History Characters / FireEmblemHeroicArchetypes

To see the central character index for the entire ''Franchise/FireEmblem'' series, go [[Characters/FireEmblem here]].\\\

As the heroic archetypes has grown so ''big'', it has been split in multiple pages.

* Characters/FireEmblemHeroicArchetypesMidGameLateUnits

[[foldercontrol]]

!!Main Characters
* The Lord: The protagonist and POV character of the game. Usually young nobles thrust into the center of an international conflict.
** Peaceful Lord: Avoids unnecessary conflict, and relies on strong bonds within the army.
** Martial Lord: Prefers to settle conflict directly, cares little for royal etiquette.
* The Avatar: A customizable character that serves as the lord's confidant, as well as the POV character if present in the game. Often a tactician.
* The Heroine: The Lord's opposite gender counterpart, and sometimes love interest with an optional main story dialogue modification if they were kept alive throughout the game. Either a Lord herself, a pegasus knight, or a mysterious waif.
* The Cornelius: A parent, sibling, or mentor that meets with a terrible fate, making the journey [[ItsPersonal personal]] for the Lord.
* The Nyna: A high-ranking noble that specifically sought help from your army to restore peace in their homeland by driving out the bad guys. Serves as your army's BigGood.

[[folder:The Lord]]
The protagonist of many of the ''Fire Emblem''. There is always at least one Lord (''Radiant Dawn'' had two, and ''The Blazing Blade'' had three). They are generally young, humble nobles or royals who are natural-born leaders despite their lack of experience, lose at least one (if not both) parental/mentor figures, and grow into universally revered and powerful warriors and rulers in their place. As the main character, [[WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou it's automatically game over if they die in battle]]. \\\

As characters, the Lord can be subdivided into two types: the peaceful lord, and the martial lord.\\\

!!General Tropes

* AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: Whether due to high-quality training from childhood, unique weapons, superhuman bloodlines or other inherited powers, or some combination, playable royalty tend to be among the strongest units in your party both in initial stats, growth rates, and max stats. In-universe they are often famed for their tremendous strength/magic and skill.
* BlueBlood: Every Lord is either royalty or discovers they are such over the course of their journey. The only exceptions are Ike, a common mercenary [[note]]his father, however, was noble, but relinquished his title before Ike was born; Ike is knighted into nobility during ''Path of Radiance'', but also relinquishes his title in the timeskip before ''Radiant Dawn''[[/note]], and Itsuki, an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent.
* CompositeCharacter: As with many long runners, increasingly the archetype is played with by either combining aspects of other archetypes, or mixing and matching traits of previous Lords. In particular, Hector has been enough of a direct inspiration for future Lords that he's created a sub-type.
** Sigurd is a mix of the Lord, Crutch Character, and Cornelius archetypes. Like most Lords, he starts off as the main character and gets exclusive access to the InfinityPlusOneSword; like Crutch Characters, he is a prepromoted unit who has early access to Silver-grade weaponry and can kick ass far harder than the rest of the party at the beginning; like Corneliuses, he is murdered halfway through in order to give motivation to his son Seliph.
** Ike is a mix of the Lord and the Ogma. His Ranger Class is the Tellius equivalent of Mercenary, promotes to Hero in the sequel game, and eventually gains access to Axes. Instead of a prince, he's the head of a mercenary company. He becomes the loyal sword of a pegasus-riding princess (Caeda[=/=]Elincia). His starting party even references this by getting Bord (Boyd), an axe fighter like Ogma has, and Abel (Oscar), a cavalier like Marth has, instead of a pair of either.
** Micaiah is a mix of Lord and White Mage. While she has Light Magic to engage in combat, she's an innate healer through her Sacrifice skill before she gains staves. She's assisted by a Julian (Sothe) as well.
** Corrin is explicitly a mix of Lord and Avatar, as the customizable self-insert character. Class-wise, however, they are a manakete instead of some type of magic class.
** Edelgard is the first to be both the Lord and the Rudolf, acting as the main protagonist for the Crimson Flower route, main antagonist for the Azure Moon route, and a major secondary antagonist in the Verdant Wind and Silver Snow routes.
* FrontlineGeneral: They always fight in the thick of combat alongside the common soldiers.
* TheHero: The main POV character who stands on the side of justice.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Later games have the Lord and the Avatar getting into this sort of relationship with even an option of an [[RelationshipUpgrade S-support]].
* PrimaryColorChampion: With the exception of Corrin, who [[GreyAndGrayMorality wears different shades of black and white]], the main Lord and most supporting Lords have red, blue, and yellow somewhere in their base class outfit. The Lords of ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'', Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude, each sport the respective primary color.
* ProtagonistPowerUpPrivileges: Played with. While they do always get the SwordOfPlotAdvancement, they are sometimes also locked into a plot-based class promotion. If it comes late enough in the game, they may actually end up weaker than the supporting cast that the player can level grind consistently.
* RookieRedRanger: Even if they've had training, the beginning of the game is typically their first brush with actual warfare.
* StarterEquipment: They typically have a starting weapon that's both an armor and horse slayer to ease their journey fighting the backbone of TheEmpire's troops. The original prince style lords get the Rapier (except the Jugdral Lords; Sigurd and Seliph start out with normal, common weapons before getting the Tyrfing, while Leif starts with the Light Brand). Myrmidon Lord Lyn gets the Mani Katti. Axe General Lord Hector gets the Wolf Beil. Soldier Lord Ephraim gets the Reginleif. Mercenary Lord Ike has the Regal Sword (and later Ettard, but without the bonuses), Mage Lord Micaiah gets Thani. Chrom gets both his Rapier and a weak version of his legendary, the Falchion, to start with that later gets powered up through the plot. Corrin starts with the Ganglari until it self-destructs, at which point it's replaced with a weak version of the Yato which gains different boosts depending on the route as the story goes on. Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude each get legendary weapons, none of them being swords.

!!The Peaceful Lord
The more peaceful of the two Lord subtypes. Young and kindhearted, they generally hold an idealistic view of the world, and thus prefer to resolve conflicts with as little bloodshed as possible. However, they can also be naive and easily distracted by smaller matters, and they can be easily manipulated due to their trusting nature. Through CharacterDevelopment, they learn to be less naive and more intelligent while still keeping their idealism and hope for peace.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Marth (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Celica (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Seliph (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Roy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Eliwood (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Eirika (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Lucina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]])''; Corrin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Dimitri [[note]]''Three Houses'' Prologue to Chapter 11 and Chapter 18 onward[[/note]] and Claude (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Alear (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Itsuki (''VideoGame/TokyoMirageSessionsFE''); Alfonse and Sharena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]''); Lianna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriors Warriors]]''); Dimitri (again) (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]'')
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* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype:
** In several of his support chains, Roy reveals himself to suffer heavily from self-doubt and feelings of unworthiness thanks to having a pivotal responsibility thrust upon him despite his lack of experience. His mentors also feel that his kind nature causes him to be too soft on the members of his army. However, Roy's supports end up [[DeconReconSwitch reassuring him]] that it's his kindness and determination that make him so effective as a leader.
** Dimitri is basically the Peaceful Lord put in a ''very'' harsh and dark situation that eventually causes his idealism to get impaled thoroughly and his CharacterDevelopment takes a darker turn than usual, becoming a darker variant of the Martial Lord below as a result. [[spoiler:It takes him accidentally getting one of his vassals killed in his deranged attempts to get revenge to finally snap out of it and return to his peaceful nature.]]
** It is [[spoiler:thanks to his mixed heritage]] that Claude has become Peaceful (to a degree), wishing to make the world a safer place instead of despairing over it by metaphorically tearing down the walls that separate different peoples all across Fódlan. [[spoiler:In other routes beside his own in post-Timeskip, he instead becomes a HeroAntagonist, having the noblest motives, merely does what he thinks is right for his home, and is the only one that is not automatically killed in the story.]] Claude is also peculiar in his attitude among other {{Reluctant Warrior}}s; Claude actively cultivates a reputation as an untrustworthy schemer and is more willing than other Lords of this archetype at using underhanded methods like ambushes and secret alliances to secure victory. Ultimately, his bark is a lot worse than his bite when it comes to schemes, though.
* HumbleHero: Lords of this subtype generally downplay their accomplishments when given praise.
* MartialPacifist: They generally prefer to resolve conflict diplomatically. But make no mistake, they'll come down hard on their enemies when pushed. Claude takes this further by becoming a GuileHero.
* NiceGuy: They're among the kindest and most generous people in their respective games, though Claude chooses to portray himself as a more scheming variant.
* ReluctantWarrior: While they are trained, capable fighters, they would rather solve conflicts peacefully than raise their swords.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The Sensitive Guy to the Martial Lord's Manly Man when both are present.
* TookALevelInBadass: Stories following the Peaceful Lord generally involve them growing from naive, inexperienced greenhorns to confident and powerful leaders. More often than not, this is reflected in their stats, as they tend towards [[MagikarpPower low bases and high growths]].
* WideEyedIdealist: They're always full of hope that things will work out for the better, though CharacterDevelopment later decreases this to more sensible levels.
* TheWisePrince: Naturally. They always put the needs of their people before their own, but their idealism can take a toll on them until they undergo CharacterDevelopment.

