrain, with ''Heroes'' being the sole exception. Their low speed means nearly every other unit can launch two attacks on them in one round, which is especially bad when facing magic users or units with anti armor weapons.
** ZigZagged with their vulnerability to magic-based units. They have average to great resistance stats (the latter especially for Jugdral's Barons and the Tellius armored line), but thier resistance is always lower than their huge defense. Combined with their low speed meaning mages can double them and armored classes have reason to avoid magic enemies. Ironically,infantry -- however, they have weapon triangle advantage in ''Fates'' since Tomes are in place with Swords, very high speed, meaning that they double attack more often and often rely on dodging to avoid damage. In ''Fates'', Samurai learns ''Duelist's Blow'', which are bad against lances. In addition, they can usually take at least one Armorslayer hit to the face, since they initially wield lances that gives them weapon triangle advantage over sword-wielding units.
* AdaptationalComicRelief: ''Awakening'' uniquely depicted them as much goofier with nipples onraise their armor, evasion by 30 when attacking, and they frequently tripped in their battle animations.
* AdaptationNameChange: Generals are known as Barons in ''Gaiden'' and its remake; later, this would become the name of a separate class.Swordmaster passively gain an evasion boost. In ''Three Houses'', regular Knights are known as Armored Knights and Generals are known as Fortress Knights.
* AnnoyingArrows: The Barons in ''Shadows of Valentia''Myrmidon gain Speed +2 upon mastering the Heavy Armor skill, class.
* GlassCannon: Masters of Arms get ''Life or Death'', whichhalves all damage from bows.
* AlwaysMale: The Soldier line, which extendsboosts their attack tremendously, but also decreases their defense drastically, making them easy to kill but at the Knight same time giving them greater potential to kill.
* FlashStep: A general tendency of Swordmaster animations.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Swords with high critical rate, such as the Killing Edge andBaron class, the Wo Dao are typically shaped like one and are the preferred weapons of this class family to complement their high Speed and Skill. In the Elibe games, the Wo Dao is exclusive to males in ''Echoes''.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The GeneralMyrmidons, Swordmasters and Marshall's mastery skill, Luna, in the Tellius games. Black Knight has the special version of Luna, known as Eclipse, in ''Radiant Dawn''.
* {{BFS}}:
** Generals in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Sacred Stones'' wield massive claymores when wielding swords. In fact, General's swords in ''Shadow Dragon'' are [[SinisterScimitar curved]].
** Generals in ''Path of Radiance'' can wield swords, though the way they swing their swords make it look clumsy. Of course, the Black Knight has a different animation to make him an imposing menace.
* ArmorAndMagicDontMix: Whilst a magic variant of Armored knight exists, Baron, exists in the series, unlike the cavalry magic variants like Mage Knight and Dark Knight, it appears only in a few games. It also has never been available to the player despite having unused game data as a playable class.
* BladeOnARope: In the GBA games, the General has chains attached to their lances and axes used in retracting the weapon back during direct combat.
* BoringButPractical: They [[StealthPun generally]] aren't reaching their destinations without help any quicker or are known for flashy, offensive plays, but there's no betterLyn (whose Lord class for utilizing chokepoints or defensive maps better than these guys are (assuming that they can ''reach'' the choke point before the enemy...).
* BowAndSwordInAccord: In Jugdral and the DS remakes, Generals can use bows and lances, the former also allowing them to use axes and swords too. Particularlyis Swordmaster in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', player and enemy Generals almost always had one melee weapon and one bow within their inventory.
all but name).
*BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: Whilst Armored classes are more civilized than Fighters and Brigands, they are still extremely tall and muscular men wearing scary armor. With this in mind, it isn't surprising that axes are their most common weapon after lances.
* CantCatchUp: [[ZigZaggedTrope Played With]]. On the one hand, Armor Knights ultimately are entirely usable even in a high-level run and can potentially even become [=MVP=]s in their own right; hell, one of the most iconic Armor Knights in the series, [[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance the Black Knight]], is a horrifying LightningBruiser who's described as inhumanly fast for a guy in that much armor, and given how the series is designed with the RandomNumberGod and favoritism in mind, it's often ''very'' easy to turn any Armor Knight into a powerhouse worth talking about, [[CoolButInefficient even if there's usually better uses of those resources]]. However, because Armor Knights are slow in ''both'' [[GodStat God Stats]] (Speed and Move), this leads them to often being ''literally'' unable to catch up to the battle for more mobile armies unless the player takes the time to slow down for them to catch up. This gets to the point it becomes a DeconstructedCharacterArchetype with Arden in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', who's the resident ButtMonkey due to being the first generation's token Armor Knight in a game with country-spanning maps and often struggling just to keep up to the fighting -- to the point Arden would note in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'' that due to the far smaller maps, he does far better there than he'd usually do.
* DamageReduction:
** Barons in ''Shadows of Valentia'' have Heavy Armor as their innate skill, which lowers damage taken by bows by half of the damage inflicted.
** Generals and Fortress Knights can learn Pavise, which can lower damage from swords, lances, and axes by half of the damage inflicted.
** Armored KnightsMagicKnight: Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'' can learn Armored Blow, which reduces physical damage by 6 when attacking, upon mastering the class.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Knights couldn't class change in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' despite the fact that Generals exist. This is remedied in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', where Knights class changed into Generals with a Knight Crest.
** Knights could alsouse swords in addition to Lances in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' but Generals can only use swords.
** Knights could class change in ''Gaiden'', but were a second-tier class advancing from Soldier. While Generals were an advance class of Knights,magic.
* MasterSwordsman: The Swordmaster especially, as theywere a third-tier class and had been renamed ''Baron'', whose name would later be re-used for a Boss class in Jugdral.
* {{Foil}}:
** To Cavaliers. Both classes are heavily tied to knighthood (Cavaliers to the horse and questing part of knighthood, Knights to the armor and castle protection part of knightood), frequently enlisted by TheEmpire and class change with the Knight Crest in the earlier games, but Knights make use of terrain bonuses and block chokepoints due to their lower movement and high Defense while Cavaliers focus on chasing down enemies with their high movement and are encouraged to fight on the open field. Some skills they get in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' also contrast each other and may help with their specializations.
** To Soldiers. Both classes are lance-wielding soldiers that serve as the backbone to the army of TheEmpire, but Knights are lot more durable and stronger than Soldiers, while Soldiers are generalists in battle with slightly more speed and movement than Knights.
* HeavilyArmoredMook: Knights boast the highest defense of any class, butare usually slow, always lumbering, and weak to anti-armor weapons like Armorslayer and Hammer.
* JoustingLance: Inthe mainline ''Fire Emblem'' games, Knights and their promotions always wield lances, though sometimes they appear alongside weapon-specific variants, such as best duelists in the Jugdral games and ''Radiant Dawn''. Generals get a secondary weapon type (or three!) which varies depending on the game in question, though they usually gain an axe or [[CoolSword sword]].
* MageKiller: In ''Radiant Dawn'', Generals have unusually high resistance that even rivals the '''Falcon Knight'''. That said, they are still slow enough to be doubled by most magic users.
* MightyGlacier: Two defining traitsterms of this class category are great Strength and minimal Speed. The skill Wary Fighter improves their tanking capabilities, as it prevents them from being doubled regardless of the enemy's speed (unless they have a Brave weapon); this comes at the cost of preventing them from naturally double attacking as well, which doesn't matter because they have low speed anyways.
* MultiMeleeMaster: Generals in the Jugdral gamesand ''Sacred Stones'' are capable of wielding swords, lances, and axes (though Generals can also wield bows as well), allowing them to control the weapon triangle. Especially since Armor Knights come evasion. Swordmasters in different variance with one specializing a weapon type in the Jugdral games (though you only control a Sword and Axe-wielding Armor Knight in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'', respectively).
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: A lot of Knights throughout the series often carry massive shields, translating to them having higher defense than most units. They also show blocking attacks in several games that deflect blows (even magic in ''Radiant Dawn''). Rather ridiculous, the Knights in the GBA games are used as chest protection before they take them out to attack.
* NoSell:
** Great Shield (translated in later games as Pavise), a skill belonging to this class in the ''Jugdral'' games and ''The Sacred Stones'' which completely protects the unit from any damage whatsoever when it randomly activates. In''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'', [[DamageReduction it only reduces the Houses'' gain Swordfaire, which boosts their damage by half]] taken from enemies equipped with Swords, Lances, Axes, Beaststones, Monster weapons, in ''Fates'', Puppet weapons, output for wielding swords.
* MultiMeleeMaster: Masters of Arms wield swords, axes, andin ''Three Houses'', Gauntlets and Gambits.
** Knights and Generals in ''Engage'' are the few classes with the Armored Battle Style (the one other being the Mage Cannoneer), which makes them immune to Break from weapon triangle disadvantage attacks.
* PinkMeansFeminine: If there's a female Armor Knight, chances are, they are wearing pink-colored armor, as seen in Sheena, Gwendolyn, Meg, and Effie. Though any female units can be an Armored Knight in ''Three Houses'', the one female character to have a pink palette is Hilda.
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: Many Generals are powerful authority figures, often [[MeaningfulName Generals]] of a large army.
* ShieldBash: The Knights in ''Fates'' and ''Shadows of Valentia'' use their shields as rams in some attack animations. Generals in ''Fates'' also bash their shields at the enemy if they are going to kill someone with an axe.
* ShouldersOfDoom: To match with their high defense, they are often seen with large pauldrons. The Generals, Barons and Emperors in the Jugdral games, however, takes this to [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/fireemblem/images/c/cd/FE4GeneralConcept.gif/revision/latest?cb=20190322021304 an]] [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/fireemblem/images/a/af/Baron_art_work.gif/revision/latest?cb=20190322022441 exaggerated]] [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/fireemblem/images/8/82/EMPELER.gif/revision/latest?cb=20151021152511 extent]].
* SpectacularSpinning: Knights and Generals spin their weapons when their attack is a critical hit. Generals in ''Fates'' spin theirlances following a kill.
* StatusBuff: Generals in ''Awakening'' gain Rally Defense, which gives a boostto defense to allies when commanded.
* StoneWall: If not this trope statistically, then they definitely play this role in terms of gameplay style. Because of their dismal movement, they're best suited for holding down either [[ChokepointGeography chokepoints]], so that the enemy hordes can't pass; or terrain tiles with high defensive bonuses, to lure out enemies and put them in a more vulnerable position for other units. The skills Wary Fighter, which prevents either the attacker or defender from doubling, and Pavise, which randomly [[NoSell cancels out the attacker's attack]], further enhance their defensive capabilities.
* SwordAndFist: Knights and Barons in ''Shadows of Valentia'' have several attacks in which they kick their foes.
* TwentyFourHourArmor: Like the Cavaliers' AutomatonHorse, possibly. The only time a Knight variant is ever seen without their armor is Brom's first appearance in ''Radiant Dawn'', and that's only because he was out farming before the fight came along.
* WakeUpCallBoss: Traditionally, a General will appear as the first advanced boss, and will accordingly serve this role. A good amount of them tend to be {{Climax Boss}}es as well.
* WalkingArmory: They can usecover the entire weapon triangle in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy triangle.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Masters of Arms get ''Seal Strength'', which reduces theHoly War]]'' enemy's strength by 6 after battle.
* SwordAndFist: ''Fates''[='=] Swordmasters kick and''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'', [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones in Sacred Stones]], and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn in Radiant Dawn]] as Marshalls. In the former game, follow up with a downward slash when they even get bows. Barons and Emperors are able to wield ''every single weapon type'' in perform a critical hit.
* WarriorMonk: The Master of Arms resembles thegame except for Light and Dark magic.
* WeakToMagic:
** DoubleSubversion. Knights have average or even great Resistance, but most are slow enough that even low level mages can launch two attacks in one round. Combined with their resistance always being notably lower then their incredibly high defense so magical attacks can easily take them out. Playable Knights play with this, in games where Resistance isn't a luxury, sinceBuddhist warrior monks known as sōhei, especially Musashibō Benkei, who collected the promotion bonus to General usually gives ''more'' Resistance than other promotions, and they can be outright better at taking magic in games where they have decent Res to begin with (e.g. ''The Blazing Blade'' and ''Radiant Dawn'') or where player Resistance is low overall (e.g. ''The Binding Blade'' and ''Shadow Dragon'').
** Engage's incarnationweapons of Knight/General plays this 100% straight.defeated challengers.
** In many games, the low attack of Myrmidons means they'll have trouble when placed against a high defense opponent like a Wyvern rider or Knight.
* ActionInitiative: In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', they gain Vantage, which allows them to attack first when their HP is below 50%.
* CriticalHitClass: They have high Skill and Speed to help them inflict critical hits more easily. In the
* DamageReduction: Mortal Savant learns Warding Blow, a skill that reduces magic damage by 6 when attacking, upon mastering the class.
* DeathOfAThousandCuts: The [[SecretArt Astra]] skill; it's the mastery skill for Swordmasters and Trueblades in the Tellius games, and is pretty much exclusively associated with the Isaach royal family (all of whom are Swordfighters, Swordmasters, and Forrests) in the Jugdral games. In ''Three Houses'', Astra is a Combat Art exclusive
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Myrmidon class originated as the ''Gaiden'' equivalent of the Hero (as "Hero" was Alm's advance class). In the Jugdral games, the class was a functional mix of the Mercenary and Myrmidon classes, class changing into either Swordmaster or Forrest depending on the character. Starting from ''The Binding Blade'', the two classes have become distinct from one another.
* DoppelgangerSpin: GBA Swordmasters move so fast that they leave behind illusions of themselves in their critical animation.
* DualWielding: ''Fates''' Swordmasters are capable of dual wielding some, but not all, swords. This is merely aesthetic and doesn't affect gameplay.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: With the exception of Archanea (because they didn't exist at the time until the remake) and Tellius, most myrmidons hail from a fictional version of an East Asian culture like the Mongols (Sacae) and Japanese (Chon'sin, Hoshido). Jehanna (a Middle Eastern-inspired desert nation) and Isaach don't follow this theme, although Isaach is described as an Eastern kingdom, are known to train Swordmasters and their AncestralWeapon loosely resembles a katana. The Swordmasters and Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'' retain the samurai aesthetic despite the lack of their version of Japan.
** ZigZagged with their vulnerability to magic-based units. They have average to great resistance stats (the latter especially for Jugdral's Barons and the Tellius armored line), but thier resistance is always lower than their huge defense. Combined with their low speed meaning mages can double them and armored classes have reason to avoid magic enemies. Ironically,
* AdaptationalComicRelief: ''Awakening'' uniquely depicted them as much goofier with nipples on
* AdaptationNameChange: Generals are known as Barons in ''Gaiden'' and its remake; later, this would become the name of a separate class.
* AnnoyingArrows: The Barons in ''Shadows of Valentia''
* GlassCannon: Masters of Arms get ''Life or Death'', which
* AlwaysMale: The Soldier line, which extends
* FlashStep: A general tendency of Swordmaster animations.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Swords with high critical rate, such as the Killing Edge and
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The General
* {{BFS}}:
** Generals in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Sacred Stones'' wield massive claymores when wielding swords. In fact, General's swords in ''Shadow Dragon'' are [[SinisterScimitar curved]].
** Generals in ''Path of Radiance'' can wield swords, though the way they swing their swords make it look clumsy. Of course, the Black Knight has a different animation to make him an imposing menace.
* ArmorAndMagicDontMix: Whilst a magic variant of Armored knight exists, Baron, exists in the series, unlike the cavalry magic variants like Mage Knight and Dark Knight, it appears only in a few games. It also has never been available to the player despite having unused game data as a playable class.
* BladeOnARope: In the GBA games, the General has chains attached to their lances and axes used in retracting the weapon back during direct combat.
* BoringButPractical: They [[StealthPun generally]] aren't reaching their destinations without help any quicker or are known for flashy, offensive plays, but there's no better
* BowAndSwordInAccord: In Jugdral and the DS remakes, Generals can use bows and lances, the former also allowing them to use axes and swords too. Particularly
*
* CantCatchUp: [[ZigZaggedTrope Played With]]. On the one hand, Armor Knights ultimately are entirely usable even in a high-level run and can potentially even become [=MVP=]s in their own right; hell, one of the most iconic Armor Knights in the series, [[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance the Black Knight]], is a horrifying LightningBruiser who's described as inhumanly fast for a guy in that much armor, and given how the series is designed with the RandomNumberGod and favoritism in mind, it's often ''very'' easy to turn any Armor Knight into a powerhouse worth talking about, [[CoolButInefficient even if there's usually better uses of those resources]]. However, because Armor Knights are slow in ''both'' [[GodStat God Stats]] (Speed and Move), this leads them to often being ''literally'' unable to catch up to the battle for more mobile armies unless the player takes the time to slow down for them to catch up. This gets to the point it becomes a DeconstructedCharacterArchetype with Arden in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', who's the resident ButtMonkey due to being the first generation's token Armor Knight in a game with country-spanning maps and often struggling just to keep up to the fighting -- to the point Arden would note in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'' that due to the far smaller maps, he does far better there than he'd usually do.
* DamageReduction:
** Barons in ''Shadows of Valentia'' have Heavy Armor as their innate skill, which lowers damage taken by bows by half of the damage inflicted.
** Generals and Fortress Knights can learn Pavise, which can lower damage from swords, lances, and axes by half of the damage inflicted.
** Armored Knights
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Knights couldn't class change in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' despite the fact that Generals exist. This is remedied in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', where Knights class changed into Generals with a Knight Crest.
** Knights could also
** Knights could class change in ''Gaiden'', but were a second-tier class advancing from Soldier. While Generals were an advance class of Knights,
* MasterSwordsman: The Swordmaster especially, as they
* {{Foil}}:
** To Cavaliers. Both classes are heavily tied to knighthood (Cavaliers to the horse and questing part of knighthood, Knights to the armor and castle protection part of knightood), frequently enlisted by TheEmpire and class change with the Knight Crest in the earlier games, but Knights make use of terrain bonuses and block chokepoints due to their lower movement and high Defense while Cavaliers focus on chasing down enemies with their high movement and are encouraged to fight on the open field. Some skills they get in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' also contrast each other and may help with their specializations.
** To Soldiers. Both classes are lance-wielding soldiers that serve as the backbone to the army of TheEmpire, but Knights are lot more durable and stronger than Soldiers, while Soldiers are generalists in battle with slightly more speed and movement than Knights.
* HeavilyArmoredMook: Knights boast the highest defense of any class, but
* JoustingLance: In
* MageKiller: In ''Radiant Dawn'', Generals have unusually high resistance that even rivals the '''Falcon Knight'''. That said, they are still slow enough to be doubled by most magic users.
* MightyGlacier: Two defining traits
* MultiMeleeMaster: Generals in the Jugdral games
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: A lot of Knights throughout the series often carry massive shields, translating to them having higher defense than most units. They also show blocking attacks in several games that deflect blows (even magic in ''Radiant Dawn''). Rather ridiculous, the Knights in the GBA games are used as chest protection before they take them out to attack.
* NoSell:
** Great Shield (translated in later games as Pavise), a skill belonging to this class in the ''Jugdral'' games and ''The Sacred Stones'' which completely protects the unit from any damage whatsoever when it randomly activates. In
* MultiMeleeMaster: Masters of Arms wield swords, axes, and
** Knights and Generals in ''Engage'' are the few classes with the Armored Battle Style (the one other being the Mage Cannoneer), which makes them immune to Break from weapon triangle disadvantage attacks.
* PinkMeansFeminine: If there's a female Armor Knight, chances are, they are wearing pink-colored armor, as seen in Sheena, Gwendolyn, Meg, and Effie. Though any female units can be an Armored Knight in ''Three Houses'', the one female character to have a pink palette is Hilda.
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: Many Generals are powerful authority figures, often [[MeaningfulName Generals]] of a large army.
* ShieldBash: The Knights in ''Fates'' and ''Shadows of Valentia'' use their shields as rams in some attack animations. Generals in ''Fates'' also bash their shields at the enemy if they are going to kill someone with an axe.
* ShouldersOfDoom: To match with their high defense, they are often seen with large pauldrons. The Generals, Barons and Emperors in the Jugdral games, however, takes this to [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/fireemblem/images/c/cd/FE4GeneralConcept.gif/revision/latest?cb=20190322021304 an]] [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/fireemblem/images/a/af/Baron_art_work.gif/revision/latest?cb=20190322022441 exaggerated]] [[https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/fireemblem/images/8/82/EMPELER.gif/revision/latest?cb=20151021152511 extent]].
* SpectacularSpinning: Knights and Generals spin their weapons when their attack is a critical hit. Generals in ''Fates'' spin their
* StatusBuff: Generals in ''Awakening'' gain Rally Defense, which gives a boost
* StoneWall: If not this trope statistically, then they definitely play this role in terms of gameplay style. Because of their dismal movement, they're best suited for holding down either [[ChokepointGeography chokepoints]], so that the enemy hordes can't pass; or terrain tiles with high defensive bonuses, to lure out enemies and put them in a more vulnerable position for other units. The skills Wary Fighter, which prevents either the attacker or defender from doubling, and Pavise, which randomly [[NoSell cancels out the attacker's attack]], further enhance their defensive capabilities.
* SwordAndFist: Knights and Barons in ''Shadows of Valentia'' have several attacks in which they kick their foes.
* TwentyFourHourArmor: Like the Cavaliers' AutomatonHorse, possibly. The only time a Knight variant is ever seen without their armor is Brom's first appearance in ''Radiant Dawn'', and that's only because he was out farming before the fight came along.
* WakeUpCallBoss: Traditionally, a General will appear as the first advanced boss, and will accordingly serve this role. A good amount of them tend to be {{Climax Boss}}es as well.
* WalkingArmory: They can use
* StatusInflictionAttack: Masters of Arms get ''Seal Strength'', which reduces the
* SwordAndFist: ''Fates''[='=] Swordmasters kick and
* WarriorMonk: The Master of Arms resembles the
* WeakToMagic:
** DoubleSubversion. Knights have average or even great Resistance, but most are slow enough that even low level mages can launch two attacks in one round. Combined with their resistance always being notably lower then their incredibly high defense so magical attacks can easily take them out. Playable Knights play with this, in games where Resistance isn't a luxury, since
** Engage's incarnation
Changed line(s) 179,198 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Soldier]]
!!Soldier
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/695g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Soldiers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fateslancerportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Spear Fighter in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesholylancerportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Spear Master in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesbasaraportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Basara in ''Fates'']]
Soldiers are lance-wielding footsoldiers that are typically treated as a {{mook|s}} class in most games. It makes its first appearance in ''Gaiden'', where they are the first tier class that can Class Change into the '''Knight''' class. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'', they are a proper player class that functions as the lance-wielding counterpart of the Fighter, Myrmidon, and Archer. There, they Class Change to the '''Halberdier''' class, then again in ''Radiant Dawn'' to the '''Sentinel''' class. Soldiers also return in ''Three Houses''.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', the Soldier class is called the '''Lancer''', is part of the Nohr kingdom, and is unplayable outside of using the Capture command. However, an expy of the playable version called a '''Spear Fighter''' appear as units from Hoshido, which Class Changes into '''Spear Master''' [[note]]Which shares the same name as the Sentinel's name, Holy Lancer, in the Japanese versions[[/note]] or branch into the '''Basara''' class, a class that relies on high skill activation rates and [[MagicKnight utilizes lances and tomes]].\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'', the Lance Fighter can class change into either Halberdier or the newly introduced '''Royal Knight''', a cavalry class that can use lances and staves.\\\
Related are the class families '''Sentinel''' and '''Picket''', exclusive to Timerra, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Lukas and Forsyth (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Nephenee and Devdan/Danved (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Aran (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Oboro and Shiro (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Timerra, Mauvier (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Soldier
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/695g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Soldiers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fateslancerportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Spear Fighter in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesholylancerportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Spear Master in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesbasaraportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Basara in ''Fates'']]
Soldiers are lance-wielding footsoldiers that are typically treated as a {{mook|s}} class in most games. It makes its first appearance in ''Gaiden'', where they are the first tier class that can Class Change into the '''Knight''' class. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'', they are a proper player class that functions as the lance-wielding counterpart of the Fighter, Myrmidon, and Archer. There, they Class Change to the '''Halberdier''' class, then again in ''Radiant Dawn'' to the '''Sentinel''' class. Soldiers also return in ''Three Houses''.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', the Soldier class is called the '''Lancer''', is part of the Nohr kingdom, and is unplayable outside of using the Capture command. However, an expy of the playable version called a '''Spear Fighter''' appear as units from Hoshido, which Class Changes into '''Spear Master''' [[note]]Which shares the same name as the Sentinel's name, Holy Lancer, in the Japanese versions[[/note]] or branch into the '''Basara''' class, a class that relies on high skill activation rates and [[MagicKnight utilizes lances and tomes]].\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'', the Lance Fighter can class change into either Halberdier or the newly introduced '''Royal Knight''', a cavalry class that can use lances and staves.\\\
Related are the class families '''Sentinel''' and '''Picket''', exclusive to Timerra, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Lukas and Forsyth (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Nephenee and Devdan/Danved (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Aran (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Oboro and Shiro (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Timerra, Mauvier (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Soldier
!!Fighter
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/868g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Warriors in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.
Related are the class families '''Sentinel''' and '''Picket''', exclusive to Timerra, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''.
Changed line(s) 200,222 (click to see context) from:
* ActionInitiative: Halberdiers in ''Engage'' gain the Pincer Attack skill at Level 5, where get a guarateed follow-up attack if they initiate combat against an adjacent enemy and there is an ally on the opposite of them.
* AlwaysMale: The Soldier line, which extends to the Knight and Baron class, is exclusive to males in ''Echoes''.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Halberdier's mastery skill, Luna, in ''Path of Radiance''.
* AscendedExtra: The class started off as the starting class for the Knight class in ''Gaiden'', and only appeared in a few games as generic enemy glasses. ''Path of Radiance'' and ''Radiant Dawn'' gives more spotlight to Soldiers, as not only are they a playable class again (for the first time since ''Gaiden''), but they have a unique class line. ''Fates'' would bring them back in full and make them a more fleshed-out class, as well as a counterpart to the Nohrian Knight class.
* CastFromHitpoints: Royal Knight's class skill, Reforge, allows the unit to remove an adjacent ally's broken status after combat at a cost of 10 of their own HP. However, they must have enough HP to actually remove the broken status.
* CriticalHit: The Sentinel's Impale mastery skill, which deals ''four'' times the damage.
* CriticalHitClass: Halberdiers and Sentinels in ''Radiant Dawn'' and Spear Masters in ''Fates'' gain a critical boost, while the latter also decreases enemy critical rate.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: The Spear Fighters in ''Fates'' have Seal Defense, which reduces the enemy's Defense by 6 after combat if they survive. The Spear Masters in ''Fates'' also have Seal Speed, which reduces the enemy's Speed by 6 as well.
* DemotedToExtra: Soldiers went from a mainline tier 1 class in ''Gaiden'' into an unplayable class in ''Mystery of the Emblem.'' ''Thracia 776'' even made them extremely weak, just like the Archer class, except Soldiers had no comparable player counterpart, as regular lance-using Armor Knights were unplayable.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: Started out as a 1st tier of the Knight class, they became a proper class in the Tellius games. ''Fates'' further separates Soldiers into the playable version in Hoshido & the mook version in Nohr. Since the Tellius games, they went from being MightyGlacier or StoneWall due to this, to being often JackOfAllStats or LightningBruiser depending on the stats and growths.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In ''Gaiden'', they're essentially Armor Knights, and are playable. While unplayable in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', they aren't any weaker than any other tier 1 class, and can even be powerful. In ''Genealogy of the Holy War''[='=]s DummiedOut data, the Soldier class was going to be included with an additional Lance variation with higher stats, as well as a Sword and Bow variation. The {{Mook}} type was introduced in ''Thracia 776''.
* {{Expy}}: The Spear Fighter is pretty much the Soldier except more eastern-themed.
* {{Foil}}: To Knights. Both classes are lance-wielding soldiers that serve as the backbone to the army of TheEmpire, but Soldiers are generalists in battle with slightly more speed and movement than Knights, who are a lot more durable and stronger than Soldiers.
* TheGoomba: Serves this role in some games, especially when they're enemy-exclusive. In these games, they have very low stats and their WeaponSpecialization is spears -- though those traits are also found on the superior knights and cavaliers. Additionally, they mainly serve to keep sword-locked characters in check, as well as give axe-wielders something to smash through. The ones that appear in the early chapters of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' have 0s in several of their stats, even on Hard Mode.
* JackOfAllStats: The playable versions, with generally a slightly higher focus on defense.
* MightyGlacier: Soldiers in ''Gaiden'' have stats geared towards defense, as they share the class line with the bulky armored Knights. As mentioned in JackofAllStats above, the other versions still have an unusually high defense compared to other infantry.
* {{Mook}}: Their role when unplayable is usually [[CannonFodder sparsely-trained and sparsely-equipped foot soldiers]] since ''Thracia 776.''
* NonIndicativeName: Even though the promoted variant of Soldier is called '''Halberd'''ier, they cannot wield Halberds due to them being classified as axes. (Incidentally, the Halberd is called the "Poleaxe" in every game that features Halberdiers, probably to avoid this exact confusion.)
* PutOnABus: For a long time, they were often pushed aside in favor of Knights, Trainees, or Cavaliers. It wasn't until the Tellius games that they reappeared, and they would sit on the side for a few more years before returning in ''Fates''.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Their skills ''Seal Defense'' and ''Seal Speed'', which reduces the enemy's defense and speed after battle, available for Spear Fighter and Spear Master, respectively.
* StoneWall: In most games where they were {{mook}}s, they have uncharacteristically high HP. In ''Three Houses'', they learn Defense +2 upon class mastery.
* TookALevelInBadass: Naturally, when they're playable and not just mere {{mook}}s. Soldiers have been buffed up and able to class change, so later on enemy Soldiers/Halberdiers/Sentinels remain as threatening as other enemies too.
* WeaponSpecialization: The pure-lance infantry class, much like Myrmidons are to swords. Spear Masters in ''Fates'' gain Lancefaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding lances.
* AlwaysMale: The Soldier line, which extends to the Knight and Baron class, is exclusive to males in ''Echoes''.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Halberdier's mastery skill, Luna, in ''Path of Radiance''.
* AscendedExtra: The class started off as the starting class for the Knight class in ''Gaiden'', and only appeared in a few games as generic enemy glasses. ''Path of Radiance'' and ''Radiant Dawn'' gives more spotlight to Soldiers, as not only are they a playable class again (for the first time since ''Gaiden''), but they have a unique class line. ''Fates'' would bring them back in full and make them a more fleshed-out class, as well as a counterpart to the Nohrian Knight class.
* CastFromHitpoints: Royal Knight's class skill, Reforge, allows the unit to remove an adjacent ally's broken status after combat at a cost of 10 of their own HP. However, they must have enough HP to actually remove the broken status.
* CriticalHit: The Sentinel's Impale mastery skill, which deals ''four'' times the damage.
* CriticalHitClass: Halberdiers and Sentinels in ''Radiant Dawn'' and Spear Masters in ''Fates'' gain a critical boost, while the latter also decreases enemy critical rate.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: The Spear Fighters in ''Fates'' have Seal Defense, which reduces the enemy's Defense by 6 after combat if they survive. The Spear Masters in ''Fates'' also have Seal Speed, which reduces the enemy's Speed by 6 as well.
* DemotedToExtra: Soldiers went from a mainline tier 1 class in ''Gaiden'' into an unplayable class in ''Mystery of the Emblem.'' ''Thracia 776'' even made them extremely weak, just like the Archer class, except Soldiers had no comparable player counterpart, as regular lance-using Armor Knights were unplayable.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: Started out as a 1st tier of the Knight class, they became a proper class in the Tellius games. ''Fates'' further separates Soldiers into the playable version in Hoshido & the mook version in Nohr. Since the Tellius games, they went from being MightyGlacier or StoneWall due to this, to being often JackOfAllStats or LightningBruiser depending on the stats and growths.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In ''Gaiden'', they're essentially Armor Knights, and are playable. While unplayable in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', they aren't any weaker than any other tier 1 class, and can even be powerful. In ''Genealogy of the Holy War''[='=]s DummiedOut data, the Soldier class was going to be included with an additional Lance variation with higher stats, as well as a Sword and Bow variation. The {{Mook}} type was introduced in ''Thracia 776''.
* {{Expy}}: The Spear Fighter is pretty much the Soldier except more eastern-themed.
* {{Foil}}: To Knights. Both classes are lance-wielding soldiers that serve as the backbone to the army of TheEmpire, but Soldiers are generalists in battle with slightly more speed and movement than Knights, who are a lot more durable and stronger than Soldiers.
* TheGoomba: Serves this role in some games, especially when they're enemy-exclusive. In these games, they have very low stats and their WeaponSpecialization is spears -- though those traits are also found on the superior knights and cavaliers. Additionally, they mainly serve to keep sword-locked characters in check, as well as give axe-wielders something to smash through. The ones that appear in the early chapters of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' have 0s in several of their stats, even on Hard Mode.
* JackOfAllStats: The playable versions, with generally a slightly higher focus on defense.
* MightyGlacier: Soldiers in ''Gaiden'' have stats geared towards defense, as they share the class line with the bulky armored Knights. As mentioned in JackofAllStats above, the other versions still have an unusually high defense compared to other infantry.
* {{Mook}}: Their role when unplayable is usually [[CannonFodder sparsely-trained and sparsely-equipped foot soldiers]] since ''Thracia 776.''
* NonIndicativeName: Even though the promoted variant of Soldier is called '''Halberd'''ier, they cannot wield Halberds due to them being classified as axes. (Incidentally, the Halberd is called the "Poleaxe" in every game that features Halberdiers, probably to avoid this exact confusion.)
* PutOnABus: For a long time, they were often pushed aside in favor of Knights, Trainees, or Cavaliers. It wasn't until the Tellius games that they reappeared, and they would sit on the side for a few more years before returning in ''Fates''.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Their skills ''Seal Defense'' and ''Seal Speed'', which reduces the enemy's defense and speed after battle, available for Spear Fighter and Spear Master, respectively.
* StoneWall: In most games where they were {{mook}}s, they have uncharacteristically high HP. In ''Three Houses'', they learn Defense +2 upon class mastery.
* TookALevelInBadass: Naturally, when they're playable and not just mere {{mook}}s. Soldiers have been buffed up and able to class change, so later on enemy Soldiers/Halberdiers/Sentinels remain as threatening as other enemies too.
* WeaponSpecialization: The pure-lance infantry class, much like Myrmidons are to swords. Spear Masters in ''Fates'' gain Lancefaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding lances.
to:
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Halberdier's mastery skill, Luna, in ''Path of Radiance''.
* AscendedExtra: The class started off as the starting class for the Knight class in ''Gaiden'', and only appeared in a few games as generic enemy glasses. ''Path of Radiance'' and ''Radiant Dawn'' gives more spotlight to Soldiers, as not only are they a
* CastFromHitpoints: Royal Knight's class skill, Reforge, allows the unit to remove an adjacent ally's broken status after combat at a cost of 10 of their own HP. However, they must have enough HP to actually remove the broken status.
* CriticalHit: The Sentinel's Impale mastery skill, which deals ''four'' times the damage.
* CriticalHitClass: Halberdiers and Sentinels in ''Radiant Dawn'' and Spear Masters
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: The Spear Fighters in ''Fates'' have Seal Defense, which reduces the enemy's Defense by 6 after combat if they survive. The Spear Masters in ''Fates'' also have Seal Speed, which reduces the enemy's Speed by 6 as well.
* DemotedToExtra: Soldiers went from
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: Started out as a 1st tier of the Knight class, they became a proper class
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In ''Gaiden'', they're essentially Armor Knights, and are playable. While unplayable in ''Mystery
* {{Expy}}: The Spear Fighter is pretty much the Soldier except more eastern-themed.
* {{Foil}}: To Knights. Both classes are lance-wielding soldiers that serve as the backbone to the army of TheEmpire, but Soldiers are generalists in battle with slightly more speed and movement than Knights, who are a lot more durable and stronger than Soldiers.
* TheGoomba: Serves this role in some games, especially when they're enemy-exclusive. In these games, they have very low stats and their WeaponSpecialization is spears -- though those traits are also found on the superior knights and cavaliers. Additionally, they mainly serve to keep sword-locked characters in check, as well as give axe-wielders something to smash through. The ones that appear in the early chapters of ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones'' have 0s in several of their stats, even on Hard Mode.
* JackOfAllStats: The playable versions, with generally a slightly higher focus on defense.
* MightyGlacier: Soldiers in ''Gaiden'' have stats geared towards defense, as they share the class line with the bulky armored Knights. As mentioned in JackofAllStats above, the other versions still have an unusually high defense compared to other infantry.
* {{Mook}}: Their role when unplayable is usually [[CannonFodder sparsely-trained and sparsely-equipped foot soldiers]] since ''Thracia 776.
*
* BanditMook: As Brigands and Pirates are absent in ''Fates'', enemy Fighters take their role in representing the criminal axe-using classes and even class change into Berserker. This is further reflected by their increasingly thuggish appearance in that game.
* BareFistedMonk: The Fighters in ''Three Houses'' have a focus on Brawling weapons, alongside Axes and Bows. Meanwhile, Warriors specializes in Axes and Brawling, especially in Axes.
* BiggerIsBetter:
** The basis of
** Fighters and their related classes are typically fairly large as well, reflected in their inherently high HP and Constitutions.
* TheBlacksmith: One of the advanced classes for the Oni Savage. They have a skill, ''Salvage Blow'', which allows them to gain an Iron weapon of any type depending on their Luck stat.
* BoisterousBruiser: Traditionally, playable Fighters are large, loud, and strong men.
* BoringButPractical: They may appear as an inferior option to Berserkers at first glance, neither possessing their [[CriticalHitClass passive critical hit chance]] or [[GeoEffects ability to traverse water and peak tiles]]. However, their [[StrongAndSkilled greater Constitution and Skill]] allow them to wield
* BowAndSwordInAccord: With axes instead of swords for Warriors, as they can wield both axes and bows. The bow is an guarantee to kill any fliers with their high strength, even deal damage to Wyvern Riders, who have more defense than Pegasus Knights. Fighters in ''Three Houses'' have specialization in bows, alongside axes and fighting.
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: Fighters and Warriors are all [[MightyLumberjack Mighty Lumberjacks]], savage gladiators, tough outdoorsmen and rough mercenaries that wield axes.
* CarryABigStick: While any units can wield clubs with their axe rank, the Oni Savage line are largely seen with clubs.
* CoolMask: The Oni Savage and Oni Chieftain all wears masks that
* CriticalHitClass: The Oni Chieftains, to
* PutOnABus: For a long time,
** Warriors in
* StatusInflictionAttack: Their skills ''Seal Defense''
* CriticalStatusBuff: Warriors in ''Three Houses'' gain Wrath upon mastering the class. Like most iteration, it increases their critical rate upon reaching below 50% of their HP, but it must when the enemy initiates the attack for it to activate. To compensate, it give a massive boost of 50 critical.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: The Oni Savage in ''Fates'' have Seal Resistance, which reduces the enemy's Resistance by 6 after combat if they survive. However, since they're mainly physical attackers, beside reclassing into Oni Chieftain who can also wield tomes or using the Bolt Axe, only other magical attackers can exploit the Resistance debuff.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Fighters were unable to class change in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem''; it wasn't until ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' where Fighters were able to class change into Warriors.
** Despite the class roll in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'' describing them as having low defense, the Fighters in your army have high defense growths that allow them to be {{Mighty Glacier}}s (in fact, they have a higher defense growth than '''Draug'''), likely compensating for their inability to class change. Similarly enemy Warriors in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'' also had good defense.
* GladiatorGames: Warriors in ''Awakening'' have a gladiatorial appearance, complete with the cassis crista.
* GlassCannon: Fighters and Warriors have massive strength, often the highest out of all physical-based classes, but their similarly huge HP pools are usually offset by low defense and
* StoneWall:
* {{Gonk}}: They have a tendency to be this or to avert GenericCuteness.
* HornsOfBarbarism: Warriors are usually depicted wearing horned helmets.
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: The Warrior's class
* TookALevelInBadass: Naturally, when they're playable and not just mere {{mook}}s. Soldiers have been buffed up and able to class change, so later on enemy Soldiers/Halberdiers/Sentinels remain as threatening as other
*
* MagicallyIneptFighter: While most physical users typically have little magic, Fighters are the worst in that they have no benefits with magic, Bolt Axe notwithstanding. Averted with [[MagicKnight Oni Chieftains]], as they can use tomes and Bolt Axe with decent magic and have a skill to lower the enemy's resistance.
* MagicKnight: Oni Chieftains can wield both axes and tomes, which helps with their magic stats and Seal Resistance.
* MightyGlacier:
** In the early games, Fighters and Warriors tended to be very slow but with high strength, HP and defense. Most games after ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' lowered their defense and raised their speed, but a few games like
** The Oni Savage introduced in ''Fates'' is slow, but with high defense.
* {{Oni}}: Oni Savages and Oni Chieftains are based on the youkai.
* MusclesAreMeaningful:
** Even the youngest Fighters/Warriors, like Boyd and Osian, are noticeably muscular. They also all have high strength, HP and consitution stat. Note in the games with weight, most other units lack the strength and consitution to
** The Colossus skill in ''Path of Radiance'' allows Warriors to greatly increase their attack if their foe has less constiution (IE: muscle mass) then them, which certainly works out well for them as every single warrior in the game is a muscleman with great constituion.
* RangedEmergencyWeapon: What the bow usually amounts to for Warriors, given that they could only promote from axe-weilding classes, and thus will always have an inferior ranking in bows.
* SpectacularSpinning: Warriors' critical animatinos in the GBA games, and the Reaver's mastery skill Colossus in ''Radiant Dawn'' all involve alot of spinning.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Oni Savages get Seal Resistance to lower their enemy's resistance to magic.
* StatusBuff:
** Warriors in ''Awakening'' and Berserkers in ''Fates'' gain
** Oni Chieftains get Death Blow, where their
* StoneWall:
** Prior to ''Thracia 776', Axe classes had great defense stats, but the incredible weight and inaccuracy of axes prevented them from being good at dealing damage.
** The Oni Savage/Chieftain line in ''Fates'' is very defensive but not very good at offense, in contrast to the [[GlassCannon normal performance]] of axe units [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness post]] ''Genealogy Of the Holy War''.
* {{Stripperiffic}}: ''Fates'' introduces female Fighters, which wear what are effectively [[ChainmailBikini chainmail bikinis]] made of cloth. Even the male Fighter doesn't fare much better, with half their butts hanging out of what is basically a loin cloth.
* StrongAndSkilled: Many playable Fighters have passable Skill, allowing them to hit more accurately than the comparatively UnskilledButStrong Brigands and Pirates. To compensate, these Fighters have lower Speed, meaning that they will likely only be able to hit the opponent once per round, but have a greater guarantee in being able to do so.
* TheresNoKillLikeOverkill: They can easily OneHitKO [[AntiCavalry Cavaliers]] and [[AntiArmor Knights]] with halberds and hammers, respectively, as the effective properties of these weapons are further bolstered by their [[TacticalRockPaperScissors weapon triangle advantage]] over the lance-using Cavaliers and Knights, and the inherently high Strength of Fighter units. However, the shaky accuracy of these weapons makes them AwesomeButImpractical, an option to fall back on only when the player absolutely needs to dispose of a dangerous enemy immediately.
* WeakToMagic: Even in games where Warriors have a high defense stat, their resistance stats rank among the very worst in the game. The same applies to Blacksmith. This is not the case for
Changed line(s) 225,240 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Mercenary]]
!!Mercenary
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/731g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Mercenaries in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/816g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Heroes in ''Three Houses'']]
Mercenaries are one of the basic sword-wielding classes. They are generally defined as [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin what their name suggests]] -- soldiers-for-hire. Compared to the FragileSpeedster build of the Myrmidon, Mercenaries tend to be [[JackOfAllStats overall well-rounded and balanced]] when it comes to stats.
They Class Change into '''Hero'''[[note]]'''Forrest''' in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''; somewhat related to the Forrest Knight[[/note]], which usually gives them the ability to wield axes. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'', they Class Change into '''Myrmidon''', and can Class Change again into the third-tier '''Dread Fighter'''. The Mercenary class was technically replaced by the '''Myrmidon''' class in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776''; the equivalent class there is called '''Swordfighter''', which is quite similar to the Myrmidon class of later games; some Swordfighters Class Change to Forrest (aka Hero), while some Class Change to '''Swordmaster''', depending on the character.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'', the Hero class is exclusive to the NPC Greil, while ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' has Ike as the only one who assumes this class. Ike can class change into the third-tier '''Vanguard''', allowing him to use axes alongside swords. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they can branch into a mounted class[[note]]'''Ranger''' in ''The Sacred Stones'', '''Bow Knight''' in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates''[[/note]] which can use BowAndSwordInAccord.\\\
Related are the aforementioned Myrmidon class and Ike's '''Lord''' class in ''Path of Radiance'', which are functionally Mercenaries, and the class families '''Lord''' and '''Successeur''', exclusive to Diamant, which both classes wield swords and the latter also wielding axes, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''[[note]]Characters marked with an * are changed to Myrmidons in ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem''[[/note]] Ogma, Navarre*, Caesar, Radd*, Astram, Samson (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Saber, Kamui, Jesse, Deen (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Samuel*, Malice* (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Dieck, Ogier, Echidna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Raven, Harken (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Gerik (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Gregor, Inigo, Severa, Flavia, Priam, Roy, Alm, Ike (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Selena, Laslow, Soleil (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Diamant, Goldmary (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Mercenary
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/731g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Mercenaries in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/816g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Heroes in ''Three Houses'']]
Mercenaries are one of the basic sword-wielding classes. They are generally defined as [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin what their name suggests]] -- soldiers-for-hire. Compared to the FragileSpeedster build of the Myrmidon, Mercenaries tend to be [[JackOfAllStats overall well-rounded and balanced]] when it comes to stats.
They Class Change into '''Hero'''[[note]]'''Forrest''' in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''; somewhat related to the Forrest Knight[[/note]], which usually gives them the ability to wield axes. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'', they Class Change into '''Myrmidon''', and can Class Change again into the third-tier '''Dread Fighter'''. The Mercenary class was technically replaced by the '''Myrmidon''' class in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776''; the equivalent class there is called '''Swordfighter''', which is quite similar to the Myrmidon class of later games; some Swordfighters Class Change to Forrest (aka Hero), while some Class Change to '''Swordmaster''', depending on the character.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'', the Hero class is exclusive to the NPC Greil, while ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' has Ike as the only one who assumes this class. Ike can class change into the third-tier '''Vanguard''', allowing him to use axes alongside swords. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they can branch into a mounted class[[note]]'''Ranger''' in ''The Sacred Stones'', '''Bow Knight''' in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates''[[/note]] which can use BowAndSwordInAccord.\\\
Related are the aforementioned Myrmidon class and Ike's '''Lord''' class in ''Path of Radiance'', which are functionally Mercenaries, and the class families '''Lord''' and '''Successeur''', exclusive to Diamant, which both classes wield swords and the latter also wielding axes, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''[[note]]Characters marked with an * are changed to Myrmidons in ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem''[[/note]] Ogma, Navarre*, Caesar, Radd*, Astram, Samson (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Saber, Kamui, Jesse, Deen (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Samuel*, Malice* (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Dieck, Ogier, Echidna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Raven, Harken (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Gerik (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Gregor, Inigo, Severa, Flavia, Priam, Roy, Alm, Ike (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Selena, Laslow, Soleil (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Diamant, Goldmary (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Mercenary
!!Brigand
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
Mercenaries are one of
Imagine Fighters, except even more thuggish and disreputable; the
They Class Change into '''Hero'''[[note]]'''Forrest''' in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''; somewhat related to the Forrest Knight[[/note]], which usually gives them
These classes are almost always characterized as overly muscular thugs with wearing bandanas and ragged clothing that shows off their intimidating physique. Their faces tend to be rather homely in appearance. The first opponents within the game are almost always Brigands or pirates who [[TacticalRockPaperScissors end up at a disadvantage]] against the sword-wielding lord they just can't hit.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class
Changed line(s) 242,262 (click to see context) from:
* ActionInitiative: Heroes in ''Three Houses'' gain the Vantage skill, which allows them to act first when their health is low, as a class skill while Mercenaries can learn the skill upon mastering the class.
* AchillesHeel: The rarely appearing [=SwordSlayer=], introduced in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', deals effective damage towards Mercenaries and Heroes even if they aren't wielding a sword.
* AlwaysMale:
** The Mercenary line is exclusive to males in ''Shadow Dragon''. Malice was originally a Mercenary in ''BS Fire Emblem'' (though Myrmidon didn't exist until ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Binding Blade'' and in that game, animation are off by default to both save time for its limited duration and to hide a class that only had male characters), but was made into a Myrmidon in ''New Mystery of the Emblem''.
** The Mercenary line in ''Gaiden'' is locked to male units, so Faye or other female units that used the Pitchfork item cannot get Mercenary.
** The Hero class in ''Three Houses'' can only be accessed by men.
* {{BFS}}: The swords wielded by the Mercenary class in the GBA and DS games are depicted as large swords. They also possess a high enough Constitution in order to effectively wield heavier swords such as blades, [[AntiCavalry Longswords]], or [[AntiArmor Armorslayers]].
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: In contrast to Swordmasters, Heroes can wield axes as well as swords and are built to be stronger but slower than them, and are a promote of the Mercenary Class.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Heroes in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Strength, a skill that boosts strength by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* CombatParkour: ''Awakening's'' Heroes backflip when they dodge attacks, while Mercenaries and Heroes flip to attack in the GBA games.
* HealingFactor: Mercenaries in ''Fates'' get the Good Fortune skill, where they have a chance (based on their Luck stat) to recover 20% of their max HP at the start of the turn.
* HeroesPreferSwords: In a literal example of this trope, the Hero class can wield -- and oftentimes specializes in -- swords. However, the Hero class can also be promoted from the axe-wielding Fighter class in some games, making this more of a DownplayedTrope. Heroes in ''Three Houses'' gain Swordfaire as a class skill.
* InASingleBound: Older games seems to like having Mercenaries and Heroes leap massive lengths into action.
* ItemAmplifier: In ''Awakening'', Mercenaries have Armsthrift, which grants a (Luck*2) chance of not degrading their weapon.
* IShallTauntYou: The Mercenary's crit animation in the GBA games begins with a taunting motion, and transfers into an enormous forward flip.
* JackOfAllStats: Mercenaries have high and well-balanced stats all-round, in contrast to the other infantry classes, though like most sword-wielding classes they tend to have high speed above all else.
* LifeDrain: Heroes in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' can learn Sol, a skill that allows them to regain health equal to half the damage dealt.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: In many games (most notably the Super Famicom, GBA, and DS games), Heroes and Forrests wear shields and use them to "block" attacks that miss them.
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Their critical animations often involve tossing their weapon into the air, then jumping after it while [[UnnecessaryCombatRoll somersaulting several times]] before catching it and coming back down for the strike.
* UnorthodoxSheathing: In the GBA games, Heroes sheathe their weapon into their shield while in midair. Their critical hit animation has them throwing their shield in the air before jumping after it, unsheathing their weapon, and hitting their opponent.
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: Often their default pose.
* AchillesHeel: The rarely appearing [=SwordSlayer=], introduced in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', deals effective damage towards Mercenaries and Heroes even if they aren't wielding a sword.
* AlwaysMale:
** The Mercenary line is exclusive to males in ''Shadow Dragon''. Malice was originally a Mercenary in ''BS Fire Emblem'' (though Myrmidon didn't exist until ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Binding Blade'' and in that game, animation are off by default to both save time for its limited duration and to hide a class that only had male characters), but was made into a Myrmidon in ''New Mystery of the Emblem''.
** The Mercenary line in ''Gaiden'' is locked to male units, so Faye or other female units that used the Pitchfork item cannot get Mercenary.
** The Hero class in ''Three Houses'' can only be accessed by men.
* {{BFS}}: The swords wielded by the Mercenary class in the GBA and DS games are depicted as large swords. They also possess a high enough Constitution in order to effectively wield heavier swords such as blades, [[AntiCavalry Longswords]], or [[AntiArmor Armorslayers]].
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: In contrast to Swordmasters, Heroes can wield axes as well as swords and are built to be stronger but slower than them, and are a promote of the Mercenary Class.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Heroes in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Strength, a skill that boosts strength by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* CombatParkour: ''Awakening's'' Heroes backflip when they dodge attacks, while Mercenaries and Heroes flip to attack in the GBA games.
* HealingFactor: Mercenaries in ''Fates'' get the Good Fortune skill, where they have a chance (based on their Luck stat) to recover 20% of their max HP at the start of the turn.
* HeroesPreferSwords: In a literal example of this trope, the Hero class can wield -- and oftentimes specializes in -- swords. However, the Hero class can also be promoted from the axe-wielding Fighter class in some games, making this more of a DownplayedTrope. Heroes in ''Three Houses'' gain Swordfaire as a class skill.
* InASingleBound: Older games seems to like having Mercenaries and Heroes leap massive lengths into action.
* ItemAmplifier: In ''Awakening'', Mercenaries have Armsthrift, which grants a (Luck*2) chance of not degrading their weapon.
* IShallTauntYou: The Mercenary's crit animation in the GBA games begins with a taunting motion, and transfers into an enormous forward flip.
* JackOfAllStats: Mercenaries have high and well-balanced stats all-round, in contrast to the other infantry classes, though like most sword-wielding classes they tend to have high speed above all else.
* LifeDrain: Heroes in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' can learn Sol, a skill that allows them to regain health equal to half the damage dealt.
* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: In many games (most notably the Super Famicom, GBA, and DS games), Heroes and Forrests wear shields and use them to "block" attacks that miss them.
* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Their critical animations often involve tossing their weapon into the air, then jumping after it while [[UnnecessaryCombatRoll somersaulting several times]] before catching it and coming back down for the strike.
* UnorthodoxSheathing: In the GBA games, Heroes sheathe their weapon into their shield while in midair. Their critical hit animation has them throwing their shield in the air before jumping after it, unsheathing their weapon, and hitting their opponent.
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: Often their default pose.
to:
* AlwaysMale:
** The Mercenary line is exclusive to males in ''Shadow Dragon''. Malice was originally a Mercenary in ''BS Fire Emblem'' (though Myrmidon didn't exist until ''Genealogy of
** The Hero class in
* {{BFS}}: The swords wielded by the Mercenary class in the GBA and DS games are depicted as large swords. They also possess a high enough Constitution in order to effectively wield heavier swords such as blades, [[AntiCavalry Longswords]], or [[AntiArmor Armorslayers]].
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: In contrast to Swordmasters, Heroes can wield axes as well as swords and are built to be stronger but slower than them, and are a promote of the Mercenary Class.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Heroes in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Strength, a skill that boosts strength by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* CombatParkour: ''Awakening's'' Heroes backflip when they dodge attacks, while Mercenaries and Heroes flip to attack in the GBA games.
* HealingFactor: Mercenaries in ''Fates'' get the Good Fortune skill, where they have a chance (based
* HeroesPreferSwords: In a literal example of this trope, the Hero class can wield -- and oftentimes specializes in -- swords. However, the Hero class can also be promoted from the axe-wielding Fighter class in some games, making this more of a DownplayedTrope. Heroes in ''Three Houses'' gain Swordfaire as a class skill.
* InASingleBound: Older games seems to like having Mercenaries and Heroes leap massive lengths into action.
* ItemAmplifier: In ''Awakening'', Mercenaries have Armsthrift, which grants a (Luck*2) chance of not degrading their weapon.
* IShallTauntYou: The Mercenary's crit animation in the GBA games begins with a taunting motion, and transfers into an enormous forward flip.
* JackOfAllStats: Mercenaries have high and well-balanced stats all-round, in contrast to
*
* BadassesWearBandanas: Pirates always wear bandanas. Brigands and Berserkers often wear them as well.
* BanditMook: Brigands and Pirates, when in the service of the enemy, [[RapePillageAndBurn destroy villages]] which give out items and money.
* TheBerserker: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Guess.]] That said, playable members of the class are normally an aversion, bearing no such tendencies beyond their class name.
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: They can only wield axes as their weapons, and the Berserker is an Axe specialist much like the Swordmaster is to swords. Berserkers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates''
*
*
* CriticalStatusBuff: The ''Wrath'' skill in the
* DressedToPlunder: Pirates wear the usual garb.
* DualWielding: Pirates in the GBA games attack with two axes in hand, although they're purely aesthetic. The map sprites for pirates in [=FE4=] did this early, but again, it was only aesthetic.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Pirates were unable to class change in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'': it wasn't until ''Thracia 776'' that allowed Brigands to class change, but ''Binding Blade'' was the first game to allow Brigands and Pirates to class change into Berserkers.
** Like the fighters, the Brigands/Pirates had stats more along the line of a MightyGlacier in the original ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'', despite the class roll in the first and third games describing them as having low defense. It is likely to compensate for Darros not being able to class change and the weight of axes preventing axe-users from double attacking.
** Pirates and Barbarians can't destroy villages in the Archanea games, a trait that appears in later games. Only Thieves could destroy villages in those games. Barbarian was also the strongest axe user around, on par with a promoted class.
** Berserkers first appeared in ''Thracia 776'', except while
* FaceOfAThug: Several members have scary and
*
* GeoEffects: In the GBA games,
* {{Gonk}}: Both classes tend to have grotesque appearances, though pirates are comparatively more likely to be handsome such as the rugged Geese in ''Binding Blade.''
* GlassCannon: They have among the highest strength of any class on top of generally good speed (the latter can vary, since playable units that start out as a Berserker are usually slow to encourage you to train a faster Pirate/Brigand from the ground up) but have even worse defenses than the Fighter and Warrior, and are almost always more inaccurate as well. This is somewhat mitigated by their
** ''Fates'' Berserkers are much riskier, as while they gain +20 critical rate, the highest critical rate gain in
* {{Gonk}}: Even moreso than Fighters. Due to the vast majority of them [[EvilMakesYouUgly being enemies]], they tend to be among the ugliest characters that players will cross paths with. Even playable Brigands like Gonzalez aren't saved from this.
* TheGoomba: Brigands or Pirates are almost always the first opponents of the game, starting all the way to the first game. Unlike most examples, Brigands/Pirates have good HP and Strength, and their ability to climb mountains/peaks (and [[GeoEffects gain immense defense/avoid bonuses]]) might make them very difficult to take down, but their inability to hit spells their doom. The ones in ''Gaiden'' have weak stats all around.
* HornsOfBarbarism: Like Warriors, most portrayals of Berserkers have them wear horned helmets.
* {{Irony}}: Berserkers come with a [[CriticalHitClass passive critical hit
* MountainMan: Brigands and Berserkers literally have the ability to perch themselves on "peak" terrain [[GeoEffects for high defense/evasion bonuses]]. They also embody the spirit of the trope - despite being in a StandardFantasySetting rather than TheWestern - with their rugged, burly appearance and separation from civil society.
* MusclesAreMeaningful:
** Just like Fighters, they always have awesome HP, strength and constitution because of their huge muscles and stature.
** Notably even the StarterVillain bandits have better constitution than nearly all your units in the
* NemeanSkinning: Berserkers in ''Path of Radiance'' wear wolf skins. Berserkers in ''Fates'' also wear wolf pelts under their armor.
* PaperTiger: Enemy Brigands and Pirates, whose mighty Strength and HP pools are undermined by every other stat, including Skill, which [[PowerfulButInaccurate prevents them from hitting player characters at all]]. This cements them as TheGoomba, in spite of their
*
* RoarBeforeBeating: The critical hits of Brigands in the GBA games. Berserkers do this when Colossus is activated in ''Path of Radiance''.
* StalkedByTheBell: This class serves to punish players that play too cautiously. Take too long to get to the village in a different part of the map? [[BanditMook These guys]] will get there first, ransacking the place and denying the player any bonuses they would've received from it.
* StatusBuff: Brigands in ''Three Houses'' gain Death Blow upon mastering the class. It is more similar to ''Heroes'' iteration of Death Blow, which increases strength when initiating the attack.
* TruthInTelevision: Pirates and Berserkers can swim with axes in hand. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXEA-qNcFD0&list=PLc1JElvFHF_d_UXL1uyi2VassvmFKJkY9&index=7 This is surprisingly feasible with certain types of real-life axes]]: wooden handles give the axe buoyancy, while bearded axe heads can be used as a makeshift paddle.
* TurnsRed: Berserkers in ''Awakening'' can get the Wrath skill, which increases their critical rate when under half of their max HP.
* UniqueEnemy:
** There's a class called "Corsair" that appears in '''one chapter''' of ''Blazing Blade'' (on one route of a path split, no less) that is essentially a re-skinned Pirate.
** There is a [[InNameOnly "Berserker"]] in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', except it was just a renamed Hero with a unique map sprite and only existed in one chapter[[note]]They are also called "Evil Fighter", but it's not the name of their class[[/note]]. In the remake, the "Berserker" was replaced by a Swordmaster.
* UnskilledButStrong: Their stats are much more exaggerated than the Fighter's, typically higher HP, Strength and Speed but even lower Skill and defenses (which is funny, considering that critical hits are a huge part of the Berserker's shtick). Averted in ''Fates'', where Berserkers have decent Skill by ''Fates'' standards.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Often
* WarmUpBoss: Typically, most of the early-game bosses are Brigands and many Lords often use [[HeroesPreferSwords swords]], allowing them to easily defeat the bosses.
* WeakToMagic: Being a GlassCannon, it isn't surpirsign that Berserkers have the lowest resistance around, even more than Wyvern Lord.
Changed line(s) 265,282 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Myrmidon (''Swordfighter'', ''Blade'')]]
!!Myrmidon (''Swordfighter'', ''Blade'')
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/679g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Myrmidon in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/824g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Swordmasters in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/945g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_master_of_arms_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Master of Arms in ''Fates'']]
A class closely related to the Mercenary, originally deriving from Mercenaries with specifically different gameplay constitutions; whereas Mercenaries are balanced, Myrmidons turn up the Speed to near-ridiculous levels at the expense of Defense.\\\
They Class Change into '''Swordmaster''', and in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' can go further into the '''Trueblade''' class. The Myrmidon class technically replaced the Mercenary class in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'' (and thus, some could Class Change to '''Hero/Forrest'''), but was functionally a bit of a mix of the two; the full, separate Myrmidon class in and of itself as we know it today debuted in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', Myrmidons can also branch into '''Assassins'''; the latter game allows them to use BowAndSwordInAccord. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Myrmidons are called '''Samurai''' (a Hoshidan class), which also Class Changes into the '''Swordmaster'''. They also can branch into the '''Master of Arms''', which cuts down on their Speed for some bulk and utilizes all the basic weapons of the weapon triangle. ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' also introduces the '''Mortal Savant''' class, a Swordmaster with inclinations of magic.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''[[note]]Characters marked with an * were originally Mercenaries in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', ''Mystery of the Emblem'' and ''Archanea Saga''[[/note]] Ayra, Chulainn, Larcei/Creidne, Scáthach/Dalvin, Shannan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Eyvel, Machyua, Shiva, Mareeta, Trewd, Ralph, Shannam, Galzus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Rutger, Fir, Karel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Guy, Karel, Karla (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Joshua, Marisa (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Mia, Zihark, Lucia, Stefan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Edward (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Navarre*, Radd*, Athena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Samuel, Malice* (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Lon'qu, Say'ri, Owain, Yen'fay, Seliph, Lyn, [=SpotPass=] Eirika (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Hana, Hinata, Ryoma, Hisame, Fuga (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Felix, Catherine (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Lapis, Kagetsu (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Myrmidon (''Swordfighter'', ''Blade'')
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/679g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Myrmidon in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/824g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Swordmasters in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/945g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_master_of_arms_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Master of Arms in ''Fates'']]
A class closely related to the Mercenary, originally deriving from Mercenaries with specifically different gameplay constitutions; whereas Mercenaries are balanced, Myrmidons turn up the Speed to near-ridiculous levels at the expense of Defense.\\\
They Class Change into '''Swordmaster''', and in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' can go further into the '''Trueblade''' class. The Myrmidon class technically replaced the Mercenary class in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'' (and thus, some could Class Change to '''Hero/Forrest'''), but was functionally a bit of a mix of the two; the full, separate Myrmidon class in and of itself as we know it today debuted in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', Myrmidons can also branch into '''Assassins'''; the latter game allows them to use BowAndSwordInAccord. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Myrmidons are called '''Samurai''' (a Hoshidan class), which also Class Changes into the '''Swordmaster'''. They also can branch into the '''Master of Arms''', which cuts down on their Speed for some bulk and utilizes all the basic weapons of the weapon triangle. ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' also introduces the '''Mortal Savant''' class, a Swordmaster with inclinations of magic.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''[[note]]Characters marked with an * were originally Mercenaries in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', ''Mystery of the Emblem'' and ''Archanea Saga''[[/note]] Ayra, Chulainn, Larcei/Creidne, Scáthach/Dalvin, Shannan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Eyvel, Machyua, Shiva, Mareeta, Trewd, Ralph, Shannam, Galzus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Rutger, Fir, Karel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Guy, Karel, Karla (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Joshua, Marisa (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Mia, Zihark, Lucia, Stefan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Edward (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Navarre*, Radd*, Athena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Samuel, Malice* (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Lon'qu, Say'ri, Owain, Yen'fay, Seliph, Lyn, [=SpotPass=] Eirika (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Hana, Hinata, Ryoma, Hisame, Fuga (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Felix, Catherine (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Lapis, Kagetsu (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Myrmidon (''Swordfighter'', ''Blade'')
!!Archer
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesgreatmerchantportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Merchant in ''Fates'']]
Also introduced alongside Archers are the '''Hunter''' class, exclusive to the Archanea games and as an enemy-exclusive class in the Jugdral games. Hunters are shady bowmen with
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', they can alternatively choose to Class Change into '''Ranger''' and '''Bow Knight''' respectively, gaining the ability to wield BowAndSwordInAccord as well.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Archers can Class Change to the '''Sniper''' class or branch into the flying mounted '''Kinshi Knight''' class. It also got a slower-but-stronger variant named the '''Apothecary''', which can Class Change into '''Merchant''' (gains use of lances in addition to bows) or '''Mechanist''' (see the below class category) classes respectively. \\\
Related are the class families '''Lord''' and '''Tireur d'elite''', exclusive to Alcryst, and class families '''Sentinel''' and '''Cupido''', exclusive to Fogato, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'', which all classes wield bows and Cupido also wielding swords.
->'''Playable characters of this class
Changed line(s) 284,304 (click to see context) from:
* AchillesHeel:
** The SwordSlayer weapon in'' The Blazing Blade'' ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Heroes of Light and Shadow'' deals much more damage when used on Myrmidons and their Swordmaster promotion.
** In many games, the low attack of Myrmidons means they'll have trouble when placed against a high defense opponent like a Wyvern rider or Knight.
* ActionInitiative: In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', they gain Vantage, which allows them to attack first when their HP is below 50%.
* CriticalHitClass: They have high Skill and Speed to help them inflict critical hits more easily. In the GBA games, Tellius games, and ''Fates'', they gain a critical boost, especially in the Elibe games, where it is possible to stack up all methods of increasing critical hit rate to ''exceed 100%''!
* DamageReduction: Mortal Savant learns Warding Blow, a skill that reduces magic damage by 6 when attacking, upon mastering the class.
* DeathOfAThousandCuts: The [[SecretArt Astra]] skill; it's the mastery skill for Swordmasters and Trueblades in the Tellius games, and is pretty much exclusively associated with the Isaach royal family (all of whom are Swordfighters, Swordmasters, and Forrests) in the Jugdral games. In ''Three Houses'', Astra is a Combat Art exclusive to Swordmasters and doesn't get carried over to other classes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Myrmidon class originated as the ''Gaiden'' equivalent of the Hero (as "Hero" was Alm's advance class). In the Jugdral games, the class was a functional mix of the Mercenary and Myrmidon classes, class changing into either Swordmaster or Forrest depending on the character. Starting from ''The Binding Blade'', the two classes have become distinct from one another.
* DoppelgangerSpin: GBA Swordmasters move so fast that they leave behind illusions of themselves in their critical animation.
* DualWielding: ''Fates''' Swordmasters are capable of dual wielding some, but not all, swords. This is merely aesthetic and doesn't affect gameplay.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: With the exception of Archanea (because they didn't exist at the time until the remake) and Tellius, most myrmidons hail from a fictional version of an East Asian culture like the Mongols (Sacae) and Japanese (Chon'sin, Hoshido). Jehanna (a Middle Eastern-inspired desert nation) and Isaach don't follow this theme, although Isaach is described as an Eastern kingdom, are known to train Swordmasters and their AncestralWeapon loosely resembles a katana. The Swordmasters and Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'' retain the samurai aesthetic despite the lack of their version of Japan.
* FragileSpeedster: Myrmidons are very weak and fragile compared to other infantry -- however, they have very high speed, meaning that they double attack more often and often rely on dodging to avoid damage. In ''Fates'', Samurai learns ''Duelist's Blow'', which raise their evasion by 30 when attacking, and Swordmaster passively gain an evasion boost. In ''Three Houses'', Myrmidon gain Speed +2 upon mastering the class.
* GlassCannon: Masters of Arms get ''Life or Death'', which boosts their attack tremendously, but also decreases their defense drastically, making them easy to kill but at the same time giving them greater potential to kill.
* FlashStep: A general tendency of Swordmaster animations.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Swords with high critical rate, such as the Killing Edge and the Wo Dao are typically shaped like one and are the preferred weapons of this class family to complement their high Speed and Skill. In the Elibe games, the Wo Dao is exclusive to Myrmidons, Swordmasters and Lyn (whose Lord class is Swordmaster in all but name).
* MagicKnight: Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'' can use swords and magic.
* MasterSwordsman: The Swordmaster especially, as they are usually the best duelists in terms of speed and evasion. Swordmasters in ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' gain Swordfaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding swords.
* MultiMeleeMaster: Masters of Arms wield swords, axes, and lances to cover the entire weapon triangle.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Masters of Arms get ''Seal Strength'', which reduces the enemy's strength by 6 after battle.
* SwordAndFist: ''Fates''[='=] Swordmasters kick and follow up with a downward slash when they perform a critical hit.
* WarriorMonk: The Master of Arms resembles the Buddhist warrior monks known as sōhei, especially Musashibō Benkei, who collected the weapons of defeated challengers.
** The SwordSlayer weapon in'' The Blazing Blade'' ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Heroes of Light and Shadow'' deals much more damage when used on Myrmidons and their Swordmaster promotion.
** In many games, the low attack of Myrmidons means they'll have trouble when placed against a high defense opponent like a Wyvern rider or Knight.
* ActionInitiative: In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', they gain Vantage, which allows them to attack first when their HP is below 50%.
* CriticalHitClass: They have high Skill and Speed to help them inflict critical hits more easily. In the GBA games, Tellius games, and ''Fates'', they gain a critical boost, especially in the Elibe games, where it is possible to stack up all methods of increasing critical hit rate to ''exceed 100%''!
* DamageReduction: Mortal Savant learns Warding Blow, a skill that reduces magic damage by 6 when attacking, upon mastering the class.
* DeathOfAThousandCuts: The [[SecretArt Astra]] skill; it's the mastery skill for Swordmasters and Trueblades in the Tellius games, and is pretty much exclusively associated with the Isaach royal family (all of whom are Swordfighters, Swordmasters, and Forrests) in the Jugdral games. In ''Three Houses'', Astra is a Combat Art exclusive to Swordmasters and doesn't get carried over to other classes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Myrmidon class originated as the ''Gaiden'' equivalent of the Hero (as "Hero" was Alm's advance class). In the Jugdral games, the class was a functional mix of the Mercenary and Myrmidon classes, class changing into either Swordmaster or Forrest depending on the character. Starting from ''The Binding Blade'', the two classes have become distinct from one another.
* DoppelgangerSpin: GBA Swordmasters move so fast that they leave behind illusions of themselves in their critical animation.
* DualWielding: ''Fates''' Swordmasters are capable of dual wielding some, but not all, swords. This is merely aesthetic and doesn't affect gameplay.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: With the exception of Archanea (because they didn't exist at the time until the remake) and Tellius, most myrmidons hail from a fictional version of an East Asian culture like the Mongols (Sacae) and Japanese (Chon'sin, Hoshido). Jehanna (a Middle Eastern-inspired desert nation) and Isaach don't follow this theme, although Isaach is described as an Eastern kingdom, are known to train Swordmasters and their AncestralWeapon loosely resembles a katana. The Swordmasters and Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'' retain the samurai aesthetic despite the lack of their version of Japan.
* FragileSpeedster: Myrmidons are very weak and fragile compared to other infantry -- however, they have very high speed, meaning that they double attack more often and often rely on dodging to avoid damage. In ''Fates'', Samurai learns ''Duelist's Blow'', which raise their evasion by 30 when attacking, and Swordmaster passively gain an evasion boost. In ''Three Houses'', Myrmidon gain Speed +2 upon mastering the class.
* GlassCannon: Masters of Arms get ''Life or Death'', which boosts their attack tremendously, but also decreases their defense drastically, making them easy to kill but at the same time giving them greater potential to kill.
* FlashStep: A general tendency of Swordmaster animations.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Swords with high critical rate, such as the Killing Edge and the Wo Dao are typically shaped like one and are the preferred weapons of this class family to complement their high Speed and Skill. In the Elibe games, the Wo Dao is exclusive to Myrmidons, Swordmasters and Lyn (whose Lord class is Swordmaster in all but name).
* MagicKnight: Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'' can use swords and magic.
* MasterSwordsman: The Swordmaster especially, as they are usually the best duelists in terms of speed and evasion. Swordmasters in ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' gain Swordfaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding swords.
* MultiMeleeMaster: Masters of Arms wield swords, axes, and lances to cover the entire weapon triangle.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Masters of Arms get ''Seal Strength'', which reduces the enemy's strength by 6 after battle.
* SwordAndFist: ''Fates''[='=] Swordmasters kick and follow up with a downward slash when they perform a critical hit.
* WarriorMonk: The Master of Arms resembles the Buddhist warrior monks known as sōhei, especially Musashibō Benkei, who collected the weapons of defeated challengers.
to:
* AchillesHeel:
**AchillesHeel: Whether or not mounted archers are affected by Horse-slaying weapons varies by game. The SwordSlayer weapon in'' The Blazing Blade'' ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Heroes of Light and Shadow'' deals much more damage when used on Myrmidons and only ones with a clear reason to not get this weakness are Mechanists, because their Swordmaster promotion.
** In many games,mounts are artificial.
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Deadeye/Sure Strike, thelow attack Sniper and Marksman's mastery skill. It's a bit of Myrmidons means they'll a PowerupLetdown, in that by the point they have trouble access to it, a Sniper/Marksman will have such high Skill that they don't ''need'' an accuracy boost. Skills like Hit Rate +20 ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which increases hit rate by 20]]) and Certain Blow (increasing hit rate by 40 when placed against a high defense opponent like a Wyvern rider or Knight.
* ActionInitiative: Inthe user attacks first) were more useful in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', as they gain Vantage, which allows them allow units to dip into other classes for their skills.
* AlwaysMale: Archers in ''Echoes'' is locked to males so Faye and female units that used the Pitchfork cannot get access to it.
* AntiAir: The role they excel greatly at is punishing enemy fliers that try to rush into their territory with their high movement range.
* CastFromMoney: Merchants get ''Spendthrift'', a skill that increases the damage they deal and reduces the damage they take at the cost of a Gold Bar in the user's inventory.
* CompositeCharacter: The modern version of the archer class is a composite of the original Archer class and the Bow Fighter, their SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute in the Jugdral games. Starting from ''Binding Blade'', Archers have the name of the original archer class, but like Bow Fighters wear casual clothes and have good movement.
* CripplingOverspecialisation: By design, they can only attackfirst over distances, and as such are incapable of retaliation when attacked at close-quarters. As a result, this means that they can get boxed in from all four directions with no way of escaping, effectively trapping them.
** Some games tried to alleviate this. In ''Gaiden'', they are allowed to perform regular attacks and counters at melee range, while in ''Radiant Dawn'', crossbows[[note]]fixed-damage weapons that as a result are generally inferior to bows, which take strength into account, except against flying units, since, due to theirHP is below 50%.
* CriticalHitClass: They have high Skillludicrous weapon might that gets tripled against flying units, they can instantly kill pretty much anything that flies, ''including [[GameBreaker Tibarn]]''[[/note]] and Speed the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Double Bow]] can be used both in close-quarters and over a distance[[note]]though the Double Bow has halved accuracy when used at close range[[/note]]. ''Three Houses'' grants Close Counter for those with C rank in bows.
** For this reason, Archers and Snipers functioning as bosses are extremely rare; one of the few, in ''Radiant Dawn'', wields a crossbow. On other occasions, such as in ''Blazing Blade'', they're bosses in siege maps with lots of walls and a need for the player tohelp them inflict critical hits more easily. stay put while the enemy comes to them. In the GBA games, Tellius games, and ''Conquest'' route of ''Fates'', they Takumi, a Sniper, is fought several times with Point Blank (which allows user to attack at 1 range with bows), while other enemy archers can carry 1-2 range bows that are enemy-only, especially in harder difficulties. [[spoiler:As the final boss in the ''Conquest'' campaign, Takumi wields a bow that can hit from 1-4 range.]]
* CriticalHitClass: Snipers in the Tellius games and ''Fates'' gain a critical boost,especially in while the Elibe games, where it is possible to stack up all methods of increasing critical latter also increases hit rate to ''exceed 100%''!
rate.
*DamageReduction: Mortal Savant learns Warding Blow, a skill that reduces magic damage by 6 when attacking, upon mastering the class.
* DeathOfAThousandCuts: The [[SecretArt Astra]] skill; it's the mastery skill for Swordmasters and Trueblades in the Tellius games, and is pretty much exclusively associated with the Isaach royal family (all of whom are Swordfighters, Swordmasters, and Forrests) in the Jugdral games. In ''Three Houses'', Astra is a Combat Art exclusive to Swordmasters and doesn't get carried over to other classes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Myrmidon class originated as the ''Gaiden'' equivalent of the Hero (as "Hero" was Alm's advance class). In the Jugdral games, the class was a functional mix of the Mercenary and Myrmidon classes, class changing into either Swordmaster or Forrest depending on the character. Starting from ''The Binding Blade'', the two classes have become distinct from one another.
* DoppelgangerSpin: GBA Swordmasters move so fast that they leave behind illusions of themselves in their critical animation.
* DualWielding: ''Fates''' Swordmasters are capable of dual wielding some, but not all, swords. This is merely aesthetic and doesn't affect gameplay.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: With the exception of Archanea (because they didn't exist at the time until the remake) and Tellius, most myrmidons hail from a fictional version of an East Asian culture like the Mongols (Sacae) and Japanese (Chon'sin, Hoshido). Jehanna (a Middle Eastern-inspired desert nation) and Isaach don't follow this theme, although Isaach is described as an Eastern kingdom, are known to train Swordmasters and their AncestralWeapon loosely resembles a katana. The Swordmasters and Mortal SavantsCriticalStatusBuff: Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' retain gain Defiant Speed, a skill that boosts speed by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the samurai aesthetic despite class.
* DemotedToExtra: Archers are an enemy-exclusive {{Mook}} class in ''Thracia 776''. Bow Fighter, however, fulfills thelack same role, and class changes to Sniper.
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: In the NES/SNES titles, Archers wear heavy armor with helmets, instead of wearing light clothing with a bare head. Starting from the GBA titles, Archers switched to short sleeved and went helmet-less. This applies even in the DS remakes of the Archanea games, where Archers still have stats similar to a MightyGlacier.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** In the ''Archanea'' games'', Archers wear full armor including face-concealing helmets. They also have high defense, the same movement stat as Knights and posess the same terrain restrictions as knights. Upon promoting to Sniper, gained notably more movement, losing theirversion of Japan.terrain restrictions and [[HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic the helmet]].
* FragileSpeedster: Myrmidons ** In ''Gaiden'', Archers start with 1-3 range, and can improve it even further by class change or using a non-basic bow, reaching a maximum of 5 spaces. To make up for this, Bows usually have a low hit rate and the playable Archers also tend to have poorer stats.
** In ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'', Archers arevery weak and fragile compared a {{Mook}} class with terrible stats, while Bow Fighters are the playable class that class changes into Sniper.
* {{Foil}}: In the early games, the hunter class was one toother them. Whilst both are infantry -- however, bow users, archers are armored, defensive slow and associated with the military, Hunters in contrast, wear little clothes, fragile, fast and associated with freelancers/criminals.
* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic:
** In the Archanea titles, Archers wear face-concealing helmets, which they ditch upon advancing to the more powerful sniper class.
** In the Jugdral games, the playable bow fighters forego helmets, but their weaker counterparts, Archers, wear helmets.
* HitAndRunTactics: Bow Knights can move again with their remaining movement after performing an action (including attacking) in the Jugdral and Tellius games and ''Three Houses''. In the GBA games, they can only move again if they use a non-attacking command.
* HorseArcher: The Bow Knight and its variants, the Nomad and the Ranger, get to shoot from horseback. Games featuring branched promotions usually will havevery high speed, meaning that they double this as an alternative to the Sniper, who makes up for the lower mobility with higher stat caps and the ability to use SiegeEngines.
* LongRangeFighter: Archers and Snipers can only attackmore often from range and often rely on dodging to avoid damage. In are defenseless in close quarters. Exceptions include ''Gaiden'' (where [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness archers can attack both in melee and from extreme range]]), crossbows and the Double Bow in ''Radiant Dawn'', various special bows and yumis in ''Fates'', Samurai learns ''Duelist's Blow'', which raise their evasion by 30 when attacking, and Swordmaster passively gain an evasion boost. In ''Three Houses'', Myrmidon gain Speed +2 upon mastering archers with the class.
* GlassCannon: Masters of Arms get ''Life or Death'', which boosts theirPoint Blank skill[[note]]which lets the user attack tremendously, but also decreases their defense drastically, making them easy to kill but at the same time giving them greater potential to kill.
* FlashStep: A general tendency of Swordmaster animations.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Swordswith high critical rate, such as bows at 1-2 range[[/note]] and Close Counter[[note]]similar to Point Blank, but only works on the Killing Edge and the Wo Dao are typically shaped like one and are the preferred weapons of this class family to complement their high Speed and Skill. In the Elibe games, the Wo Dao is exclusive to Myrmidons, Swordmasters and Lyn (whose Lord class is Swordmaster in all but name).
* MagicKnight: Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'' can use swords and magic.
* MasterSwordsman: The Swordmaster especially, as they are usually the best duelists in terms of speed and evasion. Swordmasters in ''Awakening'', ''Fates'',enemy phase[[/note]].
** ''Echoes'' and ''Three Houses'' give Archers and Snipers Bow Range +1 as a class skill, while Bow Knights get Bow Range +2. This means that they will always outrange any units (except for magic units wielding extreme-range spells such as Meteor), avoiding being counter attacked by other ranged options like Javelins, magic, or non-Archer bow units.
** In ''Radiant Dawn'' and ''Three Houses'', bows lose accuracy when they attack units from a very far distance. As archers in those games can potentially have longer range than 2, they'll receive a massive accuracy reduction from said further distances. ''Three Houses'', however, compensated with Archers getting Hit Rate +20 upon mastering their class.
** In some games, like ''New Mystery'' and ''Awakening'', longbows can only be wielded by Archers and Snipers, giving them a niche to other bow-wielding classes, like Assassins and Bow Knights, by shooting from afar without any fear of counterattack from bows, javelins, hand axes, and magic.
* JackOfAllStats: They generally have well-balanced stats, albeit with an emphasis on Skill to complement the high hit rate of bows.
* JoustingLance: Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' wield lances as well as bows.
* MasterArcher: Snipers are seasoned archers known for their high marksmanship. Snipers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gainSwordfaire, Bowfaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding swords.
* MultiMeleeMaster: Masters of Arms wield swords, axes,bows. Snipers and lances Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' also gain Bowfaire as a class skill.
* MechanicallyUnusualClass: The Apothecary and Merchant are very gimmicky classes. Their stat build makes them MightyGlacier compared tocover Snipers and their skills are based on their profession. The Apothecary's skills, ''Potent Potion'' and ''Quick Salve'', [[ItemAmplifier increases the entire weapon triangle.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Masterseffectiveness of Arms get ''Seal Strength'', which reduces vulneraries and tonics, and allow the enemy's strength by 6 after battle.
* SwordAndFist: ''Fates''[='=] Swordmasters kick and follow up with a downward slash when theyunit to perform another action after using such items]], respectively. And the Merchant's skills, ''Profiteer'' and ''Spendthrift'', gives them a Gold Bar based on their Luck stat and allow them to spend them to increase their attack and defense, respectively.
* {{Mooks}}: The role of Archers in ''Thracia 776'' is weak enemy soldiers while Bow Fighters take their playable spot.
* NoArcInArchery: Until ''Shadows of Valentia'', no ''Fire Emblem'' game depicted archers or other bow users as arcing their shot. Could be considered a subversion, however, in that generally units are too close for arcing to be needed: the ballista users, who do fire at that kind of range, are generally shown firing at an angle. In addition, since arrows can be shot over walls in most games, one can only assume that, while it's not shown in the animation, their shots are being arced there.
* SecretArt: Snipers in ''Three Houses'' get Hunter's Volley, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to them. It allows them to strike twice consecutively with an increased chance to deal critical hits.
* SiegeEngines: In several games, usually when Ballisticans are absent, there are ballistae and similar weapons on the field in certain maps which only archers can use. In ''Fates'', anybody who can use bows can use these map ballistae, and other siege weapons are available to units with other weapons.
* StatusBuff: Bow Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Rally Skill, which gives a boost to skill to allies when commanded.
* WeakButSkilled: Bows are usually much weaker than other weapons, but make up for it with very high hit rates. Averted in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, where they have very low hit rate to balance out their massive range, and ''Fates'' where [[BalanceBuff they received a massive buff to their might]], only beaten by axes, while still remaining fairly accurate.
* WeaponTwirling: In many games, archers will twirl the arrow in their hands before shooting when scoring a criticalhit.
* WarriorMonk: The Master of Arms resembles the Buddhist warrior monks known as sōhei, especially Musashibō Benkei, who collected the weapons of defeated challengers.hit.
**
** In many games,
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Deadeye/Sure Strike, the
* ActionInitiative: In
* AlwaysMale: Archers in ''Echoes'' is locked to males so Faye and female units that used the Pitchfork cannot get access to it.
* AntiAir: The role they excel greatly at is punishing enemy fliers that try to rush into their territory with their high movement range.
* CastFromMoney: Merchants get ''Spendthrift'', a skill that increases the damage they deal and reduces the damage they take at the cost of a Gold Bar in the user's inventory.
* CompositeCharacter: The modern version of the archer class is a composite of the original Archer class and the Bow Fighter, their SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute in the Jugdral games. Starting from ''Binding Blade'', Archers have the name of the original archer class, but like Bow Fighters wear casual clothes and have good movement.