!!The Martial Lord
The more aggressive of the two Lord subtypes. Unlike their more pacifistic counterparts, these Lords are more willing to fight and kill for their beliefs and are much more willful and blunt when interacting with others. Because of their willful nature, they tend to be reckless and charge headfirst without thinking of the danger involved. They often undergo CharacterDevelopment in which they learn to think about the consequences of their actions and to solve problems without charging headfirst into them.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Alm (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Sigurd (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Leif (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Hector and Lyn (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Ephraim (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Ike and Micaiah (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''[[note]]Ike only[[/note]] and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Chrom (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]])''; Dimitri [[note]]Chapters 12 to 17[[/note]] and Edelgard (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Rowan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriors Warriors]]''); Edelgard (again) and [[AdaptationalJerkass Claude]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]'')
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* ActionHero: Unlike the Peaceful Lord, their primary instinct when confronted with a problem is to stab it until it stops breathing.
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype:
** Sigurd. His recklessness and lack of hesitation towards using violence to achieve his goals allow the villains to play him like a cheap kazoo, ultimately [[spoiler:get him and most of his followers killed]], and leave his son Seliph to fix the devastation left in his wake.
** Ephraim. His gallivanting in enemy territory doesn't endear him to the populace one bit, to the point that when he liberates Renais, the people only cheer because TheCaligula's rule is at an end. After this incident, he begins to mature.
** Micaiah. She dislikes fighting but understands it's important to stand up for what she believes in, and so fights with the goal of resolving conflict. In the first act, she was fighting a tyrannical regime, so while conflicted, she was reassured that she was doing the right thing. In the third chapter of the game however, she is forced to fight on the side of a war she is morally against, and with a nation that she is also against, leading to her focusing her efforts on the war by winning through whatever means possible. When it turns against her, she becomes willing to betray her own beliefs for the sake of her country, and it isn't until she gets a large WhatTheHellHero from Tibarn that she cracks under the pressure of knowing she is betraying her own beliefs and also being too loyal to stop, leading to her confronting Pelleas about the conflict. To put it simply; she was a Peaceful Lord forcing herself to become the Martial Lord, without being able to handle the realities this conflicting nature would bring once the conflict becomes [[GrayAndGrayMorality less clearly defined]].
** Edelgard takes this trope to the extreme, becoming [[spoiler:a WellIntentionedExtremist whose goal is to destroy a somewhat CorruptChurch and unite the entirety of Fódlan through any means necessary, even disregarding her own people. On any route other than her own, she takes this methodology to outright Rudolf levels.]]
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Characters of this sub-archetype had some elements of the Peaceful Lord with Alm, Sigurd, and Leif, but fully diverged with the popularity of Hector, leading to several other lords being based around his personality. Micaiah is the only one of the most recent lords that doesn't fully embrace either side, being proactive to take action but also hating war.
* GoodIsNotSoft: Even if they don't enjoy the fight for its own sake, they have no problem subduing problematic elements through force of arms.
* HotBlooded: If they see a fight about to get on, they often get very excited about bashing some dastards in the face. This trend primarily started with Hector, with Martial Lords before him primarily embodying GoodIsNotSoft. Edelgard mostly averts this, acting through logic and ambition instead. Micaiah similarly prefers a more strategic approach, with her disliking war and pointless conflicts.
* KnightInSourArmor: Tend to hold a more cynical view of the world compared to their more peaceful counterparts, but they're just as willing to make it a better place. This can be particularly be seen with Micaiah's view of the world, [[spoiler:despite loving it (specially Daein) and its people, she knows the world is against her, because of her [[DistinguishingMark brand]].]]
* LeeroyJenkins: Many of them share the FatalFlaw of being a bit too eager to fight, reaching BloodKnight levels in a few cases.
* RebelPrince: A lot of the time, they would rather serve as a warrior rather than fulfill their royal/noble duties.
* SensitiveGuyAndManlyMan: The Manly Man to the Peaceful Lord's Sensitive Guy when both are present.
* TropeCodifier: While elements of the archetype were present before him, most modern Martial Lords follow in the footsteps of Hector from ''The Blazing Blade''.
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[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Avatar]]
A character whose identity is created by the player before the game starts proper. First appearing in a prototypical form in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'' as a [[NonActionGuy tactician working for the army in the background]] that allows the units to talk directly to the player, a fully playable Avatar first appears in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''. They tend to be one of the most powerful units available thanks to their overall high stat growths, ability to become almost any CharacterClass, and capacity to Support with pretty much everybody in the army. If playable, the Avatar works like an additional lord [[WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou included giving an automatic game over if defeated]].

The Avatar's narrative role has fluctuated over time. Mark is basically an extra in ''The Blazing Blade'', Kris is a SupportingProtagonist in ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', Robin and Byleth are the {{deuteragonist}}s of ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' respectively, Corrin and Alear are the {{protagonist}}s of ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'' respectively, Kiran of ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'' returns the Avatar to their roots of being a faceless extra.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype (using [[CanonName default names]]):''' Mark (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'', unplayable); Kris (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Robin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Corrin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Byleth (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Alear (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Kiran (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]''); Shez (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]'')
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* AscendedExtra: The first fully playable Avatar, Kris, wasn't a particularly important character to the plot, mostly because Kris's game was a remake. In ''Awakening'', Robin has a vital role as the {{Deuteragonist}}, in ''Fates'', Corrin is the main character, and in ''Three Houses'', Byleth is the character who explicitly tips the scales in favor of their faction in the player's chosen route[[note]]Byleth's emergence five years after their disappearance breaks the stalemate between the three different factions in the Reunification of Fodlan, and Byleth themself served as the center for the machinations of Rhea, Edelgard, and Claude rather directly in their routes[[/note]]. Come ''VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage'', Alear is the game's ''only'' Lord (though they also [[CompositeCharacter share several traits]] with the Peaceful Lord). This also applies to the idea of the Avatar archetype itself, as it grew out of a minor featureless character, Mark, in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''.
* CanonName: All Avatars have a default name for when they are customized.
* CharacterCustomization: Their whole schtick is being the player's customizable character, though the more fully customizable are just Kris, Robin and Corrin. You can only change Kiran's gender (and they'll look the same due to being stuck with the hood, though later updates added artwork for females and males, and the option to keep the hood on), and you could only customize Mark, Byleth, and Alear's genders and birthdays (Mark can also change Blood Type in the Japanese version).
* ChickMagnet: Male playable Avatars except Kris can have a large number of female love interests. Even Female Byleth has more female romantic options than some male Lords. There are even some characters who can ''only'' be matched with the Avatar, whom the fandom has collectively referred to as "Avatarsexuals", and these are not limited to just females. This is downplayed with Alear, at least in localized versions of ''Engage'', as while both genders can have supports with all female characters, most of those supports are platonic at best.
* DudeMagnet: Female playable Avatars except Kris can have a large number of male love interests. This can apply to Male Byleth too, to a lesser extent. This is downplayed with Alear, at least in localized versions of ''Engage'', as while both genders can have supports with all male characters, most of those supports are platonic at best.
* HeroesPreferSwords: Avatars are most often associated with swords. Robin may be associated with tomes, but they can also use swords. Kiran is an exception: They instead use Dire Breidablik, which is a weapon that has similaries with small firearms.
* HypercompetentSidekick: With the exceptions of Corrin and Alear, each Avatar serves their game's Lord. They end up being the most powerful unit and/or are stated to be the key to be the army's success.
* JackOfAllStats: They have good growth rates across the board by default; thought in the case of Robin and Corrin the player still picks one stat to specialize in and one DumpStat.
* JobSystem: Notable in that, before ''Fates'', the Avatar could reclass into ''virtually any other kind of unit in the game'', allowing them to gain whatever skills or training they wanted with enough time and patience. ''Fates'' toned it down significantly: they have their own class/promotion, but can only choose one alternative class at the beginning, and later can acquire their spouse's and the people of the same gender that they get A supports with (save for Niles and Rhajat, who are the [[GayOption bi options]]). The Job System is a default element of ''Three Houses'', with Byleth starting in what is essentially a trainee class.
* LethalChef: A RunningGag is that the Avatar's cooking tastes like steel. {{Downplayed|Trope}} in ''Three Houses'', where Byleth can take part in an extracurricular activity with a house member where they cook a dish that grants buffs for the month to every party member, and it increases motivation and affection in party members that like cooking (though since the positive bonuses and negatives are based on the partner in question, it could be inferred Byleth really only stands aside and watches, and isnt that good of a chef still).
* LightningBruiser: When playable, their stats are usually off the roof because of various factors such as high growth rate, fast EXP gain, and perfect availability. A common SelfImposedChallenge is to beat the game's [[HarderThanHard most difficult game mode]] with only the Avatar in applicable games as a result.
* LukeIAmYourFather: Two of the four playable Avatars have turned out to have evil and unsavory heritage.
* MagicKnight: Three of their four playable appearances give them a class that can use both magic and swordplay, or let them promote into something that does.
* NonEntityGeneral: Mark does not exist in gameplay and barely exist in-story, and their whole existence is very much just used for characters in-game to refer to the player. PlayedWith in the case of Kiran: While they do make an appearance in Mjölnir's Strike post update 5.2.0, they are almost never seen in the main story.
* SingleTargetSexuality: From a gameplay perspective, ''maybe'' internally as they cannot support with anyone else, but oftentimes the Avatar will have three or four characters who can ''only'' support with the Avatar and no one else. Usually, it's because they came that late in the story, or are DLC. The fandom has collectively referred to them as "Avatarsexuals".
* TheStrategist: As befit their role as the extension of the player, many characters defer to them for strategy. Kris is an exception; Jagen and Katarina serve as strategists in their game.
* VirtualPaperDoll: In ''The Blazing Blade'', you could only choose gender, name, and birth month. ''New Mystery'', ''Awakening'', and ''Fates'' added face, body shape, hair color and style, voice, and sometimes even accessories.
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[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Heroine]]
Complementing the Lord is a close female companion, who often acts as a {{deuteragonist}} or has some other story importance. In the earlier games, she ends up with the Lord as part of an OfficialCouple and the two live HappilyEverAfter. [[AnyoneCanDie Assuming she survives, of course.]]\\\