* CripplingOverspecialisation: By design, they can only attack
** Some games tried to alleviate this. In ''Gaiden'', they are allowed to perform regular attacks and counters at melee range, while in ''Radiant Dawn'', crossbows[[note]]fixed-damage weapons that as a result are generally inferior to bows, which take strength into account, except against flying units, since, due to their
* CriticalHitClass: They have high Skill
** For this reason, Archers and Snipers functioning as bosses are extremely rare; one of the few, in ''Radiant Dawn'', wields a crossbow. On other occasions, such as in ''Blazing Blade'', they're bosses in siege maps with lots of walls and a need for the player to
* CriticalHitClass: Snipers in the Tellius games and ''Fates'' gain a critical boost,
*
* DeathOfAThousandCuts: The [[SecretArt Astra]] skill; it's the mastery skill for Swordmasters and Trueblades in the Tellius games, and is pretty much exclusively associated with the Isaach royal family (all of whom are Swordfighters, Swordmasters, and Forrests) in the Jugdral games. In ''Three Houses'', Astra is a Combat Art exclusive to Swordmasters and doesn't get carried over to other classes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Myrmidon class originated as the ''Gaiden'' equivalent of the Hero (as "Hero" was Alm's advance class). In the Jugdral games, the class was a functional mix of the Mercenary and Myrmidon classes, class changing into either Swordmaster or Forrest depending on the character. Starting from ''The Binding Blade'', the two classes have become distinct from one another.
* DoppelgangerSpin: GBA Swordmasters move so fast that they leave behind illusions of themselves in their critical animation.
* DualWielding: ''Fates''' Swordmasters are capable of dual wielding some, but not all, swords. This is merely aesthetic and doesn't affect gameplay.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: With the exception of Archanea (because they didn't exist at the time until the remake) and Tellius, most myrmidons hail from a fictional version of an East Asian culture like the Mongols (Sacae) and Japanese (Chon'sin, Hoshido). Jehanna (a Middle Eastern-inspired desert nation) and Isaach don't follow this theme, although Isaach is described as an Eastern kingdom, are known to train Swordmasters and their AncestralWeapon loosely resembles a katana. The Swordmasters and Mortal Savants
* DemotedToExtra: Archers are an enemy-exclusive {{Mook}} class in ''Thracia 776''. Bow Fighter, however, fulfills the
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: In the NES/SNES titles, Archers wear heavy armor with helmets, instead of wearing light clothing with a bare head. Starting from the GBA titles, Archers switched to short sleeved and went helmet-less. This applies even in the DS remakes of the Archanea games, where Archers still have stats similar to a MightyGlacier.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** In the ''Archanea'' games'', Archers wear full armor including face-concealing helmets. They also have high defense, the same movement stat as Knights and posess the same terrain restrictions as knights. Upon promoting to Sniper, gained notably more movement, losing their
** In ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'', Archers are
* {{Foil}}: In the early games, the hunter class was one to
* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic:
** In the Archanea titles, Archers wear face-concealing helmets, which they ditch upon advancing to the more powerful sniper class.
** In the Jugdral games, the playable bow fighters forego helmets, but their weaker counterparts, Archers, wear helmets.
* HitAndRunTactics: Bow Knights can move again with their remaining movement after performing an action (including attacking) in the Jugdral and Tellius games and ''Three Houses''. In the GBA games, they can only move again if they use a non-attacking command.
* HorseArcher: The Bow Knight and its variants, the Nomad and the Ranger, get to shoot from horseback. Games featuring branched promotions usually will have
* LongRangeFighter: Archers and Snipers can only attack
* GlassCannon: Masters of Arms get ''Life or Death'', which boosts their
* FlashStep: A general tendency of Swordmaster animations.
* KatanasAreJustBetter: Swords
* MagicKnight: Mortal Savants in ''Three Houses'' can use swords and magic.
* MasterSwordsman: The Swordmaster especially, as they are usually the best duelists in terms of speed and evasion. Swordmasters in ''Awakening'', ''Fates'',
** ''Echoes'' and ''Three Houses'' give Archers and Snipers Bow Range +1 as a class skill, while Bow Knights get Bow Range +2. This means that they will always outrange any units (except for magic units wielding extreme-range spells such as Meteor), avoiding being counter attacked by other ranged options like Javelins, magic, or non-Archer bow units.
** In ''Radiant Dawn'' and ''Three Houses'', bows lose accuracy when they attack units from a very far distance. As archers in those games can potentially have longer range than 2, they'll receive a massive accuracy reduction from said further distances. ''Three Houses'', however, compensated with Archers getting Hit Rate +20 upon mastering their class.
** In some games, like ''New Mystery'' and ''Awakening'', longbows can only be wielded by Archers and Snipers, giving them a niche to other bow-wielding classes, like Assassins and Bow Knights, by shooting from afar without any fear of counterattack from bows, javelins, hand axes, and magic.
* JackOfAllStats: They generally have well-balanced stats, albeit with an emphasis on Skill to complement the high hit rate of bows.
* JoustingLance: Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' wield lances as well as bows.
* MasterArcher: Snipers are seasoned archers known for their high marksmanship. Snipers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain
* MultiMeleeMaster: Masters of Arms wield swords, axes,
* MechanicallyUnusualClass: The Apothecary and Merchant are very gimmicky classes. Their stat build makes them MightyGlacier compared to
* StatusInflictionAttack: Masters
* SwordAndFist: ''Fates''[='=] Swordmasters kick and follow up with a downward slash when they
* {{Mooks}}: The role of Archers in ''Thracia 776'' is weak enemy soldiers while Bow Fighters take their playable spot.
* NoArcInArchery: Until ''Shadows of Valentia'', no ''Fire Emblem'' game depicted archers or other bow users as arcing their shot. Could be considered a subversion, however, in that generally units are too close for arcing to be needed: the ballista users, who do fire at that kind of range, are generally shown firing at an angle. In addition, since arrows can be shot over walls in most games, one can only assume that, while it's not shown in the animation, their shots are being arced there.
* SecretArt: Snipers in ''Three Houses'' get Hunter's Volley, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to them. It allows them to strike twice consecutively with an increased chance to deal critical hits.
* SiegeEngines: In several games, usually when Ballisticans are absent, there are ballistae and similar weapons on the field in certain maps which only archers can use. In ''Fates'', anybody who can use bows can use these map ballistae, and other siege weapons are available to units with other weapons.
* StatusBuff: Bow Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Rally Skill, which gives a boost to skill to allies when commanded.
* WeakButSkilled: Bows are usually much weaker than other weapons, but make up for it with very high hit rates. Averted in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, where they have very low hit rate to balance out their massive range, and ''Fates'' where [[BalanceBuff they received a massive buff to their might]], only beaten by axes, while still remaining fairly accurate.
* WeaponTwirling: In many games, archers will twirl the arrow in their hands before shooting when scoring a critical
* WarriorMonk: The Master of Arms resembles the Buddhist warrior monks known as sōhei, especially Musashibō Benkei, who collected the weapons of defeated challengers.
Changed line(s) 307,324 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Fighter]]
!!Fighter
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/707g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Fighters in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/868g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Warriors in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesonisavageportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Oni Savage in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesshuraportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Oni Chieftain in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesblacksmithportrait_8.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Blacksmith in ''Fates'']]
Fighters are axe-wielding infantry practically defined by their wild fighting style relying primarily on power; it's quite common to receive at least one at the start of the game. They Class Change to the '''Warrior''' class which gives them bows, and in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' Class Change again to the '''Reaver''' class. In ''Thracia 776'' and one of their options for class change in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' they also have the option to Class Change into '''Hero'''[[note]]They were renamed into ''Mercenary'' in ''Thracia 776''[[/note]] and gain the ability to use swords. In ''Fates'', Fighters become '''Berserkers''', rather than the usual Warriors. In ''Three Houses'', Fighters can also wield bows and gauntlets. In ''Engage'', the Fighter is a Backup-type class that is split by three weapon specialties, '''Sword Fighter''', '''Lance Fighter''', and '''Axe Fighter'''. The Axe Fighter functions similarly to its previous incarnation, with the Sword Fighter and Lance Fighter function similar to Mercenary and Soldier, respectively. The Axe Fighter can class change into either Berserker or Warrior.\\\
Related is the '''Oni Savage''' introduced in ''Fates'', which are more defensive compared to Fighters. They either Class Change into the '''Oni Chieftain''', which uses [[MagicKnight axes and tomes]] or branch into '''Blacksmith''', which uses axes and swords.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Barst, Bord, Cord (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Iucharba (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Orsin, Halvan, Ralf (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Lott, Wade, Bartre (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Dorcas, Bartre, Geitz (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Garcia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Boyd (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Nolan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Ymir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Dice, Jake (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Vaike, Basilio (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Rinkah, Arthur, Charlotte (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Caspar, Hilda, Alois (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''), Boucheron, Anna, Panette, Saphir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Fighter
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/707g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Fighters in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/868g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Warriors in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesonisavageportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Oni Savage in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesshuraportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Oni Chieftain in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesblacksmithportrait_8.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Blacksmith in ''Fates'']]
Fighters are axe-wielding infantry practically defined by their wild fighting style relying primarily on power; it's quite common to receive at least one at the start of the game. They Class Change to the '''Warrior''' class which gives them bows, and in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' Class Change again to the '''Reaver''' class. In ''Thracia 776'' and one of their options for class change in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' they also have the option to Class Change into '''Hero'''[[note]]They were renamed into ''Mercenary'' in ''Thracia 776''[[/note]] and gain the ability to use swords. In ''Fates'', Fighters become '''Berserkers''', rather than the usual Warriors. In ''Three Houses'', Fighters can also wield bows and gauntlets. In ''Engage'', the Fighter is a Backup-type class that is split by three weapon specialties, '''Sword Fighter''', '''Lance Fighter''', and '''Axe Fighter'''. The Axe Fighter functions similarly to its previous incarnation, with the Sword Fighter and Lance Fighter function similar to Mercenary and Soldier, respectively. The Axe Fighter can class change into either Berserker or Warrior.\\\
Related is the '''Oni Savage''' introduced in ''Fates'', which are more defensive compared to Fighters. They either Class Change into the '''Oni Chieftain''', which uses [[MagicKnight axes and tomes]] or branch into '''Blacksmith''', which uses axes and swords.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Barst, Bord, Cord (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Iucharba (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Orsin, Halvan, Ralf (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Lott, Wade, Bartre (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Dorcas, Bartre, Geitz (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Garcia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Boyd (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Nolan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Ymir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Dice, Jake (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Vaike, Basilio (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Rinkah, Arthur, Charlotte (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Caspar, Hilda, Alois (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''), Boucheron, Anna, Panette, Saphir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Fighter
[[quoteright:350:https://static.
!!Ballistician (''Shooter'') and Mechanist
[[quoteright:248:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.
[[quoteright:248:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesonisavageportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Oni Savage in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesshuraportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Oni Chieftain in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesblacksmithportrait_8.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Blacksmith
Ballisticians reappear in ''Fates'' as a male-only DLC class, riding in what is essentially a medieval tank.\\\
'''Mechanists''' are a class introduced in ''Fates'', serving as a class change option for '''Ninja''' and '''Apothecary'''. They are archers riding on a puppet mount that are able to use shuriken in addition to bows. Mechanists also have the strange ability to duplicate themselves, somewhat similar to a '''Summoner''', except that the duplicate is a direct extension of the Mechanist rather than a separate unit.\\\
'''Mage Cannoneer''' are a class introduced in ''Engage'' as DLC, armored units that wield magic cannons to strike from afar.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''
Changed line(s) 326,374 (click to see context) from:
* AlwaysMale: All the playable and non-playable Fighters were male for ''fourteen games''. Charlotte in ''Fates'' is the first female to be a Fighter in the series. Until ''Three Houses'', Warriors remained male-only due to being left out of ''Fates.''
* AttackReflector: Warriors in ''Awakening'' and Oni Chieftains in ''Fates'' get the Counter skill, which reflects all damage back to the adjacent enemy. In ''Awakening'', Counter would reflect damage in battle, which makes enemy Warriors that spawn from reinforcements in higher difficulties very frustrating. In ''Fates'', it was {{Nerf}}ed in that it could only activate when the enemy starts the attack, not the user.
* BanditMook: As Brigands and Pirates are absent in ''Fates'', enemy Fighters take their role in representing the criminal axe-using classes and even class change into Berserker. This is further reflected by their increasingly thuggish appearance in that game.
* BareFistedMonk: The Fighters in ''Three Houses'' have a focus on Brawling weapons, alongside Axes and Bows. Meanwhile, Warriors specializes in Axes and Brawling, especially in Axes.
* BiggerIsBetter:
** The basis of the Warrior's mastery skill, Colossus, in ''Path of Radiance'' -- it deals more damage if the user's Constitution is greater than that of the enemy. This was changed in ''Radiant Dawn'', where Colossus merely triples the user's Strength.
** Fighters and their related classes are typically fairly large as well, reflected in their inherently high HP and Constitutions.
* TheBlacksmith: One of the advanced classes for the Oni Savage. They have a skill, ''Salvage Blow'', which allows them to gain an Iron weapon of any type depending on their Luck stat.
* BoisterousBruiser: Traditionally, playable Fighters are large, loud, and strong men.
* BoringButPractical: They may appear as an inferior option to Berserkers at first glance, neither possessing their [[CriticalHitClass passive critical hit chance]] or [[GeoEffects ability to traverse water and peak tiles]]. However, their [[StrongAndSkilled greater Constitution and Skill]] allow them to wield heavier weapons with greater reliability, and - as explained under ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill - could easily OneHitKO certain lance-weilding units even without a CriticalHit. In place of the Berserkers' promotion bonuses, Fighters gain access to the bow upon promoting to the Warrior class, which could provide them with a more reliable, versatile, and powerful option for ranged combat than the Hand Axe.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: With axes instead of swords for Warriors, as they can wield both axes and bows. The bow is an guarantee to kill any fliers with their high strength, even deal damage to Wyvern Riders, who have more defense than Pegasus Knights. Fighters in ''Three Houses'' have specialization in bows, alongside axes and fighting.
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: Fighters and Warriors are all [[MightyLumberjack Mighty Lumberjacks]], savage gladiators, tough outdoorsmen and rough mercenaries that wield axes. They also tend to be the largest and most muscular men. Thus it comes as no surprise they are the primary axe class in the series. The weight of axes in many titles means Fighters/Warriors will be some of the only units with the [[MusclesAreMeaningful constitution/strength]] to wield them effectively.
* CarryABigStick: While any units can wield clubs with their axe rank, the Oni Savage line are largely seen with clubs.
* CoolMask: The Oni Savage and Oni Chieftain all wears masks that resemble the oni demon. Though the Blacksmith wears a smithy's face shield instead.
* CriticalHitClass: The Oni Chieftains, to an extent. Though they lack a passive critical boost, clubs, the Hoshidan equivalent to axes and their primary type of weapons, typically have 5 critical (with one club known as the Great Club giving '''55''' critical at the cost of 45 hit) and their Death Blow skill giving them 20 critical when attacking, they can inflict critical hits more likely.
** Warriors in ''Three Houses'' gain 10 bonus critical hit for axes as a class skill and can learn Wrath.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Warriors in ''Three Houses'' gain Wrath upon mastering the class. Like most iteration, it increases their critical rate upon reaching below 50% of their HP, but it must when the enemy initiates the attack for it to activate. To compensate, it give a massive boost of 50 critical.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: The Oni Savage in ''Fates'' have Seal Resistance, which reduces the enemy's Resistance by 6 after combat if they survive. However, since they're mainly physical attackers, beside reclassing into Oni Chieftain who can also wield tomes or using the Bolt Axe, only other magical attackers can exploit the Resistance debuff.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Fighters were unable to class change in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem''; it wasn't until ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' where Fighters were able to class change into Warriors.
** Despite the class roll in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'' describing them as having low defense, the Fighters in your army have high defense growths that allow them to be {{Mighty Glacier}}s (in fact, they have a higher defense growth than '''Draug'''), likely compensating for their inability to class change. Similarly enemy Warriors in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'' also had good defense.
* GladiatorGames: Warriors in ''Awakening'' have a gladiatorial appearance, complete with the cassis crista.
* GlassCannon: Fighters and Warriors have massive strength, often the highest out of all physical-based classes, but their similarly huge HP pools are usually offset by low defense and ''especially'' low Resistance. In addition, Fighters in ''Three Houses'' learn Strength +2 upon mastering the class. They could only be true {{Mighty Glacier}}s with sufficient Dragonshield (and likely Talisman) investment. Averted with the Oni Savage line, which are more defensive than Fighters.
* {{Gonk}}: They have a tendency to be this or to avert GenericCuteness.
* HornsOfBarbarism: Warriors are usually depicted wearing horned helmets.
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: The Warrior's class skill Merciless increases their damage dealt against broken enemies by 50%.
* {{Knockback}}: The Berserker's class skill Smash+ allow Smash attacks to knock back the enemy by 2 spaces, instead of 1.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: While most physical users typically have little magic, Fighters are the worst in that they have no benefits with magic, Bolt Axe notwithstanding. Averted with [[MagicKnight Oni Chieftains]], as they can use tomes and Bolt Axe with decent magic and have a skill to lower the enemy's resistance.
* MagicKnight: Oni Chieftains can wield both axes and tomes, which helps with their magic stats and Seal Resistance.
* MightyGlacier:
** In the early games, Fighters and Warriors tended to be very slow but with high strength, HP and defense. Most games after ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' lowered their defense and raised their speed, but a few games like the DS Remakes return to their original stat spreads.
** The Oni Savage introduced in ''Fates'' is slow, but with high defense.
* {{Oni}}: Oni Savages and Oni Chieftains are based on the youkai.
* MusclesAreMeaningful:
** Even the youngest Fighters/Warriors, like Boyd and Osian, are noticeably muscular. They also all have high strength, HP and consitution stat. Note in the games with weight, most other units lack the strength and consitution to wield the heavy axes used by Fighters/Warriors.
** The Colossus skill in ''Path of Radiance'' allows Warriors to greatly increase their attack if their foe has less constiution (IE: muscle mass) then them, which certainly works out well for them as every single warrior in the game is a muscleman with great constituion.
* RangedEmergencyWeapon: What the bow usually amounts to for Warriors, given that they could only promote from axe-weilding classes, and thus will always have an inferior ranking in bows.
* SpectacularSpinning: Warriors' critical animatinos in the GBA games, and the Reaver's mastery skill Colossus in ''Radiant Dawn'' all involve alot of spinning.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Oni Savages get Seal Resistance to lower their enemy's resistance to magic.
* StatusBuff:
** Warriors in ''Awakening'' and Berserkers in ''Fates'' gain Rally Strength, which gives a boost to strength to allies when commanded.
** Oni Chieftains get Death Blow, where their critical rate increases by 20 points whenever they initiate an attack.
* StoneWall:
** Prior to ''Thracia 776', Axe classes had great defense stats, but the incredible weight and inaccuracy of axes prevented them from being good at dealing damage.
** The Oni Savage/Chieftain line in ''Fates'' is very defensive but not very good at offense, in contrast to the [[GlassCannon normal performance]] of axe units [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness post]] ''Genealogy Of the Holy War''.
* {{Stripperiffic}}: ''Fates'' introduces female Fighters, which wear what are effectively [[ChainmailBikini chainmail bikinis]] made of cloth. Even the male Fighter doesn't fare much better, with half their butts hanging out of what is basically a loin cloth.
* StrongAndSkilled: Many playable Fighters have passable Skill, allowing them to hit more accurately than the comparatively UnskilledButStrong Brigands and Pirates. To compensate, these Fighters have lower Speed, meaning that they will likely only be able to hit the opponent once per round, but have a greater guarantee in being able to do so.
* TheresNoKillLikeOverkill: They can easily OneHitKO [[AntiCavalry Cavaliers]] and [[AntiArmor Knights]] with halberds and hammers, respectively, as the effective properties of these weapons are further bolstered by their [[TacticalRockPaperScissors weapon triangle advantage]] over the lance-using Cavaliers and Knights, and the inherently high Strength of Fighter units. However, the shaky accuracy of these weapons makes them AwesomeButImpractical, an option to fall back on only when the player absolutely needs to dispose of a dangerous enemy immediately.
* WeakToMagic: Even in games where Warriors have a high defense stat, their resistance stats rank among the very worst in the game. The same applies to Blacksmith. This is not the case for Oni Chieftians, which have a good resistance stat.
* AttackReflector: Warriors in ''Awakening'' and Oni Chieftains in ''Fates'' get the Counter skill, which reflects all damage back to the adjacent enemy. In ''Awakening'', Counter would reflect damage in battle, which makes enemy Warriors that spawn from reinforcements in higher difficulties very frustrating. In ''Fates'', it was {{Nerf}}ed in that it could only activate when the enemy starts the attack, not the user.
* BanditMook: As Brigands and Pirates are absent in ''Fates'', enemy Fighters take their role in representing the criminal axe-using classes and even class change into Berserker. This is further reflected by their increasingly thuggish appearance in that game.
* BareFistedMonk: The Fighters in ''Three Houses'' have a focus on Brawling weapons, alongside Axes and Bows. Meanwhile, Warriors specializes in Axes and Brawling, especially in Axes.
* BiggerIsBetter:
** The basis of the Warrior's mastery skill, Colossus, in ''Path of Radiance'' -- it deals more damage if the user's Constitution is greater than that of the enemy. This was changed in ''Radiant Dawn'', where Colossus merely triples the user's Strength.
** Fighters and their related classes are typically fairly large as well, reflected in their inherently high HP and Constitutions.
* TheBlacksmith: One of the advanced classes for the Oni Savage. They have a skill, ''Salvage Blow'', which allows them to gain an Iron weapon of any type depending on their Luck stat.
* BoisterousBruiser: Traditionally, playable Fighters are large, loud, and strong men.
* BoringButPractical: They may appear as an inferior option to Berserkers at first glance, neither possessing their [[CriticalHitClass passive critical hit chance]] or [[GeoEffects ability to traverse water and peak tiles]]. However, their [[StrongAndSkilled greater Constitution and Skill]] allow them to wield heavier weapons with greater reliability, and - as explained under ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill - could easily OneHitKO certain lance-weilding units even without a CriticalHit. In place of the Berserkers' promotion bonuses, Fighters gain access to the bow upon promoting to the Warrior class, which could provide them with a more reliable, versatile, and powerful option for ranged combat than the Hand Axe.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: With axes instead of swords for Warriors, as they can wield both axes and bows. The bow is an guarantee to kill any fliers with their high strength, even deal damage to Wyvern Riders, who have more defense than Pegasus Knights. Fighters in ''Three Houses'' have specialization in bows, alongside axes and fighting.
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: Fighters and Warriors are all [[MightyLumberjack Mighty Lumberjacks]], savage gladiators, tough outdoorsmen and rough mercenaries that wield axes. They also tend to be the largest and most muscular men. Thus it comes as no surprise they are the primary axe class in the series. The weight of axes in many titles means Fighters/Warriors will be some of the only units with the [[MusclesAreMeaningful constitution/strength]] to wield them effectively.
* CarryABigStick: While any units can wield clubs with their axe rank, the Oni Savage line are largely seen with clubs.
* CoolMask: The Oni Savage and Oni Chieftain all wears masks that resemble the oni demon. Though the Blacksmith wears a smithy's face shield instead.
* CriticalHitClass: The Oni Chieftains, to an extent. Though they lack a passive critical boost, clubs, the Hoshidan equivalent to axes and their primary type of weapons, typically have 5 critical (with one club known as the Great Club giving '''55''' critical at the cost of 45 hit) and their Death Blow skill giving them 20 critical when attacking, they can inflict critical hits more likely.
** Warriors in ''Three Houses'' gain 10 bonus critical hit for axes as a class skill and can learn Wrath.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Warriors in ''Three Houses'' gain Wrath upon mastering the class. Like most iteration, it increases their critical rate upon reaching below 50% of their HP, but it must when the enemy initiates the attack for it to activate. To compensate, it give a massive boost of 50 critical.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: The Oni Savage in ''Fates'' have Seal Resistance, which reduces the enemy's Resistance by 6 after combat if they survive. However, since they're mainly physical attackers, beside reclassing into Oni Chieftain who can also wield tomes or using the Bolt Axe, only other magical attackers can exploit the Resistance debuff.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Fighters were unable to class change in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem''; it wasn't until ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' where Fighters were able to class change into Warriors.
** Despite the class roll in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'' describing them as having low defense, the Fighters in your army have high defense growths that allow them to be {{Mighty Glacier}}s (in fact, they have a higher defense growth than '''Draug'''), likely compensating for their inability to class change. Similarly enemy Warriors in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'' also had good defense.
* GladiatorGames: Warriors in ''Awakening'' have a gladiatorial appearance, complete with the cassis crista.
* GlassCannon: Fighters and Warriors have massive strength, often the highest out of all physical-based classes, but their similarly huge HP pools are usually offset by low defense and ''especially'' low Resistance. In addition, Fighters in ''Three Houses'' learn Strength +2 upon mastering the class. They could only be true {{Mighty Glacier}}s with sufficient Dragonshield (and likely Talisman) investment. Averted with the Oni Savage line, which are more defensive than Fighters.
* {{Gonk}}: They have a tendency to be this or to avert GenericCuteness.
* HornsOfBarbarism: Warriors are usually depicted wearing horned helmets.
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: The Warrior's class skill Merciless increases their damage dealt against broken enemies by 50%.
* {{Knockback}}: The Berserker's class skill Smash+ allow Smash attacks to knock back the enemy by 2 spaces, instead of 1.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: While most physical users typically have little magic, Fighters are the worst in that they have no benefits with magic, Bolt Axe notwithstanding. Averted with [[MagicKnight Oni Chieftains]], as they can use tomes and Bolt Axe with decent magic and have a skill to lower the enemy's resistance.
* MagicKnight: Oni Chieftains can wield both axes and tomes, which helps with their magic stats and Seal Resistance.
* MightyGlacier:
** In the early games, Fighters and Warriors tended to be very slow but with high strength, HP and defense. Most games after ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' lowered their defense and raised their speed, but a few games like the DS Remakes return to their original stat spreads.
** The Oni Savage introduced in ''Fates'' is slow, but with high defense.
* {{Oni}}: Oni Savages and Oni Chieftains are based on the youkai.
* MusclesAreMeaningful:
** Even the youngest Fighters/Warriors, like Boyd and Osian, are noticeably muscular. They also all have high strength, HP and consitution stat. Note in the games with weight, most other units lack the strength and consitution to wield the heavy axes used by Fighters/Warriors.
** The Colossus skill in ''Path of Radiance'' allows Warriors to greatly increase their attack if their foe has less constiution (IE: muscle mass) then them, which certainly works out well for them as every single warrior in the game is a muscleman with great constituion.
* RangedEmergencyWeapon: What the bow usually amounts to for Warriors, given that they could only promote from axe-weilding classes, and thus will always have an inferior ranking in bows.
* SpectacularSpinning: Warriors' critical animatinos in the GBA games, and the Reaver's mastery skill Colossus in ''Radiant Dawn'' all involve alot of spinning.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Oni Savages get Seal Resistance to lower their enemy's resistance to magic.
* StatusBuff:
** Warriors in ''Awakening'' and Berserkers in ''Fates'' gain Rally Strength, which gives a boost to strength to allies when commanded.
** Oni Chieftains get Death Blow, where their critical rate increases by 20 points whenever they initiate an attack.
* StoneWall:
** Prior to ''Thracia 776', Axe classes had great defense stats, but the incredible weight and inaccuracy of axes prevented them from being good at dealing damage.
** The Oni Savage/Chieftain line in ''Fates'' is very defensive but not very good at offense, in contrast to the [[GlassCannon normal performance]] of axe units [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness post]] ''Genealogy Of the Holy War''.
* {{Stripperiffic}}: ''Fates'' introduces female Fighters, which wear what are effectively [[ChainmailBikini chainmail bikinis]] made of cloth. Even the male Fighter doesn't fare much better, with half their butts hanging out of what is basically a loin cloth.
* StrongAndSkilled: Many playable Fighters have passable Skill, allowing them to hit more accurately than the comparatively UnskilledButStrong Brigands and Pirates. To compensate, these Fighters have lower Speed, meaning that they will likely only be able to hit the opponent once per round, but have a greater guarantee in being able to do so.
* TheresNoKillLikeOverkill: They can easily OneHitKO [[AntiCavalry Cavaliers]] and [[AntiArmor Knights]] with halberds and hammers, respectively, as the effective properties of these weapons are further bolstered by their [[TacticalRockPaperScissors weapon triangle advantage]] over the lance-using Cavaliers and Knights, and the inherently high Strength of Fighter units. However, the shaky accuracy of these weapons makes them AwesomeButImpractical, an option to fall back on only when the player absolutely needs to dispose of a dangerous enemy immediately.
* WeakToMagic: Even in games where Warriors have a high defense stat, their resistance stats rank among the very worst in the game. The same applies to Blacksmith. This is not the case for Oni Chieftians, which have a good resistance stat.
to:
* AlwaysMale: All the playable and non-playable Fighters were male for ''fourteen games''. Charlotte in ''Fates'' is the first female to be a Fighter in the series. Until ''Three Houses'', Warriors remained male-only due to being left out of ''Fates.''
* AttackReflector: Warriors in ''Awakening'' and Oni Chieftains in ''Fates'' get the Counter skill, which reflects all damage back to the adjacent enemy. In ''Awakening'', Counter would reflect damage in battle, which makes enemy Warriors that spawn from reinforcements in higher difficulties very frustrating. In ''Fates'', it was {{Nerf}}ed in that it could only activate when the enemy starts the attack, not the user.
* BanditMook: As Brigands and PiratesCripplingOverspecialisation: Ballisticians are absent in ''Fates'', enemy Fighters take their role in representing the criminal axe-using classes and even class change into Berserker. This is further reflected by their increasingly thuggish appearance in that game.
* BareFistedMonk: The Fighters in ''Three Houses'' have a focus on Brawling weapons, alongside Axes and Bows. Meanwhile, Warriors specializes in Axes and Brawling, especially in Axes.
* BiggerIsBetter:
** The basis of the Warrior's mastery skill, Colossus, in ''Path of Radiance'' -- it deals more damage if the user's Constitution is greater than that of the enemy. This was changed in ''Radiant Dawn'', where Colossus merely triples the user's Strength.
** Fighters and their related classes are typically fairly large as well, reflected in their inherently high HP and Constitutions.
* TheBlacksmith: One of the advanced classes for the Oni Savage. They have a skill, ''Salvage Blow'', which allows them to gain an Iron weapon of any type depending on their Luck stat.
* BoisterousBruiser: Traditionally, playable Fighters are large, loud, and strong men.
* BoringButPractical: They may appear as an inferior option to Berserkers at first glance, neither possessing their [[CriticalHitClass passive critical hit chance]] or [[GeoEffects ability to traverse water and peak tiles]]. However, their [[StrongAndSkilled greater Constitution and Skill]] allow them to wield heavier weapons with greater reliability, and - as explained under ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill - could easily OneHitKO certain lance-weilding units even without a CriticalHit. In place of the Berserkers' promotion bonuses, Fighters gain access to the bow upon promoting to the Warrior class, which could provide them with a more reliable, versatile, and powerful option for ranged combat than the Hand Axe.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: With axes instead of swords for Warriors, as they can wield both axes and bows. The bow is an guarantee to kill any fliers with their high strength, even deal damage to Wyvern Riders, who have more defense than Pegasus Knights. Fighters in ''Three Houses'' have specialization in bows, alongside axes and fighting.
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: Fighters and Warriors are all [[MightyLumberjack Mighty Lumberjacks]], savage gladiators, tough outdoorsmen and rough mercenaries that wield axes. They also tend to be the largest and most muscular men. Thus it comes as no surprise they are the primary axe class in the series. The weight of axes in many titles means Fighters/Warriors will be some of the only units with the [[MusclesAreMeaningful constitution/strength]] to wield them effectively.
* CarryABigStick: While any units can wield clubs with their axe rank, the Oni Savage line are largely seen with clubs.
* CoolMask: The Oni Savage and Oni Chieftain all wears masks that resemble the oni demon. Though the Blacksmith wears a smithy's face shield instead.
* CriticalHitClass: The Oni Chieftains, to an extent. Though they lack a passive critical boost, clubs, the Hoshidan equivalent to axes and their primary type of weapons, typically have 5 critical (with one club known as the Great Club giving '''55''' critical at the cost of 45 hit) and their Death Blow skill giving them 20 critical when attacking, they can inflict critical hits more likely.
** Warriors in ''Three Houses'' gain 10 bonus critical hit for axes as a class skill and can learn Wrath.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Warriors in ''Three Houses'' gain Wrath upon mastering the class. Like most iteration, it increases their critical rate upon reaching below 50% of their HP, but it must when the enemy initiates the attack for it to activate. To compensate, it give a massive boost of 50 critical.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: The Oni Savage in ''Fates'' have Seal Resistance, which reduces the enemy's Resistance by 6 after combat if they survive. However, since they're mainly physical attackers, beside reclassing into Oni Chieftain who can also wield tomes or using the Bolt Axe, only other magical attackers can exploit the Resistance debuff.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Fighters wereunable to class change counterattack at all in all but the NES version of ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''Fates''.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first incarnation of Ballisticians in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light''and ''Mystery of have the Emblem''; it wasn't until ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' where Fighters were able to class change into Warriors.
** Despite the class roll in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'' describingsame attack range as archers, but with more bulk, making them as having low defense, the Fighters in your army have high defense growths that allow them to be {{Mighty Glacier}}s (in fact, they have a higher defense growth than '''Draug'''), likely compensating for their inability to class change. Similarly enemy Warriors in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'' also had good defense.
* GladiatorGames: Warriors in ''Awakening'' have a gladiatorial appearance, completeessentially Bow Armors with the cassis crista.
exclusive weapons.
*GlassCannon: Fighters and Warriors have massive strength, often the highest out of all physical-based classes, but their similarly huge HP pools LongRangeFighter: Ballisticians are usually offset by low defense and ''especially'' low Resistance. In addition, Fighters in ''Three Houses'' learn Strength +2 upon mastering the class. They could only be true {{Mighty Glacier}}s with sufficient Dragonshield (and likely Talisman) investment. Averted with the Oni Savage line, which are more defensive than Fighters.
* {{Gonk}}: They have a tendency to be this or to avert GenericCuteness.
* HornsOfBarbarism: Warriors are usually depicted wearing horned helmets.
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: The Warrior's class skill Merciless increases their damage dealt against broken enemies by 50%.
* {{Knockback}}: The Berserker's class skill Smash+ allow Smash attacks to knock back the enemy by 2 spaces, insteadan exaggerated version of 1.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: While most physical users typically have little magic, Fighters are the worst in that they have no benefits with magic, Bolt Axe notwithstanding. Averted with [[MagicKnight Oni Chieftains]],this, as they can use tomes and Bolt Axe with decent magic and attack from 3-9 squares in a game where other ranged units have 2 range.
* MarionetteMaster: The Mechanist rides a Karakuri and use barely visible strings to make them both move and fire projectiles from their mouth.
* PowerAtAPrice: The Mage Cannoneer's Let Fly skill allows them tolower hit a cross shape area at the enemy's resistance.
* MagicKnight: Oni Chieftains can wield both axes and tomes, which helpsstart of their next turn with their magic stats and Seal Resistance.
* MightyGlacier:
** Incurrent cannon at the early games, Fighters and Warriors tended to be very slow but with high strength, cost of consuming that cannon.
* SelfDuplication: The Mechanist class has the ''Replicate'' skill, which creates a completely identical clone of the user. Both units affect each other, like sharing the same HP anddefense. Most games after ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'' lowered their defense the same equipped weapon; should one die, the other will disappear as well.
* SiegeEngines: While other classes can use ballistae andraised their speed, but similar weapons, Ballisticians and Mechanists are ''always'' using a few games like the DS Remakes return to their original stat spreads.
**siege engine. The Oni Savage introduced Ballistician class in ''Fates'' is slow, but with high defense.
ride in their own personal medieval "tank", which functions as a mobile ballista.
*{{Oni}}: Oni Savages StatusEffect: The Mage Cannoneers, besides having physical and Oni Chieftains are based magical cannons, also have access to cannons that inflict status effects on the youkai.
* MusclesAreMeaningful:
** Even the youngest Fighters/Warriors, like Boydtarget if it hits, such as Poison and Osian, are noticeably muscular. They also all have high strength, HP and consitution stat. Note in the games with weight, most other units lack the strength and consitution to wield the heavy axes used by Fighters/Warriors.
**Freeze.
* TankGoodness: TheColossus skill Ballistician in ''Path of Radiance'' allows Warriors to greatly increase their attack if their foe has less constiution (IE: muscle mass) then them, which certainly works out well for them as every single warrior in the game is ''Fates''' rides a muscleman with great constituion.
* RangedEmergencyWeapon: What the bow usually amounts to for Warriors, givengiant wooden tank that they could only promote from axe-weilding classes, and thus will always have an inferior ranking in bows.
* SpectacularSpinning: Warriors' critical animatinos in the GBA games, and the Reaver's mastery skill Colossus in ''Radiant Dawn'' all involve alot of spinning.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Oni Savages get Seal Resistance to lower their enemy's resistance to magic.
* StatusBuff:
** Warriors in ''Awakening'' and Berserkers in ''Fates'' gain Rally Strength, which gives a boost to strength to allies when commanded.
** Oni Chieftains get Death Blow, where their critical rate increases by 20 points whenever they initiate an attack.
* StoneWall:
** Prior to ''Thracia 776', Axe classes had great defense stats, but the incredible weight and inaccuracy of axes prevented them from being good at dealing damage.
** The Oni Savage/Chieftain line in ''Fates'' is very defensive but not very good at offense, in contrast to the [[GlassCannon normal performance]] of axe units [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness post]] ''Genealogy Of the Holy War''.
* {{Stripperiffic}}: ''Fates'' introduces female Fighters, which wear what are effectively [[ChainmailBikini chainmail bikinis]] made of cloth. Even the male Fighter doesn't fare much better, with half their butts hanging out of what is basically a loin cloth.
* StrongAndSkilled: Many playable Fighters have passable Skill, allowing them to hit more accurately than the comparatively UnskilledButStrong Brigands and Pirates. To compensate, these Fighters have lower Speed, meaning that they will likely only be able to hit the opponent once per round, but have a greater guarantee in being able to do so.
* TheresNoKillLikeOverkill: They can easily OneHitKO [[AntiCavalry Cavaliers]] and [[AntiArmor Knights]] with halberds and hammers, respectively, as the effective properties of these weapons are further bolstered by their [[TacticalRockPaperScissors weapon triangle advantage]] over the lance-using Cavaliers and Knights, and the inherently high Strength of Fighter units. However, the shaky accuracy of these weapons makes them AwesomeButImpractical, an option to fall back on only when the player absolutely needs to dispose of a dangerous enemy immediately.
* WeakToMagic: Even in games where Warriors have a high defense stat, their resistance stats rank among the very worst in the game. The same applies to Blacksmith. This is not the case for Oni Chieftians, which have a good resistance stat.fires arrows.
* AttackReflector: Warriors in ''Awakening'' and Oni Chieftains in ''Fates'' get the Counter skill, which reflects all damage back to the adjacent enemy. In ''Awakening'', Counter would reflect damage in battle, which makes enemy Warriors that spawn from reinforcements in higher difficulties very frustrating. In ''Fates'', it was {{Nerf}}ed in that it could only activate when the enemy starts the attack, not the user.
* BanditMook: As Brigands and Pirates
* BareFistedMonk: The Fighters in ''Three Houses'' have a focus on Brawling weapons, alongside Axes and Bows. Meanwhile, Warriors specializes in Axes and Brawling, especially in Axes.
* BiggerIsBetter:
** The basis of the Warrior's mastery skill, Colossus, in ''Path of Radiance'' -- it deals more damage if the user's Constitution is greater than that of the enemy. This was changed in ''Radiant Dawn'', where Colossus merely triples the user's Strength.
** Fighters and their related classes are typically fairly large as well, reflected in their inherently high HP and Constitutions.
* TheBlacksmith: One of the advanced classes for the Oni Savage. They have a skill, ''Salvage Blow'', which allows them to gain an Iron weapon of any type depending on their Luck stat.
* BoisterousBruiser: Traditionally, playable Fighters are large, loud, and strong men.
* BoringButPractical: They may appear as an inferior option to Berserkers at first glance, neither possessing their [[CriticalHitClass passive critical hit chance]] or [[GeoEffects ability to traverse water and peak tiles]]. However, their [[StrongAndSkilled greater Constitution and Skill]] allow them to wield heavier weapons with greater reliability, and - as explained under ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill - could easily OneHitKO certain lance-weilding units even without a CriticalHit. In place of the Berserkers' promotion bonuses, Fighters gain access to the bow upon promoting to the Warrior class, which could provide them with a more reliable, versatile, and powerful option for ranged combat than the Hand Axe.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: With axes instead of swords for Warriors, as they can wield both axes and bows. The bow is an guarantee to kill any fliers with their high strength, even deal damage to Wyvern Riders, who have more defense than Pegasus Knights. Fighters in ''Three Houses'' have specialization in bows, alongside axes and fighting.
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: Fighters and Warriors are all [[MightyLumberjack Mighty Lumberjacks]], savage gladiators, tough outdoorsmen and rough mercenaries that wield axes. They also tend to be the largest and most muscular men. Thus it comes as no surprise they are the primary axe class in the series. The weight of axes in many titles means Fighters/Warriors will be some of the only units with the [[MusclesAreMeaningful constitution/strength]] to wield them effectively.
* CarryABigStick: While any units can wield clubs with their axe rank, the Oni Savage line are largely seen with clubs.
* CoolMask: The Oni Savage and Oni Chieftain all wears masks that resemble the oni demon. Though the Blacksmith wears a smithy's face shield instead.
* CriticalHitClass: The Oni Chieftains, to an extent. Though they lack a passive critical boost, clubs, the Hoshidan equivalent to axes and their primary type of weapons, typically have 5 critical (with one club known as the Great Club giving '''55''' critical at the cost of 45 hit) and their Death Blow skill giving them 20 critical when attacking, they can inflict critical hits more likely.
** Warriors in ''Three Houses'' gain 10 bonus critical hit for axes as a class skill and can learn Wrath.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Warriors in ''Three Houses'' gain Wrath upon mastering the class. Like most iteration, it increases their critical rate upon reaching below 50% of their HP, but it must when the enemy initiates the attack for it to activate. To compensate, it give a massive boost of 50 critical.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: The Oni Savage in ''Fates'' have Seal Resistance, which reduces the enemy's Resistance by 6 after combat if they survive. However, since they're mainly physical attackers, beside reclassing into Oni Chieftain who can also wield tomes or using the Bolt Axe, only other magical attackers can exploit the Resistance debuff.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Fighters were
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first incarnation of Ballisticians in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light''
** Despite the class roll in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'' describing
* GladiatorGames: Warriors in ''Awakening'' have a gladiatorial appearance, complete
*
* {{Gonk}}: They have a tendency to be this or to avert GenericCuteness.
* HornsOfBarbarism: Warriors are usually depicted wearing horned helmets.
* KickThemWhileTheyAreDown: The Warrior's class skill Merciless increases their damage dealt against broken enemies by 50%.
* {{Knockback}}: The Berserker's class skill Smash+ allow Smash attacks to knock back the enemy by 2 spaces, instead
* MagicallyIneptFighter: While most physical users typically have little magic, Fighters are the worst in that they have no benefits with magic, Bolt Axe notwithstanding. Averted with [[MagicKnight Oni Chieftains]],
* MarionetteMaster: The Mechanist rides a Karakuri and use barely visible strings to make them both move and fire projectiles from their mouth.
* PowerAtAPrice: The Mage Cannoneer's Let Fly skill allows them to
* MagicKnight: Oni Chieftains can wield both axes and tomes, which helps
* MightyGlacier:
** In
* SelfDuplication: The Mechanist class has the ''Replicate'' skill, which creates a completely identical clone of the user. Both units affect each other, like sharing the same HP and
* SiegeEngines: While other classes can use ballistae and
**
*
* MusclesAreMeaningful:
** Even the youngest Fighters/Warriors, like Boyd
**
* TankGoodness: The
* RangedEmergencyWeapon: What the bow usually amounts to for Warriors, given
* SpectacularSpinning: Warriors' critical animatinos in the GBA games, and the Reaver's mastery skill Colossus in ''Radiant Dawn'' all involve alot of spinning.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Oni Savages get Seal Resistance to lower their enemy's resistance to magic.
* StatusBuff:
** Warriors in ''Awakening'' and Berserkers in ''Fates'' gain Rally Strength, which gives a boost to strength to allies when commanded.
** Oni Chieftains get Death Blow, where their critical rate increases by 20 points whenever they initiate an attack.
* StoneWall:
** Prior to ''Thracia 776', Axe classes had great defense stats, but the incredible weight and inaccuracy of axes prevented them from being good at dealing damage.
** The Oni Savage/Chieftain line in ''Fates'' is very defensive but not very good at offense, in contrast to the [[GlassCannon normal performance]] of axe units [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness post]] ''Genealogy Of the Holy War''.
* {{Stripperiffic}}: ''Fates'' introduces female Fighters, which wear what are effectively [[ChainmailBikini chainmail bikinis]] made of cloth. Even the male Fighter doesn't fare much better, with half their butts hanging out of what is basically a loin cloth.
* StrongAndSkilled: Many playable Fighters have passable Skill, allowing them to hit more accurately than the comparatively UnskilledButStrong Brigands and Pirates. To compensate, these Fighters have lower Speed, meaning that they will likely only be able to hit the opponent once per round, but have a greater guarantee in being able to do so.
* TheresNoKillLikeOverkill: They can easily OneHitKO [[AntiCavalry Cavaliers]] and [[AntiArmor Knights]] with halberds and hammers, respectively, as the effective properties of these weapons are further bolstered by their [[TacticalRockPaperScissors weapon triangle advantage]] over the lance-using Cavaliers and Knights, and the inherently high Strength of Fighter units. However, the shaky accuracy of these weapons makes them AwesomeButImpractical, an option to fall back on only when the player absolutely needs to dispose of a dangerous enemy immediately.
* WeakToMagic: Even in games where Warriors have a high defense stat, their resistance stats rank among the very worst in the game. The same applies to Blacksmith. This is not the case for Oni Chieftians, which have a good resistance stat.
Changed line(s) 377,393 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Brigand and Pirate]]
!!Brigand
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/759g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Brigands in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:246:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_berserker_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:246:Berserkers in ''Fates'']]
Imagine Fighters, except even more thuggish and disreputable; the end result is basically what Brigands and Pirates are in the franchise. Brigands, sometimes known as '''Barbarians''', are a recurring bandit class that are known to [[RapePillageAndBurn pillage and rob villages of their contents (and also burn the village to the ground, just to add insult to injury)]]. Brigands' stats are much like the Fighter's, except theirs are more exaggerated, with more HP and Strength but even lower Skill and Defense; since the sixth game. However, one major difference between the two is that Brigands and Pirates tend to be much faster. Brigands often have the ability to cross mountains and peaks, typically when appearing alongside pirates.\\\
''Thracia 776'' is the first game to have playable Brigands and the appearance of the '''Berserker''', except the latter are an enemy-exclusive class. Brigands instead class change to the '''Warrior''' class. In ''The Binding Blade'', they Class Change into the '''Berserker''', which boosts their already high offense and gives them a critical boost.\\\
'''Pirates''' are similar to the Brigands, except they swap the ability to move across mountain with water. Like the '''Brigand''', they Class Change to '''Berserker''' as well as the '''Warrior''' class in ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Awakening''. Though their stats are mostly the same as brigands, pirates tend to have a little more Speed in exchange for less Strength. In games where pirates and brigands can cross water and mountain tiles respectively, berserkers will generally be able to cross both.\\\
These classes are almost always characterized as overly muscular thugs with wearing bandanas and ragged clothing that shows off their intimidating physique. Their faces tend to be rather homely in appearance. The first opponents within the game are almost always Brigands or pirates who [[TacticalRockPaperScissors end up at a disadvantage]] against the sword-wielding lord they just can't hit.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Darros (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Dagdar, Marty (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Gonzales, Geese, Garrett (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''), Dart, Hawkeye (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Dozla (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Largo (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'')
!!Brigand
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/759g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Brigands in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:246:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_berserker_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:246:Berserkers in ''Fates'']]
Imagine Fighters, except even more thuggish and disreputable; the end result is basically what Brigands and Pirates are in the franchise. Brigands, sometimes known as '''Barbarians''', are a recurring bandit class that are known to [[RapePillageAndBurn pillage and rob villages of their contents (and also burn the village to the ground, just to add insult to injury)]]. Brigands' stats are much like the Fighter's, except theirs are more exaggerated, with more HP and Strength but even lower Skill and Defense; since the sixth game. However, one major difference between the two is that Brigands and Pirates tend to be much faster. Brigands often have the ability to cross mountains and peaks, typically when appearing alongside pirates.\\\
''Thracia 776'' is the first game to have playable Brigands and the appearance of the '''Berserker''', except the latter are an enemy-exclusive class. Brigands instead class change to the '''Warrior''' class. In ''The Binding Blade'', they Class Change into the '''Berserker''', which boosts their already high offense and gives them a critical boost.\\\
'''Pirates''' are similar to the Brigands, except they swap the ability to move across mountain with water. Like the '''Brigand''', they Class Change to '''Berserker''' as well as the '''Warrior''' class in ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Awakening''. Though their stats are mostly the same as brigands, pirates tend to have a little more Speed in exchange for less Strength. In games where pirates and brigands can cross water and mountain tiles respectively, berserkers will generally be able to cross both.\\\
These classes are almost always characterized as overly muscular thugs with wearing bandanas and ragged clothing that shows off their intimidating physique. Their faces tend to be rather homely in appearance. The first opponents within the game are almost always Brigands or pirates who [[TacticalRockPaperScissors end up at a disadvantage]] against the sword-wielding lord they just can't hit.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Darros (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Dagdar, Marty (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Gonzales, Geese, Garrett (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''), Dart, Hawkeye (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Dozla (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Largo (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'')
to:
!!Brigand
[[folder:Mage]]
!!Mage
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
Imagine Fighters, except even more thuggish and disreputable; the end result is basically what Brigands and Pirates are
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/900g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Warlocks in ''Three Houses'']]
The basic offensive magic class, dealing in the
->'''Playable characters of this class
Changed line(s) 395,406 (click to see context) from:
* AchillesHeel: In the original ''Mystery of the Emblem'', all criminal classes take extra damage from the Ladyblade. Note this is removed in all subsequent games including the remake of ''Mystery of the Emblem''.
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Whilst all brigands aren't the same character obviously, generic brigand portraits are usually at least disshevled with plain looking faces. The generic Brigand portrait of ''Three House'' on the other hand, is a handsome and clean cut young man.
* AlwaysMale: Until ''Three Houses'', the Brigand class was only exclusive to males. Averted with the Berserker, since Fighters can Class Change to that in ''Fates'' unlike other games.
* BadassesWearBandanas: Pirates always wear bandanas. Brigands and Berserkers often wear them as well.
* BanditMook: Brigands and Pirates, when in the service of the enemy, [[RapePillageAndBurn destroy villages]] which give out items and money.
* TheBerserker: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Guess.]] That said, playable members of the class are normally an aversion, bearing no such tendencies beyond their class name.
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: They can only wield axes as their weapons, and the Berserker is an Axe specialist much like the Swordmaster is to swords. Berserkers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Axefaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding axes.
* ButterFace: Brigands tend to have very muscular physiques that put a bodybuilder to shame, but with ugly faces.
* CriticalHitClass: The ''Berserker'' outside of ''Thracia 776'', ''Awakening'', and the [[RegionalBonus Japanese version]] of ''Path of Radiance'', has an innate critical rate bonus, making them very capable of killing anything in one hit because of their high strength. With that said, their relatively poor Skill means they don't crit quite as reliably as Swordmasters. Berserkers in ''Thracia 776'' instead have Wrath, turning ''all'' of their attacks into Critical Hits when it isn't their turn.
* CriticalStatusBuff: The ''Wrath'' skill in the Jugdral games as well as ''Awakening'', which increases their critical rate when under 50% HP (under 30% HP in ''Radiant Dawn'', whenever the unit is attacked in ''Thracia 776'').
* DressedToPlunder: Pirates wear the usual garb.
* DualWielding: Pirates in the GBA games attack with two axes in hand, although they're purely aesthetic. The map sprites for pirates in [=FE4=] did this early, but again, it was only aesthetic.
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Whilst all brigands aren't the same character obviously, generic brigand portraits are usually at least disshevled with plain looking faces. The generic Brigand portrait of ''Three House'' on the other hand, is a handsome and clean cut young man.
* AlwaysMale: Until ''Three Houses'', the Brigand class was only exclusive to males. Averted with the Berserker, since Fighters can Class Change to that in ''Fates'' unlike other games.
* BadassesWearBandanas: Pirates always wear bandanas. Brigands and Berserkers often wear them as well.
* BanditMook: Brigands and Pirates, when in the service of the enemy, [[RapePillageAndBurn destroy villages]] which give out items and money.
* TheBerserker: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Guess.]] That said, playable members of the class are normally an aversion, bearing no such tendencies beyond their class name.
* BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: They can only wield axes as their weapons, and the Berserker is an Axe specialist much like the Swordmaster is to swords. Berserkers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Axefaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding axes.
* ButterFace: Brigands tend to have very muscular physiques that put a bodybuilder to shame, but with ugly faces.
* CriticalHitClass: The ''Berserker'' outside of ''Thracia 776'', ''Awakening'', and the [[RegionalBonus Japanese version]] of ''Path of Radiance'', has an innate critical rate bonus, making them very capable of killing anything in one hit because of their high strength. With that said, their relatively poor Skill means they don't crit quite as reliably as Swordmasters. Berserkers in ''Thracia 776'' instead have Wrath, turning ''all'' of their attacks into Critical Hits when it isn't their turn.
* CriticalStatusBuff: The ''Wrath'' skill in the Jugdral games as well as ''Awakening'', which increases their critical rate when under 50% HP (under 30% HP in ''Radiant Dawn'', whenever the unit is attacked in ''Thracia 776'').
* DressedToPlunder: Pirates wear the usual garb.
* DualWielding: Pirates in the GBA games attack with two axes in hand, although they're purely aesthetic. The map sprites for pirates in [=FE4=] did this early, but again, it was only aesthetic.
to:
* AchillesHeel: In the original ''Mystery of the Emblem'', all criminal classes take extra damage from the Ladyblade. Note this is removed AdaptationNameChange: Sages in all subsequent games including the remake of ''Mystery of the Emblem''.
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Whilst all brigands aren't the same character obviously, generic brigand portraits are usually at least disshevled with plain looking faces. The generic Brigand portrait of''Three House'' on the other hand, is a handsome and clean cut young man.
Houses'' are called Warlocks.
*AlwaysMale: Until ''Three Houses'', the Brigand class was only exclusive to males. Averted ArmorPiercingAttack: The Archsage's skill Flare negates enemy resistance before dealing damage.
* BadassCape: Most Mages wear capes, with theBerserker, since Fighters can Class Change occasional [[InTheHood hood]] attached to that in ''Fates'' unlike other games.
it.
*BadassesWearBandanas: Pirates always wear bandanas. Brigands BlackMage: They usually have access to all three types of offensive elemental magic, and Berserkers often wear them as well.
* BanditMook: Brigands and Pirates, when independing on the service of the enemy, [[RapePillageAndBurn destroy villages]] which give out items and money.
* TheBerserker: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Guess.]] That said, playable members of thecharacter they tend to specialize in one. Once they class are change, they normally an aversion, bearing no such tendencies beyond their class name.
become {{Red Mage}}s. The high-tier mages (Sage, Onmyoji, Warlock) gain (Black) Tomefaire as a skill. (Note that Black Tomefaire only affects non-dark magic; the dark equivalent is called Dark Tomefaire.)
*BrutishCharacterBrutishWeapon: BlowYouAway: They can only use wind magic. The basic Wind tome is sometimes among a lower-level mage's starting tomes; depending on the character, it may be substituted with the basic Thunder tome.
* CastFromHitPoints: Mages in ''Gaiden'' use their HP to cast spells due to the game having no weapon durability.
* CombatMedic: Sages can wieldaxes as their weapons, staves to heal allies.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the original Archanea games both Mages and Clerics class change into Bishops. ''Gaiden'' introduces theBerserker is Sage class as an Axe specialist much like the Swordmaster is to swords. Berserkers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Axefaire, advanced form for Mages which boosts their damage output for wielding axes.
* ButterFace: Brigands tend to have very muscular physiques that put a bodybuilder to shame, but with ugly faces.
* CriticalHitClass: The ''Berserker'' outside of ''Thracia 776'', ''Awakening'', andstays in most future games, including the [[RegionalBonus Japanese version]] of Archanea remakes.
* EmergencyWeapon: In ''Path of Radiance'',has an innate critical rate bonus, making them very capable of killing anything in one hit because of their high strength. With that said, their relatively poor Skill means they don't crit quite as reliably as Swordmasters. Berserkers in ''Thracia 776'' Sages can choose knives instead have Wrath, turning ''all'' of staves. They won't be very effective with it due to their attacks into Critical Hits when it isn't low Strength, but can be useful for some high-Resistance enemies.
* ExperienceBooster: Diviners get the Future Sight Skill, where the user has a chance (based on theirturn.
Luck stat) to gain double the EXP value after initiating a battle and defeating an enemy.
*CriticalStatusBuff: FireIceLightning: Mages have access to the three "anima" classes of magic -- fire, thunder, and wind. The ''Wrath'' skill Archanea, GBA games, DS games, and ''Three Houses'' lump them into one magic type, whereas Jugdral and Tellius split them into three separate types.
* FixedDamageAttack: Due to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, magic only deal as much damage based on the spell's might since magic cannot be improved by Strength and unit's Resistance is a flat 0 for both you and the enemy, unless you use the Barrier staff, a rare Talisman, or are Gotoh.
* GeoEffects: With the exception of ''Gaiden'' and ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', Mages can traverse through deserts without any problem.
* GlassCannon: In the GBA games, where their Defense cap, and especially their Resistance cap, are lower than the Bishop. However, outside of ''Sacred Stones'' (where you can grind for stat boosters to reach their caps), you will not see this often.
* HitAndRunTactics: Mage Knights in the Jugdral games can attack and move with their remaining movement. Mage Knights in ''Sacred Stones'' can only move again if they use a non-attacking command.
* HolyHandGrenade: In the Archanea games, all magic types (staves aside) are one and the same, meaning that Mages also wield ostensibly "light" and "dark" tomes like Starlight and Swarm. Sages in ''Sacred Stones'' also learn light magic naturally and can be taught dark magic by exploiting a bug in the game.
* AnIcePerson: Several games had ice-based spells, like Blizzard and Fimbulvetr. Some were either in games where tomes and magic are not divided into groups, like the Archanea games, ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'', or are part of the Anima or Wind magic in other games, like the GBA and Tellius games.
* InTheHood: Mages typically wear hooded cloaks if they're not wearing hats.
* LifeDrain: The Arch Sage's mastery skill, Flare.
* MagicKnight: ''[=Gaiden's=]'' Priestesses as well as Jugdral's Mage Knights and Mage Fighters are capable of using swords and magic, while ''Engage's'' Mage Knights can wield either swords, lances or axes in addtion to magic. Mage Knights from ''The Sacred Stones'' doesn't fall under this trope however, as it is just a mounted mage and doesn't use physical weapons. ''Path of Radiance'' grants Sages the ability to wield knives instead of staves. ''Awakening'' also features the Dark Knight, which is similar to the Jugdral Mage Knight, while ''Fates'' features the Basara, which wields lances in addition to tomes.
* PlayingWithFire: They can use fire magic; the basic Fire spell is normally among a lower-level mage's starting tomes.
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is usually if you class change to a MagicKnight class.
* RobeAndWizardHat: ''Awakening'' forsakes the tradition of hooded capes for Mages in favor of some ''enormous'' wizard hats. The Warlocks in ''Three Houses'' also wear very enormous wizard hats.
* ShockAndAwe: They can use thunder magic. The basic Thunder tome is sometimes among a lower-level mage's starting tomes; depending on the character, it may be substituted with the basic Wind tome.
* SquishyWizard: Mages and Sages are very frail physically, making them unsuitable for the very front lines against physically-oriented armies, and they generally have lower Resistance than Monks and Bishops and Dark Mages/Shamans and Sorcerers/Dark Bishops/Druids, making them the GlassCannon to the light magic classes' StoneWall[[note]]well, magically, at least; the light magic classes tend to have poor Defense as well[[/note]] and the dark magic classes' MightyGlacier. Averted with Dark Knights, who have Defense as their highest stat.
* StatusBuff:
** Sages in ''Awakening'' and Onmyoji in ''Fates'' gain Rally Magic, which gives a boost to magic to allies when commanded.
** Mages in ''Three Houses'' gain Fiendish Blow upon mastering the class, which increases their magic by 6 when initiating the attack.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Priest]]
!!Priest
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/804g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Priests in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/913g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Bishops in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hwarmonk.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:War Monks in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:148:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/echoes_saint_1.png]]
[[caption-width-right:148:Saints in ''Echoes'']]
One of two medic classes, Priests only wield [[https://fireemblemwiki.org/wiki/Staff magical staves]] which can heal allies, inflict status effects on enemies, teleport allies, grant {{Status Buff}}s, or serve other utility functions (such as repairing weapons, opening doors, or expanding vision in FogOfWar). The class can be either gender, but some games split female Priests into the separate but otherwise identical '''Cleric''' class. In ''Shadow Dragon'', male priests are instead known as '''Curates'''. Priests and Clerics both class change into the '''Bishop''' class, whereupon they gain access to offensive Light magic; in ''Gaiden'' and ''Radiant Dawn'', their final form is the '''Saint''' class. In ''Sacred Stones'', they can also class change to either '''Sage''' (for priests) or '''Valkyrie''' (for Clerics). In ''Awakening'', Clerics and Priests can instead choose to class change into '''War Cleric/Monk''', whichincreases gives them the use of axes, or the '''Sage''' class, which gives them the use of magic tomes.\\\
In the Tellius games, the Cleric variant is exclusive to Mist. She is generally identical to normal Priests (which still exist), but does not have the association with religion, and in ''Radiant Dawn'' can also use swords. She class changes to the '''Valkyrie''' class, which in ''Path of Radiance'' allows her to use swords as well. In ''Fates'', the class is again split up by gender and are referred to as '''Monks''' and '''Shrine Maidens'''. Both class change into the '''Onmyoji''' class, similar to Sages, but theircritical rate when under 50% HP (under 30% HP branch class is determined by gender; Monks can class change into '''Great Master''', which uses staves and lances, and Shrine Maidens can class change into the '''Priestess''' class[[note]]no relation to the class of the same name in ''Gaiden'', which are tied to the Mage class family instead[[/note]], which uses staves and bows instead. In ''Engage'', there is the '''Martial Monk''' class, which uses body arts and staves, who can either class change into the '''Martial Master''' class, that focuses mainly on body arts, or the '''High Priest''' class, which can also use tomes.\\\
Related is the '''Monk''' class, an offensive magic class exclusive to male characters in ''The Blazing Blade'' and ''The Sacred Stones'' which uses light magic; they also class change into Bishops (and branch to Sages in ''The Sacred Stones''), and so are considered part of this class tree. Also related is the '''Light Mage''' and its advance classes[[note]]'''Light Sage''' and '''Light Priestess (Shaman)'''[[/note]], which is Micaiah's Lord class in ''Radiant Dawn'',whenever and the unit is attacked in ''Thracia 776'').
* DressedToPlunder: Pirates wear'''Light Priestess (Shaman)'''[[note]]not to be confused with the usual garb.
normal dark-wielding Shaman class, discussed below, which has nearly the same name but with a different spelling in Japan[[/note]], Deirdre's and Julia's class in ''Genealogy'' (which class changes to '''Sage'''), as well as Micaiah's personal third-tier class in ''Radiant Dawn''[[note]]the ''Radiant Dawn'' version, being a third-tier class, does not class change further[[/note]]. Also related is the '''Chancellor''' class of the Tellius games (which uses dark magic in addition to light magic and staves), which is exclusive to Sephiran/[[spoiler:Lehran]].\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Wrys, Lena, Maria, Boah, Elice (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Silque, Genny, Tatiana (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Marisha, Yuliya, Nyna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Edain, Deirdre, Claude, Lana/Muirne, Julia, Coirpre/Charlot (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Safy, Tina, Linoan, Sleuf, Sara, Saias (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'') Ellen, Saul, Yodel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Serra, Lucius, Renault (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''; Moulder, Artur, Natasha (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Rhys, Mist (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'') Laura, Oliver, [[spoiler:Lehran]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Frost (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemNewMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Lissa, Libra, Brady (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Sakura, Azama, Izana, Mitama ''([[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Linhardt, Mercedes, Marianne, Flayn, Manuela, Balthus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Framme, Jean, Pandreo (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----
*DualWielding: Pirates AlwaysFemale:
** Oddly, ''Echoes'' is the only game where only females can become Clerics (no, there is no Priest class line for males).
** ''Mystery of the Emblem'' also made the Priest line exclusively female. Not only are all of the basic healers Clerics, but also Wrys was removed from the game. Anytime the game would include enemy healers, they would always be Bishops but with no weapons.
* AttackReflector: The Great Master and Priestess learn Countermagic, which is a magical counterpart of the Counter skill. The key difference is that Countermagic reflects all type of magical damage and range isn't factored into the skill, unlike Counter requiring an adjacent enemy to attack.
* BareFistedMonk: The War Monk/Cleric class in ''Three Houses'' specializes in brawling. War Monk/Cleric gains Brawl Avoid +20, which increases their avoid when equipping brawling weapons, upon mastering the class, as well as Unarmed Combat (which is the only way for female units to get the skill due to Unarmed Combat otherwise belonging to the exclusively male Brawler and Grappler classes). The Martial Monk, Martial Master and High Priest classes from ''Engage'' also focuses on brawling, called "Body Arts".
* CastFromHitPoints: Like Mages, they use HP to use white magic in ''Gaiden''. Thankfully, they have [[LifeDrain Nosferatu]] to compensate for their limited supply, but it has a low hit rate, so they may not hit as well.
* CombatMedic: Upon class change, Clerics and Priests gain offensive light magic, or have it from the start for Shamans in ''Genealogy''. For GBA Monks and Tellius Light Mages, it's the other way around -- they start out with access to offensive light magic, and only gain access to healing/status/utility staves when they class change.
* DistaffCounterpart: Besides the name, the Priest (or Curate in theGBA games attack with two axes Archanea games) and Cleric classes are practically alike. Monks and Shrine Maiden in hand, ''Fates'' are similar to each other and although they're purely aesthetic. Great Master and Priestess share Renewal and Countermagic as learnable skills, Great Master focuses on physical combat and lances while Priestess focuses on healing and bow. The map sprites for pirates in [=FE4=] did this early, but again, it was only aesthetic.time the class shares the same name regardless of gender is the Jugdral games and ''Three Houses'' as Priest.
* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Whilst all brigands aren't the same character obviously, generic brigand portraits are usually at least disshevled with plain looking faces. The generic Brigand portrait of
*
* BadassCape: Most Mages wear capes, with the
*
* BanditMook: Brigands and Pirates, when in
* TheBerserker: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Guess.]] That said, playable members of the
*
* CastFromHitPoints: Mages in ''Gaiden'' use their HP to cast spells due to the game having no weapon durability.
* CombatMedic: Sages can wield
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the original Archanea games both Mages and Clerics class change into Bishops. ''Gaiden'' introduces the
* ButterFace: Brigands tend to have very muscular physiques that put a bodybuilder to shame, but with ugly faces.
* CriticalHitClass: The ''Berserker'' outside of ''Thracia 776'', ''Awakening'', and
* EmergencyWeapon: In ''Path of Radiance'',
* ExperienceBooster: Diviners get the Future Sight Skill, where the user has a chance (based on their
*
* FixedDamageAttack: Due to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, magic only deal as much damage based on the spell's might since magic cannot be improved by Strength and unit's Resistance is a flat 0 for both you and the enemy, unless you use the Barrier staff, a rare Talisman, or are Gotoh.
* GeoEffects: With the exception of ''Gaiden'' and ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', Mages can traverse through deserts without any problem.
* GlassCannon: In the GBA games, where their Defense cap, and especially their Resistance cap, are lower than the Bishop. However, outside of ''Sacred Stones'' (where you can grind for stat boosters to reach their caps), you will not see this often.
* HitAndRunTactics: Mage Knights in the Jugdral games can attack and move with their remaining movement. Mage Knights in ''Sacred Stones'' can only move again if they use a non-attacking command.
* HolyHandGrenade: In the Archanea games, all magic types (staves aside) are one and the same, meaning that Mages also wield ostensibly "light" and "dark" tomes like Starlight and Swarm. Sages in ''Sacred Stones'' also learn light magic naturally and can be taught dark magic by exploiting a bug in the game.
* AnIcePerson: Several games had ice-based spells, like Blizzard and Fimbulvetr. Some were either in games where tomes and magic are not divided into groups, like the Archanea games, ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'', or are part of the Anima or Wind magic in other games, like the GBA and Tellius games.
* InTheHood: Mages typically wear hooded cloaks if they're not wearing hats.
* LifeDrain: The Arch Sage's mastery skill, Flare.
* MagicKnight: ''[=Gaiden's=]'' Priestesses as well as Jugdral's Mage Knights and Mage Fighters are capable of using swords and magic, while ''Engage's'' Mage Knights can wield either swords, lances or axes in addtion to magic. Mage Knights from ''The Sacred Stones'' doesn't fall under this trope however, as it is just a mounted mage and doesn't use physical weapons. ''Path of Radiance'' grants Sages the ability to wield knives instead of staves. ''Awakening'' also features the Dark Knight, which is similar to the Jugdral Mage Knight, while ''Fates'' features the Basara, which wields lances in addition to tomes.
* PlayingWithFire: They can use fire magic; the basic Fire spell is normally among a lower-level mage's starting tomes.
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is usually if you class change to a MagicKnight class.
* RobeAndWizardHat: ''Awakening'' forsakes the tradition of hooded capes for Mages in favor of some ''enormous'' wizard hats. The Warlocks in ''Three Houses'' also wear very enormous wizard hats.
* ShockAndAwe: They can use thunder magic. The basic Thunder tome is sometimes among a lower-level mage's starting tomes; depending on the character, it may be substituted with the basic Wind tome.
* SquishyWizard: Mages and Sages are very frail physically, making them unsuitable for the very front lines against physically-oriented armies, and they generally have lower Resistance than Monks and Bishops and Dark Mages/Shamans and Sorcerers/Dark Bishops/Druids, making them the GlassCannon to the light magic classes' StoneWall[[note]]well, magically, at least; the light magic classes tend to have poor Defense as well[[/note]] and the dark magic classes' MightyGlacier. Averted with Dark Knights, who have Defense as their highest stat.
* StatusBuff:
** Sages in ''Awakening'' and Onmyoji in ''Fates'' gain Rally Magic, which gives a boost to magic to allies when commanded.
** Mages in ''Three Houses'' gain Fiendish Blow upon mastering the class, which increases their magic by 6 when initiating the attack.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Priest]]
!!Priest
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/804g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Priests in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/913g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Bishops in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hwarmonk.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:War Monks in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:148:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/echoes_saint_1.png]]
[[caption-width-right:148:Saints in ''Echoes'']]
One of two medic classes, Priests only wield [[https://fireemblemwiki.org/wiki/Staff magical staves]] which can heal allies, inflict status effects on enemies, teleport allies, grant {{Status Buff}}s, or serve other utility functions (such as repairing weapons, opening doors, or expanding vision in FogOfWar). The class can be either gender, but some games split female Priests into the separate but otherwise identical '''Cleric''' class. In ''Shadow Dragon'', male priests are instead known as '''Curates'''. Priests and Clerics both class change into the '''Bishop''' class, whereupon they gain access to offensive Light magic; in ''Gaiden'' and ''Radiant Dawn'', their final form is the '''Saint''' class. In ''Sacred Stones'', they can also class change to either '''Sage''' (for priests) or '''Valkyrie''' (for Clerics). In ''Awakening'', Clerics and Priests can instead choose to class change into '''War Cleric/Monk''', which
In the Tellius games, the Cleric variant is exclusive to Mist. She is generally identical to normal Priests (which still exist), but does not have the association with religion, and in ''Radiant Dawn'' can also use swords. She class changes to the '''Valkyrie''' class, which in ''Path of Radiance'' allows her to use swords as well. In ''Fates'', the class is again split up by gender and are referred to as '''Monks''' and '''Shrine Maidens'''. Both class change into the '''Onmyoji''' class, similar to Sages, but their
Related is the '''Monk''' class, an offensive magic class exclusive to male characters in ''The Blazing Blade'' and ''The Sacred Stones'' which uses light magic; they also class change into Bishops (and branch to Sages in ''The Sacred Stones''), and so are considered part of this class tree. Also related is the '''Light Mage''' and its advance classes[[note]]'''Light Sage''' and '''Light Priestess (Shaman)'''[[/note]], which is Micaiah's Lord class in ''Radiant Dawn'',
* DressedToPlunder: Pirates wear
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Wrys, Lena, Maria, Boah, Elice (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Silque, Genny, Tatiana (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Marisha, Yuliya, Nyna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Edain, Deirdre, Claude, Lana/Muirne, Julia, Coirpre/Charlot (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Safy, Tina, Linoan, Sleuf, Sara, Saias (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'') Ellen, Saul, Yodel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Serra, Lucius, Renault (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''; Moulder, Artur, Natasha (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Rhys, Mist (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'') Laura, Oliver, [[spoiler:Lehran]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Frost (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemNewMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Lissa, Libra, Brady (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Sakura, Azama, Izana, Mitama ''([[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Linhardt, Mercedes, Marianne, Flayn, Manuela, Balthus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Framme, Jean, Pandreo (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----
*
** Oddly, ''Echoes'' is the only game where only females can become Clerics (no, there is no Priest class line for males).
** ''Mystery of the Emblem'' also made the Priest line exclusively female. Not only are all of the basic healers Clerics, but also Wrys was removed from the game. Anytime the game would include enemy healers, they would always be Bishops but with no weapons.
* AttackReflector: The Great Master and Priestess learn Countermagic, which is a magical counterpart of the Counter skill. The key difference is that Countermagic reflects all type of magical damage and range isn't factored into the skill, unlike Counter requiring an adjacent enemy to attack.
* BareFistedMonk: The War Monk/Cleric class in ''Three Houses'' specializes in brawling. War Monk/Cleric gains Brawl Avoid +20, which increases their avoid when equipping brawling weapons, upon mastering the class, as well as Unarmed Combat (which is the only way for female units to get the skill due to Unarmed Combat otherwise belonging to the exclusively male Brawler and Grappler classes). The Martial Monk, Martial Master and High Priest classes from ''Engage'' also focuses on brawling, called "Body Arts".
* CastFromHitPoints: Like Mages, they use HP to use white magic in ''Gaiden''. Thankfully, they have [[LifeDrain Nosferatu]] to compensate for their limited supply, but it has a low hit rate, so they may not hit as well.
* CombatMedic: Upon class change, Clerics and Priests gain offensive light magic, or have it from the start for Shamans in ''Genealogy''. For GBA Monks and Tellius Light Mages, it's the other way around -- they start out with access to offensive light magic, and only gain access to healing/status/utility staves when they class change.
* DistaffCounterpart: Besides the name, the Priest (or Curate in the
Changed line(s) 408,440 (click to see context) from:
** Pirates were unable to class change in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'': it wasn't until ''Thracia 776'' that allowed Brigands to class change, but ''Binding Blade'' was the first game to allow Brigands and Pirates to class change into Berserkers.
** Like the fighters, the Brigands/Pirates had stats more along the line of a MightyGlacier in the original ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'', despite the class roll in the first and third games describing them as having low defense. It is likely to compensate for Darros not being able to class change and the weight of axes preventing axe-users from double attacking.
** Pirates and Barbarians can't destroy villages in the Archanea games, a trait that appears in later games. Only Thieves could destroy villages in those games. Barbarian was also the strongest axe user around, on par with a promoted class.
** Berserkers first appeared in ''Thracia 776'', except while still associated with criminals, it was an enemy-exclusive class, as the only brigand in the game (Marty) class changes into Warrior. This also makes Dagdar technically be a Brigand, as the Fighter Class Changes to Hero in that game.
* FaceOfAThug: Several members have scary and ugly faces, but a good heart behind it, the most prominent being Gonzales.
* FragileSpeedster: Pirates are generally faster and frailer than their brigand counterparts. Ironically, this can actually make them more durable in practice, since they're less prone to getting doubled.
* GeoEffects: In the GBA games, Pirates and Brigands are unique among infantry units for being able to walk on water and mountain/peak tiles, and Berserkers can cross both. The latter is especially helpful, since mountains and peaks give phenomenal defense and avoid bonuses that can compensate for their low defenses and turn them into functional {{Lightning Bruiser}}s.
* {{Gonk}}: Both classes tend to have grotesque appearances, though pirates are comparatively more likely to be handsome such as the rugged Geese in ''Binding Blade.''
* GlassCannon: They have among the highest strength of any class on top of generally good speed (the latter can vary, since playable units that start out as a Berserker are usually slow to encourage you to train a faster Pirate/Brigand from the ground up) but have even worse defenses than the Fighter and Warrior, and are almost always more inaccurate as well. This is somewhat mitigated by their massive HP pools and decent avoid chances and can be almost entirely remedied if they're getting the aforementioned defense and avoid bonuses from mountain/peak tiles.
** ''Fates'' Berserkers are much riskier, as while they gain +20 critical rate, the highest critical rate gain in the game, they lose -5 critical avoid (the only class which has a negative boost), which makes enemies score critical hits more easily on ''them''.
* {{Gonk}}: Even moreso than Fighters. Due to the vast majority of them [[EvilMakesYouUgly being enemies]], they tend to be among the ugliest characters that players will cross paths with. Even playable Brigands like Gonzalez aren't saved from this.
* TheGoomba: Brigands or Pirates are almost always the first opponents of the game, starting all the way to the first game. Unlike most examples, Brigands/Pirates have good HP and Strength, and their ability to climb mountains/peaks (and [[GeoEffects gain immense defense/avoid bonuses]]) might make them very difficult to take down, but their inability to hit spells their doom. The ones in ''Gaiden'' have weak stats all around.
* HornsOfBarbarism: Like Warriors, most portrayals of Berserkers have them wear horned helmets.
* {{Irony}}: Berserkers come with a [[CriticalHitClass passive critical hit chance]], but often possess an atrocious Skill stat (which governs a character's chances of a CriticalHit). The former works almost like a compensation for the latter, as it guarantees that they still possess a fair chance of landing a CriticalHit even if they can't reliably strike their enemies. In more extreme cases, like with Gonzalez in ''The Binding Blade'', they may actually have a ''higher'' chance to crit the enemy than to hit them at all!
* MountainMan: Brigands and Berserkers literally have the ability to perch themselves on "peak" terrain [[GeoEffects for high defense/evasion bonuses]]. They also embody the spirit of the trope - despite being in a StandardFantasySetting rather than TheWestern - with their rugged, burly appearance and separation from civil society.
* MusclesAreMeaningful:
** Just like Fighters, they always have awesome HP, strength and constitution because of their huge muscles and stature.
** Notably even the StarterVillain bandits have better constitution than nearly all your units in the games where the stat exists. ''Path of Radiance'' also lets Berserker's triple their attack when facing units with lower consitution when they use the mastery skill "colossus".
* NemeanSkinning: Berserkers in ''Path of Radiance'' wear wolf skins. Berserkers in ''Fates'' also wear wolf pelts under their armor.
* PaperTiger: Enemy Brigands and Pirates, whose mighty Strength and HP pools are undermined by every other stat, including Skill, which [[PowerfulButInaccurate prevents them from hitting player characters at all]]. This cements them as TheGoomba, in spite of their fearsome look. {{Averted|Trope}} with Berserkers, whom are dangerous with their passive CriticalHit chance.
* {{Pirate}}: Pirates are nautical version of Brigands who can cross through water and destroy villages. Compared to Fighters and Brigands, Pirates have low HP and strength but high speed.
* RoarBeforeBeating: The critical hits of Brigands in the GBA games. Berserkers do this when Colossus is activated in ''Path of Radiance''.
* StalkedByTheBell: This class serves to punish players that play too cautiously. Take too long to get to the village in a different part of the map? [[BanditMook These guys]] will get there first, ransacking the place and denying the player any bonuses they would've received from it.
* StatusBuff: Brigands in ''Three Houses'' gain Death Blow upon mastering the class. It is more similar to ''Heroes'' iteration of Death Blow, which increases strength when initiating the attack.
* TruthInTelevision: Pirates and Berserkers can swim with axes in hand. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXEA-qNcFD0&list=PLc1JElvFHF_d_UXL1uyi2VassvmFKJkY9&index=7 This is surprisingly feasible with certain types of real-life axes]]: wooden handles give the axe buoyancy, while bearded axe heads can be used as a makeshift paddle.
* TurnsRed: Berserkers in ''Awakening'' can get the Wrath skill, which increases their critical rate when under half of their max HP.
* UniqueEnemy:
** There's a class called "Corsair" that appears in '''one chapter''' of ''Blazing Blade'' (on one route of a path split, no less) that is essentially a re-skinned Pirate.
** There is a [[InNameOnly "Berserker"]] in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', except it was just a renamed Hero with a unique map sprite and only existed in one chapter[[note]]They are also called "Evil Fighter", but it's not the name of their class[[/note]]. In the remake, the "Berserker" was replaced by a Swordmaster.
* UnskilledButStrong: Their stats are much more exaggerated than the Fighter's, typically higher HP, Strength and Speed but even lower Skill and defenses (which is funny, considering that critical hits are a huge part of the Berserker's shtick). Averted in ''Fates'', where Berserkers have decent Skill by ''Fates'' standards.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Often applies, especially with Berserkers.
* WarmUpBoss: Typically, most of the early-game bosses are Brigands and many Lords often use [[HeroesPreferSwords swords]], allowing them to easily defeat the bosses.
* WeakToMagic: Being a GlassCannon, it isn't surpirsign that Berserkers have the lowest resistance around, even more than Wyvern Lord.
** Like the fighters, the Brigands/Pirates had stats more along the line of a MightyGlacier in the original ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'', despite the class roll in the first and third games describing them as having low defense. It is likely to compensate for Darros not being able to class change and the weight of axes preventing axe-users from double attacking.
** Pirates and Barbarians can't destroy villages in the Archanea games, a trait that appears in later games. Only Thieves could destroy villages in those games. Barbarian was also the strongest axe user around, on par with a promoted class.
** Berserkers first appeared in ''Thracia 776'', except while still associated with criminals, it was an enemy-exclusive class, as the only brigand in the game (Marty) class changes into Warrior. This also makes Dagdar technically be a Brigand, as the Fighter Class Changes to Hero in that game.
* FaceOfAThug: Several members have scary and ugly faces, but a good heart behind it, the most prominent being Gonzales.
* FragileSpeedster: Pirates are generally faster and frailer than their brigand counterparts. Ironically, this can actually make them more durable in practice, since they're less prone to getting doubled.
* GeoEffects: In the GBA games, Pirates and Brigands are unique among infantry units for being able to walk on water and mountain/peak tiles, and Berserkers can cross both. The latter is especially helpful, since mountains and peaks give phenomenal defense and avoid bonuses that can compensate for their low defenses and turn them into functional {{Lightning Bruiser}}s.
* {{Gonk}}: Both classes tend to have grotesque appearances, though pirates are comparatively more likely to be handsome such as the rugged Geese in ''Binding Blade.''
* GlassCannon: They have among the highest strength of any class on top of generally good speed (the latter can vary, since playable units that start out as a Berserker are usually slow to encourage you to train a faster Pirate/Brigand from the ground up) but have even worse defenses than the Fighter and Warrior, and are almost always more inaccurate as well. This is somewhat mitigated by their massive HP pools and decent avoid chances and can be almost entirely remedied if they're getting the aforementioned defense and avoid bonuses from mountain/peak tiles.
** ''Fates'' Berserkers are much riskier, as while they gain +20 critical rate, the highest critical rate gain in the game, they lose -5 critical avoid (the only class which has a negative boost), which makes enemies score critical hits more easily on ''them''.
* {{Gonk}}: Even moreso than Fighters. Due to the vast majority of them [[EvilMakesYouUgly being enemies]], they tend to be among the ugliest characters that players will cross paths with. Even playable Brigands like Gonzalez aren't saved from this.
* TheGoomba: Brigands or Pirates are almost always the first opponents of the game, starting all the way to the first game. Unlike most examples, Brigands/Pirates have good HP and Strength, and their ability to climb mountains/peaks (and [[GeoEffects gain immense defense/avoid bonuses]]) might make them very difficult to take down, but their inability to hit spells their doom. The ones in ''Gaiden'' have weak stats all around.
* HornsOfBarbarism: Like Warriors, most portrayals of Berserkers have them wear horned helmets.
* {{Irony}}: Berserkers come with a [[CriticalHitClass passive critical hit chance]], but often possess an atrocious Skill stat (which governs a character's chances of a CriticalHit). The former works almost like a compensation for the latter, as it guarantees that they still possess a fair chance of landing a CriticalHit even if they can't reliably strike their enemies. In more extreme cases, like with Gonzalez in ''The Binding Blade'', they may actually have a ''higher'' chance to crit the enemy than to hit them at all!
* MountainMan: Brigands and Berserkers literally have the ability to perch themselves on "peak" terrain [[GeoEffects for high defense/evasion bonuses]]. They also embody the spirit of the trope - despite being in a StandardFantasySetting rather than TheWestern - with their rugged, burly appearance and separation from civil society.
* MusclesAreMeaningful:
** Just like Fighters, they always have awesome HP, strength and constitution because of their huge muscles and stature.
** Notably even the StarterVillain bandits have better constitution than nearly all your units in the games where the stat exists. ''Path of Radiance'' also lets Berserker's triple their attack when facing units with lower consitution when they use the mastery skill "colossus".
* NemeanSkinning: Berserkers in ''Path of Radiance'' wear wolf skins. Berserkers in ''Fates'' also wear wolf pelts under their armor.
* PaperTiger: Enemy Brigands and Pirates, whose mighty Strength and HP pools are undermined by every other stat, including Skill, which [[PowerfulButInaccurate prevents them from hitting player characters at all]]. This cements them as TheGoomba, in spite of their fearsome look. {{Averted|Trope}} with Berserkers, whom are dangerous with their passive CriticalHit chance.
* {{Pirate}}: Pirates are nautical version of Brigands who can cross through water and destroy villages. Compared to Fighters and Brigands, Pirates have low HP and strength but high speed.
* RoarBeforeBeating: The critical hits of Brigands in the GBA games. Berserkers do this when Colossus is activated in ''Path of Radiance''.
* StalkedByTheBell: This class serves to punish players that play too cautiously. Take too long to get to the village in a different part of the map? [[BanditMook These guys]] will get there first, ransacking the place and denying the player any bonuses they would've received from it.
* StatusBuff: Brigands in ''Three Houses'' gain Death Blow upon mastering the class. It is more similar to ''Heroes'' iteration of Death Blow, which increases strength when initiating the attack.
* TruthInTelevision: Pirates and Berserkers can swim with axes in hand. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXEA-qNcFD0&list=PLc1JElvFHF_d_UXL1uyi2VassvmFKJkY9&index=7 This is surprisingly feasible with certain types of real-life axes]]: wooden handles give the axe buoyancy, while bearded axe heads can be used as a makeshift paddle.
* TurnsRed: Berserkers in ''Awakening'' can get the Wrath skill, which increases their critical rate when under half of their max HP.
* UniqueEnemy:
** There's a class called "Corsair" that appears in '''one chapter''' of ''Blazing Blade'' (on one route of a path split, no less) that is essentially a re-skinned Pirate.
** There is a [[InNameOnly "Berserker"]] in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', except it was just a renamed Hero with a unique map sprite and only existed in one chapter[[note]]They are also called "Evil Fighter", but it's not the name of their class[[/note]]. In the remake, the "Berserker" was replaced by a Swordmaster.
* UnskilledButStrong: Their stats are much more exaggerated than the Fighter's, typically higher HP, Strength and Speed but even lower Skill and defenses (which is funny, considering that critical hits are a huge part of the Berserker's shtick). Averted in ''Fates'', where Berserkers have decent Skill by ''Fates'' standards.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Often applies, especially with Berserkers.
* WarmUpBoss: Typically, most of the early-game bosses are Brigands and many Lords often use [[HeroesPreferSwords swords]], allowing them to easily defeat the bosses.
* WeakToMagic: Being a GlassCannon, it isn't surpirsign that Berserkers have the lowest resistance around, even more than Wyvern Lord.
to:
** Pirates were unable to class change [[NoExperiencePointsForMedic Staves do not give them experience]] in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'': it wasn't until ''Thracia 776'' ''Gaiden'', meaning that allowed Brigands it is difficult to class change, but ''Binding Blade'' was even train them. In the first game game's case, in order for them to allow Brigands and Pirates gain experience, they must '''[[ViolationOfCommonSense get attacked (and survive)]]''', which is ''not'' something you want to class change into Berserkers.
try to do due to their SquishyWizard stats.
**Like the fighters, the Brigands/Pirates had stats more along the line of a MightyGlacier Also oddly, in the original ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''Mystery of the Emblem'', despite the class roll in the first and third games describing them as having low defense. It is likely to compensate for Darros not being able to class change Dragon and the weight Blade of axes preventing axe-users Light'', Priests are slowed down by deserts unlike Mages, as though they were not magic units.
* GeoEffects: Like Mages, Priests can traverse through deserts without any difficulties.
* GoodHurtsEvil: Light magic has often been associated with destroying monsters. In ''Sacred Stones'', the Bishop has Slayer which allows light magic to deal effective damage against monsters, while in ''Gaiden'' and ''Three Houses'', a light spell gained fromdouble attacking.
** Pirateslearning Faith, Seraphim, inherently deals effective damage against Demonic Beasts and Barbarians can't destroy villages similar units.
* HealingFactor: '''Renewal''' allows them to regenerate 30% of their max HP at the start of each turn in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', and 20% in ''Three Houses''.
* HealerSignsOnEarly: You typically get a Priest/Cleric either at the start of the game or a few chapters in theArchanea games, a trait that appears in later games. Only Thieves could destroy villages in those games. Barbarian was also the strongest axe user around, on par with a promoted class.
** Berserkers first appeared inearly part.
* HolyHandGrenade: In ''Thracia 776'',except while still associated with criminals, it was an enemy-exclusive class, as the only brigand in the game (Marty) class changes into Warrior. This also makes Dagdar technically be a Brigand, as the Fighter Class Changes to Hero in that game.
* FaceOfAThug: Several members have scary and ugly faces, but a good heart behind it, the most prominent being Gonzales.
* FragileSpeedster: Pirates are generally faster and frailer than their brigand counterparts. Ironically, this can actually make them more durable in practice, since they're less prone to getting doubled.
* GeoEffects: Inthe GBA games, Pirates the Tellius games, and Brigands are unique among infantry units for being able to walk on water and mountain/peak tiles, and Berserkers can cross both. The latter is especially helpful, since mountains and peaks give phenomenal defense and avoid bonuses that can compensate for their low defenses and turn them into functional {{Lightning Bruiser}}s.
* {{Gonk}}: Both classes tend to have grotesque appearances, though pirates are comparatively more likely to be handsome such as''Three Houses'', the rugged Geese in ''Binding Blade.''
* GlassCannon: They have amongBishop or the highest strength of any Monk class on top of generally good speed (the latter can vary, since playable units that start out as a Berserker are usually slow to encourage you to train a faster Pirate/Brigand from the ground up) but have even worse defenses than the Fighter and Warrior, and are almost always more inaccurate as well. This is somewhat mitigated by their massive HP pools and decent avoid chances and can be almost entirely remedied if they're getting the aforementioned defense and avoid bonuses from mountain/peak tiles.
** ''Fates'' Berserkers are much riskier, as while they gain +20 critical rate, the highest critical rate gainspecializes in the game, they lose -5 critical avoid (the only class which has a negative boost), which makes enemies score critical hits more easily on ''them''.
Light magic.
*{{Gonk}}: Even moreso than Fighters. Due to the vast majority of them [[EvilMakesYouUgly being enemies]], they tend to be among the ugliest characters that players will cross paths with. Even playable Brigands like Gonzalez aren't saved from this.
* TheGoomba: Brigands or Pirates are almost always the first opponents of the game, starting all the way to the first game. Unlike most examples, Brigands/Pirates have good HP and Strength, and their ability to climb mountains/peaks (and [[GeoEffects gain immense defense/avoid bonuses]]) might make them very difficult to take down, but their inability to hit spells their doom. The ones in ''Gaiden'' have weak stats all around.
* HornsOfBarbarism: Like Warriors, most portrayals of Berserkers have them wear horned helmets.
* {{Irony}}: Berserkers come with a [[CriticalHitClass passive critical hit chance]], but often possess an atrocious Skill stat (which governs a character's chances of a CriticalHit). The former works almost like a compensation for the latter, as it guarantees that they still possess a fair chance of landing a CriticalHit even if they can't reliably strike their enemies. In more extreme cases, like with Gonzalez in ''The Binding Blade'', they may actually have a ''higher'' chance to crit the enemy than to hit them at all!
* MountainMan: Brigands and Berserkers literally have the ability to perch themselves on "peak" terrain [[GeoEffects for high defense/evasion bonuses]]. They also embody the spirit of the trope - despite being in a StandardFantasySetting rather than TheWestern - with their rugged, burly appearance and separation from civil society.
* MusclesAreMeaningful:
** Just like Fighters, they always have awesome HP, strength and constitution because of their huge muscles and stature.
** Notably even the StarterVillain bandits have better constitution than nearly all your units in the games where the stat exists. ''Path of Radiance'' also lets Berserker's triple their attack when facing units with lower consitution when they use the mastery skill "colossus".
* NemeanSkinning: Berserkers in ''Path of Radiance'' wear wolf skins. Berserkers in ''Fates'' also wear wolf pelts under their armor.
* PaperTiger: Enemy Brigands and Pirates, whose mighty Strength and HP pools are undermined by every other stat, including Skill, which [[PowerfulButInaccurate prevents them from hitting player characters at all]]. This cements them as TheGoomba, in spite of their fearsome look. {{Averted|Trope}} with Berserkers, whom are dangerous with their passive CriticalHit chance.
* {{Pirate}}: Pirates are nautical version of Brigands who can cross through water and destroy villages. Compared to Fighters and Brigands, Pirates have low HP and strength but high speed.
* RoarBeforeBeating: The critical hits of Brigands in the GBA games. Berserkers do this when Colossus is activated in ''Path of Radiance''.
* StalkedByTheBell: This class serves to punish players that play too cautiously. Take too long to get to the village in a different part of the map? [[BanditMook These guys]] will get there first, ransacking the place and denying the player any bonuses they would've received from it.
* StatusBuff: BrigandsKamehameHadoken: War Monks/Clerics in ''Three Houses'' gain Death Blow learn the Pneuma Gale combat art upon mastering the class. It is more similar to ''Heroes'' iteration of Death Blow, deals magic damage and can attack at 1 or 2 range.
* LastChanceHitPoint: The Miracle skill, whichincreases strength when initiating allows the attack.
user to survive an otherwise fatal blow as long as they have more than 1 HP left. Its activation rate depends on the user's Luck stat.
*TruthInTelevision: Pirates LifeDrain: In games where Nosferatu is classified as Light magic, it is naturally usable by this class family. It absorbs the enemy's HP, damaging them in the process.
* LightIsGood: Light magic comes from Faith andBerserkers can swim with axes in hand. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXEA-qNcFD0&list=PLc1JElvFHF_d_UXL1uyi2VassvmFKJkY9&index=7 This is surprisingly feasible with certain types of real-life axes]]: wooden handles give the axe buoyancy, while bearded axe heads [[ElementalRockPaperScissors extra effective against dark magic]].
* LightIsNotGood: In all games, Light magic can be used by the enemies, including very evil characters such as Riev and Lekain. This is most prominent in ''Radiant Dawn'', in which the major villain force all use light magic.
* LightEmUp: Tend to be the only light magic users in most games.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Downplayed for the War Monk/Cleric in ''Three Houses''; they can use magic, but to amakeshift paddle.
limited degree compared to other magic users of comparable tiering, likely because they specialize in at least two other physical weapons somewhat more than they do magic. Along with Trickster, they are the only magic-using classes besides Noble and Commoner with this distinction.
*TurnsRed: Berserkers TheMedic: They're mainly used to heal weakened units.
* {{Miko}}: The Hoshido version of the Cleric, which is called Shrine Maiden. When class changed, they can use bows.
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to cast offensive spells and heal. The exception is if you class change them into [[CombatMedic War Monk/Cleric]] in ''Awakening''can get and ''Three Houses'' and [[BareFistedMonk Martial Master]] in ''Engage''.
* ReligionIsMagic: Light magic, at any rate. In most canons, light magic has a strong association with theWrath skill, which increases their critical rate when under half dominant religion of the world (which more often than not has some connection with one of the world's [[CrystalDragonJesus legendary heroes who also used light magic]]). Light-wielding units not affiliated with the clergy are rare, with Micaiah being the only one in Tellius. [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] by Knoll and Natasha in ''The Sacred Stones'', pondering the differences between the roots of their max HP.
* UniqueEnemy:
** There's a class called "Corsair" that appears in '''one chapter'''magic of ''Blazing Blade'' (on one route of a path split, no less) that is essentially a re-skinned Pirate.
** There is a [[InNameOnly "Berserker"]] in ''Mystery ofchoice (light/religion for Natasha, dark/knowledge for Knoll).
* SinisterMinister: Bishops who support theEmblem'', except it was just a renamed Hero with a unique map sprite enemy, are morally questionable, or are outright evil and only existed in one chapter[[note]]They heretical are also called "Evil Fighter", but it's not a recurring feature throughout the name of their class[[/note]]. In franchise -- the remake, most prominent examples are Gharnef[[note]]before the "Berserker" was replaced by remakes happened and he became a Swordmaster.
Sorcerer.[[/note]], Riev, Oliver, and Lekain.
*UnskilledButStrong: Their stats are much SquishyWizard: Significantly more exaggerated so than the Fighter's, typically higher HP, Mage line, as they have terrible Defense, but they tend to have the best Resistance of the magical classes (making them magical {{Stone Wall}}s in contrast to the tendency of Mages to be {{Glass Cannon}}s and Dark Mages to be {{Mighty Glacier}}s. This is ''technically'' averted by the War Monk/Cleric class in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'', as that class is physically-offensive in nature and therefore is significantly more robust, but the characters that class change into it by default in the former title tend to fall into this anyway by virtue of rather poor Strength and Speed Defense growths.
* StatusBuff: War Monks/Clerics in ''Awakening'' gain Rally Luck, which gives a boost to luck to allies when commanded. Monks/Shrine Maidens in ''Fates'' gain the skill earlier.
* SupportPartyMember: Before they class change, Curates and Clerics can do nothing buteven lower Skill heal or grant {{status buff}}s with staves. Inverted with the Monk class in earler titles, which can attack with light magic, but cannot heal until they class change to Bishop.
* TakingTheBullet: The Martial Monk anddefenses (which is funny, considering that critical hits Martial Master classes are a huge part one of the Berserker's shtick). Averted few Qi Adept classes (the others being the Dancer and Enchanter) in ''Engage'', which as a Battle Style have access to the "Chain Guard" option, where if the user is at full HP they protect one ally adjacent to them from an attack at the cost of 20% of their HP if the attack lands on an ally.
* WarriorMonk: The War Monks/Clerics in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'', the Great Masters/Priestesses in ''Fates'',where Berserkers have decent Skill by ''Fates'' standards.
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Often applies, especially with Berserkers.
* WarmUpBoss: Typically, most ofand the early-game bosses are Brigands and many Lords often Martial Monk/Martial Master in ''Engage''. They use [[HeroesPreferSwords swords]], allowing physical weapons alongside staves instead of offensive magic (or limited magic in general for ''Three Houses'').
* WhiteMage: They're frequently female (though some of themto easily defeat are male-but-effeminate); examples include Libra, Rhys, and Lucius).
* WhiteMagicianGirl: Early Clerics (often called "Sisters") in thebosses.
* WeakToMagic: Being a GlassCannon, it isn't surpirsign that Berserkers have the lowest resistance around, evenseries were almost exclusively kind women in white dresses. Later games gave more than Wyvern Lord.variety.
**
* GeoEffects: Like Mages, Priests can traverse through deserts without any difficulties.
* GoodHurtsEvil: Light magic has often been associated with destroying monsters. In ''Sacred Stones'', the Bishop has Slayer which allows light magic to deal effective damage against monsters, while in ''Gaiden'' and ''Three Houses'', a light spell gained from
** Pirates
* HealingFactor: '''Renewal''' allows them to regenerate 30% of their max HP at the start of each turn in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', and 20% in ''Three Houses''.
* HealerSignsOnEarly: You typically get a Priest/Cleric either at the start of the game or a few chapters in the
** Berserkers first appeared in
* HolyHandGrenade: In ''Thracia 776'',
* FaceOfAThug: Several members have scary and ugly faces, but a good heart behind it, the most prominent being Gonzales.
* FragileSpeedster: Pirates are generally faster and frailer than their brigand counterparts. Ironically, this can actually make them more durable in practice, since they're less prone to getting doubled.
* GeoEffects: In
* {{Gonk}}: Both classes tend to have grotesque appearances, though pirates are comparatively more likely to be handsome such as
* GlassCannon: They have among
** ''Fates'' Berserkers are much riskier, as while they gain +20 critical rate, the highest critical rate gain
*
* TheGoomba: Brigands or Pirates are almost always the first opponents of the game, starting all the way to the first game. Unlike most examples, Brigands/Pirates have good HP and Strength, and their ability to climb mountains/peaks (and [[GeoEffects gain immense defense/avoid bonuses]]) might make them very difficult to take down, but their inability to hit spells their doom. The ones in ''Gaiden'' have weak stats all around.
* HornsOfBarbarism: Like Warriors, most portrayals of Berserkers have them wear horned helmets.
* {{Irony}}: Berserkers come with a [[CriticalHitClass passive critical hit chance]], but often possess an atrocious Skill stat (which governs a character's chances of a CriticalHit). The former works almost like a compensation for the latter, as it guarantees that they still possess a fair chance of landing a CriticalHit even if they can't reliably strike their enemies. In more extreme cases, like with Gonzalez in ''The Binding Blade'', they may actually have a ''higher'' chance to crit the enemy than to hit them at all!
* MountainMan: Brigands and Berserkers literally have the ability to perch themselves on "peak" terrain [[GeoEffects for high defense/evasion bonuses]]. They also embody the spirit of the trope - despite being in a StandardFantasySetting rather than TheWestern - with their rugged, burly appearance and separation from civil society.
* MusclesAreMeaningful:
** Just like Fighters, they always have awesome HP, strength and constitution because of their huge muscles and stature.
** Notably even the StarterVillain bandits have better constitution than nearly all your units in the games where the stat exists. ''Path of Radiance'' also lets Berserker's triple their attack when facing units with lower consitution when they use the mastery skill "colossus".
* NemeanSkinning: Berserkers in ''Path of Radiance'' wear wolf skins. Berserkers in ''Fates'' also wear wolf pelts under their armor.
* PaperTiger: Enemy Brigands and Pirates, whose mighty Strength and HP pools are undermined by every other stat, including Skill, which [[PowerfulButInaccurate prevents them from hitting player characters at all]]. This cements them as TheGoomba, in spite of their fearsome look. {{Averted|Trope}} with Berserkers, whom are dangerous with their passive CriticalHit chance.
* {{Pirate}}: Pirates are nautical version of Brigands who can cross through water and destroy villages. Compared to Fighters and Brigands, Pirates have low HP and strength but high speed.
* RoarBeforeBeating: The critical hits of Brigands in the GBA games. Berserkers do this when Colossus is activated in ''Path of Radiance''.
* StalkedByTheBell: This class serves to punish players that play too cautiously. Take too long to get to the village in a different part of the map? [[BanditMook These guys]] will get there first, ransacking the place and denying the player any bonuses they would've received from it.
* StatusBuff: Brigands
* LastChanceHitPoint: The Miracle skill, which
*
* LightIsGood: Light magic comes from Faith and
* LightIsNotGood: In all games, Light magic can be used by the enemies, including very evil characters such as Riev and Lekain. This is most prominent in ''Radiant Dawn'', in which the major villain force all use light magic.
* LightEmUp: Tend to be the only light magic users in most games.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Downplayed for the War Monk/Cleric in ''Three Houses''; they can use magic, but to a
*
* {{Miko}}: The Hoshido version of the Cleric, which is called Shrine Maiden. When class changed, they can use bows.
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to cast offensive spells and heal. The exception is if you class change them into [[CombatMedic War Monk/Cleric]] in ''Awakening''
* ReligionIsMagic: Light magic, at any rate. In most canons, light magic has a strong association with the
* UniqueEnemy:
** There's a class called "Corsair" that appears in '''one chapter'''
** There is a [[InNameOnly "Berserker"]] in ''Mystery of
* SinisterMinister: Bishops who support the
*
* StatusBuff: War Monks/Clerics in ''Awakening'' gain Rally Luck, which gives a boost to luck to allies when commanded. Monks/Shrine Maidens in ''Fates'' gain the skill earlier.
* SupportPartyMember: Before they class change, Curates and Clerics can do nothing but
* TakingTheBullet: The Martial Monk and
* WarriorMonk: The War Monks/Clerics in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'', the Great Masters/Priestesses in ''Fates'',
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Often applies, especially with Berserkers.
* WarmUpBoss: Typically, most of
* WhiteMage: They're frequently female (though some of them
* WhiteMagicianGirl: Early Clerics (often called "Sisters") in the
* WeakToMagic: Being a GlassCannon, it isn't surpirsign that Berserkers have the lowest resistance around, even
Changed line(s) 443,470 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Archer]]
!!Archer
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/771g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Archers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/880g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Snipers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/949g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesherbmerchantportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Apothecary in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesgreatmerchantportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Merchant in ''Fates'']]
Lightly armored soldiers wielding bows. Archers don't have much in the way of defense or other related stats, but that's the thing -- that's not why they exist. They're supposed to take down the enemy from afar using their bows, and if you're throwing them into the thick of things, you're doing it wrong. They Class Change into the '''Sniper''' class, then again to the '''Bow Knight''' class in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' or the '''Marksman''' class in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''. \\\
Also introduced alongside Archers are the '''Hunter''' class, exclusive to the Archanea games and as an enemy-exclusive class in the Jugdral games. Hunters are shady bowmen with higher speed but lower defense and who have the ability to traverse forest terrain easier; they Class Change to '''Horseman'''[[note]]In the very first game, they were two, separate classes, but unified in ''Mystery of the Emblem''[[/note]], the mounted, near-identical progenitor of an endless line of [[BowAndSwordInAccord bow-and-sword-using]] mounted classes like the Ranger, Bow Knight, and Nomadic Trooper. The DS remakes allow Horsemen to wield swords in addition to bows.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'', Archers are demoted into a {{mook|s}} class, and replaced by '''Bow Fighters''' who fulfill the same role.\\\
Exclusive to ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'' are the '''Nomad''' class, which is basically a Bow Knight endemic to Sacae, a FantasyCounterpartCulture of various Eurasian steppe tribes, making them quite distinct from the knightly and European-esque Cavaliers. Like Hunters, they have no movement restrictions in forest terrain. They class change into the '''Nomadic Trooper''', where they can use swords as a secondary weapon.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', they can alternatively choose to Class Change into '''Ranger''' and '''Bow Knight''' respectively, gaining the ability to wield BowAndSwordInAccord as well.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Archers can Class Change to the '''Sniper''' class or branch into the flying mounted '''Kinshi Knight''' class. It also got a slower-but-stronger variant named the '''Apothecary''', which can Class Change into '''Merchant''' (gains use of lances in addition to bows) or '''Mechanist''' (see the below class category) classes respectively. \\\
Related are the class families '''Lord''' and '''Tireur d'elite''', exclusive to Alcryst, and class families '''Sentinel''' and '''Cupido''', exclusive to Fogato, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'', which all classes wield bows and Cupido also wielding swords.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Gordin, Castor, Wolf, Sedgar, Jeorge, Tomas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Python, Leon (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Ryan, Warren (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Jamke, Briggid, Febail/Asaello (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Tanya, Ronan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Wolt, Dorothy, Sue, Sin, Klein, Igrene, Dayan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Wil, Rath, Rebecca, Louise (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Neimi, Innes (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Rolf, Shinon (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Leonardo (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Norne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Robert, Beck (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Virion, Noire (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'') Setsuna, Takumi, Midori, Kiragi (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Bernadetta, Ashe, Ignatz, Shamir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Etie, Alcryst, Fogado (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Archer
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/771g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Archers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/880g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Snipers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/949g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesherbmerchantportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Apothecary in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesgreatmerchantportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Merchant in ''Fates'']]
Lightly armored soldiers wielding bows. Archers don't have much in the way of defense or other related stats, but that's the thing -- that's not why they exist. They're supposed to take down the enemy from afar using their bows, and if you're throwing them into the thick of things, you're doing it wrong. They Class Change into the '''Sniper''' class, then again to the '''Bow Knight''' class in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' or the '''Marksman''' class in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''. \\\
Also introduced alongside Archers are the '''Hunter''' class, exclusive to the Archanea games and as an enemy-exclusive class in the Jugdral games. Hunters are shady bowmen with higher speed but lower defense and who have the ability to traverse forest terrain easier; they Class Change to '''Horseman'''[[note]]In the very first game, they were two, separate classes, but unified in ''Mystery of the Emblem''[[/note]], the mounted, near-identical progenitor of an endless line of [[BowAndSwordInAccord bow-and-sword-using]] mounted classes like the Ranger, Bow Knight, and Nomadic Trooper. The DS remakes allow Horsemen to wield swords in addition to bows.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'', Archers are demoted into a {{mook|s}} class, and replaced by '''Bow Fighters''' who fulfill the same role.\\\
Exclusive to ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'' are the '''Nomad''' class, which is basically a Bow Knight endemic to Sacae, a FantasyCounterpartCulture of various Eurasian steppe tribes, making them quite distinct from the knightly and European-esque Cavaliers. Like Hunters, they have no movement restrictions in forest terrain. They class change into the '''Nomadic Trooper''', where they can use swords as a secondary weapon.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', they can alternatively choose to Class Change into '''Ranger''' and '''Bow Knight''' respectively, gaining the ability to wield BowAndSwordInAccord as well.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Archers can Class Change to the '''Sniper''' class or branch into the flying mounted '''Kinshi Knight''' class. It also got a slower-but-stronger variant named the '''Apothecary''', which can Class Change into '''Merchant''' (gains use of lances in addition to bows) or '''Mechanist''' (see the below class category) classes respectively. \\\
Related are the class families '''Lord''' and '''Tireur d'elite''', exclusive to Alcryst, and class families '''Sentinel''' and '''Cupido''', exclusive to Fogato, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'', which all classes wield bows and Cupido also wielding swords.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Gordin, Castor, Wolf, Sedgar, Jeorge, Tomas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Python, Leon (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Ryan, Warren (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Jamke, Briggid, Febail/Asaello (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Tanya, Ronan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Wolt, Dorothy, Sue, Sin, Klein, Igrene, Dayan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Wil, Rath, Rebecca, Louise (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Neimi, Innes (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Rolf, Shinon (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Leonardo (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Norne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Robert, Beck (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Virion, Noire (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'') Setsuna, Takumi, Midori, Kiragi (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Bernadetta, Ashe, Ignatz, Shamir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Etie, Alcryst, Fogado (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Archer
!!Dark Mage/Shaman
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesherbmerchantportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Apothecary in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesgreatmerchantportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Merchant in ''Fates'']]
Lightly armored soldiers wielding bows. Archers don't have much
A somewhat uncommon offensive magic class, Dark Mages (also known as Shamans in the
Also introduced alongside Archers are the '''Hunter''' class,
Related are the class families '''Lord''' and '''Tireur d'elite''',
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''
Changed line(s) 472,509 (click to see context) from:
* AchillesHeel: Whether or not mounted archers are affected by Horse-slaying weapons varies by game. The only ones with a clear reason to not get this weakness are Mechanists, because their mounts are artificial.
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Deadeye/Sure Strike, the Sniper and Marksman's mastery skill. It's a bit of a PowerupLetdown, in that by the point they have access to it, a Sniper/Marksman will have such high Skill that they don't ''need'' an accuracy boost. Skills like Hit Rate +20 ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which increases hit rate by 20]]) and Certain Blow (increasing hit rate by 40 when the user attacks first) were more useful in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', as they allow units to dip into other classes for their skills.
* AlwaysMale: Archers in ''Echoes'' is locked to males so Faye and female units that used the Pitchfork cannot get access to it.
* AntiAir: The role they excel greatly at is punishing enemy fliers that try to rush into their territory with their high movement range.
* CastFromMoney: Merchants get ''Spendthrift'', a skill that increases the damage they deal and reduces the damage they take at the cost of a Gold Bar in the user's inventory.
* CompositeCharacter: The modern version of the archer class is a composite of the original Archer class and the Bow Fighter, their SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute in the Jugdral games. Starting from ''Binding Blade'', Archers have the name of the original archer class, but like Bow Fighters wear casual clothes and have good movement.
* CripplingOverspecialisation: By design, they can only attack over distances, and as such are incapable of retaliation when attacked at close-quarters. As a result, this means that they can get boxed in from all four directions with no way of escaping, effectively trapping them.
** Some games tried to alleviate this. In ''Gaiden'', they are allowed to perform regular attacks and counters at melee range, while in ''Radiant Dawn'', crossbows[[note]]fixed-damage weapons that as a result are generally inferior to bows, which take strength into account, except against flying units, since, due to their ludicrous weapon might that gets tripled against flying units, they can instantly kill pretty much anything that flies, ''including [[GameBreaker Tibarn]]''[[/note]] and the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Double Bow]] can be used both in close-quarters and over a distance[[note]]though the Double Bow has halved accuracy when used at close range[[/note]]. ''Three Houses'' grants Close Counter for those with C rank in bows.
** For this reason, Archers and Snipers functioning as bosses are extremely rare; one of the few, in ''Radiant Dawn'', wields a crossbow. On other occasions, such as in ''Blazing Blade'', they're bosses in siege maps with lots of walls and a need for the player to stay put while the enemy comes to them. In the ''Conquest'' route of ''Fates'', Takumi, a Sniper, is fought several times with Point Blank (which allows user to attack at 1 range with bows), while other enemy archers can carry 1-2 range bows that are enemy-only, especially in harder difficulties. [[spoiler:As the final boss in the ''Conquest'' campaign, Takumi wields a bow that can hit from 1-4 range.]]
* CriticalHitClass: Snipers in the Tellius games and ''Fates'' gain a critical boost, while the latter also increases hit rate.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Speed, a skill that boosts speed by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DemotedToExtra: Archers are an enemy-exclusive {{Mook}} class in ''Thracia 776''. Bow Fighter, however, fulfills the same role, and class changes to Sniper.
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: In the NES/SNES titles, Archers wear heavy armor with helmets, instead of wearing light clothing with a bare head. Starting from the GBA titles, Archers switched to short sleeved and went helmet-less. This applies even in the DS remakes of the Archanea games, where Archers still have stats similar to a MightyGlacier.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** In the ''Archanea'' games'', Archers wear full armor including face-concealing helmets. They also have high defense, the same movement stat as Knights and posess the same terrain restrictions as knights. Upon promoting to Sniper, gained notably more movement, losing their terrain restrictions and [[HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic the helmet]].
** In ''Gaiden'', Archers start with 1-3 range, and can improve it even further by class change or using a non-basic bow, reaching a maximum of 5 spaces. To make up for this, Bows usually have a low hit rate and the playable Archers also tend to have poorer stats.
** In ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'', Archers are a {{Mook}} class with terrible stats, while Bow Fighters are the playable class that class changes into Sniper.
* {{Foil}}: In the early games, the hunter class was one to them. Whilst both are infantry bow users, archers are armored, defensive slow and associated with the military, Hunters in contrast, wear little clothes, fragile, fast and associated with freelancers/criminals.
* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic:
** In the Archanea titles, Archers wear face-concealing helmets, which they ditch upon advancing to the more powerful sniper class.
** In the Jugdral games, the playable bow fighters forego helmets, but their weaker counterparts, Archers, wear helmets.
* HitAndRunTactics: Bow Knights can move again with their remaining movement after performing an action (including attacking) in the Jugdral and Tellius games and ''Three Houses''. In the GBA games, they can only move again if they use a non-attacking command.
* HorseArcher: The Bow Knight and its variants, the Nomad and the Ranger, get to shoot from horseback. Games featuring branched promotions usually will have this as an alternative to the Sniper, who makes up for the lower mobility with higher stat caps and the ability to use SiegeEngines.
* LongRangeFighter: Archers and Snipers can only attack from range and are defenseless in close quarters. Exceptions include ''Gaiden'' (where [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness archers can attack both in melee and from extreme range]]), crossbows and the Double Bow in ''Radiant Dawn'', various special bows and yumis in ''Fates'', and archers with the Point Blank skill[[note]]which lets the user attack with bows at 1-2 range[[/note]] and Close Counter[[note]]similar to Point Blank, but only works on the enemy phase[[/note]].
** ''Echoes'' and ''Three Houses'' give Archers and Snipers Bow Range +1 as a class skill, while Bow Knights get Bow Range +2. This means that they will always outrange any units (except for magic units wielding extreme-range spells such as Meteor), avoiding being counter attacked by other ranged options like Javelins, magic, or non-Archer bow units.
** In ''Radiant Dawn'' and ''Three Houses'', bows lose accuracy when they attack units from a very far distance. As archers in those games can potentially have longer range than 2, they'll receive a massive accuracy reduction from said further distances. ''Three Houses'', however, compensated with Archers getting Hit Rate +20 upon mastering their class.
** In some games, like ''New Mystery'' and ''Awakening'', longbows can only be wielded by Archers and Snipers, giving them a niche to other bow-wielding classes, like Assassins and Bow Knights, by shooting from afar without any fear of counterattack from bows, javelins, hand axes, and magic.
* JackOfAllStats: They generally have well-balanced stats, albeit with an emphasis on Skill to complement the high hit rate of bows.
* JoustingLance: Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' wield lances as well as bows.
* MasterArcher: Snipers are seasoned archers known for their high marksmanship. Snipers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Bowfaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding bows. Snipers and Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' also gain Bowfaire as a class skill.
* MechanicallyUnusualClass: The Apothecary and Merchant are very gimmicky classes. Their stat build makes them MightyGlacier compared to Snipers and their skills are based on their profession. The Apothecary's skills, ''Potent Potion'' and ''Quick Salve'', [[ItemAmplifier increases the effectiveness of vulneraries and tonics, and allow the unit to perform another action after using such items]], respectively. And the Merchant's skills, ''Profiteer'' and ''Spendthrift'', gives them a Gold Bar based on their Luck stat and allow them to spend them to increase their attack and defense, respectively.
* {{Mooks}}: The role of Archers in ''Thracia 776'' is weak enemy soldiers while Bow Fighters take their playable spot.
* NoArcInArchery: Until ''Shadows of Valentia'', no ''Fire Emblem'' game depicted archers or other bow users as arcing their shot. Could be considered a subversion, however, in that generally units are too close for arcing to be needed: the ballista users, who do fire at that kind of range, are generally shown firing at an angle. In addition, since arrows can be shot over walls in most games, one can only assume that, while it's not shown in the animation, their shots are being arced there.
* SecretArt: Snipers in ''Three Houses'' get Hunter's Volley, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to them. It allows them to strike twice consecutively with an increased chance to deal critical hits.
* SiegeEngines: In several games, usually when Ballisticans are absent, there are ballistae and similar weapons on the field in certain maps which only archers can use. In ''Fates'', anybody who can use bows can use these map ballistae, and other siege weapons are available to units with other weapons.
* StatusBuff: Bow Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Rally Skill, which gives a boost to skill to allies when commanded.
* WeakButSkilled: Bows are usually much weaker than other weapons, but make up for it with very high hit rates. Averted in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, where they have very low hit rate to balance out their massive range, and ''Fates'' where [[BalanceBuff they received a massive buff to their might]], only beaten by axes, while still remaining fairly accurate.
* WeaponTwirling: In many games, archers will twirl the arrow in their hands before shooting when scoring a critical hit.
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Deadeye/Sure Strike, the Sniper and Marksman's mastery skill. It's a bit of a PowerupLetdown, in that by the point they have access to it, a Sniper/Marksman will have such high Skill that they don't ''need'' an accuracy boost. Skills like Hit Rate +20 ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which increases hit rate by 20]]) and Certain Blow (increasing hit rate by 40 when the user attacks first) were more useful in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', as they allow units to dip into other classes for their skills.
* AlwaysMale: Archers in ''Echoes'' is locked to males so Faye and female units that used the Pitchfork cannot get access to it.
* AntiAir: The role they excel greatly at is punishing enemy fliers that try to rush into their territory with their high movement range.
* CastFromMoney: Merchants get ''Spendthrift'', a skill that increases the damage they deal and reduces the damage they take at the cost of a Gold Bar in the user's inventory.
* CompositeCharacter: The modern version of the archer class is a composite of the original Archer class and the Bow Fighter, their SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute in the Jugdral games. Starting from ''Binding Blade'', Archers have the name of the original archer class, but like Bow Fighters wear casual clothes and have good movement.
* CripplingOverspecialisation: By design, they can only attack over distances, and as such are incapable of retaliation when attacked at close-quarters. As a result, this means that they can get boxed in from all four directions with no way of escaping, effectively trapping them.
** Some games tried to alleviate this. In ''Gaiden'', they are allowed to perform regular attacks and counters at melee range, while in ''Radiant Dawn'', crossbows[[note]]fixed-damage weapons that as a result are generally inferior to bows, which take strength into account, except against flying units, since, due to their ludicrous weapon might that gets tripled against flying units, they can instantly kill pretty much anything that flies, ''including [[GameBreaker Tibarn]]''[[/note]] and the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Double Bow]] can be used both in close-quarters and over a distance[[note]]though the Double Bow has halved accuracy when used at close range[[/note]]. ''Three Houses'' grants Close Counter for those with C rank in bows.
** For this reason, Archers and Snipers functioning as bosses are extremely rare; one of the few, in ''Radiant Dawn'', wields a crossbow. On other occasions, such as in ''Blazing Blade'', they're bosses in siege maps with lots of walls and a need for the player to stay put while the enemy comes to them. In the ''Conquest'' route of ''Fates'', Takumi, a Sniper, is fought several times with Point Blank (which allows user to attack at 1 range with bows), while other enemy archers can carry 1-2 range bows that are enemy-only, especially in harder difficulties. [[spoiler:As the final boss in the ''Conquest'' campaign, Takumi wields a bow that can hit from 1-4 range.]]
* CriticalHitClass: Snipers in the Tellius games and ''Fates'' gain a critical boost, while the latter also increases hit rate.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Speed, a skill that boosts speed by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DemotedToExtra: Archers are an enemy-exclusive {{Mook}} class in ''Thracia 776''. Bow Fighter, however, fulfills the same role, and class changes to Sniper.
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: In the NES/SNES titles, Archers wear heavy armor with helmets, instead of wearing light clothing with a bare head. Starting from the GBA titles, Archers switched to short sleeved and went helmet-less. This applies even in the DS remakes of the Archanea games, where Archers still have stats similar to a MightyGlacier.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** In the ''Archanea'' games'', Archers wear full armor including face-concealing helmets. They also have high defense, the same movement stat as Knights and posess the same terrain restrictions as knights. Upon promoting to Sniper, gained notably more movement, losing their terrain restrictions and [[HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic the helmet]].
** In ''Gaiden'', Archers start with 1-3 range, and can improve it even further by class change or using a non-basic bow, reaching a maximum of 5 spaces. To make up for this, Bows usually have a low hit rate and the playable Archers also tend to have poorer stats.
** In ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'', Archers are a {{Mook}} class with terrible stats, while Bow Fighters are the playable class that class changes into Sniper.
* {{Foil}}: In the early games, the hunter class was one to them. Whilst both are infantry bow users, archers are armored, defensive slow and associated with the military, Hunters in contrast, wear little clothes, fragile, fast and associated with freelancers/criminals.
* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic:
** In the Archanea titles, Archers wear face-concealing helmets, which they ditch upon advancing to the more powerful sniper class.
** In the Jugdral games, the playable bow fighters forego helmets, but their weaker counterparts, Archers, wear helmets.
* HitAndRunTactics: Bow Knights can move again with their remaining movement after performing an action (including attacking) in the Jugdral and Tellius games and ''Three Houses''. In the GBA games, they can only move again if they use a non-attacking command.
* HorseArcher: The Bow Knight and its variants, the Nomad and the Ranger, get to shoot from horseback. Games featuring branched promotions usually will have this as an alternative to the Sniper, who makes up for the lower mobility with higher stat caps and the ability to use SiegeEngines.
* LongRangeFighter: Archers and Snipers can only attack from range and are defenseless in close quarters. Exceptions include ''Gaiden'' (where [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness archers can attack both in melee and from extreme range]]), crossbows and the Double Bow in ''Radiant Dawn'', various special bows and yumis in ''Fates'', and archers with the Point Blank skill[[note]]which lets the user attack with bows at 1-2 range[[/note]] and Close Counter[[note]]similar to Point Blank, but only works on the enemy phase[[/note]].
** ''Echoes'' and ''Three Houses'' give Archers and Snipers Bow Range +1 as a class skill, while Bow Knights get Bow Range +2. This means that they will always outrange any units (except for magic units wielding extreme-range spells such as Meteor), avoiding being counter attacked by other ranged options like Javelins, magic, or non-Archer bow units.
** In ''Radiant Dawn'' and ''Three Houses'', bows lose accuracy when they attack units from a very far distance. As archers in those games can potentially have longer range than 2, they'll receive a massive accuracy reduction from said further distances. ''Three Houses'', however, compensated with Archers getting Hit Rate +20 upon mastering their class.
** In some games, like ''New Mystery'' and ''Awakening'', longbows can only be wielded by Archers and Snipers, giving them a niche to other bow-wielding classes, like Assassins and Bow Knights, by shooting from afar without any fear of counterattack from bows, javelins, hand axes, and magic.
* JackOfAllStats: They generally have well-balanced stats, albeit with an emphasis on Skill to complement the high hit rate of bows.
* JoustingLance: Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' wield lances as well as bows.
* MasterArcher: Snipers are seasoned archers known for their high marksmanship. Snipers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Bowfaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding bows. Snipers and Bow Knights in ''Three Houses'' also gain Bowfaire as a class skill.
* MechanicallyUnusualClass: The Apothecary and Merchant are very gimmicky classes. Their stat build makes them MightyGlacier compared to Snipers and their skills are based on their profession. The Apothecary's skills, ''Potent Potion'' and ''Quick Salve'', [[ItemAmplifier increases the effectiveness of vulneraries and tonics, and allow the unit to perform another action after using such items]], respectively. And the Merchant's skills, ''Profiteer'' and ''Spendthrift'', gives them a Gold Bar based on their Luck stat and allow them to spend them to increase their attack and defense, respectively.
* {{Mooks}}: The role of Archers in ''Thracia 776'' is weak enemy soldiers while Bow Fighters take their playable spot.
* NoArcInArchery: Until ''Shadows of Valentia'', no ''Fire Emblem'' game depicted archers or other bow users as arcing their shot. Could be considered a subversion, however, in that generally units are too close for arcing to be needed: the ballista users, who do fire at that kind of range, are generally shown firing at an angle. In addition, since arrows can be shot over walls in most games, one can only assume that, while it's not shown in the animation, their shots are being arced there.
* SecretArt: Snipers in ''Three Houses'' get Hunter's Volley, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to them. It allows them to strike twice consecutively with an increased chance to deal critical hits.
* SiegeEngines: In several games, usually when Ballisticans are absent, there are ballistae and similar weapons on the field in certain maps which only archers can use. In ''Fates'', anybody who can use bows can use these map ballistae, and other siege weapons are available to units with other weapons.
* StatusBuff: Bow Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Rally Skill, which gives a boost to skill to allies when commanded.
* WeakButSkilled: Bows are usually much weaker than other weapons, but make up for it with very high hit rates. Averted in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, where they have very low hit rate to balance out their massive range, and ''Fates'' where [[BalanceBuff they received a massive buff to their might]], only beaten by axes, while still remaining fairly accurate.
* WeaponTwirling: In many games, archers will twirl the arrow in their hands before shooting when scoring a critical hit.
to:
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Deadeye/Sure Strike, the Sniper and Marksman's mastery skill. It's a bit of a PowerupLetdown, in that by the point they have access to it, a Sniper/Marksman will have such high Skill that they don't ''need'' an accuracy boost. Skills like Hit Rate +20 ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin which increases hit rate by 20]]) and Certain Blow (increasing hit rate by 40 when the user attacks first) were more useful in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', as they allow units to dip into other classes for their skills.
* AlwaysMale:
* AntiAir: The role they excel greatly at is punishing enemy fliers that try to rush into their territory with their high movement range.
* CastFromMoney: Merchants get ''Spendthrift'', a skill that increases the damage they deal and reduces the damage they take at the cost of a Gold Bar
* CompositeCharacter: The modern version of the archer class is a composite of the original Archer class and the Bow Fighter, their SuspiciouslySimilarSubstitute in the Jugdral games. Starting from ''Binding Blade'', Archers have the name of the original archer class, but like Bow Fighters wear casual clothes and have good movement.
* CripplingOverspecialisation: By design, they can only attack over distances, and as such are incapable of retaliation when attacked at close-quarters. As a result, this means that they can get boxed in from all four directions with no way of escaping, effectively trapping them.
** Some games tried to alleviate this. In ''Gaiden'', they are allowed to perform regular attacks and counters at melee range, while in ''Radiant Dawn'', crossbows[[note]]fixed-damage weapons that as a result are generally inferior to bows, which take strength into account, except against flying units, since, due to their ludicrous weapon might that gets tripled against flying units, they can instantly kill pretty much anything that flies, ''including [[GameBreaker Tibarn]]''[[/note]] and the [[InfinityPlusOneSword Double Bow]] can be used both in close-quarters and over a distance[[note]]though the Double Bow has halved accuracy when used at close range[[/note]].
** For this reason, Archers and Snipers functioning as bosses
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Luna spell in ''Blazing Blade'',
* BlackKnight: The Dark Knight class, which is basically a new version of Mage Knight.
* CastingAShadow: Dark magic is essentially this. Also, while they have often been portrayed as the
* CriticalHitClass: Snipers in the Tellius
* CriticalStatusBuff: Bow
* CoolHelmet: Dark Knights typically wear menacing-looking helmets. ''Awakening'' gives them a visor that resembles the Fell Dragon Grima, ''Fates'' gives them skull-faced helmets, and ''Three Houses'' features a four-horned demon on theirs.
* CoolMask: Dark Mages and Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' wear crow masks modelled after plague doctors.
* CriticalHitClass: In ''Fates'', Sorcerors have a small critical hit bonus.
* CriticalStatusBuff: The ''Vengeance'' skill, which increases the user's damage based on half of the user's missing HP, making it very powerful when the user is nearly dead. It also has the highest activation rate at Skill x2 (x1.5 in ''Fates''), so it is easy for it to activate.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: The mastery skill
*
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: In the NES/SNES titles, Archers wear heavy armor with helmets, instead of wearing light clothing with a bare head. Starting from the GBA titles, Archers switched to short sleeved and went helmet-less. This applies even
* DarkIsNotEvil: And Canas ''will'' make a point of reminding you of that fact. However, Dark magic users still tend to be [[DarkIsEvil major]] [[EvilSorcerer enemies]] in several games in the series nonetheless. ''Gaiden'', both Jugdral games,
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** In
* DealWithTheDevil: Often, to gain the
* DiscardAndDraw:
** Dark Mages promoting
**
* {{Expy}}: Dark Druid Nergal and Necromancer Lyon's classes are based upon the Druid and Summoner classes, respectively, but more powerful. Dark Druid also serves as an {{expy}} and {{foil}} to Athos's Archsage class.
* GatheringSteam: Dark Knight in ''Awakening'' has the skill Slow Burn, which gives them hit and avoid after a turn has pass, up
* HighCollarOfDoom: Dark Knights have these to add to their menacing appearances.
* HPToOne: Several dark magic across the series can cause this effect (sometimes from a
** In ''Genealogy
* InTheHood: Almost every similar unit wears a heavy hood completely obscuring their face.
* LifeDrain:
** In the games where Nosferatu isn't Light magic, Dark Mages are instead able to wield it, enabling them to absorb their enemies' HP.
** Dark Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' and Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' get Lifetaker, which heals 50% of their HP after defeating an enemy.
* MightyGlacier: Dark Mages are significantly slower than Mages and have worse Skill, but generally have relatively equal magical attack and much better defense. Technically averted by Dark Mages in ''Fates'', where the class is basically just the Nohrian counterpart to the Diviner, itself an {{Expy}} of the standard Mage, with the added ability of wielding the game's sole dark magic tome, Nosferatu.
* NonindicativeName: Despite their name and appearance, Dark Knights are not actually capable of using dark magic unless they have the Shadowgift skill, instead being just another name for the Mage Knight. The only exception to this might be Leo, as his Brynhildr tome is stated to be dark magic, although he still can't use Nosferatu unless he reclasses into a Sorcerer. Finally remedied in ''Three Houses'' where Dark Knights has Dark Tomefaire as their class skill and dark magic is based on character instead of being restricted to the class itself.
* PoisonedWeapon:
** Jormungand in ''Thracia
* {{Foil}}: In the early games, the hunter class was one to them. Whilst both are infantry bow users, archers are armored, defensive slow and associated
* HelmetsAreHardlyHeroic:
** In the Archanea titles, Archers wear face-concealing helmets, which they ditch upon advancing to the more powerful sniper class.
** In the Jugdral games, the playable bow fighters forego helmets,
* HitAndRunTactics: Bow Knights can move again with their remaining movement after performing an action (including attacking)
** Dark Mages in
* HorseArcher: The Bow Knight and its variants, the Nomad and the Ranger, get to shoot from horseback. Games featuring branched promotions usually will have this as an alternative to the Sniper, who makes up for the lower mobility with higher stat caps and the ability to use SiegeEngines.
*
** Apocalypse, one of the
** Ginnungagap in ''Fates'',
** ''Echoes'' and ''Three Houses'' give Archers and Snipers Bow Range +1 as
* RedMage: Typically, after class
** In ''Radiant Dawn'' and ''Three Houses'', bows lose accuracy when they attack units
** In some games, like ''New Mystery'' and ''Awakening'', longbows can only be wielded by Archers and Snipers, giving them a niche to other bow-wielding classes, like Assassins and Bow Knights, by shooting from afar without any fear
* ShouldersOfDoom: The pauldrons of
* JackOfAllStats: They generally have well-balanced stats, albeit with an emphasis on Skill to complement
* JoustingLance: Bow
* MasterArcher: Snipers
* {{Stripperiffic}}: Dark Mages and Sorcerers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates''
* SummonMagic: The Cantor, Summoner, and the Necromancer can summon units to fight for them.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Seal Magic, which
* StatusBuff: Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' gain Fiendish Blow as a class skill, which increases their
* UniqueEnemy:
** Inverted in ''Sacred Stones'', as you never encounter enemy Summoners. In addition, Necromancers (read: Lyon) never use their summon ability as enemies, while they can summon Phantoms in the player's hands.
** Zigzagged with ''Radiant Dawn'', as there are enemy-only Druids that appear sporadically in the game, usually Part 3 and
** Zigzagged with the DS remakes, as while Etzel is a playable Sorcerer (the advanced version of Dark Mage), you never encounter a playable Dark Mage without reclassing one of your units. In addition, in ''Shadow Dragon'', you never encounter any enemy Dark Mages outside of side chapters, besides [[TheDragon Gharnef]].
* WeaponSpecialization: Dark Knights in ''Three Houses''
* MechanicallyUnusualClass: The Apothecary and Merchant are very gimmicky classes. Their stat build makes them MightyGlacier compared to Snipers and their skills are based
* {{Mooks}}: The role of Archers in ''Thracia 776'' is weak enemy soldiers while Bow Fighters take their playable spot.
* NoArcInArchery: Until ''Shadows of Valentia'', no ''Fire Emblem'' game depicted archers or other bow users as arcing their shot. Could be considered a subversion, however, in that generally units are too close for arcing to be needed: the ballista users, who do fire at that kind of range, are generally shown firing at an angle. In addition, since arrows can be shot over walls in most games, one can only assume that, while it's not shown in the animation, their shots are being arced there.
* SecretArt: Snipers in ''Three Houses'' get Hunter's Volley, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to them. It allows them to strike twice consecutively with an increased chance to deal critical hits.
* SiegeEngines: In several games, usually when Ballisticans are absent, there are ballistae and similar weapons on the field in certain maps which only archers can use. In ''Fates'', anybody who can use bows can use these map ballistae, and other siege weapons are available to units with other weapons.
* StatusBuff: Bow Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Rally Skill, which gives a boost to skill to allies when commanded.
* WeakButSkilled: Bows are usually much weaker than other weapons, but make up for it with very high hit rates. Averted in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, where
* WeaponTwirling: In many games, archers will twirl
Changed line(s) 512,529 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Ballistician (''Shooter'') and Mechanist]]
!!Ballistician (''Shooter'') and Mechanist
[[quoteright:248:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_ballistician_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:248:Ballistician in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:248:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_mechanist_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:248:Mechanist in ''Fates'']]
'''Ballisticians''' are a class which appears mainly in the Archanea and Jugdral canon. This class exclusively uses SiegeEngines, an ability which in other games is available just to Archers (who can temporarily make use of siege engines that are available in certain maps, and generally restricted to certain areas due to having their movement stifled by advanced terrain such as forests).\\\
In the Archanea titles, Ballistician is a playable class that can use a wide variety of different ballistas to bombard opponents from afar. In the Jugdral games, Ballisticians are split into weapon specific variants that each only wield the ballista they are named after (such as killer Ballisticans only using a killer ballista). All these variants are immobile and enemy exclusive.\\\
Ballisticians reappear in ''Fates'' as a male-only DLC class, riding in what is essentially a medieval tank.\\\
'''Mechanists''' are a class introduced in ''Fates'', serving as a class change option for '''Ninja''' and '''Apothecary'''. They are archers riding on a puppet mount that are able to use shuriken in addition to bows. Mechanists also have the strange ability to duplicate themselves, somewhat similar to a '''Summoner''', except that the duplicate is a direct extension of the Mechanist rather than a separate unit.\\\
'''Mage Cannoneer''' are a class introduced in ''Engage'' as DLC, armored units that wield magic cannons to strike from afar.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Jake and Beck (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Yukimura (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'')
!!Ballistician (''Shooter'') and Mechanist
[[quoteright:248:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_ballistician_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:248:Ballistician in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:248:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_mechanist_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:248:Mechanist in ''Fates'']]
'''Ballisticians''' are a class which appears mainly in the Archanea and Jugdral canon. This class exclusively uses SiegeEngines, an ability which in other games is available just to Archers (who can temporarily make use of siege engines that are available in certain maps, and generally restricted to certain areas due to having their movement stifled by advanced terrain such as forests).\\\
In the Archanea titles, Ballistician is a playable class that can use a wide variety of different ballistas to bombard opponents from afar. In the Jugdral games, Ballisticians are split into weapon specific variants that each only wield the ballista they are named after (such as killer Ballisticans only using a killer ballista). All these variants are immobile and enemy exclusive.\\\
Ballisticians reappear in ''Fates'' as a male-only DLC class, riding in what is essentially a medieval tank.\\\
'''Mechanists''' are a class introduced in ''Fates'', serving as a class change option for '''Ninja''' and '''Apothecary'''. They are archers riding on a puppet mount that are able to use shuriken in addition to bows. Mechanists also have the strange ability to duplicate themselves, somewhat similar to a '''Summoner''', except that the duplicate is a direct extension of the Mechanist rather than a separate unit.\\\
'''Mage Cannoneer''' are a class introduced in ''Engage'' as DLC, armored units that wield magic cannons to strike from afar.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Jake and Beck (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Yukimura (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'')
to:
!!Ballistician (''Shooter'') and Mechanist
[[quoteright:248:https://static.
!!Troubadour
[[quoteright:164:https://static.tvtropes.
'''Ballisticians''' are a
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hvalkyrie.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Valkyries in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/974g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
A female-exclusive WhiteMage class introduced in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' which
Ballisticians reappear in ''Fates''
Changed line(s) 531,539 (click to see context) from:
* CripplingOverspecialisation: Ballisticians are unable to counterattack at all in all but the NES version of ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''Fates''.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first incarnation of Ballisticians in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' have the same attack range as archers, but with more bulk, making them essentially Bow Armors with exclusive weapons.
* LongRangeFighter: Ballisticians are an exaggerated version of this, as they can attack from 3-9 squares in a game where other ranged units have 2 range.
* MarionetteMaster: The Mechanist rides a Karakuri and use barely visible strings to make them both move and fire projectiles from their mouth.
* PowerAtAPrice: The Mage Cannoneer's Let Fly skill allows them to hit a cross shape area at the start of their next turn with their current cannon at the cost of consuming that cannon.
* SelfDuplication: The Mechanist class has the ''Replicate'' skill, which creates a completely identical clone of the user. Both units affect each other, like sharing the same HP and the same equipped weapon; should one die, the other will disappear as well.
* SiegeEngines: While other classes can use ballistae and similar weapons, Ballisticians and Mechanists are ''always'' using a siege engine. The Ballistician class in ''Fates'' ride in their own personal medieval "tank", which functions as a mobile ballista.
* StatusEffect: The Mage Cannoneers, besides having physical and magical cannons, also have access to cannons that inflict status effects on the target if it hits, such as Poison and Freeze.
* TankGoodness: The Ballistician in ''Fates''' rides a giant wooden tank that fires arrows.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first incarnation of Ballisticians in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' have the same attack range as archers, but with more bulk, making them essentially Bow Armors with exclusive weapons.
* LongRangeFighter: Ballisticians are an exaggerated version of this, as they can attack from 3-9 squares in a game where other ranged units have 2 range.
* MarionetteMaster: The Mechanist rides a Karakuri and use barely visible strings to make them both move and fire projectiles from their mouth.
* PowerAtAPrice: The Mage Cannoneer's Let Fly skill allows them to hit a cross shape area at the start of their next turn with their current cannon at the cost of consuming that cannon.
* SelfDuplication: The Mechanist class has the ''Replicate'' skill, which creates a completely identical clone of the user. Both units affect each other, like sharing the same HP and the same equipped weapon; should one die, the other will disappear as well.
* SiegeEngines: While other classes can use ballistae and similar weapons, Ballisticians and Mechanists are ''always'' using a siege engine. The Ballistician class in ''Fates'' ride in their own personal medieval "tank", which functions as a mobile ballista.
* StatusEffect: The Mage Cannoneers, besides having physical and magical cannons, also have access to cannons that inflict status effects on the target if it hits, such as Poison and Freeze.
* TankGoodness: The Ballistician in ''Fates''' rides a giant wooden tank that fires arrows.
to:
* CripplingOverspecialisation: Ballisticians AchillesHeel: Like Cavaliers, they are unable vulnerable to counterattack at Horse-slaying weapons... except in ''Binding Blade'' and ''Path of Radiance'', where they are unaffected by Horse-slaying weapons, presumably due to an oversight.
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Valkryies in ''Three Houses'' gain ''Uncanny Blow'' upon mastering the class. It gives 30 extra hit when attacking.
* AlwaysFemale: Except in ''Fates'', all troubadours/valkyries were female. Female-exclusive Valkyries are entirely consistent with Norse mythology constantly referenced inall the series, but "troubadour" was a name for a male bard historically.
* AutomatonHorses: Their horses are only seen in combat.
* BattleButler: The Butler class.
* BlackMage: Unlike most depictions of theNES version of ''Shadow Dragon'' class, ''Three Houses'' grants the class skills that focus on the strictly offensive black and ''Fates''.
dark magic spells. They can still use white magic and it is one of their proficiencies, but this incarnation is meant to be the offensive mage rider in contrast to the Holy Knight. Interestingly, this makes them a female counterpart to the Dark Knight, which also focuses on black and dark magic (the Tomefaire variants specifically).
* CastingAShadow: Of a sort. In a first for the series, ''Three Houses'' grants them a skill to extend the range of the user's dark magic spells, making them the only other class that females can access besides Gremory with some sort of dark magic skill.
* CombatMedic: Valkyries have offensive magic/the use of swords in addition to healing with staves. In the Jugdral games, troubadours can use swords from the start. In ''Fates'', they gain shuriken/daggers as their weapons as Maids and Butlers. In ''Three Houses'', Holy Knights can wield lances and have native access to White Tomefaire.
* CoolHorse: Troubadours are always mounted on them.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Resistance, a skill that boosts resistance by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:The first incarnation of Ballisticians Valkyries were called "Paladins" in ''Shadow Dragon Jugdral. They were wisely renamed Valkyries with the GBA installments to avoid confusion with regular Paladins, especially female ones like Midia.
* GenderBlenderName: Despite the class being all-female until ''Fates'', actual real-life troubadours (who were poets, not magical mounted staff users) were exclusively male, and theBlade female term is Troubaritz. Strangely, these sorts of Light'' have real-life Troubadours ''actually exist'' in the same ''Fire Emblem'' universe as well, at least in the Tellius series[[note]]which lacks the unprompted Troubadour class; its sole Valkyrie, Mist, starts out as a Cleric[[/note]], as the ending of ''Path of Radiance'' mentions troubadours and one of the early chapter narrations for ''Radiant Dawn'' includes the phrase "or so the troubadours sing".
* HitAndRunTactics: Troubadours and Valkyries in the Jugdral and Tellius games can attackrange as archers, but or heal and then move again with more bulk, making them essentially Bow Armors with exclusive weapons.
their remaining movement. Troubadours in the GBA games can only move again if they use a non-attacking or non-healing command.
*LongRangeFighter: Ballisticians LightEmUp: The Valkyries in ''Sacred Stones'' and Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' excel in light magic. Holy Knights are an exaggerated version of this, highly specialized in Faith magic, as they can attack from 3-9 squares in a game where other ranged units have 2 range.
* MarionetteMaster: The Mechanist rides a Karakuri and use barely visible strings to make them both move and fire projectiles fromgain White Tomefaire, which increases their mouth.
damage by 5.
*PowerAtAPrice: The Mage Cannoneer's Let Fly skill MageKiller: Their high Resistance stat allows them to hit a cross shape area at deal with enemy mages. Maids and Butlers get the start of Tomebreaker skill and the ability to use shuriken/daggers, the latter being effective against tomes in ''Fates''[='=] Weapon Triangle[[note]]tomes share their next turn place with swords, while hidden weapons share their place with lances[[/note]] and targets [[SquishyWizard their usually weak defense stat]].
* MagicKnight: The Holy Knights excel in faith magic and lances. In addition, they have White Tomefaire as their class skill, increasing their damage by 5 when using faith magic like Nosferatu and Aura.
* TheMedic: Their main battlefield role.
* NinjaMaid: The Maid class, exemplified with theircurrent cannon at the cost of consuming that cannon.
combat style and shurikens as their weapons.
*SelfDuplication: The Mechanist class has the ''Replicate'' skill, which creates a completely identical clone ThePaladin: An ''actual'' depiction of the user. Both units affect each other, like sharing Paladin in the same HP and form of the same equipped weapon; should one die, the other will disappear as well.
* SiegeEngines: While other classes can use ballistae and similar weapons, Ballisticians and MechanistsHoly Knight, who are ''always'' using horse-riding knights that specialize in Faith (white magic).
* RedMage: Typically becomes asiege engine. The Ballistician mounted version after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is if you class change into a [[CombatMedic War Cleric or Maid/Butler]], which lose the horse and use physical weapons rather than offensive magic.
* SquishyWizard: They have high Magic and Luck to aid in their healing abilities, but they're defensively weak physically and typically can't fight back at first.
* StatusBuff:
** Troubadours have Demoiselle for females in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', and Gentilhomme for males in ''Fates''; Demoiselle in ''Awakening'' grants all males within 3 tiles of the user +10 Avoid and Critical Dodge, and both skills in ''Fates''ride grant -2 damage taken to all allies within 2 spaces, depending on what skill is equipped and the recipient's gender.
** Valkyries in ''Awakening'' and Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Rally Resistance, which gives a boost to resistance to allies when commanded.
** Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Inspiration, which grants all allies within 2 tiles of the user +2 damage given and -2 damage taken.
* SupportPartyMember: While they were originally sword-wielders in theirown personal medieval "tank", which functions as a mobile ballista.
* StatusEffect: The Mage Cannoneers, besides having physicalfirst tier, later games relegated them solely to healing and magical cannons, also have access to cannons that inflict status effects on buffing allies before class change.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. There are no enemy Butlers in ''Fates'', making Butler a player-only class.
* WhiteMagicianGirl: This is a very common archetype for thetarget if it hits, such as Poison and Freeze.
* TankGoodness: The Ballistician in ''Fates''' rides a giant wooden tank that fires arrows.class.
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Valkryies in ''Three Houses'' gain ''Uncanny Blow'' upon mastering the class. It gives 30 extra hit when attacking.
* AlwaysFemale: Except in ''Fates'', all troubadours/valkyries were female. Female-exclusive Valkyries are entirely consistent with Norse mythology constantly referenced in
* AutomatonHorses: Their horses are only seen in combat.
* BattleButler: The Butler class.
* BlackMage: Unlike most depictions of the
* CastingAShadow: Of a sort. In a first for the series, ''Three Houses'' grants them a skill to extend the range of the user's dark magic spells, making them the only other class that females can access besides Gremory with some sort of dark magic skill.
* CombatMedic: Valkyries have offensive magic/the use of swords in addition to healing with staves. In the Jugdral games, troubadours can use swords from the start. In ''Fates'', they gain shuriken/daggers as their weapons as Maids and Butlers. In ''Three Houses'', Holy Knights can wield lances and have native access to White Tomefaire.
* CoolHorse: Troubadours are always mounted on them.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Resistance, a skill that boosts resistance by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
* GenderBlenderName: Despite the class being all-female until ''Fates'', actual real-life troubadours (who were poets, not magical mounted staff users) were exclusively male, and the
* HitAndRunTactics: Troubadours and Valkyries in the Jugdral and Tellius games can attack
*
* MarionetteMaster: The Mechanist rides a Karakuri and use barely visible strings to make them both move and fire projectiles from
*
* MagicKnight: The Holy Knights excel in faith magic and lances. In addition, they have White Tomefaire as their class skill, increasing their damage by 5 when using faith magic like Nosferatu and Aura.
* TheMedic: Their main battlefield role.
* NinjaMaid: The Maid class, exemplified with their
*
* SiegeEngines: While other classes can use ballistae and similar weapons, Ballisticians and Mechanists
* RedMage: Typically becomes a
* SquishyWizard: They have high Magic and Luck to aid in their healing abilities, but they're defensively weak physically and typically can't fight back at first.
* StatusBuff:
** Troubadours have Demoiselle for females in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', and Gentilhomme for males in ''Fates''; Demoiselle in ''Awakening'' grants all males within 3 tiles of the user +10 Avoid and Critical Dodge, and both skills in ''Fates''
** Valkyries in ''Awakening'' and Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Rally Resistance, which gives a boost to resistance to allies when commanded.
** Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Inspiration, which grants all allies within 2 tiles of the user +2 damage given and -2 damage taken.
* SupportPartyMember: While they were originally sword-wielders in their
* StatusEffect: The Mage Cannoneers, besides having physical
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. There are no enemy Butlers in ''Fates'', making Butler a player-only class.
* WhiteMagicianGirl: This is a very common archetype for the
* TankGoodness: The Ballistician in ''Fates''' rides a giant wooden tank that fires arrows.
Changed line(s) 542,560 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Mage]]
!!Mage
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/719g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Monks in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/791g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Mages in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/900g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Warlocks in ''Three Houses'']]
The basic offensive magic class, dealing in the three "anima", or nature, magic types. Mages almost always Class Change into the '''Sage''' class, and in ''Radiant Dawn'', go further to the third-tier '''Arch Sage''' class (which also exists in ''The Blazing Blade'' as the exclusive class of Athos). ''The Sacred Stones'' also allows Mages to Class Change into the mounted '''Mage Knight''' class. In the original Archanea games, Mages Class Change into '''Bishops''' like every other magic user; the Sage class was implemented in the remakes.\\\
The Jugdral games and ''Radiant Dawn''[[note]]''Path of Radiance'' just has normal unsplit Mages and Sages, with both being able to wield all three anima magic types from the beginning[[/note]] split the Mage class into three variant classes, each specializing in one of the three anima magic types: the '''Fire Mage''', '''Wind Mage''', and '''Thunder Mage'''. In ''Radiant Dawn'', they class change into similarly split Sage variants; in the Jugdral games, all four variants class change into one of two other advanced classes: the '''Mage Fighter''' and '''Mage Knight''', which are generally identical in that both wield swords alongside three anima magic types, differing only in that the Mage Knight rides a horse and the Mage Fighter stays on foot. Female Mage Fighters can can also use staves.\\\
In ''Sacred Stones'', they can choose to class change into '''Mage Knight''', but unlike the Jugdral version, this particular Mage Knight can only use magic and staves, making them more similar to the '''Valkyrie''' class. In ''Awakening'', they can instead choose to class change into a class similar to the Jugdral one: the '''Dark Knight'''. In ''Fates'', Mages are called '''Diviners''', which class change into '''[[UsefulNotes/{{Onmyodo}} Onmyoji]]''', which can use tomes and staves, like Sages, or into the '''Basara''' class, a MagicKnight class that uses tomes and lances. Female Mages in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' and ''Shadows of Valentia'' do not Class Change into Sage; they Class Change to '''Priestess''' instead, who are capable of using swords alongside their magic.\\\
Related is the '''Bard'''[[note]]not to be confused with the normal Bard support class, discussed below[[/note]], a class exclusive to the Jugdral games which wields all three types of Anima Magic and Light Magic and also class changes to Sage, and the enemy-exclusive '''Queen''' class which can use all three types of Anima Magic and Staves. Also related is the '''Empress''' class, exclusive to Sanaki in ''Radiant Dawn'', which also can wield all three types of Anima Magic and Light Magic, but does not class change to or from anything[[note]]it's treated as a third-tier class in-game[[/note]], the class family of '''Tactician''' and '''Grandmaster''' (with its own section below), which wields tomes and swords, and '''Fell Child''', exclusive to Veyle, which wields tomes and daggers, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''[[note]]Characters marked with a * were originally Bishops in the first and third games, before the remakes added the separate Sage class[[/note]] Merric, Wendell*, Linde (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Gotoh* (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Luthier, Delthea, Mae, Boey, Sonya, Nomah (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Jubelo, Arlen (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Azelle, Lewyn, Tailtiu, Arthur/Amid, Tine/Linda, Ced/Hawk (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Asbel, Olwen, Homer, Ilios, Miranda, Ced (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Lugh, Lilina, Hugh (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Erk, Pent, Nino, Athos (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Lute, Saleh (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Soren, Ilyana, Tormod, Calill, Bastian (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''), Sanaki (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Katarina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Miriel, Ricken, Laurent, Emmeryn, Celica (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Orochi, Hayato, Rhajat (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Dorothea, Annette, Lysithea, Hanneman (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Clanne, Citrinne, Lindon, Veyle, Gregory (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Pegasus Knight
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[caption-width-right:350:Monks
[[caption-width-right:350:Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[caption-width-right:350:Mages
[[caption-width-right:350:Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[caption-width-right:350:Warlocks
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Fliers in ''Three
The basic offensive magic class, dealing
[[quoteright:185:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_kinshi_knight_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:185:Kinshi Knights in ''Fates'']]
One of the
Related
->'''Playable characters of this class
Changed line(s) 562,589 (click to see context) from:
* AdaptationNameChange: Sages in ''Three Houses'' are called Warlocks.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Archsage's skill Flare negates enemy resistance before dealing damage.
* BadassCape: Most Mages wear capes, with the occasional [[InTheHood hood]] attached to it.
* BlackMage: They usually have access to all three types of offensive elemental magic, and depending on the character they tend to specialize in one. Once they class change, they normally become {{Red Mage}}s. The high-tier mages (Sage, Onmyoji, Warlock) gain (Black) Tomefaire as a skill. (Note that Black Tomefaire only affects non-dark magic; the dark equivalent is called Dark Tomefaire.)
* BlowYouAway: They can use wind magic. The basic Wind tome is sometimes among a lower-level mage's starting tomes; depending on the character, it may be substituted with the basic Thunder tome.
* CastFromHitPoints: Mages in ''Gaiden'' use their HP to cast spells due to the game having no weapon durability.
* CombatMedic: Sages can wield staves to heal allies.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the original Archanea games both Mages and Clerics class change into Bishops. ''Gaiden'' introduces the Sage class as an advanced form for Mages which stays in most future games, including the Archanea remakes.
* EmergencyWeapon: In ''Path of Radiance'', Sages can choose knives instead of staves. They won't be very effective with it due to their low Strength, but can be useful for some high-Resistance enemies.
* ExperienceBooster: Diviners get the Future Sight Skill, where the user has a chance (based on their Luck stat) to gain double the EXP value after initiating a battle and defeating an enemy.
* FireIceLightning: Mages have access to the three "anima" classes of magic -- fire, thunder, and wind. The Archanea, GBA games, DS games, and ''Three Houses'' lump them into one magic type, whereas Jugdral and Tellius split them into three separate types.
* FixedDamageAttack: Due to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, magic only deal as much damage based on the spell's might since magic cannot be improved by Strength and unit's Resistance is a flat 0 for both you and the enemy, unless you use the Barrier staff, a rare Talisman, or are Gotoh.
* GeoEffects: With the exception of ''Gaiden'' and ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', Mages can traverse through deserts without any problem.
* GlassCannon: In the GBA games, where their Defense cap, and especially their Resistance cap, are lower than the Bishop. However, outside of ''Sacred Stones'' (where you can grind for stat boosters to reach their caps), you will not see this often.
* HitAndRunTactics: Mage Knights in the Jugdral games can attack and move with their remaining movement. Mage Knights in ''Sacred Stones'' can only move again if they use a non-attacking command.
* HolyHandGrenade: In the Archanea games, all magic types (staves aside) are one and the same, meaning that Mages also wield ostensibly "light" and "dark" tomes like Starlight and Swarm. Sages in ''Sacred Stones'' also learn light magic naturally and can be taught dark magic by exploiting a bug in the game.
* AnIcePerson: Several games had ice-based spells, like Blizzard and Fimbulvetr. Some were either in games where tomes and magic are not divided into groups, like the Archanea games, ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'', or are part of the Anima or Wind magic in other games, like the GBA and Tellius games.
* InTheHood: Mages typically wear hooded cloaks if they're not wearing hats.
* LifeDrain: The Arch Sage's mastery skill, Flare.
* MagicKnight: ''[=Gaiden's=]'' Priestesses as well as Jugdral's Mage Knights and Mage Fighters are capable of using swords and magic, while ''Engage's'' Mage Knights can wield either swords, lances or axes in addtion to magic. Mage Knights from ''The Sacred Stones'' doesn't fall under this trope however, as it is just a mounted mage and doesn't use physical weapons. ''Path of Radiance'' grants Sages the ability to wield knives instead of staves. ''Awakening'' also features the Dark Knight, which is similar to the Jugdral Mage Knight, while ''Fates'' features the Basara, which wields lances in addition to tomes.
* PlayingWithFire: They can use fire magic; the basic Fire spell is normally among a lower-level mage's starting tomes.
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is usually if you class change to a MagicKnight class.
* RobeAndWizardHat: ''Awakening'' forsakes the tradition of hooded capes for Mages in favor of some ''enormous'' wizard hats. The Warlocks in ''Three Houses'' also wear very enormous wizard hats.
* ShockAndAwe: They can use thunder magic. The basic Thunder tome is sometimes among a lower-level mage's starting tomes; depending on the character, it may be substituted with the basic Wind tome.
* SquishyWizard: Mages and Sages are very frail physically, making them unsuitable for the very front lines against physically-oriented armies, and they generally have lower Resistance than Monks and Bishops and Dark Mages/Shamans and Sorcerers/Dark Bishops/Druids, making them the GlassCannon to the light magic classes' StoneWall[[note]]well, magically, at least; the light magic classes tend to have poor Defense as well[[/note]] and the dark magic classes' MightyGlacier. Averted with Dark Knights, who have Defense as their highest stat.
* StatusBuff:
** Sages in ''Awakening'' and Onmyoji in ''Fates'' gain Rally Magic, which gives a boost to magic to allies when commanded.
** Mages in ''Three Houses'' gain Fiendish Blow upon mastering the class, which increases their magic by 6 when initiating the attack.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Archsage's skill Flare negates enemy resistance before dealing damage.
* BadassCape: Most Mages wear capes, with the occasional [[InTheHood hood]] attached to it.
* BlackMage: They usually have access to all three types of offensive elemental magic, and depending on the character they tend to specialize in one. Once they class change, they normally become {{Red Mage}}s. The high-tier mages (Sage, Onmyoji, Warlock) gain (Black) Tomefaire as a skill. (Note that Black Tomefaire only affects non-dark magic; the dark equivalent is called Dark Tomefaire.)
* BlowYouAway: They can use wind magic. The basic Wind tome is sometimes among a lower-level mage's starting tomes; depending on the character, it may be substituted with the basic Thunder tome.
* CastFromHitPoints: Mages in ''Gaiden'' use their HP to cast spells due to the game having no weapon durability.
* CombatMedic: Sages can wield staves to heal allies.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the original Archanea games both Mages and Clerics class change into Bishops. ''Gaiden'' introduces the Sage class as an advanced form for Mages which stays in most future games, including the Archanea remakes.
* EmergencyWeapon: In ''Path of Radiance'', Sages can choose knives instead of staves. They won't be very effective with it due to their low Strength, but can be useful for some high-Resistance enemies.
* ExperienceBooster: Diviners get the Future Sight Skill, where the user has a chance (based on their Luck stat) to gain double the EXP value after initiating a battle and defeating an enemy.
* FireIceLightning: Mages have access to the three "anima" classes of magic -- fire, thunder, and wind. The Archanea, GBA games, DS games, and ''Three Houses'' lump them into one magic type, whereas Jugdral and Tellius split them into three separate types.
* FixedDamageAttack: Due to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, magic only deal as much damage based on the spell's might since magic cannot be improved by Strength and unit's Resistance is a flat 0 for both you and the enemy, unless you use the Barrier staff, a rare Talisman, or are Gotoh.
* GeoEffects: With the exception of ''Gaiden'' and ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', Mages can traverse through deserts without any problem.
* GlassCannon: In the GBA games, where their Defense cap, and especially their Resistance cap, are lower than the Bishop. However, outside of ''Sacred Stones'' (where you can grind for stat boosters to reach their caps), you will not see this often.
* HitAndRunTactics: Mage Knights in the Jugdral games can attack and move with their remaining movement. Mage Knights in ''Sacred Stones'' can only move again if they use a non-attacking command.
* HolyHandGrenade: In the Archanea games, all magic types (staves aside) are one and the same, meaning that Mages also wield ostensibly "light" and "dark" tomes like Starlight and Swarm. Sages in ''Sacred Stones'' also learn light magic naturally and can be taught dark magic by exploiting a bug in the game.
* AnIcePerson: Several games had ice-based spells, like Blizzard and Fimbulvetr. Some were either in games where tomes and magic are not divided into groups, like the Archanea games, ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'', or are part of the Anima or Wind magic in other games, like the GBA and Tellius games.
* InTheHood: Mages typically wear hooded cloaks if they're not wearing hats.
* LifeDrain: The Arch Sage's mastery skill, Flare.
* MagicKnight: ''[=Gaiden's=]'' Priestesses as well as Jugdral's Mage Knights and Mage Fighters are capable of using swords and magic, while ''Engage's'' Mage Knights can wield either swords, lances or axes in addtion to magic. Mage Knights from ''The Sacred Stones'' doesn't fall under this trope however, as it is just a mounted mage and doesn't use physical weapons. ''Path of Radiance'' grants Sages the ability to wield knives instead of staves. ''Awakening'' also features the Dark Knight, which is similar to the Jugdral Mage Knight, while ''Fates'' features the Basara, which wields lances in addition to tomes.
* PlayingWithFire: They can use fire magic; the basic Fire spell is normally among a lower-level mage's starting tomes.
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is usually if you class change to a MagicKnight class.
* RobeAndWizardHat: ''Awakening'' forsakes the tradition of hooded capes for Mages in favor of some ''enormous'' wizard hats. The Warlocks in ''Three Houses'' also wear very enormous wizard hats.
* ShockAndAwe: They can use thunder magic. The basic Thunder tome is sometimes among a lower-level mage's starting tomes; depending on the character, it may be substituted with the basic Wind tome.
* SquishyWizard: Mages and Sages are very frail physically, making them unsuitable for the very front lines against physically-oriented armies, and they generally have lower Resistance than Monks and Bishops and Dark Mages/Shamans and Sorcerers/Dark Bishops/Druids, making them the GlassCannon to the light magic classes' StoneWall[[note]]well, magically, at least; the light magic classes tend to have poor Defense as well[[/note]] and the dark magic classes' MightyGlacier. Averted with Dark Knights, who have Defense as their highest stat.
* StatusBuff:
** Sages in ''Awakening'' and Onmyoji in ''Fates'' gain Rally Magic, which gives a boost to magic to allies when commanded.
** Mages in ''Three Houses'' gain Fiendish Blow upon mastering the class, which increases their magic by 6 when initiating the attack.
to:
* AdaptationNameChange: Sages in ''Three Houses'' are called Warlocks.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Archsage's skill Flare negates enemy resistance before dealing damage.
* BadassCape: Most Mages wear capes, with the occasional [[InTheHood hood]] attached to it.
* BlackMage: They usually have access to all three types of offensive elemental magic,AchillesHeel: Pegasus Knights [[AntiAir suffer additional damage from bows and depending on the character they tend to specialize in one. Once they class change, they normally become {{Red Mage}}s. The high-tier mages (Sage, Onmyoji, Warlock) gain (Black) Tomefaire as a skill. (Note that Black Tomefaire only affects non-dark magic; the dark equivalent is called Dark Tomefaire.)
* BlowYouAway: They can use(sometimes) wind magic. The basic Wind tome is sometimes among a lower-level mage's starting tomes; depending on the character, it may be substituted with the basic Thunder tome.
* CastFromHitPoints: Mages in ''Gaiden'' use their HP to cast spells due to the game having no weapon durability.
* CombatMedic: Sages can wield staves to heal allies.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the original Archanea games both Mages and Clerics class change into Bishops. ''Gaiden'' introduces the Sage class as an advanced form for Mages which stays in most future games, including the Archanea remakes.
* EmergencyWeapon: In ''Path of Radiance'', Sages can choose knives instead of staves. They won't be very effective with itmagic]] due to their low Strength, but can be useful for some high-Resistance enemies.
* ExperienceBooster: Diviners get the Future Sight Skill, where the user has a chance (based on their Luck stat) to gain double the EXP value after initiating a battle and defeating an enemy.
* FireIceLightning: Mages have access to the three "anima" classes of magic -- fire, thunder, and wind. The Archanea, GBA games, DS games, and ''Three Houses'' lump them into one magic type, whereas Jugdral and Tellius split them into three separate types.
* FixedDamageAttack: Due to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, magic only dealstatus as much damage based on the spell's might since magic cannot be improved by Strength and unit's Resistance is a flat 0 for both you and the enemy, unless you use the Barrier staff, a rare Talisman, or are Gotoh.
* GeoEffects: With the exception of ''Gaiden'' and ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', Mages can traverse through deserts without any problem.
* GlassCannon:flying units. In the GBA games, where their Defense cap, and especially their Resistance cap, are lower than the Bishop. However, outside of ''Sacred Stones'' (where you can grind for stat boosters to reach their caps), you will not see this often.
* HitAndRunTactics: Mage Knights in the Jugdral games can attack and move with their remaining movement. Mage Knights in ''Sacred Stones'' can only move again if they use a non-attacking command.
* HolyHandGrenade: In the Archanea games, all magic types (staves aside) are one and the same, meaning that Mages also wield ostensibly "light" and "dark" tomes like Starlight and Swarm. Sages in ''Sacred Stones'' also learn light magic naturally and can be taught dark magic by exploiting a bug in the game.
* AnIcePerson: Several games had ice-based spells, like Blizzard and Fimbulvetr. Some were either in games where tomes and magic are not divided into groups, like the Archanea games, ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'', or are part of the Anima or Wind magic in other games, like the GBA and Tellius games.
* InTheHood: Mages typically wear hooded cloaks if they're not wearing hats.
* LifeDrain: The Arch Sage's mastery skill, Flare.
* MagicKnight: ''[=Gaiden's=]'' Priestesses as well as Jugdral's Mage Knights and Mage Fighters are capable of using swords and magic, while ''Engage's'' Mage Knights can wield either swords, lances or axes in addtion to magic. Mage Knights from ''The Sacred Stones'' doesn't fall under this trope however, as it is just a mounted mage and doesn't use physical weapons. ''Path of Radiance'' grants Sages the ability to wield knives instead of staves. ''Awakening'' also features the Dark Knight, which is similar to the Jugdral Mage Knight, while ''Fates'' features the Basara, which wields lances in addition to tomes.
* PlayingWithFire: They can use fire magic; the basic Fire spell is normally among a lower-level mage's starting tomes.
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is usually if you class change to a MagicKnight class.
* RobeAndWizardHat: ''Awakening'' forsakes the tradition of hooded capes for Mages in favor of some ''enormous'' wizard hats. The Warlocks in ''Three Houses'' also wear very enormous wizard hats.
* ShockAndAwe: They can use thunder magic. The basic Thunder tome is sometimes among a lower-level mage's starting tomes; depending on the character, it may be substituted with the basic Wind tome.
* SquishyWizard: Mages and Sages are very frail physically, making them unsuitable for the very front lines against physically-oriented armies, and they generally have lower Resistance than Monks and Bishops and Dark Mages/Shamans and Sorcerers/Dark Bishops/Druids, making them the GlassCannon to the light magic classes' StoneWall[[note]]well, magically, at least; the light magic classes tend to have poor Defense as well[[/note]] and the dark magic classes' MightyGlacier. Averted with Dark Knights, who have Defense as their highest stat.
* StatusBuff:
** Sages in''Awakening'' and Onmyoji ''Fates'', they are also weak to anti-beast weapons.
* AlwaysFemale: Playable Pegasus Knights are always female, though as mentioned in EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, enemy ones were male in ''Mystery''. ''Fates''gain Rally Magic, which gives averts this, although the explanation is different depending on the version of the game: the Japanese version calls them Tenma (the Japanese word for Pegasus, confusingly used for regular Pegasi in the past), while the English version simply says that they are a boost different breed from the traditional depiction. However, it's still played with, as the men who have this class, Subaki and Shigure, are known to magic be very pretty. Pegasus Knights go back to allies being female-only in ''Three Houses''. Notably pegasi are known to accept a man as an additional passenger to a female rider (as seen when commanded.
** MagesSumia rescues Chrom in ''Awakening''), and may carry a man they trust (by picking him up with their mouth as seen in the ''Three Hopes'' support conversation between Ignatz and Marianne), they just draw the line at the man riding on their back and directing them.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Falcon Knights in most games can use swords and lances.
* CombatMedic: Falcon Knights in the Jugdral games, ''Awakening'', and ''Fates'' can use healing staves.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'' gainFiendish Blow Defiant Avoid, a skill that boosts avoid by 30 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class, class.
* DamageReduction: Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, whichincreases boosts Resistance by 20 if the user initiates combat.
* DifficultButAwesome: Pegasus Knights are among the (physically] squishiest classes in the series, which gives them relatively poor matchups against most other physical units (''especially'' archers), but any seasoned veteran will tell you that they are worth the effort of training, as flying mobility is more often than not the best type of mobility and their high speed rates make up for their occasionally lacking strength and durability, not to mention the rescue and pair-up shenanigans that one can perform with them.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Pegasi become dragons in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', in contrast to the two classes being foils to each other later on. It's {{Hand Wave}}d in some supports of ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', where Minerva releases her old pegasus for a more powerful wyvern mount. In addition, the DS remakes have the Elysian Whip, which allows Pegasus Knights to Class Change into Falcon Knights.
** Pegasus Knight {{Mook}}s were male in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. The stat interface also suggests that they're male in the GBA installments as well, as their "Rescue" stat (which is pretty much irrelevant to enemy units since they never use the rescue command unless you use the enemy control glitch to take control of them) is 25 minus their Constitution (same as your male mounted units; your female ones are only 20 minus their Con).
** Pegasus Knights could use both swords and lances at base in the earlier games, a trait that was given to Falcon Knights in the GBA games, Tellius games, the DS remake, and ''Three Houses''.
* EnergyAbsorption: Dark Fliers in ''Three Houses'' have the skill Transmute, which grants them boosts to all stats when hit by magicby 6 when attacks during the enemy's phase. The stat buffs last until the end of the user's next phase.
* ExtraTurn: The Galeforce skill exclusive to Dark Fliers allows the user to take another action upon initiating an attack that defeats an enemy unit. ''Fates'' nerfed theattack.skill so that it only activates when the user isn't supported by Attack and Guard Stances.
* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: As a result of being female-exclusive classes and the series lacking in high-ranking female villains[[note]]and even if they do, they are rarely going to be of this class[[/note]], Pegasus Knight factions are usually depicted more sympathetically and protagonist-friendly. The few times they are assigned to antagonize the players, it is usually fringe rebels revolting against their own respective kingdoms (Silesse and Ilia) or the players are intended to conquer them (Hoshido in ''Conquest''). ''Three Houses'', ironically, makes the Pegasus Knights the go-to enemy flier used by the Adrestian Empire, as Wyvern Riders are largely associated with the foreign Almyra.