As games from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'' onward gave more freedom to the player to pair the Lord with whoever they please, these characters would usually end up being the DevelopersDesiredDate. The game might 'encourage' the player to pair these characters with the Lord by providing extra story perks if they are chosen as the main pair of the Lord, but in the end, the final say is in the player's hands: follow the implications/suggestions or not.\\\

The character's class is rarely the same in each passing game (though we've had repeats of Pegasus Knight, Mage, Dancer, and complimentary Lords). However, they have a tendency to be nobles, whether or not they have a Lord or another unique class. Gameplay-wise, they are also usually the second-best recruiter after the main Lord, and they have a knack for being able to recruit a complete stranger that you have no idea that they are related (a job usually reserved for the main Lord). Particularly if they happen to actually be Lords, or have a unique Lord-like class, they may be the main character of their own side conflict.

->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Caeda (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Celica (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Deirdre and Julia or Lana/Muirne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Nanna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Lilina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]])''; Ninian and Lyndis (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Eirika and Tana (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Elincia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Sothe [[note]]The rare example of a male character that fits otherwise the role perfectly, included being Micaiah's main love interest and being able to recruit characters[[/note]] and Micaiah (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'') [[note]]Due to the many Tellius POV changes, Elincia and Micaiah could qualify depending on if it's Ike, Micaiah, or the player's perspective[[/note]]; Katarina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Sumia, Female Robin, and Lucina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Azura (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Byleth [[note]]can be an opposite-sex foil and S support option of all three House Leaders (and sometimes same-sex)[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Veyle (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Tsubasa (''VideoGame/TokyoMirageSessionsFE''); Fjorm, Eir, Peony, Reginn, Ash, and Seiðr (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'')
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* ActionGirlfriend: If a female, she'll usually be able to defend herself from the beginning or [[TookALevelInBadass will start leveling up as the game progresses]]. Even moreso if the boyfriend/Lord in question has their promotion time locked and stuck at Level 20 unpromoted while the heroine can promote any time she wants.
* AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent: A few get to be the main hero or the ArcHero of their own adventures.
** Celica leads her own party that doesn't join Alm's until the final chapter. Similarly, Micaiah is a mage-like lord that doesn't join with Ike until the [[SerialEscalation 4-part endgame chapters.]]
** Lyn, Eirika, Micaiah, and Elincia all have prologue/tutorial modes where they are the main character before the male Lord shows up (Eirika can even remain the main character after).
** Katarina is the focus of an ongoing sidequest arc. Lucina gets the Future Past arc in DLC that focuses on her world if she didn't go to the past. Azura is technically the sibling that Corrin sides with in ''Revelation'' (before all the other siblings join). Byleth is for all intents and purposes the main hero of Part I of ''Three Houses'' - and arguably the Lord on the Silver Snow route as well.
** Each season of ''Heroes'' has introduced a new female lord-like character to play opposite Alphonse.
** [[spoiler:Veyle is fought as an enemy for the majority of ''Engage'' and also the first Heroine to serve as a NotLoveInterest for Alear, due to them being biological siblings.]]
* {{Deuteragonist}}: If a character of this archetype isn't given equal protagonist billing [[note]]Celica, Eirika, Micaiah, (to a certain extent) Lyn, and the ''Heroes'' girls[[/note]] (see the Lord archetype above), she will most likely fill this role in the plot. (We didn't say "always" because there are plenty of exceptions.)
* DevelopersDesiredDate: If they aren't explicitly the LoveInterest of the Lord or Avatar due to a marriage or paired ending mechanic, the games give some hints to indicate that they should hook up.
** In the Archanea games, if you finish the game after somehow letting Caeda die, the ending dialogue changes into either Nyna or Gotoh lamenting that the war cost Marth his dear childhood friend (and in the latter, future wife).
** Lana/Muirne are a subversion. While they are the predestined partner for Seliph and their hook-up dialogue is achieved the same way as other predestined dialogues in the epilogue chapter, they're the first to join Seliph and have the biggest Love Growth points, enabling them to become lovers even in the chapter they debut in; this is to make up for the bug that Julia got stuck with. Moreso, for a substitute character, Muirne gets a special privilege of having a conversation with Seliph where he actually talks about his own insecurities, something he never does with any other prospects.
** Pairing Lilina with Roy in ''The Binding Blade'' switches the scene where Roy greets Guinivere after the coronation for one of him talking with Lilina about the future that will come. Roy x Lilina is also the fastest growing support in the entire game, with a ''large'' margin, the C Support is unlocked the turn after they reunite.
** In ''The Blazing Blade'', Ninian for Eliwood, in consideration of how strongly she's tied with his story, including accidentally killing her, and if paired together, Ninian stays in Elibe instead of passing through the Dragon Gate. In the case of Lyndis, it's for Hector: There are exclusive scenes between them together that are available only in Hector Mode.
** Near the end of Ephraim's route in ''Sacred Stones'', Tana manages to confront and snap him out of a HeroicBSOD, while in Eirika's route (or if Tana dies in Ephraim's route), the role goes to L'Arachel, and they cannot pair together. In the case of Eirika, many characters are jealous of her closeness to her brother Ephraim. They are also one of the few sibling teams to have a paired ending.
** Elincia is a RedHerring to this archetype in ''Path of Radiance''. While she gets a ShipTease with Ike and has a Pegasus Knight-like class, she also fills the same role as [[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Nyna]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade Guinivere]] (who is never paired with the hero for various reasons), and as such she and Ike never get to hook up. She ends up with Geoffrey instead.
** Sothe serves as this for Micaiah in ''Radiant Dawn'': if their A support is maintained to the end, they marry [[spoiler:and when she's crowned as the Queen of Daein, he becomes her HotConsort]].
** Katarina in ''New Mystery of the Emblem'' is actually an addition to the remake and serves as the LoveInterest for the Avatar, not Marth. While they are not shown to marry or live together in the end, Katarina has her own whole subplot that the player can choose to follow, and completing the subplot depends on how the player manages the Avatar.
** In ''Awakening'', Sumia and Female Robin split the difference for Chrom — Sumia is the only female character who openly shares screentime in Animated CG scenes with Chrom (both her debut stage and the opening movie holding baby Lucina), and the game prioritizes her for Chrom's scripted marriage. A Female Robin is the only one of Chrom's lovers who keeps her plot importance after marrying him, a non-Robin Lucina openly lampshades how close she is to Chrom (to either Robin herself or a non-Chrom!Male Morgan), and he has a modified scene where she's confronted by a Lucina mothered by her. Lucina serves as this for Robin in both ways since she also has the modified scene when confronting Robin and contemplates killing him to stop Grima, if she marries a male Robin beforehand.
** In ''Fates'', Azura is the only character to get different Support conversations with Corrin (of both genders, though only the Male one can marry her) and altered LoveConfession scenes depending on the route. Her Support ranks with Corrin also increase faster than her other Supports.
** The ''Gaiden'' remake, ''Echoes: Shadows of Valentia'', also has a subversion: Faye fits the archetype surprisingly well (beauty, devotion to the guy she loves, starts out physically weak but can become a very skilled fighter, etc.), but since Alm and Celica are set in stone as the game's OfficialCouple, she's a Catria instead.
** In ''Three Houses'', Female Byleth's is Dimitri or Claude (and vice-versa) on their respective routes, and either gender's is Edelgard (and vice versa) on the Crimson Flower route. Their close bond with their respective Lord is highlighted constantly throughout the story; Edelgard even gives the equivalent of a love confession just before the final battle, while Dimitri outright tells Byleth she was the light in his darkness. Claude on the other hand, flirts with Byleth at the ball and is the only character who gets a cutscene with Byleth during the dance, as well as frequently telling Female Byleth in part 2 of Verdant Wind how he wants to see a changed world with her.
** In ''Engage'', Veyle is a MysteriousWaif that's prominent in the game's marketing with an emphasis on her relationship with Alear. [[spoiler:However, as they're siblings, their relationship is strictly familial.]]
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''Shadow Dragon's'' Heroine (Caeda) was a fourth Pegasus knight, separate from the White Wing Sister Trio. In future games where the Heroine is a flyer, she's [[CompositeCharacter typically combined with the Est/Youngest Sister]] of the trio (Sumia, Elincia, Tana, and to a lesser extent Florina to Lyn for Lyn's prologue mode only). See also The Caeda in the physical unit section.
* LoveInterest: In older games, they are the main girl that the Lord is interested in and ends up marrying. The newer games are more lax about it.
** This is subverted by Julia in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'': pairing Seliph and Julia is flat-out impossible outside of glitches due to the negative love point system placed upon them only, though Julia can't be killed until the last chapter. [[spoiler:This is due to both of them being half-siblings through their shared mother.]]
** This is also subverted by Elincia: It may have been a possibility with Ike in ''Path of Radiance'', but ''Radiant Dawn'' puts an end to it as seen below.
** ''Three Houses'' is pretty unsubtle about shipping the Lords and Byleth, especially on Crimson Flower, where Edelgard's route-agnostic crush on Byleth isn't doomed.
** Veyle in ''Engage'' cannot be romanced by Alear, due to being siblings.
* MagneticHero: They're the second best recruiter of their army, or in case of Byleth, the one doing ''all'' the recruiting.
* MysticalWaif: A notable subtype of this archetype is a non-physical unit with a MysteriousPast and possessing special abilities that make her valuable and/or a significant threat to the villains. This subtype was pioneered by Deirdre and Julia in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', and later followed by Ninian, Micaiah, Female Robin[[note]]also Male Robin by association; like Deirdre and Julia, Robin is both vitally important to the villains' plans and the number-one threat to their success[[/note]], Azura, then looping back around to Celica[[note]]at least in the remake via her secret parentage and brand[[/note]], then onto Veyle. This makes Lilina the only magically-inclined member of the archetype to not have some great latent potential.
* TheNotLoveInterest:
** Despite fulfilling a lot of the traits of this archetype and having quite a bit of IncestSubtext, Eirika serves as this to Ephraim, as they are siblings.
** Elincia serves in a similar role as a LoveInterest in ''Path of Radiance'', complete with ShipTease, but she and Ike [[ShipSinking go their separate ways]] and have no Support ending in ''Radiant Dawn''. She has one [[BodyguardCrush with]] [[LadyAndKnight Geoffrey]], and Ike only with [[HoYay Soren and Ranulf]]. Plus, even if they're both left unpaired, [[spoiler:Ike leaves the continent]].
** Like Eirika, Veyle is Alear's sister.
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[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Cornelius]]
The Cornelius has a simple role: to get killed off in the early- or mid-game and provide motivation for the Lord to go defeat the BigBad. They're usually the parent (oftentimes the father) or a ParentalSubstitute of the Lord in question.\\\

Since they die early, the Cornelius tends to be an unrecruitable [=NPC=].\\\

At times, there are cases where it's not the Lord who has a Cornelius figure, but instead a party member, usually of the Linde archetype. When that happens, the Cornelius can be referred to as a 'Miloah' (named after Linde's dead father), but they can overlap with the original Cornelius since they have the same role. However, there are often cases where a Miloah figure remains unnamed since they often hold less 'plot importance' towards the Lord's quest, whereas a Cornelius figure will ''always'' have a name. When a Miloah figure has a name, then their plot importance also raises. It should also be noted that having a Miloah figure is not an exclusive privilege for the Linde archetype (but it becomes a requirement for them).

->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Cornelius (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Byron and Sigurd (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Calf and Quan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Hector (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Uther and Elbert (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Fado (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Greil (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Emmeryn[[note]]An optional endgame mission shows she actually survives her apparent death, but she ends up with LaserGuidedAmnesia and still fulfills the general narrative purpose of the archetype.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Mikoto (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Jeralt and Lambert (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Lumera (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Gunnthrá, Gustav, and Askr (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]''); Berling, Getz, and Lazley (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]'')

->'''Miloah variants with given names''': Miloah[[labelnote:For...]]Linde[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Reptor[[labelnote:For...]]Tailtiu[[/labelnote]], Tailtiu/Ethnia[[labelnote:For...]]Tine/Linda[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''), Hector[[labelnote:For...]]Lilina[[/labelnote]], (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''), Ismaire[[labelnote:For...]]Joshua[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''), Misaha[[labelnote:For...]]Sanaki[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''), Morion[[labelnote:For...]]Diamant and Alcryst[[/labelnote]], Hyacinth[[labelnote:For...]]Ivy and Hortensia[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')

->'''Characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Gilbert (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')[[note]]Of the 'named Miloah' variants for Annette. Gilbert can survive the game just fine in certain routes, especially Blue Lions. And even when he's fightable and killable in front of Annette in the Crimson Flower route, it's still optional.[[/note]], Randolph, Rodrigue, and Judith [[note]]Scarlet Blaze, Azure Gleam, and Golden Wildfire, respectively; Though they serve the same narrative purpose in the route Shez sides with them in, they are only killed [[PermanentlyMissableContent if the player fails to recruit Byleth.]][[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]'')
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* BreakingOldTrends: Hector is unique among those who serve this role in that he's the LoveInterest's father, not the hero's. Roy's father Eliwood, for his part, survives the game just fine and dandy.
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype:
** Lambert shows how this trope can backfire as a motivation. As he lay dying during the Tragedy of Duscur, he told his son Dimitri something before passing. [[UnreliableExpositor Whatever Dimitri]] heard was interpreted by him as a demand to avenge his death, causing Dimitri to become obsessed with avenging his father, and those who died in the incident, to the point of going nearly mad when he thinks he found the one who did so. Regardless of if Lambert told him to or not, his death caused most of Dimitri's problems.
** Shez isn’t nearly as heartbroken at the deaths of Berling’s Mercenaries despite using them as motivation to combat Byleth, regarding them more as unfortunate but inevitable losses in the line of mercenary work. Indeed, they go on to doubt their grudge with the Ashen Demon as the game progresses, and only resolve to kill Byleth [[spoiler: if Randolph/Rodrigue/Judith was killed late into the game, something the player can avoid by recruiting Byleth and Jeralt.]]
** Jeralt serves as an antagonistic version of this archetype in ''Warriors: Three Hopes'' if Shez kills him. Doing so will result in [[spoiler:Byleth getting possessed by Sothis and killing Randolph/Rodrigue/Judith as revenge for Jeralt’s death, convincing the player’s faction to ultimately decide that they need to be killed. It gets especially nasty in Scarlet Blaze, where the player is both locked out of recruiting Leonie, and Byleth later convinces Claude to turncoat against the Empire, resulting in Claude’s death as well.]]
* FlatCharacter:
** They exist to get killed off, so they usually don't get much development within the game/timeline where they took up the archetype role, most of their development are usually accessed via backstories or supports. Some later games try to avert this by allowing them to live a bit longer and showcasing their personalities before they finally die.
** The Miloah variants generally zig-zag this. While the default Miloah and very few of his successors (like Misaha) are PosthumousCharacter and also adhering to the trope, others can range between {{Sacrificial Lion}}s or even antagonists (especially Reptor), or appearing mid-game and lasting short enough before they get killed (Ismaire). Basically, they often get better screentimes or lifespans than Cornelius characters until latter games tried to expand a Cornelius' lifetime more.
* PosthumousCharacter: Some of these characters get their characterizations post-mortem.
* SacrificialLamb: The short-lasting ones such as Hector, Fado, Mikoto, and Berling’s Mercenaries die very early in the game, mostly to instill righteous fury in the hero to finish the job.
* SacrificialLion: The longer-lasting ones such as Greil, Emmeryn, and Jeralt have significant development to establish them as important characters to the main heroes, making their deaths all the more impactful.
* SatelliteCharacter: They're defined largely by their relationship with the Lord and how their death affects the Lord, at least in the scope of the game of said Lord. Intelligent Systems would eventually try to avert this sometimes by making them live longer and showcasing how other characters are affected with them while they lived.
* SoleSurvivor: Only Emmeryn and Jeralt manage to survive being straight examples of this archetype. Still, even if Emmeryn is recruited, she is revealed to have suffered irreversible brain damage, and Jeralt can only be spared in ''Warriors: Three Hopes'' if the player makes sure not to mess up his and Byleth’s recruitment. Gunnthrá and Gustav are also weird cases of this thanks to the game mechanics of ''Heroes''; they can be summoned by the player even before their death scenes, and nothing stops the player from summoning them afterwards too (nor does their death scenes remove any of her playable versions from the player's party).
* YouKilledMyFather: A common motivation for the Lord is to avenge these guys' deaths. Ike and Dimitri in particular want vengeance for their fathers’ demises. Same goes for those who have their own Miloahs.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Nyna]]
The Nyna is a plot-important NPC who is usually female and is a heir/princess of a downtrodden kingdom which has been ravaged by the bad guys. And now, they sought the strength of the hero in order to either reclaim their throne or bring back peace into their realm. Very rarely are they available for combat, similarly to a Malledus, they serve as [[BigGood the moral support of your team that even your Lord bows to]]. If they ARE doing combat, chances are [[TheLoad they'd be inept at it]] or [[MagikarpPower need a lot of babying]] so they can [[TookALevelInBadass take a level in badass.]] However, their presence shouldn't be dismissed that easily, in the setting, they usually have huge presence in the political world.