* FragileFlyer: Their high Speed typically allows them to get in at least two hits. However, they're vulnerable to arrows and wind-related magic.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* HitAndRunTactics: Pegasus Knights in the Jugdral and Tellius games can move again after attacking, moving them to a safe distance to compensate for their low durability. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* HunterOfTheirOwnKind: Kinshi Knights are specialized in attacking other flying units, because they can wield bows and have the skill ''Air Superiority'', which gives them a hit/avoid boost against flying units.
* InconsistentSpelling: "Falcon Knight" has been variously rendered as "Falcoknight", "Falconknight", and "Falcon Knight" in the English games.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: In many games, there are shield items which, when held by a flyer, negates their weakness to bows. In ''Awakening'', Iote's Shield is a skill instead, acquired through clearing the Smash Brethren 3 [[DownloadableContent DLC]]. ''Fates'' has the same skill under the name Wing Shield, which is exclusive to Hinoka as an enemy in the ''Conquest'' route.
* JoustingLance: The starting and main weapon for Pegasus Knights are lances. Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' gain Lancefaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding lances.
* MageKiller: They're frequently lauded as such, given their high Resistance and access to physical weapons. Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts their Resistance by 20 when they initiate an attack.
* MagicKnight: Dark Fliers use offensive magic and lances.
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Falcoknight with an Elysian Whip, she is unable to reclass into Dracoknight.
* NobleBirdOfPrey: Kinshi Knights ditch the pegasus for a gigantic mythical bird known as a Kinshi.
* NonindicativeName: Like Dark Knight, Dark Fliers cannot use dark magic, despite their name, with the exception of Aversa, who has an exclusive skill named Shadowgift. This is remedied in ''Three Houses'', as dark magic is not locked in class, but they don't have Dark Tomefaire as one of their innate skills.
* TheParalyzer: Falcon Knights and Seraph Knights in the Tellius games have the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn (if they survive).
* {{Pegasus}}: They come in two different species as well. The one commonly seen in the series are known as Pegasus, but incorporate an aspect of the unicorn: the myth that unicorns would only accept pure-hearted maidens as their riders, though [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness this isn't the case]] in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. A support in ''Fates'' claims that the Pegasi in the game are actually [[Myth/ChineseMythology Tenma]], which are similar in appearance but do not care about gender (despite ''[=FE3=]'' depicting male Pegasus Knights). Though this is made confusing, as past games in Japan have used ''Tenma'' to refer to regular Pegasi. The English version of the same conversation changes this, saying that the Pegasi of ''Fates'' are a different breed.
* {{Retcon}}: Male Pegasus Knights may have been retconned as impossible based on a Support in ''Fates''. In the original ''Mystery of the Emblem'', enemy Pegasus Knights were explicitly male and Karin's explanation in ''Thracia 776'' left elbow room for potential exceptions.
* RuleOfThree: Traditionally, there are three available pegasus-riding units, often related to each other either through family or through job, who can execute a "Triangle Attack" when together. The Jugdral games are the only exceptions; the player never gets more than two Pegasus Knights in the same game, and in ''Genealogy'', the two are in different generations. ''Genealogy'' actually has a trio of ''enemy'' Falcon Knights who can Triangle Attack! The attack was absent in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', but was brought back in ''Shadows of Valentia'', albeit as a combat art. Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'' can get the Triangle Attack Combat Art when mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Rally Speed, which gives a boost to allies' Speed when commanded.
* WhiteStallion: Their pegasi almost always have marble white coat, with the obvious exception of the Dark Fliers.
* WingedUnicorn: Normally, their mounts look like this after class changing to Falcon Knight, though it's entirely possible that the horn is just part of the pegasus' head armor. In ''Three Hopes'' it is made clear that at least their version of promoted pegasi have a real horn growing from their forehead, as promoted pegasi without their battle armor can be seen in the stables of the army base camp.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Archsage's skill Flare negates enemy resistance before dealing damage.
* BadassCape: Most Mages wear capes, with the occasional [[InTheHood hood]] attached to it.
* BlackMage: They usually have access to all three types of offensive elemental magic,
* BlowYouAway: They can use
* CastFromHitPoints: Mages in ''Gaiden'' use their HP to cast spells due to the game having no weapon durability.
* CombatMedic: Sages can wield staves to heal allies.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In the original Archanea games both Mages and Clerics class change into Bishops. ''Gaiden'' introduces the Sage class as an advanced form for Mages which stays in most future games, including the Archanea remakes.
* EmergencyWeapon: In ''Path of Radiance'', Sages can choose knives instead of staves. They won't be very effective with it
* ExperienceBooster: Diviners get the Future Sight Skill, where the user has a chance (based on their Luck stat) to gain double the EXP value after initiating a battle and defeating an enemy.
* FireIceLightning: Mages have access to the three "anima" classes of magic -- fire, thunder, and wind. The Archanea, GBA games, DS games, and ''Three Houses'' lump them into one magic type, whereas Jugdral and Tellius split them into three separate types.
* FixedDamageAttack: Due to EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, magic only deal
* GeoEffects: With the exception of ''Gaiden'' and ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', Mages can traverse through deserts without any problem.
* GlassCannon:
* HitAndRunTactics: Mage Knights in the Jugdral games can attack and move with their remaining movement. Mage Knights in ''Sacred Stones'' can only move again if they use a non-attacking command.
* HolyHandGrenade: In the Archanea games, all magic types (staves aside) are one and the same, meaning that Mages also wield ostensibly "light" and "dark" tomes like Starlight and Swarm. Sages in ''Sacred Stones'' also learn light magic naturally and can be taught dark magic by exploiting a bug in the game.
* AnIcePerson: Several games had ice-based spells, like Blizzard and Fimbulvetr. Some were either in games where tomes and magic are not divided into groups, like the Archanea games, ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'', or are part of the Anima or Wind magic in other games, like the GBA and Tellius games.
* InTheHood: Mages typically wear hooded cloaks if they're not wearing hats.
* LifeDrain: The Arch Sage's mastery skill, Flare.
* MagicKnight: ''[=Gaiden's=]'' Priestesses as well as Jugdral's Mage Knights and Mage Fighters are capable of using swords and magic, while ''Engage's'' Mage Knights can wield either swords, lances or axes in addtion to magic. Mage Knights from ''The Sacred Stones'' doesn't fall under this trope however, as it is just a mounted mage and doesn't use physical weapons. ''Path of Radiance'' grants Sages the ability to wield knives instead of staves. ''Awakening'' also features the Dark Knight, which is similar to the Jugdral Mage Knight, while ''Fates'' features the Basara, which wields lances in addition to tomes.
* PlayingWithFire: They can use fire magic; the basic Fire spell is normally among a lower-level mage's starting tomes.
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is usually if you class change to a MagicKnight class.
* RobeAndWizardHat: ''Awakening'' forsakes the tradition of hooded capes for Mages in favor of some ''enormous'' wizard hats. The Warlocks in ''Three Houses'' also wear very enormous wizard hats.
* ShockAndAwe: They can use thunder magic. The basic Thunder tome is sometimes among a lower-level mage's starting tomes; depending on the character, it may be substituted with the basic Wind tome.
* SquishyWizard: Mages and Sages are very frail physically, making them unsuitable for the very front lines against physically-oriented armies, and they generally have lower Resistance than Monks and Bishops and Dark Mages/Shamans and Sorcerers/Dark Bishops/Druids, making them the GlassCannon to the light magic classes' StoneWall[[note]]well, magically, at least; the light magic classes tend to have poor Defense as well[[/note]] and the dark magic classes' MightyGlacier. Averted with Dark Knights, who have Defense as their highest stat.
* StatusBuff:
** Sages in
* AlwaysFemale: Playable Pegasus Knights are always female, though as mentioned in EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, enemy ones were male in ''Mystery''. ''Fates''
** Mages
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Falcon Knights in most games can use swords and lances.
* CombatMedic: Falcon Knights in the Jugdral games, ''Awakening'', and ''Fates'' can use healing staves.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain
* DamageReduction: Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which
* DifficultButAwesome: Pegasus Knights are among the (physically] squishiest classes in the series, which gives them relatively poor matchups against most other physical units (''especially'' archers), but any seasoned veteran will tell you that they are worth the effort of training, as flying mobility is more often than not the best type of mobility and their high speed rates make up for their occasionally lacking strength and durability, not to mention the rescue and pair-up shenanigans that one can perform with them.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Pegasi become dragons in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', in contrast to the two classes being foils to each other later on. It's {{Hand Wave}}d in some supports of ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', where Minerva releases her old pegasus for a more powerful wyvern mount. In addition, the DS remakes have the Elysian Whip, which allows Pegasus Knights to Class Change into Falcon Knights.
** Pegasus Knight {{Mook}}s were male in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. The stat interface also suggests that they're male in the GBA installments as well, as their "Rescue" stat (which is pretty much irrelevant to enemy units since they never use the rescue command unless you use the enemy control glitch to take control of them) is 25 minus their Constitution (same as your male mounted units; your female ones are only 20 minus their Con).
** Pegasus Knights could use both swords and lances at base in the earlier games, a trait that was given to Falcon Knights in the GBA games, Tellius games, the DS remake, and ''Three Houses''.
* EnergyAbsorption: Dark Fliers in ''Three Houses'' have the skill Transmute, which grants them boosts to all stats when hit by magic
* ExtraTurn: The Galeforce skill exclusive to Dark Fliers allows the user to take another action upon initiating an attack that defeats an enemy unit. ''Fates'' nerfed the
* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: As a result of being female-exclusive classes and the series lacking in high-ranking female villains[[note]]and even if they do, they are rarely going to be of this class[[/note]], Pegasus Knight factions are usually depicted more sympathetically and protagonist-friendly. The few times they are assigned to antagonize the players, it is usually fringe rebels revolting against their own respective kingdoms (Silesse and Ilia) or the players are intended to conquer them (Hoshido in ''Conquest''). ''Three Houses'', ironically, makes the Pegasus Knights the go-to enemy flier used by the Adrestian Empire, as Wyvern Riders are largely associated with the foreign Almyra.
* FragileFlyer: Their high Speed typically allows them to get in at least two hits. However, they're vulnerable to arrows and wind-related magic.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* HitAndRunTactics: Pegasus Knights in the Jugdral and Tellius games can move again after attacking, moving them to a safe distance to compensate for their low durability. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* HunterOfTheirOwnKind: Kinshi Knights are specialized in attacking other flying units, because they can wield bows and have the skill ''Air Superiority'', which gives them a hit/avoid boost against flying units.
* InconsistentSpelling: "Falcon Knight" has been variously rendered as "Falcoknight", "Falconknight", and "Falcon Knight" in the English games.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: In many games, there are shield items which, when held by a flyer, negates their weakness to bows. In ''Awakening'', Iote's Shield is a skill instead, acquired through clearing the Smash Brethren 3 [[DownloadableContent DLC]]. ''Fates'' has the same skill under the name Wing Shield, which is exclusive to Hinoka as an enemy in the ''Conquest'' route.
* JoustingLance: The starting and main weapon for Pegasus Knights are lances. Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' gain Lancefaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding lances.
* MageKiller: They're frequently lauded as such, given their high Resistance and access to physical weapons. Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts their Resistance by 20 when they initiate an attack.
* MagicKnight: Dark Fliers use offensive magic and lances.
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Falcoknight with an Elysian Whip, she is unable to reclass into Dracoknight.
* NobleBirdOfPrey: Kinshi Knights ditch the pegasus for a gigantic mythical bird known as a Kinshi.
* NonindicativeName: Like Dark Knight, Dark Fliers cannot use dark magic, despite their name, with the exception of Aversa, who has an exclusive skill named Shadowgift. This is remedied in ''Three Houses'', as dark magic is not locked in class, but they don't have Dark Tomefaire as one of their innate skills.
* TheParalyzer: Falcon Knights and Seraph Knights in the Tellius games have the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn (if they survive).
* {{Pegasus}}: They come in two different species as well. The one commonly seen in the series are known as Pegasus, but incorporate an aspect of the unicorn: the myth that unicorns would only accept pure-hearted maidens as their riders, though [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness this isn't the case]] in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. A support in ''Fates'' claims that the Pegasi in the game are actually [[Myth/ChineseMythology Tenma]], which are similar in appearance but do not care about gender (despite ''[=FE3=]'' depicting male Pegasus Knights). Though this is made confusing, as past games in Japan have used ''Tenma'' to refer to regular Pegasi. The English version of the same conversation changes this, saying that the Pegasi of ''Fates'' are a different breed.
* {{Retcon}}: Male Pegasus Knights may have been retconned as impossible based on a Support in ''Fates''. In the original ''Mystery of the Emblem'', enemy Pegasus Knights were explicitly male and Karin's explanation in ''Thracia 776'' left elbow room for potential exceptions.
* RuleOfThree: Traditionally, there are three available pegasus-riding units, often related to each other either through family or through job, who can execute a "Triangle Attack" when together. The Jugdral games are the only exceptions; the player never gets more than two Pegasus Knights in the same game, and in ''Genealogy'', the two are in different generations. ''Genealogy'' actually has a trio of ''enemy'' Falcon Knights who can Triangle Attack! The attack was absent in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', but was brought back in ''Shadows of Valentia'', albeit as a combat art. Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'' can get the Triangle Attack Combat Art when mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Rally Speed, which gives a boost to allies' Speed when commanded.
* WhiteStallion: Their pegasi almost always have marble white coat, with the obvious exception of the Dark Fliers.
* WingedUnicorn: Normally, their mounts look like this after class changing to Falcon Knight, though it's entirely possible that the horn is just part of the pegasus' head armor. In ''Three Hopes'' it is made clear that at least their version of promoted pegasi have a real horn growing from their forehead, as promoted pegasi without their battle armor can be seen in the stables of the army base camp.
Changed line(s) 592,609 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Priest]]
!!Priest
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/804g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Priests in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/913g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Bishops in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hwarmonk.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:War Monks in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:148:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/echoes_saint_1.png]]
[[caption-width-right:148:Saints in ''Echoes'']]
One of two medic classes, Priests only wield [[https://fireemblemwiki.org/wiki/Staff magical staves]] which can heal allies, inflict status effects on enemies, teleport allies, grant {{Status Buff}}s, or serve other utility functions (such as repairing weapons, opening doors, or expanding vision in FogOfWar). The class can be either gender, but some games split female Priests into the separate but otherwise identical '''Cleric''' class. In ''Shadow Dragon'', male priests are instead known as '''Curates'''. Priests and Clerics both class change into the '''Bishop''' class, whereupon they gain access to offensive Light magic; in ''Gaiden'' and ''Radiant Dawn'', their final form is the '''Saint''' class. In ''Sacred Stones'', they can also class change to either '''Sage''' (for priests) or '''Valkyrie''' (for Clerics). In ''Awakening'', Clerics and Priests can instead choose to class change into '''War Cleric/Monk''', which gives them the use of axes, or the '''Sage''' class, which gives them the use of magic tomes.\\\
In the Tellius games, the Cleric variant is exclusive to Mist. She is generally identical to normal Priests (which still exist), but does not have the association with religion, and in ''Radiant Dawn'' can also use swords. She class changes to the '''Valkyrie''' class, which in ''Path of Radiance'' allows her to use swords as well. In ''Fates'', the class is again split up by gender and are referred to as '''Monks''' and '''Shrine Maidens'''. Both class change into the '''Onmyoji''' class, similar to Sages, but their branch class is determined by gender; Monks can class change into '''Great Master''', which uses staves and lances, and Shrine Maidens can class change into the '''Priestess''' class[[note]]no relation to the class of the same name in ''Gaiden'', which are tied to the Mage class family instead[[/note]], which uses staves and bows instead. In ''Engage'', there is the '''Martial Monk''' class, which uses body arts and staves, who can either class change into the '''Martial Master''' class, that focuses mainly on body arts, or the '''High Priest''' class, which can also use tomes.\\\
Related is the '''Monk''' class, an offensive magic class exclusive to male characters in ''The Blazing Blade'' and ''The Sacred Stones'' which uses light magic; they also class change into Bishops (and branch to Sages in ''The Sacred Stones''), and so are considered part of this class tree. Also related is the '''Light Mage''' and its advance classes[[note]]'''Light Sage''' and '''Light Priestess (Shaman)'''[[/note]], which is Micaiah's Lord class in ''Radiant Dawn'', and the '''Light Priestess (Shaman)'''[[note]]not to be confused with the normal dark-wielding Shaman class, discussed below, which has nearly the same name but with a different spelling in Japan[[/note]], Deirdre's and Julia's class in ''Genealogy'' (which class changes to '''Sage'''), as well as Micaiah's personal third-tier class in ''Radiant Dawn''[[note]]the ''Radiant Dawn'' version, being a third-tier class, does not class change further[[/note]]. Also related is the '''Chancellor''' class of the Tellius games (which uses dark magic in addition to light magic and staves), which is exclusive to Sephiran/[[spoiler:Lehran]].\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Wrys, Lena, Maria, Boah, Elice (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Silque, Genny, Tatiana (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Marisha, Yuliya, Nyna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Edain, Deirdre, Claude, Lana/Muirne, Julia, Coirpre/Charlot (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Safy, Tina, Linoan, Sleuf, Sara, Saias (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'') Ellen, Saul, Yodel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Serra, Lucius, Renault (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''; Moulder, Artur, Natasha (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Rhys, Mist (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'') Laura, Oliver, [[spoiler:Lehran]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Frost (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemNewMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Lissa, Libra, Brady (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Sakura, Azama, Izana, Mitama ''([[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Linhardt, Mercedes, Marianne, Flayn, Manuela, Balthus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Framme, Jean, Pandreo (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Priest
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/804g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Priests in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/913g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Bishops in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hwarmonk.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:War Monks in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:148:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/echoes_saint_1.png]]
[[caption-width-right:148:Saints in ''Echoes'']]
One of two medic classes, Priests only wield [[https://fireemblemwiki.org/wiki/Staff magical staves]] which can heal allies, inflict status effects on enemies, teleport allies, grant {{Status Buff}}s, or serve other utility functions (such as repairing weapons, opening doors, or expanding vision in FogOfWar). The class can be either gender, but some games split female Priests into the separate but otherwise identical '''Cleric''' class. In ''Shadow Dragon'', male priests are instead known as '''Curates'''. Priests and Clerics both class change into the '''Bishop''' class, whereupon they gain access to offensive Light magic; in ''Gaiden'' and ''Radiant Dawn'', their final form is the '''Saint''' class. In ''Sacred Stones'', they can also class change to either '''Sage''' (for priests) or '''Valkyrie''' (for Clerics). In ''Awakening'', Clerics and Priests can instead choose to class change into '''War Cleric/Monk''', which gives them the use of axes, or the '''Sage''' class, which gives them the use of magic tomes.\\\
In the Tellius games, the Cleric variant is exclusive to Mist. She is generally identical to normal Priests (which still exist), but does not have the association with religion, and in ''Radiant Dawn'' can also use swords. She class changes to the '''Valkyrie''' class, which in ''Path of Radiance'' allows her to use swords as well. In ''Fates'', the class is again split up by gender and are referred to as '''Monks''' and '''Shrine Maidens'''. Both class change into the '''Onmyoji''' class, similar to Sages, but their branch class is determined by gender; Monks can class change into '''Great Master''', which uses staves and lances, and Shrine Maidens can class change into the '''Priestess''' class[[note]]no relation to the class of the same name in ''Gaiden'', which are tied to the Mage class family instead[[/note]], which uses staves and bows instead. In ''Engage'', there is the '''Martial Monk''' class, which uses body arts and staves, who can either class change into the '''Martial Master''' class, that focuses mainly on body arts, or the '''High Priest''' class, which can also use tomes.\\\
Related is the '''Monk''' class, an offensive magic class exclusive to male characters in ''The Blazing Blade'' and ''The Sacred Stones'' which uses light magic; they also class change into Bishops (and branch to Sages in ''The Sacred Stones''), and so are considered part of this class tree. Also related is the '''Light Mage''' and its advance classes[[note]]'''Light Sage''' and '''Light Priestess (Shaman)'''[[/note]], which is Micaiah's Lord class in ''Radiant Dawn'', and the '''Light Priestess (Shaman)'''[[note]]not to be confused with the normal dark-wielding Shaman class, discussed below, which has nearly the same name but with a different spelling in Japan[[/note]], Deirdre's and Julia's class in ''Genealogy'' (which class changes to '''Sage'''), as well as Micaiah's personal third-tier class in ''Radiant Dawn''[[note]]the ''Radiant Dawn'' version, being a third-tier class, does not class change further[[/note]]. Also related is the '''Chancellor''' class of the Tellius games (which uses dark magic in addition to light magic and staves), which is exclusive to Sephiran/[[spoiler:Lehran]].\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Wrys, Lena, Maria, Boah, Elice (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Silque, Genny, Tatiana (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Marisha, Yuliya, Nyna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Edain, Deirdre, Claude, Lana/Muirne, Julia, Coirpre/Charlot (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Safy, Tina, Linoan, Sleuf, Sara, Saias (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'') Ellen, Saul, Yodel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Serra, Lucius, Renault (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''; Moulder, Artur, Natasha (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Rhys, Mist (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'') Laura, Oliver, [[spoiler:Lehran]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Frost (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemNewMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Lissa, Libra, Brady (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Sakura, Azama, Izana, Mitama ''([[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Linhardt, Mercedes, Marianne, Flayn, Manuela, Balthus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Framme, Jean, Pandreo (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Priest
!!Wyvern Rider/Dracoknight (''Dragon Knight'')
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:148:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/echoes_saint_1.png]]
[[caption-width-right:148:Saints in ''Echoes'']]
One
Wyvern Riders (sometimes known instead as Dracoknight) are the second of the two
Related is the
Not to be confused with the "normal" dragons which figure heavily into the plots of most games, though in Archanea, ''these'' dragons are degenerate wild relatives of ''those'' dragons called Wyverns.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''
Changed line(s) 611,645 (click to see context) from:
* AlwaysFemale:
** Oddly, ''Echoes'' is the only game where only females can become Clerics (no, there is no Priest class line for males).
** ''Mystery of the Emblem'' also made the Priest line exclusively female. Not only are all of the basic healers Clerics, but also Wrys was removed from the game. Anytime the game would include enemy healers, they would always be Bishops but with no weapons.
* AttackReflector: The Great Master and Priestess learn Countermagic, which is a magical counterpart of the Counter skill. The key difference is that Countermagic reflects all type of magical damage and range isn't factored into the skill, unlike Counter requiring an adjacent enemy to attack.
* BareFistedMonk: The War Monk/Cleric class in ''Three Houses'' specializes in brawling. War Monk/Cleric gains Brawl Avoid +20, which increases their avoid when equipping brawling weapons, upon mastering the class, as well as Unarmed Combat (which is the only way for female units to get the skill due to Unarmed Combat otherwise belonging to the exclusively male Brawler and Grappler classes). The Martial Monk, Martial Master and High Priest classes from ''Engage'' also focuses on brawling, called "Body Arts".
* CastFromHitPoints: Like Mages, they use HP to use white magic in ''Gaiden''. Thankfully, they have [[LifeDrain Nosferatu]] to compensate for their limited supply, but it has a low hit rate, so they may not hit as well.
* CombatMedic: Upon class change, Clerics and Priests gain offensive light magic, or have it from the start for Shamans in ''Genealogy''. For GBA Monks and Tellius Light Mages, it's the other way around -- they start out with access to offensive light magic, and only gain access to healing/status/utility staves when they class change.
* DistaffCounterpart: Besides the name, the Priest (or Curate in the Archanea games) and Cleric classes are practically alike. Monks and Shrine Maiden in ''Fates'' are similar to each other and although Great Master and Priestess share Renewal and Countermagic as learnable skills, Great Master focuses on physical combat and lances while Priestess focuses on healing and bow. The only time the class shares the same name regardless of gender is the Jugdral games and ''Three Houses'' as Priest.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** [[NoExperiencePointsForMedic Staves do not give them experience]] in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Gaiden'', meaning that it is difficult to even train them. In the first game's case, in order for them to gain experience, they must '''[[ViolationOfCommonSense get attacked (and survive)]]''', which is ''not'' something you want to try to do due to their SquishyWizard stats.
** Also oddly, in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', Priests are slowed down by deserts unlike Mages, as though they were not magic units.
* GeoEffects: Like Mages, Priests can traverse through deserts without any difficulties.
* GoodHurtsEvil: Light magic has often been associated with destroying monsters. In ''Sacred Stones'', the Bishop has Slayer which allows light magic to deal effective damage against monsters, while in ''Gaiden'' and ''Three Houses'', a light spell gained from learning Faith, Seraphim, inherently deals effective damage against Demonic Beasts and similar units.
* HealingFactor: '''Renewal''' allows them to regenerate 30% of their max HP at the start of each turn in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', and 20% in ''Three Houses''.
* HealerSignsOnEarly: You typically get a Priest/Cleric either at the start of the game or a few chapters in the early part.
* HolyHandGrenade: In ''Thracia 776'', the GBA games, the Tellius games, and ''Three Houses'', the Bishop or the Monk class specializes in Light magic.
* KamehameHadoken: War Monks/Clerics in ''Three Houses'' learn the Pneuma Gale combat art upon mastering the class. It deals magic damage and can attack at 1 or 2 range.
* LastChanceHitPoint: The Miracle skill, which allows the user to survive an otherwise fatal blow as long as they have more than 1 HP left. Its activation rate depends on the user's Luck stat.
* LifeDrain: In games where Nosferatu is classified as Light magic, it is naturally usable by this class family. It absorbs the enemy's HP, damaging them in the process.
* LightIsGood: Light magic comes from Faith and is [[ElementalRockPaperScissors extra effective against dark magic]].
* LightIsNotGood: In all games, Light magic can be used by the enemies, including very evil characters such as Riev and Lekain. This is most prominent in ''Radiant Dawn'', in which the major villain force all use light magic.
* LightEmUp: Tend to be the only light magic users in most games.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Downplayed for the War Monk/Cleric in ''Three Houses''; they can use magic, but to a limited degree compared to other magic users of comparable tiering, likely because they specialize in at least two other physical weapons somewhat more than they do magic. Along with Trickster, they are the only magic-using classes besides Noble and Commoner with this distinction.
* TheMedic: They're mainly used to heal weakened units.
* {{Miko}}: The Hoshido version of the Cleric, which is called Shrine Maiden. When class changed, they can use bows.
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to cast offensive spells and heal. The exception is if you class change them into [[CombatMedic War Monk/Cleric]] in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' and [[BareFistedMonk Martial Master]] in ''Engage''.
* ReligionIsMagic: Light magic, at any rate. In most canons, light magic has a strong association with the dominant religion of the world (which more often than not has some connection with one of the world's [[CrystalDragonJesus legendary heroes who also used light magic]]). Light-wielding units not affiliated with the clergy are rare, with Micaiah being the only one in Tellius. [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] by Knoll and Natasha in ''The Sacred Stones'', pondering the differences between the roots of their magic of choice (light/religion for Natasha, dark/knowledge for Knoll).
* SinisterMinister: Bishops who support the enemy, are morally questionable, or are outright evil and heretical are a recurring feature throughout the franchise -- the most prominent examples are Gharnef[[note]]before the remakes happened and he became a Sorcerer.[[/note]], Riev, Oliver, and Lekain.
* SquishyWizard: Significantly more so than the Mage line, as they have terrible Defense, but they tend to have the best Resistance of the magical classes (making them magical {{Stone Wall}}s in contrast to the tendency of Mages to be {{Glass Cannon}}s and Dark Mages to be {{Mighty Glacier}}s. This is ''technically'' averted by the War Monk/Cleric class in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'', as that class is physically-offensive in nature and therefore is significantly more robust, but the characters that class change into it by default in the former title tend to fall into this anyway by virtue of rather poor Strength and Defense growths.
* StatusBuff: War Monks/Clerics in ''Awakening'' gain Rally Luck, which gives a boost to luck to allies when commanded. Monks/Shrine Maidens in ''Fates'' gain the skill earlier.
* SupportPartyMember: Before they class change, Curates and Clerics can do nothing but heal or grant {{status buff}}s with staves. Inverted with the Monk class in earler titles, which can attack with light magic, but cannot heal until they class change to Bishop.
* TakingTheBullet: The Martial Monk and Martial Master classes are one of the few Qi Adept classes (the others being the Dancer and Enchanter) in ''Engage'', which as a Battle Style have access to the "Chain Guard" option, where if the user is at full HP they protect one ally adjacent to them from an attack at the cost of 20% of their HP if the attack lands on an ally.
* WarriorMonk: The War Monks/Clerics in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'', the Great Masters/Priestesses in ''Fates'', and the Martial Monk/Martial Master in ''Engage''. They use physical weapons alongside staves instead of offensive magic (or limited magic in general for ''Three Houses'').
* WhiteMage: They're frequently female (though some of them are male-but-effeminate); examples include Libra, Rhys, and Lucius).
* WhiteMagicianGirl: Early Clerics (often called "Sisters") in the series were almost exclusively kind women in white dresses. Later games gave more variety.
** Oddly, ''Echoes'' is the only game where only females can become Clerics (no, there is no Priest class line for males).
** ''Mystery of the Emblem'' also made the Priest line exclusively female. Not only are all of the basic healers Clerics, but also Wrys was removed from the game. Anytime the game would include enemy healers, they would always be Bishops but with no weapons.
* AttackReflector: The Great Master and Priestess learn Countermagic, which is a magical counterpart of the Counter skill. The key difference is that Countermagic reflects all type of magical damage and range isn't factored into the skill, unlike Counter requiring an adjacent enemy to attack.
* BareFistedMonk: The War Monk/Cleric class in ''Three Houses'' specializes in brawling. War Monk/Cleric gains Brawl Avoid +20, which increases their avoid when equipping brawling weapons, upon mastering the class, as well as Unarmed Combat (which is the only way for female units to get the skill due to Unarmed Combat otherwise belonging to the exclusively male Brawler and Grappler classes). The Martial Monk, Martial Master and High Priest classes from ''Engage'' also focuses on brawling, called "Body Arts".
* CastFromHitPoints: Like Mages, they use HP to use white magic in ''Gaiden''. Thankfully, they have [[LifeDrain Nosferatu]] to compensate for their limited supply, but it has a low hit rate, so they may not hit as well.
* CombatMedic: Upon class change, Clerics and Priests gain offensive light magic, or have it from the start for Shamans in ''Genealogy''. For GBA Monks and Tellius Light Mages, it's the other way around -- they start out with access to offensive light magic, and only gain access to healing/status/utility staves when they class change.
* DistaffCounterpart: Besides the name, the Priest (or Curate in the Archanea games) and Cleric classes are practically alike. Monks and Shrine Maiden in ''Fates'' are similar to each other and although Great Master and Priestess share Renewal and Countermagic as learnable skills, Great Master focuses on physical combat and lances while Priestess focuses on healing and bow. The only time the class shares the same name regardless of gender is the Jugdral games and ''Three Houses'' as Priest.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** [[NoExperiencePointsForMedic Staves do not give them experience]] in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' and ''Gaiden'', meaning that it is difficult to even train them. In the first game's case, in order for them to gain experience, they must '''[[ViolationOfCommonSense get attacked (and survive)]]''', which is ''not'' something you want to try to do due to their SquishyWizard stats.
** Also oddly, in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', Priests are slowed down by deserts unlike Mages, as though they were not magic units.
* GeoEffects: Like Mages, Priests can traverse through deserts without any difficulties.
* GoodHurtsEvil: Light magic has often been associated with destroying monsters. In ''Sacred Stones'', the Bishop has Slayer which allows light magic to deal effective damage against monsters, while in ''Gaiden'' and ''Three Houses'', a light spell gained from learning Faith, Seraphim, inherently deals effective damage against Demonic Beasts and similar units.
* HealingFactor: '''Renewal''' allows them to regenerate 30% of their max HP at the start of each turn in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', and 20% in ''Three Houses''.
* HealerSignsOnEarly: You typically get a Priest/Cleric either at the start of the game or a few chapters in the early part.
* HolyHandGrenade: In ''Thracia 776'', the GBA games, the Tellius games, and ''Three Houses'', the Bishop or the Monk class specializes in Light magic.
* KamehameHadoken: War Monks/Clerics in ''Three Houses'' learn the Pneuma Gale combat art upon mastering the class. It deals magic damage and can attack at 1 or 2 range.
* LastChanceHitPoint: The Miracle skill, which allows the user to survive an otherwise fatal blow as long as they have more than 1 HP left. Its activation rate depends on the user's Luck stat.
* LifeDrain: In games where Nosferatu is classified as Light magic, it is naturally usable by this class family. It absorbs the enemy's HP, damaging them in the process.
* LightIsGood: Light magic comes from Faith and is [[ElementalRockPaperScissors extra effective against dark magic]].
* LightIsNotGood: In all games, Light magic can be used by the enemies, including very evil characters such as Riev and Lekain. This is most prominent in ''Radiant Dawn'', in which the major villain force all use light magic.
* LightEmUp: Tend to be the only light magic users in most games.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Downplayed for the War Monk/Cleric in ''Three Houses''; they can use magic, but to a limited degree compared to other magic users of comparable tiering, likely because they specialize in at least two other physical weapons somewhat more than they do magic. Along with Trickster, they are the only magic-using classes besides Noble and Commoner with this distinction.
* TheMedic: They're mainly used to heal weakened units.
* {{Miko}}: The Hoshido version of the Cleric, which is called Shrine Maiden. When class changed, they can use bows.
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to cast offensive spells and heal. The exception is if you class change them into [[CombatMedic War Monk/Cleric]] in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' and [[BareFistedMonk Martial Master]] in ''Engage''.
* ReligionIsMagic: Light magic, at any rate. In most canons, light magic has a strong association with the dominant religion of the world (which more often than not has some connection with one of the world's [[CrystalDragonJesus legendary heroes who also used light magic]]). Light-wielding units not affiliated with the clergy are rare, with Micaiah being the only one in Tellius. [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] by Knoll and Natasha in ''The Sacred Stones'', pondering the differences between the roots of their magic of choice (light/religion for Natasha, dark/knowledge for Knoll).
* SinisterMinister: Bishops who support the enemy, are morally questionable, or are outright evil and heretical are a recurring feature throughout the franchise -- the most prominent examples are Gharnef[[note]]before the remakes happened and he became a Sorcerer.[[/note]], Riev, Oliver, and Lekain.
* SquishyWizard: Significantly more so than the Mage line, as they have terrible Defense, but they tend to have the best Resistance of the magical classes (making them magical {{Stone Wall}}s in contrast to the tendency of Mages to be {{Glass Cannon}}s and Dark Mages to be {{Mighty Glacier}}s. This is ''technically'' averted by the War Monk/Cleric class in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'', as that class is physically-offensive in nature and therefore is significantly more robust, but the characters that class change into it by default in the former title tend to fall into this anyway by virtue of rather poor Strength and Defense growths.
* StatusBuff: War Monks/Clerics in ''Awakening'' gain Rally Luck, which gives a boost to luck to allies when commanded. Monks/Shrine Maidens in ''Fates'' gain the skill earlier.
* SupportPartyMember: Before they class change, Curates and Clerics can do nothing but heal or grant {{status buff}}s with staves. Inverted with the Monk class in earler titles, which can attack with light magic, but cannot heal until they class change to Bishop.
* TakingTheBullet: The Martial Monk and Martial Master classes are one of the few Qi Adept classes (the others being the Dancer and Enchanter) in ''Engage'', which as a Battle Style have access to the "Chain Guard" option, where if the user is at full HP they protect one ally adjacent to them from an attack at the cost of 20% of their HP if the attack lands on an ally.
* WarriorMonk: The War Monks/Clerics in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'', the Great Masters/Priestesses in ''Fates'', and the Martial Monk/Martial Master in ''Engage''. They use physical weapons alongside staves instead of offensive magic (or limited magic in general for ''Three Houses'').
* WhiteMage: They're frequently female (though some of them are male-but-effeminate); examples include Libra, Rhys, and Lucius).
* WhiteMagicianGirl: Early Clerics (often called "Sisters") in the series were almost exclusively kind women in white dresses. Later games gave more variety.
to:
* AlwaysFemale:
AchillesHeel:
**Oddly, ''Echoes'' is Just like the other flying units, Wyvern classes are [[AntiAir weak to Bows]]. The sole exception being ''Radiant Dawn''
** In many games, Wyvern classes are specifically weak to wind magic, [[AntiAir being flying units]] or any other anti-Dragon weapons. ''Radiant Dawn'' changed their weakness wind magic to thunder magic, the same weakness as Dragon Laguz.
** In some games, , Wyvern riding classes take extra Wyrmslayers and other dragon slaying weapons.
** Wyvern riding classes always have a terrible resistance stat. In most games, Wyvern classes have the worst resistance stat around, outside of GlassCannon classes.
* AntiInfantry: The Malig Knight's Trample skill deals 5 bonus damage to unmounted enemies.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Wyvern Knight's skill, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pierce]], in ''The Sacred Stones''. Its usefulness is offset by being linked to [[GameBreakingBug a nasty glitch]] which locks up the game under certain (rare) circumstances which, oddly enough, onlygame where only females can become Clerics (no, there is no Priest class line for males).
occurs in English copies of the game.
* BreathWeapon:
** Averted; most of the time the wyverns do not breathe fire. It becomes odd when fighting against feral wyverns in ''Mystery of the Emblem''also made the Priest line exclusively female. Not only are all of the basic healers Clerics, but also Wrys was removed from the game. Anytime the game would include enemy healers, which breathe fire, implying that they would always be Bishops but lost their ability to breathe fire to domestication.
** Played straight withno weapons.
* AttackReflector: The Great Master and PriestessMalig Knights in ''Fates''. They learn Countermagic, Savage Blow, which is a magical counterpart of was called Deathly Breath in the Counter skill. The key difference is Japanese version, which implies that Countermagic reflects all type of magical damage the undead wyvern is exhaling a poisonous gas.
** In ''Three Houses'' only certain, special wyverns (namely the white variety Claude uses for his unique classes) are shown to be able to breathe fire.
* CoolHelmet: Wyvern Lords andrange isn't factored into Malig Knights wear helmets that resemble dragons, while Griffon Riders wear helmets resembling a griffon.
* CoolMask: The Wyvern Riders in ''Awakening'' wear masks that resemble a dragon's jaws on theskill, unlike Counter requiring an adjacent enemy to attack.
lower halves of their faces.
*BareFistedMonk: The War Monk/Cleric class CriticalStatusBuff: Wyvern Lord in ''Three Houses'' specializes in brawling. War Monk/Cleric gains Brawl Avoid +20, which increases their avoid when equipping brawling weapons, gain Defiant Critical, a skill that boosts critical hit rate by 50% while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class, as well as Unarmed Combat (which is class.
* DependingOnTheArtist: There's pretty much no consistency with theonly way appearance of the dragon mounts between games; it's pretty much justified by the different universes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The dragon-riding family slowly evolved from the pegasus family into the distinct class tree with different strengths it is today.
* {{Dracolich}}: Malig Knights ride on undead wyverns.
* DragonRider:
** You don't say. The Wyvern mount is almost never seen attacking directly, outside of ading momentum to their rider's attacks. That said many of the games with dismounting show Wyvern riding characters lose alot of strength and defense when they dismount their wyvern.
** Averted with the Griffon Rider in ''Awakening''.
* FragileSpeedster: The Wyvern Knight from ''Sacred Stones'', being accessible from both the pegasus and wyvern lines, takes after pegasi in the speed department while also having the Constitution of a wyvern to be lightning fast all-around - to compensate, however, it has less HP and also inherits the weaker defense and resistance of both, and being locked to lances means it always has to remain cautious around the hard-hitting axe users that most classes would normally shrug off by the point in the game you get your first Wyvern Knight.
* GatheringSteam: Inverted forfemale units to the Wyvern Lord in ''Awakening'', as they get the skill due to Unarmed Combat otherwise belonging to the exclusively male Brawler Quick Burn, which gives them 15 hit and Grappler classes). The Martial Monk, Martial Master and High Priest classes from ''Engage'' also focuses on brawling, called "Body Arts".
* CastFromHitPoints: Like Mages, they use HP to use white magic in ''Gaiden''. Thankfully, they have [[LifeDrain Nosferatu]] to compensate for their limited supply, but it has a low hit rate, so they may not hit as well.
* CombatMedic: Upon class change, Clerics and Priests gain offensive light magic, or have it fromavoid at the start of the battle but loses effect for Shamans in ''Genealogy''. For GBA Monks each turn.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses andTellius Light Mages, it's the other way around -- penalties, because after all, they start out can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* GiantFlyer: In the SNES, GBA games and ''Radiant Dawn'' in particular, they're downright enormous.
* HeelFaceTurn: Typically, the dragon mount species is associated withaccess to offensive light magic, an/the enemy kingdom (Macedon, Thracia, Bern, Grado, Daein, Nohr) and dragon riders are a mainstay of the respective army, and so almost every allied Dragon Rider is recruited from the enemy. The only gain access exceptions to healing/status/utility staves when they class change.
* DistaffCounterpart: Besidesthis in the name, the Priest (or Curate series are in the Archanea games) and Cleric classes are practically alike. Monks and Shrine Maiden in ''Fates'' are similar to each other and although Great Master and Priestess share Renewal and Countermagic as learnable skills, Great Master focuses on physical combat and lances while Priestess focuses on healing and bow. The only time the class shares the same name regardless of gender is the Jugdral games and ''The Sacred Stones'', where your Pegasus Knights can class change into them, and ''Awakening'', where the "recruited" dragon rider is from a different nation than the "enemy" dragon riders earlier in the game. In cases like Macedon and Begnion where they have both pegasus and wyvern armies, there is a notable infighting between the two and the wyvern side would be the more hostile one. ''Three Houses'' also subverts the antagonistic role, as Priest.
Wyvern Riders are rare among the Imperial ranks and "those who slither in the dark", though the one nation that specializes in wyverns is Almyra, a nation neighboring Fodlan with minimal involvement in the conflict (though it does have a history of [[BloodKnight picking fights with Fódlan for fun]]) and was the home of Cyril and [[spoiler:Claude]].
*EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
HerdHittingAttack: Malig Knights can learn the Savage Blow skill, which applies a 20% HP reduction to all units that were within 2 spaces of their range.
* HitAndRunTactics: Like Pegasus Knights, they can move again to a safe distance in the Jugdral and Tellius games. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* InconsistentSpelling:
**[[NoExperiencePointsForMedic Staves do not give There is one hell of a naming inconsistency with this class family. For ''The Blazing Blade'', the first English release, they were renamed "Wyvern Rider" and "Wyvern Lord" to distinguish them experience]] from the proper dragons that are not domesticated as mounts and figured heavily into the plot of the game; ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Path of Radiance'' stuck to this. The Japanese version of ''The Sacred Stones'' introduced the "Wyvern Knight" class, part of the Wyvern family of dragons, and looking more like traditional wyverns from ''Mystery of the Emblem''; they were still called "Wyvern Knights" in the English version and the matter of their physical difference wasn't addressed. ''Radiant Dawn''[='s=] translation discarded the "wyvern" name for the classes themselves, going with variations of "Dracoknight"; however, in dialogue, the species are still called wyverns, again to differentiate from the game's fairly important actual dragons. This remained the case for ''Shadow Dragon'', though the [[NoExportForYou Japan only]] remake of the sequel shows the dragon mounts are indeed named Wyverns. Then in ''Awakening'', it's back to Wyvern Rider and Wyvern Lord. The Switch port for ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' then renames it "Wyvern Knight".
** The Japanese version alone isn't much better. The base class is called Dragon Rider in most games, but the Jugdral games and''Gaiden'', meaning that ''Radiant Dawn'' call it Dragon Knight. The advanced class is difficult to even train them. In called either Dragon Master or Dragon Lord depending on the first game's case, in order for them to gain experience, they must '''[[ViolationOfCommonSense get attacked (and survive)]]''', game, which is ''not'' something becomes really confusing when you want consider the name of the third-tier advanced class from ''Radiant Dawn'': Dragonlord (Lindwurm in Japanese).
* IWorkAlone: Only in ''Awakening'', but Wyvern Riders gain the skill Tantivy, which grants the user +10 Hit and Evasion if there are no allies within 3 spaces of them.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: They can remove their weaknesses totry to do due bows by equipping specific shields if there is any. Averted, however, against anti-dragon weapons save for the Full Guard in ''Path of Radiance''.
* LightningBruiser: They are one of the strongest physical classes thanks to theirSquishyWizard stats.
** Also oddly, in ''Shadow Dragonhigh Strength, Skill, Defense, and movement range. This is particularly true in the Blade of Light'', Priests are slowed down by deserts unlike Mages, NES/SNES Archanea duology (which lacked stat caps), as though they were not magic units.
* GeoEffects: Like Mages, Priests can traverse through deserts without any difficulties.
* GoodHurtsEvil: Light magic has often been associated with destroying monsters. In ''Sacred Stones'', the Bishop has Slayer which allows light magic to deal effective damage against monsters, while in ''Gaiden'' andwell as ''Three Houses'', a light spell gained from learning Faith, Seraphim, inherently deals effective damage against Demonic Beasts and similar units.
* HealingFactor: '''Renewal''' allowswhere they have high Speed caps. Enemy factions would sporadically deploy them early-game to regenerate 30% serve as BossInMookClothing, and then field even more of them in the late-game chapters. Most playable Wyvern Riders join mid-to-late game because of their max HP at the start of each turn powerhouse status.
* MagicKnight: Malig Knights specialize in''Awakening'' both axes and ''Fates'', and 20% tomes, in ''Three Houses''.
* HealerSignsOnEarly: You typically get a Priest/Cleric either at the startaddition to their magic stats. It is one of the few classes that can reliably use the Bolt Axe.
* MightyGlacier: What the class is almost always in gameor a few chapters with class specific caps. While in their earlier incarnations, they were basically stronger Pegasus Knights but without their MageKiller capabilities, starting with ''Genealogy Of the early part.
* HolyHandGrenade: In ''Thracia 776'',Holy War'' have settled for making them aerial tanks with high Attack and Defense but low Speed and Resistance, in order to make them more of a {{Foil}} to the GBA games, the Tellius games, and [[FragileSpeedster Pegasus Knights]]. In ''Radiant Dawn'', Dragonlord's speed cap is even worse than Marshall. The only exception is in ''Three Houses'', where Wyvern Lords have the Bishop or stats of a LightningBruiser
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of theMonk Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class specializes changes into a Dracoknight with a Master Seal, she is unable to reclass into Falcoknight.
* MythologyGag: The Wyvern Knight class inLight magic.
''[=FE8=]'' rides a mount identical to the [=DracoKnights=] of ''[=FE3=]'' and can be class changed from Pegasus Knights.
*KamehameHadoken: War Monks/Clerics OurDragonsAreDifferent: The appearance of the Dragon/Wyvern Mounts vary wildly across different universes. What varies most are whether they stand on two legs or four and if they have no arms like a wyvern or their arms are like a western dragon.
* OurGryphonsAreDifferent: The Griffon Riders that appear in ''Awakening''.
* TheParalyzer: Wyvern Lords and Dragonlords in the Tellius games has the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Wyvern Riders in ''Three Houses'' learn Seal Defense, a skill that reduces thePneuma Gale combat art enemy's defense by 6 after combat, upon mastering the class. It deals magic damage and can attack at 1 or 2 range.
* LastChanceHitPoint: The Miracle skill, which allows the user to survive an otherwise fatal blow as long as they have more than 1 HP left. Its activation rate depends on the user's Luck stat.
* LifeDrain: In games where Nosferatu is classified as Light magic, it is naturally usable by this class family. It absorbs the enemy's HP, damaging them in the process.
* LightIsGood: Light magic comes from Faith and is [[ElementalRockPaperScissors extra effective against dark magic]].
* LightIsNotGood: In all games, Light magic can be used by the enemies, including very evil characters such as Riev and Lekain. This is most prominent in ''Radiant Dawn'', in which the major villain force all use light magic.
* LightEmUp: Tend to be the only light magic users in most games.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Downplayed for the War Monk/Cleric in ''Three Houses''; they can use magic, but to a limited degree compared to other magic users of comparable tiering, likely because they specialize in at least two other physical weapons somewhat more than they do magic. Along with Trickster, they are the only magic-using classes besides Noble and Commoner with this distinction.
* TheMedic: They're mainly used to heal weakened units.
* {{Miko}}: The Hoshido version of the Cleric, which is called Shrine Maiden. When class changed, they can use bows.
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to cast offensive spells and heal. The exception is if you class change them into [[CombatMedic War Monk/Cleric]] in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' and [[BareFistedMonk Martial Master]] in ''Engage''.
* ReligionIsMagic: Light magic, at any rate. In most canons, light magic has a strong association with the dominant religion of the world (which more often than not has some connection with one of the world's [[CrystalDragonJesus legendary heroes who also used light magic]]). Light-wielding units not affiliated with the clergy are rare, with Micaiah being the only one in Tellius. [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] by Knoll and Natasha in ''The Sacred Stones'', pondering the differences between the roots of their magic of choice (light/religion for Natasha, dark/knowledge for Knoll).
* SinisterMinister: Bishops who support the enemy, are morally questionable, or are outright evil and heretical are a recurring feature throughout the franchise -- the most prominent examples are Gharnef[[note]]before the remakes happened and he became a Sorcerer.[[/note]], Riev, Oliver, and Lekain.
* SquishyWizard: Significantly more so than the Mage line, as they have terrible Defense, but they tend to have the best Resistance of the magical classes (making them magical {{Stone Wall}}s in contrast to the tendency of Mages to be {{Glass Cannon}}s and Dark Mages to be {{Mighty Glacier}}s. This is ''technically'' averted by the War Monk/Cleric class in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'', as that class is physically-offensive in nature and therefore is significantly more robust, but the characters that class change into it by default in the former title tend to fall into this anyway by virtue of rather poor Strength and Defense growths.
class.
* StatusBuff:War Monks/Clerics in ''Awakening'' gain Rally Luck, which gives a boost to luck to allies when commanded. Monks/Shrine Maidens Wyvern Lords in ''Fates'' gain the skill earlier.
* SupportPartyMember: Before they class change, Curates and Clerics can do nothing but heal or grant {{status buff}}s with staves. Inverted with the Monk class in earler titles,Rally Defense, which can attack gives a boost to defense to allies when commanded.
* WeakToMagic: In contrast to [[MageKiller Pegasus Knights]], Wyvern Riders tend to have a high Defense but the worst Resistance around, tied withlight magic, but cannot heal until they class change to Bishop.
* TakingTheBullet: The Martial Monk and Martial Master classes are one of the few Qi Adept classes (the others being the Dancer and Enchanter) in ''Engage'', which as a Battle Style have access to the "Chain Guard" option, where if the user is at full HP they protect one ally adjacent to them from an attack at the cost of 20% of their HP if the attack lands on an ally.
* WarriorMonk: The War Monks/Clerics in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'', the Great Masters/Priestesses in ''Fates'', and the Martial Monk/Martial Master in ''Engage''. They use physical weapons alongside staves instead of offensive magic (or limited magic in general for ''Three Houses'').
* WhiteMage: They're frequently female (thoughWarriors. In some of them games, wyvern riders are male-but-effeminate); examples include Libra, Rhys, also weak to wind or thunder magic.
* WeaponSpecialization: Traditionally, lances andLucius).
* WhiteMagicianGirl: Early Clerics (often called "Sisters") inaxes are the series were almost exclusively kind women in white dresses. Later games gave more variety.family's primary weapon.
**
** In many games, Wyvern classes are specifically weak to wind magic, [[AntiAir being flying units]] or any other anti-Dragon weapons. ''Radiant Dawn'' changed their weakness wind magic to thunder magic, the same weakness as Dragon Laguz.
** In some games, , Wyvern riding classes take extra Wyrmslayers and other dragon slaying weapons.
** Wyvern riding classes always have a terrible resistance stat. In most games, Wyvern classes have the worst resistance stat around, outside of GlassCannon classes.
* AntiInfantry: The Malig Knight's Trample skill deals 5 bonus damage to unmounted enemies.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Wyvern Knight's skill, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pierce]], in ''The Sacred Stones''. Its usefulness is offset by being linked to [[GameBreakingBug a nasty glitch]] which locks up the game under certain (rare) circumstances which, oddly enough, only
* BreathWeapon:
** Averted; most of the time the wyverns do not breathe fire. It becomes odd when fighting against feral wyverns in ''Mystery of the Emblem''
** Played straight with
* AttackReflector: The Great Master and Priestess
** In ''Three Houses'' only certain, special wyverns (namely the white variety Claude uses for his unique classes) are shown to be able to breathe fire.
* CoolHelmet: Wyvern Lords and
* CoolMask: The Wyvern Riders in ''Awakening'' wear masks that resemble a dragon's jaws on the
*
* DependingOnTheArtist: There's pretty much no consistency with the
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The dragon-riding family slowly evolved from the pegasus family into the distinct class tree with different strengths it is today.
* {{Dracolich}}: Malig Knights ride on undead wyverns.
* DragonRider:
** You don't say. The Wyvern mount is almost never seen attacking directly, outside of ading momentum to their rider's attacks. That said many of the games with dismounting show Wyvern riding characters lose alot of strength and defense when they dismount their wyvern.
** Averted with the Griffon Rider in ''Awakening''.
* FragileSpeedster: The Wyvern Knight from ''Sacred Stones'', being accessible from both the pegasus and wyvern lines, takes after pegasi in the speed department while also having the Constitution of a wyvern to be lightning fast all-around - to compensate, however, it has less HP and also inherits the weaker defense and resistance of both, and being locked to lances means it always has to remain cautious around the hard-hitting axe users that most classes would normally shrug off by the point in the game you get your first Wyvern Knight.
* GatheringSteam: Inverted for
* CastFromHitPoints: Like Mages, they use HP to use white magic in ''Gaiden''. Thankfully, they have [[LifeDrain Nosferatu]] to compensate for their limited supply, but it has a low hit rate, so they may not hit as well.
* CombatMedic: Upon class change, Clerics and Priests gain offensive light magic, or have it from
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and
* GiantFlyer: In the SNES, GBA games and ''Radiant Dawn'' in particular, they're downright enormous.
* HeelFaceTurn: Typically, the dragon mount species is associated with
* DistaffCounterpart: Besides
*
* HitAndRunTactics: Like Pegasus Knights, they can move again to a safe distance in the Jugdral and Tellius games. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* InconsistentSpelling:
**
** The Japanese version alone isn't much better. The base class is called Dragon Rider in most games, but the Jugdral games and
* IWorkAlone: Only in ''Awakening'', but Wyvern Riders gain the skill Tantivy, which grants the user +10 Hit and Evasion if there are no allies within 3 spaces of them.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: They can remove their weaknesses to
* LightningBruiser: They are one of the strongest physical classes thanks to their
** Also oddly, in ''Shadow Dragon
* GeoEffects: Like Mages, Priests can traverse through deserts without any difficulties.
* GoodHurtsEvil: Light magic has often been associated with destroying monsters. In ''Sacred Stones'', the Bishop has Slayer which allows light magic to deal effective damage against monsters, while in ''Gaiden'' and
* HealingFactor: '''Renewal''' allows
* MagicKnight: Malig Knights specialize in
* HealerSignsOnEarly: You typically get a Priest/Cleric either at the start
* MightyGlacier: What the class is almost always in game
* HolyHandGrenade: In ''Thracia 776'',
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the
* MythologyGag: The Wyvern Knight class in
*
* OurGryphonsAreDifferent: The Griffon Riders that appear in ''Awakening''.
* TheParalyzer: Wyvern Lords and Dragonlords in the Tellius games has the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Wyvern Riders in ''Three Houses'' learn Seal Defense, a skill that reduces the
* LastChanceHitPoint: The Miracle skill, which allows the user to survive an otherwise fatal blow as long as they have more than 1 HP left. Its activation rate depends on the user's Luck stat.
* LifeDrain: In games where Nosferatu is classified as Light magic, it is naturally usable by this class family. It absorbs the enemy's HP, damaging them in the process.
* LightIsGood: Light magic comes from Faith and is [[ElementalRockPaperScissors extra effective against dark magic]].
* LightIsNotGood: In all games, Light magic can be used by the enemies, including very evil characters such as Riev and Lekain. This is most prominent in ''Radiant Dawn'', in which the major villain force all use light magic.
* LightEmUp: Tend to be the only light magic users in most games.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Downplayed for the War Monk/Cleric in ''Three Houses''; they can use magic, but to a limited degree compared to other magic users of comparable tiering, likely because they specialize in at least two other physical weapons somewhat more than they do magic. Along with Trickster, they are the only magic-using classes besides Noble and Commoner with this distinction.
* TheMedic: They're mainly used to heal weakened units.
* {{Miko}}: The Hoshido version of the Cleric, which is called Shrine Maiden. When class changed, they can use bows.
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to cast offensive spells and heal. The exception is if you class change them into [[CombatMedic War Monk/Cleric]] in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' and [[BareFistedMonk Martial Master]] in ''Engage''.
* ReligionIsMagic: Light magic, at any rate. In most canons, light magic has a strong association with the dominant religion of the world (which more often than not has some connection with one of the world's [[CrystalDragonJesus legendary heroes who also used light magic]]). Light-wielding units not affiliated with the clergy are rare, with Micaiah being the only one in Tellius. [[DiscussedTrope Discussed]] by Knoll and Natasha in ''The Sacred Stones'', pondering the differences between the roots of their magic of choice (light/religion for Natasha, dark/knowledge for Knoll).
* SinisterMinister: Bishops who support the enemy, are morally questionable, or are outright evil and heretical are a recurring feature throughout the franchise -- the most prominent examples are Gharnef[[note]]before the remakes happened and he became a Sorcerer.[[/note]], Riev, Oliver, and Lekain.
* SquishyWizard: Significantly more so than the Mage line, as they have terrible Defense, but they tend to have the best Resistance of the magical classes (making them magical {{Stone Wall}}s in contrast to the tendency of Mages to be {{Glass Cannon}}s and Dark Mages to be {{Mighty Glacier}}s. This is ''technically'' averted by the War Monk/Cleric class in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'', as that class is physically-offensive in nature and therefore is significantly more robust, but the characters that class change into it by default in the former title tend to fall into this anyway by virtue of rather poor Strength and Defense growths.
* StatusBuff:
* SupportPartyMember: Before they class change, Curates and Clerics can do nothing but heal or grant {{status buff}}s with staves. Inverted with the Monk class in earler titles,
* WeakToMagic: In contrast to [[MageKiller Pegasus Knights]], Wyvern Riders tend to have a high Defense but the worst Resistance around, tied with
* TakingTheBullet: The Martial Monk and Martial Master classes are one of the few Qi Adept classes (the others being the Dancer and Enchanter) in ''Engage'', which as a Battle Style have access to the "Chain Guard" option, where if the user is at full HP they protect one ally adjacent to them from an attack at the cost of 20% of their HP if the attack lands on an ally.
* WarriorMonk: The War Monks/Clerics in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'', the Great Masters/Priestesses in ''Fates'', and the Martial Monk/Martial Master in ''Engage''. They use physical weapons alongside staves instead of offensive magic (or limited magic in general for ''Three Houses'').
* WhiteMage: They're frequently female (though
* WeaponSpecialization: Traditionally, lances and
* WhiteMagicianGirl: Early Clerics (often called "Sisters") in
Changed line(s) 648,667 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Dark Mage/Shaman]]
!!Dark Mage/Shaman
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/803g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Mages in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/912g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/962g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
A somewhat uncommon offensive magic class, Dark Mages (also known as Shamans in the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance titles ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'') are a slower, somewhat bulkier counterpart to Mages that debuted in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''. They specialize in Dark magic, which is usually exclusive to them, but are also sometimes capable of using Anima magic. Originally an enemy-only class, Dark Mages became playable on a semi-recurring basis starting in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''.\\\
Dark Mages usually Class Change to '''Sorcerer''' ('''Druid''' in the GBA titles and ''Radiant Dawn''), while in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'', they can become '''Dark Bishop''' (only accessible in ''Three Houses''). They can also become the '''Summoner''' class in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', giving them the ability to wield staves and granting access to SummonMagic. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they can potentially Class Change into '''Dark Knight''', which [[MagicKnight allows them use of swords]] and grants them a mount at the cost of [[{{Irony}} losing their ability to use Dark magic]] (though their ability to use Anima magic remains intact).\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' and its remake, ''Shadows of Valentia'', an enemy-only variant of the class appears, called the '''Arcanist'''[[note]]known as Magician in the Japanese version[[/note]]; this class belongs to people who have sacrificed themselves to Duma in exchange for powerful dark magic. It also has a male-only variant, called the '''Cantor''', which is capable of conjuring forth many types of monsters, though what type of monsters are summoned is dependent on the Cantor in question.\\\
Related is the '''Dark Sage''', a second-tier class[[note]]presumably promoted from a "Dark Mage"[[/note]] which also wields thunder magic, exclusive to King Pelleas in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''; it Class Changes into a variant of the '''Arch Sage'''. Also related are the villain-exclusive dark spellcasting classes: '''Dark Prince''' Julius from ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', '''Dark Druid''' Nergal from ''The Blazing Blade'', '''Necromancer''' Lyon from ''The Sacred Stones'', and '''Agastya''', a class exclusive to Thales in ''Three Houses''. A Dark Knight variant also appears in ''Three Houses'' in the form of the '''Death Knight''', exclusive to the character with the same name as the class.\\\
This class is not to be confused with the '''Shaman''' class of ''Genealogy'', which is a light-wielding class exclusive to Deirdre and Julia, or with the third-tier '''Light Priestess''' class, which was called "Shaman" in the original Japanese version of ''Radiant Dawn''.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Salem (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Raigh, Sophia, Niime (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Canas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Knoll (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Pelleas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Etzel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Tharja, Henry, DLC Micaiah (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Odin, Nyx, Leo, Ophelia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Hubert, [[spoiler:Jeritza]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
!!Dark Mage/Shaman
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/803g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Mages in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/912g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/962g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
A somewhat uncommon offensive magic class, Dark Mages (also known as Shamans in the UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance titles ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'') are a slower, somewhat bulkier counterpart to Mages that debuted in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''. They specialize in Dark magic, which is usually exclusive to them, but are also sometimes capable of using Anima magic. Originally an enemy-only class, Dark Mages became playable on a semi-recurring basis starting in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''.\\\
Dark Mages usually Class Change to '''Sorcerer''' ('''Druid''' in the GBA titles and ''Radiant Dawn''), while in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'', they can become '''Dark Bishop''' (only accessible in ''Three Houses''). They can also become the '''Summoner''' class in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', giving them the ability to wield staves and granting access to SummonMagic. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they can potentially Class Change into '''Dark Knight''', which [[MagicKnight allows them use of swords]] and grants them a mount at the cost of [[{{Irony}} losing their ability to use Dark magic]] (though their ability to use Anima magic remains intact).\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' and its remake, ''Shadows of Valentia'', an enemy-only variant of the class appears, called the '''Arcanist'''[[note]]known as Magician in the Japanese version[[/note]]; this class belongs to people who have sacrificed themselves to Duma in exchange for powerful dark magic. It also has a male-only variant, called the '''Cantor''', which is capable of conjuring forth many types of monsters, though what type of monsters are summoned is dependent on the Cantor in question.\\\
Related is the '''Dark Sage''', a second-tier class[[note]]presumably promoted from a "Dark Mage"[[/note]] which also wields thunder magic, exclusive to King Pelleas in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''; it Class Changes into a variant of the '''Arch Sage'''. Also related are the villain-exclusive dark spellcasting classes: '''Dark Prince''' Julius from ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', '''Dark Druid''' Nergal from ''The Blazing Blade'', '''Necromancer''' Lyon from ''The Sacred Stones'', and '''Agastya''', a class exclusive to Thales in ''Three Houses''. A Dark Knight variant also appears in ''Three Houses'' in the form of the '''Death Knight''', exclusive to the character with the same name as the class.\\\
This class is not to be confused with the '''Shaman''' class of ''Genealogy'', which is a light-wielding class exclusive to Deirdre and Julia, or with the third-tier '''Light Priestess''' class, which was called "Shaman" in the original Japanese version of ''Radiant Dawn''.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Salem (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Raigh, Sophia, Niime (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Canas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Knoll (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Pelleas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Etzel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Tharja, Henry, DLC Micaiah (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Odin, Nyx, Leo, Ophelia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Hubert, [[spoiler:Jeritza]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
to:
!!Dark Mage/Shaman
!!Dancer and variants
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
Changed line(s) 669,711 (click to see context) from:
* AlwaysMale: Dark Mages and Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' are male-only.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Luna spell in ''Blazing Blade'', ''Sacred Stones'', and ''Three Houses'' negates the enemy's resistance at the cost of fully requiring the unit's magic stat to be high in order to be effective, as the spell has minimal to no intrinsic might of its own (making it outclassed by literally any other dark tome when being used on enemies with low resistance, but absolutely invaluable to the point of being a GameBreaker against enemies with high resistance). Glower in ''New Mystery of the Emblem'' negates resistance instead of inflicting HPToOne.
* BlackKnight: The Dark Knight class, which is basically a new version of Mage Knight.
* CastingAShadow: Dark magic is essentially this. Also, while they have often been portrayed as the magical equivalent to axes[[note]]with light magic being comparable to swords and animals magic being comparable to lances; the three magic types even have an identical TacticalRockPaperScissors arrangement to their physical counterparts[[/note]], dark magic in the GBA games and in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' have effects on their general weapons[[note]]such as LifeDrain, ArmorPiercingAttack, PercentDamageAttack, and HPToOne[[/note]] that other magic will never have. Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Dark Tomefaire as a class skill, though they also gain Black Tomefaire as well.
* CoolHelmet: Dark Knights typically wear menacing-looking helmets. ''Awakening'' gives them a visor that resembles the Fell Dragon Grima, ''Fates'' gives them skull-faced helmets, and ''Three Houses'' features a four-horned demon on theirs.
* CoolMask: Dark Mages and Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' wear crow masks modelled after plague doctors.
* CriticalHitClass: In ''Fates'', Sorcerors have a small critical hit bonus.
* CriticalStatusBuff: The ''Vengeance'' skill, which increases the user's damage based on half of the user's missing HP, making it very powerful when the user is nearly dead. It also has the highest activation rate at Skill x2 (x1.5 in ''Fates''), so it is easy for it to activate.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: The mastery skill for Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'' is Seal Resisitance, which inflicts -6 Resistance to the enemy after combat if they attack and damage them during combat.
* DarkIsEvil: Commonly, the Dark Mage is used as an enemy-only class, like in ''Gaiden'', ''Mystery of the Emblem'', ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', and ''Thracia 776'', and many antagonists in the series are of the EvilSorcerer-type. Even in games where Dark Mages are playable, there is rarely more than one playable Dark Mage (''Binding Blade'', ''Awakening'', and ''Fates'' are the only exceptions), while the enemy faction will have no short supply of Dark Mages. In addition, the playable Dark Mages in ''Awakening'' are creepy {{Token Evil Teammate}}s.
* DarkIsNotEvil: And Canas ''will'' make a point of reminding you of that fact. However, Dark magic users still tend to be [[DarkIsEvil major]] [[EvilSorcerer enemies]] in several games in the series nonetheless. ''Gaiden'', both Jugdral games, ''Awakening'', and ''Three Houses'' feature an evil magic cult as one of the main antagonist factions. Furthermore, even if it's not inherently ''evil'', dark magic is frequently [[EvilIsNotAToy hazardous to its users in-universe if used improperly]] (as Canas's brothers and Brammimond could attest to if they weren't {{Empty Shell}}s).
* DealWithTheDevil: Often, to gain the ability to use dark magic, particularly if it's of the powerful kind, the user has to sacrifice something in return, often with severe consequences.
* DiscardAndDraw:
** Dark Mages promoting into Dark Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain the ability to use Swords, as well as gaining a horse mount for mobility, at the cost of (ironically) no longer able to use dark tomes.
** Compared to the Dark Knight, the Death Knight in ''Three Houses'' emphasizes more on its Lance rank, swapping out Black and Dark Tomefaire for Lancefaire. Mastering this class grants Counterattack (allows the user to counterattack regardless of range), further encouraging the usage of melee weapons.
* {{Expy}}: Dark Druid Nergal and Necromancer Lyon's classes are based upon the Druid and Summoner classes, respectively, but more powerful. Dark Druid also serves as an {{expy}} and {{foil}} to Athos's Archsage class.
* GatheringSteam: Dark Knight in ''Awakening'' has the skill Slow Burn, which gives them hit and avoid after a turn has pass, up to 15.
* HighCollarOfDoom: Dark Knights have these to add to their menacing appearances.
* HPToOne: Several dark magic across the series can cause this effect (sometimes from a very long range) -- namely Medusa, Dulam, Hel, Eclipse, and Bohr X. With the exception of Eclipse in ''Binding Blade'' (it was changed to a PercentDamageAttack for the rest of the GBA games), these spells are exclusive to the enemy.
* InTheHood: Almost every similar unit wears a heavy hood completely obscuring their face.
* LifeDrain:
** In the games where Nosferatu isn't Light magic, Dark Mages are instead able to wield it, enabling them to absorb their enemies' HP.
** Dark Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' and Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' get Lifetaker, which heals 50% of their HP after defeating an enemy.
* MightyGlacier: Dark Mages are significantly slower than Mages and have worse Skill, but generally have relatively equal magical attack and much better defense. Technically averted by Dark Mages in ''Fates'', where the class is basically just the Nohrian counterpart to the Diviner, itself an {{Expy}} of the standard Mage, with the added ability of wielding the game's sole dark magic tome, Nosferatu.
* NonindicativeName: Despite their name and appearance, Dark Knights are not actually capable of using dark magic unless they have the Shadowgift skill, instead being just another name for the Mage Knight. The only exception to this might be Leo, as his Brynhildr tome is stated to be dark magic, although he still can't use Nosferatu unless he reclasses into a Sorcerer. Finally remedied in ''Three Houses'' where Dark Knights has Dark Tomefaire as their class skill and dark magic is based on character instead of being restricted to the class itself.
* PoisonedWeapon:
** Jormungand in ''Thracia 776'' inflicts the target with the poison status, but only when used by enemies.
** Dark Mages in ''Three Houses'' learn Poison Strike upon mastering the class.
* PowerOfTheVoid:
** Apocalypse, one of the Divine Weapons of Elibe, emits a rune which summons a black hole.
** Ginnungagap in ''Fates'', where the spell [[YinYangBomb covers the enemy in a black vortex, then suffocates them with a blinding light]].
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is if a Dark Mage class changes into the [[MagicKnight Dark Knight]] class. Done weirdly with the Sorcerer from ''Awakening'' onward, who gets to use BlackMagic in addition to normal magic, but cannot use healing staves to differentiate themselves from Sages.
* ShouldersOfDoom: The pauldrons of the Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'' are not only large, but have large intimidating spikes on each of them.
* {{Stripperiffic}}: Dark Mages and Sorcerers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' wear some of the most revealing and downright skimpy outfits in the entire series.
* SummonMagic: The Cantor, Summoner, and the Necromancer can summon units to fight for them.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Seal Magic, which reduces the enemy's magic, is available to Dark Knights in ''Fates''. In ''Three Houses'', they instead learn Seal Resistance, and in Maddening Mode, enemy Dark Mages have Seal Strength by default.
* StatusBuff: Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' gain Fiendish Blow as a class skill, which increases their magic by 6 when initiating the attack. However, you cannot stack Fiendish Blow with another instance from mastering Mage, as the skill will just remove itself when two similar skills are included.
* UniqueEnemy:
** Inverted in ''Sacred Stones'', as you never encounter enemy Summoners. In addition, Necromancers (read: Lyon) never use their summon ability as enemies, while they can summon Phantoms in the player's hands.
** Zigzagged with ''Radiant Dawn'', as there are enemy-only Druids that appear sporadically in the game, usually Part 3 and 4. However, you can get Pelleas as one of two potential Dark Mages (that can only be playable in a second playthrough), though Pelleas is still of a separate class line from the Druid[[note]]and the second Dark Mage, [[spoiler:Lehran/]]Sephiran, is in yet another class tree that is more closely related to Clerics[[/note]].
** Zigzagged with the DS remakes, as while Etzel is a playable Sorcerer (the advanced version of Dark Mage), you never encounter a playable Dark Mage without reclassing one of your units. In addition, in ''Shadow Dragon'', you never encounter any enemy Dark Mages outside of side chapters, besides [[TheDragon Gharnef]].
* WeaponSpecialization: Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'' mainly focus on lances instead of swords, although they can still wield the latter.
to:
* ArmorPiercingAttack:
* BlackKnight: The Dark Knight class, which is basically a new version of Mage Knight.
* CastingAShadow: Dark magic is essentially this. Also, while they have often been portrayed as the magical equivalent to axes[[note]]with light magic being comparable to swords and animals magic being comparable to lances; the three magic types even have an identical TacticalRockPaperScissors arrangement to their physical counterparts[[/note]], dark magic in the GBA games and in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' have effects on their general weapons[[note]]such as LifeDrain, ArmorPiercingAttack, PercentDamageAttack, and HPToOne[[/note]] that other magic will never have. Dark Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Dark Tomefaire as a
* CoolHelmet: Dark Knights typically wear menacing-looking helmets. ''Awakening'' gives them a visor that resembles the Fell Dragon Grima, ''Fates'' gives them skull-faced helmets, and ''Three Houses'' features a four-horned demon on theirs.
* CoolMask: Dark Mages and Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' wear crow masks modelled after plague doctors.
* CriticalHitClass: In ''Fates'', Sorcerors have a small critical hit bonus.
* CriticalStatusBuff: The ''Vengeance'' skill, which increases the user's damage based on half of the user's missing HP, making it very powerful when the user is nearly dead. It also
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: The mastery skill for Dark Knights in
* DarkIsEvil: Commonly, the Dark Mage is used as an enemy-only class, like in ''Gaiden'', ''Mystery of the Emblem'', ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', and ''Thracia 776'', and many antagonists
* DarkIsNotEvil: And Canas ''will'' make a point of reminding you of that fact. However, Dark magic users still tend
* DealWithTheDevil: Often, to gain the ability to use dark magic, particularly if it's of the powerful kind, the user has to sacrifice something in return, often with severe consequences.
* DiscardAndDraw:
** Dark Mages promoting into Dark Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain the ability to use Swords, as well as gaining
* ExtraTurn: Their abilities grant units that have already acted during their phase a second action in the same phase.
* FragileSpeedster: Dancers are characterized as fast and dodgy with their best stats being speed and luck. However, because of their nature as support units, their terrible durability, and, in some games, inability to fight, they must be protected and should not be in the front line.
* MagicDance: Averted; the ability of Dancers to grant other units an extra turn is mundane, although it functions like magic. The only exception is Ninian.
* MagicKnight: Dancers in ''Three Houses''
* MagicMusic: Nils, the Heron Laguz, and Azura can all play MagicMusic. Although Elphin plays music as well, he's more
* MsFanservice: Dancers tend to be this
* {{Expy}}: Dark Druid Nergal and Necromancer Lyon's classes are based upon the Druid and Summoner classes, respectively, but more powerful. Dark Druid also serves as an {{expy}} and {{foil}} to Athos's Archsage class.
* GatheringSteam: Dark Knight in ''Awakening'' has the skill Slow Burn, which gives them hit and avoid after a turn has pass, up to 15.
* HighCollarOfDoom: Dark Knights have these to add
* HPToOne: Several dark magic across the series can cause this effect (sometimes from a very long range) -- namely Medusa, Dulam, Hel, Eclipse,
* InTheHood: Almost every similar unit wears a heavy hood completely obscuring their face.
* LifeDrain:
** In the games where Nosferatu isn't Light magic, Dark Mages are instead able to wield it, enabling them to absorb their enemies' HP.
** Dark Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' and Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' get Lifetaker, which heals 50% of their HP after defeating an enemy.
* MightyGlacier: Dark Mages are significantly slower than Mages and have worse Skill, but generally have relatively equal magical attack and much better defense. Technically averted by Dark Mages in ''Fates'', where the class is basically just the Nohrian counterpart to the Diviner, itself an {{Expy}} of the standard Mage, with the added ability of wielding the game's sole dark magic tome, Nosferatu.
* NonindicativeName: Despite their name and appearance, Dark Knights are not actually capable of using dark magic unless they have the Shadowgift skill, instead being just another name for the Mage Knight.
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: If there is more than one Dancer in a single game, circumstances will conspire to ensure that they can never be
* PoisonedWeapon:
** Jormungand in ''Thracia 776'' inflicts the target with the poison status, but only when used by enemies.
** Dark Mages in ''Three Houses'' learn Poison Strike upon mastering the class.
* PowerOfTheVoid:
** Apocalypse, one
** Ginnungagap in ''Fates'', where
* QuirkyBard: Actually not ''that'' spoony. It's true that they have (depending on the
* RedMage: Typically, after class change, being able
* ShouldersOfDoom: The pauldrons
* SpearCounterpart: In ''Binding Blade'' and ''Blazing Blade'', you get the Bard class, which are
* {{Stripperiffic}}: Dark Mages and Sorcerers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' wear some of
*
** In ''Blazing Blade'', there are special rings that can
* StatusInflictionAttack: Seal Magic, which reduces the enemy's magic, is available to Dark Knights in ''Fates''. In ''Three Houses'', they instead learn Seal Resistance, and in Maddening Mode, enemy Dark Mages have Seal Strength by default.
* StatusBuff: Dark Bishops in ''Three Houses'' gain Fiendish Blow as
* UniqueEnemy:
**
** Zigzagged with
** ''Awakening'' onwards has a
** Zigzagged with the DS remakes, as
* WeaponSpecialization: Dark Knights in
* SultryBellyDancer: Dancers tend to dress in fanservice-y belly dancer outfits that leave little to the imagination regarding their figures.
* SupportPartyMember: Dancer variants from the GBA and Tellius games can't attack enemies at all, and rely solely on their refreshing abilities. And even in the games where they
* WanderingMinstrel: Most of them come across as this initially.
Changed line(s) 714,731 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Troubadour]]
!!Troubadour
[[quoteright:164:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_troubadour_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:164:Troubadours in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:141:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesmaidportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:141:Maids in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hvalkyrie.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Valkyries in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/974g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
A female-exclusive WhiteMage class introduced in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' which makes occasional, if inconsistent, appearances. The Troubadour is basically the mounted equivalent of the Priest with slightly lower stats to compensate for having higher movement.\\\
The Troubadour class is one of the most variable in the series in terms of Class Change progression and weaponry. In most games, they wield only staves and start off purely as a support class, but they additionally wield swords in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''. They normally Class Change into the '''Valkyrie''' like the Priest, which turns them into a CombatMedic that gains the ability to use offensive magic (Anima or Light depending on the game) in every game except ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''; in those games, where the class is exclusive to Mist, Valkyrie gains the ability to use swords. In ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'', Troubadour instead Class Changes into '''Paladin''' (not to be confused with the normal Paladin) and gains the ability to wield lances alongside swords and staves.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', they can choose to Class Change into the '''Mage Knight'''[[note]]not to be confused with the similarly-named class from Jugdral, which is an evolution of the unmounted Mage[[/note]], which is effectively a Valkyrie that uses Anima magic instead of Light magic[[note]]Valkyries use Light magic in ''Sacred Stones''[[/note]]. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', they can instead choose to discard their mount and Class Change into '''War Cleric''', which gains the use of axes. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Troubadours are unisexual[[note]]they were known as Rod Knight in the Japanese version[[/note]]. They Class Change into the '''Strategist''' class (effectively the Valkyrie with a different name to reflect the fact that they're no longer AlwaysFemale) or branch into the '''Maid/Butler''' class, which substitutes offensive magic for knives/shuriken, ditches the horse, and has the best staff rank in the game. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'', the Troubadour class itself is absent, but the master class, '''Holy Knight''', is reminiscent of ''The Sacred Stones''[='=] Valkyries and Jugdral Paladins. They specialize in Faith, Lances, and Riding. The Valkyrie class would later reappear in the game as part of the Wave 4 DLC, specializing in both Black and Dark magic alongside Riding.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Ethlyn, Nanna/Jeanne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Nanna, Amalda (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Clarine, Cecilia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Priscilla (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); L'Arachel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Maribelle (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Felicia, Jakob, Elise, Flora, Dwyer, Forrest (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Hapi (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
!!Troubadour
[[quoteright:164:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_troubadour_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:164:Troubadours in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:141:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesmaidportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:141:Maids in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hvalkyrie.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Valkyries in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/974g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
A female-exclusive WhiteMage class introduced in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' which makes occasional, if inconsistent, appearances. The Troubadour is basically the mounted equivalent of the Priest with slightly lower stats to compensate for having higher movement.\\\
The Troubadour class is one of the most variable in the series in terms of Class Change progression and weaponry. In most games, they wield only staves and start off purely as a support class, but they additionally wield swords in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''. They normally Class Change into the '''Valkyrie''' like the Priest, which turns them into a CombatMedic that gains the ability to use offensive magic (Anima or Light depending on the game) in every game except ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''; in those games, where the class is exclusive to Mist, Valkyrie gains the ability to use swords. In ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' and ''Thracia 776'', Troubadour instead Class Changes into '''Paladin''' (not to be confused with the normal Paladin) and gains the ability to wield lances alongside swords and staves.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', they can choose to Class Change into the '''Mage Knight'''[[note]]not to be confused with the similarly-named class from Jugdral, which is an evolution of the unmounted Mage[[/note]], which is effectively a Valkyrie that uses Anima magic instead of Light magic[[note]]Valkyries use Light magic in ''Sacred Stones''[[/note]]. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', they can instead choose to discard their mount and Class Change into '''War Cleric''', which gains the use of axes. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Troubadours are unisexual[[note]]they were known as Rod Knight in the Japanese version[[/note]]. They Class Change into the '''Strategist''' class (effectively the Valkyrie with a different name to reflect the fact that they're no longer AlwaysFemale) or branch into the '''Maid/Butler''' class, which substitutes offensive magic for knives/shuriken, ditches the horse, and has the best staff rank in the game. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'', the Troubadour class itself is absent, but the master class, '''Holy Knight''', is reminiscent of ''The Sacred Stones''[='=] Valkyries and Jugdral Paladins. They specialize in Faith, Lances, and Riding. The Valkyrie class would later reappear in the game as part of the Wave 4 DLC, specializing in both Black and Dark magic alongside Riding.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Ethlyn, Nanna/Jeanne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Nanna, Amalda (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Clarine, Cecilia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Priscilla (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); L'Arachel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Maribelle (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Felicia, Jakob, Elise, Flora, Dwyer, Forrest (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Hapi (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
to:
!!Troubadour
[[quoteright:164:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_troubadour_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:164:Troubadours in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:141:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesmaidportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:141:Maids in ''Fates'']]
!!Thief
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/78001.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Tricksters in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ninja.png]]
[[caption-width-right:255:Ninja in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elite_ninja.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Master Ninja in ''Fates'']]
A
The
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''
Changed line(s) 733,760 (click to see context) from:
* AchillesHeel: Like Cavaliers, they are vulnerable to Horse-slaying weapons... except in ''Binding Blade'' and ''Path of Radiance'', where they are unaffected by Horse-slaying weapons, presumably due to an oversight.
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Valkryies in ''Three Houses'' gain ''Uncanny Blow'' upon mastering the class. It gives 30 extra hit when attacking.
* AlwaysFemale: Except in ''Fates'', all troubadours/valkyries were female. Female-exclusive Valkyries are entirely consistent with Norse mythology constantly referenced in the series, but "troubadour" was a name for a male bard historically.
* AutomatonHorses: Their horses are only seen in combat.
* BattleButler: The Butler class.
* BlackMage: Unlike most depictions of the class, ''Three Houses'' grants the class skills that focus on the strictly offensive black and dark magic spells. They can still use white magic and it is one of their proficiencies, but this incarnation is meant to be the offensive mage rider in contrast to the Holy Knight. Interestingly, this makes them a female counterpart to the Dark Knight, which also focuses on black and dark magic (the Tomefaire variants specifically).
* CastingAShadow: Of a sort. In a first for the series, ''Three Houses'' grants them a skill to extend the range of the user's dark magic spells, making them the only other class that females can access besides Gremory with some sort of dark magic skill.
* CombatMedic: Valkyries have offensive magic/the use of swords in addition to healing with staves. In the Jugdral games, troubadours can use swords from the start. In ''Fates'', they gain shuriken/daggers as their weapons as Maids and Butlers. In ''Three Houses'', Holy Knights can wield lances and have native access to White Tomefaire.
* CoolHorse: Troubadours are always mounted on them.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Resistance, a skill that boosts resistance by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Valkyries were called "Paladins" in Jugdral. They were wisely renamed Valkyries with the GBA installments to avoid confusion with regular Paladins, especially female ones like Midia.
* GenderBlenderName: Despite the class being all-female until ''Fates'', actual real-life troubadours (who were poets, not magical mounted staff users) were exclusively male, and the female term is Troubaritz. Strangely, these sorts of real-life Troubadours ''actually exist'' in the ''Fire Emblem'' universe as well, at least in the Tellius series[[note]]which lacks the unprompted Troubadour class; its sole Valkyrie, Mist, starts out as a Cleric[[/note]], as the ending of ''Path of Radiance'' mentions troubadours and one of the early chapter narrations for ''Radiant Dawn'' includes the phrase "or so the troubadours sing".
* HitAndRunTactics: Troubadours and Valkyries in the Jugdral and Tellius games can attack or heal and then move again with their remaining movement. Troubadours in the GBA games can only move again if they use a non-attacking or non-healing command.
* LightEmUp: The Valkyries in ''Sacred Stones'' and Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' excel in light magic. Holy Knights are highly specialized in Faith magic, as they can gain White Tomefaire, which increases their damage by 5.
* MageKiller: Their high Resistance stat allows them to deal with enemy mages. Maids and Butlers get the Tomebreaker skill and the ability to use shuriken/daggers, the latter being effective against tomes in ''Fates''[='=] Weapon Triangle[[note]]tomes share their place with swords, while hidden weapons share their place with lances[[/note]] and targets [[SquishyWizard their usually weak defense stat]].
* MagicKnight: The Holy Knights excel in faith magic and lances. In addition, they have White Tomefaire as their class skill, increasing their damage by 5 when using faith magic like Nosferatu and Aura.
* TheMedic: Their main battlefield role.
* NinjaMaid: The Maid class, exemplified with their combat style and shurikens as their weapons.
* ThePaladin: An ''actual'' depiction of the Paladin in the form of the Holy Knight, who are horse-riding knights that specialize in Faith (white magic).
* RedMage: Typically becomes a mounted version after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is if you class change into a [[CombatMedic War Cleric or Maid/Butler]], which lose the horse and use physical weapons rather than offensive magic.
* SquishyWizard: They have high Magic and Luck to aid in their healing abilities, but they're defensively weak physically and typically can't fight back at first.
* StatusBuff:
** Troubadours have Demoiselle for females in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', and Gentilhomme for males in ''Fates''; Demoiselle in ''Awakening'' grants all males within 3 tiles of the user +10 Avoid and Critical Dodge, and both skills in ''Fates'' grant -2 damage taken to all allies within 2 spaces, depending on what skill is equipped and the recipient's gender.
** Valkyries in ''Awakening'' and Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Rally Resistance, which gives a boost to resistance to allies when commanded.
** Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Inspiration, which grants all allies within 2 tiles of the user +2 damage given and -2 damage taken.
* SupportPartyMember: While they were originally sword-wielders in their first tier, later games relegated them solely to healing and buffing allies before class change.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. There are no enemy Butlers in ''Fates'', making Butler a player-only class.
* WhiteMagicianGirl: This is a very common archetype for the class.
* AlwaysAccurateAttack: Valkryies in ''Three Houses'' gain ''Uncanny Blow'' upon mastering the class. It gives 30 extra hit when attacking.
* AlwaysFemale: Except in ''Fates'', all troubadours/valkyries were female. Female-exclusive Valkyries are entirely consistent with Norse mythology constantly referenced in the series, but "troubadour" was a name for a male bard historically.
* AutomatonHorses: Their horses are only seen in combat.
* BattleButler: The Butler class.
* BlackMage: Unlike most depictions of the class, ''Three Houses'' grants the class skills that focus on the strictly offensive black and dark magic spells. They can still use white magic and it is one of their proficiencies, but this incarnation is meant to be the offensive mage rider in contrast to the Holy Knight. Interestingly, this makes them a female counterpart to the Dark Knight, which also focuses on black and dark magic (the Tomefaire variants specifically).
* CastingAShadow: Of a sort. In a first for the series, ''Three Houses'' grants them a skill to extend the range of the user's dark magic spells, making them the only other class that females can access besides Gremory with some sort of dark magic skill.
* CombatMedic: Valkyries have offensive magic/the use of swords in addition to healing with staves. In the Jugdral games, troubadours can use swords from the start. In ''Fates'', they gain shuriken/daggers as their weapons as Maids and Butlers. In ''Three Houses'', Holy Knights can wield lances and have native access to White Tomefaire.
* CoolHorse: Troubadours are always mounted on them.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Resistance, a skill that boosts resistance by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Valkyries were called "Paladins" in Jugdral. They were wisely renamed Valkyries with the GBA installments to avoid confusion with regular Paladins, especially female ones like Midia.
* GenderBlenderName: Despite the class being all-female until ''Fates'', actual real-life troubadours (who were poets, not magical mounted staff users) were exclusively male, and the female term is Troubaritz. Strangely, these sorts of real-life Troubadours ''actually exist'' in the ''Fire Emblem'' universe as well, at least in the Tellius series[[note]]which lacks the unprompted Troubadour class; its sole Valkyrie, Mist, starts out as a Cleric[[/note]], as the ending of ''Path of Radiance'' mentions troubadours and one of the early chapter narrations for ''Radiant Dawn'' includes the phrase "or so the troubadours sing".
* HitAndRunTactics: Troubadours and Valkyries in the Jugdral and Tellius games can attack or heal and then move again with their remaining movement. Troubadours in the GBA games can only move again if they use a non-attacking or non-healing command.
* LightEmUp: The Valkyries in ''Sacred Stones'' and Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' excel in light magic. Holy Knights are highly specialized in Faith magic, as they can gain White Tomefaire, which increases their damage by 5.
* MageKiller: Their high Resistance stat allows them to deal with enemy mages. Maids and Butlers get the Tomebreaker skill and the ability to use shuriken/daggers, the latter being effective against tomes in ''Fates''[='=] Weapon Triangle[[note]]tomes share their place with swords, while hidden weapons share their place with lances[[/note]] and targets [[SquishyWizard their usually weak defense stat]].
* MagicKnight: The Holy Knights excel in faith magic and lances. In addition, they have White Tomefaire as their class skill, increasing their damage by 5 when using faith magic like Nosferatu and Aura.
* TheMedic: Their main battlefield role.
* NinjaMaid: The Maid class, exemplified with their combat style and shurikens as their weapons.
* ThePaladin: An ''actual'' depiction of the Paladin in the form of the Holy Knight, who are horse-riding knights that specialize in Faith (white magic).
* RedMage: Typically becomes a mounted version after class change, being able to attack and heal. The exception is if you class change into a [[CombatMedic War Cleric or Maid/Butler]], which lose the horse and use physical weapons rather than offensive magic.
* SquishyWizard: They have high Magic and Luck to aid in their healing abilities, but they're defensively weak physically and typically can't fight back at first.
* StatusBuff:
** Troubadours have Demoiselle for females in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', and Gentilhomme for males in ''Fates''; Demoiselle in ''Awakening'' grants all males within 3 tiles of the user +10 Avoid and Critical Dodge, and both skills in ''Fates'' grant -2 damage taken to all allies within 2 spaces, depending on what skill is equipped and the recipient's gender.
** Valkyries in ''Awakening'' and Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Rally Resistance, which gives a boost to resistance to allies when commanded.
** Strategists in ''Fates'' gain Inspiration, which grants all allies within 2 tiles of the user +2 damage given and -2 damage taken.
* SupportPartyMember: While they were originally sword-wielders in their first tier, later games relegated them solely to healing and buffing allies before class change.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. There are no enemy Butlers in ''Fates'', making Butler a player-only class.
* WhiteMagicianGirl: This is a very common archetype for the class.
to:
* AchillesHeel: Like Cavaliers, AchillesHeel:
** As a "criminal" class, thieves suffer effective damage when hit by the Ladyblade in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. This effect never appears again, note even in the remake of ''Mystery of the Emblem''.
** In ''The Sacred Stones'', Thieves, Rogues and Assassins all take effective damage from the Swordslayer axe.
* AllSwordsAreTheSame: A particularly amusing exaggeration: in the Archanea[[note]]NES version[[/note]], Jugdral[[note]]in the map animations[[/note]], and GBA games, all swords look like ''knives'' when used by members of the Thief class family!
* AnimalMotifs: Assassins in ''Three Houses'' wear [[ScaryScorpions scorpion-themed]] outfits reflecting their stealth and efficiency as surprise killers.
* ArmCannon: Not in the conventional sense, but to go along with launching magic with {{Finger Gun}}s, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' have their critical animation use their right arm ending in a fist as one to fire off magic as well.
* BanditMook: When they're enemies. Usually they target treasure chests, though in some games they can destroy villages which give out items and money, which is a role sometimes shared with Brigands/Pirates/Barbarians.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: ''Awakening''[='=]s Assassins has three blades attached on each arm. Ninjas have one on every wrist, and Master Ninjas attach them all over their arms; from shoulder to wrist.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: Assassins in ''Awakening'' and Bow Knights in ''Fates''. Thieves in ''Three Houses'' also wield bows and swords.
* CombatMedic: Tricksters and Adventurers gain the use of staves with swords and bows respectively.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: In ''Fates'', all knives and shurikens have the added effect of lowering the target's defensive stats.
* DeepCoverAgent: The thieves which arevulnerable not [[GentlemanThief Gentleman Thieves]] or {{Classy Cat Burglar}}s tend to Horse-slaying weapons... except in ''Binding Blade'' and be working for some noble family.
* DefogOfWar: With the exception of ''Thracia 776'' ([[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the first game to introduce fog of war, mind you]]), ''Path of Radiance'', the DS remakes, and ''Three Houses'', thieves have really high vision in fog of war, making them good asset to bring them in. Combine it with the Torch item, they'll likely uncover most of the map.
* DeviousDaggers: Almost every one of their appearances draws their swords as knives for some reason; they didn't become full-fledged knife-wielders until Tellius, when knives became a weapon type. Master Ninja in ''Fates'' gain Shurikenfaire, which boost their damage output for wielding shuriken/daggers. ''Heroes'' has a tendency to change sword-wielding Thieves and Assassins to using daggers.
* ExperienceBooster: Interestingly, they're on the giving ''and'' receiving end of this trope in some games, where theyare unaffected by Horse-slaying weapons, presumably receive extra experience from combat due to an oversight.
being considered a "low-power" class (on the same level as [[TheGoomba Soldiers]] and [[SupportPartyMember Clerics]], for example), but to compensate for the player, enemy Thieves have a flat bonus to experience given - which typically results in them actually giving out ''more'' experience than other enemies. Also, whenever Lethality is activated in the GBA games, you gain double the amount of experience.
*AlwaysAccurateAttack: Valkryies FingerGun: For some inexplicable reason, Tricksters do this in ''Three Houses'' gain ''Uncanny for some of their magic casting (as far as anyone can tell you firearms have yet to see the light of day in the franchise)[[note]]Ship cannons are seen on the Almyran ships in the Derdriu map in ''Three Houses'', but are never seen being used at all, hinting that there are firearms outside of Fódlan, and while there are usable cannons in ''Engage'', the ones wielded by Mage Cannoneers are more magical in nature and the statonary ones that launches fire are more likely propelled by fire itself and not gunpowder[[/note]]. Heck, even their critical animation fires off spells as if they have an ArmCannon.
* FlashStep: Assassins and Ninjas are practitioners of this art.
* FragileSpeedster: Thieves have horribly lackluster defenses, but make up for it with their immense Speed, allowing them to dodge practically everything not backed by a weapon triangle or terrain advantage.
** In addition, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn ''Duelist's Blow'' upon mastering the class.It gives 30 extra hit Duelist's Blow raise evasion by 20 when attacking.
*AlwaysFemale: Except in ''Fates'', all troubadours/valkyries were female. Female-exclusive Valkyries are entirely consistent with Norse mythology constantly referenced in the series, but "troubadour" was a name for a male bard historically.
* AutomatonHorses: Their horses are only seen in combat.
* BattleButler: The Butler class.
* BlackMage: Unlike most depictions of the class, ''Three Houses'' grants the class skills that focus on the strictly offensive black and dark magic spells. They can still use white magic and it is one of their proficiencies, butGentlemanThief: Most allied thieves tend toward this incarnation is meant to be the offensive mage rider in contrast to the Holy Knight. Interestingly, this makes them a female counterpart to the Dark Knight, which also focuses on black and dark magic (the Tomefaire variants specifically).
* CastingAShadow: Of a sort. In a first(except for the series, ''Three Houses'' grants them a skill to extend the range Heather, who's more of the user's dark magic spells, making them a ClassyCatBurglar); the only other class that females can access besides Gremory with some sort of dark magic skill.
* CombatMedic: Valkyries have offensive magic/the use of swords in addition to healing with staves. In the Jugdral games, troubadours can use swords from the start. In ''Fates'', they gain shuriken/daggers as their weapons as Maids and Butlers. In ''Three Houses'', Holy Knights can wield lances and have native access to White Tomefaire.
* CoolHorse: Troubadours are always mounted on them.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Resistance, a skill that boosts resistance by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Valkyries were called "Paladins" in Jugdral. They were wisely renamed Valkyries with the GBA installments to avoid confusion with regular Paladins, especially female ones like Midia.
* GenderBlenderName: Despite the class being all-female until ''Fates'', actual real-life troubadours (who were poets, not magical mounted staff users) were exclusively male, and the female term is Troubaritz. Strangely, these sorts of real-life Troubadours ''actually exist'' in the ''Fire Emblem'' universe as well, at least in the Tellius series[[note]]which lacks the unprompted Troubadour class; its sole Valkyrie, Mist, starts out as a Cleric[[/note]], as the ending of ''Path of Radiance'' mentions troubadours and one of the early chapter narrations for ''Radiant Dawn'' includes the phrase "or so the troubadours sing".
* HitAndRunTactics: Troubadours and Valkyries in the Jugdral and Tellius games can attack or heal and then move again with their remaining movement. Troubadours in the GBA games can only move again if they use a non-attacking or non-healing command.
* LightEmUp: The Valkyries in ''Sacred Stones'' and Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' excel in light magic. Holy Knights are highly specialized in Faith magic, as they can gain White Tomefaire, which increases their damage by 5.
* MageKiller: Their high Resistance stat allows them to deal with enemy mages. Maids and Butlers get the Tomebreaker skill and the ability to use shuriken/daggers, the latter being effective against tomes in ''Fates''[='=] Weapon Triangle[[note]]tomes share their place with swords, while hidden weapons share their place with lances[[/note]] and targets [[SquishyWizard their usually weak defense stat]].
* MagicKnight: The Holy Knights excel in faith magic and lances. In addition, they have White Tomefaire as their class skill, increasing their damage by 5 when using faith magic like Nosferatu and Aura.
* TheMedic: Their main battlefield role.
* NinjaMaid: The Maid class, exemplified with their combat style and shurikens as their weapons.
* ThePaladin: An ''actual'' depiction of the Paladin in the form of the Holy Knight, who are horse-riding knights that specialize in Faith (white magic).
* RedMage: Typically becomes a mounted version after class change, being able to attack and heal. Thereal exception is if you class change into a [[CombatMedic War Cleric or Maid/Butler]], which lose [[{{Jerkass}} Lifis]].
* HPToOne: Bane, thehorse and use physical weapons rather than offensive magic.
mastery skill of Whispers.
*SquishyWizard: They have high Magic and Luck to aid in KleptomaniacHero: When allied.
* InstakillMook: Averted. Throughout the series, the developers went out of theirhealing abilities, but they're defensively weak physically and typically can't fight back at first.
* StatusBuff:
** Troubadoursway to make sure enemy Assassins ''never'' have Demoiselle for females Lethality. In ''Blazing Blade'', the only Assassin boss has magic swords that prevent him from dealing critical hits and, in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', and Gentilhomme for males generic Assassins are programmed to never randomly generate the Lethality skill, no matter how the RNG rolls. This is because having an enemy that could randomly kill your units in ''Fates''; Demoiselle [[{{Permadeath}} Classic]] mode is completely unfair. The only time enemy Assassins have Lethality is [[spoiler:one paralogue in ''Awakening'' grants all males within 3 tiles of but because the user +10 Avoid and Critical Dodge, and both skills in ''Fates'' grant -2 damage taken to all allies within 2 spaces, depending on what skill enemy is equipped and copied from your party, you can control whether the recipient's gender.
** Valkyriesenemy has Lethality or not. In turn, Jaffar having it in Rogues & Redeemers is for the challenge]].
* LuckySeven: The Trickster in ''Awakening'' andStrategists Adventurer in ''Fates'' gain Rally get the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Lucky Seven]] skill at Level 5. The skill gives them +20 Hit and Avoid for the first 7 turns. In ''Three Houses'', Lucky Seven became the Trickster's class skill and it functions differently. It increases one of seven stats by 5: Strength, Magic, Speed, Defense, Resistance, which gives a boost to resistance to allies when commanded.
** Strategistsor Hit and Avoid, at the start of the unit's turn.
* MageKiller: Ninja in ''Fates''gain Inspiration, have high Resistance to complement the modified weapon triangle, in which grants all allies knives/shuriken are effective against tomes, making them even more effective than Sky Knights in this role.
* MagicKnight: Tricksters can use magic staves in ''Awakening'', allowing them to function as a CombatMedic of sorts. In ''Three Houses'', they can use a slew of Faith and Reason magic spells, making them more akin to a RedMage.
* MagikarpPower: You'd be mad to put a thief in the thick of combat. Then they become Assassins. Shit starts dying en masse. Averted in ''Fates''. Ninja are fast and extremely useful debuffers throughout the game, while Outlaws are the only unpromoted Nohrian unit type that can use bows.
* MasterOfUnlocking: Locktouch, their innate skill, allows them to unlock doors and chests without the use of keys. In ''Path of Radiance'' and onward, there are no Lockpicks and they can instead open doors and chests as a passive ability.
* {{Ninja}}: The Ninja/Master Ninja class in ''Fates''.
* OneHitKill: Lethality, the mastery skill of Assassins and Master Ninja, and also Assassinate, the mastery Combat Art of Assassins in ''Three Houses''. However, its activation rate is lower compared to other skills.[[note]]Half the CriticalHit rate in ''Blazing Blade'', ''Sacred Stones'', and ''Path of Radiance''; Skill divided by 2 in ''Radiant Dawn''; Skill divided by 4 in ''Awakening'', ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses''.[[/note]]
** Noteworthy is that enemy Assassins or Master Ninja will never have Lethality, [[spoiler:with exception of four maps in ''Awakening'']] and in ''Blazing Blade'', an Assassin boss always carries a magic sword which can never deal critical hits. This is so that these enemies doesn't kill your unit in one hit in a game with permadeath.
* PhantomThief: Trickster in ''Awakening'' is literally described as a glamorous phantom thief.
* PoisonedWeapons:
** The Poison Strike skill learned by the Ninja class inflicts damage equal to 20% of the enemy's maximum HP after every combat should the skill's wielder survive, regardless if the attack hits or not.
** In ''Three Houses'', Assassins in Maddening Mode will have the Poison skill, which may let them inflict poison to your units.
* ReverseGrip: They typically wield their bladed weapons like this, from daggers to swords.
* SecretArt: [[OneHitKill Lethality]].
* StatusBuff: In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Bow Knights gain Rally Skill.
* SwapTeleportation: Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn the Foul Play combat art upon mastering the class. Foul Play allow the Trickster to swap positions with an ally within2 tiles of 1 to 5 range. This combat art is exclusive to Tricksters.
* ThiefBag: The Thief and Rogue sprites in theuser +2 damage given and -2 damage taken.
* SupportPartyMember: While they were originally sword-wielders in their first tier, laterGBA games relegated them solely to healing and buffing allies before class change.
are depicted carrying sacks.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted.There Assassins in the GBA games and the Tellius games are no exclusively a player-only class, because having an enemy Butlers in class that can one-shot your units can be very unfair. Averted with ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', making Butler a player-only class.
and ''Three Houses'' as Assassins are used but will never generate Lethality (or Assassinate in ''Three Houses'').
*WhiteMagicianGirl: This is a VideoGameStealing: Depends on the game, but they can typically steal either gear or gold from enemies. But in all of the games, they have the ability to open chests and steal their contents.
* WeakButSkilled: They usually have verycommon archetype low Strength which makes them not great for the class.combat, but they typically have very high Skill which, coupled with their equally high Speed, can make them quite deadly if properly trained.
** As a "criminal" class, thieves suffer effective damage when hit by the Ladyblade in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. This effect never appears again, note even in the remake of ''Mystery of the Emblem''.
** In ''The Sacred Stones'', Thieves, Rogues and Assassins all take effective damage from the Swordslayer axe.
* AllSwordsAreTheSame: A particularly amusing exaggeration: in the Archanea[[note]]NES version[[/note]], Jugdral[[note]]in the map animations[[/note]], and GBA games, all swords look like ''knives'' when used by members of the Thief class family!
* AnimalMotifs: Assassins in ''Three Houses'' wear [[ScaryScorpions scorpion-themed]] outfits reflecting their stealth and efficiency as surprise killers.
* ArmCannon: Not in the conventional sense, but to go along with launching magic with {{Finger Gun}}s, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' have their critical animation use their right arm ending in a fist as one to fire off magic as well.
* BanditMook: When they're enemies. Usually they target treasure chests, though in some games they can destroy villages which give out items and money, which is a role sometimes shared with Brigands/Pirates/Barbarians.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: ''Awakening''[='=]s Assassins has three blades attached on each arm. Ninjas have one on every wrist, and Master Ninjas attach them all over their arms; from shoulder to wrist.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: Assassins in ''Awakening'' and Bow Knights in ''Fates''. Thieves in ''Three Houses'' also wield bows and swords.
* CombatMedic: Tricksters and Adventurers gain the use of staves with swords and bows respectively.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: In ''Fates'', all knives and shurikens have the added effect of lowering the target's defensive stats.
* DeepCoverAgent: The thieves which are
* DefogOfWar: With the exception of ''Thracia 776'' ([[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the first game to introduce fog of war, mind you]]), ''Path of Radiance'', the DS remakes, and ''Three Houses'', thieves have really high vision in fog of war, making them good asset to bring them in. Combine it with the Torch item, they'll likely uncover most of the map.
* DeviousDaggers: Almost every one of their appearances draws their swords as knives for some reason; they didn't become full-fledged knife-wielders until Tellius, when knives became a weapon type. Master Ninja in ''Fates'' gain Shurikenfaire, which boost their damage output for wielding shuriken/daggers. ''Heroes'' has a tendency to change sword-wielding Thieves and Assassins to using daggers.
* ExperienceBooster: Interestingly, they're on the giving ''and'' receiving end of this trope in some games, where they
*
* FlashStep: Assassins and Ninjas are practitioners of this art.
* FragileSpeedster: Thieves have horribly lackluster defenses, but make up for it with their immense Speed, allowing them to dodge practically everything not backed by a weapon triangle or terrain advantage.
** In addition, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn ''Duelist's Blow'' upon mastering the class.
*
* AutomatonHorses: Their horses are only seen in combat.
* BattleButler: The Butler class.
* BlackMage: Unlike most depictions of the class, ''Three Houses'' grants the class skills that focus on the strictly offensive black and dark magic spells. They can still use white magic and it is one of their proficiencies, but
* CastingAShadow: Of a sort. In a first
* CombatMedic: Valkyries have offensive magic/the use of swords in addition to healing with staves. In the Jugdral games, troubadours can use swords from the start. In ''Fates'', they gain shuriken/daggers as their weapons as Maids and Butlers. In ''Three Houses'', Holy Knights can wield lances and have native access to White Tomefaire.
* CoolHorse: Troubadours are always mounted on them.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Resistance, a skill that boosts resistance by 8 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Valkyries were called "Paladins" in Jugdral. They were wisely renamed Valkyries with the GBA installments to avoid confusion with regular Paladins, especially female ones like Midia.
* GenderBlenderName: Despite the class being all-female until ''Fates'', actual real-life troubadours (who were poets, not magical mounted staff users) were exclusively male, and the female term is Troubaritz. Strangely, these sorts of real-life Troubadours ''actually exist'' in the ''Fire Emblem'' universe as well, at least in the Tellius series[[note]]which lacks the unprompted Troubadour class; its sole Valkyrie, Mist, starts out as a Cleric[[/note]], as the ending of ''Path of Radiance'' mentions troubadours and one of the early chapter narrations for ''Radiant Dawn'' includes the phrase "or so the troubadours sing".
* HitAndRunTactics: Troubadours and Valkyries in the Jugdral and Tellius games can attack or heal and then move again with their remaining movement. Troubadours in the GBA games can only move again if they use a non-attacking or non-healing command.
* LightEmUp: The Valkyries in ''Sacred Stones'' and Holy Knights in ''Three Houses'' excel in light magic. Holy Knights are highly specialized in Faith magic, as they can gain White Tomefaire, which increases their damage by 5.
* MageKiller: Their high Resistance stat allows them to deal with enemy mages. Maids and Butlers get the Tomebreaker skill and the ability to use shuriken/daggers, the latter being effective against tomes in ''Fates''[='=] Weapon Triangle[[note]]tomes share their place with swords, while hidden weapons share their place with lances[[/note]] and targets [[SquishyWizard their usually weak defense stat]].
* MagicKnight: The Holy Knights excel in faith magic and lances. In addition, they have White Tomefaire as their class skill, increasing their damage by 5 when using faith magic like Nosferatu and Aura.
* TheMedic: Their main battlefield role.
* NinjaMaid: The Maid class, exemplified with their combat style and shurikens as their weapons.
* ThePaladin: An ''actual'' depiction of the Paladin in the form of the Holy Knight, who are horse-riding knights that specialize in Faith (white magic).
* RedMage: Typically becomes a mounted version after class change, being able to attack and heal. The
* HPToOne: Bane, the
*
* InstakillMook: Averted. Throughout the series, the developers went out of their
* StatusBuff:
** Troubadours
** Valkyries
* LuckySeven: The Trickster in ''Awakening'' and
** Strategists
* MageKiller: Ninja in ''Fates''
* MagicKnight: Tricksters can use magic staves in ''Awakening'', allowing them to function as a CombatMedic of sorts. In ''Three Houses'', they can use a slew of Faith and Reason magic spells, making them more akin to a RedMage.
* MagikarpPower: You'd be mad to put a thief in the thick of combat. Then they become Assassins. Shit starts dying en masse. Averted in ''Fates''. Ninja are fast and extremely useful debuffers throughout the game, while Outlaws are the only unpromoted Nohrian unit type that can use bows.
* MasterOfUnlocking: Locktouch, their innate skill, allows them to unlock doors and chests without the use of keys. In ''Path of Radiance'' and onward, there are no Lockpicks and they can instead open doors and chests as a passive ability.
* {{Ninja}}: The Ninja/Master Ninja class in ''Fates''.
* OneHitKill: Lethality, the mastery skill of Assassins and Master Ninja, and also Assassinate, the mastery Combat Art of Assassins in ''Three Houses''. However, its activation rate is lower compared to other skills.[[note]]Half the CriticalHit rate in ''Blazing Blade'', ''Sacred Stones'', and ''Path of Radiance''; Skill divided by 2 in ''Radiant Dawn''; Skill divided by 4 in ''Awakening'', ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses''.[[/note]]
** Noteworthy is that enemy Assassins or Master Ninja will never have Lethality, [[spoiler:with exception of four maps in ''Awakening'']] and in ''Blazing Blade'', an Assassin boss always carries a magic sword which can never deal critical hits. This is so that these enemies doesn't kill your unit in one hit in a game with permadeath.
* PhantomThief: Trickster in ''Awakening'' is literally described as a glamorous phantom thief.
* PoisonedWeapons:
** The Poison Strike skill learned by the Ninja class inflicts damage equal to 20% of the enemy's maximum HP after every combat should the skill's wielder survive, regardless if the attack hits or not.
** In ''Three Houses'', Assassins in Maddening Mode will have the Poison skill, which may let them inflict poison to your units.
* ReverseGrip: They typically wield their bladed weapons like this, from daggers to swords.
* SecretArt: [[OneHitKill Lethality]].
* StatusBuff: In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Bow Knights gain Rally Skill.
* SwapTeleportation: Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn the Foul Play combat art upon mastering the class. Foul Play allow the Trickster to swap positions with an ally within
* ThiefBag: The Thief and Rogue sprites in the
* SupportPartyMember: While they were originally sword-wielders in their first tier, later
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted.
*
* WeakButSkilled: They usually have very
Changed line(s) 763,782 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Pegasus Knight]]
!!Pegasus Knight
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/852g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/929g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hdarkflier.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Fliers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:185:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_kinshi_knight_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:185:Kinshi Knights in ''Fates'']]
One of the two flying mounted classes, Pegasus Knights are [[AlwaysFemale female-only]] knights who fly on pegasi. They're defined by their excellent Speed and Resistance at the cost of having pathetic Defense and HP; they're generally [[MageKiller great for eliminating mages]]. They usually Class Change into the '''Falcon Knight''' class, which adds the ability to use either swords or staves depending on the game, and in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' Class Changes further to the '''Seraph Knight'''. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', Pegasus Knights gain the alternate Class Change opition of '''Dark Flier''', which allows them to use magic. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', they had the alternate Class Change option of '''Wyvern Knight''' (see below): in the Archanea games, '''Dracoknights''' were their only advance class (though the remakes allowed them to class change to Falcon Knights through a DLC item). In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they were changed into the unisex '''Sky Knight''', which class change into the '''Falcon Knight''' or '''Kinshi Knight''', the first aerial class that can use Bows. The Dark Flier reappears as its own separate class in ''Fates'' renamed '''Dark Falcon''', accessible via an item that can be obtained either by owning all three campaigns or as a reward from a DLC map.\\\
''Engage'' makes pegasus riders the sole basic flying class separated by weapon types: '''Sword Flier''', '''Lance Flier''', and '''Axe Flier'''. They can either class change into '''Griffin Knight''', which adds staves to their arsenal, or '''Wyvern Knight''', which gives them another weapon rank.\\\
Pegasus Knights can be considered among the most iconic classes in the series, and Intelligent Systems [[DisneyOwnsThisTrope currently has their name trademarked]].\\\
Related are the '''Princess Crimea''' and '''Queen''' classes, exclusive to Elincia in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''Radiant Dawn'', respectively, both classes wield swords and staves, but are otherwise identical to the normal pegasus classes, and '''Wing Tamer''' and '''Sleipnir Rider''', exclusive to Hortensia in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'', both classes that wields magic and staves.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Caeda, Palla, Catria, Est (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and The Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of The Emblem]]''); Clair, Palla, Catria, Est (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Erinys, Fee/Hermina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''), Karin and Misha (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Shanna, Thea, Juno (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Florina, Fiora, Farina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''), Vanessa, Tana, Syrene (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Marcia, Tanith, Elincia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Sigrun (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Sumia, Cordelia, Cynthia, Aversa (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Subaki, Hinoka, Reina, Shigure, Caeldori (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Ingrid, Constance (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Chloé, Hortensia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Pegasus Knight
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/852g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/929g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hdarkflier.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Fliers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:185:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_kinshi_knight_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:185:Kinshi Knights in ''Fates'']]
One of the two flying mounted classes, Pegasus Knights are [[AlwaysFemale female-only]] knights who fly on pegasi. They're defined by their excellent Speed and Resistance at the cost of having pathetic Defense and HP; they're generally [[MageKiller great for eliminating mages]]. They usually Class Change into the '''Falcon Knight''' class, which adds the ability to use either swords or staves depending on the game, and in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' Class Changes further to the '''Seraph Knight'''. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', Pegasus Knights gain the alternate Class Change opition of '''Dark Flier''', which allows them to use magic. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', they had the alternate Class Change option of '''Wyvern Knight''' (see below): in the Archanea games, '''Dracoknights''' were their only advance class (though the remakes allowed them to class change to Falcon Knights through a DLC item). In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they were changed into the unisex '''Sky Knight''', which class change into the '''Falcon Knight''' or '''Kinshi Knight''', the first aerial class that can use Bows. The Dark Flier reappears as its own separate class in ''Fates'' renamed '''Dark Falcon''', accessible via an item that can be obtained either by owning all three campaigns or as a reward from a DLC map.\\\
''Engage'' makes pegasus riders the sole basic flying class separated by weapon types: '''Sword Flier''', '''Lance Flier''', and '''Axe Flier'''. They can either class change into '''Griffin Knight''', which adds staves to their arsenal, or '''Wyvern Knight''', which gives them another weapon rank.\\\
Pegasus Knights can be considered among the most iconic classes in the series, and Intelligent Systems [[DisneyOwnsThisTrope currently has their name trademarked]].\\\
Related are the '''Princess Crimea''' and '''Queen''' classes, exclusive to Elincia in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''Radiant Dawn'', respectively, both classes wield swords and staves, but are otherwise identical to the normal pegasus classes, and '''Wing Tamer''' and '''Sleipnir Rider''', exclusive to Hortensia in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'', both classes that wields magic and staves.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Caeda, Palla, Catria, Est (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and The Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of The Emblem]]''); Clair, Palla, Catria, Est (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Erinys, Fee/Hermina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''), Karin and Misha (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Shanna, Thea, Juno (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Florina, Fiora, Farina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''), Vanessa, Tana, Syrene (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Marcia, Tanith, Elincia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Sigrun (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Sumia, Cordelia, Cynthia, Aversa (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Subaki, Hinoka, Reina, Shigure, Caeldori (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Ingrid, Constance (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Chloé, Hortensia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Pegasus Knight
!!Witch
[[quoteright:228:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/witch_echoes_portrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:228:Witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[caption-width-right:350:Pegasus Knights
[[caption-width-right:350:Gremories in ''Three
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/929g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3hdarkflier.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dark Fliers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:185:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_kinshi_knight_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:185:Kinshi Knights in ''Fates'']]
One of the two flying mounted classes, Pegasus Knights are [[AlwaysFemale female-only]] knights who fly on pegasi. They're defined by their excellent Speed and Resistance at the cost of having pathetic Defense and HP; they're generally [[MageKiller great for eliminating mages]]. They usually Class Change into the '''Falcon Knight'''
The Witch is a very rare class,
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''
Changed line(s) 784,816 (click to see context) from:
* AchillesHeel: Pegasus Knights [[AntiAir suffer additional damage from bows and (sometimes) wind magic]] due to their status as flying units. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', they are also weak to anti-beast weapons.
* AlwaysFemale: Playable Pegasus Knights are always female, though as mentioned in EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, enemy ones were male in ''Mystery''. ''Fates'' averts this, although the explanation is different depending on the version of the game: the Japanese version calls them Tenma (the Japanese word for Pegasus, confusingly used for regular Pegasi in the past), while the English version simply says that they are a different breed from the traditional depiction. However, it's still played with, as the men who have this class, Subaki and Shigure, are known to be very pretty. Pegasus Knights go back to being female-only in ''Three Houses''. Notably pegasi are known to accept a man as an additional passenger to a female rider (as seen when Sumia rescues Chrom in ''Awakening''), and may carry a man they trust (by picking him up with their mouth as seen in the ''Three Hopes'' support conversation between Ignatz and Marianne), they just draw the line at the man riding on their back and directing them.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Falcon Knights in most games can use swords and lances.
* CombatMedic: Falcon Knights in the Jugdral games, ''Awakening'', and ''Fates'' can use healing staves.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Avoid, a skill that boosts avoid by 30 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DamageReduction: Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts Resistance by 20 if the user initiates combat.
* DifficultButAwesome: Pegasus Knights are among the (physically] squishiest classes in the series, which gives them relatively poor matchups against most other physical units (''especially'' archers), but any seasoned veteran will tell you that they are worth the effort of training, as flying mobility is more often than not the best type of mobility and their high speed rates make up for their occasionally lacking strength and durability, not to mention the rescue and pair-up shenanigans that one can perform with them.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Pegasi become dragons in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', in contrast to the two classes being foils to each other later on. It's {{Hand Wave}}d in some supports of ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', where Minerva releases her old pegasus for a more powerful wyvern mount. In addition, the DS remakes have the Elysian Whip, which allows Pegasus Knights to Class Change into Falcon Knights.
** Pegasus Knight {{Mook}}s were male in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. The stat interface also suggests that they're male in the GBA installments as well, as their "Rescue" stat (which is pretty much irrelevant to enemy units since they never use the rescue command unless you use the enemy control glitch to take control of them) is 25 minus their Constitution (same as your male mounted units; your female ones are only 20 minus their Con).
** Pegasus Knights could use both swords and lances at base in the earlier games, a trait that was given to Falcon Knights in the GBA games, Tellius games, the DS remake, and ''Three Houses''.
* EnergyAbsorption: Dark Fliers in ''Three Houses'' have the skill Transmute, which grants them boosts to all stats when hit by magic attacks during the enemy's phase. The stat buffs last until the end of the user's next phase.
* ExtraTurn: The Galeforce skill exclusive to Dark Fliers allows the user to take another action upon initiating an attack that defeats an enemy unit. ''Fates'' nerfed the skill so that it only activates when the user isn't supported by Attack and Guard Stances.
* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: As a result of being female-exclusive classes and the series lacking in high-ranking female villains[[note]]and even if they do, they are rarely going to be of this class[[/note]], Pegasus Knight factions are usually depicted more sympathetically and protagonist-friendly. The few times they are assigned to antagonize the players, it is usually fringe rebels revolting against their own respective kingdoms (Silesse and Ilia) or the players are intended to conquer them (Hoshido in ''Conquest''). ''Three Houses'', ironically, makes the Pegasus Knights the go-to enemy flier used by the Adrestian Empire, as Wyvern Riders are largely associated with the foreign Almyra.
* FragileFlyer: Their high Speed typically allows them to get in at least two hits. However, they're vulnerable to arrows and wind-related magic.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* HitAndRunTactics: Pegasus Knights in the Jugdral and Tellius games can move again after attacking, moving them to a safe distance to compensate for their low durability. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* HunterOfTheirOwnKind: Kinshi Knights are specialized in attacking other flying units, because they can wield bows and have the skill ''Air Superiority'', which gives them a hit/avoid boost against flying units.
* InconsistentSpelling: "Falcon Knight" has been variously rendered as "Falcoknight", "Falconknight", and "Falcon Knight" in the English games.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: In many games, there are shield items which, when held by a flyer, negates their weakness to bows. In ''Awakening'', Iote's Shield is a skill instead, acquired through clearing the Smash Brethren 3 [[DownloadableContent DLC]]. ''Fates'' has the same skill under the name Wing Shield, which is exclusive to Hinoka as an enemy in the ''Conquest'' route.
* JoustingLance: The starting and main weapon for Pegasus Knights are lances. Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' gain Lancefaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding lances.
* MageKiller: They're frequently lauded as such, given their high Resistance and access to physical weapons. Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts their Resistance by 20 when they initiate an attack.
* MagicKnight: Dark Fliers use offensive magic and lances.
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Falcoknight with an Elysian Whip, she is unable to reclass into Dracoknight.
* NobleBirdOfPrey: Kinshi Knights ditch the pegasus for a gigantic mythical bird known as a Kinshi.
* NonindicativeName: Like Dark Knight, Dark Fliers cannot use dark magic, despite their name, with the exception of Aversa, who has an exclusive skill named Shadowgift. This is remedied in ''Three Houses'', as dark magic is not locked in class, but they don't have Dark Tomefaire as one of their innate skills.
* TheParalyzer: Falcon Knights and Seraph Knights in the Tellius games have the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn (if they survive).
* {{Pegasus}}: They come in two different species as well. The one commonly seen in the series are known as Pegasus, but incorporate an aspect of the unicorn: the myth that unicorns would only accept pure-hearted maidens as their riders, though [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness this isn't the case]] in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. A support in ''Fates'' claims that the Pegasi in the game are actually [[Myth/ChineseMythology Tenma]], which are similar in appearance but do not care about gender (despite ''[=FE3=]'' depicting male Pegasus Knights). Though this is made confusing, as past games in Japan have used ''Tenma'' to refer to regular Pegasi. The English version of the same conversation changes this, saying that the Pegasi of ''Fates'' are a different breed.
* {{Retcon}}: Male Pegasus Knights may have been retconned as impossible based on a Support in ''Fates''. In the original ''Mystery of the Emblem'', enemy Pegasus Knights were explicitly male and Karin's explanation in ''Thracia 776'' left elbow room for potential exceptions.
* RuleOfThree: Traditionally, there are three available pegasus-riding units, often related to each other either through family or through job, who can execute a "Triangle Attack" when together. The Jugdral games are the only exceptions; the player never gets more than two Pegasus Knights in the same game, and in ''Genealogy'', the two are in different generations. ''Genealogy'' actually has a trio of ''enemy'' Falcon Knights who can Triangle Attack! The attack was absent in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', but was brought back in ''Shadows of Valentia'', albeit as a combat art. Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'' can get the Triangle Attack Combat Art when mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Rally Speed, which gives a boost to allies' Speed when commanded.
* WhiteStallion: Their pegasi almost always have marble white coat, with the obvious exception of the Dark Fliers.
* WingedUnicorn: Normally, their mounts look like this after class changing to Falcon Knight, though it's entirely possible that the horn is just part of the pegasus' head armor. In ''Three Hopes'' it is made clear that at least their version of promoted pegasi have a real horn growing from their forehead, as promoted pegasi without their battle armor can be seen in the stables of the army base camp.
* AlwaysFemale: Playable Pegasus Knights are always female, though as mentioned in EarlyInstallmentWeirdness, enemy ones were male in ''Mystery''. ''Fates'' averts this, although the explanation is different depending on the version of the game: the Japanese version calls them Tenma (the Japanese word for Pegasus, confusingly used for regular Pegasi in the past), while the English version simply says that they are a different breed from the traditional depiction. However, it's still played with, as the men who have this class, Subaki and Shigure, are known to be very pretty. Pegasus Knights go back to being female-only in ''Three Houses''. Notably pegasi are known to accept a man as an additional passenger to a female rider (as seen when Sumia rescues Chrom in ''Awakening''), and may carry a man they trust (by picking him up with their mouth as seen in the ''Three Hopes'' support conversation between Ignatz and Marianne), they just draw the line at the man riding on their back and directing them.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Falcon Knights in most games can use swords and lances.
* CombatMedic: Falcon Knights in the Jugdral games, ''Awakening'', and ''Fates'' can use healing staves.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Avoid, a skill that boosts avoid by 30 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DamageReduction: Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts Resistance by 20 if the user initiates combat.
* DifficultButAwesome: Pegasus Knights are among the (physically] squishiest classes in the series, which gives them relatively poor matchups against most other physical units (''especially'' archers), but any seasoned veteran will tell you that they are worth the effort of training, as flying mobility is more often than not the best type of mobility and their high speed rates make up for their occasionally lacking strength and durability, not to mention the rescue and pair-up shenanigans that one can perform with them.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Pegasi become dragons in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', in contrast to the two classes being foils to each other later on. It's {{Hand Wave}}d in some supports of ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', where Minerva releases her old pegasus for a more powerful wyvern mount. In addition, the DS remakes have the Elysian Whip, which allows Pegasus Knights to Class Change into Falcon Knights.
** Pegasus Knight {{Mook}}s were male in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. The stat interface also suggests that they're male in the GBA installments as well, as their "Rescue" stat (which is pretty much irrelevant to enemy units since they never use the rescue command unless you use the enemy control glitch to take control of them) is 25 minus their Constitution (same as your male mounted units; your female ones are only 20 minus their Con).
** Pegasus Knights could use both swords and lances at base in the earlier games, a trait that was given to Falcon Knights in the GBA games, Tellius games, the DS remake, and ''Three Houses''.
* EnergyAbsorption: Dark Fliers in ''Three Houses'' have the skill Transmute, which grants them boosts to all stats when hit by magic attacks during the enemy's phase. The stat buffs last until the end of the user's next phase.
* ExtraTurn: The Galeforce skill exclusive to Dark Fliers allows the user to take another action upon initiating an attack that defeats an enemy unit. ''Fates'' nerfed the skill so that it only activates when the user isn't supported by Attack and Guard Stances.
* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: As a result of being female-exclusive classes and the series lacking in high-ranking female villains[[note]]and even if they do, they are rarely going to be of this class[[/note]], Pegasus Knight factions are usually depicted more sympathetically and protagonist-friendly. The few times they are assigned to antagonize the players, it is usually fringe rebels revolting against their own respective kingdoms (Silesse and Ilia) or the players are intended to conquer them (Hoshido in ''Conquest''). ''Three Houses'', ironically, makes the Pegasus Knights the go-to enemy flier used by the Adrestian Empire, as Wyvern Riders are largely associated with the foreign Almyra.
* FragileFlyer: Their high Speed typically allows them to get in at least two hits. However, they're vulnerable to arrows and wind-related magic.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* HitAndRunTactics: Pegasus Knights in the Jugdral and Tellius games can move again after attacking, moving them to a safe distance to compensate for their low durability. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* HunterOfTheirOwnKind: Kinshi Knights are specialized in attacking other flying units, because they can wield bows and have the skill ''Air Superiority'', which gives them a hit/avoid boost against flying units.
* InconsistentSpelling: "Falcon Knight" has been variously rendered as "Falcoknight", "Falconknight", and "Falcon Knight" in the English games.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: In many games, there are shield items which, when held by a flyer, negates their weakness to bows. In ''Awakening'', Iote's Shield is a skill instead, acquired through clearing the Smash Brethren 3 [[DownloadableContent DLC]]. ''Fates'' has the same skill under the name Wing Shield, which is exclusive to Hinoka as an enemy in the ''Conquest'' route.
* JoustingLance: The starting and main weapon for Pegasus Knights are lances. Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' gain Lancefaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding lances.
* MageKiller: They're frequently lauded as such, given their high Resistance and access to physical weapons. Falcon Knights in ''Fates'' gain Warding Blow, which boosts their Resistance by 20 when they initiate an attack.
* MagicKnight: Dark Fliers use offensive magic and lances.
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Falcoknight with an Elysian Whip, she is unable to reclass into Dracoknight.
* NobleBirdOfPrey: Kinshi Knights ditch the pegasus for a gigantic mythical bird known as a Kinshi.
* NonindicativeName: Like Dark Knight, Dark Fliers cannot use dark magic, despite their name, with the exception of Aversa, who has an exclusive skill named Shadowgift. This is remedied in ''Three Houses'', as dark magic is not locked in class, but they don't have Dark Tomefaire as one of their innate skills.
* TheParalyzer: Falcon Knights and Seraph Knights in the Tellius games have the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn (if they survive).
* {{Pegasus}}: They come in two different species as well. The one commonly seen in the series are known as Pegasus, but incorporate an aspect of the unicorn: the myth that unicorns would only accept pure-hearted maidens as their riders, though [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness this isn't the case]] in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. A support in ''Fates'' claims that the Pegasi in the game are actually [[Myth/ChineseMythology Tenma]], which are similar in appearance but do not care about gender (despite ''[=FE3=]'' depicting male Pegasus Knights). Though this is made confusing, as past games in Japan have used ''Tenma'' to refer to regular Pegasi. The English version of the same conversation changes this, saying that the Pegasi of ''Fates'' are a different breed.
* {{Retcon}}: Male Pegasus Knights may have been retconned as impossible based on a Support in ''Fates''. In the original ''Mystery of the Emblem'', enemy Pegasus Knights were explicitly male and Karin's explanation in ''Thracia 776'' left elbow room for potential exceptions.
* RuleOfThree: Traditionally, there are three available pegasus-riding units, often related to each other either through family or through job, who can execute a "Triangle Attack" when together. The Jugdral games are the only exceptions; the player never gets more than two Pegasus Knights in the same game, and in ''Genealogy'', the two are in different generations. ''Genealogy'' actually has a trio of ''enemy'' Falcon Knights who can Triangle Attack! The attack was absent in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', but was brought back in ''Shadows of Valentia'', albeit as a combat art. Pegasus Knights in ''Three Houses'' can get the Triangle Attack Combat Art when mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Rally Speed, which gives a boost to allies' Speed when commanded.
* WhiteStallion: Their pegasi almost always have marble white coat, with the obvious exception of the Dark Fliers.
* WingedUnicorn: Normally, their mounts look like this after class changing to Falcon Knight, though it's entirely possible that the horn is just part of the pegasus' head armor. In ''Three Hopes'' it is made clear that at least their version of promoted pegasi have a real horn growing from their forehead, as promoted pegasi without their battle armor can be seen in the stables of the army base camp.
to:
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Falcon Knights in most games can use swords and lances.
* CombatMedic: Falcon Knights in the Jugdral games, ''Awakening'', and ''Fates'' can use healing staves.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Avoid, a skill that boosts avoid by 30 while under 25% HP, upon mastering the
*
* DifficultButAwesome: Pegasus Knights are among the (physically] squishiest classes in the series, which gives
* DealWithTheDevil: In ''Gaiden'', Witches are the result of women sacrificing themselves to Duma for
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness:
** Pegasi
* EmptyShell: In ''Gaiden'''s lore, Witches are women who offered their souls to Duma in
* EvilRedhead: In ''Gaiden'', with the
** Pegasus Knight {{Mook}}s were male in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. The stat interface also suggests that they're male in the GBA installments as well, as their "Rescue" stat (which is pretty much irrelevant to enemy units since they never use the rescue command unless you use the enemy control glitch to take control of them) is 25 minus their Constitution (same as your male mounted units; your female ones
** Pegasus Knights could use both swords
*
* FanDisservice: The Witches from ''Shadows of Valentia'' are beautiful women whose looks appeal to many fetishes, but their actual situations make them
* {{Nerf}}: In ''Gaiden'', their signature Warp ability lets them travel to
* ExtraTurn: The Galeforce skill exclusive to Dark Fliers allows the user to take another action upon initiating an attack that defeats an enemy unit.
* FemalesAreMoreInnocent: As a result of being female-exclusive classes and the series lacking in high-ranking female villains[[note]]and even if they do, they are rarely going
* PowerCrutch: In ''Fates'', Witches channel their
* PowerFloats: The witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'' are
* RedMage: Gremories are
* FragileFlyer: Their high Speed typically allows them to get
*
* HitAndRunTactics: Pegasus Knights in the Jugdral and Tellius games can move again after attacking, moving them to a safe distance to compensate for
* HunterOfTheirOwnKind: Kinshi Knights are specialized in attacking other flying units, because they can wield bows and have the skill ''Air Superiority'', which gives them a hit/avoid boost against flying units.
* InconsistentSpelling: "Falcon Knight" has been variously rendered as "Falcoknight", "Falconknight", and "Falcon Knight" in the English games.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: In many games, there are shield items which, when held by a flyer, negates their weakness to bows. In ''Awakening'', Iote's Shield is a skill instead, acquired through clearing the Smash Brethren 3 [[DownloadableContent DLC]]. ''Fates'' has the same skill under the name Wing Shield, which is exclusive to Hinoka as an enemy in the ''Conquest'' route.
* JoustingLance: The starting and main weapon for Pegasus Knights are lances. Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Three Houses'' gain Lancefaire, which boosts their damage output for wielding lances.
* MageKiller: They're frequently lauded as such, given their high Resistance and access to physical weapons. Falcon Knights
* MagicKnight: Dark Fliers use offensive magic
*
* NobleBirdOfPrey: Kinshi Knights ditch the pegasus for a gigantic mythical bird known as a Kinshi.
* NonindicativeName: Like Dark Knight, Dark Fliers cannot use dark magic, despite their name, with the exception of Aversa, who has an exclusive skill named Shadowgift. This is remedied
* TheParalyzer: Falcon Knights and Seraph Knights in the Tellius games have the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn (if they survive).
* {{Pegasus}}: They come in two different species as well. The one commonly seen in the series are known as Pegasus, but incorporate an aspect of the unicorn: the myth that unicorns would only accept pure-hearted maidens as their riders, though [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness this isn't the case]] in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. A support in ''Fates'' claims that the Pegasi in the game are actually [[Myth/ChineseMythology Tenma]], which are similar in appearance but do not care about gender (despite ''[=FE3=]'' depicting male Pegasus Knights). Though this is made confusing, as past games in Japan have used ''Tenma'' to refer to regular Pegasi. The English version of the same conversation changes this, saying that the Pegasi of ''Fates'' are a different breed.
* {{Retcon}}: Male Pegasus Knights may have been retconned as impossible based on a Support in ''Fates''. In the original ''Mystery of the Emblem'', enemy Pegasus Knights were explicitly male and Karin's explanation in ''Thracia 776'' left elbow room for potential exceptions.
* RuleOfThree: Traditionally, there are three available pegasus-riding units, often related to each other either through family or through job, who can execute a "Triangle Attack" when together. The Jugdral games are the only exceptions; the player never gets more than two Pegasus Knights in the same game, and in ''Genealogy'', the two are in different generations. ''Genealogy'' actually has a trio of ''enemy'' Falcon Knights who can Triangle Attack! The attack was absent in ''Awakening'' and
* StatusInflictionAttack: ''Fates''[='=] Witches get the
* StatusBuff: Falcon Knights in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' gain Rally Speed,
*
* WingedUnicorn: Normally, their mounts look like this after class changing to Falcon Knight, though it's entirely possible that the horn is just part of the pegasus' head armor. In ''Three Hopes'' it is made clear that at least their version of promoted pegasi have a real horn growing from their forehead, as promoted pegasi without their battle armor
Changed line(s) 819,836 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Wyvern Rider/Dracoknight (''Dragon Knight'')]]
!!Wyvern Rider/Dracoknight (''Dragon Knight'')
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/856g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Wyvern Rider in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/933g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Wyvern Lords in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/revenant_knight.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Malig Knights in ''Fates'']]
Wyvern Riders (sometimes known instead as Dracoknight) are the second of the two recurring flying mounted classes, this time riding into battle on the backs of dragons. Originating as the Class Change for Pegasus Knights in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', Wyvern Riders were later were spun off into their own entirely separate class family, starting in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''. Compared to their pegasus counterparts, they tend toward hardier, bulkier compositions at the expense of Speed and Resistance, with a weakness to anti-dragon weaponry on top of the standard flier weakness to bows. The Wyvern Rider's weapon selection has varied over the course of the series, having used all three main weapon types at different points, though from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' onward, they primarily use axes.\\\
Wyvern Riders generally Class Change into the '''Wyvern Lord''' ('''Dragon Master''' in Japanese), which usually gives them access to a secondary melee weapon. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', they can alternatively Class Change into the '''Wyvern Knight''', which only wields lances, but compensates for the lack of weapon diversity with [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer raw offensive stats]] and [[ArmorPiercingAttack a unique skill]]. In ''Radiant Dawn'', they can Class Change again into the third-tier '''Dragonlord''' class ('''Lindwurm''' in Japanese). The Jugdral games feature the weaker '''Dragon Rider''' class, which was made the first tier to the (now second-tier) Dragon Knight in ''Thracia 776''. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', they gain the alternate Class Change of '''Griffon Rider''', a [[JackOfAllStats generally well-balanced class]]. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they gain the alternate Class Change of '''Malig Knight''', a MagicKnight class that uses axes and tomes.\\\
Related is the '''King Daein''' class, exclusive to Ashnard in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'', the class family '''Wyvern Master''' and '''Barbarossa''', exclusive to Claude in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'', which primarily wields bows, and the class family '''Wing Tamer''' and '''Lindwurm''', exclusive to Ivy, which wields tomes and staves, and '''Melusine''', exclusive to Zephia/Zelestia, which wields swords and tomes, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''.\\\
Not to be confused with the "normal" dragons which figure heavily into the plots of most games, though in Archanea, ''these'' dragons are degenerate wild relatives of ''those'' dragons called Wyverns.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Minerva (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade Of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Altena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Dean and Eda (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Miledy and Zeiss (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Heath and Vaida (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Cormag (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Jill and Haar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Michalis (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Cherche and Gerome (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Camilla, Beruka, Scarlet and Percy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Cyril, Seteth (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Ivy, Rosado, Zelestia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Wyvern Rider/Dracoknight (''Dragon Knight'')
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/856g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Wyvern Rider in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/933g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Wyvern Lords in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/revenant_knight.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Malig Knights in ''Fates'']]
Wyvern Riders (sometimes known instead as Dracoknight) are the second of the two recurring flying mounted classes, this time riding into battle on the backs of dragons. Originating as the Class Change for Pegasus Knights in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', Wyvern Riders were later were spun off into their own entirely separate class family, starting in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''. Compared to their pegasus counterparts, they tend toward hardier, bulkier compositions at the expense of Speed and Resistance, with a weakness to anti-dragon weaponry on top of the standard flier weakness to bows. The Wyvern Rider's weapon selection has varied over the course of the series, having used all three main weapon types at different points, though from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' onward, they primarily use axes.\\\
Wyvern Riders generally Class Change into the '''Wyvern Lord''' ('''Dragon Master''' in Japanese), which usually gives them access to a secondary melee weapon. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', they can alternatively Class Change into the '''Wyvern Knight''', which only wields lances, but compensates for the lack of weapon diversity with [[WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer raw offensive stats]] and [[ArmorPiercingAttack a unique skill]]. In ''Radiant Dawn'', they can Class Change again into the third-tier '''Dragonlord''' class ('''Lindwurm''' in Japanese). The Jugdral games feature the weaker '''Dragon Rider''' class, which was made the first tier to the (now second-tier) Dragon Knight in ''Thracia 776''. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', they gain the alternate Class Change of '''Griffon Rider''', a [[JackOfAllStats generally well-balanced class]]. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', they gain the alternate Class Change of '''Malig Knight''', a MagicKnight class that uses axes and tomes.\\\
Related is the '''King Daein''' class, exclusive to Ashnard in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'', the class family '''Wyvern Master''' and '''Barbarossa''', exclusive to Claude in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'', which primarily wields bows, and the class family '''Wing Tamer''' and '''Lindwurm''', exclusive to Ivy, which wields tomes and staves, and '''Melusine''', exclusive to Zephia/Zelestia, which wields swords and tomes, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''.\\\
Not to be confused with the "normal" dragons which figure heavily into the plots of most games, though in Archanea, ''these'' dragons are degenerate wild relatives of ''those'' dragons called Wyverns.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Minerva (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade Of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Altena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Dean and Eda (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Miledy and Zeiss (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Heath and Vaida (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Cormag (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Jill and Haar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Michalis (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Cherche and Gerome (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Camilla, Beruka, Scarlet and Percy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Cyril, Seteth (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Ivy, Rosado, Zelestia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Wyvern Rider/Dracoknight (''Dragon Knight'')
[[quoteright:350:https://static.
!!Dread Fighter
[[quoteright:234:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/933g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Wyvern Lords in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/revenant_knight.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Malig Knights in ''Fates'']]
Wyvern Riders (sometimes known instead as Dracoknight) are the second
Dread Fighter is one of the
Changed line(s) 838,881 (click to see context) from:
* AchillesHeel:
** Just like the other flying units, Wyvern classes are [[AntiAir weak to Bows]]. The sole exception being ''Radiant Dawn''
** In many games, Wyvern classes are specifically weak to wind magic, [[AntiAir being flying units]] or any other anti-Dragon weapons. ''Radiant Dawn'' changed their weakness wind magic to thunder magic, the same weakness as Dragon Laguz.
** In some games, , Wyvern riding classes take extra Wyrmslayers and other dragon slaying weapons.
** Wyvern riding classes always have a terrible resistance stat. In most games, Wyvern classes have the worst resistance stat around, outside of GlassCannon classes.
* AntiInfantry: The Malig Knight's Trample skill deals 5 bonus damage to unmounted enemies.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Wyvern Knight's skill, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pierce]], in ''The Sacred Stones''. Its usefulness is offset by being linked to [[GameBreakingBug a nasty glitch]] which locks up the game under certain (rare) circumstances which, oddly enough, only occurs in English copies of the game.
* BreathWeapon:
** Averted; most of the time the wyverns do not breathe fire. It becomes odd when fighting against feral wyverns in ''Mystery of the Emblem'' which breathe fire, implying that they lost their ability to breathe fire to domestication.
** Played straight with Malig Knights in ''Fates''. They learn Savage Blow, which was called Deathly Breath in the Japanese version, which implies that the undead wyvern is exhaling a poisonous gas.
** In ''Three Houses'' only certain, special wyverns (namely the white variety Claude uses for his unique classes) are shown to be able to breathe fire.
* CoolHelmet: Wyvern Lords and Malig Knights wear helmets that resemble dragons, while Griffon Riders wear helmets resembling a griffon.
* CoolMask: The Wyvern Riders in ''Awakening'' wear masks that resemble a dragon's jaws on the lower halves of their faces.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Wyvern Lord in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Critical, a skill that boosts critical hit rate by 50% while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DependingOnTheArtist: There's pretty much no consistency with the appearance of the dragon mounts between games; it's pretty much justified by the different universes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The dragon-riding family slowly evolved from the pegasus family into the distinct class tree with different strengths it is today.
* {{Dracolich}}: Malig Knights ride on undead wyverns.
* DragonRider:
** You don't say. The Wyvern mount is almost never seen attacking directly, outside of ading momentum to their rider's attacks. That said many of the games with dismounting show Wyvern riding characters lose alot of strength and defense when they dismount their wyvern.
** Averted with the Griffon Rider in ''Awakening''.
* FragileSpeedster: The Wyvern Knight from ''Sacred Stones'', being accessible from both the pegasus and wyvern lines, takes after pegasi in the speed department while also having the Constitution of a wyvern to be lightning fast all-around - to compensate, however, it has less HP and also inherits the weaker defense and resistance of both, and being locked to lances means it always has to remain cautious around the hard-hitting axe users that most classes would normally shrug off by the point in the game you get your first Wyvern Knight.
* GatheringSteam: Inverted for the Wyvern Lord in ''Awakening'', as they get the skill Quick Burn, which gives them 15 hit and avoid at the start of the battle but loses effect for each turn.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* GiantFlyer: In the SNES, GBA games and ''Radiant Dawn'' in particular, they're downright enormous.
* HeelFaceTurn: Typically, the dragon mount species is associated with an/the enemy kingdom (Macedon, Thracia, Bern, Grado, Daein, Nohr) and dragon riders are a mainstay of the respective army, and so almost every allied Dragon Rider is recruited from the enemy. The only exceptions to this in the series are in the Archanea games and ''The Sacred Stones'', where your Pegasus Knights can class change into them, and ''Awakening'', where the "recruited" dragon rider is from a different nation than the "enemy" dragon riders earlier in the game. In cases like Macedon and Begnion where they have both pegasus and wyvern armies, there is a notable infighting between the two and the wyvern side would be the more hostile one. ''Three Houses'' also subverts the antagonistic role, as Wyvern Riders are rare among the Imperial ranks and "those who slither in the dark", though the one nation that specializes in wyverns is Almyra, a nation neighboring Fodlan with minimal involvement in the conflict (though it does have a history of [[BloodKnight picking fights with Fódlan for fun]]) and was the home of Cyril and [[spoiler:Claude]].
* HerdHittingAttack: Malig Knights can learn the Savage Blow skill, which applies a 20% HP reduction to all units that were within 2 spaces of their range.
* HitAndRunTactics: Like Pegasus Knights, they can move again to a safe distance in the Jugdral and Tellius games. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* InconsistentSpelling:
** There is one hell of a naming inconsistency with this class family. For ''The Blazing Blade'', the first English release, they were renamed "Wyvern Rider" and "Wyvern Lord" to distinguish them from the proper dragons that are not domesticated as mounts and figured heavily into the plot of the game; ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Path of Radiance'' stuck to this. The Japanese version of ''The Sacred Stones'' introduced the "Wyvern Knight" class, part of the Wyvern family of dragons, and looking more like traditional wyverns from ''Mystery of the Emblem''; they were still called "Wyvern Knights" in the English version and the matter of their physical difference wasn't addressed. ''Radiant Dawn''[='s=] translation discarded the "wyvern" name for the classes themselves, going with variations of "Dracoknight"; however, in dialogue, the species are still called wyverns, again to differentiate from the game's fairly important actual dragons. This remained the case for ''Shadow Dragon'', though the [[NoExportForYou Japan only]] remake of the sequel shows the dragon mounts are indeed named Wyverns. Then in ''Awakening'', it's back to Wyvern Rider and Wyvern Lord. The Switch port for ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' then renames it "Wyvern Knight".
** The Japanese version alone isn't much better. The base class is called Dragon Rider in most games, but the Jugdral games and ''Radiant Dawn'' call it Dragon Knight. The advanced class is called either Dragon Master or Dragon Lord depending on the game, which becomes really confusing when you consider the name of the third-tier advanced class from ''Radiant Dawn'': Dragonlord (Lindwurm in Japanese).
* IWorkAlone: Only in ''Awakening'', but Wyvern Riders gain the skill Tantivy, which grants the user +10 Hit and Evasion if there are no allies within 3 spaces of them.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: They can remove their weaknesses to bows by equipping specific shields if there is any. Averted, however, against anti-dragon weapons save for the Full Guard in ''Path of Radiance''.
* LightningBruiser: They are one of the strongest physical classes thanks to their high Strength, Skill, Defense, and movement range. This is particularly true in the NES/SNES Archanea duology (which lacked stat caps), as well as ''Three Houses'', where they have high Speed caps. Enemy factions would sporadically deploy them early-game to serve as BossInMookClothing, and then field even more of them in the late-game chapters. Most playable Wyvern Riders join mid-to-late game because of their powerhouse status.
* MagicKnight: Malig Knights specialize in both axes and tomes, in addition to their magic stats. It is one of the few classes that can reliably use the Bolt Axe.
* MightyGlacier: What the class is almost always in game with class specific caps. While in their earlier incarnations, they were basically stronger Pegasus Knights but without their MageKiller capabilities, starting with ''Genealogy Of the Holy War'' have settled for making them aerial tanks with high Attack and Defense but low Speed and Resistance, in order to make them more of a {{Foil}} to the [[FragileSpeedster Pegasus Knights]]. In ''Radiant Dawn'', Dragonlord's speed cap is even worse than Marshall. The only exception is in ''Three Houses'', where Wyvern Lords have the stats of a LightningBruiser
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Dracoknight with a Master Seal, she is unable to reclass into Falcoknight.
* MythologyGag: The Wyvern Knight class in ''[=FE8=]'' rides a mount identical to the [=DracoKnights=] of ''[=FE3=]'' and can be class changed from Pegasus Knights.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The appearance of the Dragon/Wyvern Mounts vary wildly across different universes. What varies most are whether they stand on two legs or four and if they have no arms like a wyvern or their arms are like a western dragon.
* OurGryphonsAreDifferent: The Griffon Riders that appear in ''Awakening''.
* TheParalyzer: Wyvern Lords and Dragonlords in the Tellius games has the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Wyvern Riders in ''Three Houses'' learn Seal Defense, a skill that reduces the enemy's defense by 6 after combat, upon mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Wyvern Lords in ''Fates'' gain Rally Defense, which gives a boost to defense to allies when commanded.
* WeakToMagic: In contrast to [[MageKiller Pegasus Knights]], Wyvern Riders tend to have a high Defense but the worst Resistance around, tied with Warriors. In some games, wyvern riders are also weak to wind or thunder magic.
* WeaponSpecialization: Traditionally, lances and axes are the family's primary weapon.
** Just like the other flying units, Wyvern classes are [[AntiAir weak to Bows]]. The sole exception being ''Radiant Dawn''
** In many games, Wyvern classes are specifically weak to wind magic, [[AntiAir being flying units]] or any other anti-Dragon weapons. ''Radiant Dawn'' changed their weakness wind magic to thunder magic, the same weakness as Dragon Laguz.
** In some games, , Wyvern riding classes take extra Wyrmslayers and other dragon slaying weapons.
** Wyvern riding classes always have a terrible resistance stat. In most games, Wyvern classes have the worst resistance stat around, outside of GlassCannon classes.
* AntiInfantry: The Malig Knight's Trample skill deals 5 bonus damage to unmounted enemies.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Wyvern Knight's skill, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pierce]], in ''The Sacred Stones''. Its usefulness is offset by being linked to [[GameBreakingBug a nasty glitch]] which locks up the game under certain (rare) circumstances which, oddly enough, only occurs in English copies of the game.
* BreathWeapon:
** Averted; most of the time the wyverns do not breathe fire. It becomes odd when fighting against feral wyverns in ''Mystery of the Emblem'' which breathe fire, implying that they lost their ability to breathe fire to domestication.
** Played straight with Malig Knights in ''Fates''. They learn Savage Blow, which was called Deathly Breath in the Japanese version, which implies that the undead wyvern is exhaling a poisonous gas.
** In ''Three Houses'' only certain, special wyverns (namely the white variety Claude uses for his unique classes) are shown to be able to breathe fire.
* CoolHelmet: Wyvern Lords and Malig Knights wear helmets that resemble dragons, while Griffon Riders wear helmets resembling a griffon.
* CoolMask: The Wyvern Riders in ''Awakening'' wear masks that resemble a dragon's jaws on the lower halves of their faces.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Wyvern Lord in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Critical, a skill that boosts critical hit rate by 50% while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DependingOnTheArtist: There's pretty much no consistency with the appearance of the dragon mounts between games; it's pretty much justified by the different universes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The dragon-riding family slowly evolved from the pegasus family into the distinct class tree with different strengths it is today.
* {{Dracolich}}: Malig Knights ride on undead wyverns.
* DragonRider:
** You don't say. The Wyvern mount is almost never seen attacking directly, outside of ading momentum to their rider's attacks. That said many of the games with dismounting show Wyvern riding characters lose alot of strength and defense when they dismount their wyvern.
** Averted with the Griffon Rider in ''Awakening''.
* FragileSpeedster: The Wyvern Knight from ''Sacred Stones'', being accessible from both the pegasus and wyvern lines, takes after pegasi in the speed department while also having the Constitution of a wyvern to be lightning fast all-around - to compensate, however, it has less HP and also inherits the weaker defense and resistance of both, and being locked to lances means it always has to remain cautious around the hard-hitting axe users that most classes would normally shrug off by the point in the game you get your first Wyvern Knight.
* GatheringSteam: Inverted for the Wyvern Lord in ''Awakening'', as they get the skill Quick Burn, which gives them 15 hit and avoid at the start of the battle but loses effect for each turn.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* GiantFlyer: In the SNES, GBA games and ''Radiant Dawn'' in particular, they're downright enormous.
* HeelFaceTurn: Typically, the dragon mount species is associated with an/the enemy kingdom (Macedon, Thracia, Bern, Grado, Daein, Nohr) and dragon riders are a mainstay of the respective army, and so almost every allied Dragon Rider is recruited from the enemy. The only exceptions to this in the series are in the Archanea games and ''The Sacred Stones'', where your Pegasus Knights can class change into them, and ''Awakening'', where the "recruited" dragon rider is from a different nation than the "enemy" dragon riders earlier in the game. In cases like Macedon and Begnion where they have both pegasus and wyvern armies, there is a notable infighting between the two and the wyvern side would be the more hostile one. ''Three Houses'' also subverts the antagonistic role, as Wyvern Riders are rare among the Imperial ranks and "those who slither in the dark", though the one nation that specializes in wyverns is Almyra, a nation neighboring Fodlan with minimal involvement in the conflict (though it does have a history of [[BloodKnight picking fights with Fódlan for fun]]) and was the home of Cyril and [[spoiler:Claude]].
* HerdHittingAttack: Malig Knights can learn the Savage Blow skill, which applies a 20% HP reduction to all units that were within 2 spaces of their range.
* HitAndRunTactics: Like Pegasus Knights, they can move again to a safe distance in the Jugdral and Tellius games. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* InconsistentSpelling:
** There is one hell of a naming inconsistency with this class family. For ''The Blazing Blade'', the first English release, they were renamed "Wyvern Rider" and "Wyvern Lord" to distinguish them from the proper dragons that are not domesticated as mounts and figured heavily into the plot of the game; ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Path of Radiance'' stuck to this. The Japanese version of ''The Sacred Stones'' introduced the "Wyvern Knight" class, part of the Wyvern family of dragons, and looking more like traditional wyverns from ''Mystery of the Emblem''; they were still called "Wyvern Knights" in the English version and the matter of their physical difference wasn't addressed. ''Radiant Dawn''[='s=] translation discarded the "wyvern" name for the classes themselves, going with variations of "Dracoknight"; however, in dialogue, the species are still called wyverns, again to differentiate from the game's fairly important actual dragons. This remained the case for ''Shadow Dragon'', though the [[NoExportForYou Japan only]] remake of the sequel shows the dragon mounts are indeed named Wyverns. Then in ''Awakening'', it's back to Wyvern Rider and Wyvern Lord. The Switch port for ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' then renames it "Wyvern Knight".
** The Japanese version alone isn't much better. The base class is called Dragon Rider in most games, but the Jugdral games and ''Radiant Dawn'' call it Dragon Knight. The advanced class is called either Dragon Master or Dragon Lord depending on the game, which becomes really confusing when you consider the name of the third-tier advanced class from ''Radiant Dawn'': Dragonlord (Lindwurm in Japanese).
* IWorkAlone: Only in ''Awakening'', but Wyvern Riders gain the skill Tantivy, which grants the user +10 Hit and Evasion if there are no allies within 3 spaces of them.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: They can remove their weaknesses to bows by equipping specific shields if there is any. Averted, however, against anti-dragon weapons save for the Full Guard in ''Path of Radiance''.
* LightningBruiser: They are one of the strongest physical classes thanks to their high Strength, Skill, Defense, and movement range. This is particularly true in the NES/SNES Archanea duology (which lacked stat caps), as well as ''Three Houses'', where they have high Speed caps. Enemy factions would sporadically deploy them early-game to serve as BossInMookClothing, and then field even more of them in the late-game chapters. Most playable Wyvern Riders join mid-to-late game because of their powerhouse status.
* MagicKnight: Malig Knights specialize in both axes and tomes, in addition to their magic stats. It is one of the few classes that can reliably use the Bolt Axe.
* MightyGlacier: What the class is almost always in game with class specific caps. While in their earlier incarnations, they were basically stronger Pegasus Knights but without their MageKiller capabilities, starting with ''Genealogy Of the Holy War'' have settled for making them aerial tanks with high Attack and Defense but low Speed and Resistance, in order to make them more of a {{Foil}} to the [[FragileSpeedster Pegasus Knights]]. In ''Radiant Dawn'', Dragonlord's speed cap is even worse than Marshall. The only exception is in ''Three Houses'', where Wyvern Lords have the stats of a LightningBruiser
* MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Dracoknight with a Master Seal, she is unable to reclass into Falcoknight.
* MythologyGag: The Wyvern Knight class in ''[=FE8=]'' rides a mount identical to the [=DracoKnights=] of ''[=FE3=]'' and can be class changed from Pegasus Knights.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The appearance of the Dragon/Wyvern Mounts vary wildly across different universes. What varies most are whether they stand on two legs or four and if they have no arms like a wyvern or their arms are like a western dragon.
* OurGryphonsAreDifferent: The Griffon Riders that appear in ''Awakening''.
* TheParalyzer: Wyvern Lords and Dragonlords in the Tellius games has the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn.
* StatusInflictionAttack: Wyvern Riders in ''Three Houses'' learn Seal Defense, a skill that reduces the enemy's defense by 6 after combat, upon mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Wyvern Lords in ''Fates'' gain Rally Defense, which gives a boost to defense to allies when commanded.
* WeakToMagic: In contrast to [[MageKiller Pegasus Knights]], Wyvern Riders tend to have a high Defense but the worst Resistance around, tied with Warriors. In some games, wyvern riders are also weak to wind or thunder magic.
* WeaponSpecialization: Traditionally, lances and axes are the family's primary weapon.
to:
* AchillesHeel:
** Just like the other flying units, Wyvern classes are [[AntiAir weakAlwaysMale: Outside of ''Fates'', Dread Fighter is exclusive to Bows]]. The sole exception being ''Radiant Dawn''
** In many games, Wyvern classes are specifically weakmale characters.
* DeviousDaggers: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' uses knives instead of tomes towind magic, [[AntiAir being flying units]] or any other anti-Dragon weapons. ''Radiant Dawn'' changed go with their weakness wind magic to thunder magic, ninja motif. Fittingly, knives and shuriken beats tomes in the same weakness as Dragon Laguz.
** In some games, , Wyvern riding classesgame's version of the weapon triangle.
* MageKiller: They are designed to takeextra Wyrmslayers and other dragon slaying weapons.
** Wyvern riding classes always have a terrible resistance stat. In most games, Wyvern classes have the worst resistance stat around, outside of GlassCannon classes.
* AntiInfantry: The Malig Knight's Trample skill deals 5 bonuslittle damage to unmounted enemies.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Wyvern Knight's skill, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pierce]], in ''The Sacred Stones''. Its usefulness is offset by being linked to [[GameBreakingBug a nasty glitch]] which locks up the game under certain (rare) circumstances which, oddly enough, only occurs in English copies of the game.
* BreathWeapon:
** Averted; most of the time the wyverns do not breathe fire. It becomes odd when fighting against feral wyverns in ''Mystery of the Emblem'' which breathe fire, implying that they lost their ability to breathe fire to domestication.
** Played straight with Malig Knights in ''Fates''. They learn Savage Blow, which was called Deathly Breath in the Japanese version, which implies that the undead wyvern is exhaling a poisonous gas.
** In ''Three Houses'' only certain, special wyverns (namely the white variety Claude uses for his unique classes) are shown to be able to breathe fire.
* CoolHelmet: Wyvern Lords and Malig Knights wear helmets that resemble dragons, while Griffon Riders wear helmets resembling a griffon.
* CoolMask: The Wyvern Riders in ''Awakening'' wear masks that resemble a dragon's jaws on the lower halves of their faces.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Wyvern Lord in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Critical, a skill that boosts critical hit rate by 50% while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DependingOnTheArtist: There's pretty much no consistency with the appearance of the dragon mounts between games; it's pretty much justified by the different universes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The dragon-riding family slowly evolvedfrom the pegasus family into the distinct class tree with different strengths it is today.
* {{Dracolich}}: Malig Knights ride on undead wyverns.
* DragonRider:
** You don't say. The Wyvern mount is almost never seen attacking directly, outside of ading momentum to their rider's attacks. That said many of the games with dismounting show Wyvern riding characters lose alot of strengthmagical sources and defense when they dismount their wyvern.
** Averted with the Griffon Rider in ''Awakening''.
* FragileSpeedster: The Wyvern Knight from ''Sacred Stones'', being accessible from both the pegasus and wyvern lines, takes after pegasi in the speed department while also having the Constitution of a wyvern to be lightning fast all-around - to compensate, however, it has less HP and also inherits the weaker defense and resistance of both, and being locked to lances means it always has to remain cautious around the hard-hitting axe users that most classes would normally shrug off by the point in the game you get your first Wyvern Knight.
* GatheringSteam: Inverted for the Wyvern Lord in ''Awakening'', as they get the skill Quick Burn, which gives them 15 hit and avoid at the start of the battle but loses effect for each turn.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* GiantFlyer: In the SNES, GBA games and ''Radiant Dawn'' in particular, they're downright enormous.
* HeelFaceTurn: Typically, the dragon mount species is associated with an/the enemy kingdom (Macedon, Thracia, Bern, Grado, Daein, Nohr) and dragon riders are a mainstay of the respective army, and so almost every allied Dragon Rider is recruited from the enemy. The only exceptions to this in the series are in the Archanea games and ''The Sacred Stones'', where your Pegasus Knights can class change into them, and ''Awakening'', where the "recruited" dragon rider is from a different nation than the "enemy" dragon riders earlier in the game. In cases like Macedon and Begnion where they have both pegasus and wyvern armies, there is a notable infighting between the two and the wyvern side would be the more hostile one. ''Three Houses'' also subverts the antagonistic role, as Wyvern Riders are rare among the Imperial ranks and "those who slither in the dark", though the one nation that specializes in wyverns is Almyra, a nation neighboring Fodlan with minimal involvement in the conflict (though it does have a history of [[BloodKnight picking fights with Fódlan for fun]]) and was the home of Cyril and [[spoiler:Claude]].slay magic users.
* HerdHittingAttack: Malig Knights can learn the Savage Blow skill, which applies ** ''Awakening'' gives a 20% HP reduction massive boost to all units that were within 2 spaces of their range.
* HitAndRunTactics: Like Pegasus Knights, they can move again to a safe distance in the Jugdral and Tellius games. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* InconsistentSpelling:
** There is one hell of a naming inconsistencyResistance with this the Resistance+10 skill.
** ''Fates'' has Iron Will-which causes them to receive 4 less damage from magic attacks when attacked, and Even Keel-where the user receive 4 less damage from magic attacks during even-numbered turns.
** ''Shadows of Valentia'' provides the classfamily. For ''The Blazing Blade'', the first English release, they were renamed "Wyvern Rider" with Resistance+5 and "Wyvern Lord" to distinguish them from the proper dragons that are not domesticated as mounts and figured heavily into the plot of the game; ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Path of Radiance'' stuck to this. The Japanese Apotrope skills. Apotrope is a more powerful version of ''The Sacred Stones'' introduced the "Wyvern Knight" class, part of the Wyvern family of dragons, and looking more like traditional wyverns Iron Will, as it halves damage taken from ''Mystery of the Emblem''; they were still called "Wyvern Knights" in the English version and the matter of their physical difference wasn't addressed. ''Radiant Dawn''[='s=] translation discarded the "wyvern" name for the classes themselves, going with variations of "Dracoknight"; however, in dialogue, the species are still called wyverns, again to differentiate from the game's fairly important actual dragons. This remained the case for ''Shadow Dragon'', though the [[NoExportForYou Japan only]] remake of the sequel shows the dragon mounts are indeed named Wyverns. Then in ''Awakening'', it's back to Wyvern Rider and Wyvern Lord. The Switch port for ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' then renames it "Wyvern Knight".
** The Japanese version alone isn't much better. The base class is called Dragon Rider in most games, but the Jugdral games and ''Radiant Dawn'' call it Dragon Knight. The advanced class is called either Dragon Master or Dragon Lord depending on the game, which becomes really confusing when you consider the name of the third-tier advanced class from ''Radiant Dawn'': Dragonlord (Lindwurm in Japanese).
* IWorkAlone: Only in ''Awakening'', but Wyvern Riders gain the skill Tantivy, which grants the user +10 Hit and Evasion if there are no allies within 3 spaces of them.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: They can remove their weaknesses to bows by equipping specific shields if there is any. Averted, however, against anti-dragon weapons save for the Full Guard in ''Path of Radiance''.
* LightningBruiser: They are one of the strongest physical classes thanks to their high Strength, Skill, Defense, and movement range. This is particularly true in the NES/SNES Archanea duology (which lacked stat caps), as well as ''Three Houses'', where they have high Speed caps. Enemy factions would sporadically deploy them early-game to serve as BossInMookClothing, and then field even more of them in the late-game chapters. Most playable Wyvern Riders join mid-to-late game because of their powerhouse status.
magic attacks.
* MagicKnight:Malig Knights specialize Dread Fighters in both axes and tomes, ''Awakening'' use tomes in addition to their magic stats. It is one of the few classes that can reliably use the Bolt Axe.
* MightyGlacier: What the class is almost always in game with class specific caps. While in their earlier incarnations, they were basically stronger Pegasus Knights but without their MageKiller capabilities, starting with ''Genealogy Of the Holy War'' have settled for making them aerial tanks with high Attackswords and Defense but low Speed and Resistance, in order to make them more of a {{Foil}} to the [[FragileSpeedster Pegasus Knights]]. In ''Radiant Dawn'', Dragonlord's speed cap is even worse than Marshall. The only exception is in ''Three Houses'', where Wyvern Lords have the stats of a LightningBruiser
axes.
*MutuallyExclusivePowerups: In ''Shadow Dragon'' and ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', if your Pegasus Knight class changes into a Dracoknight with a Master Seal, she is unable to reclass into Falcoknight.
* MythologyGag: The Wyvern Knight class in ''[=FE8=]'' rides a mount identical to the [=DracoKnights=] of ''[=FE3=]'' and can be class changed from Pegasus Knights.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The appearance of the Dragon/Wyvern Mounts vary wildly across different universes. What varies most are whether they stand on two legs or four and if they have no arms like a wyvern or their arms are like a western dragon.
* OurGryphonsAreDifferent: The Griffon Riders that{{Ninja}}: They appear in ''Awakening''.
* TheParalyzer: Wyvern Lordsto have ninja-like aesthetics, and Dragonlords in the Tellius games has the Stun mastery skill, which prevent the enemy from moving for one turn.
even fight like them with TeleportSpam and {{Flash Step}}s.
*StatusInflictionAttack: Wyvern Riders in ''Three Houses'' learn Seal Defense, a skill that reduces the enemy's defense by 6 after combat, upon mastering the class.
* StatusBuff: Wyvern LordsReverseGrip: While in ''Fates'' gain Rally Defense, which gives a boost they wield swords and daggers like the Ninjas and Master Ninjas, they also wield ''axes'' and ''clubs'' in the same way.
* SwordAndFist: Dread Fighters in ''Shadows of Valentia'' have them incorporate kicks alongside their sword strikes against the enemy.
* WalkingArmory: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' use swords, axes, and knives, allowing them todefense to allies when commanded.
fully cover the weapon triangle (with knives sharing their spot with lances).
*WeakToMagic: In contrast to [[MageKiller Pegasus Knights]], Wyvern Riders tend to WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: They have a high Defense but the worst Resistance around, tied with Warriors. In some games, wyvern riders are also weak tendency to wind or thunder magic.
* WeaponSpecialization: Traditionally, lances and axes are the family's primary weapon.rest their weapons on their shoulders.
** Just like the other flying units, Wyvern classes are [[AntiAir weak
** In many games, Wyvern classes are specifically weak
* DeviousDaggers: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' uses knives instead of tomes to
** In some games, , Wyvern riding classes
* MageKiller: They are designed to take
** Wyvern riding classes always have a terrible resistance stat. In most games, Wyvern classes have the worst resistance stat around, outside of GlassCannon classes.
* AntiInfantry: The Malig Knight's Trample skill deals 5 bonus
* ArmorPiercingAttack: The Wyvern Knight's skill, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Pierce]], in ''The Sacred Stones''. Its usefulness is offset by being linked to [[GameBreakingBug a nasty glitch]] which locks up the game under certain (rare) circumstances which, oddly enough, only occurs in English copies of the game.
* BreathWeapon:
** Averted; most of the time the wyverns do not breathe fire. It becomes odd when fighting against feral wyverns in ''Mystery of the Emblem'' which breathe fire, implying that they lost their ability to breathe fire to domestication.
** Played straight with Malig Knights in ''Fates''. They learn Savage Blow, which was called Deathly Breath in the Japanese version, which implies that the undead wyvern is exhaling a poisonous gas.
** In ''Three Houses'' only certain, special wyverns (namely the white variety Claude uses for his unique classes) are shown to be able to breathe fire.
* CoolHelmet: Wyvern Lords and Malig Knights wear helmets that resemble dragons, while Griffon Riders wear helmets resembling a griffon.
* CoolMask: The Wyvern Riders in ''Awakening'' wear masks that resemble a dragon's jaws on the lower halves of their faces.
* CriticalStatusBuff: Wyvern Lord in ''Three Houses'' gain Defiant Critical, a skill that boosts critical hit rate by 50% while under 25% HP, upon mastering the class.
* DependingOnTheArtist: There's pretty much no consistency with the appearance of the dragon mounts between games; it's pretty much justified by the different universes.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The dragon-riding family slowly evolved
* {{Dracolich}}: Malig Knights ride on undead wyverns.
* DragonRider:
** You don't say. The Wyvern mount is almost never seen attacking directly, outside of ading momentum to their rider's attacks. That said many of the games with dismounting show Wyvern riding characters lose alot of strength
** Averted with the Griffon Rider in ''Awakening''.
* FragileSpeedster: The Wyvern Knight from ''Sacred Stones'', being accessible from both the pegasus and wyvern lines, takes after pegasi in the speed department while also having the Constitution of a wyvern to be lightning fast all-around - to compensate, however, it has less HP and also inherits the weaker defense and resistance of both, and being locked to lances means it always has to remain cautious around the hard-hitting axe users that most classes would normally shrug off by the point in the game you get your first Wyvern Knight.
* GatheringSteam: Inverted for the Wyvern Lord in ''Awakening'', as they get the skill Quick Burn, which gives them 15 hit and avoid at the start of the battle but loses effect for each turn.
* GeoEffects: A class-limited aversion; flyers completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties, because after all, they can fly. They still get healed by forts and thrones, though.
* GiantFlyer: In the SNES, GBA games and ''Radiant Dawn'' in particular, they're downright enormous.
* HeelFaceTurn: Typically, the dragon mount species is associated with an/the enemy kingdom (Macedon, Thracia, Bern, Grado, Daein, Nohr) and dragon riders are a mainstay of the respective army, and so almost every allied Dragon Rider is recruited from the enemy. The only exceptions to this in the series are in the Archanea games and ''The Sacred Stones'', where your Pegasus Knights can class change into them, and ''Awakening'', where the "recruited" dragon rider is from a different nation than the "enemy" dragon riders earlier in the game. In cases like Macedon and Begnion where they have both pegasus and wyvern armies, there is a notable infighting between the two and the wyvern side would be the more hostile one. ''Three Houses'' also subverts the antagonistic role, as Wyvern Riders are rare among the Imperial ranks and "those who slither in the dark", though the one nation that specializes in wyverns is Almyra, a nation neighboring Fodlan with minimal involvement in the conflict (though it does have a history of [[BloodKnight picking fights with Fódlan for fun]]) and was the home of Cyril and [[spoiler:Claude]].
* HitAndRunTactics: Like Pegasus Knights, they can move again to a safe distance in the Jugdral and Tellius games. In the GBA games, it is limited to non-attacking commands.
* InconsistentSpelling:
** There is one hell of a naming inconsistency
** ''Fates'' has Iron Will-which causes them to receive 4 less damage from magic attacks when attacked, and Even Keel-where the user receive 4 less damage from magic attacks during even-numbered turns.