->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Nyna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]''); Guinivere (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Elincia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Pelleas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Elise [[note]]Only on the ''Birthright'' path, where she follows the player's army as an NPC. On the other routes she is a straightforward Maria[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Rhea [[note]]Unless you go the Black Eagles, Crimson Flower route, in which case you turn against her[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Alternate Alear [[note]]Fell Xenologue only[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')

* BigGood: They serve as why your army fights. Most of the time, they get spurred to help out this lost noble.
* BlueBlood: They are ''always'' of nobility. Even Archbishop Rhea has this trope within her veins (namely having the Crest of Seiros).
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype:
** Pelleas shows just how bad it can turn out when a Nyna tries to enter the battlefield. Namely, [[spoiler:his inexperience and naivete ended up getting him manipulated into entering the Blood Pact which put his people in danger and can outright kill him. When he realizes this, he invokes SuicideByCop in the hopes it will free Daein of the Blood Pact, but unless on a second playthrough where he can be spared, his HeroicSacrifice doesn't fix the problem, but arguably makes things even worse. A second playthrough also reveals that he's not even the real prince to begin with. [[ExploitedTrope He's a decoy that was propped up specifically to fuel the conflict]]. The person that Pelleas is unwittingly impersonating never finds out the truth.]]
** Elise's desire to find a peaceful end to the war and the conflict within her family is what [[spoiler:ultimately ends up getting her killed when she throws herself in front of an attack aimed at Corrin, resulting in the death of her brother Xander.]]
** A Lord/player character is always loyal to a Nyna. So in the case of [[spoiler:Rhea, if Byleth chooses to betray her on the Crimson Flower route, she has a breakdown and turns into a deranged villain obsessed with revenge on Byleth and Edelgard.]]
* DistressedDamsel: More or less, their nation has been invaded, subjugated or being run to the ground and they are helpless to stave the invaders off, and they need your help. Guinivere's distress is less because her kingdom was invaded, but more or less because her brother, the King, went crazy and led their kingdom to invade others and she's unable to stop him. Rhea might subvert it since Garreg Mach and the Church of Seiros seem fine but there have been a lot of bandit strikes pre-TimeSkip, and after the TimeSkip, unless you're on the Crimson Flower route, [[spoiler:she gets invaded and captured by the [[TheEmpire Adrestian Empire]].]]
* NonActionGuy: Early examples are not taking the front lines. However, Nyna does join your team in the last battle of ''Mystery of the Emblem'', but she's just fresh from being un-brainwashed. Those who join you for more than a scenario, Elincia and Pelleas, start out really weak and require a lot of babying. Rhea's more blatant moments of action are contained in [[CutscenePowerToTheMax cutscenes]] or [[spoiler:when she becomes an antagonist.]]
* TheNotLoveInterest: Defying the StandardHeroReward, after you clean up the Nyna's realm (assuming the Nyna ''survives''), the Lord does not win the Nyna's hand in marriage, simply because the Nyna stands in a ''way'' higher level of nobility compared to the Lord (and usually because both of them don't want to deal with the possible political upheaval that such marriage could cause). This situation was actually highlighted in ''Mystery of the Emblem'', where Marth and Nyna's respective ancestors, Anri and Artemis, were barred from getting married with each other due to the opposition from Archanea's nobles at the time. The only one that can avert this trope is just Rhea, but only in a specific route and it's still optional.
* PoliticallyActivePrincess: Or Prince. This character tends to have a great presence in the political world, though they usually strive to be a good politician.
* TookALevelInBadass: A Nyna that is playable will usually start weak like an Est archetype, but [[MagikarpPower if the player babied them, they can turn out formidable.]]
** Elincia is the only one who also takes on this narratively, as by ''Radiant Dawn'', she grows into a competent princess even in the political world.
** Rhea is particularly notable for being [[spoiler:the FinalBoss of two routes, a recurring boss in one, and the hero of the ancient setting shaping war of her game]]. She also appears as a very powerful allied NPC repeatedly.
[[/folder]]

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!! Availability vs. Growth
These characters are marked by their gameplay impact on the player's party, and can shore up your strength at various points in the game.
* The CrutchCharacter
** The Jagen: An early-game old veteran that can't keep up due to poor growths.
** The Oifey: A early-game experienced lieutenant who has growths to keep pace.
* The MagikarpPower
** Est: A late-game young rookie with amazing growths if you invest in them.
** The Trainee: A rookie with a unique weak class that can be recruited at anytime.
* The Eyvel: ATasteOfPower GuestStarPartyMember that returns when they may no longer be relevant.
* The Gotoh: A CrutchCharacter given at the very end of the game to make the last chapters easier if you're unprepared.

[[folder:The Crutch Character]]
!! The Jagen
The Jagen is a CrutchCharacter granted early in the game. They start off at a high level or are already a promoted class when the game begins, but they also have average to poor stat growths. Relying on the Jagen too much can hurt the player in the long run, as they will steal the majority of EXP if they're on the front lines killing enemies. They are generally an older mentor figure and bodyguard to the Lord, almost always of the Paladin class and come equipped with a Silver Lance. The typical justification for a Jagen's poor potential is usually advanced age or sickness.\\\

From ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'' onward, the Jagen archetype was phased out of the series (sans [[VideoGameRemake remakes]]) in favor of the similar Oifey archetype, though the Jagen makes a comeback in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' through the Great Knight Gunter.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Jagen (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Arran (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Dagdar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Marcus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Gunter[[note]]only qualifies in the ''Revelation'' route; in ''Birthright'', [[GuestStarPartyMember he never returns]] after being thrown into the Bottomless Canyon early in the game, while in ''Conquest'', he rejoins the party late and instead acts as an Eyvel[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Vander (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Dorcas[[note]]Joins with above-average base stats, and is crippled by bad growths in key areas, but the player needs to level him up in the game's tutorial mode in order for him to play this role in the main story. He's the most likely character to equip the game's first available Silver Axe, but unlike the Jagens with their Silver Lances, Dorcas neither begins with the axe nor the [[LevelLockedLoot weapon skill level necessary to equip it]]. Without investment, he's just a standard part of the Bord and Cord duo.[[/note]] (''[[Characters/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Gilbert[[note]]only in Azure Moon, while he does meet several requirements, such as being an old retainer to Dimitri, having good bases for when he joins, and can get outclassed by others in his class such as Dedue and potentially Sylvain, but there are two that disqualify him from being a Jagen; he actually does have some good growths with the exception of speed, and he joins midway through the game instead of at the beginning.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
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* BoringButPractical: Oftentimes, they'll be able to pull their weight throughout the game doing stuff like chasing down thieves, or handling [[CannonFodder weak mooks]] while the other characters go after the main objective. It helps that many of them are in the very mobile and versatile Paladin class.
* CoolHorse: Almost all Jagens are Paladins.
* CharacterSelectForcing: In several games' hardest difficulties, using the Jagen (or Oifey) is basically mandatory for the first several chapters.
* CrutchCharacter:
** Jagens are quite useful in the early game, starting out as {{Disc One Nuke}}s due to their stat advantage. They start losing steam starting from mid-game due to their low stat growths, receiving little EXP early on due to scaling, and other characters with higher stat growths catching up. Using Jagens to kill a lot of enemies early on can actually hurt you in the long run, as their initially low EXP yields and the limited EXP available lead to other characters being deprived of levels: thus, using them is itself a strategic balancing act between defeating enemies when necessary and softening them up for other units to kill whenever possible. That said, it's generally accepted that it's okay to make use of them; just don't try to solo the game unless that's deliberately what you're shooting for.
** Dadgar is a bit special in this deparment thanks to ''Thracia 776'''s particular way of balancing its characters; he actually doesn't start to show his age until very late in the game when magic enemies become pretty much omnipresent (which is his biggest weakness), thanks to the fact that unlike other Jagens his bases stats are actually quite high and the enemies aren't particularly bulky most of the time.
* DiscOneNuke: Jagens start out able to flatten run-of-the-mill enemy units, and usually can take the early bosses without breaking a sweat.
* DoWellButNotPerfect: Jagens tend to start with a weaker weapon like an Iron Sword in addition to their aforementioned Silver Lance, and they usually have the exact Strength to leave the enemy on a sliver of HP rather than killing them outright, who can then be killed by a weaker unit who needs the EXP.
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: Their lack of long-run potential is entirely justified by the story; they are old veterans who have little to learn in the way of combat and are hampered by their years compared to the more youthful units. Thus, they serve as mentors to the younger characters, which is conveyed through gameplay as being explicitly designed to feed kills to the younger, weaker units in the early game.
* TheMentor: As the elder statesmen they may train the younger units early on in hopes that they'll be surpassed in time.
* OldRetainer: Most of them are veteran knights old enough to be the Lords' grandfather, and they take pride in their years of loyal service.
* OldSoldier: Characters of this archetype are up there in their years, being no less than 40, when most of the main cast are between their mid-teens and early twenties.
* StoneWall: Another reason why they are favored is their ability to tank attacks from enemies early on as well, and they're fast enough to avoid being doubled. Marcus is an good example of this, as his bulk allows him to transport Roy across the level to the seize point.

!!The Oifey

The Oifey is an evolution of the Jagen that generally fulfills the same role as the CrutchCharacter and shares many of the Jagen's tropes and elements (retainer/mentor of the Lord, tends to be a Paladin, starts out wielding a Silver Lance), but the Oifey continues to be useful in the long term due to having higher stat growths. The Oifey is also not much older than the Lord they serve — unlike the Jagen, who has a decade or two on most of the cast — and may have a BodyguardCrush on their liege if they're of the opposite sex.\\\

From ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'' and onward, the Oifey essentially replaces the Jagen archetype bar the remakes ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''. Oifeys would continue to be a staple of ''Fire Emblem'' games until ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' reintroduced the Jagen archetype through Gunter.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Lukas and Clive (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Sigurd and Quan[[note]]Gen 1[[/note]], Oifey[[note]]Gen 2[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Finn (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Dieck (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Marcus and Oswin [[note]]Plot-wise for Eliwood and Hector mode respectively[[/note]] (''[[Characters/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Seth (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Titania (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Sothe (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Frey (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Frederick (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Felicia or Jakob[[note]]Corrin's gender determines which one you start with, with the other being a mid-game unit. Male Corrin gets Felicia first while female Corrin gets Jakob. While their stats are on par with your tier 1 units, they get early access to endgame-level skills.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Byleth and the Church/Knights of Seiros instructors [[note]]Seteth, Catherine, Shamir, Hanneman, Manuela, Gilbert[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Anna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'')
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* BodyguardCrush: They may crush on their Lord. Seth to Eirika, Titania to Greil, Sothe to Micaiah. PlayedForLaughs between [[HoYay Frederick and Chrom]]. In ''Fates'', when the main Lord and customizable Avatar were combined into Corrin, you get one of two Oifeys that will always be Corrin's opposite sex if you want to invoke this yourself, and you'll get the same-sex one later in the game. This is because Oifeys haven't hit the age of OldSoldier like Jagen, so a normal romance is still an option for them.
* BoringButPractical: Much like their older counterparts, Oifeys do have above-average stat growths, but their bases are comparatively a little low for their levels, so their stats don't tend to hit ridiculous heights. They're still usually strong enough to handle just about anything when fully leveled, though.
* BreakingOldTrends: Titania was the first to be female. Sothe was the first to not be a mounted or otherwise knightly class line, instead being part of the thief family of classes. Interestingly Felicia combines both of these attributes as the Maid class is a mix of troubadour and thief characteristics.
* CharacterSelectForcing: In several games' hardest difficulties, using the Oifey (or Jagen) is basically mandatory for the first several chapters.
* TheConsigliere: They're often the only non-Lords that remain core characters throughout the story, and the one who talks sense into the heroes as they go on their adventures.
* CoolHorse: Almost all of them are a promoted horse class like the Jagens.
* CrutchCharacter: Unlike the Jagens, though, these guys will typically remain a viable unit for the majority of the game, and maybe even well into the endgame, though Frederick is generally considered much weaker (but also extremely necessary).
* DiscOneNuke: Like Jagens, they start as this. Unlike Jagens, the end result is much better.
* DoWellButNotPerfect: They would be good candidates for safely weakening enemies due to their high accuracy and bulk - if it weren't for the fact that they're so strong that they ''can't'' leave most enemies alive even with the weakest weapons. Using them to feed the army EXP can ironically be a lot harder than with the Jagen, [[PowerLimiter since they often need to go out of their way to make their combat worse, like using an extremely heavy (and inaccurate) weapon or rescuing a unit to lower their Speed]]. Thankfully, most games with Oifeys usually have other units capable of filling this role with less hassle (e.g. Oswin to Marcus in ''The Blazing Blade'').
* GameplayAndStoryIntegration: While Jagens tend to be old and greying, Oifeys tend to be merely older than the rest of the cast, seemingly in their twenties or thirties. It's especially pronounced with Marcus, who drops off in most of his stats between ''Blazing'' and ''Binding.''
* LightningBruiser: As most are paladins, this is the usual result of their class and stat layout: hit very hard, soak up a lot of damage, and streak across the map. In the mid-to-late game, they tend to end up in JackOfAllStats territory.
* MercyMode: In less difficult installments, they serve to help less experienced players overcome difficult segments such as that game's EarlyBirdBoss, at the cost of losing out on experience for their other characters. This is [[AvertedTrope averted]] in more difficult games, where there's a much heavier obligation to use these characters to get past the EarlyGameHell or to achieve a higher ranking, regardless of the player's skill level.
* PlotArmor: As mentioned under TheConsigliere, Oifeys usually appear in cutscenes throughout the story, so in games with {{Permadeath}} they will only suffer a CareerEndingInjury if they run out of HP. They still won't be usable as a unit, but they will continue to appear in cutscenes.
* TropeCodifier: The earliest Oifey units were unorthodox in how they [[CompositeCharacter overlapped with other archetypes]][[note]][[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Lukas]] being a Draug, [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Sigurd]] being a Lord, [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade Dieck]] being an Ogma, etc.[[/note]] and served niches outside of being exclusively a CrutchCharacter.[[note]]The {{Trope Namer|s}} serving as a ConvenientReplacementCharacter for players that have surmassed a party of subpar "substitute" characters in the second half of ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'', [[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Finn]] serving as an effective FragileSpeedster with his Miracle ability.[[/note]] It wasn't until Marcus of ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'' where the archetype was finally solidified as "a Jagen but with better longevity".
[[/folder]]

[[folder: MagikarpPower]]
!!The Est
The Est is the opposite of the Jagen. While the Jagen is a CrutchCharacter that is older than most of the cast, the Est is one of the younger characters that joins the group late in the game and embodies MagikarpPower. They may start off at a low level and as a basic class, but they'll become very powerful when trained thanks to their high stat growths. The original Est was a physical unit, though from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' onward, they are more likely to be magic users.\\\

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Est (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeofLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'', and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Delthea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Tailtiu and Coirpre/Charlot (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Miranda (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Zeiss (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Nino (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Elincia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Pelleas and Kurthnaga (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Cyril [[note]]Only on Silver Snow, as he is available earlier during White Clouds if the player chooses the Blue Lions or the Golden Deer, and is unavailable on Crimson Flower.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
----
* BadassAdorable: Often cute or among the youngest of your army, but they can still fight and are potentially one of the strongest units.
* DifficultButAwesome: They take up way more time and resources than your other units, especially because they join at a point where almost everything can kill them. But once trained up, they're fun as heck to unleash. Unfortunately may also overlap with AwesomeButImpractical, especially as the metagame shifted towards availability and speedruns, which favors those factors more and those are the areas Ests lack, in which it may be awesome to see them wreck things once properly trained up, but if you want to get good grades, trying to finish the game as quickly as possible or is in a rather difficult mode, you may end up reconsidering whether they'll be worth the difficulty or not.
* GlassCannon: Even if their growths are impressive overall, most tend to have mediocre HP and/or defense growth and low stat caps in those categories. A player wishing to use one of them should have some boosts handy.
* LateCharacterSyndrome: Despite their potential, they tend to come rather late, and at such a low level that it's almost not worth it to train them.
* TheLoad: If you're not willing to invest the effort to train them, they might as well not be there.
* MagikarpPower: They start off very weak and at a low level, but become one of their game's strongest units when trained.
* PintSizedPowerhouse: If not slender adults, Est characters are often children or small enough to pass as them. This actually can be a gameplay handicap, as a low Constitution (or Strength in some games) limits their ability to use heavier weapons.
* UnbuiltTrope: The {{Trope Namer|s}} becomes [[DamselInDistress captured]] twice over the course of ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden/Echoes: Shadows of Valentia]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''. In spite of her potential as a fighter, at the time of capture she's unable to free herself and relies on the heroes to rescue her. She loses her self-esteem from these incidents, and later abandons [[LoveInterest Abel]] in the belief that she's a burden to him. This becomes all the more tragic for players that have made the effort to level her up: while ''[[DramaticIrony they]]'' see the potential in her, ''she'' can't.
----
!!The Trainee
Similar to the Est, but with much more variance in availability. These units tend to have a unique Trainee or Villager class that often exists at a tier below standard unpromoted classes. Through branching promotion, this gives them many more final class options than most units. Their versatility is appealing, but like Est, they start so weak they'll just be doing scratch damage with no special advantages for a while. \\\

Trainees are almost all small town youths who are just getting their first taste of war.

''Three Houses'' offers a different twist on this archetype, in that every member of the academy starts out as a trainee classes (Commoner/Noble) and can be trained with any classes/skills you want. However, each academy members had their own set of interests and aspirations which influences what classes/skills will they be interested at that they eventually would also fit into other archetypes.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Gray, Tobin, Kliff, and Atlas (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Lachesis and Leif (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Ross, Amelia, and Ewan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Donnel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Mozu (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Faye (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Shadows of Valentia]]''); Cyril [[note]]While the majority of characters all start in trainee-like class at level 1, Cyril also fits other aspects, as well as having Aptitude as his personal skill.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Jean (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')

* CountryMouse: Donnel and Mozu fit squarely here. Many of their predecessors were at least small town heroes, with the exceptions of Lachesis and Leif, who were both royalty.
* JobSystem: Especially in ''Gaiden'' and ''Echoes'', where the Villager class can split into 5 other unrelated class trees (in ''Echoes'', Faye gets 4). In ''Sacred Stones'', Ross gets access to all axe fighter variants, Amelia all armored and mounted knightly classes, and Ewan all anima and dark magic classes. In the beta, there was also a Probation Flier trainee class that presumably would've gotten access to all flying units.
* LateCharacterSyndrome: Averted, one of their main distinctions from Est. The ''Gaiden'' crew on Alm's route can all join before the first chapter (or can be saved and picked up later) while Celica gets Atlas midway in the story. Lachesis joins midway through Sigurd's half of ''Genealogy'', while Leif joins in the second chapter of Seliph's story. In ''Sacred Stones'', Ross is early game, Amelia mid-game, and Ewan closer to late-game. In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', their sidequests become available early in the game, but it's up to you when you want to pick them up.
* MagikarpPower: Like proper Ests, they start with low stats, but have a great deal of potential to grow.
* OptionalPartyMember: In ''Awakening'' and ''Fates'', they come from optional sidequests. In the original ''Gaiden'', Alm could leave his home town without them, and in the remake, he can still leave Kliff and Faye behind. In ''Three Houses'', recruiting Cyril is optional on the Azure Moon and Verdant Wind routes, while on the Black Eagles routes, he either joins automatically (Silver Snow) or does not join at all (Crimson Flower) depending on the major choice at the end of Chapter 11.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Eyvel]]
The Eyvel is a [[SuspiciousVideoGameGenerosity particularly devious variant]] of the Jagen that acts as the game's CrutchCharacter as usual - until, due to plot complications, they become unavailable for a long time and don't return [[CantCatchUp until after the majority of characters have passed them by]].

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Eyvel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Wallace (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Shinon (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Tormod, Muarim, Vika, Nailah, Lucia, and Geoffrey (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Athena[[note]]She's not a prepromote, however she has great stats for the prologue and only Kris can compete with her[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Gunter[[note]]only in ''Conquest''; he's a straight Jagen in ''Revelation''[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Mycen[[note]]only in the remake, where he is temporarily controlled in the prologue[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Shadows of Valentia]]'')

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Orson[[note]]He is the CrutchCharacter of [[AndNowForSomeoneCompletelyDifferent Ephraim's party]] in Chapter 5x and the only one to not join the main army when he and Eirika reconvene in Chapter 8, reappearing much later in Chapter 16 - [[spoiler:as the ''[[FaceHeelTurn boss]]'']].[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Gatrie[[note]]Like Shinon, Gatrie has high stats for the earlygame and temporarily leaves the party after Chapter 7. Unlike Shinon, he's only an unpromoted Level 9 Knight with stats that are more "above average" than "too good to be true," and he rejoins much earlier, letting him make up his lost time without being a case of MagikarpPower and making him more of a downplayed version of the archetype. [[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Dedue[[labelnote:*]]Azure Moon only[[/labelnote]], Ashe[[labelnote:*]]Verdant Wind and Silver Snow[[/labelnote]], and Lorenz[[labelnote:*]]Azure Moon and Silver Snow[[/labelnote]][[note]]All three of these characters leave the player's party after the TimeSkip and return if certain conditions are met, and when they do return, they'll likely be underleveled compared to everyone else. However, like Gatrie, none of them are presented as "too good to be true", and they all return relatively early in the war arc, only missing four chapters total (or three in Ashe's case).[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''), First six Emblem Rings[[labelnote:*]]Marth, Sigurd, Celica, Micaiah, Roy, and Leif[[/labelnote]][[note]]These Emblems were all stolen from you in Chapter 10, and spend several chapters absent, until you finally get them back one by one, with Marth being the last to return. However, outside of clones summoned by Emblem Veronica, they aren't directly playable, and some may still be as good as they were in the early game. Also, in Leif's case, he was already overshadowed by most other Emblems by the time you get him, due various factors, such as his Engage skill's ArtificialStupidity.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
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* EleventhHourRanger: In titles that are broken up into clear parts, tales, or segments like ''The Blazing Blade'' and ''Radiant Dawn'', the Eyvel may fill the role of a Gotoh as an eleventh-hour ranger to ensure you can complete the final chapter or two of an early tale, after which for one reason or another, they'll become unplayable for a long time and will be the last character(s) from that tale to return.
* CantCatchUp: Their prolonged absence means that they'll be far behind the other units when they return, and the ones that rejoin early enough to potentially be salvageable usually have bad growths as well.
* CrutchCharacter: They act like a Jagen at the start, being a powerful unit you can rely on for a short period.
* DiscOneNuke: Like other Jagens, they murder the early chapters, but they're not even ''available'' again until Disc 4. Almost literally in the case of the ''Radiant Dawn'' examples.
* FragileSpeedster: While some, like Muarim and Geoffrey, are of the big, tanky classes common to other Jagens and Oifeys, there are also two Swordmasters, a Myrmidon, a Sniper, and a Raven — all classes characterized by speed and skill rather than strength.
* LateCharacterSyndrome: By the time they return, they're essentially superfluous and are really only there to show you how far your army has come rather than actually being used again. The only exceptions to this are Gunter, who does have improved stats in the interim with the exception of speed, and Nailah and Mycen also double for the Gotoh role.
* PlotArmor: Most of the time, they'll suffer a NonLethalKO if defeated early on, although Geoffrey and Lucia are acting Lords on their chapters and therefore instead get WeCannotGoOnWithoutYou. [[spoiler:Eyvel herself actually ''can't'' be defeated in "Disc One" — ''Thracia 776'' never allows any attack to have a 100% chance of hitting or missing, and it ''will'' cheese the RNG to ensure that any potentially lethal attack to Eyvel will miss.]]
* ATasteOfPower: A straighter example compared to the Jagen, who even with their bad growths may or may not actually fall off [[RandomNumberGod depending on how lucky you get with their levels]].
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[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Gotoh]]
The Gotoh is an EleventhHourRanger who joins very late in the game, often during the penultimate or final chapter. They arrive already at max or close to max level with high stats, making them powerful enough to crush the final enemies by themselves to serve as a final crutch for the player. Even though the Gotoh only joins near the end of the campaign, they may have been in contact with the Lord beforehand.\\\