** ''Shadows of Valentia'' provides the class
** The Japanese version alone isn't much better. The base class is called Dragon Rider in most games, but the Jugdral games and ''Radiant Dawn'' call it Dragon Knight. The advanced class is called either Dragon Master or Dragon Lord depending on the game, which becomes really confusing when you consider the name of the third-tier advanced class from ''Radiant Dawn'': Dragonlord (Lindwurm in Japanese).
* IWorkAlone: Only in ''Awakening'', but Wyvern Riders gain the skill Tantivy, which grants the user +10 Hit and Evasion if there are no allies within 3 spaces of them.
* KryptoniteProofSuit: They can remove their weaknesses to bows by equipping specific shields if there is any. Averted, however, against anti-dragon weapons save for the Full Guard in ''Path of Radiance''.
* LightningBruiser: They are one of the strongest physical classes thanks to their high Strength, Skill, Defense, and movement range. This is particularly true in the NES/SNES Archanea duology (which lacked stat caps), as well as ''Three Houses'', where they have high Speed caps. Enemy factions would sporadically deploy them early-game to serve as BossInMookClothing, and then field even more of them in the late-game chapters. Most playable Wyvern Riders join mid-to-late game because of their powerhouse status.
* MagicKnight:
* MightyGlacier: What the class is almost always in game with class specific caps. While in their earlier incarnations, they were basically stronger Pegasus Knights but without their MageKiller capabilities, starting with ''Genealogy Of the Holy War'' have settled for making them aerial tanks with high Attack
*
* MythologyGag: The Wyvern Knight class in ''[=FE8=]'' rides a mount identical to the [=DracoKnights=] of ''[=FE3=]'' and can be class changed from Pegasus Knights.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The appearance of the Dragon/Wyvern Mounts vary wildly across different universes. What varies most are whether they stand on two legs or four and if they have no arms like a wyvern or their arms are like a western dragon.
* OurGryphonsAreDifferent: The Griffon Riders that
* TheParalyzer: Wyvern Lords
*
* StatusBuff: Wyvern Lords
* SwordAndFist: Dread Fighters in ''Shadows of Valentia'' have them incorporate kicks alongside their sword strikes against the enemy.
* WalkingArmory: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' use swords, axes, and knives, allowing them to
*
* WeaponSpecialization: Traditionally, lances and axes are the family's primary weapon.
Changed line(s) 884,897 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Dancer]]
!!Dancer and variants
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/998g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dancers in ''Three Houses'']]
The Dancer is a recurring [[UtilityPartyMember utility]] and [[SupportPartyMember support]] class that puts on a magical performances to [[ExtraTurn allow adjacent units which have already moved in a turn to move again]]. The most common iteration is a female dancer, hence the name, with variants including Bards (males that play musical instruments) from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'', the Heron laguz (BirdPeople of either gender that can sing MagicMusic called galdrar) in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'', and the Songstress (a female singer) in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. Outside of their unique ability to provide {{Extra Turn}}s, Dancers are notable for being one of the few classes exclusive to the player in most games they appear in.\\\
The Dancer and its variants tend to either be completely unarmed or are lacking in combat prowess due to their focus on being support, though when they can fight, they almost always use swords. As far as stats go, [[FragileSpeedster they tend to be on the frailer side, but make up for it with high Speed and Luck stats to help them dodge attacks]].\\\
If a game has multiple Dancers, only one of these characters will usable at any given time for balance reasons. This is because having two of them on one map would allow them to continuously grind for experience and potentially reach anywhere on the map in a single turn by being able to indefinitely dance for each other.\\\
The Bard class mentioned here is not to be confused with the Bard from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'', which is a magic-wielding class exclusive to Lewyn and Homer in their respective games. Dancers exist in their normal function in those games, though.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Phina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Sylvia and Lene/Laylea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Lara[[note]]She starts as a Thief and only becomes a Dancer by activating a special event.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Elphin and Lalum (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Nils and Ninian (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Tethys (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Reyson, Rafiel, and Leanne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''[[note]]Reyson only[[/note]] and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Olivia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Azura (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Dorothea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Seadall (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Dancer and variants
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/998g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dancers in ''Three Houses'']]
The Dancer is a recurring [[UtilityPartyMember utility]] and [[SupportPartyMember support]] class that puts on a magical performances to [[ExtraTurn allow adjacent units which have already moved in a turn to move again]]. The most common iteration is a female dancer, hence the name, with variants including Bards (males that play musical instruments) from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'', the Heron laguz (BirdPeople of either gender that can sing MagicMusic called galdrar) in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'', and the Songstress (a female singer) in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. Outside of their unique ability to provide {{Extra Turn}}s, Dancers are notable for being one of the few classes exclusive to the player in most games they appear in.\\\
The Dancer and its variants tend to either be completely unarmed or are lacking in combat prowess due to their focus on being support, though when they can fight, they almost always use swords. As far as stats go, [[FragileSpeedster they tend to be on the frailer side, but make up for it with high Speed and Luck stats to help them dodge attacks]].\\\
If a game has multiple Dancers, only one of these characters will usable at any given time for balance reasons. This is because having two of them on one map would allow them to continuously grind for experience and potentially reach anywhere on the map in a single turn by being able to indefinitely dance for each other.\\\
The Bard class mentioned here is not to be confused with the Bard from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'', which is a magic-wielding class exclusive to Lewyn and Homer in their respective games. Dancers exist in their normal function in those games, though.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Phina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Sylvia and Lene/Laylea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Lara[[note]]She starts as a Thief and only becomes a Dancer by activating a special event.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Elphin and Lalum (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Nils and Ninian (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Tethys (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Reyson, Rafiel, and Leanne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''[[note]]Reyson only[[/note]] and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Olivia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Azura (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Dorothea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Seadall (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Dancer
!!Tactician and
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/998g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Dancers in ''Three Houses'']]
The
The
The Bard class mentioned here is not
->'''Playable characters of this class family:'''
Changed line(s) 899,916 (click to see context) from:
* AlwaysFemale: The default Dancer class has almost always been female-only. ''Three Houses'' is the first game in the series where the Dancer is available to both males and females. Averted in ''Engage'' where Seadall, the game's dancer, is a man.
* DanceBattler: In the Jugdral and Archanea games and ''Awakening'', in which they also wield swords... just not very well. The ''Fates'' version, the Songstress, wields lances/naginata instead. The ''Engage'' version uses body arts instead.
* ExtraTurn: Their abilities grant units that have already acted during their phase a second action in the same phase.
* FragileSpeedster: Dancers are characterized as fast and dodgy with their best stats being speed and luck. However, because of their nature as support units, their terrible durability, and, in some games, inability to fight, they must be protected and should not be in the front line.
* MagicDance: Averted; the ability of Dancers to grant other units an extra turn is mundane, although it functions like magic. The only exception is Ninian.
* MagicKnight: Dancers in ''Three Houses'' use swords and magic.
* MagicMusic: Nils, the Heron Laguz, and Azura can all play MagicMusic. Although Elphin plays music as well, he's more like other dancers in that he has no magical ability.
* MsFanservice: Dancers tend to be this to some extent, thanks to their minimal clothing and sultry dances. The only one who doesn't solidly fit this description is Ninian and [[MrFanservice Seadall]].
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: If there is more than one Dancer in a single game, circumstances will conspire to ensure that they can never be in the party at the same time. The sole exception, ''Fire Emblem Heroes'', has an ObviousRulePatch to have them unable to refresh each other if the other unit has Dance or Sing equipped. Subverted in ''Three Houses'' where they can be refreshed with a Dancer Battalion, but it only works once per map, and in ''Engage'', where they can be refreshed with Emblem Byleth's Goddess Dance and Emblem Veronica's Contract, but the former only works once per engage and the latter, beside being unable to move for the duration of the extra action, has the Dance option disabled for that action's duration.
* QuirkyBard: Actually not ''that'' spoony. It's true that they have (depending on the game) little or no means to defend themselves and low-to-average defense/HP, but a well-trained character of this class can have ''massive'' Speed and Luck, thus they will dodge a good part of the attacks thrown at them. (Additionally, Tethys has good HP growths.)
* SpearCounterpart: In ''Binding Blade'' and ''Blazing Blade'', you get the Bard class, which are male dancers with the same ability to "sing" which refreshes an ally like Dancers. Though the Bard class exists in the Jugdral games, there are just glorified version of Mages.
* StatusBuff:
** In ''Blazing Blade'', there are special rings that can raises a unit's stat by 10 for a single turn. Filla's Might increases attack, Ninis's Grace increases defensive stats, Thor's Ire increases critical, and Set's Litany increases avoid.
** In ''Radiant Dawn'', Herons has five different galdrar which are gain through level ups. Vigor functions like dancing (which they start by default but its effect differs for each Heron), Bliss raises the unit's biorhythm to its highest while Sorrow lowers enemy's biorhythm to its worst, Valor instantly raise Laguz's transformation gauge to its maximum, and Recovery instantly restores HP and remove conditions.
** ''Awakening'' onwards has a skill called Special Dance, though in ''Fates'', it is called Inspiring Song. In ''Awakening'', Special Dance increases +2 to Strength/Magic/Defense/Resistance while ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses'' increases +3/+4 to Skill/Speed/Luck. Unlike the earlier examples, the stat buffs stack with giving other units ExtraTurn instead of being mutually exclusive.
* SultryBellyDancer: Dancers tend to dress in fanservice-y belly dancer outfits that leave little to the imagination regarding their figures.
* SupportPartyMember: Dancer variants from the GBA and Tellius games can't attack enemies at all, and rely solely on their refreshing abilities. And even in the games where they are capable of fighting, their refreshing ability is so valuable that they'll rarely see combat.
* WanderingMinstrel: Most of them come across as this initially.
* DanceBattler: In the Jugdral and Archanea games and ''Awakening'', in which they also wield swords... just not very well. The ''Fates'' version, the Songstress, wields lances/naginata instead. The ''Engage'' version uses body arts instead.
* ExtraTurn: Their abilities grant units that have already acted during their phase a second action in the same phase.
* FragileSpeedster: Dancers are characterized as fast and dodgy with their best stats being speed and luck. However, because of their nature as support units, their terrible durability, and, in some games, inability to fight, they must be protected and should not be in the front line.
* MagicDance: Averted; the ability of Dancers to grant other units an extra turn is mundane, although it functions like magic. The only exception is Ninian.
* MagicKnight: Dancers in ''Three Houses'' use swords and magic.
* MagicMusic: Nils, the Heron Laguz, and Azura can all play MagicMusic. Although Elphin plays music as well, he's more like other dancers in that he has no magical ability.
* MsFanservice: Dancers tend to be this to some extent, thanks to their minimal clothing and sultry dances. The only one who doesn't solidly fit this description is Ninian and [[MrFanservice Seadall]].
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: If there is more than one Dancer in a single game, circumstances will conspire to ensure that they can never be in the party at the same time. The sole exception, ''Fire Emblem Heroes'', has an ObviousRulePatch to have them unable to refresh each other if the other unit has Dance or Sing equipped. Subverted in ''Three Houses'' where they can be refreshed with a Dancer Battalion, but it only works once per map, and in ''Engage'', where they can be refreshed with Emblem Byleth's Goddess Dance and Emblem Veronica's Contract, but the former only works once per engage and the latter, beside being unable to move for the duration of the extra action, has the Dance option disabled for that action's duration.
* QuirkyBard: Actually not ''that'' spoony. It's true that they have (depending on the game) little or no means to defend themselves and low-to-average defense/HP, but a well-trained character of this class can have ''massive'' Speed and Luck, thus they will dodge a good part of the attacks thrown at them. (Additionally, Tethys has good HP growths.)
* SpearCounterpart: In ''Binding Blade'' and ''Blazing Blade'', you get the Bard class, which are male dancers with the same ability to "sing" which refreshes an ally like Dancers. Though the Bard class exists in the Jugdral games, there are just glorified version of Mages.
* StatusBuff:
** In ''Blazing Blade'', there are special rings that can raises a unit's stat by 10 for a single turn. Filla's Might increases attack, Ninis's Grace increases defensive stats, Thor's Ire increases critical, and Set's Litany increases avoid.
** In ''Radiant Dawn'', Herons has five different galdrar which are gain through level ups. Vigor functions like dancing (which they start by default but its effect differs for each Heron), Bliss raises the unit's biorhythm to its highest while Sorrow lowers enemy's biorhythm to its worst, Valor instantly raise Laguz's transformation gauge to its maximum, and Recovery instantly restores HP and remove conditions.
** ''Awakening'' onwards has a skill called Special Dance, though in ''Fates'', it is called Inspiring Song. In ''Awakening'', Special Dance increases +2 to Strength/Magic/Defense/Resistance while ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses'' increases +3/+4 to Skill/Speed/Luck. Unlike the earlier examples, the stat buffs stack with giving other units ExtraTurn instead of being mutually exclusive.
* SultryBellyDancer: Dancers tend to dress in fanservice-y belly dancer outfits that leave little to the imagination regarding their figures.
* SupportPartyMember: Dancer variants from the GBA and Tellius games can't attack enemies at all, and rely solely on their refreshing abilities. And even in the games where they are capable of fighting, their refreshing ability is so valuable that they'll rarely see combat.
* WanderingMinstrel: Most of them come across as this initially.
to:
* AlwaysFemale: The default Dancer class has almost always been female-only. ''Three Houses'' is the first game in the series where the Dancer is available to both males and females. Averted in ''Engage'' where Seadall, the game's dancer, AlwaysMale: In ''Fates'', Grandmaster is a man.
male-only class.
*DanceBattler: In the Jugdral JackOfAllStats: Somewhere between this and Archanea games and MasterOfAll in ''Awakening'', in which they also wield swords... just not very well. The ''Fates'' version, the Songstress, wields lances/naginata instead. The ''Engage'' version uses body arts instead.
* ExtraTurn: Their abilities grant units that have already acted duringwhere their phase a second action stats are generally high in all areas but not necessarily the same phase.
* FragileSpeedster: Dancers are characterized as fast and dodgy withbest possible. They're straighter examples in their best stats being speed and luck. However, because of their nature as support units, their terrible durability, and, in some games, inability to fight, they must be protected and should not be in subsequent appearances [[ProtagonistPowerUpPrivileges where the front line.
* MagicDance: Averted;class is no longer attached to the ability of Dancers to grant other units an extra turn is mundane, although it functions like magic. The only exception is Ninian.
main character]].
* MagicKnight:Dancers in ''Three Houses'' They use both swords and magic.
* MagicMusic: Nils, the Heron Laguz,tomes and Azura can all play MagicMusic. Although Elphin plays music as well, he's more like other dancers in that he has no magical ability.
* MsFanservice: Dancers tend to be this to some extent, thanks to their minimal clothing and sultry dances. The only one who doesn't solidly fit this description is Ninian and [[MrFanservice Seadall]].
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: If there is more than one Dancer in a single game, circumstances will conspire to ensure that they can never be in the party at the same time. The sole exception, ''Fire Emblem Heroes'', has an ObviousRulePatch tohave them unable to refresh each other if the other unit has Dance or Sing equipped. Subverted in ''Three Houses'' where they can be refreshed with a Dancer Battalion, but it only works once per map, and in ''Engage'', where they can be refreshed with Emblem Byleth's Goddess Dance and Emblem Veronica's Contract, but the former only works once per engage and the latter, beside being unable to move for the duration of the extra action, has the Dance option disabled for that action's duration.
* QuirkyBard: Actually not ''that'' spoony. It's true that they have (depending on the game) little or no means to defend themselves and low-to-average defense/HP, but a well-trained character of this class can have ''massive'' Speed and Luck, thus they will dodge agood part of the attacks thrown at them. (Additionally, Tethys has good HP growths.)
* SpearCounterpart: In ''Binding Blade''Strength and ''Blazing Blade'', you get the Bard class, which are male dancers with the same ability to "sing" which refreshes an ally like Dancers. Though the Bard class exists in the Jugdral games, there are just glorified version of Mages.
* StatusBuff:
**Magic. In ''Blazing Blade'', there are special rings that can raises a unit's stat by 10 for a single turn. Filla's Might increases attack, Ninis's Grace increases defensive stats, Thor's Ire increases critical, and Set's Litany increases avoid.
** In ''Radiant Dawn'', Herons has five different galdrar which are gain through level ups. Vigor functions like dancing (which they start by default but its effect differs for each Heron), Bliss raises the unit's biorhythm to its highest while Sorrow lowers enemy's biorhythm to its worst, Valor instantly raise Laguz's transformation gauge to its maximum, and Recovery instantly restores HP and remove conditions.
**''Awakening'' onwards has a skill called Special Dance, though in ''Fates'', it is called Inspiring Song. In ''Awakening'', Special Dance increases +2 to Strength/Magic/Defense/Resistance they are equally proficient with Swords and Tomes (both top at "A"), while the ''Fates'' Grandmaster and ''Three Houses'' increases +3/+4 to Skill/Speed/Luck. Unlike ''Engage'' Vidame lean more on the earlier examples, the stat buffs stack Magic side with giving a higher max Tome rank (Swords go to "B" while Tomes go to "A").
* RedMage: As a Vidame, Céline can use staves in addition to swords and tomes.
* SpellBlade: In all of its appearances, the class line is capable of learning [[PlayingWithFire Ignis]], a skill that uses half of their Strength or Magic to boost the otherunits ExtraTurn instead of being mutually exclusive.
stat when they attack, depending on whether they're using a physical or magical attack.
*SultryBellyDancer: Dancers tend StatusBuff: Their "Rally Spectrum" Skill gives a one-turn boost to dress in fanservice-y belly dancer outfits that leave little to the imagination regarding their figures.
all stats for every ally within 3 (''Awakening'') or 4 (''Fates'') spaces.
* SupportPartyMember:Dancer variants from They get a number of Skills to buff or otherwise assist allies. "Solidarity" increases Crit rate and Dodge by 10 for adjacent allies, "Tactical Advice" provides a Hit rate bonus for the GBA lead unit of an Attack Stance, and Tellius games can't attack enemies at all, and rely solely on their refreshing abilities. And even in the games where they are capable of fighting, their refreshing ability is so valuable that they'll rarely see combat.
* WanderingMinstrel: Most of them come across as this initially."Rally Spectrum" provides a one-turn StatusBuff to all allies within 3/4 spaces.
*
* ExtraTurn: Their abilities grant units that have already acted during
* FragileSpeedster: Dancers are characterized as fast and dodgy with
* MagicDance: Averted;
* MagicKnight:
* MagicMusic: Nils, the Heron Laguz,
* MsFanservice: Dancers tend to be this to some extent, thanks to their minimal clothing and sultry dances. The only one who doesn't solidly fit this description is Ninian and [[MrFanservice Seadall]].
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: If there is more than one Dancer in a single game, circumstances will conspire to ensure that they can never be in the party at the same time. The sole exception, ''Fire Emblem Heroes'', has an ObviousRulePatch to
* QuirkyBard: Actually not ''that'' spoony. It's true that they have (depending on the game) little or no means to defend themselves and low-to-average defense/HP, but a well-trained character of this class can have ''massive'' Speed and Luck, thus they will dodge a
* SpearCounterpart: In ''Binding Blade''
* StatusBuff:
**
** In ''Radiant Dawn'', Herons has five different galdrar which are gain through level ups. Vigor functions like dancing (which they start by default but its effect differs for each Heron), Bliss raises the unit's biorhythm to its highest while Sorrow lowers enemy's biorhythm to its worst, Valor instantly raise Laguz's transformation gauge to its maximum, and Recovery instantly restores HP and remove conditions.
**
* RedMage: As a Vidame, Céline can use staves in addition to swords and tomes.
* SpellBlade: In all of its appearances, the class line is capable of learning [[PlayingWithFire Ignis]], a skill that uses half of their Strength or Magic to boost the other
*
* SupportPartyMember:
* WanderingMinstrel: Most of them come across as this initially.
Changed line(s) 919,938 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Thief]]
!!Thief
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/743g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Thieves in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/836g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Assassins in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/78001.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Tricksters in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ninja.png]]
[[caption-width-right:255:Ninja in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elite_ninja.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Master Ninja in ''Fates'']]
A class specializing in stealing things. Generally not too impressive in combat, [[UtilityPartyMember they are designed to be used for their utility]]; Thieves can unlock chests and doors with lockpicks (or sometimes a Skill) instead of keys and occasionally have the ability to steal items right off of enemy units. If they do get caught in a fight, they'll defend themselves with swords or occasionally knives[[note]]Many games depict them wielding knives in the combat animations despite having a sword equipped, though this is purely aesthetic.[[/note]].\\\
The Thief's options for Class Changing have varied over the course of the series. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'' they Class Change into the '''Thief Fighter''' (though Lara can optionally Class Change into Dancer in ''Thracia 776''), which upgrades their combat prowess. Many games from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'' onward allow them to become the '''Assassin''', turning them into a powerful offensive class that has a chance to OneHitKill enemies with the Lethality skill often at the cost of becoming unable to steal from enemies. ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' alternatively have the '''Rogue''', which bumps up their combat ability slightly without losing the capability to steal. In ''Radiant Dawn'' they can Class Change once again into the third-tier '''Whisper''' class that once again boosts their combat prowess, while Assassins are treated as a separate third-tier class exclusive to one character. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' they gain the alternate Class Change option of '''Trickster''', which gives them the ability to use staves. The Trickster class makes a return in ''Three Houses'' as part of the Wave 4 DLC, which allows them to use some Reason and Faith magic.\\\
''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' split and retooled the Thief into counterparts of the Archer and Cavalier classes. The Archer counterpart, found in Nohr, is referred to as the '''Outlaw''' and uses bows instead of swords. They can Class Change into '''Bow Knight''' and '''Adventurer''', with the former gaining a mount and the ability to use swords and the latter gaining the ability to use staves. The Cavalier counterpart is called '''Ninja''' as a result of Hoshido having a strong oriental theme: Ninjas play more like the classic Thieves with the ability to use knives/shuriken similar to their Tellius incarnations. They can class change into '''Master Ninjas''' (''Fates''[='=] Assassin) and '''Mechanist''', which gains bows and a mount.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Julian, Rickard (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Dew, Patty/Daisy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Lifis, Lara, Perne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Chad, Astol, Cath (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Matthew, Legault, Jaffar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Colm, Rennac (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Volke, Sothe (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Heather (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Anna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Gaius, Gangrel, Leif (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Kaze, Saizo, Kagero, Niles, Shura, Asugi, Nina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Petra, Yuri (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Yunaka, Zelkov (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Thief
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/743g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Thieves in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/836g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Assassins in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/78001.PNG]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Tricksters in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ninja.png]]
[[caption-width-right:255:Ninja in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elite_ninja.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Master Ninja in ''Fates'']]
A class specializing in stealing things. Generally not too impressive in combat, [[UtilityPartyMember they are designed to be used for their utility]]; Thieves can unlock chests and doors with lockpicks (or sometimes a Skill) instead of keys and occasionally have the ability to steal items right off of enemy units. If they do get caught in a fight, they'll defend themselves with swords or occasionally knives[[note]]Many games depict them wielding knives in the combat animations despite having a sword equipped, though this is purely aesthetic.[[/note]].\\\
The Thief's options for Class Changing have varied over the course of the series. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]'' they Class Change into the '''Thief Fighter''' (though Lara can optionally Class Change into Dancer in ''Thracia 776''), which upgrades their combat prowess. Many games from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'' onward allow them to become the '''Assassin''', turning them into a powerful offensive class that has a chance to OneHitKill enemies with the Lethality skill often at the cost of becoming unable to steal from enemies. ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' alternatively have the '''Rogue''', which bumps up their combat ability slightly without losing the capability to steal. In ''Radiant Dawn'' they can Class Change once again into the third-tier '''Whisper''' class that once again boosts their combat prowess, while Assassins are treated as a separate third-tier class exclusive to one character. In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' they gain the alternate Class Change option of '''Trickster''', which gives them the ability to use staves. The Trickster class makes a return in ''Three Houses'' as part of the Wave 4 DLC, which allows them to use some Reason and Faith magic.\\\
''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' split and retooled the Thief into counterparts of the Archer and Cavalier classes. The Archer counterpart, found in Nohr, is referred to as the '''Outlaw''' and uses bows instead of swords. They can Class Change into '''Bow Knight''' and '''Adventurer''', with the former gaining a mount and the ability to use swords and the latter gaining the ability to use staves. The Cavalier counterpart is called '''Ninja''' as a result of Hoshido having a strong oriental theme: Ninjas play more like the classic Thieves with the ability to use knives/shuriken similar to their Tellius incarnations. They can class change into '''Master Ninjas''' (''Fates''[='=] Assassin) and '''Mechanist''', which gains bows and a mount.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Julian, Rickard (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Dew, Patty/Daisy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Lifis, Lara, Perne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Chad, Astol, Cath (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Matthew, Legault, Jaffar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Colm, Rennac (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Volke, Sothe (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Heather (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Anna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Gaius, Gangrel, Leif (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Kaze, Saizo, Kagero, Niles, Shura, Asugi, Nina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Petra, Yuri (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Yunaka, Zelkov (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Thief
!!Brawler
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.
[[caption-width-right:350:Tricksters in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ninja.
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elite_ninja.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Master Ninja in ''Fates'']]
A new class
''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' split and retooled the Thief into counterparts of the Archer and Cavalier classes. The Archer counterpart, found in Nohr, is referred to as the '''Outlaw''' and uses bows instead of swords. They can Class Change into '''Bow Knight''' and '''Adventurer''', with the former gaining a mount and the ability to use swords and the latter gaining the ability to use staves. The Cavalier counterpart is called '''Ninja''' as a result of Hoshido having a strong oriental theme: Ninjas play more like the classic Thieves with the ability to use knives/shuriken similar to their Tellius incarnations. They can class change into '''Master Ninjas''' (''Fates''[='=] Assassin) and '''Mechanist''', which gains bows and a mount.\\\
Changed line(s) 940,982 (click to see context) from:
* AchillesHeel:
** As a "criminal" class, thieves suffer effective damage when hit by the Ladyblade in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. This effect never appears again, note even in the remake of ''Mystery of the Emblem''.
** In ''The Sacred Stones'', Thieves, Rogues and Assassins all take effective damage from the Swordslayer axe.
* AllSwordsAreTheSame: A particularly amusing exaggeration: in the Archanea[[note]]NES version[[/note]], Jugdral[[note]]in the map animations[[/note]], and GBA games, all swords look like ''knives'' when used by members of the Thief class family!
* AnimalMotifs: Assassins in ''Three Houses'' wear [[ScaryScorpions scorpion-themed]] outfits reflecting their stealth and efficiency as surprise killers.
* ArmCannon: Not in the conventional sense, but to go along with launching magic with {{Finger Gun}}s, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' have their critical animation use their right arm ending in a fist as one to fire off magic as well.
* BanditMook: When they're enemies. Usually they target treasure chests, though in some games they can destroy villages which give out items and money, which is a role sometimes shared with Brigands/Pirates/Barbarians.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: ''Awakening''[='=]s Assassins has three blades attached on each arm. Ninjas have one on every wrist, and Master Ninjas attach them all over their arms; from shoulder to wrist.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: Assassins in ''Awakening'' and Bow Knights in ''Fates''. Thieves in ''Three Houses'' also wield bows and swords.
* CombatMedic: Tricksters and Adventurers gain the use of staves with swords and bows respectively.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: In ''Fates'', all knives and shurikens have the added effect of lowering the target's defensive stats.
* DeepCoverAgent: The thieves which are not [[GentlemanThief Gentleman Thieves]] or {{Classy Cat Burglar}}s tend to be working for some noble family.
* DefogOfWar: With the exception of ''Thracia 776'' ([[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the first game to introduce fog of war, mind you]]), ''Path of Radiance'', the DS remakes, and ''Three Houses'', thieves have really high vision in fog of war, making them good asset to bring them in. Combine it with the Torch item, they'll likely uncover most of the map.
* DeviousDaggers: Almost every one of their appearances draws their swords as knives for some reason; they didn't become full-fledged knife-wielders until Tellius, when knives became a weapon type. Master Ninja in ''Fates'' gain Shurikenfaire, which boost their damage output for wielding shuriken/daggers. ''Heroes'' has a tendency to change sword-wielding Thieves and Assassins to using daggers.
* ExperienceBooster: Interestingly, they're on the giving ''and'' receiving end of this trope in some games, where they receive extra experience from combat due to being considered a "low-power" class (on the same level as [[TheGoomba Soldiers]] and [[SupportPartyMember Clerics]], for example), but to compensate for the player, enemy Thieves have a flat bonus to experience given - which typically results in them actually giving out ''more'' experience than other enemies. Also, whenever Lethality is activated in the GBA games, you gain double the amount of experience.
* FingerGun: For some inexplicable reason, Tricksters do this in ''Three Houses'' for some of their magic casting (as far as anyone can tell you firearms have yet to see the light of day in the franchise)[[note]]Ship cannons are seen on the Almyran ships in the Derdriu map in ''Three Houses'', but are never seen being used at all, hinting that there are firearms outside of Fódlan, and while there are usable cannons in ''Engage'', the ones wielded by Mage Cannoneers are more magical in nature and the statonary ones that launches fire are more likely propelled by fire itself and not gunpowder[[/note]]. Heck, even their critical animation fires off spells as if they have an ArmCannon.
* FlashStep: Assassins and Ninjas are practitioners of this art.
* FragileSpeedster: Thieves have horribly lackluster defenses, but make up for it with their immense Speed, allowing them to dodge practically everything not backed by a weapon triangle or terrain advantage.
** In addition, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn ''Duelist's Blow'' upon mastering the class. Duelist's Blow raise evasion by 20 when attacking.
* GentlemanThief: Most allied thieves tend toward this (except for Heather, who's more of a ClassyCatBurglar); the only real exception is [[{{Jerkass}} Lifis]].
* HPToOne: Bane, the mastery skill of Whispers.
* KleptomaniacHero: When allied.
* InstakillMook: Averted. Throughout the series, the developers went out of their way to make sure enemy Assassins ''never'' have Lethality. In ''Blazing Blade'', the only Assassin boss has magic swords that prevent him from dealing critical hits and, in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', generic Assassins are programmed to never randomly generate the Lethality skill, no matter how the RNG rolls. This is because having an enemy that could randomly kill your units in [[{{Permadeath}} Classic]] mode is completely unfair. The only time enemy Assassins have Lethality is [[spoiler:one paralogue in ''Awakening'' but because the enemy is copied from your party, you can control whether the enemy has Lethality or not. In turn, Jaffar having it in Rogues & Redeemers is for the challenge]].
* LuckySeven: The Trickster in ''Awakening'' and Adventurer in ''Fates'' get the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Lucky Seven]] skill at Level 5. The skill gives them +20 Hit and Avoid for the first 7 turns. In ''Three Houses'', Lucky Seven became the Trickster's class skill and it functions differently. It increases one of seven stats by 5: Strength, Magic, Speed, Defense, Resistance, or Hit and Avoid, at the start of the unit's turn.
* MageKiller: Ninja in ''Fates'' have high Resistance to complement the modified weapon triangle, in which knives/shuriken are effective against tomes, making them even more effective than Sky Knights in this role.
* MagicKnight: Tricksters can use magic staves in ''Awakening'', allowing them to function as a CombatMedic of sorts. In ''Three Houses'', they can use a slew of Faith and Reason magic spells, making them more akin to a RedMage.
* MagikarpPower: You'd be mad to put a thief in the thick of combat. Then they become Assassins. Shit starts dying en masse. Averted in ''Fates''. Ninja are fast and extremely useful debuffers throughout the game, while Outlaws are the only unpromoted Nohrian unit type that can use bows.
* MasterOfUnlocking: Locktouch, their innate skill, allows them to unlock doors and chests without the use of keys. In ''Path of Radiance'' and onward, there are no Lockpicks and they can instead open doors and chests as a passive ability.
* {{Ninja}}: The Ninja/Master Ninja class in ''Fates''.
* OneHitKill: Lethality, the mastery skill of Assassins and Master Ninja, and also Assassinate, the mastery Combat Art of Assassins in ''Three Houses''. However, its activation rate is lower compared to other skills.[[note]]Half the CriticalHit rate in ''Blazing Blade'', ''Sacred Stones'', and ''Path of Radiance''; Skill divided by 2 in ''Radiant Dawn''; Skill divided by 4 in ''Awakening'', ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses''.[[/note]]
** Noteworthy is that enemy Assassins or Master Ninja will never have Lethality, [[spoiler:with exception of four maps in ''Awakening'']] and in ''Blazing Blade'', an Assassin boss always carries a magic sword which can never deal critical hits. This is so that these enemies doesn't kill your unit in one hit in a game with permadeath.
* PhantomThief: Trickster in ''Awakening'' is literally described as a glamorous phantom thief.
* PoisonedWeapons:
** The Poison Strike skill learned by the Ninja class inflicts damage equal to 20% of the enemy's maximum HP after every combat should the skill's wielder survive, regardless if the attack hits or not.
** In ''Three Houses'', Assassins in Maddening Mode will have the Poison skill, which may let them inflict poison to your units.
* ReverseGrip: They typically wield their bladed weapons like this, from daggers to swords.
* SecretArt: [[OneHitKill Lethality]].
* StatusBuff: In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Bow Knights gain Rally Skill.
* SwapTeleportation: Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn the Foul Play combat art upon mastering the class. Foul Play allow the Trickster to swap positions with an ally within 1 to 5 range. This combat art is exclusive to Tricksters.
* ThiefBag: The Thief and Rogue sprites in the GBA games are depicted carrying sacks.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. Assassins in the GBA games and the Tellius games are exclusively a player-only class, because having an enemy class that can one-shot your units can be very unfair. Averted with ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' as Assassins are used but will never generate Lethality (or Assassinate in ''Three Houses'').
* VideoGameStealing: Depends on the game, but they can typically steal either gear or gold from enemies. But in all of the games, they have the ability to open chests and steal their contents.
* WeakButSkilled: They usually have very low Strength which makes them not great for combat, but they typically have very high Skill which, coupled with their equally high Speed, can make them quite deadly if properly trained.
** As a "criminal" class, thieves suffer effective damage when hit by the Ladyblade in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. This effect never appears again, note even in the remake of ''Mystery of the Emblem''.
** In ''The Sacred Stones'', Thieves, Rogues and Assassins all take effective damage from the Swordslayer axe.
* AllSwordsAreTheSame: A particularly amusing exaggeration: in the Archanea[[note]]NES version[[/note]], Jugdral[[note]]in the map animations[[/note]], and GBA games, all swords look like ''knives'' when used by members of the Thief class family!
* AnimalMotifs: Assassins in ''Three Houses'' wear [[ScaryScorpions scorpion-themed]] outfits reflecting their stealth and efficiency as surprise killers.
* ArmCannon: Not in the conventional sense, but to go along with launching magic with {{Finger Gun}}s, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' have their critical animation use their right arm ending in a fist as one to fire off magic as well.
* BanditMook: When they're enemies. Usually they target treasure chests, though in some games they can destroy villages which give out items and money, which is a role sometimes shared with Brigands/Pirates/Barbarians.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: ''Awakening''[='=]s Assassins has three blades attached on each arm. Ninjas have one on every wrist, and Master Ninjas attach them all over their arms; from shoulder to wrist.
* BowAndSwordInAccord: Assassins in ''Awakening'' and Bow Knights in ''Fates''. Thieves in ''Three Houses'' also wield bows and swords.
* CombatMedic: Tricksters and Adventurers gain the use of staves with swords and bows respectively.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: In ''Fates'', all knives and shurikens have the added effect of lowering the target's defensive stats.
* DeepCoverAgent: The thieves which are not [[GentlemanThief Gentleman Thieves]] or {{Classy Cat Burglar}}s tend to be working for some noble family.
* DefogOfWar: With the exception of ''Thracia 776'' ([[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the first game to introduce fog of war, mind you]]), ''Path of Radiance'', the DS remakes, and ''Three Houses'', thieves have really high vision in fog of war, making them good asset to bring them in. Combine it with the Torch item, they'll likely uncover most of the map.
* DeviousDaggers: Almost every one of their appearances draws their swords as knives for some reason; they didn't become full-fledged knife-wielders until Tellius, when knives became a weapon type. Master Ninja in ''Fates'' gain Shurikenfaire, which boost their damage output for wielding shuriken/daggers. ''Heroes'' has a tendency to change sword-wielding Thieves and Assassins to using daggers.
* ExperienceBooster: Interestingly, they're on the giving ''and'' receiving end of this trope in some games, where they receive extra experience from combat due to being considered a "low-power" class (on the same level as [[TheGoomba Soldiers]] and [[SupportPartyMember Clerics]], for example), but to compensate for the player, enemy Thieves have a flat bonus to experience given - which typically results in them actually giving out ''more'' experience than other enemies. Also, whenever Lethality is activated in the GBA games, you gain double the amount of experience.
* FingerGun: For some inexplicable reason, Tricksters do this in ''Three Houses'' for some of their magic casting (as far as anyone can tell you firearms have yet to see the light of day in the franchise)[[note]]Ship cannons are seen on the Almyran ships in the Derdriu map in ''Three Houses'', but are never seen being used at all, hinting that there are firearms outside of Fódlan, and while there are usable cannons in ''Engage'', the ones wielded by Mage Cannoneers are more magical in nature and the statonary ones that launches fire are more likely propelled by fire itself and not gunpowder[[/note]]. Heck, even their critical animation fires off spells as if they have an ArmCannon.
* FlashStep: Assassins and Ninjas are practitioners of this art.
* FragileSpeedster: Thieves have horribly lackluster defenses, but make up for it with their immense Speed, allowing them to dodge practically everything not backed by a weapon triangle or terrain advantage.
** In addition, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn ''Duelist's Blow'' upon mastering the class. Duelist's Blow raise evasion by 20 when attacking.
* GentlemanThief: Most allied thieves tend toward this (except for Heather, who's more of a ClassyCatBurglar); the only real exception is [[{{Jerkass}} Lifis]].
* HPToOne: Bane, the mastery skill of Whispers.
* KleptomaniacHero: When allied.
* InstakillMook: Averted. Throughout the series, the developers went out of their way to make sure enemy Assassins ''never'' have Lethality. In ''Blazing Blade'', the only Assassin boss has magic swords that prevent him from dealing critical hits and, in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', generic Assassins are programmed to never randomly generate the Lethality skill, no matter how the RNG rolls. This is because having an enemy that could randomly kill your units in [[{{Permadeath}} Classic]] mode is completely unfair. The only time enemy Assassins have Lethality is [[spoiler:one paralogue in ''Awakening'' but because the enemy is copied from your party, you can control whether the enemy has Lethality or not. In turn, Jaffar having it in Rogues & Redeemers is for the challenge]].
* LuckySeven: The Trickster in ''Awakening'' and Adventurer in ''Fates'' get the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Lucky Seven]] skill at Level 5. The skill gives them +20 Hit and Avoid for the first 7 turns. In ''Three Houses'', Lucky Seven became the Trickster's class skill and it functions differently. It increases one of seven stats by 5: Strength, Magic, Speed, Defense, Resistance, or Hit and Avoid, at the start of the unit's turn.
* MageKiller: Ninja in ''Fates'' have high Resistance to complement the modified weapon triangle, in which knives/shuriken are effective against tomes, making them even more effective than Sky Knights in this role.
* MagicKnight: Tricksters can use magic staves in ''Awakening'', allowing them to function as a CombatMedic of sorts. In ''Three Houses'', they can use a slew of Faith and Reason magic spells, making them more akin to a RedMage.
* MagikarpPower: You'd be mad to put a thief in the thick of combat. Then they become Assassins. Shit starts dying en masse. Averted in ''Fates''. Ninja are fast and extremely useful debuffers throughout the game, while Outlaws are the only unpromoted Nohrian unit type that can use bows.
* MasterOfUnlocking: Locktouch, their innate skill, allows them to unlock doors and chests without the use of keys. In ''Path of Radiance'' and onward, there are no Lockpicks and they can instead open doors and chests as a passive ability.
* {{Ninja}}: The Ninja/Master Ninja class in ''Fates''.
* OneHitKill: Lethality, the mastery skill of Assassins and Master Ninja, and also Assassinate, the mastery Combat Art of Assassins in ''Three Houses''. However, its activation rate is lower compared to other skills.[[note]]Half the CriticalHit rate in ''Blazing Blade'', ''Sacred Stones'', and ''Path of Radiance''; Skill divided by 2 in ''Radiant Dawn''; Skill divided by 4 in ''Awakening'', ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses''.[[/note]]
** Noteworthy is that enemy Assassins or Master Ninja will never have Lethality, [[spoiler:with exception of four maps in ''Awakening'']] and in ''Blazing Blade'', an Assassin boss always carries a magic sword which can never deal critical hits. This is so that these enemies doesn't kill your unit in one hit in a game with permadeath.
* PhantomThief: Trickster in ''Awakening'' is literally described as a glamorous phantom thief.
* PoisonedWeapons:
** The Poison Strike skill learned by the Ninja class inflicts damage equal to 20% of the enemy's maximum HP after every combat should the skill's wielder survive, regardless if the attack hits or not.
** In ''Three Houses'', Assassins in Maddening Mode will have the Poison skill, which may let them inflict poison to your units.
* ReverseGrip: They typically wield their bladed weapons like this, from daggers to swords.
* SecretArt: [[OneHitKill Lethality]].
* StatusBuff: In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Bow Knights gain Rally Skill.
* SwapTeleportation: Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn the Foul Play combat art upon mastering the class. Foul Play allow the Trickster to swap positions with an ally within 1 to 5 range. This combat art is exclusive to Tricksters.
* ThiefBag: The Thief and Rogue sprites in the GBA games are depicted carrying sacks.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. Assassins in the GBA games and the Tellius games are exclusively a player-only class, because having an enemy class that can one-shot your units can be very unfair. Averted with ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' as Assassins are used but will never generate Lethality (or Assassinate in ''Three Houses'').
* VideoGameStealing: Depends on the game, but they can typically steal either gear or gold from enemies. But in all of the games, they have the ability to open chests and steal their contents.
* WeakButSkilled: They usually have very low Strength which makes them not great for combat, but they typically have very high Skill which, coupled with their equally high Speed, can make them quite deadly if properly trained.
to:
* AchillesHeel:
** As a "criminal" class, thieves suffer effectiveActionInitiative: Upon mastering War Master, they gain Quick Riposte, allowing them to deal follow-up attacks if they are attacked and above their HP threshold. Also, unlike in ''Heroes'', the attacker will not follow-up attack if the unit is equipped with Quick Riposte.
* AlwaysMale: Brawlers, Grapplers and War Masters are male-only.
* BareFistedMonk: Their primary weapon as indicated by the skill "Unarmed Combat". Grapplers also gain the skill Fistfaire, which increases their damage whenhit by the Ladyblade in ''Mystery of the Emblem''. This effect never appears again, note even in the remake of ''Mystery of the Emblem''.
** In ''The Sacred Stones'', Thieves, Rogues and Assassins all take effective damage from the Swordslayer axe.
wielding gauntlets.
*AllSwordsAreTheSame: A particularly amusing exaggeration: in the Archanea[[note]]NES version[[/note]], Jugdral[[note]]in the map animations[[/note]], and GBA games, all swords look like ''knives'' when used by members of the Thief class family!
* AnimalMotifs: Assassins in ''Three Houses'' wear [[ScaryScorpions scorpion-themed]] outfits reflecting their stealth and efficiency as surprise killers.
* ArmCannon: Not in the conventional sense, but to go along with launching magic with {{Finger Gun}}s, TrickstersChainedByFashion: Grapplers in ''Three Houses'' have their critical animation use their right arm ending in a fist as one to fire off magic as well.
* BanditMook: When they're enemies. Usually they target treasure chests, though in some games they can destroy villages which give out items and money, which is a role sometimes shared with Brigands/Pirates/Barbarians.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: ''Awakening''[='=]s Assassins has three bladeschains attached on each arm. Ninjas have one on every wrist, and Master Ninjas attach them all over to their arms; from shoulder to wrist.
armor.
*BowAndSwordInAccord: Assassins in ''Awakening'' ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Brawlers and Bow Knights in ''Fates''. Thieves in ''Three Houses'' also wield bows War Masters can use axes and swords.
gauntlets.
*CombatMedic: Tricksters CriticalHitClass: War Masters get Crit+20 as their class ability. As they are proficient in axes, this makes them very similar to Berserkers in the other games.
* LightningBruiser: War Masters have stats andAdventurers gain the use of staves growths on par with swords and bows respectively.
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: In ''Fates'', all knives and shurikens have the added effectWyvern Riders, paired with an addition of lowering the target's defensive stats.
* DeepCoverAgent: The thieves which are not [[GentlemanThief Gentleman Thieves]] or {{Classy Cat Burglar}}s tend to be working for some noble family.
* DefogOfWar: With the exception of ''Thracia 776'' ([[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the first game to introduce fog of war, mind you]]), ''Path of Radiance'', the DS remakes, and ''Three Houses'', thieves have really high vision in fog of war,a Crit+20, making them good asset to bring them in. Combine it with the Torch item, they'll likely uncover most one of the map.
* DeviousDaggers: Almost everymore dangerous footlocked units. Fighting one of with Killer Knuckles is just asking for trouble.
* MageKiller: While the class does not offer Resistance growth bonuses, Grapplers can learn Tomebreaker, which increases theirappearances draws their swords as knives for some reason; they didn't become full-fledged knife-wielders until Tellius, when knives became a weapon type. Master Ninja in ''Fates'' gain Shurikenfaire, which boost their damage output for wielding shuriken/daggers. ''Heroes'' has a tendency to change sword-wielding Thieves and Assassins to using daggers.
* ExperienceBooster: Interestingly, they're on the giving ''and'' receiving end of this trope in some games, where they receive extra experience from combat due to being considered a "low-power" class (on the same level as [[TheGoomba Soldiers]] and [[SupportPartyMember Clerics]], for example), but to compensate for the player, enemy Thieves have a flat bonus to experience given - which typically results in them actually giving out ''more'' experience than other enemies. Also, whenever Lethality is activated in the GBA games, you gain double the amount of experience.
* FingerGun: For some inexplicable reason, Tricksters do this in ''Three Houses'' for some of their magic casting (as far as anyone can tell you firearms have yet to see the light of day in the franchise)[[note]]Ship cannons are seen on the Almyran ships in the Derdriu map in ''Three Houses'', but are never seen being used at all, hinting that there are firearms outside of Fódlan, and while there are usable cannons in ''Engage'', the ones wielded by Mage Cannoneers are more magical in nature and the statonary ones that launches fire are more likely propelled by fire itself and not gunpowder[[/note]]. Heck, even their critical animation fires off spells as if they have an ArmCannon.
* FlashStep: Assassins and Ninjas are practitioners of this art.
* FragileSpeedster: Thieves have horribly lackluster defenses, but make up for it with their immense Speed, allowing them to dodge practically everything not backed by a weapon triangle or terrain advantage.
** In addition, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn ''Duelist's Blow'' upon mastering the class. Duelist's Blow raise evasion by 20 when attacking.
* GentlemanThief: Most allied thieves tend toward this (except for Heather, who's more of a ClassyCatBurglar); the only real exception is [[{{Jerkass}} Lifis]].
* HPToOne: Bane, the mastery skill of Whispers.
* KleptomaniacHero: When allied.
* InstakillMook: Averted. Throughout the series, the developers went out of their way to make sure enemy Assassins ''never'' have Lethality. In ''Blazing Blade'', the only Assassin boss has magic swords that prevent him from dealing critical hits and, in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', generic Assassins are programmed to never randomly generate the Lethality skill, no matter how the RNG rolls. This is because having an enemy that could randomly kill your units in [[{{Permadeath}} Classic]] mode is completely unfair. The only time enemy Assassins have Lethality is [[spoiler:one paralogue in ''Awakening'' but because the enemy is copied from your party, you can control whether the enemy has Lethality or not. In turn, Jaffar having it in Rogues & Redeemers is for the challenge]].
* LuckySeven: The Trickster in ''Awakening'' and Adventurer in ''Fates'' get the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Lucky Seven]] skill at Level 5. The skill gives them +20Hit and Avoid for the first 7 turns. In ''Three Houses'', Lucky Seven became the Trickster's class skill and it functions differently. It increases one of seven stats by 5: Strength, Magic, Speed, Defense, Resistance, or Hit and Avoid, at the start of the unit's turn.
* MageKiller: Ninja in ''Fates'' have high Resistance to complement the modified weapon triangle, in which knives/shuriken are effectiveagainst tomes, making them even more effective than Sky Knights in this role.
Tome-wielding users.
*MagicKnight: Tricksters can use magic staves in ''Awakening'', allowing them to function as SecretArt:
** Grapplers have Fierce Iron Fist, aCombatMedic of sorts. In ''Three Houses'', they can use a slew of Faith and Reason magic spells, making them more akin to a RedMage.
* MagikarpPower: You'd be mad to put a thief in the thick of combat. Then they become Assassins. Shit starts dying en masse. Averted in ''Fates''. Ninja are fast and extremely useful debuffers throughout the game, while Outlaws are the only unpromoted Nohrian unit type that can use bows.
* MasterOfUnlocking: Locktouch, their innate skill, allows them to unlock doors and chests without the use of keys. In ''Path of Radiance'' and onward, there are no Lockpicks and they can instead open doors and chests as a passive ability.
* {{Ninja}}: The Ninja/Master Ninja class in ''Fates''.
* OneHitKill: Lethality, the mastery skill of Assassins and Master Ninja, and also Assassinate, themastery Combat Art of Assassins in ''Three Houses''. However, its activation rate is lower compared to other skills.[[note]]Half the CriticalHit rate in ''Blazing Blade'', ''Sacred Stones'', and ''Path of Radiance''; Skill divided by 2 in ''Radiant Dawn''; Skill divided by 4 in ''Awakening'', ''Fates'' and ''Three Houses''.[[/note]]
** Noteworthy is that enemy Assassins or Master Ninja will never have Lethality, [[spoiler:with exception of four maps in ''Awakening'']] and in ''Blazing Blade'', an Assassin boss always carries a magic sword which can never deal critical hits. This is so that these enemies doesn't kill your unit in one hit in a game with permadeath.
* PhantomThief: Trickster in ''Awakening'' is literally described as a glamorous phantom thief.
* PoisonedWeapons:
** The Poison Strike skill learned by the Ninja class inflicts damage equal to 20% of the enemy's maximum HP after every combat should the skill's wielder survive, regardless if the attack hits or not.
** In ''Three Houses'', Assassins in Maddening Mode will have the Poison skill, which may let them inflict poison to your units.
* ReverseGrip: They typically wield their bladed weapons like this, from daggers to swords.
* SecretArt: [[OneHitKill Lethality]].
* StatusBuff: In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Bow Knights gain Rally Skill.
* SwapTeleportation: Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn the Foul Play combat art upon mastering the class. Foul Play allow the Trickster to swap positions with an ally within 1 to 5 range. This combat art isexclusive to Tricksters.
* ThiefBag: The Thief and Rogue sprites in the GBA games are depicted carrying sacks.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. Assassins in the GBA games and the Tellius games are exclusively a player-only class, because having an enemy class that can one-shot your units can be very unfair. Averted with ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' as Assassins are used but will never generate Lethality (or Assassinate in ''Three Houses'').
* VideoGameStealing: Depends on the game, butthem, where they can typically steal either gear or gold from enemies. But in deal three consecutive attacks.
** War Master's Strike, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to War Masters. It grants effective bonus damage against allof the games, they have the ability to open chests and steal their contents.
* WeakButSkilled: They usually have very low Strength which makes them not great for combat, but they typically have very high Skill which, coupled with their equally high Speed, can make them quite deadly if properly trained.foes.
** As a "criminal" class, thieves suffer effective
* AlwaysMale: Brawlers, Grapplers and War Masters are male-only.
* BareFistedMonk: Their primary weapon as indicated by the skill "Unarmed Combat". Grapplers also gain the skill Fistfaire, which increases their damage when
** In ''The Sacred Stones'', Thieves, Rogues and Assassins all take effective damage from the Swordslayer axe.
*
* AnimalMotifs: Assassins in ''Three Houses'' wear [[ScaryScorpions scorpion-themed]] outfits reflecting their stealth and efficiency as surprise killers.
* ArmCannon: Not in the conventional sense, but to go along with launching magic with {{Finger Gun}}s, Tricksters
* BanditMook: When they're enemies. Usually they target treasure chests, though in some games they can destroy villages which give out items and money, which is a role sometimes shared with Brigands/Pirates/Barbarians.
* BladeBelowTheShoulder: ''Awakening''[='=]s Assassins has three blades
*
*
* LightningBruiser: War Masters have stats and
* DamageIncreasingDebuff: In ''Fates'', all knives and shurikens have the added effect
* DeepCoverAgent: The thieves which are not [[GentlemanThief Gentleman Thieves]] or {{Classy Cat Burglar}}s tend to be working for some noble family.
* DefogOfWar: With the exception of ''Thracia 776'' ([[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness the first game to introduce fog of war, mind you]]), ''Path of Radiance'', the DS remakes, and ''Three Houses'', thieves have really high vision in fog of war,
* DeviousDaggers: Almost every
* MageKiller: While the class does not offer Resistance growth bonuses, Grapplers can learn Tomebreaker, which increases their
* ExperienceBooster: Interestingly, they're on the giving ''and'' receiving end of this trope in some games, where they receive extra experience from combat due to being considered a "low-power" class (on the same level as [[TheGoomba Soldiers]] and [[SupportPartyMember Clerics]], for example), but to compensate for the player, enemy Thieves have a flat bonus to experience given - which typically results in them actually giving out ''more'' experience than other enemies. Also, whenever Lethality is activated in the GBA games, you gain double the amount of experience.
* FingerGun: For some inexplicable reason, Tricksters do this in ''Three Houses'' for some of their magic casting (as far as anyone can tell you firearms have yet to see the light of day in the franchise)[[note]]Ship cannons are seen on the Almyran ships in the Derdriu map in ''Three Houses'', but are never seen being used at all, hinting that there are firearms outside of Fódlan, and while there are usable cannons in ''Engage'', the ones wielded by Mage Cannoneers are more magical in nature and the statonary ones that launches fire are more likely propelled by fire itself and not gunpowder[[/note]]. Heck, even their critical animation fires off spells as if they have an ArmCannon.
* FlashStep: Assassins and Ninjas are practitioners of this art.
* FragileSpeedster: Thieves have horribly lackluster defenses, but make up for it with their immense Speed, allowing them to dodge practically everything not backed by a weapon triangle or terrain advantage.
** In addition, Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn ''Duelist's Blow'' upon mastering the class. Duelist's Blow raise evasion by 20 when attacking.
* GentlemanThief: Most allied thieves tend toward this (except for Heather, who's more of a ClassyCatBurglar); the only real exception is [[{{Jerkass}} Lifis]].
* HPToOne: Bane, the mastery skill of Whispers.
* KleptomaniacHero: When allied.
* InstakillMook: Averted. Throughout the series, the developers went out of their way to make sure enemy Assassins ''never'' have Lethality. In ''Blazing Blade'', the only Assassin boss has magic swords that prevent him from dealing critical hits and, in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', generic Assassins are programmed to never randomly generate the Lethality skill, no matter how the RNG rolls. This is because having an enemy that could randomly kill your units in [[{{Permadeath}} Classic]] mode is completely unfair. The only time enemy Assassins have Lethality is [[spoiler:one paralogue in ''Awakening'' but because the enemy is copied from your party, you can control whether the enemy has Lethality or not. In turn, Jaffar having it in Rogues & Redeemers is for the challenge]].
* LuckySeven: The Trickster in ''Awakening'' and Adventurer in ''Fates'' get the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Lucky Seven]] skill at Level 5. The skill gives them +20
* MageKiller: Ninja in ''Fates'' have high Resistance to complement the modified weapon triangle, in which knives/shuriken are effective
*
** Grapplers have Fierce Iron Fist, a
* MagikarpPower: You'd be mad to put a thief in the thick of combat. Then they become Assassins. Shit starts dying en masse. Averted in ''Fates''. Ninja are fast and extremely useful debuffers throughout the game, while Outlaws are the only unpromoted Nohrian unit type that can use bows.
* MasterOfUnlocking: Locktouch, their innate skill, allows them to unlock doors and chests without the use of keys. In ''Path of Radiance'' and onward, there are no Lockpicks and they can instead open doors and chests as a passive ability.
* {{Ninja}}: The Ninja/Master Ninja class in ''Fates''.
* OneHitKill: Lethality, the mastery skill of Assassins and Master Ninja, and also Assassinate, the
** Noteworthy is that enemy Assassins or Master Ninja will never have Lethality, [[spoiler:with exception of four maps in ''Awakening'']] and in ''Blazing Blade'', an Assassin boss always carries a magic sword which can never deal critical hits. This is so that these enemies doesn't kill your unit in one hit in a game with permadeath.
* PhantomThief: Trickster in ''Awakening'' is literally described as a glamorous phantom thief.
* PoisonedWeapons:
** The Poison Strike skill learned by the Ninja class inflicts damage equal to 20% of the enemy's maximum HP after every combat should the skill's wielder survive, regardless if the attack hits or not.
** In ''Three Houses'', Assassins in Maddening Mode will have the Poison skill, which may let them inflict poison to your units.
* ReverseGrip: They typically wield their bladed weapons like this, from daggers to swords.
* SecretArt: [[OneHitKill Lethality]].
* StatusBuff: In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Bow Knights gain Rally Skill.
* SwapTeleportation: Tricksters in ''Three Houses'' learn the Foul Play combat art upon mastering the class. Foul Play allow the Trickster to swap positions with an ally within 1 to 5 range. This combat art is
* ThiefBag: The Thief and Rogue sprites in the GBA games are depicted carrying sacks.
* UniqueEnemy: Inverted. Assassins in the GBA games and the Tellius games are exclusively a player-only class, because having an enemy class that can one-shot your units can be very unfair. Averted with ''Awakening'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' as Assassins are used but will never generate Lethality (or Assassinate in ''Three Houses'').
* VideoGameStealing: Depends on the game, but
** War Master's Strike, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to War Masters. It grants effective bonus damage against all
* WeakButSkilled: They usually have very low Strength which makes them not great for combat, but they typically have very high Skill which, coupled with their equally high Speed, can make them quite deadly if properly trained.
Changed line(s) 985,1000 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Witch]]
!!Witch
[[quoteright:228:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/witch_echoes_portrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:228:Witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/994g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Gremories in ''Three Houses'']]
The Witch is a very rare class, only appearing in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' (and ''Shadows of Valentia'' by extension) and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. They are powerful female spellcasters that have the unique Warp ability, which allows them to instantly travel anywhere on the map (''Gaiden'') or teleport adjacent to any ally (''Fates'').\\\
In ''Gaiden'' and ''Shadows of Valentia'', Witches are exclusively [=NPCs=]. Here, they are said to be women who sacrificed themselves to Duma for power, either willingly or unwillingly, which also gives them a pale complexion. ''SOV'' also introduces the similarly-themed '''Vestal''' class, which are flaming spirits.\\\
In ''Fates'', the Witch is a special playable class only obtainable via DLC. Using an item called a Witch's Mark, any female character is able to Class Change into one. They can use Dark Magic (otherwise exclusive to Dark Mages and Sorcerers) via the "Shadowgift" Skill and are capable of getting S-Rank in Tomes/Scrolls.\\\
While the Witch class does not return in ''Three Houses'', it introduces the '''Gremory''' class, which shares traits of the Witch class, including being exclusive to female units and the use of Dark and Black Magic (along with White Magic).
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Lysithea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
!!Witch
[[quoteright:228:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/witch_echoes_portrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:228:Witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/994g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Gremories in ''Three Houses'']]
The Witch is a very rare class, only appearing in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' (and ''Shadows of Valentia'' by extension) and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. They are powerful female spellcasters that have the unique Warp ability, which allows them to instantly travel anywhere on the map (''Gaiden'') or teleport adjacent to any ally (''Fates'').\\\
In ''Gaiden'' and ''Shadows of Valentia'', Witches are exclusively [=NPCs=]. Here, they are said to be women who sacrificed themselves to Duma for power, either willingly or unwillingly, which also gives them a pale complexion. ''SOV'' also introduces the similarly-themed '''Vestal''' class, which are flaming spirits.\\\
In ''Fates'', the Witch is a special playable class only obtainable via DLC. Using an item called a Witch's Mark, any female character is able to Class Change into one. They can use Dark Magic (otherwise exclusive to Dark Mages and Sorcerers) via the "Shadowgift" Skill and are capable of getting S-Rank in Tomes/Scrolls.\\\
While the Witch class does not return in ''Three Houses'', it introduces the '''Gremory''' class, which shares traits of the Witch class, including being exclusive to female units and the use of Dark and Black Magic (along with White Magic).
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Lysithea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
to:
!!Witch
[[quoteright:228:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/witch_echoes_portrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:228:Witches in ''Shadows
!!Manakete ''(Mamkute)''
A common feature of
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/994g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Gremories in ''Three Houses'']]
The Witch
While the Witch class does not return in ''Three Houses'', it introduces the '''Gremory''' class, which shares traits of the Witch class, including being exclusive to female units and the use of Dark and Black Magic (along with White Magic).
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Lysithea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
Changed line(s) 1002,1016 (click to see context) from:
* AlwaysFemale: Witch is a female-only class.
* ArtificialStupidity: Witches' behaviors in ''Gaiden'' are... sporadic to say the least. This is a case of AcceptableBreaksFromReality as making them "smarter" on top of having the ability to move anywhere at will would make them very unbearable to face.
* DealWithTheDevil: In ''Gaiden'', Witches are the result of women sacrificing themselves to Duma for power. [[spoiler:Not always, some of them (Rinea, Sonya's sisters, Delthea, and Celica) didn't necessarily exactly want to become such.]]
* EmptyShell: In ''Gaiden'''s lore, Witches are women who offered their souls to Duma in exchange for great magical power, but lost their free will and became living husks.
* EvilRedhead: In ''Gaiden'', with the exception of the brainwashed Delthea, all Witches are redheads and happen to be antagonistic.
* FacelessGoons: Generic Gremories in ''Three Houses'' have veils covering their faces.
* FanDisservice: The Witches from ''Shadows of Valentia'' are beautiful women whose looks appeal to many fetishes, but their actual situations make them less appealing.
* {{Nerf}}: In ''Gaiden'', their signature Warp ability lets them travel to any spot on the map. ''Fates'' changes it so they can only teleport to squares cardinally adjacent to allies.
* PowerCrutch: In ''Fates'', Witches channel their magic through a lantern instead of having their equipped tomes visible in their battle model.
* PowerFloats: The witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'' are seen levitating to show their power given to them by Duma.
* RedMage: Gremories are skilled in both offensive and supportive magic.
* RobeAndWizardHat: While in ''Gaiden'' they were just recolored female mages, their outfit in ''Fates'' gives them a large pointed hat and a sleek robe.
* SquishyWizard: The Witch is the strongest magic-using class in ''Fates'', though its Defense is also less than stellar. This is especially prevalent in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, where they also have extremely low HP and can often be downed in a single physical attack.
* StatusInflictionAttack: ''Fates''[='=] Witches get the skill Toxic Brew, which has a chance of 1.5% times the Skill stat to freeze an enemy unit in place for a turn whenever the skill's wielder initiates an attack.
* TeleportSpam: Witches have this as a a SignatureMove, enabling them to warp to any tile on the map, making them extremely dangerous to units with low resistance. Their playable incarnation can only warp to tiles adjacent to allies, however.
* ArtificialStupidity: Witches' behaviors in ''Gaiden'' are... sporadic to say the least. This is a case of AcceptableBreaksFromReality as making them "smarter" on top of having the ability to move anywhere at will would make them very unbearable to face.
* DealWithTheDevil: In ''Gaiden'', Witches are the result of women sacrificing themselves to Duma for power. [[spoiler:Not always, some of them (Rinea, Sonya's sisters, Delthea, and Celica) didn't necessarily exactly want to become such.]]
* EmptyShell: In ''Gaiden'''s lore, Witches are women who offered their souls to Duma in exchange for great magical power, but lost their free will and became living husks.
* EvilRedhead: In ''Gaiden'', with the exception of the brainwashed Delthea, all Witches are redheads and happen to be antagonistic.
* FacelessGoons: Generic Gremories in ''Three Houses'' have veils covering their faces.
* FanDisservice: The Witches from ''Shadows of Valentia'' are beautiful women whose looks appeal to many fetishes, but their actual situations make them less appealing.
* {{Nerf}}: In ''Gaiden'', their signature Warp ability lets them travel to any spot on the map. ''Fates'' changes it so they can only teleport to squares cardinally adjacent to allies.
* PowerCrutch: In ''Fates'', Witches channel their magic through a lantern instead of having their equipped tomes visible in their battle model.
* PowerFloats: The witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'' are seen levitating to show their power given to them by Duma.
* RedMage: Gremories are skilled in both offensive and supportive magic.
* RobeAndWizardHat: While in ''Gaiden'' they were just recolored female mages, their outfit in ''Fates'' gives them a large pointed hat and a sleek robe.
* SquishyWizard: The Witch is the strongest magic-using class in ''Fates'', though its Defense is also less than stellar. This is especially prevalent in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, where they also have extremely low HP and can often be downed in a single physical attack.
* StatusInflictionAttack: ''Fates''[='=] Witches get the skill Toxic Brew, which has a chance of 1.5% times the Skill stat to freeze an enemy unit in place for a turn whenever the skill's wielder initiates an attack.
* TeleportSpam: Witches have this as a a SignatureMove, enabling them to warp to any tile on the map, making them extremely dangerous to units with low resistance. Their playable incarnation can only warp to tiles adjacent to allies, however.
to:
* AlwaysFemale: Witch AchillesHeel: They are vulnerable to anti-dragon weapons like Wyrmslayer. Myrrh in ''Sacred Stones'' is a female-only class.
* ArtificialStupidity: Witches' behaviors in ''Gaiden'' are... sporadicalso weak to say bows as she is also a flying unit. In the least. Tellius games, Dragon Laguz are vulnerable to anti-Laguz weapons and thunder magic. In ''Awakening'', ''Fates'' and ''Engage'', even if they reclass outside of Manakete, they are still dragons because of their heritage and are still vulnerable to anti-dragon weapons and skills.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: In ''Mystery of the Emblem'', dragon's breaths completely ignores defense so any fragile units need to watch out for them as their attack will directly target their already low HP.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Most dragons did this in ''Fates'' by becoming spirits. The ones that didn't either went insane or have been able to escape such a fate.
* BreathWeapon: Dragons tend to attack with their breath. Averted with ''Fates'' where they physically maul their enemies.
* CastingAShadow:
** The [[NonIndicativeName Earth Dragons]] uses Dark Breath along with their earth-based abilities.
** The Silent Dragons of ''Fates'' utilizes dark powers combined with MakingASplash when fully corrupted.
** The Fell Dragons of ''Engage'' use shadowy breath attacks.
* CuteMonsterGirl: Only five recruitable Manaketes are not children[[note]]Bantu, Nagi, adult Tiki, Corrin, and [[spoiler:Rafal]][[/note]]. This isa case of AcceptableBreaksFromReality as making them "smarter" on top of having excluding the ability Dragon Laguz, who, while they can transform into dragons, aren't called manaketes. Of the four playable ones, 3 are male and the youngest male looks at least 14.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome:
** The other Manakete Tribes are nowhere tomove anywhere at be found in ''Awakening'' despite major roles in the Archanea series.
** ''Fates'' contains an odd example in the form of the term "Manakete" - the avatar, and any child they have willwould make them very unbearable to face.
* DealWithTheDevil: In ''Gaiden'', Witchesfall under this archetype, but they are never referred to as such. In fact, the result term only appears once in the entire game, in an extremely well hidden support conversation, and the context given by said support implies that the word may have an entirely different meaning in the world of women sacrificing ''Fates''.
* DarkIsEvil: None of the Earth Dragons has remained friendly since they either allow themselves toDuma for power. [[spoiler:Not always, some degenerate like most dragons or are indulged in dark powers as a sign of rebellion against humankind. Kaga's plans would've averted this, though.
* DarkIsNotEvil: The Fell Dragons in ''Engage'' are very much not evil. Well, [[BigBad one]] is, but others are either BrainwashedAndCrazy, or just straight-up allies.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Tellius games introduced three types of Dragons the player could use in the game, each one being slightly different from the other in terms of damage and stats. Notably the White Dragons deal damage using Magic instead of Strength.
* DyingRace: Almost all of them(Rinea, Sonya's sisters, Delthea, and Celica) didn't necessarily exactly want to are on their last legs, their glory days clearly over. Averted with the Dragon Laguz, whose kingdom is [[HiddenElfVillage isolated]], but still [[AwakenTheSleepingGiant rather powerful]].
* EleventhHourSuperpower: While they usually becomesuch.available earlier than this, games in which there are only a finite number of uses to the dragonstone tend to lend themselves to using them on the final couple of levels, which are usually filled with enemies that the dragonstone does massive damage to (dragons in the Archanea games and ''Binding Blade'' and monsters in ''Sacred Stones''.)
* TheFourGods: The Four Dragon symbols for Dragon Veins in ''Fates'' are based on them. The Fire Dragon is birdlike, similar to the Vermilion Bird, the Water Dragon has a snake for a tail like the one that accompanies the Black Tortoise, the Ground Dragon has fur and is vaguely feline in shape like the White Tiger, and the Wind Dragon has a lean appearance much like the Azure Dragon.
* GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: Divine Dragons have this color scheme.
* HalfHumanHybrid: A number of them have appeared in the series, including Nils, Ninian, Nah, the Avatar of ''Fates'', etc. Tiki mentions that Nah is the only one of her kind seen in Ylisse, while ''all'' Manaketes with dragonstones in ''Fates'' are shown to be hybrids.
* HiddenElfVillage: Normally, their civilizations are hidden from mankind -- if they still exist, that is.
* AnIcePerson: Ice Dragons/Icestone-wielding Manaketes use ice-based attacks.
* LightEmUp: The Divine Dragons, the strongest of the dragon tribes.
* LightningBruiser: In and of themselves, Manaketes tend to have rather poor stats, but with a dragonstone, they shoot through the roof and turn them into this, almost to the point of game-breaking.
* LightIsGood: Every Divine Dragon that shows up in the series has been friendly.
* LongLived: To the point that a Manakete can be a child by their species' years but really over 1000 years old. In the case of truly old Manaketes like Bantu, they're suggest to be ''thousands'' of years old. It also turns out that half-blood Manaketes inherit this long life-span as well, in the case of Ninian, Nils, Sophia, Corrin, Kana, Nah and (optionally) Morgan.
* MagicAndPowers: Mage Dragons and the Magestone.
* MakingASplash: The Silent Dragons have this as their main power.
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Enemy Manaketes (other than in ''Heroes'') and Manakete villains are always male. [[FemalesAreMoreInnocent No Manakete female has been a true villain]], although the closest the series has come to it is [[EmptyShell Idunn]] from ''Binding Blade''.
* MightyGlacier: To contrast the Taguel in ''Awakening'', Manaketes hit harder and take hits better, but are slower.
* NoSell: Mage Dragons is known to either have high resistance or completely resist magic.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Most characters may look like kids to young adults but [[Really700YearsOld they're actually more than 1,000 years old.]]
*EmptyShell: OurDragonsAreDifferent: They're dragons capable of taking on human form. In ''Gaiden'''s lore, Witches are women who offered their souls battle, they can transform back to Duma in exchange for great magical power, but lost their free will and became living husks.
* EvilRedhead: In ''Gaiden'',dragons with the exception use of their dragonstones.
* PlayingWithFire: Fire Dragons, or when wielding a Firestone.
* PointyEars: One of thebrainwashed Delthea, all Witches manaketes' most defining physical characteristics, though a few are redheads and happen to be antagonistic.
depicted without them, more notably the ones from ''Engage'', excluding Sombron.
*FacelessGoons: Generic Gremories SupportPartyMember: The dragons in ''Three Houses'' ''Radiant Dawn'' have veils covering their faces.
* FanDisservice: The Witches from ''Shadowsskills that can increase certain stats of Valentia'' are beautiful women whose looks appeal to many fetishes, but their actual situations make adjacent allies during combat, making them less appealing.
useful against the endgame bosses in that game. Blood Tide raises Strength and Skill, Night Tide raises Defense and Resistance, while White Pool raises Magic and Speed.
*{{Nerf}}: In ''Gaiden'', their signature Warp ability lets TooAwesomeToUse: Often, there's only one dragonstone with finite uses available in the course of the game. While it's often enough to level a Manakete to level 20, you're not going to get all that much use out of them travel once you start, so it's quite common to any spot on hesitate to use Manaketes.
** Averted in ''Awakening'', where you can buy Dragonstones (although they are not cheap).
** Averted in ''Shadow Dragon and themap. Blade of Light'', ''Fates'' changes it so they can only teleport to squares cardinally adjacent to allies.
* PowerCrutch: In ''Fates'', Witches channel their magic through a lantern instead of having their equipped tomes visible in their battle model.
* PowerFloats: The witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'' are seen levitating to show their power given to them by Duma.
* RedMage: Gremories are skilled in both offensiveand supportive magic.
* RobeAndWizardHat: While in ''Gaiden'' they were just recolored female mages, their outfit in ''Fates'' gives them a large pointed hat and a sleek robe.
* SquishyWizard: The Witch is the strongest magic-using class in ''Fates'', though its Defense is also less than stellar. This is especially prevalent in ''Gaiden'' and its remake,''Engage'', where they also Dragonstones have extremely low HP infinite durability.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Divine Dragons who are always friendly are either non-reptilian or at least less so than the other Dragon Tribes.
* WereDragon: They alternate between humanoid andcan often be downed in a single physical attack.
dragon forms.
*StatusInflictionAttack: ''Fates''[='=] Witches get the skill Toxic Brew, which has a chance of 1.5% times the Skill stat WingedHumanoid: Divine Dragons tend to freeze an enemy unit in place for a turn whenever the skill's wielder initiates an attack.
* TeleportSpam: Witcheshave this as a a SignatureMove, enabling them feathery wings similar to warp to any tile on Angels, while the map, making them extremely dangerous to units with low resistance. Their playable incarnation can only warp to tiles adjacent to allies, however.other Dragon tribes have dragon wings in Manakete form.
* ArtificialStupidity: Witches' behaviors in ''Gaiden'' are... sporadic
* ArmorPiercingAttack: In ''Mystery of the Emblem'', dragon's breaths completely ignores defense so any fragile units need to watch out for them as their attack will directly target their already low HP.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Most dragons did this in ''Fates'' by becoming spirits. The ones that didn't either went insane or have been able to escape such a fate.
* BreathWeapon: Dragons tend to attack with their breath. Averted with ''Fates'' where they physically maul their enemies.
* CastingAShadow:
** The [[NonIndicativeName Earth Dragons]] uses Dark Breath along with their earth-based abilities.
** The Silent Dragons of ''Fates'' utilizes dark powers combined with MakingASplash when fully corrupted.
** The Fell Dragons of ''Engage'' use shadowy breath attacks.
* CuteMonsterGirl: Only five recruitable Manaketes are not children[[note]]Bantu, Nagi, adult Tiki, Corrin, and [[spoiler:Rafal]][[/note]]. This is
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome:
** The other Manakete Tribes are nowhere to
** ''Fates'' contains an odd example in the form of the term "Manakete" - the avatar, and any child they have will
* DealWithTheDevil: In ''Gaiden'', Witches
* DarkIsEvil: None of the Earth Dragons has remained friendly since they either allow themselves to
* DarkIsNotEvil: The Fell Dragons in ''Engage'' are very much not evil. Well, [[BigBad one]] is, but others are either BrainwashedAndCrazy, or just straight-up allies.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Tellius games introduced three types of Dragons the player could use in the game, each one being slightly different from the other in terms of damage and stats. Notably the White Dragons deal damage using Magic instead of Strength.
* DyingRace: Almost all of them
* EleventhHourSuperpower: While they usually become
* TheFourGods: The Four Dragon symbols for Dragon Veins in ''Fates'' are based on them. The Fire Dragon is birdlike, similar to the Vermilion Bird, the Water Dragon has a snake for a tail like the one that accompanies the Black Tortoise, the Ground Dragon has fur and is vaguely feline in shape like the White Tiger, and the Wind Dragon has a lean appearance much like the Azure Dragon.
* GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: Divine Dragons have this color scheme.
* HalfHumanHybrid: A number of them have appeared in the series, including Nils, Ninian, Nah, the Avatar of ''Fates'', etc. Tiki mentions that Nah is the only one of her kind seen in Ylisse, while ''all'' Manaketes with dragonstones in ''Fates'' are shown to be hybrids.
* HiddenElfVillage: Normally, their civilizations are hidden from mankind -- if they still exist, that is.
* AnIcePerson: Ice Dragons/Icestone-wielding Manaketes use ice-based attacks.
* LightEmUp: The Divine Dragons, the strongest of the dragon tribes.
* LightningBruiser: In and of themselves, Manaketes tend to have rather poor stats, but with a dragonstone, they shoot through the roof and turn them into this, almost to the point of game-breaking.
* LightIsGood: Every Divine Dragon that shows up in the series has been friendly.
* LongLived: To the point that a Manakete can be a child by their species' years but really over 1000 years old. In the case of truly old Manaketes like Bantu, they're suggest to be ''thousands'' of years old. It also turns out that half-blood Manaketes inherit this long life-span as well, in the case of Ninian, Nils, Sophia, Corrin, Kana, Nah and (optionally) Morgan.
* MagicAndPowers: Mage Dragons and the Magestone.
* MakingASplash: The Silent Dragons have this as their main power.
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Enemy Manaketes (other than in ''Heroes'') and Manakete villains are always male. [[FemalesAreMoreInnocent No Manakete female has been a true villain]], although the closest the series has come to it is [[EmptyShell Idunn]] from ''Binding Blade''.
* MightyGlacier: To contrast the Taguel in ''Awakening'', Manaketes hit harder and take hits better, but are slower.
* NoSell: Mage Dragons is known to either have high resistance or completely resist magic.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Most characters may look like kids to young adults but [[Really700YearsOld they're actually more than 1,000 years old.]]
*
* EvilRedhead: In ''Gaiden'',
* PlayingWithFire: Fire Dragons, or when wielding a Firestone.
* PointyEars: One of the
*
* FanDisservice: The Witches from ''Shadows
*
** Averted in ''Awakening'', where you can buy Dragonstones (although they are not cheap).
** Averted in ''Shadow Dragon and the
* PowerCrutch: In ''Fates'', Witches channel their magic through a lantern instead of having their equipped tomes visible in their battle model.
* PowerFloats: The witches in ''Shadows of Valentia'' are seen levitating to show their power given to them by Duma.
* RedMage: Gremories are skilled in both offensive
* RobeAndWizardHat: While in ''Gaiden'' they were just recolored female mages, their outfit in ''Fates'' gives them a large pointed hat and a sleek robe.
* SquishyWizard: The Witch is the strongest magic-using class in ''Fates'', though its Defense is also less than stellar. This is especially prevalent in ''Gaiden'' and its remake,
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Divine Dragons who are always friendly are either non-reptilian or at least less so than the other Dragon Tribes.
* WereDragon: They alternate between humanoid and
*
* TeleportSpam: Witches
Changed line(s) 1019,1030 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Dread Fighter]]
!!Dread Fighter
[[quoteright:234:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dread_fighter_echoes_portrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:234:Dread Fighters in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
Dread Fighter is one of the rarer classes, only appearing in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'', its remake ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. It is part of the Mercenary line in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, acting as the line's third and final Class Change before allowing a loop back into Villager. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Dread Fighter is a standalone class that is only available via DLC. ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'' adds an Overclass called Yasha, which is also only available via DLC. Most incarnations are exclusive to male characters.\\\
Dread Fighter is defined by its {{ninja}}-esque costume design and [[MageKiller anti-magic build]]. The class sports Skills designed to mitigate magical damage, allowing for safe approaches against mages.\\\
For weapon specializations, Dread Fighter only has access to swords in ''Gaiden'' and its remake. ''Awakening'' adds axes and tomes, while ''Fates'' replaces tomes with knives/shuriken.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' DLC Alm (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'')
!!Dread Fighter
[[quoteright:234:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dread_fighter_echoes_portrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:234:Dread Fighters in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
Dread Fighter is one of the rarer classes, only appearing in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'', its remake ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''. It is part of the Mercenary line in ''Gaiden'' and its remake, acting as the line's third and final Class Change before allowing a loop back into Villager. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', Dread Fighter is a standalone class that is only available via DLC. ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'' adds an Overclass called Yasha, which is also only available via DLC. Most incarnations are exclusive to male characters.\\\
Dread Fighter is defined by its {{ninja}}-esque costume design and [[MageKiller anti-magic build]]. The class sports Skills designed to mitigate magical damage, allowing for safe approaches against mages.\\\
For weapon specializations, Dread Fighter only has access to swords in ''Gaiden'' and its remake. ''Awakening'' adds axes and tomes, while ''Fates'' replaces tomes with knives/shuriken.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' DLC Alm (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'')
to:
!!Dread Fighter
[[quoteright:234:https://static.
!!Beasts
[[quoteright:223:https://static.tvtropes.
Dread Fighter is one of the rarer classes, only appearing
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesninetailedfoxportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Ninetails in
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesgarouportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:255:Wolfskins in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_wolfssegner_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Wolfsegnar in ''Fates'']]
When Manaketes were re-imagined as Dragon Laguz in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' and
->'''Playable characters of this
Changed line(s) 1032,1043 (click to see context) from:
* AlwaysMale: Outside of ''Fates'', Dread Fighter is exclusive to male characters.
* DeviousDaggers: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' uses knives instead of tomes to go with their ninja motif. Fittingly, knives and shuriken beats tomes in the game's version of the weapon triangle.
* MageKiller: They are designed to take little damage from magical sources and slay magic users.
** ''Awakening'' gives a massive boost to their Resistance with the Resistance+10 skill.
** ''Fates'' has Iron Will-which causes them to receive 4 less damage from magic attacks when attacked, and Even Keel-where the user receive 4 less damage from magic attacks during even-numbered turns.
** ''Shadows of Valentia'' provides the class with Resistance+5 and Apotrope skills. Apotrope is a more powerful version of Iron Will, as it halves damage taken from magic attacks.
* MagicKnight: Dread Fighters in ''Awakening'' use tomes in addition to swords and axes.
* {{Ninja}}: They appear to have ninja-like aesthetics, and even fight like them with TeleportSpam and {{Flash Step}}s.
* ReverseGrip: While in ''Fates'' they wield swords and daggers like the Ninjas and Master Ninjas, they also wield ''axes'' and ''clubs'' in the same way.
* SwordAndFist: Dread Fighters in ''Shadows of Valentia'' have them incorporate kicks alongside their sword strikes against the enemy.
* WalkingArmory: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' use swords, axes, and knives, allowing them to fully cover the weapon triangle (with knives sharing their spot with lances).
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: They have a tendency to rest their weapons on their shoulders.
* DeviousDaggers: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' uses knives instead of tomes to go with their ninja motif. Fittingly, knives and shuriken beats tomes in the game's version of the weapon triangle.
* MageKiller: They are designed to take little damage from magical sources and slay magic users.
** ''Awakening'' gives a massive boost to their Resistance with the Resistance+10 skill.
** ''Fates'' has Iron Will-which causes them to receive 4 less damage from magic attacks when attacked, and Even Keel-where the user receive 4 less damage from magic attacks during even-numbered turns.
** ''Shadows of Valentia'' provides the class with Resistance+5 and Apotrope skills. Apotrope is a more powerful version of Iron Will, as it halves damage taken from magic attacks.
* MagicKnight: Dread Fighters in ''Awakening'' use tomes in addition to swords and axes.
* {{Ninja}}: They appear to have ninja-like aesthetics, and even fight like them with TeleportSpam and {{Flash Step}}s.
* ReverseGrip: While in ''Fates'' they wield swords and daggers like the Ninjas and Master Ninjas, they also wield ''axes'' and ''clubs'' in the same way.
* SwordAndFist: Dread Fighters in ''Shadows of Valentia'' have them incorporate kicks alongside their sword strikes against the enemy.
* WalkingArmory: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' use swords, axes, and knives, allowing them to fully cover the weapon triangle (with knives sharing their spot with lances).
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: They have a tendency to rest their weapons on their shoulders.
to:
* AlwaysMale: Outside of ''Fates'', Dread Fighter is exclusive AchillesHeel: Laguz are weak to male characters.
* DeviousDaggers: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' uses knives instead of tomes to go with their ninja motif. Fittingly, knivesanti-Laguz weapons and shuriken beats tomes in the game's version of the weapon triangle.
* MageKiller: They are designed to take little damage from magical sources and slay magic users.
**Fire/Wind magic. In ''Awakening'' gives a massive boost and ''Fates'', they are weak to anti-beast weapons and skills, even when outside of their Resistance beast class.
* {{Animorphism}}: Using beaststones, or the natural ability of the Laguz, they can take on an animal form for combat.
* AsianFoxSpirit: The Kitsune and Ninetails class. They also have foxfires that surround them when transformed.
* DireBeast: Their animal forms are huge compared to regular animals. Small Cat laguz are the size of real life Big Cats. Lions and Hawks tower over human beings. Rabbits are similarly the size of Big Cats, and it's taken to the extreme with Wolfskins, who are literal monsters.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution:
** In games where multiple types of beast units exist, they typically are given differences to make them each distinct from each other.
** In theResistance+10 skill.
Tellius games, the Beast tribes are split between the Cat, Tiger, Lion, and Wolf. The Cat is a FragileSpeedster, the Tiger is a MightyGlacier, the Lion is a LightningBruiser, and the Wolves are more of a JackOfAllStats.
** Also in the Tellius games, the Bird tribes are split between the Hawks, Ravens, and Herons. The Hawks are more akin to LightningBruiser, the Ravens are FragileSpeedster, while the Herons are Dancers.
* DyingRace: The Wolf Tribe in the Tellius games have lost much of their numbers; nevertheless, they recover in the epilogue. The Heron Laguz are even worse, since the few remaining ones are the LastOfTheirKind. The Taguel are also the LastOfTheirKind, with only one full-blooded Taguel (Panne) left.[[note]](The half-blooded Taguel Yarne is specifically said to have much stronger Taguel genes, while a Morgan parented by either of them has stronger human ones.)[[/note]]
* {{Expy}}: The Tellius games make the various species of Laguz effectively animal copies of their Human counterparts in terms of class. To elaborate:
** Beast Tribe: Cats are essentially Myrmidons (high Speed and Luck but almost no bulk), Tigers are either Fighters (high Strength and HP, but lower Defense), or Knights (high HP, Strength, and Defense, but slow), Lions are similar to Paladins (use virtually all physical related stats well with high damage), and Wolves are Mercenaries (balanced offensive stats, with solid bulk).
** Bird Tribes: The Bird Tribes are airborne and can also move after attacking, making them similar to the flying classes. Hawks are essentially faster Wyvern Riders (focus on strength with average physical bulk), Ravens are essentially Pegasus Knights (High Speed, Resistance, and Luck but low bulk and Strength), while Herons are Dancers.
* HitAndRunTactics: The Bird Tribe in ''Radiant Dawn'' can move again after attacking or singing. The exception is Rafiel as he is grounded by his clipped wings.
* LightningBruiser: While they have different specialties depending on species, compared to human units, they are all extremely fast and strong. The Tiger Laguz are the only ones lacking in this area.
* LittleBitBeastly: They all exhibit some traits of their beast form even in human form. Usually [[CatGirl ears and tails]], or [[WingedHumanoid wings]] in the case of the bird tribes. Dragons/manaketes in contrast are usually much more subtle.
* LongLived: [[DownplayedTrope To a lesser extent]] compared to Manaketes (who's life expectancy is in the ''plural'' of thousands), but beastfolk often tend to have very long life-spans in spite of such. The shortest lived among the Laguz, the Lions, live for ''180 years on average'', with class blurbs like the Kitsune in ''Fates'' outright noting the species hasIron Will-which causes them a long live span even compared to receive 4 less damage from other beastfolk due to their spirit magic and beast heritage.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Beasts are more physically-oriented, while their dragon counterparts have better magic stats. This translate into almost all Beast units, save the Kitsune, having poor Resistance stats.
* NaturalWeapon: The Laguz uses their own claw, talons, and beaks when fighting in their beast forms. In ''Radiant Dawn'', they have a special weapon rank called Strike which improves their attackswhen attacked, and Even Keel-where the user receive 4 less damage from magic attacks during even-numbered turns.
** ''Shadows of Valentia'' provides the classupon raising their weapon rank. {{Avert}}ed with Resistance+5 and Apotrope skills. Apotrope is a more powerful version of Iron Will, as it halves damage taken from magic attacks.
* MagicKnight: Dread Fighters inBeast classes since ''Awakening'' use tomes in addition to swords and axes.
* {{Ninja}}: They appear to have ninja-like aesthetics, and even fight like them with TeleportSpam and {{Flash Step}}s.
* ReverseGrip: While in ''Fates''as they wield swords and daggers Stones like the Ninjas and Master Ninjas, they also wield ''axes'' and ''clubs'' Manaketes.
* NoSell: The Hawk Laguz's mastery skill inthe same way.
* SwordAndFist: Dread Fighters in ''ShadowsPath of Valentia'' have Radiance was Cancel (or Wing Guard), which lets them incorporate kicks alongside their sword strikes against the enemy.
* WalkingArmory: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' use swords, axes, and knives, allowing them to fully cover the weapon triangle (with knives sharing their spot with lances).
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: They have a tendency to rest their weaponsnullify damage based on their shoulders.skill.
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: The Wolfskin and Wolfsegner look less like wolves and more like gorillas with koala and wolf traits.
* PantheraAwesome: The Tiger and the Lion Laguz of the Beast Tribe, especially the Lion Laguz as one is their king.
* DeviousDaggers: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' uses knives instead of tomes to go with their ninja motif. Fittingly, knives
* MageKiller: They are designed to take little damage from magical sources and slay magic users.
**
* {{Animorphism}}: Using beaststones, or the natural ability of the Laguz, they can take on an animal form for combat.
* AsianFoxSpirit: The Kitsune and Ninetails class. They also have foxfires that surround them when transformed.
* DireBeast: Their animal forms are huge compared to regular animals. Small Cat laguz are the size of real life Big Cats. Lions and Hawks tower over human beings. Rabbits are similarly the size of Big Cats, and it's taken to the extreme with Wolfskins, who are literal monsters.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution:
** In games where multiple types of beast units exist, they typically are given differences to make them each distinct from each other.
** In the
** Also in the Tellius games, the Bird tribes are split between the Hawks, Ravens, and Herons. The Hawks are more akin to LightningBruiser, the Ravens are FragileSpeedster, while the Herons are Dancers.
* DyingRace: The Wolf Tribe in the Tellius games have lost much of their numbers; nevertheless, they recover in the epilogue. The Heron Laguz are even worse, since the few remaining ones are the LastOfTheirKind. The Taguel are also the LastOfTheirKind, with only one full-blooded Taguel (Panne) left.[[note]](The half-blooded Taguel Yarne is specifically said to have much stronger Taguel genes, while a Morgan parented by either of them has stronger human ones.)[[/note]]
* {{Expy}}: The Tellius games make the various species of Laguz effectively animal copies of their Human counterparts in terms of class. To elaborate:
** Beast Tribe: Cats are essentially Myrmidons (high Speed and Luck but almost no bulk), Tigers are either Fighters (high Strength and HP, but lower Defense), or Knights (high HP, Strength, and Defense, but slow), Lions are similar to Paladins (use virtually all physical related stats well with high damage), and Wolves are Mercenaries (balanced offensive stats, with solid bulk).
** Bird Tribes: The Bird Tribes are airborne and can also move after attacking, making them similar to the flying classes. Hawks are essentially faster Wyvern Riders (focus on strength with average physical bulk), Ravens are essentially Pegasus Knights (High Speed, Resistance, and Luck but low bulk and Strength), while Herons are Dancers.
* HitAndRunTactics: The Bird Tribe in ''Radiant Dawn'' can move again after attacking or singing. The exception is Rafiel as he is grounded by his clipped wings.
* LightningBruiser: While they have different specialties depending on species, compared to human units, they are all extremely fast and strong. The Tiger Laguz are the only ones lacking in this area.
* LittleBitBeastly: They all exhibit some traits of their beast form even in human form. Usually [[CatGirl ears and tails]], or [[WingedHumanoid wings]] in the case of the bird tribes. Dragons/manaketes in contrast are usually much more subtle.
* LongLived: [[DownplayedTrope To a lesser extent]] compared to Manaketes (who's life expectancy is in the ''plural'' of thousands), but beastfolk often tend to have very long life-spans in spite of such. The shortest lived among the Laguz, the Lions, live for ''180 years on average'', with class blurbs like the Kitsune in ''Fates'' outright noting the species has
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Beasts are more physically-oriented, while their dragon counterparts have better magic stats. This translate into almost all Beast units, save the Kitsune, having poor Resistance stats.
* NaturalWeapon: The Laguz uses their own claw, talons, and beaks when fighting in their beast forms. In ''Radiant Dawn'', they have a special weapon rank called Strike which improves their attacks
** ''Shadows of Valentia'' provides the class
* MagicKnight: Dread Fighters in
* {{Ninja}}: They appear to have ninja-like aesthetics, and even fight like them with TeleportSpam and {{Flash Step}}s.
* ReverseGrip: While in ''Fates''
* NoSell: The Hawk Laguz's mastery skill in
* SwordAndFist: Dread Fighters in ''Shadows
* WalkingArmory: Dread Fighters in ''Fates'' use swords, axes, and knives, allowing them to fully cover the weapon triangle (with knives sharing their spot with lances).
* WeaponAcrossTheShoulder: They have a tendency to rest their weapons
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: The Wolfskin and Wolfsegner look less like wolves and more like gorillas with koala and wolf traits.
* PantheraAwesome: The Tiger and the Lion Laguz of the Beast Tribe, especially the Lion Laguz as one is their king.
Changed line(s) 1046,1054 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Tactician/Grandmaster]]
!!Tactician and Grandmaster
The Tactician and its Class Change, Grandmaster, are a class line introduced in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''. They are more or less made specifically for the Avatar of ''Awakening'' and their children, though [=SpotPass=], [=StreetPass=], and DLC characters are capable of using Second Seals to reclass into the line. The Tactician and Grandmaster are powerful {{Magic Knight}}s that use swords and tomes, have overall high stats, and can support allies thanks to a couple of exclusive support Skills such as "Solidarity" and "Rally Spectrum".\\\
The Grandmaster returns in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' as a special class obtained by using a Fell Brand (received from completing ''Hidden Truths 1'' DLC or using the Robin Toys/{{amiibo}}) on a male unit. It does not Class Change to or from anything, but otherwise functions the same as it did in ''Awakening''.\\\
It returns once again in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'' as Céline's version of the '''Noble''' class: while it no longer has any of its support skills as a result of being standardized to be more in line with the rest of the game's classes, its promotion into '''Vidame''' grants access to staves.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Robin, Morgan [[note]]Morgan needs to have specific mothers/fathers to start out as Tactician, otherwise they will join as a different class (based on their non-Robin parent) and need to reclass into it.[[/note]], DLC Katarina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Toys/{{amiibo}} Robin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''), Céline (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
!!Tactician and Grandmaster
The Tactician and its Class Change, Grandmaster, are a class line introduced in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''. They are more or less made specifically for the Avatar of ''Awakening'' and their children, though [=SpotPass=], [=StreetPass=], and DLC characters are capable of using Second Seals to reclass into the line. The Tactician and Grandmaster are powerful {{Magic Knight}}s that use swords and tomes, have overall high stats, and can support allies thanks to a couple of exclusive support Skills such as "Solidarity" and "Rally Spectrum".\\\
The Grandmaster returns in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' as a special class obtained by using a Fell Brand (received from completing ''Hidden Truths 1'' DLC or using the Robin Toys/{{amiibo}}) on a male unit. It does not Class Change to or from anything, but otherwise functions the same as it did in ''Awakening''.\\\
It returns once again in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'' as Céline's version of the '''Noble''' class: while it no longer has any of its support skills as a result of being standardized to be more in line with the rest of the game's classes, its promotion into '''Vidame''' grants access to staves.
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Robin, Morgan [[note]]Morgan needs to have specific mothers/fathers to start out as Tactician, otherwise they will join as a different class (based on their non-Robin parent) and need to reclass into it.[[/note]], DLC Katarina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Toys/{{amiibo}} Robin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''), Céline (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
to:
!!Tactician
!!Emperor (and variants)
If the final boss isn't a dark magician, a dragon, or a god, this is what they'll be -- a king decked out in enormous armour or finery, dwarfing every other unit (except maybe Manaketes/laguz) in sheer size, wielding a huge AncestralWeapon, and
The Tactician and its Class Change, Grandmaster, are
It returns once again in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'' as Céline's version of the '''Noble''' class: while it no longer has any of its support skills as a result of being standardized to be more in line with the rest of the game's classes, its promotion into '''Vidame''' grants access to staves.
Changed line(s) 1056,1062 (click to see context) from:
* AlwaysMale: In ''Fates'', Grandmaster is a male-only class.
* JackOfAllStats: Somewhere between this and MasterOfAll in ''Awakening'', where their stats are generally high in all areas but not necessarily the best possible. They're straighter examples in their subsequent appearances [[ProtagonistPowerUpPrivileges where the class is no longer attached to the main character]].
* MagicKnight: They use both swords and tomes and have good Strength and Magic. In ''Awakening'' they are equally proficient with Swords and Tomes (both top at "A"), while the ''Fates'' Grandmaster and ''Engage'' Vidame lean more on the Magic side with a higher max Tome rank (Swords go to "B" while Tomes go to "A").
* RedMage: As a Vidame, Céline can use staves in addition to swords and tomes.
* SpellBlade: In all of its appearances, the class line is capable of learning [[PlayingWithFire Ignis]], a skill that uses half of their Strength or Magic to boost the other stat when they attack, depending on whether they're using a physical or magical attack.
* StatusBuff: Their "Rally Spectrum" Skill gives a one-turn boost to all stats for every ally within 3 (''Awakening'') or 4 (''Fates'') spaces.
* SupportPartyMember: They get a number of Skills to buff or otherwise assist allies. "Solidarity" increases Crit rate and Dodge by 10 for adjacent allies, "Tactical Advice" provides a Hit rate bonus for the lead unit of an Attack Stance, and "Rally Spectrum" provides a one-turn StatusBuff to all allies within 3/4 spaces.
* JackOfAllStats: Somewhere between this and MasterOfAll in ''Awakening'', where their stats are generally high in all areas but not necessarily the best possible. They're straighter examples in their subsequent appearances [[ProtagonistPowerUpPrivileges where the class is no longer attached to the main character]].
* MagicKnight: They use both swords and tomes and have good Strength and Magic. In ''Awakening'' they are equally proficient with Swords and Tomes (both top at "A"), while the ''Fates'' Grandmaster and ''Engage'' Vidame lean more on the Magic side with a higher max Tome rank (Swords go to "B" while Tomes go to "A").
* RedMage: As a Vidame, Céline can use staves in addition to swords and tomes.
* SpellBlade: In all of its appearances, the class line is capable of learning [[PlayingWithFire Ignis]], a skill that uses half of their Strength or Magic to boost the other stat when they attack, depending on whether they're using a physical or magical attack.
* StatusBuff: Their "Rally Spectrum" Skill gives a one-turn boost to all stats for every ally within 3 (''Awakening'') or 4 (''Fates'') spaces.
* SupportPartyMember: They get a number of Skills to buff or otherwise assist allies. "Solidarity" increases Crit rate and Dodge by 10 for adjacent allies, "Tactical Advice" provides a Hit rate bonus for the lead unit of an Attack Stance, and "Rally Spectrum" provides a one-turn StatusBuff to all allies within 3/4 spaces.
to:
* AlwaysMale: In ''Fates'', Grandmaster AncestralWeapon: All of them wield personal weapons.
* ArmorAndMagicDontMix: Inverted with The Baron class and Jugdral Emperor class. Both classes are even more armored than the General class, they also have the most powerful magic abilities around.
* {{BFS}}: As fitting their position, their weapons are often very large. Averted by Arvis, who uses the magic tome [[PlayingWithFire Valflame]] instead (though he ''does'' have a Silver Blade, the strongest non-legendary sword, [[OrnamentalWeapon in his inventory]], even if he was hacked to not be able to use Valflame, Arvis will not use the Silver Blade).
* ContractualBossImmunity: To prevent them from being easily defeated, they usually have skills that negate weapon effectiveness against their movement type, or their personal classes don't have those weaknesses in the first place.
* DegradedBoss: Barons are encountered as generic enemies in the final chapter of ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' after the more powerful Emperor class is introduced in the story. The final arena opponent of the same chapter belongs to the Emperor class as well.
* TheEmperor: The majority of character in these classes are the ruler of amale-only hostile empire or kingdom.
* {{Expy}}: Much like the Lords, they have unique classes that are basically based off of existing classes, but individualized to fit the character using the class.
** King Zephiel, Emperor Hardin, Nohrian King Garon, and Emperor Edelgard all have similarities to the General class, be it through similar stat lines, being armored, or both. Zephiel uses a sword while Generals in his game can't, while the Black Knight is also related to the third tier Marshall class by proxy.
** Emperor Arvis is basically a souped up Baron class. The Baron class itself is also similar to the General class but with access to magic, and is used by Raydrik.
** King Ashnard is essentially a better version of the Wyvern Lord class, but Ashnard uses a sword rather than a lance.
** Walhart the Conqueror is very similar to the Great Knight class.
*JackOfAllStats: Somewhere between FinalBoss: Often your last opponent, but there'll frequently be a TrueFinalBoss after them.
* {{Foil}}: Essentially the opposite of the Lord class, being classes that are mostly exclusive to one particular character in the games they appear in, gets unique (possibly legendary) weapons to wield, and is the leader of their army, but the Lord class belongs to the main playable character while the Emperor class belongs to the game's main villain (or one of them, though typically one that is working in the foreground).
* LargeAndInCharge: Their sprites tend to dwarf the others in the game. Usually, this is a product of having bulky, intimidating armor.
* LightningBruiser: They have fantastic, if not outright maxed, stats across the board. This includes Speed, in spite of their huge size andMasterOfAll heavy armor.
* MagicKnight: Barons and Jugdral's Emperors can use anima magic in addition to all physical weapons.
* PromotedToPlayable: Twice, first with Walhart in ''Awakening'',where then Edelgard in ''Three Houses''.
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: The majority of them are authority figures who are much more powerful then theirstats are generally high in all areas but not necessarily the best possible. troops.
* TinTyrant: They'restraighter examples almost always covered in their subsequent appearances [[ProtagonistPowerUpPrivileges where the class is no longer attached to the main character]].
armor.
*MagicKnight: They use both swords and tomes and have good Strength and Magic. In ''Awakening'' they are equally proficient with Swords and Tomes (both top at "A"), while the ''Fates'' Grandmaster and ''Engage'' Vidame lean more on the Magic side with a higher max Tome rank (Swords go to "B" while Tomes go to "A").
* RedMage: As a Vidame, CélineWalkingArmory: Arvis can use staves in addition to swords all weapon types but Dark and tomes.
* SpellBlade: In all of its appearances, the class line is capable of learning [[PlayingWithFire Ignis]], a skill that uses half of their Strength or Magic to boost the other stat when they attack, depending on whether they're using a physical or magical attack.
* StatusBuff: Their "Rally Spectrum" Skill gives a one-turn boost to all stats for every ally within 3 (''Awakening'') or 4 (''Fates'') spaces.
* SupportPartyMember: They get a number of Skills to buff or otherwise assist allies. "Solidarity" increases Crit rate and Dodge by 10 for adjacent allies, "Tactical Advice" provides a Hit rate bonus for the lead unit of an Attack Stance, and "Rally Spectrum" provides a one-turn StatusBuff to all allies within 3/4 spaces.Light Magic.
* ArmorAndMagicDontMix: Inverted with The Baron class and Jugdral Emperor class. Both classes are even more armored than the General class, they also have the most powerful magic abilities around.
* {{BFS}}: As fitting their position, their weapons are often very large. Averted by Arvis, who uses the magic tome [[PlayingWithFire Valflame]] instead (though he ''does'' have a Silver Blade, the strongest non-legendary sword, [[OrnamentalWeapon in his inventory]], even if he was hacked to not be able to use Valflame, Arvis will not use the Silver Blade).
* ContractualBossImmunity: To prevent them from being easily defeated, they usually have skills that negate weapon effectiveness against their movement type, or their personal classes don't have those weaknesses in the first place.
* DegradedBoss: Barons are encountered as generic enemies in the final chapter of ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' after the more powerful Emperor class is introduced in the story. The final arena opponent of the same chapter belongs to the Emperor class as well.
* TheEmperor: The majority of character in these classes are the ruler of a
* {{Expy}}: Much like the Lords, they have unique classes that are basically based off of existing classes, but individualized to fit the character using the class.
** King Zephiel, Emperor Hardin, Nohrian King Garon, and Emperor Edelgard all have similarities to the General class, be it through similar stat lines, being armored, or both. Zephiel uses a sword while Generals in his game can't, while the Black Knight is also related to the third tier Marshall class by proxy.
** Emperor Arvis is basically a souped up Baron class. The Baron class itself is also similar to the General class but with access to magic, and is used by Raydrik.
** King Ashnard is essentially a better version of the Wyvern Lord class, but Ashnard uses a sword rather than a lance.
** Walhart the Conqueror is very similar to the Great Knight class.
*
* {{Foil}}: Essentially the opposite of the Lord class, being classes that are mostly exclusive to one particular character in the games they appear in, gets unique (possibly legendary) weapons to wield, and is the leader of their army, but the Lord class belongs to the main playable character while the Emperor class belongs to the game's main villain (or one of them, though typically one that is working in the foreground).
* LargeAndInCharge: Their sprites tend to dwarf the others in the game. Usually, this is a product of having bulky, intimidating armor.
* LightningBruiser: They have fantastic, if not outright maxed, stats across the board. This includes Speed, in spite of their huge size and
* MagicKnight: Barons and Jugdral's Emperors can use anima magic in addition to all physical weapons.
* PromotedToPlayable: Twice, first with Walhart in ''Awakening'',
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: The majority of them are authority figures who are much more powerful then their
* TinTyrant: They're
*
* RedMage: As a Vidame, Céline
* SpellBlade: In all of its appearances, the class line is capable of learning [[PlayingWithFire Ignis]], a skill that uses half of their Strength or Magic to boost the other stat when they attack, depending on whether they're using a physical or magical attack.
* StatusBuff: Their "Rally Spectrum" Skill gives a one-turn boost to all stats for every ally within 3 (''Awakening'') or 4 (''Fates'') spaces.
* SupportPartyMember: They get a number of Skills to buff or otherwise assist allies. "Solidarity" increases Crit rate and Dodge by 10 for adjacent allies, "Tactical Advice" provides a Hit rate bonus for the lead unit of an Attack Stance, and "Rally Spectrum" provides a one-turn StatusBuff to all allies within 3/4 spaces.
Changed line(s) 1065,1076 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Brawler]]
!!Brawler
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/783g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Brawlers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/892g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Grapplers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/986g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:War Master in ''Three Houses'']]
A new class series introduced in ''Three Houses''. Brawlers and their Advanced and Master Class promotions, the '''Grappler''' and '''War Master''', primarily use axes and gauntlets.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Raphael, Balthus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
!!Brawler
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/783g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Brawlers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/892g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Grapplers in ''Three Houses'']]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/986g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:War Master in ''Three Houses'']]
A new class series introduced in ''Three Houses''. Brawlers and their Advanced and Master Class promotions, the '''Grappler''' and '''War Master''', primarily use axes and gauntlets.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Raphael, Balthus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
to:
!!Brawler
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/783g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Brawlers
!!Monsters
In addition to the usual human and draconic enemies, ''Gaiden'', ''The Sacred Stones'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' contain a wide variety of monstrous enemies. They come in the following types:
!! Introduced in ''Gaiden'' and ''Shadows of Valentia''
* Revenants/Entombed: Zombie-like creatures that attack with claws. They have high HP but extremely low stats otherwise. In addition to appearing in both ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones'', they reappeared in ''Fire Emblem Awakening'' as a type of Risen and the only monster class in that game. ''Echoes'' introduces a stronger [[EvilIsBigger and bigger]] variant for the Revenant known as a Dracul and what has to be the monster equivalent of an overclass for the Entombed called the Tomb Lord.
* Bonewalkers: Skeletal soldiers that wield a variety of weapon types. Their advanced equivalent is known as the Lich in ''Gaiden'' and the Wight in ''Sacred Stones''. ''Echoes'' additionally introduces two stronger variants: the Titan (a giant and stronger axe-wielding version of the Lich) and the Deimos (an axe-wielding shaman arisen that wields potent purging fire).
* Mogalls (Bigls in the Japanese version): Small [[{{Oculothorax}} floating eyes]] that wield Dark magic. In ''Sacred Stones'' they have an advanced version called Arch Mogalls and in ''Echoes'' the Balor appears in the former's place.
* Fiends: Demonic Barons exclusive to ''Gaiden'' and its remake. The Guardian introduced in Echoes is a redder, more powerful variant of the Fiend.
* Gargoyles: Flying creatures wielding lances. Their advanced equivalent is the Balrog in ''Gaiden'' and the Deathgoyle in ''Sacred Stones''. Stronger than even the Deathgoyle is the Garuda introduced in ''Echoes''.
!! Introduced in ''The Sacred Stones''
* Baels/Elder Baels: Spiderlike creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. They attack with deadly claws that may sometimes be poisoned.
* Tarvos/Maelduins: Centaurlike creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. They wield axes, and the "advanced" Maelduins also use bows.
* Mauthe Doogs/Gwyllgis: Speedy demon dogs that attack with fangs. Exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''.
* Gorgons: Scaly creatures hatching from eggs that wield a variety of nasty dark magic spells. Exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''.
* Cyclopes: Massive axe-wielding creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. Their HP cap is higher than that of other units.
* Draco Zombies (Dragon Zombies in the Japanese version, Necrodragons in ''Shadows of Valentia''): [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Like dragons, only deader]]. In ''Gaiden'' and its remake, they have a "advanced" version called White Dragons. ''Echoes'' further introduces the Fafnir, a monstrous, ancient dragon that has survived since antiquity.
* Phantom (Spirit Warriors in the Japanese version): A spirit exclusive to ''Sacred Stones'', they are summoned by a Summoner or Necromancer.
!! Introduced in ''Fates''
* Faceless: Humanoid creatures made from dark magic, debuting in ''Fates''. In contrast to the Revenants[=/=]Entombed, they are rather large and bulky, and attack with their fists instead of their claws.
* Stoneborn: Moving statues who debuted in ''Fates''. They attack by launching rocks from afar.
* Automaton: Puppets moving by clockwork who debuted in ''Fates''. They attack with saws and yumi (eastern bows) and is the first monster class capable of using both normal and monster weapons.
* Empty Vessel: [[spoiler:Garon]]'s true form in ''Conquest'', it is a slime monster made of water that attacks with axes. Debuting in ''Fates'', it is the first monster class seen since ''Sacred Stones'' to only use a normal weapon instead of an enemy-only monster weapon.
!! Introduced in ''Three
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/892g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Grapplers
* Black Beast: A crazed [[spoiler:transformed Miklan when the Lance of Ruin's crest stone consumed him for his lack of a crest]].
* Wandering Beast: A mad creature that lurks in
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/986g1t00.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:War Master in ''Three Houses'']]
A new class series introduced in ''Three Houses''. Brawlers and
* Hegemon Husk: An emperor's corpse hellbent on world conquest. [[spoiler:Edelgard's OneWingedAngel transformation on Azure Moon, utilizing her twin crests to their
* Wild Demonic Beasts: A feral Demonic Beast spotted in the
->'''Playable characters
* Experimental Demonic Beast: [[spoiler:A human-transformed Beast by the power of crest stones embedded on their forehead.]]
* Demonic Beast: Demonic Beasts under the control of the [[spoiler:Imperial]] army. Upgrades of the Experimental Demonic Beast.
* Flying Demonic Beast: Agile flying Demonic Beasts.
* Altered Demonic Beast: Demonic Beasts with an anti-magic armor, granting them immunity to magic damage.
* Giant Demonic Beast: A gigantic version of human-transformed beasts. [[spoiler:Dedue]] takes on this
* Umbral Beast: A powerful monster created by the Chalice of Beginnings in the ''Cindered Shadows'' expansion. [[spoiler:Aelfric's transformation after he is absorbed by the Chalice and fused with Sitri's corpse.]]
* Golem: Mechanized automatons in the service of the Church of Seiros.
* Altered Golem: Stronger golems wield by the Church of Seiros. They are immune to magic.
* Guardian Golem: A unique golem tasked with protecting the Chalice of Beginnings in the ''Cindered Shadows'' expansion.
* Titanus: A mechanized weapon created by Agarthan technology.
* White Beast: [[spoiler:Cardinals of the Church transformed by the will of the Immaculate One]].
* Lord of the Lake: A giant tortoise-like monster that lives in the lake. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Indech]].
* Lord of the Desert: A giant bird-like monster that lives in the desert. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Macuil]].
* The Immaculate One: A giant white-dragon revered in the teachings of the Church of Seiros. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Seiros/Rhea]].
* Giant Bird: A bird that grew enormous due to magic.
* Giant Crawler: A worm that grew enormous due to magic.
* Giant Wolf: A wolf that grew enormous due to magic.
!! Introduced in ''Engage''
All three of these types have a Fabrication[[note]]Refered to as Phantom ingame[[/note]] variant, which are aligned with the Divine Dragons and Emblems, and a Corrupted variant, which are aligned with the Fell Dragons.
* Wyrm: Large but slow-moving, draconic creatures that have a large attack range that allows them to shoot breaths from afar.
* Wyvern: DLC-Exclusive. They are undead wyverns that spit out powerful breaths. They also change the terrain of their surroundings, with the Fabrication variant creating frost, and the Corrupted variant creating miasma. The corrupted variant also have a wider attack range than its Fabrication counterpart.
* Wolf: DLC-Exclusive. They are undead wolves that bite with poisonous fangs and, like ordinary wolves, fight in packs.
Changed line(s) 1078,1088 (click to see context) from:
* ActionInitiative: Upon mastering War Master, they gain Quick Riposte, allowing them to deal follow-up attacks if they are attacked and above their HP threshold. Also, unlike in ''Heroes'', the attacker will not follow-up attack if the unit is equipped with Quick Riposte.
* AlwaysMale: Brawlers, Grapplers and War Masters are male-only.
* BareFistedMonk: Their primary weapon as indicated by the skill "Unarmed Combat". Grapplers also gain the skill Fistfaire, which increases their damage when wielding gauntlets.
* ChainedByFashion: Grapplers in ''Three Houses'' have chains attached to their armor.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Brawlers and War Masters can use axes and gauntlets.
* CriticalHitClass: War Masters get Crit+20 as their class ability. As they are proficient in axes, this makes them very similar to Berserkers in the other games.
* LightningBruiser: War Masters have stats and growths on par with Wyvern Riders, paired with an addition of a Crit+20, making them one of the more dangerous footlocked units. Fighting one with Killer Knuckles is just asking for trouble.
* MageKiller: While the class does not offer Resistance growth bonuses, Grapplers can learn Tomebreaker, which increases their Hit and Avoid against Tome-wielding users.
* SecretArt:
** Grapplers have Fierce Iron Fist, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to them, where they deal three consecutive attacks.
** War Master's Strike, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to War Masters. It grants effective bonus damage against all foes.
* AlwaysMale: Brawlers, Grapplers and War Masters are male-only.
* BareFistedMonk: Their primary weapon as indicated by the skill "Unarmed Combat". Grapplers also gain the skill Fistfaire, which increases their damage when wielding gauntlets.
* ChainedByFashion: Grapplers in ''Three Houses'' have chains attached to their armor.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Brawlers and War Masters can use axes and gauntlets.
* CriticalHitClass: War Masters get Crit+20 as their class ability. As they are proficient in axes, this makes them very similar to Berserkers in the other games.
* LightningBruiser: War Masters have stats and growths on par with Wyvern Riders, paired with an addition of a Crit+20, making them one of the more dangerous footlocked units. Fighting one with Killer Knuckles is just asking for trouble.
* MageKiller: While the class does not offer Resistance growth bonuses, Grapplers can learn Tomebreaker, which increases their Hit and Avoid against Tome-wielding users.
* SecretArt:
** Grapplers have Fierce Iron Fist, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to them, where they deal three consecutive attacks.
** War Master's Strike, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to War Masters. It grants effective bonus damage against all foes.
to:
* ActionInitiative: Upon mastering War Master, AchillesHeel: All monsters are weak against the Bishop's Slayer skill, the Falcon Knight's Banish skill, and the Sacred Twin weapons (except for Gleipnir). Giant Crawlers are able to negate this weakness as a latent ability when down to their last healthbars [[spoiler:and Hegemon Husk Edelgard negates her monster weakness from the outset of fighting her.]] In addition, Gargoyles/Deathgoyles/Garuda, Draco Zombies/White Dragons/Fafnirs, Giant Birds,and White Beasts are treated as flying units and are thereby weak to bows and the Wind Sword, and Tarvos/Maelduins are treated as mounted units and are weak to weapons that do additional damage to them. Lastly, all Demonic Beast variants (wild, exp. base, winged, and giant), the Lord of the Lake, Lord of the Desert, White Beasts, and The Immaculate One are all dragons meaning they gain Quick Riposte, allowing them also share a weakness to deal follow-up anti-dragon weaponry and abilities.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: Dracozombie's attacksif completely ignore defense so watch your units that have less HP than their attack. [[spoiler:The Immaculate One's Staggering Blow in Silver Snow, Hoarfrost, completely ignore any defenses.]]
* {{BFS}}: A Titanus carries one called a Giant Katar, wielding it in one hand and it's capable of firing [[SwordBeam energy beams]] from it for ranged combat.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Baels and Elder Baels, which are absolutely ''huge'' spiders.
* BlowYouAway: The Lord of the Desert utilizes magical wind to attack his foes, with his bird-like design helping the mofit. Giant Wolves and Giant Crawlers will also make use of this for their staggering blows--quickly spinning or sweeping in place to generate a harsh gust of wind, and Winged Demonic Beasts generate sharp wind crescents for ranged combat.
* BossInMookClothing: Draco Zombies (and White Dragons in ''Gaiden''). In fact, unless you do [[BonusDungeon the Lagdou Ruins]] in their entirety ''as soon'' as they become available, the first one you encounter in ''Sacred Stones'' will actually ''be'' a boss, complete with unique sprite! [[spoiler:Technically speaking, though, his class is still listed as Manakete...]]
* BreathWeapon: Draco Zombies usually attack with a dark breath. In ''Three Houses'', all Demonic Beast variants save for the Giant Demonic Beasts are capable of breathing fire (or poison for the Wild Demonic Beasts), and White Beasts on the other hand sport magic, holy blue flames instead.[[spoiler:The Immaculate One can also exple holy blue flames or a vaporizing beam of light).]]
* CastingAShadow: Mogalls/Arch Mogalls and Gorgons. Draco Zombies also have wretched air, a stream of fetid dark flames spewed at their target.
* {{Cyclops}}: The fittingly named [[ClassicalCyclops Cyclops]] in ''Sacred Stones'', which is one of the more powerful monsters. ''Echoes'' redesigns the Lich as well as introduces the Titan and Deimos to have this look; the artbook suggests that the Lich and Titan respectively had the heads of one-eyed goats or bulls while the Deimos wore a sone-eyed monster's skull for a mask.
* DamageReduction: The Titanus and the Lord of the Lake are both outfitted with Pavise and Aegis as long as their barriers are up, making it even more difficult to take them down.
* DracoLich: The fittingly named Draco Zombies are among the toughest foes in all three of their appearances which consist of ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* DishingOutDirt: A Stoneborn attacks by hurling out giant boulders from the cavity under its mask. Giant Crawlers, Giant Wolves, and Giant Demonic Beasts will also pick up giant rocks and hurl them at their enemies as ranged attacks.
* EvilCounterpart: Several Monster classes have human counterparts. The Titanus can function as one to the Golem and Altered Golem, with the latter two having close ties to the Chruch of Seiros while the former is employed by one of the two church's enemy factions[[spoiler:--Those who Slither in the Dark]]. In ''Engage'', the Fell-Dragon aligned corrupted variants of this game's monsters serve as this to the fabrication variants of them, as the latter are created by the Divine Dragons and Emblems.
* FeatherFlechettes: Giant Birds will fire off their feathers as their ranged attack and also [[FlechetteStorm unleash a barrage of them]] as their staggering blow.
* FragileSpeedster: Mauthe Doogs and Gwyllgis are the monster counterparts to the Myrmidon line. Also, the giant animals in ''Three Houses'' are considerably faster and harder to hit compared to most other monsters of the Demonic Beast build, but their barriers are more easily broken and they typically do not hit as hard.
* GeoEffects: Phantoms completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties because they areattacked ethereal beings with no solid, tangible forms.
* GiantMook: Monsters in ''Three Houses'' are large, take up to at least 4 spaces rather than 1 space like most units. Their giant size can either block or be blocked by units, they can be roadblocked by obstacles or units that have only one space gap. [[spoiler:Hegemon Husk Edelgard is the exception to this trope, being no bigger than a regular unit map-wise.]]
* HealingFactor: The Lord of the Lake possesses this ability in addition to its myriad of defensive skills andabove the [[LastChanceHitPoint Miracle]] ability.
* {{Hellhound}}: The Mauthe Doogs and the Gwyllgis in ''Sacred Stones''. The latter had three heads instead of one and were even called Cerberus in the Japanese version.
* HumongousMecha: The Golems, Altered Golems, and Titanuses are massive automatons with equally large armaments (lances of light for the golems and giant katars for the Titanuses).
* IFightForTheStrongestSide: Faceless are created with no minds of theirHP threshold. Also, unlike in ''Heroes'', own and simply act on primal bestial instinct to attack others. Practitioners of Dark Magic are able to bend and enslave them to their will. Such people include Iago, Leo, and Rhajat.
* LastChanceHitPoint: The Lord of theattacker Lake and White Beasts possess Miracle which may save them from an otherwise fatal blow, ensuring that they will not follow-up be easy to take down )especially the White Beasts with their high Luck stat factoring into it).
* TheLegionsOfHell: Dolth, a boss in the original ''Gaiden'' says in his MagicalIncantation that he's summoning the Dracozombies from Hell. Fiends are described as from the nether realm in ''Shadows of Valentia''.
* LightIsNotGood: The White Beasts are frenzied dragons that expel holy blue flames as their attack. The same can be said of the Golems and Altered Golems [[spoiler:should Rhea descend into insanity]]. [[spoiler:The Immaculate One, whether willingly antagonistic or degenerated, also counts with both the holy blue flames or her vaporizing light breath.]]
* MakingASplash: The Lord of the Lake utilizes magic water to attackif the unit is equipped with Quick Riposte.
* AlwaysMale: Brawlers, Grapplersfoes and War Masters is suitably designed after a turtle, a potentially aquatic creature.
* MightyGlacier: Cyclopes, who wield strong axes and has high defenses and bloated HP, they aremale-only.
* BareFistedMonk: Their primary weapon as indicated by the skill "Unarmed Combat". Grapplers also gain the skill Fistfaire,very slow to which increases they can be compared to Knights. Although their damage when wielding gauntlets.
stat caps tend towards LightningBruiser with high Speed and Skill, few Cyclops enemies get close to those caps. The majority of monsters in ''Three Houses'' besides the giant animals are typically like this.
*ChainedByFashion: Grapplers MultipleLifeBars: The monsters in ''Three Houses'' have chains attached to their armor.
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Brawlersseveral health bars. With each depleted bar, they may gain stat boosts and War Masters can an additional skill.
* NoSell: Altered Demonic Beasts and Altered Golems have armor that grants them complete immunity to magic damage until the armor breaks.
* NotUsingTheZWord: Averted in the Japanese version, where Revenants are called Zombies.
* {{Oculothorax}}: Mogalls, Arch Mogalls, and Balors are giant eyeballs with tentacles.
* OneHitPointWonder: Phantoms have only 1 HP. If they are summoned with a Devil Axe equipped, it is possible for it to die attacking before an enemy attacks.
* OurCentaursAreDifferent: Tarvos and Maelduin appear like traditional savage centaurs except with dark grey/black skin. They use axes andgauntlets.
bows.
*CriticalHitClass: War Masters get Crit+20 as OurDragonsAreDifferent: The Demonic Beasts are dragon-like creatures, thus vulnerable to anti-dragon attacks. [[spoiler:Indech and Macuil's dragon form is based on a turtle and bird, respectively.]]
* OurMonstersAreDifferent: They appear to lack sentience of theirclass ability. As own, and mindlessly carry out the bidding of their summoner.
* PermanentlyMissableContent: Phantoms cannot trade, so if it kills an enemy and obtains an item from it, the item will be inaccessible to other units.
* PinataEnemy: Revenants and Entombed are fairly unimposing aside from their large stores of HP, but give out great amounts of EXP -- the latter is pretty much a guaranteed level-up for an base-class unit. (This has carried over to ''Awakening''.) Also, Gorgon Eggs are immobile and incapable of attacking and give out exactly 50 EXP when destroyed regardless of the attacking unit's level. Also, they start out with only a few HP and start healing every turn at a certain point, and if allowed to heal to full, they turn into [[GoddamnedBats Gorgons.]] Tomb Lords, introduced in ''Echoes'', areproficient in axes, this more of a downplayed example as while they do give out large amounts of EXP, they're also difficult to take down and are easily capable of killing just about anyone.
* PoisonousPerson: Wild Demonic Beasts are poisonous creatures, they have the Poison and Poison Strike skills. Some Tomb Lords may also possess venin claws, which on top of their scary strength makes themvery similar to Berserkers more dangerous.
* RoarBeforeBeating: Monster units in ''Three Houses'' do this as they prepare their Staggering Blow--a meaty {{area of effect}} attack that can hit from 8, 10, or 12 squares in two rows of four/five or three rows of four up in front of it and cannot be countered, typically reducing theother games.
* LightningBruiser: War Masters havevictims' stats and growths on par with Wyvern Riders, paired with an addition of a Crit+20, making them one of the more dangerous footlocked units. Fighting one with Killer Knuckles is just asking for trouble.
* MageKiller: While the class does not offer Resistance growth bonuses, Grapplers can learn Tomebreaker, which increases their Hit and Avoidinflicting various status effects (including against Tome-wielding users.
allied units). All opposing factions had best fell the monster, break its barries, or get out of dodge before then.
*SecretArt:
** GrapplersSandWorm: The Giant Crawlers are earthworms jacked up to a huge size and are capable of moving through the much-maligned desert tiles with no issue.
* SelfDuplication: Mogalls and Balors possess the ability to make copies of themselves in ''Gaiden'' and ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia''.
* SinisterScimitar: Melee Bonewalkers use this in both ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* SinisterScythe: Gargoyles and their relatives wield scythes in ''Gaiden''.
* SquishyWizard: Mogalls and Arch Mogalls.
* SummonMagic: Phantoms can be summoned by the Summoner and Necromancer Classes in ''Sacred Stones''. Certain player and enemy units could also summon units as AI allies.
* SuperToughness: The Lord of the Lake and the Lord of the Desert (as well as The Immaculate One) possess Ancient Dragonskin, naturally halving all incoming damage, and so long as their barriers are up they haveFierce Iron Fist, a mastery Combat Art exclusive access to them, where they deal three consecutive attacks.
** War Master's Strike, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to War Masters. It grants effective bonusDragon-Scale Wall that reduces the damage even further by a whopping ''70%''.
* TakenForGranite: Gorgon enemies can cast a spell called "Stone" which petrifies your units. Petrified units cannot move and any attack againstall foes.them will have a 100% chance of hitting and a 30% chance of being a critical hit.
* WasOnceAMan: Many of the monster classes in ''Three Houses'' [[spoiler:were humans transformed by crest stones. Especially, the Black Beast from Miklan, the Wandering Beast from Maurice, the Giant Demonic Beast from Dedue, the cardinals turned White Beasts, and Edelgard as the Hegemon Husk.]]
* WolfpackBoss: The Lagdou Ruins end with a stage containing eight Draco Zombies and no other enemies.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: Dracozombie's attacks
* {{BFS}}: A Titanus carries one called a Giant Katar, wielding it in one hand and it's capable of firing [[SwordBeam energy beams]] from it for ranged combat.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Baels and Elder Baels, which are absolutely ''huge'' spiders.
* BlowYouAway: The Lord of the Desert utilizes magical wind to attack his foes, with his bird-like design helping the mofit. Giant Wolves and Giant Crawlers will also make use of this for their staggering blows--quickly spinning or sweeping in place to generate a harsh gust of wind, and Winged Demonic Beasts generate sharp wind crescents for ranged combat.
* BossInMookClothing: Draco Zombies (and White Dragons in ''Gaiden''). In fact, unless you do [[BonusDungeon the Lagdou Ruins]] in their entirety ''as soon'' as they become available, the first one you encounter in ''Sacred Stones'' will actually ''be'' a boss, complete with unique sprite! [[spoiler:Technically speaking, though, his class is still listed as Manakete...]]
* BreathWeapon: Draco Zombies usually attack with a dark breath. In ''Three Houses'', all Demonic Beast variants save for the Giant Demonic Beasts are capable of breathing fire (or poison for the Wild Demonic Beasts), and White Beasts on the other hand sport magic, holy blue flames instead.[[spoiler:The Immaculate One can also exple holy blue flames or a vaporizing beam of light).]]
* CastingAShadow: Mogalls/Arch Mogalls and Gorgons. Draco Zombies also have wretched air, a stream of fetid dark flames spewed at their target.
* {{Cyclops}}: The fittingly named [[ClassicalCyclops Cyclops]] in ''Sacred Stones'', which is one of the more powerful monsters. ''Echoes'' redesigns the Lich as well as introduces the Titan and Deimos to have this look; the artbook suggests that the Lich and Titan respectively had the heads of one-eyed goats or bulls while the Deimos wore a sone-eyed monster's skull for a mask.
* DamageReduction: The Titanus and the Lord of the Lake are both outfitted with Pavise and Aegis as long as their barriers are up, making it even more difficult to take them down.
* DracoLich: The fittingly named Draco Zombies are among the toughest foes in all three of their appearances which consist of ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* DishingOutDirt: A Stoneborn attacks by hurling out giant boulders from the cavity under its mask. Giant Crawlers, Giant Wolves, and Giant Demonic Beasts will also pick up giant rocks and hurl them at their enemies as ranged attacks.
* EvilCounterpart: Several Monster classes have human counterparts. The Titanus can function as one to the Golem and Altered Golem, with the latter two having close ties to the Chruch of Seiros while the former is employed by one of the two church's enemy factions[[spoiler:--Those who Slither in the Dark]]. In ''Engage'', the Fell-Dragon aligned corrupted variants of this game's monsters serve as this to the fabrication variants of them, as the latter are created by the Divine Dragons and Emblems.
* FeatherFlechettes: Giant Birds will fire off their feathers as their ranged attack and also [[FlechetteStorm unleash a barrage of them]] as their staggering blow.
* FragileSpeedster: Mauthe Doogs and Gwyllgis are the monster counterparts to the Myrmidon line. Also, the giant animals in ''Three Houses'' are considerably faster and harder to hit compared to most other monsters of the Demonic Beast build, but their barriers are more easily broken and they typically do not hit as hard.
* GeoEffects: Phantoms completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties because they are
* GiantMook: Monsters in ''Three Houses'' are large, take up to at least 4 spaces rather than 1 space like most units. Their giant size can either block or be blocked by units, they can be roadblocked by obstacles or units that have only one space gap. [[spoiler:Hegemon Husk Edelgard is the exception to this trope, being no bigger than a regular unit map-wise.]]
* HealingFactor: The Lord of the Lake possesses this ability in addition to its myriad of defensive skills and
* {{Hellhound}}: The Mauthe Doogs and the Gwyllgis in ''Sacred Stones''. The latter had three heads instead of one and were even called Cerberus in the Japanese version.
* HumongousMecha: The Golems, Altered Golems, and Titanuses are massive automatons with equally large armaments (lances of light for the golems and giant katars for the Titanuses).
* IFightForTheStrongestSide: Faceless are created with no minds of their
* LastChanceHitPoint: The Lord of the
* TheLegionsOfHell: Dolth, a boss in the original ''Gaiden'' says in his MagicalIncantation that he's summoning the Dracozombies from Hell. Fiends are described as from the nether realm in ''Shadows of Valentia''.
* LightIsNotGood: The White Beasts are frenzied dragons that expel holy blue flames as their attack. The same can be said of the Golems and Altered Golems [[spoiler:should Rhea descend into insanity]]. [[spoiler:The Immaculate One, whether willingly antagonistic or degenerated, also counts with both the holy blue flames or her vaporizing light breath.]]
* MakingASplash: The Lord of the Lake utilizes magic water to attack
* AlwaysMale: Brawlers, Grapplers
* MightyGlacier: Cyclopes, who wield strong axes and has high defenses and bloated HP, they are
* BareFistedMonk: Their primary weapon as indicated by the skill "Unarmed Combat". Grapplers also gain the skill Fistfaire,
*
* ChoiceOfTwoWeapons: Brawlers
* NoSell: Altered Demonic Beasts and Altered Golems have armor that grants them complete immunity to magic damage until the armor breaks.
* NotUsingTheZWord: Averted in the Japanese version, where Revenants are called Zombies.
* {{Oculothorax}}: Mogalls, Arch Mogalls, and Balors are giant eyeballs with tentacles.
* OneHitPointWonder: Phantoms have only 1 HP. If they are summoned with a Devil Axe equipped, it is possible for it to die attacking before an enemy attacks.
* OurCentaursAreDifferent: Tarvos and Maelduin appear like traditional savage centaurs except with dark grey/black skin. They use axes and
*
* OurMonstersAreDifferent: They appear to lack sentience of their
* PermanentlyMissableContent: Phantoms cannot trade, so if it kills an enemy and obtains an item from it, the item will be inaccessible to other units.
* PinataEnemy: Revenants and Entombed are fairly unimposing aside from their large stores of HP, but give out great amounts of EXP -- the latter is pretty much a guaranteed level-up for an base-class unit. (This has carried over to ''Awakening''.) Also, Gorgon Eggs are immobile and incapable of attacking and give out exactly 50 EXP when destroyed regardless of the attacking unit's level. Also, they start out with only a few HP and start healing every turn at a certain point, and if allowed to heal to full, they turn into [[GoddamnedBats Gorgons.]] Tomb Lords, introduced in ''Echoes'', are
* PoisonousPerson: Wild Demonic Beasts are poisonous creatures, they have the Poison and Poison Strike skills. Some Tomb Lords may also possess venin claws, which on top of their scary strength makes them
* RoarBeforeBeating: Monster units in ''Three Houses'' do this as they prepare their Staggering Blow--a meaty {{area of effect}} attack that can hit from 8, 10, or 12 squares in two rows of four/five or three rows of four up in front of it and cannot be countered, typically reducing the
* LightningBruiser: War Masters have
* MageKiller: While the class does not offer Resistance growth bonuses, Grapplers can learn Tomebreaker, which increases their Hit and Avoid
*
** Grapplers
* SelfDuplication: Mogalls and Balors possess the ability to make copies of themselves in ''Gaiden'' and ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia''.
* SinisterScimitar: Melee Bonewalkers use this in both ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* SinisterScythe: Gargoyles and their relatives wield scythes in ''Gaiden''.
* SquishyWizard: Mogalls and Arch Mogalls.
* SummonMagic: Phantoms can be summoned by the Summoner and Necromancer Classes in ''Sacred Stones''. Certain player and enemy units could also summon units as AI allies.
* SuperToughness: The Lord of the Lake and the Lord of the Desert (as well as The Immaculate One) possess Ancient Dragonskin, naturally halving all incoming damage, and so long as their barriers are up they have
** War Master's Strike, a mastery Combat Art exclusive to War Masters. It grants effective bonus
* TakenForGranite: Gorgon enemies can cast a spell called "Stone" which petrifies your units. Petrified units cannot move and any attack against
* WasOnceAMan: Many of the monster classes in ''Three Houses'' [[spoiler:were humans transformed by crest stones. Especially, the Black Beast from Miklan, the Wandering Beast from Maurice, the Giant Demonic Beast from Dedue, the cardinals turned White Beasts, and Edelgard as the Hegemon Husk.]]
* WolfpackBoss: The Lagdou Ruins end with a stage containing eight Draco Zombies and no other enemies.
Changed line(s) 1091,1097 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:Manakete ''(Mamkute)'']]
!!Manakete ''(Mamkute)''
A common feature of most titles is the existence of the Manakete tribe, a species of sentient dragon shapeshifters who appear as humans with a few differences. They fight using dragonstones, rare gems which allow them to transform into their dragon form to attack.\\\
Related are the '''Dragon Laguz''' of the Tellius canon, which are pretty much the same thing but fitting into the laguz concept of that universe, and by extension the rest of the laguz. Another related group are the Dragons of ''Fates'', which are not called Manaketes, but have a similar, if slightly different history to them.\\\
-->'''Playable characters of this class:''' Bantu and Tiki (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Fae (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Myrrh (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Ena, Nasir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Gareth and Kurthnaga (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Nagi (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragon Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemNewMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Nowi, Nah and Tiki [[note]]a female Morgan born from any of them will have access to the class[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Corrin and Kana [[note]]While Corrin is '''the''' Lord of ''Fates'', and Kana and any of his/her possible siblings obtain the Nohr Prince/Princess class from Corrin, they are also technically Manaketes because they are the only ones that can use Dragonstones.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Nel, [[spoiler:Rafal]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'');
!!Manakete ''(Mamkute)''
A common feature of most titles is the existence of the Manakete tribe, a species of sentient dragon shapeshifters who appear as humans with a few differences. They fight using dragonstones, rare gems which allow them to transform into their dragon form to attack.\\\
Related are the '''Dragon Laguz''' of the Tellius canon, which are pretty much the same thing but fitting into the laguz concept of that universe, and by extension the rest of the laguz. Another related group are the Dragons of ''Fates'', which are not called Manaketes, but have a similar, if slightly different history to them.\\\
-->'''Playable characters of this class:''' Bantu and Tiki (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Fae (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Myrrh (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Ena, Nasir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Gareth and Kurthnaga (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Nagi (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragon Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemNewMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Nowi, Nah and Tiki [[note]]a female Morgan born from any of them will have access to the class[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Corrin and Kana [[note]]While Corrin is '''the''' Lord of ''Fates'', and Kana and any of his/her possible siblings obtain the Nohr Prince/Princess class from Corrin, they are also technically Manaketes because they are the only ones that can use Dragonstones.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Nel, [[spoiler:Rafal]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'');
to:
!!Manakete ''(Mamkute)''
A common feature
!!Overclasses
Overclasses are a new tier of
Related are
-->'''Playable characters of this class:''' Bantu and Tiki (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Fae (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Myrrh (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Ena, Nasir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Gareth and Kurthnaga (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Nagi (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragon Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemNewMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Nowi, Nah and Tiki [[note]]a female Morgan born from any of them will have access to the class[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Corrin and Kana [[note]]While Corrin is '''the''' Lord of ''Fates'', and Kana and any of his/her possible siblings obtain the Nohr Prince/Princess
* Conqueror: An advanced-tier for the
* Rigain: An advanced-tier for the Princess class, thus making it exclusive to Celica.
* Spartan: An advanced-tier for the Baron. The class is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: a warrior wearing armor based on what the Spartans wore.
* Enchantress: An advanced-tier for the Priestess class.
* Skogul: An advanced-tier for the Gold Knight class.
* Yasha: An advanced-tier for the Dread Fighter class.
* Harrier: An advanced-tier for the Falcon Knight class.
* Exemplar: An advanced-tier for the Saint class.
* Guru: An advanced-tier for the Sage class.
* Oliphantier: An advanced-tier for the Bow Knight class.
Changed line(s) 1099,1140 (click to see context) from:
* AchillesHeel: They are vulnerable to anti-dragon weapons like Wyrmslayer. Myrrh in ''Sacred Stones'' is also weak to bows as she is also a flying unit. In the Tellius games, Dragon Laguz are vulnerable to anti-Laguz weapons and thunder magic. In ''Awakening'', ''Fates'' and ''Engage'', even if they reclass outside of Manakete, they are still dragons because of their heritage and are still vulnerable to anti-dragon weapons and skills.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: In ''Mystery of the Emblem'', dragon's breaths completely ignores defense so any fragile units need to watch out for them as their attack will directly target their already low HP.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Most dragons did this in ''Fates'' by becoming spirits. The ones that didn't either went insane or have been able to escape such a fate.
* BreathWeapon: Dragons tend to attack with their breath. Averted with ''Fates'' where they physically maul their enemies.
* CastingAShadow:
** The [[NonIndicativeName Earth Dragons]] uses Dark Breath along with their earth-based abilities.
** The Silent Dragons of ''Fates'' utilizes dark powers combined with MakingASplash when fully corrupted.
** The Fell Dragons of ''Engage'' use shadowy breath attacks.
* CuteMonsterGirl: Only five recruitable Manaketes are not children[[note]]Bantu, Nagi, adult Tiki, Corrin, and [[spoiler:Rafal]][[/note]]. This is excluding the Dragon Laguz, who, while they can transform into dragons, aren't called manaketes. Of the four playable ones, 3 are male and the youngest male looks at least 14.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome:
** The other Manakete Tribes are nowhere to be found in ''Awakening'' despite major roles in the Archanea series.
** ''Fates'' contains an odd example in the form of the term "Manakete" - the avatar, and any child they have will fall under this archetype, but they are never referred to as such. In fact, the term only appears once in the entire game, in an extremely well hidden support conversation, and the context given by said support implies that the word may have an entirely different meaning in the world of ''Fates''.
* DarkIsEvil: None of the Earth Dragons has remained friendly since they either allow themselves to degenerate like most dragons or are indulged in dark powers as a sign of rebellion against humankind. Kaga's plans would've averted this, though.
* DarkIsNotEvil: The Fell Dragons in ''Engage'' are very much not evil. Well, [[BigBad one]] is, but others are either BrainwashedAndCrazy, or just straight-up allies.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Tellius games introduced three types of Dragons the player could use in the game, each one being slightly different from the other in terms of damage and stats. Notably the White Dragons deal damage using Magic instead of Strength.
* DyingRace: Almost all of them are on their last legs, their glory days clearly over. Averted with the Dragon Laguz, whose kingdom is [[HiddenElfVillage isolated]], but still [[AwakenTheSleepingGiant rather powerful]].
* EleventhHourSuperpower: While they usually become available earlier than this, games in which there are only a finite number of uses to the dragonstone tend to lend themselves to using them on the final couple of levels, which are usually filled with enemies that the dragonstone does massive damage to (dragons in the Archanea games and ''Binding Blade'' and monsters in ''Sacred Stones''.)
* TheFourGods: The Four Dragon symbols for Dragon Veins in ''Fates'' are based on them. The Fire Dragon is birdlike, similar to the Vermilion Bird, the Water Dragon has a snake for a tail like the one that accompanies the Black Tortoise, the Ground Dragon has fur and is vaguely feline in shape like the White Tiger, and the Wind Dragon has a lean appearance much like the Azure Dragon.
* GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: Divine Dragons have this color scheme.
* HalfHumanHybrid: A number of them have appeared in the series, including Nils, Ninian, Nah, the Avatar of ''Fates'', etc. Tiki mentions that Nah is the only one of her kind seen in Ylisse, while ''all'' Manaketes with dragonstones in ''Fates'' are shown to be hybrids.
* HiddenElfVillage: Normally, their civilizations are hidden from mankind -- if they still exist, that is.
* AnIcePerson: Ice Dragons/Icestone-wielding Manaketes use ice-based attacks.
* LightEmUp: The Divine Dragons, the strongest of the dragon tribes.
* LightningBruiser: In and of themselves, Manaketes tend to have rather poor stats, but with a dragonstone, they shoot through the roof and turn them into this, almost to the point of game-breaking.
* LightIsGood: Every Divine Dragon that shows up in the series has been friendly.
* LongLived: To the point that a Manakete can be a child by their species' years but really over 1000 years old. In the case of truly old Manaketes like Bantu, they're suggest to be ''thousands'' of years old. It also turns out that half-blood Manaketes inherit this long life-span as well, in the case of Ninian, Nils, Sophia, Corrin, Kana, Nah and (optionally) Morgan.
* MagicAndPowers: Mage Dragons and the Magestone.
* MakingASplash: The Silent Dragons have this as their main power.
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Enemy Manaketes (other than in ''Heroes'') and Manakete villains are always male. [[FemalesAreMoreInnocent No Manakete female has been a true villain]], although the closest the series has come to it is [[EmptyShell Idunn]] from ''Binding Blade''.
* MightyGlacier: To contrast the Taguel in ''Awakening'', Manaketes hit harder and take hits better, but are slower.
* NoSell: Mage Dragons is known to either have high resistance or completely resist magic.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Most characters may look like kids to young adults but [[Really700YearsOld they're actually more than 1,000 years old.]]
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: They're dragons capable of taking on human form. In battle, they can transform back to dragons with the use of their dragonstones.
* PlayingWithFire: Fire Dragons, or when wielding a Firestone.
* PointyEars: One of the manaketes' most defining physical characteristics, though a few are depicted without them, more notably the ones from ''Engage'', excluding Sombron.
* SupportPartyMember: The dragons in ''Radiant Dawn'' have skills that can increase certain stats of adjacent allies during combat, making them useful against the endgame bosses in that game. Blood Tide raises Strength and Skill, Night Tide raises Defense and Resistance, while White Pool raises Magic and Speed.
* TooAwesomeToUse: Often, there's only one dragonstone with finite uses available in the course of the game. While it's often enough to level a Manakete to level 20, you're not going to get all that much use out of them once you start, so it's quite common to hesitate to use Manaketes.
** Averted in ''Awakening'', where you can buy Dragonstones (although they are not cheap).
** Averted in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', ''Fates'' and ''Engage'', where Dragonstones have infinite durability.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Divine Dragons who are always friendly are either non-reptilian or at least less so than the other Dragon Tribes.
* WereDragon: They alternate between humanoid and dragon forms.
* WingedHumanoid: Divine Dragons tend to have feathery wings similar to Angels, while the other Dragon tribes have dragon wings in Manakete form.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: In ''Mystery of the Emblem'', dragon's breaths completely ignores defense so any fragile units need to watch out for them as their attack will directly target their already low HP.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Most dragons did this in ''Fates'' by becoming spirits. The ones that didn't either went insane or have been able to escape such a fate.
* BreathWeapon: Dragons tend to attack with their breath. Averted with ''Fates'' where they physically maul their enemies.
* CastingAShadow:
** The [[NonIndicativeName Earth Dragons]] uses Dark Breath along with their earth-based abilities.
** The Silent Dragons of ''Fates'' utilizes dark powers combined with MakingASplash when fully corrupted.
** The Fell Dragons of ''Engage'' use shadowy breath attacks.
* CuteMonsterGirl: Only five recruitable Manaketes are not children[[note]]Bantu, Nagi, adult Tiki, Corrin, and [[spoiler:Rafal]][[/note]]. This is excluding the Dragon Laguz, who, while they can transform into dragons, aren't called manaketes. Of the four playable ones, 3 are male and the youngest male looks at least 14.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome:
** The other Manakete Tribes are nowhere to be found in ''Awakening'' despite major roles in the Archanea series.
** ''Fates'' contains an odd example in the form of the term "Manakete" - the avatar, and any child they have will fall under this archetype, but they are never referred to as such. In fact, the term only appears once in the entire game, in an extremely well hidden support conversation, and the context given by said support implies that the word may have an entirely different meaning in the world of ''Fates''.
* DarkIsEvil: None of the Earth Dragons has remained friendly since they either allow themselves to degenerate like most dragons or are indulged in dark powers as a sign of rebellion against humankind. Kaga's plans would've averted this, though.
* DarkIsNotEvil: The Fell Dragons in ''Engage'' are very much not evil. Well, [[BigBad one]] is, but others are either BrainwashedAndCrazy, or just straight-up allies.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Tellius games introduced three types of Dragons the player could use in the game, each one being slightly different from the other in terms of damage and stats. Notably the White Dragons deal damage using Magic instead of Strength.
* DyingRace: Almost all of them are on their last legs, their glory days clearly over. Averted with the Dragon Laguz, whose kingdom is [[HiddenElfVillage isolated]], but still [[AwakenTheSleepingGiant rather powerful]].
* EleventhHourSuperpower: While they usually become available earlier than this, games in which there are only a finite number of uses to the dragonstone tend to lend themselves to using them on the final couple of levels, which are usually filled with enemies that the dragonstone does massive damage to (dragons in the Archanea games and ''Binding Blade'' and monsters in ''Sacred Stones''.)
* TheFourGods: The Four Dragon symbols for Dragon Veins in ''Fates'' are based on them. The Fire Dragon is birdlike, similar to the Vermilion Bird, the Water Dragon has a snake for a tail like the one that accompanies the Black Tortoise, the Ground Dragon has fur and is vaguely feline in shape like the White Tiger, and the Wind Dragon has a lean appearance much like the Azure Dragon.
* GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: Divine Dragons have this color scheme.
* HalfHumanHybrid: A number of them have appeared in the series, including Nils, Ninian, Nah, the Avatar of ''Fates'', etc. Tiki mentions that Nah is the only one of her kind seen in Ylisse, while ''all'' Manaketes with dragonstones in ''Fates'' are shown to be hybrids.
* HiddenElfVillage: Normally, their civilizations are hidden from mankind -- if they still exist, that is.
* AnIcePerson: Ice Dragons/Icestone-wielding Manaketes use ice-based attacks.
* LightEmUp: The Divine Dragons, the strongest of the dragon tribes.
* LightningBruiser: In and of themselves, Manaketes tend to have rather poor stats, but with a dragonstone, they shoot through the roof and turn them into this, almost to the point of game-breaking.
* LightIsGood: Every Divine Dragon that shows up in the series has been friendly.
* LongLived: To the point that a Manakete can be a child by their species' years but really over 1000 years old. In the case of truly old Manaketes like Bantu, they're suggest to be ''thousands'' of years old. It also turns out that half-blood Manaketes inherit this long life-span as well, in the case of Ninian, Nils, Sophia, Corrin, Kana, Nah and (optionally) Morgan.
* MagicAndPowers: Mage Dragons and the Magestone.
* MakingASplash: The Silent Dragons have this as their main power.
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Enemy Manaketes (other than in ''Heroes'') and Manakete villains are always male. [[FemalesAreMoreInnocent No Manakete female has been a true villain]], although the closest the series has come to it is [[EmptyShell Idunn]] from ''Binding Blade''.
* MightyGlacier: To contrast the Taguel in ''Awakening'', Manaketes hit harder and take hits better, but are slower.
* NoSell: Mage Dragons is known to either have high resistance or completely resist magic.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Most characters may look like kids to young adults but [[Really700YearsOld they're actually more than 1,000 years old.]]
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: They're dragons capable of taking on human form. In battle, they can transform back to dragons with the use of their dragonstones.
* PlayingWithFire: Fire Dragons, or when wielding a Firestone.
* PointyEars: One of the manaketes' most defining physical characteristics, though a few are depicted without them, more notably the ones from ''Engage'', excluding Sombron.
* SupportPartyMember: The dragons in ''Radiant Dawn'' have skills that can increase certain stats of adjacent allies during combat, making them useful against the endgame bosses in that game. Blood Tide raises Strength and Skill, Night Tide raises Defense and Resistance, while White Pool raises Magic and Speed.
* TooAwesomeToUse: Often, there's only one dragonstone with finite uses available in the course of the game. While it's often enough to level a Manakete to level 20, you're not going to get all that much use out of them once you start, so it's quite common to hesitate to use Manaketes.
** Averted in ''Awakening'', where you can buy Dragonstones (although they are not cheap).
** Averted in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', ''Fates'' and ''Engage'', where Dragonstones have infinite durability.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Divine Dragons who are always friendly are either non-reptilian or at least less so than the other Dragon Tribes.
* WereDragon: They alternate between humanoid and dragon forms.
* WingedHumanoid: Divine Dragons tend to have feathery wings similar to Angels, while the other Dragon tribes have dragon wings in Manakete form.
to:
* AchillesHeel: AnimalMotifs: Oliphantiers's horse mounts are fitted with pieces of armor that make them resemble elephants, adding to the elephant archer aesthetic the class goes for.
* BadassCape: All of the Overclasses except for the Oliphantier have a cape.
* BlingOfWar: Theyare vulnerable to anti-dragon weapons like Wyrmslayer. Myrrh all have gold or silver accents in ''Sacred Stones'' is also weak to bows as she is also a flying unit. In some shape, form, or fashion.
* BribingYourWayToVictory: They're DLC classes. Granted, theTellius games, Dragon Laguz are vulnerable fact that you need to anti-Laguz weapons have a character at level 20 and thunder magic. In ''Awakening'', ''Fates'' and ''Engage'', even if they reclass outside of Manakete, they are still dragons because at the highest tier of their heritage and are still vulnerable to anti-dragon weapons and skills.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: In ''Mystery of the Emblem'', dragon's breaths completely ignores defense so any fragile units need to watch out for them as their attack will directly target their already low HP.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Most dragons did this in ''Fates'' by becoming spirits. The ones that didn't either went insane orclass means you'd have been to grind to be able to escape such a fate.
use them.
*BreathWeapon: Dragons tend to attack CallForward: The Alm exclusive Conqueror class shares its name with their breath. Averted with ''Fates'' where they physically maul their enemies.
* CastingAShadow:
** The [[NonIndicativeName Earth Dragons]] uses Dark Breath along with their earth-based abilities.
** The Silent Dragons of ''Fates'' utilizes dark powers combined with MakingASplash when fully corrupted.
** The Fell Dragons of ''Engage'' use shadowy breath attacks.
* CuteMonsterGirl: Only five recruitable Manaketes are not children[[note]]Bantu, Nagi, adult Tiki, Corrin, and [[spoiler:Rafal]][[/note]]. This is excluding the Dragon Laguz, who, while they can transform into dragons, aren't called manaketes. Of the four playable ones, 3 are male and the youngest male looks at least 14.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome:
** The other Manakete Tribes are nowhere to be found in ''Awakening'' despite major roles in the Archanea series.
** ''Fates'' contains an odd example in the form of the term "Manakete" - the avatar, and any child they have will fall under this archetype, but they are never referred to as such. In fact, the term only appears once in the entire game, in an extremely well hidden support conversation, and the context given by said support impliesthat of his descendant Walhart's personal class (though Walhart's version is closer to the word may have an entirely different meaning Emperor class in the world of ''Fates''.
* DarkIsEvil: None of the Earth Dragons has remained friendly since they either allow themselves to degeneratespirit and in gameplay functions more like most dragons or are indulged in dark powers as an improved Great Knight than a sign of rebellion against humankind. Kaga's plans would've averted this, though.
Lord), and even has horns on it's headgear, a feature that Walhart takes to an exaggerated level.
* DarkIsNotEvil: TheFell Dragons in ''Engage'' are very much not evil. Well, [[BigBad one]] is, but others are either BrainwashedAndCrazy, or just straight-up allies.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Tellius games introduced three types of Dragons the player could use in the game, each one being slightly different from the other in terms of damageEnchantress can learn Death and stats. Notably the White Dragons deal damage using Magic instead of Strength.
* DyingRace: Almost all of them are on their last legs, their glory days clearly over. Averted with the Dragon Laguz, whose kingdom is [[HiddenElfVillage isolated]], but still [[AwakenTheSleepingGiant rather powerful]].
* EleventhHourSuperpower: While they usually become available earlier than this, games in which there are only a finite number of uses to the dragonstone tend to lend themselves to using them on the final couple of levels,Mire, which are usually filled with enemies that exclusive to enemy mages, the dragonstone does massive damage to (dragons in the Archanea games and ''Binding Blade'' and monsters in ''Sacred Stones''.)
* TheFourGods: The Four Dragon symbols for Dragon Veins in ''Fates'' are based on them. The Fire Dragon is birdlike, similar to the Vermilion Bird, the Water Dragon hasHarrier rides a snake for a tail like the one that accompanies the Black Tortoise, the Ground Dragon has fur and is vaguely feline in shape like the White Tiger, dark horse and the Wind Dragon has a lean appearance much like Guru can summon Terrors.
* EasterEgg: The pattern on theAzure Dragon.
* GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: Divine Dragons have this color scheme.
* HalfHumanHybrid: A number of them have appeared in the series, including Nils, Ninian, Nah, the Avatar of ''Fates'', etc. Tiki mentions that NahEnchantress's cape is the only one of her kind seen in Ylisse, while ''all'' Manaketes with dragonstones in ''Fates'' are shown to be hybrids.
* HiddenElfVillage: Normally, their civilizations are hiddenderived from mankind -- if they still exist, that is.
Celtic knots, a design motif prominent in ''Fire Emblem Heroes''.
*AnIcePerson: Ice Dragons/Icestone-wielding Manaketes use ice-based attacks.
* LightEmUp: The Divine Dragons,HolyHandGrenade: Rigain grants Celica the strongest of Aura spell when she class changes to it.
* MagicKnight: Aside from thedragon tribes.
* LightningBruiser: In and of themselves, Manaketes tend to have rather poor stats, but with a dragonstone, they shoot through the roof and turn them into this, almost to the point of game-breaking.
* LightIsGood: Every Divine Dragon that shows up in the series has been friendly.
* LongLived: To the point that a Manakete can be a child by their species' years but really over 1000 years old. In the case of truly old Manaketes like Bantu, they're suggest to be ''thousands'' of years old. It also turns out that half-blood Manaketes inherit this long life-span as well, in the case of Ninian, Nils, Sophia, Corrin, Kana, Nah and (optionally) Morgan.
* MagicAndPowers: Mage DragonsRigain and the Magestone.
* MakingASplash: The Silent Dragons have this asEnchantress who already class changed from one, the Harrier can learn spells and use their main power.
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Enemy Manaketes (other thanspears in ''Heroes'') and Manakete villains are always male. [[FemalesAreMoreInnocent No Manakete female tandem, just like Dark Fliers.
* MeaningfulName: "Rigain" is Old Irish for queen.
* NavelDeepNeckline: The Harrier's uniform hasbeen a true villain]], although the closest the series has come one going past their navel.
* {{Necromancer}}: Gurus can learn Lemegeton, allowing them toit is [[EmptyShell Idunn]] from ''Binding Blade''.
* MightyGlacier: To contrast the Taguel in ''Awakening'', Manaketes hit harder and take hits better, but are slower.
conjure Terrors of their own.
* NoSell:Mage Dragons is known The Phalanx skill on Spartans allow the user to either have high resistance or completely resist magic.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Most characters may look like kidsa chance to young adults but [[Really700YearsOld they're actually more than 1,000 years old.]]
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: They're dragons capable of taking on human form. In battle, they can transform backnegate damage taken equal to dragons with the use of their dragonstones.
* PlayingWithFire: Fire Dragons, or when wielding a Firestone.
* PointyEars: One of the manaketes' most defining physical characteristics, though a few are depicted without them, more notably the ones from ''Engage'', excluding Sombron.
* SupportPartyMember: The dragons in ''Radiant Dawn'' have skills thatDefense/2%, which can increase certain stats of also be multiplied for every adjacent ally.
* PoisonedWeapons: The Yasha's skill Tri-Affliction gives them a chance to poison enemies on hit.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: The Spartan's skill Phalanx allows him to negate all damage, the odds of it triggering increasing the more alliesduring combat, making them useful against the endgame bosses in that game. Blood Tide raises Strength and Skill, Night Tide raises Defense and Resistance, while White Pool raises Magic and Speed.
* TooAwesomeToUse: Often, there's only one dragonstone with finite uses available in the course of the game. While it's often enough to level a Manakete to level 20, you're not going to get all that much use out of them once you start, so it's quite common to hesitate to use Manaketes.
** Averted in ''Awakening'', where you can buy Dragonstones (although theyare not cheap).
** Averted in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', ''Fates'' and ''Engage'', where Dragonstones have infinite durability.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Divine Dragons who are always friendly are either non-reptilian or at least less so than the other Dragon Tribes.
* WereDragon: They alternate between humanoid and dragon forms.
* WingedHumanoid: Divine Dragons tend to have feathery wings similar to Angels, while the other Dragon tribes have dragon wings in Manakete form.nearby.
* BadassCape: All of the Overclasses except for the Oliphantier have a cape.
* BlingOfWar: They
* BribingYourWayToVictory: They're DLC classes. Granted, the
* ArmorPiercingAttack: In ''Mystery of the Emblem'', dragon's breaths completely ignores defense so any fragile units need to watch out for them as their attack will directly target their already low HP.
* AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence: Most dragons did this in ''Fates'' by becoming spirits. The ones that didn't either went insane or
*
* CastingAShadow:
** The [[NonIndicativeName Earth Dragons]] uses Dark Breath along with their earth-based abilities.
** The Silent Dragons of ''Fates'' utilizes dark powers combined with MakingASplash when fully corrupted.
** The Fell Dragons of ''Engage'' use shadowy breath attacks.
* CuteMonsterGirl: Only five recruitable Manaketes are not children[[note]]Bantu, Nagi, adult Tiki, Corrin, and [[spoiler:Rafal]][[/note]]. This is excluding the Dragon Laguz, who, while they can transform into dragons, aren't called manaketes. Of the four playable ones, 3 are male and the youngest male looks at least 14.
* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome:
** The other Manakete Tribes are nowhere to be found in ''Awakening'' despite major roles in the Archanea series.
** ''Fates'' contains an odd example in the form of the term "Manakete" - the avatar, and any child they have will fall under this archetype, but they are never referred to as such. In fact, the term only appears once in the entire game, in an extremely well hidden support conversation, and the context given by said support implies
* DarkIsEvil: None of the Earth Dragons has remained friendly since they either allow themselves to degenerate
* DarkIsNotEvil: The
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Tellius games introduced three types of Dragons the player could use in the game, each one being slightly different from the other in terms of damage
* DyingRace: Almost all of them are on their last legs, their glory days clearly over. Averted with the Dragon Laguz, whose kingdom is [[HiddenElfVillage isolated]], but still [[AwakenTheSleepingGiant rather powerful]].
* EleventhHourSuperpower: While they usually become available earlier than this, games in which there are only a finite number of uses to the dragonstone tend to lend themselves to using them on the final couple of levels,
* TheFourGods: The Four Dragon symbols for Dragon Veins in ''Fates'' are based on them. The Fire Dragon is birdlike, similar to the Vermilion Bird, the Water Dragon has
* EasterEgg: The pattern on the
* GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: Divine Dragons have this color scheme.
* HalfHumanHybrid: A number of them have appeared in the series, including Nils, Ninian, Nah, the Avatar of ''Fates'', etc. Tiki mentions that Nah
* HiddenElfVillage: Normally, their civilizations are hidden
*
* LightEmUp: The Divine Dragons,
* MagicKnight: Aside from the
* LightningBruiser: In and of themselves, Manaketes tend to have rather poor stats, but with a dragonstone, they shoot through the roof and turn them into this, almost to the point of game-breaking.
* LightIsGood: Every Divine Dragon that shows up in the series has been friendly.
* LongLived: To the point that a Manakete can be a child by their species' years but really over 1000 years old. In the case of truly old Manaketes like Bantu, they're suggest to be ''thousands'' of years old. It also turns out that half-blood Manaketes inherit this long life-span as well, in the case of Ninian, Nils, Sophia, Corrin, Kana, Nah and (optionally) Morgan.
* MagicAndPowers: Mage Dragons
* MakingASplash: The Silent Dragons have this as
* MenAreTheExpendableGender: Enemy Manaketes (other than
* MeaningfulName: "Rigain" is Old Irish for queen.
* NavelDeepNeckline: The Harrier's uniform has
* {{Necromancer}}: Gurus can learn Lemegeton, allowing them to
* MightyGlacier: To contrast the Taguel in ''Awakening'', Manaketes hit harder and take hits better, but are slower.
* NoSell:
* OlderThanTheyLook: Most characters may look like kids
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: They're dragons capable of taking on human form. In battle, they can transform back
* PlayingWithFire: Fire Dragons, or when wielding a Firestone.
* PointyEars: One of the manaketes' most defining physical characteristics, though a few are depicted without them, more notably the ones from ''Engage'', excluding Sombron.
* SupportPartyMember: The dragons in ''Radiant Dawn'' have skills that
* PoisonedWeapons: The Yasha's skill Tri-Affliction gives them a chance to poison enemies on hit.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: The Spartan's skill Phalanx allows him to negate all damage, the odds of it triggering increasing the more allies
* TooAwesomeToUse: Often, there's only one dragonstone with finite uses available in the course of the game. While it's often enough to level a Manakete to level 20, you're not going to get all that much use out of them once you start, so it's quite common to hesitate to use Manaketes.
** Averted in ''Awakening'', where you can buy Dragonstones (although they
** Averted in ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'', ''Fates'' and ''Engage'', where Dragonstones have infinite durability.
* ReptilesAreAbhorrent: Divine Dragons who are always friendly are either non-reptilian or at least less so than the other Dragon Tribes.
* WereDragon: They alternate between humanoid and dragon forms.
* WingedHumanoid: Divine Dragons tend to have feathery wings similar to Angels, while the other Dragon tribes have dragon wings in Manakete form.
Deleted line(s) 1142,1342 (click to see context) :
[[folder:Beasts]]
!!Beasts
[[quoteright:223:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesyoukoportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:223:Kitsune in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesninetailedfoxportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Ninetails in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:255:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fatesgarouportrait.png]]
[[caption-width-right:255:Wolfskins in ''Fates'']]
[[quoteright:256:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/generic_portrait_wolfssegner_fe14.png]]
[[caption-width-right:256:Wolfsegnar in ''Fates'']]
When Manaketes were re-imagined as Dragon Laguz in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'', other similar tribes of animal shapeshifters were introduced.\\\
In new titles since, these units use Beaststones to transform in contrast to the Manaketes' Dragonstone, and can be seen as a counterpart to the class.\\\
So far, beasts of this kind have included Lions, Tigers, Cats, Wolves, Hawks, Ravens, Rabbits (Taguel), Foxes (Kitsune), and Werewolves (Wolfskins). Dragon Tribe Laguz are covered by the Manaketes, and Heron Laguz function as Bards/Dancers.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class:''' Lethe, Ranulf, Mordecai, Muarim, Giffca, Janaff, Ulki, Tibarn and Naesala (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Lyre, Kyza, Skrimir, Vika, Nealuchi, Volug and Nailah (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'' only); Panne and Yarne [[note]](a Morgan born from any of them will have access to the class)[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Kaden, Keaton, Selkie and Velouria [[note]]Kana and Shigure born from any of them will have access to the class[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'')
----
* AchillesHeel: Laguz are weak to anti-Laguz weapons and Fire/Wind magic. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', they are weak to anti-beast weapons and skills, even when outside of their beast class.
* {{Animorphism}}: Using beaststones, or the natural ability of the Laguz, they can take on an animal form for combat.
* AsianFoxSpirit: The Kitsune and Ninetails class. They also have foxfires that surround them when transformed.
* DireBeast: Their animal forms are huge compared to regular animals. Small Cat laguz are the size of real life Big Cats. Lions and Hawks tower over human beings. Rabbits are similarly the size of Big Cats, and it's taken to the extreme with Wolfskins, who are literal monsters.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution:
** In games where multiple types of beast units exist, they typically are given differences to make them each distinct from each other.
** In the Tellius games, the Beast tribes are split between the Cat, Tiger, Lion, and Wolf. The Cat is a FragileSpeedster, the Tiger is a MightyGlacier, the Lion is a LightningBruiser, and the Wolves are more of a JackOfAllStats.
** Also in the Tellius games, the Bird tribes are split between the Hawks, Ravens, and Herons. The Hawks are more akin to LightningBruiser, the Ravens are FragileSpeedster, while the Herons are Dancers.
* DyingRace: The Wolf Tribe in the Tellius games have lost much of their numbers; nevertheless, they recover in the epilogue. The Heron Laguz are even worse, since the few remaining ones are the LastOfTheirKind. The Taguel are also the LastOfTheirKind, with only one full-blooded Taguel (Panne) left.[[note]](The half-blooded Taguel Yarne is specifically said to have much stronger Taguel genes, while a Morgan parented by either of them has stronger human ones.)[[/note]]
* {{Expy}}: The Tellius games make the various species of Laguz effectively animal copies of their Human counterparts in terms of class. To elaborate:
** Beast Tribe: Cats are essentially Myrmidons (high Speed and Luck but almost no bulk), Tigers are either Fighters (high Strength and HP, but lower Defense), or Knights (high HP, Strength, and Defense, but slow), Lions are similar to Paladins (use virtually all physical related stats well with high damage), and Wolves are Mercenaries (balanced offensive stats, with solid bulk).
** Bird Tribes: The Bird Tribes are airborne and can also move after attacking, making them similar to the flying classes. Hawks are essentially faster Wyvern Riders (focus on strength with average physical bulk), Ravens are essentially Pegasus Knights (High Speed, Resistance, and Luck but low bulk and Strength), while Herons are Dancers.
* HitAndRunTactics: The Bird Tribe in ''Radiant Dawn'' can move again after attacking or singing. The exception is Rafiel as he is grounded by his clipped wings.
* LightningBruiser: While they have different specialties depending on species, compared to human units, they are all extremely fast and strong. The Tiger Laguz are the only ones lacking in this area.
* LittleBitBeastly: They all exhibit some traits of their beast form even in human form. Usually [[CatGirl ears and tails]], or [[WingedHumanoid wings]] in the case of the bird tribes. Dragons/manaketes in contrast are usually much more subtle.
* LongLived: [[DownplayedTrope To a lesser extent]] compared to Manaketes (who's life expectancy is in the ''plural'' of thousands), but beastfolk often tend to have very long life-spans in spite of such. The shortest lived among the Laguz, the Lions, live for ''180 years on average'', with class blurbs like the Kitsune in ''Fates'' outright noting the species has a long live span even compared to other beastfolk due to their spirit magic and beast heritage.
* MagicallyIneptFighter: Beasts are more physically-oriented, while their dragon counterparts have better magic stats. This translate into almost all Beast units, save the Kitsune, having poor Resistance stats.
* NaturalWeapon: The Laguz uses their own claw, talons, and beaks when fighting in their beast forms. In ''Radiant Dawn'', they have a special weapon rank called Strike which improves their attacks upon raising their weapon rank. {{Avert}}ed with Beast classes since ''Awakening'' as they wield Stones like Manaketes.
* NoSell: The Hawk Laguz's mastery skill in Path of Radiance was Cancel (or Wing Guard), which lets them nullify damage based on their skill.
* OurWerewolvesAreDifferent: The Wolfskin and Wolfsegner look less like wolves and more like gorillas with koala and wolf traits.
* PantheraAwesome: The Tiger and the Lion Laguz of the Beast Tribe, especially the Lion Laguz as one is their king.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Emperor]]
!!Emperor (and variants)
If the final boss isn't a dark magician, a dragon, or a god, this is what they'll be -- a king decked out in enormous armour or finery, dwarfing every other unit (except maybe Manaketes/laguz) in sheer size, wielding a huge AncestralWeapon, and possessing astronomical physical stats. More often than not, though, there'll be a TrueFinalBoss after them. Specifically, this refers to '''Emperor''' Hardin of ''Mystery of the Emblem'', '''Emperor''' Arvis of ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', '''Baron''' Raydrik of ''Thracia 776'', '''King''' Zephiel of ''The Binding Blade'', Ashnard, '''King Daein''', of ''Path of Radiance'' (who is also similar to a Dragon Rider), Walhart the '''Conqueror''' of ''Awakening'', '''Nohrian King''' Garon in ''Fates'', and '''[[SheIsTheKing Emperor]]''' Edelgard of ''Three Houses''.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class:''' Walhart (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Edelgard (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
----
* AncestralWeapon: All of them wield personal weapons.
* ArmorAndMagicDontMix: Inverted with The Baron class and Jugdral Emperor class. Both classes are even more armored than the General class, they also have the most powerful magic abilities around.
* {{BFS}}: As fitting their position, their weapons are often very large. Averted by Arvis, who uses the magic tome [[PlayingWithFire Valflame]] instead (though he ''does'' have a Silver Blade, the strongest non-legendary sword, [[OrnamentalWeapon in his inventory]], even if he was hacked to not be able to use Valflame, Arvis will not use the Silver Blade).
* ContractualBossImmunity: To prevent them from being easily defeated, they usually have skills that negate weapon effectiveness against their movement type, or their personal classes don't have those weaknesses in the first place.
* DegradedBoss: Barons are encountered as generic enemies in the final chapter of ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' after the more powerful Emperor class is introduced in the story. The final arena opponent of the same chapter belongs to the Emperor class as well.
* TheEmperor: The majority of character in these classes are the ruler of a hostile empire or kingdom.
* {{Expy}}: Much like the Lords, they have unique classes that are basically based off of existing classes, but individualized to fit the character using the class.
** King Zephiel, Emperor Hardin, Nohrian King Garon, and Emperor Edelgard all have similarities to the General class, be it through similar stat lines, being armored, or both. Zephiel uses a sword while Generals in his game can't, while the Black Knight is also related to the third tier Marshall class by proxy.
** Emperor Arvis is basically a souped up Baron class. The Baron class itself is also similar to the General class but with access to magic, and is used by Raydrik.
** King Ashnard is essentially a better version of the Wyvern Lord class, but Ashnard uses a sword rather than a lance.
** Walhart the Conqueror is very similar to the Great Knight class.
* FinalBoss: Often your last opponent, but there'll frequently be a TrueFinalBoss after them.
* {{Foil}}: Essentially the opposite of the Lord class, being classes that are mostly exclusive to one particular character in the games they appear in, gets unique (possibly legendary) weapons to wield, and is the leader of their army, but the Lord class belongs to the main playable character while the Emperor class belongs to the game's main villain (or one of them, though typically one that is working in the foreground).