A good amount of Gotohs tend to be royalty or FamedInStory in some capacity, possibly even being {{Living Legend}}s with a [[RedBaron title]] to match.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Gotoh (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Mycen (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Ced and Galzus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Karel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Athos (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Tibarn, Naesala, and Giffca (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Caineghis, Nailah, and Lehran (''Radiant Dawn''); Nagi (''Shadow Dragon'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Basilio and Flavia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Byleth, Jeralt, and Jeritza[[note]]Jeritza only counts in Azure Gleam, as he joins near the start of Scarlet Blaze and is unrecruitable in Golden Wildfire[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]'')

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Yoder[[note]]Shares many gameplay and story parallels with Gotoh himself, as well as being the last character to join if the Legendary Weapons were not collected, but outside of his capped Resistance he is a JackOfAllStats at best at the point in the game where he joins.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''), Wallace[[note]]He's only a late-joiner if you do Lyndis' tale, otherwise he becomes an Arran and Samson duo with Geitz. On the other hand, in scenarios where he fits, he's ''hardly'' the last to join and the one to carry the whole game alone, he's more like The Eyvel.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Mauvier and Veyle[[note]]Barring the Fell Xenologue, they're the last characters to join the team and comes with stats high enough to help carry the endgame. However, Mauvier isn't some sort of LivingLegend but instead part of the Four Hounds, making him more of a Lorenz. In the same time, Veyle didn't have enough time to make a name for herself since she's Sombron's daughter and considered pretty young for Fell Dragon standards.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'').
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* EleventhHourRanger: Always joins very late into the game, but has stats that ensure that they remain useful. Nailah actually [[ATasteOfPower shows up late in Part 1 for a couple of chapters]], but doesn't return until Part 4. Wallace acts as this to Lyn's Tale, but optionally returns in the midgame as part of an [[MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers Arran and Samson]] duo with Geitz and with whatever stats he had at the end of Lyn's Tale.
* AntiFrustrationFeatures: Their purpose is to make sure the player can still complete the game even with a decimated and/or RNG-screwed army, often coming with a signature weapon that deals effective damage to the FinalBoss.
* HeelFaceTurn: Some Gotohs start out as recurring villains before joining, most notably Galzus, Byleth, and Jeritza.
* LivingLegend: Many of them are well-known for many of their previous deeds possessing some kind of title, some of them take this to the extreme and are actually legendary figures from the distant past, living in the present.
* MissionControl: Usually serves as such before actually joining.
* RedBaron: Often, as they are typically famous InUniverse.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Sometimes the Gotoh is a ruler of a whole nation.
[[/folder]]

!!Teams
These units are of the same class, but have [[MovesetClone different stat distributions to fit different playstyles]] and are personality foils. They are complementary when fielded together, and may give strong support boosts or team attacks.
* Cain and Abel: A [[RedOniBlueOni Red and Green]] knight duo that typically serve the main Lord.
* Bord and Cord: A RedOniBlueOni pair of axe fighters that may serve the Ogma.
* Pegasus Trio: A TheThreeFacesOfEve trio of fliers, mostly of common background, that can use the Triangle Attack.
* Wyvern Duo: A [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience Red and Black]] Wyvern Knight duo (with clear distinction of who is superior in rank) from the enemy territory where both or one of them realize the error of the countries and defect.

[[folder:Cain and Abel]]
The Cain and Abel are a pair of characters that join early in the game. The duo tends to pair off in four ways:
#Personality: [[RedOniBlueOni One is more relaxed or detached, while one is more serious or hot-blooded.]]
#Stats: The two have different stat specializations, with the specifics varying by game. For example, one may have high Speed and Skill while the other has high Strength and Defense.
#Color: One wears red, the other wears green, but other colors might fit, as long as it matches their hair colors.
#Class: They have the same class, the most common being a Cavalier.

Cain and Abel always share a CharacterClass, which is usually Cavalier or some variant thereof. They are also usually both male, though ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Shadows of Valentia]]'' have females in their duos.

%%The main requirement of this archetype is '''ThoseTwoGuys (Mostly) Cavaliers''' with contrasting RedAndBlueOni personality and differing stat growth, and SAME CLASS. And of course, having detectable color scheme that makes up the majority of their design (preferable if they use one or both of the originals (Red and Green)). They also tend to have similar backgrounds as knights.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Cain and Abel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Luke and Roderick [[note]]Luke is a Blue cavalier instead of Red, while Roderick follows the usual Green color, but otherwise they fit dynamic-wise[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Alec and Naoise (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy Of The Holy War]]''); Alen and Lance (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Kent and Sain (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Kyle and Forde (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Oscar and Kieran (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Stahl and Sully (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Kaze and Saizo (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Lukas and Forsyth, Mae and Boey [[note]]Forsyth exists in the original ''Gaiden'', but has a different color scheme. ''Shadows of Valentia'' makes him green and lets him interact with Lukas thanks to some of the game's [=DLC=]. Meanwhile, Mae and Boey also underwent personality expansion in the remake (otherwise they're almost nondescript in the original ''Gaiden'') and they surprisingly fit the dynamic despite being unconventional classes of the archetype. Additionally, Boey's color scheme was modified to become the green Abel to Mae's red Cain.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Shadows of Valentia]]'')

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Cecil [[note]] Cecil is a red clad cavalier who joins at the same time as Roderick and Luke, and has a red oni personality to clash with Roderick's green armor and calm personality. But stat wise they actually both lean towards the FragileSpeedster, and she was from a different platoon to start with before being put in their platoon, while Roderick and Luke were partnered from the start. This leaves those two with the relationship of the archetype and Cecil as more a third wheel. Also, in the original ''Mystery of the Emblem'', she had ''pink'' hair and armor to boot. [[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Alva and Kain[[note]] They have the red and green colors, (supposed) contrasting personalities, and opposite stat lines. However, their relative unimportance and lack of any dialogue at all, especially with each other to give off an air of being friends, means they can't be said to match the personality trait outside of what a few minor sources have said about them. [[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Oscar and Boyd [[note]] If you read Ike as a Lord, they're his early game immediate deputies with contrasting personalities, stats, a red and green color scheme, and are literally brothers like the original Cain and Abel. However Boyd is a fighter rather than a cav, even if the eventual red cav Kieran is also an Axe Cavalier specifically. They also have a third wheel younger brother Rolf, who is of yet a different class, but the three can Triangle Attack giving them shades of another archetype as well. [[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Janaff and Ulki [[note]]They don't have contrasting colours and join towards the mid-late game, but they otherwise fit the archetype quite well: they share the same class (Hawk) with different stat specialisations, serve a major lord character (Tibarn), and have a RedOniBlueOni personalities.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Silas and Peri[[note]] They have contrasting stats, with Silas as more of a tank and Peri faster and less strong, as well as different personalities of the red oni, blue oni type. But they never join at the same time as each other, have no personal connections in their backstories other than both being from Nohr, and their colors, while contrasting, are not the usual vibrant colors of green and red instead being white and black.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); ''All'' Cavalier-aspiring students (Ferdinand, Sylvain, Lorenz, Leonie and to some extent Ingrid)[[note]]Elements of Cain and Abel were spread quite fairly to those who aspire to be some sort of horse-rider class, but none of the pairs given could be considered full-on Cain and Abel. From those with same houses: Lorenz and Leonie may have standout colors (Leonie is red-orange, Lorenz is purple), but they don't have a notable relationship besides 'being in the same class.' Sylvain and Ingrid almost hit it well, with contrasting personalities (quite similar to Kent and Sain's dutiful knight vs skirt chaser), being childhood friends, having a red vs yellow-green colors, but they're really part of a trio that includes Felix. Felix and Ingrid default to myrmidon and pegasus rather than cavalier. And... Ferdinand is the only Cavalier in the Black Eagles class. He and