* LargeAndInCharge: Their sprites tend to dwarf the others in the game. Usually, this is a product of having bulky, intimidating armor.
* LightningBruiser: They have fantastic, if not outright maxed, stats across the board. This includes Speed, in spite of their huge size and heavy armor.
* MagicKnight: Barons and Jugdral's Emperors can use anima magic in addition to all physical weapons.
* PromotedToPlayable: Twice, first with Walhart in ''Awakening'', then Edelgard in ''Three Houses''.
* RankScalesWithAsskicking: The majority of them are authority figures who are much more powerful then their troops.
* TinTyrant: They're almost always covered in armor.
* WalkingArmory: Arvis can use all weapon types but Dark and Light Magic.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Monsters]]
!!Monsters
In addition to the usual human and draconic enemies, ''Gaiden'', ''The Sacred Stones'', ''Fates'', and ''Three Houses'' contain a wide variety of monstrous enemies. They come in the following types:
!! Introduced in ''Gaiden'' and ''Shadows of Valentia''
* Revenants/Entombed: Zombie-like creatures that attack with claws. They have high HP but extremely low stats otherwise. In addition to appearing in both ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones'', they reappeared in ''Fire Emblem Awakening'' as a type of Risen and the only monster class in that game. ''Echoes'' introduces a stronger [[EvilIsBigger and bigger]] variant for the Revenant known as a Dracul and what has to be the monster equivalent of an overclass for the Entombed called the Tomb Lord.
* Bonewalkers: Skeletal soldiers that wield a variety of weapon types. Their advanced equivalent is known as the Lich in ''Gaiden'' and the Wight in ''Sacred Stones''. ''Echoes'' additionally introduces two stronger variants: the Titan (a giant and stronger axe-wielding version of the Lich) and the Deimos (an axe-wielding shaman arisen that wields potent purging fire).
* Mogalls (Bigls in the Japanese version): Small [[{{Oculothorax}} floating eyes]] that wield Dark magic. In ''Sacred Stones'' they have an advanced version called Arch Mogalls and in ''Echoes'' the Balor appears in the former's place.
* Fiends: Demonic Barons exclusive to ''Gaiden'' and its remake. The Guardian introduced in Echoes is a redder, more powerful variant of the Fiend.
* Gargoyles: Flying creatures wielding lances. Their advanced equivalent is the Balrog in ''Gaiden'' and the Deathgoyle in ''Sacred Stones''. Stronger than even the Deathgoyle is the Garuda introduced in ''Echoes''.
!! Introduced in ''The Sacred Stones''
* Baels/Elder Baels: Spiderlike creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. They attack with deadly claws that may sometimes be poisoned.
* Tarvos/Maelduins: Centaurlike creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. They wield axes, and the "advanced" Maelduins also use bows.
* Mauthe Doogs/Gwyllgis: Speedy demon dogs that attack with fangs. Exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''.
* Gorgons: Scaly creatures hatching from eggs that wield a variety of nasty dark magic spells. Exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''.
* Cyclopes: Massive axe-wielding creatures exclusive to ''Sacred Stones''. Their HP cap is higher than that of other units.
* Draco Zombies (Dragon Zombies in the Japanese version, Necrodragons in ''Shadows of Valentia''): [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Like dragons, only deader]]. In ''Gaiden'' and its remake, they have a "advanced" version called White Dragons. ''Echoes'' further introduces the Fafnir, a monstrous, ancient dragon that has survived since antiquity.
* Phantom (Spirit Warriors in the Japanese version): A spirit exclusive to ''Sacred Stones'', they are summoned by a Summoner or Necromancer.
!! Introduced in ''Fates''
* Faceless: Humanoid creatures made from dark magic, debuting in ''Fates''. In contrast to the Revenants[=/=]Entombed, they are rather large and bulky, and attack with their fists instead of their claws.
* Stoneborn: Moving statues who debuted in ''Fates''. They attack by launching rocks from afar.
* Automaton: Puppets moving by clockwork who debuted in ''Fates''. They attack with saws and yumi (eastern bows) and is the first monster class capable of using both normal and monster weapons.
* Empty Vessel: [[spoiler:Garon]]'s true form in ''Conquest'', it is a slime monster made of water that attacks with axes. Debuting in ''Fates'', it is the first monster class seen since ''Sacred Stones'' to only use a normal weapon instead of an enemy-only monster weapon.
!! Introduced in ''Three Houses''
* Black Beast: A crazed [[spoiler:transformed Miklan when the Lance of Ruin's crest stone consumed him for his lack of a crest]].
* Wandering Beast: A mad creature that lurks in the wild. [[spoiler:A bestial form of Maurice, a forgotten Elite.]]
* Hegemon Husk: An emperor's corpse hellbent on world conquest. [[spoiler:Edelgard's OneWingedAngel transformation on Azure Moon, utilizing her twin crests to their fullest extent.]]
* Wild Demonic Beasts: A feral Demonic Beast spotted in the wilds. Can breathes poisonous breath.
* Experimental Demonic Beast: [[spoiler:A human-transformed Beast by the power of crest stones embedded on their forehead.]]
* Demonic Beast: Demonic Beasts under the control of the [[spoiler:Imperial]] army. Upgrades of the Experimental Demonic Beast.
* Flying Demonic Beast: Agile flying Demonic Beasts.
* Altered Demonic Beast: Demonic Beasts with an anti-magic armor, granting them immunity to magic damage.
* Giant Demonic Beast: A gigantic version of human-transformed beasts. [[spoiler:Dedue]] takes on this form in the Crimson Flower route.
* Umbral Beast: A powerful monster created by the Chalice of Beginnings in the ''Cindered Shadows'' expansion. [[spoiler:Aelfric's transformation after he is absorbed by the Chalice and fused with Sitri's corpse.]]
* Golem: Mechanized automatons in the service of the Church of Seiros.
* Altered Golem: Stronger golems wield by the Church of Seiros. They are immune to magic.
* Guardian Golem: A unique golem tasked with protecting the Chalice of Beginnings in the ''Cindered Shadows'' expansion.
* Titanus: A mechanized weapon created by Agarthan technology.
* White Beast: [[spoiler:Cardinals of the Church transformed by the will of the Immaculate One]].
* Lord of the Lake: A giant tortoise-like monster that lives in the lake. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Indech]].
* Lord of the Desert: A giant bird-like monster that lives in the desert. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Macuil]].
* The Immaculate One: A giant white-dragon revered in the teachings of the Church of Seiros. [[spoiler:The true form of Saint Seiros/Rhea]].
* Giant Bird: A bird that grew enormous due to magic.
* Giant Crawler: A worm that grew enormous due to magic.
* Giant Wolf: A wolf that grew enormous due to magic.
!! Introduced in ''Engage''
All three of these types have a Fabrication[[note]]Refered to as Phantom ingame[[/note]] variant, which are aligned with the Divine Dragons and Emblems, and a Corrupted variant, which are aligned with the Fell Dragons.
* Wyrm: Large but slow-moving, draconic creatures that have a large attack range that allows them to shoot breaths from afar.
* Wyvern: DLC-Exclusive. They are undead wyverns that spit out powerful breaths. They also change the terrain of their surroundings, with the Fabrication variant creating frost, and the Corrupted variant creating miasma. The corrupted variant also have a wider attack range than its Fabrication counterpart.
* Wolf: DLC-Exclusive. They are undead wolves that bite with poisonous fangs and, like ordinary wolves, fight in packs.
----
* AchillesHeel: All monsters are weak against the Bishop's Slayer skill, the Falcon Knight's Banish skill, and the Sacred Twin weapons (except for Gleipnir). Giant Crawlers are able to negate this weakness as a latent ability when down to their last healthbars [[spoiler:and Hegemon Husk Edelgard negates her monster weakness from the outset of fighting her.]] In addition, Gargoyles/Deathgoyles/Garuda, Draco Zombies/White Dragons/Fafnirs, Giant Birds,and White Beasts are treated as flying units and are thereby weak to bows and the Wind Sword, and Tarvos/Maelduins are treated as mounted units and are weak to weapons that do additional damage to them. Lastly, all Demonic Beast variants (wild, exp. base, winged, and giant), the Lord of the Lake, Lord of the Desert, White Beasts, and The Immaculate One are all dragons meaning they also share a weakness to anti-dragon weaponry and abilities.
* ArmorPiercingAttack: Dracozombie's attacks completely ignore defense so watch your units that have less HP than their attack. [[spoiler:The Immaculate One's Staggering Blow in Silver Snow, Hoarfrost, completely ignore any defenses.]]
* {{BFS}}: A Titanus carries one called a Giant Katar, wielding it in one hand and it's capable of firing [[SwordBeam energy beams]] from it for ranged combat.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Baels and Elder Baels, which are absolutely ''huge'' spiders.
* BlowYouAway: The Lord of the Desert utilizes magical wind to attack his foes, with his bird-like design helping the mofit. Giant Wolves and Giant Crawlers will also make use of this for their staggering blows--quickly spinning or sweeping in place to generate a harsh gust of wind, and Winged Demonic Beasts generate sharp wind crescents for ranged combat.
* BossInMookClothing: Draco Zombies (and White Dragons in ''Gaiden''). In fact, unless you do [[BonusDungeon the Lagdou Ruins]] in their entirety ''as soon'' as they become available, the first one you encounter in ''Sacred Stones'' will actually ''be'' a boss, complete with unique sprite! [[spoiler:Technically speaking, though, his class is still listed as Manakete...]]
* BreathWeapon: Draco Zombies usually attack with a dark breath. In ''Three Houses'', all Demonic Beast variants save for the Giant Demonic Beasts are capable of breathing fire (or poison for the Wild Demonic Beasts), and White Beasts on the other hand sport magic, holy blue flames instead.[[spoiler:The Immaculate One can also exple holy blue flames or a vaporizing beam of light).]]
* CastingAShadow: Mogalls/Arch Mogalls and Gorgons. Draco Zombies also have wretched air, a stream of fetid dark flames spewed at their target.
* {{Cyclops}}: The fittingly named [[ClassicalCyclops Cyclops]] in ''Sacred Stones'', which is one of the more powerful monsters. ''Echoes'' redesigns the Lich as well as introduces the Titan and Deimos to have this look; the artbook suggests that the Lich and Titan respectively had the heads of one-eyed goats or bulls while the Deimos wore a sone-eyed monster's skull for a mask.
* DamageReduction: The Titanus and the Lord of the Lake are both outfitted with Pavise and Aegis as long as their barriers are up, making it even more difficult to take them down.
* DracoLich: The fittingly named Draco Zombies are among the toughest foes in all three of their appearances which consist of ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* DishingOutDirt: A Stoneborn attacks by hurling out giant boulders from the cavity under its mask. Giant Crawlers, Giant Wolves, and Giant Demonic Beasts will also pick up giant rocks and hurl them at their enemies as ranged attacks.
* EvilCounterpart: Several Monster classes have human counterparts. The Titanus can function as one to the Golem and Altered Golem, with the latter two having close ties to the Chruch of Seiros while the former is employed by one of the two church's enemy factions[[spoiler:--Those who Slither in the Dark]]. In ''Engage'', the Fell-Dragon aligned corrupted variants of this game's monsters serve as this to the fabrication variants of them, as the latter are created by the Divine Dragons and Emblems.
* FeatherFlechettes: Giant Birds will fire off their feathers as their ranged attack and also [[FlechetteStorm unleash a barrage of them]] as their staggering blow.
* FragileSpeedster: Mauthe Doogs and Gwyllgis are the monster counterparts to the Myrmidon line. Also, the giant animals in ''Three Houses'' are considerably faster and harder to hit compared to most other monsters of the Demonic Beast build, but their barriers are more easily broken and they typically do not hit as hard.
* GeoEffects: Phantoms completely ignore terrain bonuses and penalties because they are ethereal beings with no solid, tangible forms.
* GiantMook: Monsters in ''Three Houses'' are large, take up to at least 4 spaces rather than 1 space like most units. Their giant size can either block or be blocked by units, they can be roadblocked by obstacles or units that have only one space gap. [[spoiler:Hegemon Husk Edelgard is the exception to this trope, being no bigger than a regular unit map-wise.]]
* HealingFactor: The Lord of the Lake possesses this ability in addition to its myriad of defensive skills and the [[LastChanceHitPoint Miracle]] ability.
* {{Hellhound}}: The Mauthe Doogs and the Gwyllgis in ''Sacred Stones''. The latter had three heads instead of one and were even called Cerberus in the Japanese version.
* HumongousMecha: The Golems, Altered Golems, and Titanuses are massive automatons with equally large armaments (lances of light for the golems and giant katars for the Titanuses).
* IFightForTheStrongestSide: Faceless are created with no minds of their own and simply act on primal bestial instinct to attack others. Practitioners of Dark Magic are able to bend and enslave them to their will. Such people include Iago, Leo, and Rhajat.
* LastChanceHitPoint: The Lord of the Lake and White Beasts possess Miracle which may save them from an otherwise fatal blow, ensuring that they will not be easy to take down )especially the White Beasts with their high Luck stat factoring into it).
* TheLegionsOfHell: Dolth, a boss in the original ''Gaiden'' says in his MagicalIncantation that he's summoning the Dracozombies from Hell. Fiends are described as from the nether realm in ''Shadows of Valentia''.
* LightIsNotGood: The White Beasts are frenzied dragons that expel holy blue flames as their attack. The same can be said of the Golems and Altered Golems [[spoiler:should Rhea descend into insanity]]. [[spoiler:The Immaculate One, whether willingly antagonistic or degenerated, also counts with both the holy blue flames or her vaporizing light breath.]]
* MakingASplash: The Lord of the Lake utilizes magic water to attack foes and is suitably designed after a turtle, a potentially aquatic creature.
* MightyGlacier: Cyclopes, who wield strong axes and has high defenses and bloated HP, they are very slow to which they can be compared to Knights. Although their stat caps tend towards LightningBruiser with high Speed and Skill, few Cyclops enemies get close to those caps. The majority of monsters in ''Three Houses'' besides the giant animals are typically like this.
* MultipleLifeBars: The monsters in ''Three Houses'' have several health bars. With each depleted bar, they may gain stat boosts and an additional skill.
* NoSell: Altered Demonic Beasts and Altered Golems have armor that grants them complete immunity to magic damage until the armor breaks.
* NotUsingTheZWord: Averted in the Japanese version, where Revenants are called Zombies.
* {{Oculothorax}}: Mogalls, Arch Mogalls, and Balors are giant eyeballs with tentacles.
* OneHitPointWonder: Phantoms have only 1 HP. If they are summoned with a Devil Axe equipped, it is possible for it to die attacking before an enemy attacks.
* OurCentaursAreDifferent: Tarvos and Maelduin appear like traditional savage centaurs except with dark grey/black skin. They use axes and bows.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The Demonic Beasts are dragon-like creatures, thus vulnerable to anti-dragon attacks. [[spoiler:Indech and Macuil's dragon form is based on a turtle and bird, respectively.]]
* OurMonstersAreDifferent: They appear to lack sentience of their own, and mindlessly carry out the bidding of their summoner.
* PermanentlyMissableContent: Phantoms cannot trade, so if it kills an enemy and obtains an item from it, the item will be inaccessible to other units.
* PinataEnemy: Revenants and Entombed are fairly unimposing aside from their large stores of HP, but give out great amounts of EXP -- the latter is pretty much a guaranteed level-up for an base-class unit. (This has carried over to ''Awakening''.) Also, Gorgon Eggs are immobile and incapable of attacking and give out exactly 50 EXP when destroyed regardless of the attacking unit's level. Also, they start out with only a few HP and start healing every turn at a certain point, and if allowed to heal to full, they turn into [[GoddamnedBats Gorgons.]] Tomb Lords, introduced in ''Echoes'', are more of a downplayed example as while they do give out large amounts of EXP, they're also difficult to take down and are easily capable of killing just about anyone.
* PoisonousPerson: Wild Demonic Beasts are poisonous creatures, they have the Poison and Poison Strike skills. Some Tomb Lords may also possess venin claws, which on top of their scary strength makes them more dangerous.
* RoarBeforeBeating: Monster units in ''Three Houses'' do this as they prepare their Staggering Blow--a meaty {{area of effect}} attack that can hit from 8, 10, or 12 squares in two rows of four/five or three rows of four up in front of it and cannot be countered, typically reducing the victims' stats and inflicting various status effects (including against allied units). All opposing factions had best fell the monster, break its barries, or get out of dodge before then.
* SandWorm: The Giant Crawlers are earthworms jacked up to a huge size and are capable of moving through the much-maligned desert tiles with no issue.
* SelfDuplication: Mogalls and Balors possess the ability to make copies of themselves in ''Gaiden'' and ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia''.
* SinisterScimitar: Melee Bonewalkers use this in both ''Gaiden'' and ''Sacred Stones''.
* SinisterScythe: Gargoyles and their relatives wield scythes in ''Gaiden''.
* SquishyWizard: Mogalls and Arch Mogalls.
* SummonMagic: Phantoms can be summoned by the Summoner and Necromancer Classes in ''Sacred Stones''. Certain player and enemy units could also summon units as AI allies.
* SuperToughness: The Lord of the Lake and the Lord of the Desert (as well as The Immaculate One) possess Ancient Dragonskin, naturally halving all incoming damage, and so long as their barriers are up they have access to Dragon-Scale Wall that reduces the damage even further by a whopping ''70%''.
* TakenForGranite: Gorgon enemies can cast a spell called "Stone" which petrifies your units. Petrified units cannot move and any attack against them will have a 100% chance of hitting and a 30% chance of being a critical hit.
* WasOnceAMan: Many of the monster classes in ''Three Houses'' [[spoiler:were humans transformed by crest stones. Especially, the Black Beast from Miklan, the Wandering Beast from Maurice, the Giant Demonic Beast from Dedue, the cardinals turned White Beasts, and Edelgard as the Hegemon Husk.]]
* WolfpackBoss: The Lagdou Ruins end with a stage containing eight Draco Zombies and no other enemies.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Overclasses]]
!!Overclasses
Overclasses are a new tier of classes available as DLC for ''Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'', accessible when units are at their most powerful: in the highest-tier available class and at Level 20. Among them are:
* Conqueror: An advanced-tier for the Hero class, thus making it exclusive to Alm.
* Rigain: An advanced-tier for the Princess class, thus making it exclusive to Celica.
* Spartan: An advanced-tier for the Baron. The class is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: a warrior wearing armor based on what the Spartans wore.
* Enchantress: An advanced-tier for the Priestess class.
* Skogul: An advanced-tier for the Gold Knight class.
* Yasha: An advanced-tier for the Dread Fighter class.
* Harrier: An advanced-tier for the Falcon Knight class.
* Exemplar: An advanced-tier for the Saint class.
* Guru: An advanced-tier for the Sage class.
* Oliphantier: An advanced-tier for the Bow Knight class.
----
* AnimalMotifs: Oliphantiers's horse mounts are fitted with pieces of armor that make them resemble elephants, adding to the elephant archer aesthetic the class goes for.
* BadassCape: All of the Overclasses except for the Oliphantier have a cape.
* BlingOfWar: They all have gold or silver accents in some shape, form, or fashion.
* BribingYourWayToVictory: They're DLC classes. Granted, the fact that you need to have a character at level 20 and at the highest tier of their class means you'd have to grind to be able to use them.
* CallForward: The Alm exclusive Conqueror class shares its name with that of his descendant Walhart's personal class (though Walhart's version is closer to the Emperor class in spirit and in gameplay functions more like an improved Great Knight than a Lord), and even has horns on it's headgear, a feature that Walhart takes to an exaggerated level.
* DarkIsNotEvil: The Enchantress can learn Death and Mire, which are exclusive to enemy mages, the Harrier rides a dark horse and the Guru can summon Terrors.
* EasterEgg: The pattern on the Enchantress's cape is derived from Celtic knots, a design motif prominent in ''Fire Emblem Heroes''.
* HolyHandGrenade: Rigain grants Celica the Aura spell when she class changes to it.
* MagicKnight: Aside from the Rigain and the Enchantress who already class changed from one, the Harrier can learn spells and use their spears in tandem, just like Dark Fliers.
* MeaningfulName: "Rigain" is Old Irish for queen.
* NavelDeepNeckline: The Harrier's uniform has one going past their navel.
* {{Necromancer}}: Gurus can learn Lemegeton, allowing them to conjure Terrors of their own.
* NoSell: The Phalanx skill on Spartans allow the user to have a chance to negate damage taken equal to their Defense/2%, which can also be multiplied for every adjacent ally.
* PoisonedWeapons: The Yasha's skill Tri-Affliction gives them a chance to poison enemies on hit.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: The Spartan's skill Phalanx allows him to negate all damage, the odds of it triggering increasing the more allies are nearby.
[[/folder]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
splitting page into an index of two pages: one for classes that date back to the first game, and the other for classes that didn't debut until a later game
[[index]]
* Characters/FireEmblemOriginalClasses Early Classes]]
* Characters/FireEmblemLaterClasses Later Classes]]
[[/index]]
* Characters/FireEmblemOriginalClasses Early Classes]]
* Characters/FireEmblemLaterClasses Later Classes]]
[[/index]]
Changed line(s) 7,19 (click to see context) from:
[[folder:The Lord]]
!!The Lord
The class to which TheHero always belongs, the Lord class functions like a King in TabletopGame/{{chess}} in that the death of a Lord character yields a GameOver. The specific traits of the Lord class vary wildly depending on the game or the specific character in question. Lords are typically sword-wielders and typically have blue hair, or failing that, something equally outlandish.\\\
Some games give their main characters classes which are Lords in all but name, often having different specialties. Alm and Celica's base Lord classes in ''Gaiden'' are '''Fighter''' and '''Priestess''' respectively [[labelnote:*]]Alm's class has no relation to the basic class normally known as Fighter, which don't exist in ''Gaiden'' due to the lack of playable classes that can use axes. Priestess exists as an advanced class for female Mages, but it is a tier one class for Celica and is treated as a Lord[[/labelnote]], and the class is known as '''Junior Lord''' in ''Genealogy''. Ike's initial class is '''Ranger''' in ''Path of Radiance'' and '''Hero''' (a second-tier class) in ''Radiant Dawn''; Micaiah's initial class in ''Radiant Dawn'' is '''Light Mage'''. ''Fates'' has Corrin's '''Nohr Prince/Princess'''[[labelnote:*]]Corrin's gender is chosen by the player. And like Robin, Corrin's child, Kana, also inherits the same class.[[/labelnote]] class. ''Engage'' has Alear's '''Dragon Child'''.\\\
Most Lords who can class change have their own specific classes. Marth does not class change at all in any of the games he stars in, instead getting a higher level cap of 30 instead of 20 in the DS remakes. Alm and Celica class change to '''Hero''' and '''Princess''' [[labelnote:*]]no relation to the normal-unit Hero class found in other games, here called Myrmidon, or Lachesis's personal class in ''Genealogy''[[/labelnote]], respectively, and also get a pair of paid DLC third-tier classes: the '''Conqueror''' and '''Rigain''' Overclasses, respectively. Seliph and Eliwood class change into the '''Knight Lord''', while Sigurd starts as one. Leif class changes into the '''Prince''' in ''Thracia'' [[labelnote:*]]Prince is also his basic, first-tier class in ''Genealogy''[[/labelnote]]. Roy class changes to '''Master Lord''' [[labelnote:*]]Based on the precedent of Eirika and Ephraim, many people just call it "Great Lord"[[/labelnote]]. Hector, Eirika, Ephraim, Chrom, Lucina, and Dimitri class change into the '''Great Lord''', which function differently depending on the character [[labelnote:*]]Hector's Great Lord class is completely different from that of Eirika or Ephraim, in that the former is more like a General, whereas the latter are horseback units; additionally, Eirika, Ephraim, Chrom, and Lucina's Great Lord class was called '''Master Lord''' in Japanese, which is also what Roy's advanced class was called.[[/labelnote]], with Dimitri also having '''High Lord''' as intermediate class between Lord and Great Lord. Lyn class changes into a '''Blade Lord'''. Ike is an odd case in that '''Lord''' is actually his advanced class in ''Path of Radiance''; in ''Radiant Dawn'', he starts as a '''Hero''' and can class change into the third-tier '''Vanguard''' class. Micaiah class changes into the '''Light Sage''' class, then again into the third-tier '''Light Priestess''' class. Corrin is a special case because they class change into either the '''Nohr Noble''' or '''Hoshido Noble''' classes.[[labelnote:*]]Corrin, and their child, Kana's, class is dependent on either scenario chosen. Nohr Noble for ''Conquest'' and Hoshido Noble for ''Birthright''. In ''Revelation'', they can class change into either, as does Kana.[[/labelnote]]Edelgard class changes into the '''Armored Lord''' and '''Emperor''' classes, while Claude into the '''Wyvern Master''' and '''Barbarossa''' class[[labelnote:*]]Uniquely, the ''Three Houses'' lords do not have to use their lord classes and can assume any other class much like the other playable characters. However, they assume these classes as enemies[[/labelnote]]. Byleth gets an advanced class called '''Enlightened One''' halfway into the story. Alear class changes into a '''Divine Dragon'''.\\\
Related are the '''Prince''' and '''Princess''' classes in the Jugdral games, exclusive to Leif of Leonster and Lachesis of Nordion, respectively. In ''Genealogy'', they're not true Lords in that their death does not end the game, but are otherwise quite similar gameplay-wise; they class change into the '''Master Knight''', which can use every weapon type except dark magic. In ''Thracia 776'', the Prince is Leif's advanced class. In his DLC appearances in ''Awakening'', Marth has the unique '''Lodestar''' class; he can use Rapiers and the Falchion, but does not act as a true Lord. Also related is the '''Tactician''' class, explained on their own separate folder below. Also related are the eight unique classes exclusive to the royals in ''Engage'', but these were actually expies of existing classes with unique skills for their advanced forms.\\\
At various points in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'', Elincia, Geoffrey, Lucia, Nephenee, and Tibarn all act as the Lord character of certain chapters but their classes don't apply here.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Marth (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'' and their remakes); Alm and Celica (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' and its remake); Sigurd, Seliph, Leif, and Lachesis (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Leif again (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Roy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Eliwood, Hector, and Lyndis (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Eirika and Ephraim (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Ike (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Ike again and Micaiah (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Chrom and Lucina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Corrin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Byleth, Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Alear (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')[[note]]Interestingly, the "Lord" class in Engage cannot be used by Alear, instead being exclusive to Diamant and Alcryst, which for the former is an {{Expy}} of the Sword Fighter class and the latter an {{Expy}} of the Archer class. And while Diamant and Alcryst are plot-important characters who show up in cutscenes quite a bit, they don't really qualify[[/note]]; Alfonse and Sharena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'')
!!The Lord
The class to which TheHero always belongs, the Lord class functions like a King in TabletopGame/{{chess}} in that the death of a Lord character yields a GameOver. The specific traits of the Lord class vary wildly depending on the game or the specific character in question. Lords are typically sword-wielders and typically have blue hair, or failing that, something equally outlandish.\\\
Some games give their main characters classes which are Lords in all but name, often having different specialties. Alm and Celica's base Lord classes in ''Gaiden'' are '''Fighter''' and '''Priestess''' respectively [[labelnote:*]]Alm's class has no relation to the basic class normally known as Fighter, which don't exist in ''Gaiden'' due to the lack of playable classes that can use axes. Priestess exists as an advanced class for female Mages, but it is a tier one class for Celica and is treated as a Lord[[/labelnote]], and the class is known as '''Junior Lord''' in ''Genealogy''. Ike's initial class is '''Ranger''' in ''Path of Radiance'' and '''Hero''' (a second-tier class) in ''Radiant Dawn''; Micaiah's initial class in ''Radiant Dawn'' is '''Light Mage'''. ''Fates'' has Corrin's '''Nohr Prince/Princess'''[[labelnote:*]]Corrin's gender is chosen by the player. And like Robin, Corrin's child, Kana, also inherits the same class.[[/labelnote]] class. ''Engage'' has Alear's '''Dragon Child'''.\\\
Most Lords who can class change have their own specific classes. Marth does not class change at all in any of the games he stars in, instead getting a higher level cap of 30 instead of 20 in the DS remakes. Alm and Celica class change to '''Hero''' and '''Princess''' [[labelnote:*]]no relation to the normal-unit Hero class found in other games, here called Myrmidon, or Lachesis's personal class in ''Genealogy''[[/labelnote]], respectively, and also get a pair of paid DLC third-tier classes: the '''Conqueror''' and '''Rigain''' Overclasses, respectively. Seliph and Eliwood class change into the '''Knight Lord''', while Sigurd starts as one. Leif class changes into the '''Prince''' in ''Thracia'' [[labelnote:*]]Prince is also his basic, first-tier class in ''Genealogy''[[/labelnote]]. Roy class changes to '''Master Lord''' [[labelnote:*]]Based on the precedent of Eirika and Ephraim, many people just call it "Great Lord"[[/labelnote]]. Hector, Eirika, Ephraim, Chrom, Lucina, and Dimitri class change into the '''Great Lord''', which function differently depending on the character [[labelnote:*]]Hector's Great Lord class is completely different from that of Eirika or Ephraim, in that the former is more like a General, whereas the latter are horseback units; additionally, Eirika, Ephraim, Chrom, and Lucina's Great Lord class was called '''Master Lord''' in Japanese, which is also what Roy's advanced class was called.[[/labelnote]], with Dimitri also having '''High Lord''' as intermediate class between Lord and Great Lord. Lyn class changes into a '''Blade Lord'''. Ike is an odd case in that '''Lord''' is actually his advanced class in ''Path of Radiance''; in ''Radiant Dawn'', he starts as a '''Hero''' and can class change into the third-tier '''Vanguard''' class. Micaiah class changes into the '''Light Sage''' class, then again into the third-tier '''Light Priestess''' class. Corrin is a special case because they class change into either the '''Nohr Noble''' or '''Hoshido Noble''' classes.[[labelnote:*]]Corrin, and their child, Kana's, class is dependent on either scenario chosen. Nohr Noble for ''Conquest'' and Hoshido Noble for ''Birthright''. In ''Revelation'', they can class change into either, as does Kana.[[/labelnote]]Edelgard class changes into the '''Armored Lord''' and '''Emperor''' classes, while Claude into the '''Wyvern Master''' and '''Barbarossa''' class[[labelnote:*]]Uniquely, the ''Three Houses'' lords do not have to use their lord classes and can assume any other class much like the other playable characters. However, they assume these classes as enemies[[/labelnote]]. Byleth gets an advanced class called '''Enlightened One''' halfway into the story. Alear class changes into a '''Divine Dragon'''.\\\
Related are the '''Prince''' and '''Princess''' classes in the Jugdral games, exclusive to Leif of Leonster and Lachesis of Nordion, respectively. In ''Genealogy'', they're not true Lords in that their death does not end the game, but are otherwise quite similar gameplay-wise; they class change into the '''Master Knight''', which can use every weapon type except dark magic. In ''Thracia 776'', the Prince is Leif's advanced class. In his DLC appearances in ''Awakening'', Marth has the unique '''Lodestar''' class; he can use Rapiers and the Falchion, but does not act as a true Lord. Also related is the '''Tactician''' class, explained on their own separate folder below. Also related are the eight unique classes exclusive to the royals in ''Engage'', but these were actually expies of existing classes with unique skills for their advanced forms.\\\
At various points in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'', Elincia, Geoffrey, Lucia, Nephenee, and Tibarn all act as the Lord character of certain chapters but their classes don't apply here.\\\
->'''Playable characters of this class family:''' Marth (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'' and their remakes); Alm and Celica (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' and its remake); Sigurd, Seliph, Leif, and Lachesis (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Leif again (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Roy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Eliwood, Hector, and Lyndis (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Eirika and Ephraim (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Ike (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Ike again and Micaiah (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Chrom and Lucina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Corrin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Byleth, Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Alear (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')[[note]]Interestingly, the "Lord" class in Engage cannot be used by Alear, instead being exclusive to Diamant and Alcryst, which for the former is an {{Expy}} of the Sword Fighter class and the latter an {{Expy}} of the Archer class. And while Diamant and Alcryst are plot-important characters who show up in cutscenes quite a bit, they don't really qualify[[/note]]; Alfonse and Sharena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'')
to:
!!The Lord
!!Trainee Classes
[[quoteright:160:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/echoes_villager_m_2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:160:Male Villagers in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
[[quoteright:128:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/echoes_villager_f_2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:128:Female Villagers in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
The
In ''Three Houses'', trainee classes return in both the '''Noble''' and '''Commoner''' classes. They can wield any weapon in the game and some magic.\\\
''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' features the '''Princess''' and '''Prince''' classes, unique to Lachesis and Leif, respectively. While they are not quite 'true' trainee classes, they fit a large majority of the tropes -- they start as very weak classes, but eventually promote into '''Master Knight''', which has access to every weapon type in the game other than dark magic.
->'''Playable characters of
Changed line(s) 21,60 (click to see context) from:
* AntiFrustrationFeatures: For [[HeroesPreferSwords sword-locked Lords]], the AntiCavalry and AntiArmor properties of their weapons are so that they can stand a fair chance against Cavaliers and Knights respectively, whom otherwise possess a [[TacticalRockPaperScissors weapon triangle advantage]] over them by virtue of being lance-wielders.
* BlueBlood: The Lord is almost always a prince or princess of some nation, or discovers themselves to be one over the course of their journey. Exceptions are Ike and Byleth, whom both are BadassNormal mercenaries (later becoming an academy professor for the latter).[[note]]Ike's father had Blue Blood, although he had thrown his title away before Ike's birth, and Byleth's AmbiguouslyHuman situation due to complications of their birth and them being a vessel to the goddess puts them more into divine territory.[[/note]]
* CompetitiveBalance: They fall all over the place on this one. Robin is notable in this regard, as they can be anything, depending on the player's choices, but starts as a MagicKnight.
* ExperienceBooster:
** Nohr Prince/Princess can learn ''Nobility'', which raises the amount of experience earned by 20%.
** The ''Three Houses''' main characters have the same personal skills under different names[[labelnote:*]]Byleth's variant of this skill also grants this boost to adjacent allies[[/labelnote]].
* {{Expy}}: Most character-specific Lord class variants are based on other classes:
** Marth starts out [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness technically not having a promotion]], but gains a mini-promotion like bonus upon restoring the Fire Emblem. Nevertheless, he fits the mold of a partial mix between the more balanced Mercenary and the Thief class, being a JackOfAllStats sword-wielder with poor defenses and the ability to open locked chests without using a key. His later exclusive Lodestar class as a DLC character in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' more closely fits the mold of a Myrmidon, having higher speed and skill at the cost of relatively lower Strength and Defense while being locked to swords.
** Lyn is a Myrmidon in all but name with her FragileSpeedster stat spread and getting to use the Myrmidon-exclusive sword Wo Dao. She advances into the Blade Lord class, which is essentially a Swordmaster who lacks the innate critical bonus, but can use bows as a sidearm[[note]]not coincidentally, the same weapon combination as a Nomadic Trooper[[/note]].
** Eirika follows the mold of Rapier Lords, but with the additional ability to use a Myrmidon-exclusive sword (Shamshir in her case). Her version of the Great Lord class is a sword-locked Paladin.
** Ephraim starts off as a lightly armored lance infantry, much like Soldiers. His version of the Great Lord class is a lance-locked Paladin.
** Hector is heavily armored like the armor Knight line while Eliwood gains a horse and a lance rank like Paladins once he Class Changes into Knight Lord. This is a CallBack to their appearance in ''The Binding Blade'', where they ''are'' a General and Paladin, respectively.
** Sigurd and Seliph are also based on Paladins as Knight Lords due to their sword and lance rank in addition to getting a mount.
** Alm, Roy, Ike and Alear are derived from Mercenaries based on their balanced stats and being sword infantry units; Ike gets to use axes as a Vanguard in ''Radiant Dawn'', furthering the parallel to the Mercenary line from non-Tellius games. However, Alm gets to use bows once he class changes, Alear gains access to body arts one they class change and Roy is sword-locked.
** Celica and Micaiah are in magic classes in addition to swords and light magic respectively. Celica actually matches the female Mages in ''Gaiden'', as they can use swords in addition to offensive and healing magic once they Class Change into Priestess. Micaiah essentially acts as a more offensive Bishop once she promotes to Light Sage, and as a Light Priestess, she functions as a Saint with improved stats across the board.
** Chrom, Lucina, and Dimitri's Great Lord variants mix aspects of the Mercenary and Soldier, being able to wield swords and lances on foot while having balanced stats all around.
** Robin and Byleth are a less-armored, on-foot/infantry version of the Dark Knight, owing to their access to swords and tomes.
** Corrin mixes the Lord and the Manakete class, gaining aspects from both (sword use and a legendary sword from the Lord, dragonshifting from the Manakete).
** Edelgard[[labelnote:*]]Armored Lord and Emperor[[/labelnote]] and Claude's[[labelnote:*]]Wyvern Master and Barbarossa[[/labelnote]] advanced and master lord classes are ostensibly the Knight and Wyvern Rider classes, respectively, with a focus on Authority (with Claude's being notable in that they focus on Bows, not Axes, as regular Wyvern Riders do). Edelgard can also be considered to mix the Lord with the King[=/=]Emperor class given the name of her final promotion.
* HeroesPreferSwords: Only Ephraim, Sharena, Dimitri, Hector, Edelgard, [[LightEmUp Micaiah]], and Claude don't (and Hector gains them as a secondary weapon after class change, while Edelgard and Dimitri start with them as a secondary option). While Robin and the ''Three Houses'' lords are always ''capable'' of being a class that can use swords, they are associated moreso with other weapons -- magic tomes, particularly [[ShockAndAwe Thunder]] tomes for Robin, lances for Dimitri, axes for Edelgard, and bows for Claude.
* HPToOne: Lords in ''Three Houses'' can learn the Subdue combat art for swords upon mastering the class. It lets them deal an attack that cannot kill enemies.
* MasterOfAll: Robin and Byleth, thanks to the ability to change into any class in the game, except for special classes and those exclusive to the other gender. Since skills are tied to classes and all skills can be equipped regardless of class, this allows them access to a ridiculous range of skills, letting the character do almost literally anything. Corrin can also reach this point, although s/he needs to unlock classes through A rank supports in order to make it happen.
* MasterOfNone: The more [[NintendoHard difficult]] the game is, the more likely this archetype is to fall into this trope, the reason being that the player is obligated to use them regardless of their actual fighting ability.
* RoyalRapier: The traditional weapon for Lord characters, Rapiers are effective against cavalry and armored units that make up most of TheEmpire[='=]s forces.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Lords are generally characters of royal, or at least noble, descent, and they are all willing to get their hands dirty fighting on the front lines of the battlefield.
* SecretArt: Starting from ''Path of Radiance'', they get skills that are exclusive to their class. The exception is Marth, who didn't get one due to the Archanea remakes not having the skill system.
** In ''Path of Radiance'' and ''Radiant Dawn'', Ike has exclusive access to Aether, at first through an occult book, then as part of his promoted class.
** Micaiah's Sacrifice skill is notable that it is support-oriented instead of boosting her damage in combat. It is her only method of healing allies in Part 1 before she could use staves. While she does have access to the Corona skill in her final promotion, it is also available to the Saint and Chancellor classes.
** In ''Awakening'', Chrom and Robin have access to Aether and Ignis respectively in their promoted classes, and can pass it down to their children, Lucina and Morgan, (again, respectively) as well as their sibling. If paired with each other, this can result in Lucina and Morgan having access to ''both'' of their signature moves.
** In ''Fates'', Corrin has access to Dragon Fang as a Nohr Prince/Princess and could pass it down to their children.
** ''Shadows of Valentia'' grants Alm and Celica exclusive Combat Arts (Scendscale for Alm and Ragnarok Ω for Celica) as long as they equipped their respective ultimate weapons.
** In ''Three Houses'', all three lords learn an unique Combat Art upon mastering their unique Master class. Along with Byleth, they can ''also'' get another unique Combat Art when using their [[InfinityPlusOneSword Infinity Plus One Sword/Axe/Lance/Bow]], though they can use that Art regardless of class.
* StatusBuff:
** Lodestar and the Lord gain Charm, which gives a boost in hit/avoid (''Awakening'') and damage (''Fates'').
** The Enlightened One gains Sacred Power, which allows adjacent allies to deal 3 extra damage and take 3 less damage during combat.
* SwordOfPlotAdvancement: Most class changes of Lord characters are story-tied events which can't be avoided, often even if the character isn't at the optimal level to class change. Sometimes they're tied to obtaining a literal SwordOfPlotAdvancement. The leading characters of the 3DS titles (barring ''Shadows of Valentia'') are the exceptions, as Chrom, Robin, Lucina, and Corrin all follow the normal rules for class change. Zig-Zagged in ''Three Houses'', as while Byleth, Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude can assume common classes (and regular Lord) the same way other characters do, they can only unlock their unique classes via story progression.
* WalkingArmory: The Master Knight can use all weapon types but Dark Magic.
* WeaponBasedCharacterization: Those Lords who don't use Rapiers tend to use a functional {{expy}} like Hector's axe Wolf Beil, Lyn's {{Katana|sAreJustBetter}} Mani Katti, Ephraim's polearm Reginleif, Ike's {{BFS}} Regal Sword, and Micaiah's HolyHandGrenade Thani.
* WeaponSpecialization: Traditionally, all Lords have exclusive access to a personal weapon before gaining the legendary ones, typically a Rapier which is effective against cavalry and armored units.
* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou: The death of a Lord is an instant GameOver; in some games, other ally characters will invoke this trope almost word-for-word when the Lord is dying. The only exceptions are Lucina (though she won't die, as she has storyline importance), Alfonse, and Sharena.
* BlueBlood: The Lord is almost always a prince or princess of some nation, or discovers themselves to be one over the course of their journey. Exceptions are Ike and Byleth, whom both are BadassNormal mercenaries (later becoming an academy professor for the latter).[[note]]Ike's father had Blue Blood, although he had thrown his title away before Ike's birth, and Byleth's AmbiguouslyHuman situation due to complications of their birth and them being a vessel to the goddess puts them more into divine territory.[[/note]]
* CompetitiveBalance: They fall all over the place on this one. Robin is notable in this regard, as they can be anything, depending on the player's choices, but starts as a MagicKnight.
* ExperienceBooster:
** Nohr Prince/Princess can learn ''Nobility'', which raises the amount of experience earned by 20%.
** The ''Three Houses''' main characters have the same personal skills under different names[[labelnote:*]]Byleth's variant of this skill also grants this boost to adjacent allies[[/labelnote]].
* {{Expy}}: Most character-specific Lord class variants are based on other classes:
** Marth starts out [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness technically not having a promotion]], but gains a mini-promotion like bonus upon restoring the Fire Emblem. Nevertheless, he fits the mold of a partial mix between the more balanced Mercenary and the Thief class, being a JackOfAllStats sword-wielder with poor defenses and the ability to open locked chests without using a key. His later exclusive Lodestar class as a DLC character in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' more closely fits the mold of a Myrmidon, having higher speed and skill at the cost of relatively lower Strength and Defense while being locked to swords.
** Lyn is a Myrmidon in all but name with her FragileSpeedster stat spread and getting to use the Myrmidon-exclusive sword Wo Dao. She advances into the Blade Lord class, which is essentially a Swordmaster who lacks the innate critical bonus, but can use bows as a sidearm[[note]]not coincidentally, the same weapon combination as a Nomadic Trooper[[/note]].
** Eirika follows the mold of Rapier Lords, but with the additional ability to use a Myrmidon-exclusive sword (Shamshir in her case). Her version of the Great Lord class is a sword-locked Paladin.
** Ephraim starts off as a lightly armored lance infantry, much like Soldiers. His version of the Great Lord class is a lance-locked Paladin.
** Hector is heavily armored like the armor Knight line while Eliwood gains a horse and a lance rank like Paladins once he Class Changes into Knight Lord. This is a CallBack to their appearance in ''The Binding Blade'', where they ''are'' a General and Paladin, respectively.
** Sigurd and Seliph are also based on Paladins as Knight Lords due to their sword and lance rank in addition to getting a mount.
** Alm, Roy, Ike and Alear are derived from Mercenaries based on their balanced stats and being sword infantry units; Ike gets to use axes as a Vanguard in ''Radiant Dawn'', furthering the parallel to the Mercenary line from non-Tellius games. However, Alm gets to use bows once he class changes, Alear gains access to body arts one they class change and Roy is sword-locked.
** Celica and Micaiah are in magic classes in addition to swords and light magic respectively. Celica actually matches the female Mages in ''Gaiden'', as they can use swords in addition to offensive and healing magic once they Class Change into Priestess. Micaiah essentially acts as a more offensive Bishop once she promotes to Light Sage, and as a Light Priestess, she functions as a Saint with improved stats across the board.
** Chrom, Lucina, and Dimitri's Great Lord variants mix aspects of the Mercenary and Soldier, being able to wield swords and lances on foot while having balanced stats all around.
** Robin and Byleth are a less-armored, on-foot/infantry version of the Dark Knight, owing to their access to swords and tomes.
** Corrin mixes the Lord and the Manakete class, gaining aspects from both (sword use and a legendary sword from the Lord, dragonshifting from the Manakete).
** Edelgard[[labelnote:*]]Armored Lord and Emperor[[/labelnote]] and Claude's[[labelnote:*]]Wyvern Master and Barbarossa[[/labelnote]] advanced and master lord classes are ostensibly the Knight and Wyvern Rider classes, respectively, with a focus on Authority (with Claude's being notable in that they focus on Bows, not Axes, as regular Wyvern Riders do). Edelgard can also be considered to mix the Lord with the King[=/=]Emperor class given the name of her final promotion.
* HeroesPreferSwords: Only Ephraim, Sharena, Dimitri, Hector, Edelgard, [[LightEmUp Micaiah]], and Claude don't (and Hector gains them as a secondary weapon after class change, while Edelgard and Dimitri start with them as a secondary option). While Robin and the ''Three Houses'' lords are always ''capable'' of being a class that can use swords, they are associated moreso with other weapons -- magic tomes, particularly [[ShockAndAwe Thunder]] tomes for Robin, lances for Dimitri, axes for Edelgard, and bows for Claude.
* HPToOne: Lords in ''Three Houses'' can learn the Subdue combat art for swords upon mastering the class. It lets them deal an attack that cannot kill enemies.
* MasterOfAll: Robin and Byleth, thanks to the ability to change into any class in the game, except for special classes and those exclusive to the other gender. Since skills are tied to classes and all skills can be equipped regardless of class, this allows them access to a ridiculous range of skills, letting the character do almost literally anything. Corrin can also reach this point, although s/he needs to unlock classes through A rank supports in order to make it happen.
* MasterOfNone: The more [[NintendoHard difficult]] the game is, the more likely this archetype is to fall into this trope, the reason being that the player is obligated to use them regardless of their actual fighting ability.
* RoyalRapier: The traditional weapon for Lord characters, Rapiers are effective against cavalry and armored units that make up most of TheEmpire[='=]s forces.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Lords are generally characters of royal, or at least noble, descent, and they are all willing to get their hands dirty fighting on the front lines of the battlefield.
* SecretArt: Starting from ''Path of Radiance'', they get skills that are exclusive to their class. The exception is Marth, who didn't get one due to the Archanea remakes not having the skill system.
** In ''Path of Radiance'' and ''Radiant Dawn'', Ike has exclusive access to Aether, at first through an occult book, then as part of his promoted class.
** Micaiah's Sacrifice skill is notable that it is support-oriented instead of boosting her damage in combat. It is her only method of healing allies in Part 1 before she could use staves. While she does have access to the Corona skill in her final promotion, it is also available to the Saint and Chancellor classes.
** In ''Awakening'', Chrom and Robin have access to Aether and Ignis respectively in their promoted classes, and can pass it down to their children, Lucina and Morgan, (again, respectively) as well as their sibling. If paired with each other, this can result in Lucina and Morgan having access to ''both'' of their signature moves.
** In ''Fates'', Corrin has access to Dragon Fang as a Nohr Prince/Princess and could pass it down to their children.
** ''Shadows of Valentia'' grants Alm and Celica exclusive Combat Arts (Scendscale for Alm and Ragnarok Ω for Celica) as long as they equipped their respective ultimate weapons.
** In ''Three Houses'', all three lords learn an unique Combat Art upon mastering their unique Master class. Along with Byleth, they can ''also'' get another unique Combat Art when using their [[InfinityPlusOneSword Infinity Plus One Sword/Axe/Lance/Bow]], though they can use that Art regardless of class.
* StatusBuff:
** Lodestar and the Lord gain Charm, which gives a boost in hit/avoid (''Awakening'') and damage (''Fates'').
** The Enlightened One gains Sacred Power, which allows adjacent allies to deal 3 extra damage and take 3 less damage during combat.
* SwordOfPlotAdvancement: Most class changes of Lord characters are story-tied events which can't be avoided, often even if the character isn't at the optimal level to class change. Sometimes they're tied to obtaining a literal SwordOfPlotAdvancement. The leading characters of the 3DS titles (barring ''Shadows of Valentia'') are the exceptions, as Chrom, Robin, Lucina, and Corrin all follow the normal rules for class change. Zig-Zagged in ''Three Houses'', as while Byleth, Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude can assume common classes (and regular Lord) the same way other characters do, they can only unlock their unique classes via story progression.
* WalkingArmory: The Master Knight can use all weapon types but Dark Magic.
* WeaponBasedCharacterization: Those Lords who don't use Rapiers tend to use a functional {{expy}} like Hector's axe Wolf Beil, Lyn's {{Katana|sAreJustBetter}} Mani Katti, Ephraim's polearm Reginleif, Ike's {{BFS}} Regal Sword, and Micaiah's HolyHandGrenade Thani.
* WeaponSpecialization: Traditionally, all Lords have exclusive access to a personal weapon before gaining the legendary ones, typically a Rapier which is effective against cavalry and armored units.
* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou: The death of a Lord is an instant GameOver; in some games, other ally characters will invoke this trope almost word-for-word when the Lord is dying. The only exceptions are Lucina (though she won't die, as she has storyline importance), Alfonse, and Sharena.
to:
* AntiFrustrationFeatures: For [[HeroesPreferSwords sword-locked Lords]], the AntiCavalry BoringButPractical: Commoners and AntiArmor properties of Nobles get HP +5 as their weapons mastery skill, which is very valuable early-game as most of your units are so that they can stand a fair chance against Cavaliers and Knights respectively, whom otherwise possess a [[TacticalRockPaperScissors weapon triangle advantage]] over them by virtue of being lance-wielders.
* BlueBlood: The Lord is almostnot sturdy enough yet to survive hard hits, especially in Maddening where the enemy will always a prince or princess of some nation, or discovers themselves to be one over the course of their journey. Exceptions are Ike and Byleth, whom both are BadassNormal mercenaries (later becoming an academy professor for the latter).[[note]]Ike's father had Blue Blood, although he had thrown his title away before Ike's birth, and Byleth's AmbiguouslyHuman situation due to complications of their birth and them being a vessel to the goddess puts them more into divine territory.[[/note]]
* CompetitiveBalance: They fall all over the place on this one. Robin is notableoutpace you in this regard, as they can be anything, depending on the player's choices, but starts as a MagicKnight.
damage.
*ExperienceBooster:
** Nohr Prince/Princess can learn ''Nobility'', which raises the amount of experience earned by 20%.
** The ''Three Houses''' main characters have the same personal skills under different names[[labelnote:*]]Byleth's variant of this skill also grants this boost to adjacent allies[[/labelnote]].
* {{Expy}}: Most character-specific Lord class variants are based on other classes:
** Marth starts out [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness technically not having a promotion]], but gains a mini-promotion like bonus upon restoring the Fire Emblem. Nevertheless, he fits the mold of a partial mix between the more balanced Mercenary and the Thief class, being a JackOfAllStats sword-wielder with poor defenses and the ability to open locked chests without using a key. His later exclusive Lodestar class as a DLC characterBucketHelmet: Male villagers in ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'' more closely fits the mold of a Myrmidon, having higher speed and skill at the cost of relatively lower Strength and Defense while being locked to swords.
** Lyn is a Myrmidon in all but name with her FragileSpeedster stat spread and getting to use the Myrmidon-exclusive sword Wo Dao. She advances into the Blade Lord class, which is essentially a Swordmaster who lacks the innate critical bonus, but can use bowswear pots as a sidearm[[note]]not coincidentally, the same weapon combination as a Nomadic Trooper[[/note]].
** Eirika follows the mold of Rapier Lords, but with the additional ability to use a Myrmidon-exclusive sword (Shamshir in her case). Her version of the Great Lordmakeshift helmets.
* {{Expy}}: Recruit, Amelia's trainee classis a sword-locked Paladin.
** Ephraim starts off as a lightly armored lance infantry, much like Soldiers. His version of the Great Lord class is a lance-locked Paladin.
** Hector is heavily armored like the armor Knight line while Eliwood gains a horse and a lance rank like Paladins once he Class Changes into Knight Lord. This is a CallBack to their appearancein ''The Binding Blade'', where they ''are'' a General and Paladin, respectively.
** Sigurd and Seliph are also based on Paladins as Knight Lords due to their sword and lance rank in addition to getting a mount.
** Alm, Roy, Ike and Alear are derived from Mercenaries based on their balanced stats and being sword infantry units; Ike gets to use axes as a Vanguard in ''Radiant Dawn'', furthering the parallel to the Mercenary line from non-Tellius games. However, Alm gets to use bows once he class changes, Alear gains access to body arts one they class change and RoySacred Stones'', is sword-locked.
** Celica and Micaiah are in magic classes in addition to swords and light magic respectively. Celica actually matches the female Mages in ''Gaiden'', as they can use swords in addition to offensive and healing magic once they Class Change into Priestess. Micaiah essentially acts asa more offensive Bishop once she promotes to Light Sage, and as a Light Priestess, she functions as a Saint with improved stats across the board.
** Chrom, Lucina, and Dimitri's Great Lord variants mix aspectsvariant of the Mercenary and Soldier, being able to wield swords and lances on foot while having balanced stats all around.
** Robin and Bylethis even called ''Trainee Soldier'' in Japan.
* FireIceLightning: Pupils area less-armored, on-foot/infantry version aspiring mages that are capable of using anima magic, which are comprised of the Dark Knight, owing to their access to swords and tomes.
** Corrin mixes the Lord and the Manakete class, gaining aspects from both (sword use and a legendary sword from the Lord, dragonshifting from the Manakete).
** Edelgard[[labelnote:*]]Armored Lord and Emperor[[/labelnote]] and Claude's[[labelnote:*]]Wyvern Master and Barbarossa[[/labelnote]] advanced and master lord classes are ostensibly the Knight and Wyvern Rider classes, respectively, with a focus on Authority (with Claude's being notable in that they focus on Bows, not Axes, as regular Wyvern Riders do). Edelgard can also be considered to mix the Lord with the King[=/=]Emperor class given the name of her final promotion.
three elements.
* HeroesPreferSwords:Only Ephraim, Sharena, Dimitri, Hector, Edelgard, [[LightEmUp Micaiah]], and Claude don't (and Hector gains them as a secondary weapon after class change, while Edelgard and Dimitri Villagers in ''Gaiden'' start out with them as a secondary option). While Robin and the ''Three Houses'' lords are always ''capable'' of being a class that can use swords, swords.
* MagikarpPower: They start out weak, but theyare associated moreso come with other weapons -- magic tomes, particularly [[ShockAndAwe Thunder]] tomes for Robin, lances for Dimitri, axes for Edelgard, and bows for Claude.
* HPToOne: Lords in ''Three Houses'' can learnthe Subdue combat art for swords upon mastering the class. It lets them deal an attack that cannot kill enemies.
* MasterOfAll: Robin and Byleth, thanks toAptitude skill which increases their growth rates, or the ability to change into any class "gain" more levels than normal in the game, except for special classes and those exclusive to the other gender. Since skills are tied to classes and all skills can be equipped regardless of class, this allows one way or another, which give them access to a ridiculous range of skills, letting the character do almost literally anything. Corrin can also reach this point, although s/he needs to unlock classes through A rank supports in order to make it happen.
* MasterOfNone: Themore [[NintendoHard difficult]] the game is, the more likely this archetype is chances to fall into this trope, the reason being that the player is obligated to use them regardless of proc their actual fighting ability.
* RoyalRapier: The traditional weapon for Lord characters, Rapiers are effective against cavalry and armored units that make up most of TheEmpire[='=]s forces.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Lords are generally characters of royal, or at least noble, descent, and they are all willing to getgrowth rates. Both cases increase their hands dirty fighting on chances of capping more stats and/or become more powerful than the front lines of the battlefield.
* SecretArt: Starting from ''Path of Radiance'', they get skills that are exclusive to their class. The exception is Marth, who didn't get one due to the Archanea remakes not having the skill system.
** In ''Path of Radiance'' and ''Radiant Dawn'', Ike has exclusive access to Aether, at first through an occult book, then as part of his promoted class.
** Micaiah's Sacrifice skill is notable that it is support-oriented instead of boosting her damage in combat. It is her only method of healing allies in Part 1 before she could use staves. While sheaverage ''FE'' unit does have access to over the Corona skill in her final promotion, it is also available to the Saint and Chancellor classes.
**course of a game.
* NewGamePlus: Kind of. In''Awakening'', Chrom and Robin have access to Aether and Ignis respectively in their promoted classes, and can pass it down to their children, Lucina and Morgan, (again, respectively) as well as their sibling. If paired with each other, this can result in Lucina and Morgan having access to ''both'' of their signature moves.
** In ''Fates'', Corrin has access to Dragon Fang as a Nohr Prince/Princess and could pass it down to their children.
** ''Shadows of Valentia'' grants Alm and Celica exclusive Combat Arts (Scendscale for Alm and Ragnarok Ω for Celica) as long as they equipped their respective ultimate weapons.
** In ''Three Houses'', all three lords learn an unique Combat Art upon mastering their unique Master class. Along with Byleth, they can ''also'' get another unique Combat Art when using their [[InfinityPlusOneSword Infinity Plus One Sword/Axe/Lance/Bow]], though they can use that Art regardless of class.
* StatusBuff:
** Lodestar and the Lord gain Charm, which gives a boost in hit/avoid (''Awakening'') and damage (''Fates'').
** The Enlightened One gains''The Sacred Power, which allows adjacent allies to deal 3 extra damage Stones'', once one completes both Eirika and take 3 less damage during combat.
* SwordOfPlotAdvancement: Most class changes of Lord characters are story-tied events which can't be avoided, often even if the character isn't at the optimal level to class change. Sometimes they're tied to obtaining a literal SwordOfPlotAdvancement. The leading characters of the 3DS titles (barring ''Shadows of Valentia'') are the exceptions, as Chrom, Robin, Lucina, and Corrin all follow the normal rules for class change. Zig-Zagged in ''Three Houses'', as while Byleth, Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude can assume common classes (and regular Lord) the same way other characters do, they can only unlock their unique classes via story progression.
* WalkingArmory: The Master Knight can use all weapon types but Dark Magic.
* WeaponBasedCharacterization: Those Lords who don't use Rapiers tend to use a functional {{expy}} like Hector's axe Wolf Beil, Lyn's {{Katana|sAreJustBetter}} Mani Katti,Ephraim's polearm Reginleif, Ike's {{BFS}} Regal Sword, and Micaiah's HolyHandGrenade Thani.
* WeaponSpecialization: Traditionally, all Lordsstories at least once, the trainees have exclusive access to a personal weapon before gaining the legendary ones, typically a Rapier option to class change to the trainee classes again and again. The final-tiered versions of these classes gain special bonuses; the super Journeyman and Recruit gain increased critical rates, while the super Pupil is the only class in the game which is effective against cavalry can normally[[note]]there's a [[GoodBadBugs bug]] in the game which allows any unit to be able to learn dark magic, and armored units.
* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou: The death of a Lord is an instant GameOver;Sages in some games, other ally characters will invoke this trope almost word-for-word when game naturally learn both anima and light magic[[/note]] use all three types of offensive magic.
* PowerUpLetdown: Constitution is theLord is dying. The only exceptions are Lucina (though she won't die, as she stat that doesn't grow with the Super Trainees, leaving them to be slowed down by the more powerful and heavier weapons. This particularly hurts the Journeyman, who not only uses the heaviest weapons in the game, but has storyline importance), Alfonse, a counterpart in the Berserker which has the necessary constitution and Sharena.a similar critical hit bonus.
* BlueBlood: The Lord is almost
* CompetitiveBalance: They fall all over the place on this one. Robin is notable
*
** Nohr Prince/Princess can learn ''Nobility'', which raises the amount of experience earned by 20%.
** The ''Three Houses''' main characters have the same personal skills under different names[[labelnote:*]]Byleth's variant of this skill also grants this boost to adjacent allies[[/labelnote]].
* {{Expy}}: Most character-specific Lord class variants are based on other classes:
** Marth starts out [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness technically not having a promotion]], but gains a mini-promotion like bonus upon restoring the Fire Emblem. Nevertheless, he fits the mold of a partial mix between the more balanced Mercenary and the Thief class, being a JackOfAllStats sword-wielder with poor defenses and the ability to open locked chests without using a key. His later exclusive Lodestar class as a DLC character
** Lyn is a Myrmidon in all but name with her FragileSpeedster stat spread and getting to use the Myrmidon-exclusive sword Wo Dao. She advances into the Blade Lord class, which is essentially a Swordmaster who lacks the innate critical bonus, but can use bows
** Eirika follows the mold of Rapier Lords, but with the additional ability to use a Myrmidon-exclusive sword (Shamshir in her case). Her version of the Great Lord
* {{Expy}}: Recruit, Amelia's trainee class
** Ephraim starts off as a lightly armored lance infantry, much like Soldiers. His version of the Great Lord class is a lance-locked Paladin.
** Hector is heavily armored like the armor Knight line while Eliwood gains a horse and a lance rank like Paladins once he Class Changes into Knight Lord. This is a CallBack to their appearance
** Sigurd and Seliph are also based on Paladins as Knight Lords due to their sword and lance rank in addition to getting a mount.
** Alm, Roy, Ike and Alear are derived from Mercenaries based on their balanced stats and being sword infantry units; Ike gets to use axes as a Vanguard in ''Radiant Dawn'', furthering the parallel to the Mercenary line from non-Tellius games. However, Alm gets to use bows once he class changes, Alear gains access to body arts one they class change and Roy
** Celica and Micaiah are in magic classes in addition to swords and light magic respectively. Celica actually matches the female Mages in ''Gaiden'', as they can use swords in addition to offensive and healing magic once they Class Change into Priestess. Micaiah essentially acts as
** Chrom, Lucina, and Dimitri's Great Lord variants mix aspects
** Robin and Byleth
* FireIceLightning: Pupils are
** Corrin mixes the Lord and the Manakete class, gaining aspects from both (sword use and a legendary sword from the Lord, dragonshifting from the Manakete).
** Edelgard[[labelnote:*]]Armored Lord and Emperor[[/labelnote]] and Claude's[[labelnote:*]]Wyvern Master and Barbarossa[[/labelnote]] advanced and master lord classes are ostensibly the Knight and Wyvern Rider classes, respectively, with a focus on Authority (with Claude's being notable in that they focus on Bows, not Axes, as regular Wyvern Riders do). Edelgard can also be considered to mix the Lord with the King[=/=]Emperor class given the name of her final promotion.
* HeroesPreferSwords:
* MagikarpPower: They start out weak, but they
* HPToOne: Lords in ''Three Houses'' can learn
* MasterOfAll: Robin and Byleth, thanks to
* MasterOfNone: The
* RoyalRapier: The traditional weapon for Lord characters, Rapiers are effective against cavalry and armored units that make up most of TheEmpire[='=]s forces.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Lords are generally characters of royal, or at least noble, descent, and they are all willing to get
* SecretArt: Starting from ''Path of Radiance'', they get skills that are exclusive to their class. The exception is Marth, who didn't get one due to the Archanea remakes not having the skill system.
** In ''Path of Radiance'' and ''Radiant Dawn'', Ike has exclusive access to Aether, at first through an occult book, then as part of his promoted class.
** Micaiah's Sacrifice skill is notable that it is support-oriented instead of boosting her damage in combat. It is her only method of healing allies in Part 1 before she could use staves. While she
**
* NewGamePlus: Kind of. In
** In ''Fates'', Corrin has access to Dragon Fang as a Nohr Prince/Princess and could pass it down to their children.
** ''Shadows of Valentia'' grants Alm and Celica exclusive Combat Arts (Scendscale for Alm and Ragnarok Ω for Celica) as long as they equipped their respective ultimate weapons.
** In ''Three Houses'', all three lords learn an unique Combat Art upon mastering their unique Master class. Along with Byleth, they can ''also'' get another unique Combat Art when using their [[InfinityPlusOneSword Infinity Plus One Sword/Axe/Lance/Bow]], though they can use that Art regardless of class.
* StatusBuff:
** Lodestar and the Lord gain Charm, which gives a boost in hit/avoid (''Awakening'') and damage (''Fates'').
** The Enlightened One gains
* SwordOfPlotAdvancement: Most class changes of Lord characters are story-tied events which can't be avoided, often even if the character isn't at the optimal level to class change. Sometimes they're tied to obtaining a literal SwordOfPlotAdvancement. The leading characters of the 3DS titles (barring ''Shadows of Valentia'') are the exceptions, as Chrom, Robin, Lucina, and Corrin all follow the normal rules for class change. Zig-Zagged in ''Three Houses'', as while Byleth, Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude can assume common classes (and regular Lord) the same way other characters do, they can only unlock their unique classes via story progression.
* WalkingArmory: The Master Knight can use all weapon types but Dark Magic.
* WeaponBasedCharacterization: Those Lords who don't use Rapiers tend to use a functional {{expy}} like Hector's axe Wolf Beil, Lyn's {{Katana|sAreJustBetter}} Mani Katti,
* WeaponSpecialization: Traditionally, all Lords
* WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou: The death of a Lord is an instant GameOver;
* PowerUpLetdown: Constitution is the
Deleted line(s) 63,95 (click to see context) :
[[folder:Trainee Classes]]
!!Trainee Classes
[[quoteright:160:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/echoes_villager_m_2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:160:Male Villagers in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
[[quoteright:128:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/echoes_villager_f_2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:128:Female Villagers in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
The "trainee classes" are a set of six classes which embody MagikarpPower. They start out much weaker than other classes, but have excellent potential for growth and have incredible versatility in their main draw: their ability to Class Change to a wide range of classes, allowing the player to bolster their forces specifically to their tastes.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'', the only trainee class is the '''Villager''', which has the ability to Class Change to any of five classes: Mercenary, Soldier, Archer, Mage, or Cavalier. If the Mercenary route is taken, the third-tier Dread Fighter class can Class Change right back around to Villager, allowing for an effective infinite stat-gain loop. Villagers start out wielding swords, though they will likely lose this proficiency depending on what they Class Change into. ''Shadows of Valentia'' introduced Faye, a female Villager. While Mage and Cavalier are unisex options, female Villagers swap out Mercenary, Soldier and Archer for Pegasus Knight and Cleric instead.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', there are three trainee classes, each exclusive to one ally character: the '''Pupil''', the '''Journeyman''', and the '''Recruit'''. Each has two Class Change options: the Pupil can go into Mage or Shaman, the Journeyman to Fighter or Pirate, and the Recruit to Cavalier or Knight. In accordance with the branched class progression system of ''The Sacred Stones'', each thus has three or four options for their final class.\\\
The Villager class returns in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', this time wielding lances. It oddly cannot Class Change in and of itself, instead relying on Second Seals to become another class.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Villager is a Hoshidan class that acts like any other in terms of Class Changing. They can go into '''Merchant''', which uses lances and bows and has a Skill that nets you extra gold, or branch into the '''Master of Arms''' class, a MightyGlacier that can use all three main weapon types.\\\
In ''Three Houses'', trainee classes return in both the '''Noble''' and '''Commoner''' classes. They can wield any weapon in the game and some magic.\\\
''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' features the '''Princess''' and '''Prince''' classes, unique to Lachesis and Leif, respectively. While they are not quite 'true' trainee classes, they fit a large majority of the tropes -- they start as very weak classes, but eventually promote into '''Master Knight''', which has access to every weapon type in the game other than dark magic.
->'''Playable characters of these classes:''' Tobin, Gray, Kliff, and Atlas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden/Shadows of Valentia]]''); Amelia, Ewan, and Ross (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Donnel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Mozu (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Faye (''Shadows of Valentia''); Byleth and every Academy student[[labelnote:Students including...]]Edelgard, Hubert, Ferdinand, Bernadetta, Linhardt, Caspar, Dimitri, Felix, Annette, Sylvain, Ingrid, Claude, Lorenz, Hilda, Marianne, Lysithea, Dorothea, Dedue, Ignatz, Mercedes, Raphael, Ashe, Petra, Leonie, Yuri, Balthus, Hapi, Constance, and Cyril[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
----
* BoringButPractical: Commoners and Nobles get HP +5 as their mastery skill, which is very valuable early-game as most of your units are not sturdy enough yet to survive hard hits, especially in Maddening where the enemy will always outpace you in damage.
* BucketHelmet: Male villagers in ''Awakening'' wear pots as makeshift helmets.
* {{Expy}}: Recruit, Amelia's trainee class in ''The Sacred Stones'', is a variant of the Soldier, and is even called ''Trainee Soldier'' in Japan.
* FireIceLightning: Pupils are aspiring mages that are capable of using anima magic, which are comprised of the three elements.
* HeroesPreferSwords: Villagers in ''Gaiden'' start out with swords.
* MagikarpPower: They start out weak, but they come with the Aptitude skill which increases their growth rates, or the ability to "gain" more levels than normal in one way or another, which give them more chances to proc their growth rates. Both cases increase their chances of capping more stats and/or become more powerful than the average ''FE'' unit does over the course of a game.
* NewGamePlus: Kind of. In ''The Sacred Stones'', once one completes both Eirika and Ephraim's stories at least once, the trainees have the option to class change to the trainee classes again and again. The final-tiered versions of these classes gain special bonuses; the super Journeyman and Recruit gain increased critical rates, while the super Pupil is the only class in the game which can normally[[note]]there's a [[GoodBadBugs bug]] in the game which allows any unit to be able to learn dark magic, and Sages in this game naturally learn both anima and light magic[[/note]] use all three types of offensive magic.
* PowerUpLetdown: Constitution is the only stat that doesn't grow with the Super Trainees, leaving them to be slowed down by the more powerful and heavier weapons. This particularly hurts the Journeyman, who not only uses the heaviest weapons in the game, but has a counterpart in the Berserker which has the necessary constitution and a similar critical hit bonus.
[[/folder]]
!!Trainee Classes
[[quoteright:160:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/echoes_villager_m_2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:160:Male Villagers in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
[[quoteright:128:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/echoes_villager_f_2.png]]
[[caption-width-right:128:Female Villagers in ''Shadows of Valentia'']]
The "trainee classes" are a set of six classes which embody MagikarpPower. They start out much weaker than other classes, but have excellent potential for growth and have incredible versatility in their main draw: their ability to Class Change to a wide range of classes, allowing the player to bolster their forces specifically to their tastes.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'', the only trainee class is the '''Villager''', which has the ability to Class Change to any of five classes: Mercenary, Soldier, Archer, Mage, or Cavalier. If the Mercenary route is taken, the third-tier Dread Fighter class can Class Change right back around to Villager, allowing for an effective infinite stat-gain loop. Villagers start out wielding swords, though they will likely lose this proficiency depending on what they Class Change into. ''Shadows of Valentia'' introduced Faye, a female Villager. While Mage and Cavalier are unisex options, female Villagers swap out Mercenary, Soldier and Archer for Pegasus Knight and Cleric instead.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'', there are three trainee classes, each exclusive to one ally character: the '''Pupil''', the '''Journeyman''', and the '''Recruit'''. Each has two Class Change options: the Pupil can go into Mage or Shaman, the Journeyman to Fighter or Pirate, and the Recruit to Cavalier or Knight. In accordance with the branched class progression system of ''The Sacred Stones'', each thus has three or four options for their final class.\\\
The Villager class returns in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', this time wielding lances. It oddly cannot Class Change in and of itself, instead relying on Second Seals to become another class.\\\
In ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'', Villager is a Hoshidan class that acts like any other in terms of Class Changing. They can go into '''Merchant''', which uses lances and bows and has a Skill that nets you extra gold, or branch into the '''Master of Arms''' class, a MightyGlacier that can use all three main weapon types.\\\
In ''Three Houses'', trainee classes return in both the '''Noble''' and '''Commoner''' classes. They can wield any weapon in the game and some magic.\\\
''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' features the '''Princess''' and '''Prince''' classes, unique to Lachesis and Leif, respectively. While they are not quite 'true' trainee classes, they fit a large majority of the tropes -- they start as very weak classes, but eventually promote into '''Master Knight''', which has access to every weapon type in the game other than dark magic.
->'''Playable characters of these classes:''' Tobin, Gray, Kliff, and Atlas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden/Shadows of Valentia]]''); Amelia, Ewan, and Ross (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Donnel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Mozu (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Faye (''Shadows of Valentia''); Byleth and every Academy student[[labelnote:Students including...]]Edelgard, Hubert, Ferdinand, Bernadetta, Linhardt, Caspar, Dimitri, Felix, Annette, Sylvain, Ingrid, Claude, Lorenz, Hilda, Marianne, Lysithea, Dorothea, Dedue, Ignatz, Mercedes, Raphael, Ashe, Petra, Leonie, Yuri, Balthus, Hapi, Constance, and Cyril[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
----
* BoringButPractical: Commoners and Nobles get HP +5 as their mastery skill, which is very valuable early-game as most of your units are not sturdy enough yet to survive hard hits, especially in Maddening where the enemy will always outpace you in damage.
* BucketHelmet: Male villagers in ''Awakening'' wear pots as makeshift helmets.
* {{Expy}}: Recruit, Amelia's trainee class in ''The Sacred Stones'', is a variant of the Soldier, and is even called ''Trainee Soldier'' in Japan.
* FireIceLightning: Pupils are aspiring mages that are capable of using anima magic, which are comprised of the three elements.
* HeroesPreferSwords: Villagers in ''Gaiden'' start out with swords.
* MagikarpPower: They start out weak, but they come with the Aptitude skill which increases their growth rates, or the ability to "gain" more levels than normal in one way or another, which give them more chances to proc their growth rates. Both cases increase their chances of capping more stats and/or become more powerful than the average ''FE'' unit does over the course of a game.
* NewGamePlus: Kind of. In ''The Sacred Stones'', once one completes both Eirika and Ephraim's stories at least once, the trainees have the option to class change to the trainee classes again and again. The final-tiered versions of these classes gain special bonuses; the super Journeyman and Recruit gain increased critical rates, while the super Pupil is the only class in the game which can normally[[note]]there's a [[GoodBadBugs bug]] in the game which allows any unit to be able to learn dark magic, and Sages in this game naturally learn both anima and light magic[[/note]] use all three types of offensive magic.
* PowerUpLetdown: Constitution is the only stat that doesn't grow with the Super Trainees, leaving them to be slowed down by the more powerful and heavier weapons. This particularly hurts the Journeyman, who not only uses the heaviest weapons in the game, but has a counterpart in the Berserker which has the necessary constitution and a similar critical hit bonus.
[[/folder]]
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Misuse of the page/link
Deleted line(s) 1340 (click to see context) :
* MesACrowd: Mogalls and Balors possess the ability to make copies of themselves in ''Gaiden'' and ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia''.
Added DiffLines:
* SelfDuplication: Mogalls and Balors possess the ability to make copies of themselves in ''Gaiden'' and ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia''.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Trope was cut/disambiguated due to cleanup
* InconsistentSpelling: "Falcon Knight" has been variously rendered as "Falcoknight", "Falconknight", and "Falcon Knight" in the English games.
Deleted line(s) 865 (click to see context) :
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: "Falcon Knight" has been variously rendered as "Falcoknight", "Falconknight", and "Falcon Knight" in the English games.
* InconsistentSpelling:
** There is one hell of a naming inconsistency with this class family. For ''The Blazing Blade'', the first English release, they were renamed "Wyvern Rider" and "Wyvern Lord" to distinguish them from the proper dragons that are not domesticated as mounts and figured heavily into the plot of the game; ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Path of Radiance'' stuck to this. The Japanese version of ''The Sacred Stones'' introduced the "Wyvern Knight" class, part of the Wyvern family of dragons, and looking more like traditional wyverns from ''Mystery of the Emblem''; they were still called "Wyvern Knights" in the English version and the matter of their physical difference wasn't addressed. ''Radiant Dawn''[='s=] translation discarded the "wyvern" name for the classes themselves, going with variations of "Dracoknight"; however, in dialogue, the species are still called wyverns, again to differentiate from the game's fairly important actual dragons. This remained the case for ''Shadow Dragon'', though the [[NoExportForYou Japan only]] remake of the sequel shows the dragon mounts are indeed named Wyverns. Then in ''Awakening'', it's back to Wyvern Rider and Wyvern Lord. The Switch port for ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' then renames it "Wyvern Knight".
** The Japanese version alone isn't much better. The base class is called Dragon Rider in most games, but the Jugdral games and ''Radiant Dawn'' call it Dragon Knight. The advanced class is called either Dragon Master or Dragon Lord depending on the game, which becomes really confusing when you consider the name of the third-tier advanced class from ''Radiant Dawn'': Dragonlord (Lindwurm in Japanese).
** There is one hell of a naming inconsistency with this class family. For ''The Blazing Blade'', the first English release, they were renamed "Wyvern Rider" and "Wyvern Lord" to distinguish them from the proper dragons that are not domesticated as mounts and figured heavily into the plot of the game; ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Path of Radiance'' stuck to this. The Japanese version of ''The Sacred Stones'' introduced the "Wyvern Knight" class, part of the Wyvern family of dragons, and looking more like traditional wyverns from ''Mystery of the Emblem''; they were still called "Wyvern Knights" in the English version and the matter of their physical difference wasn't addressed. ''Radiant Dawn''[='s=] translation discarded the "wyvern" name for the classes themselves, going with variations of "Dracoknight"; however, in dialogue, the species are still called wyverns, again to differentiate from the game's fairly important actual dragons. This remained the case for ''Shadow Dragon'', though the [[NoExportForYou Japan only]] remake of the sequel shows the dragon mounts are indeed named Wyverns. Then in ''Awakening'', it's back to Wyvern Rider and Wyvern Lord. The Switch port for ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' then renames it "Wyvern Knight".
** The Japanese version alone isn't much better. The base class is called Dragon Rider in most games, but the Jugdral games and ''Radiant Dawn'' call it Dragon Knight. The advanced class is called either Dragon Master or Dragon Lord depending on the game, which becomes really confusing when you consider the name of the third-tier advanced class from ''Radiant Dawn'': Dragonlord (Lindwurm in Japanese).
Deleted line(s) 927,929 (click to see context) :
* SpellMyNameWithAnS:
** There is one hell of a naming inconsistency with this class family. For ''The Blazing Blade'', the first English release, they were renamed "Wyvern Rider" and "Wyvern Lord" to distinguish them from the proper dragons that are not domesticated as mounts and figured heavily into the plot of the game; ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Path of Radiance'' stuck to this. The Japanese version of ''The Sacred Stones'' introduced the "Wyvern Knight" class, part of the Wyvern family of dragons, and looking more like traditional wyverns from ''Mystery of the Emblem''; they were still called "Wyvern Knights" in the English version and the matter of their physical difference wasn't addressed. ''Radiant Dawn''[='s=] translation discarded the "wyvern" name for the classes themselves, going with variations of "Dracoknight"; however, in dialogue, the species are still called wyverns, again to differentiate from the game's fairly important actual dragons. This remained the case for ''Shadow Dragon'', though the [[NoExportForYou Japan only]] remake of the sequel shows the dragon mounts are indeed named Wyverns. Then in ''Awakening'', it's back to Wyvern Rider and Wyvern Lord. The Switch port for ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' then renames it "Wyvern Knight".
** The Japanese version alone isn't much better. The base class is called Dragon Rider in most games, but the Jugdral games and ''Radiant Dawn'' call it Dragon Knight. The advanced class is called either Dragon Master or Dragon Lord depending on the game, which becomes really confusing when you consider the name of the third-tier advanced class from ''Radiant Dawn'': Dragonlord (Lindwurm in Japanese).
** There is one hell of a naming inconsistency with this class family. For ''The Blazing Blade'', the first English release, they were renamed "Wyvern Rider" and "Wyvern Lord" to distinguish them from the proper dragons that are not domesticated as mounts and figured heavily into the plot of the game; ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Path of Radiance'' stuck to this. The Japanese version of ''The Sacred Stones'' introduced the "Wyvern Knight" class, part of the Wyvern family of dragons, and looking more like traditional wyverns from ''Mystery of the Emblem''; they were still called "Wyvern Knights" in the English version and the matter of their physical difference wasn't addressed. ''Radiant Dawn''[='s=] translation discarded the "wyvern" name for the classes themselves, going with variations of "Dracoknight"; however, in dialogue, the species are still called wyverns, again to differentiate from the game's fairly important actual dragons. This remained the case for ''Shadow Dragon'', though the [[NoExportForYou Japan only]] remake of the sequel shows the dragon mounts are indeed named Wyverns. Then in ''Awakening'', it's back to Wyvern Rider and Wyvern Lord. The Switch port for ''Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light'' then renames it "Wyvern Knight".
** The Japanese version alone isn't much better. The base class is called Dragon Rider in most games, but the Jugdral games and ''Radiant Dawn'' call it Dragon Knight. The advanced class is called either Dragon Master or Dragon Lord depending on the game, which becomes really confusing when you consider the name of the third-tier advanced class from ''Radiant Dawn'': Dragonlord (Lindwurm in Japanese).
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 192 (click to see context) from:
* BowAndSwordInAccord: In Jugdral and the DS remakes, Generals can use bows and lances, the former also allowing them to use axes and swords too. Particularly in FE4, player and enemy Generals almost always had one melee weapon and one bow within their inventory.
to:
* BowAndSwordInAccord: In Jugdral and the DS remakes, Generals can use bows and lances, the former also allowing them to use axes and swords too. Particularly in FE4, ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', player and enemy Generals almost always had one melee weapon and one bow within their inventory.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 194 (click to see context) from:
* CantCatchUp: [[ZigZaggedTrope Played With]]. On the one hand, Armor Knights ultimately are entirely usable in a high-level run and can potentially even become [=MVP=]s in their own right; hell, one of the most iconic Armor Knights in the series, [[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance the Black Knight]], is a horrifying LightningBruiser who's described as inhumanly fast for a guy in that much armor, and given how the series is designed with the RandomNumberGod and favoritism in mind, it's often ''very'' easy to turn any Armor Knight into a powerhouse worth talking about, [[CoolButInefficient even if there's usually better uses of those resources]]. However, because Armor Knights are slow in ''both'' [[GodStat God Stats]] (Speed and Move), this leads them to often being ''literally'' unable to catch up to the battle for more mobile armies unless the player takes the time to slow down for them to catch up. This gets to the point it becomes a DeconstructedCharacterArchetype with Arden in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', who's the resident ButtMonkey due to being the first generation's token Armor Knight in a game with country-spanning maps and often struggling just to keep up to the fighting -- to the point Arden would note in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'' that due to the far smaller maps, he does far better there than he'd usually do.
to:
* CantCatchUp: [[ZigZaggedTrope Played With]]. On the one hand, Armor Knights ultimately are entirely usable even in a high-level run and can potentially even become [=MVP=]s in their own right; hell, one of the most iconic Armor Knights in the series, [[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance the Black Knight]], is a horrifying LightningBruiser who's described as inhumanly fast for a guy in that much armor, and given how the series is designed with the RandomNumberGod and favoritism in mind, it's often ''very'' easy to turn any Armor Knight into a powerhouse worth talking about, [[CoolButInefficient even if there's usually better uses of those resources]]. However, because Armor Knights are slow in ''both'' [[GodStat God Stats]] (Speed and Move), this leads them to often being ''literally'' unable to catch up to the battle for more mobile armies unless the player takes the time to slow down for them to catch up. This gets to the point it becomes a DeconstructedCharacterArchetype with Arden in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', who's the resident ButtMonkey due to being the first generation's token Armor Knight in a game with country-spanning maps and often struggling just to keep up to the fighting -- to the point Arden would note in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'' that due to the far smaller maps, he does far better there than he'd usually do.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* CantCatchUp: [[ZigZaggedTrope Played With]]. On the one hand, Armor Knights ultimately are entirely usable in a high-level run and can potentially even become [=MVP=]s in their own right; hell, one of the most iconic Armor Knights in the series, [[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance the Black Knight]], is a horrifying LightningBruiser who's described as inhumanly fast for a guy in that much armor, and given how the series is designed with the RandomNumberGod and favoritism in mind, it's often ''very'' easy to turn any Armor Knight into a powerhouse worth talking about, [[CoolButInefficient even if there's usually better uses of those resources]]. However, because Armor Knights are slow in ''both'' [[GodStat God Stats]] (Speed and Move), this leads them to often being ''literally'' unable to catch up to the battle for more mobile armies unless the player takes the time to slow down for them to catch up. This gets to the point it becomes a DeconstructedCharacterArchetype with Arden in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar'', who's the resident ButtMonkey due to being the first generation's token Armor Knight in a game with country-spanning maps and often struggling just to keep up to the fighting -- to the point Arden would note in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes'' that due to the far smaller maps, he does far better there than he'd usually do.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
* SultryBellyDancer: Dancers tend to dress in fanservice-y belly dancer outfits that leave little to the imagination regarding their figures.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
dewicked Belly Dancer
Deleted line(s) 951 (click to see context) :
* BellyDancer: Most Dancers are designed with an Arabian Nights-theme in mind.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Trope was cut/disambiguated due to cleanup
Changed line(s) 40 (click to see context) from:
* HeroesPreferSwords: Only Ephraim, Sharena, Dimitri, Hector, Edelgard, [[LightEmUp Micaiah]], and [[ArcherArchetype Claude]] don't (and Hector gains them as a secondary weapon after class change, while Edelgard and Dimitri start with them as a secondary option). While Robin and the ''Three Houses'' lords are always ''capable'' of being a class that can use swords, they are associated moreso with other weapons -- magic tomes, particularly [[ShockAndAwe Thunder]] tomes for Robin, lances for Dimitri, axes for Edelgard, and bows for Claude.
to:
* HeroesPreferSwords: Only Ephraim, Sharena, Dimitri, Hector, Edelgard, [[LightEmUp Micaiah]], and [[ArcherArchetype Claude]] Claude don't (and Hector gains them as a secondary weapon after class change, while Edelgard and Dimitri start with them as a secondary option). While Robin and the ''Three Houses'' lords are always ''capable'' of being a class that can use swords, they are associated moreso with other weapons -- magic tomes, particularly [[ShockAndAwe Thunder]] tomes for Robin, lances for Dimitri, axes for Edelgard, and bows for Claude.
Deleted line(s) 527 (click to see context) :
* ArcherArchetype: Archers are far-ranged combatants who could pick off any foe from a distance but require buffers so that they won't be attacked from close-range. In addition, archers have high skill so that they hit their target most of the time.
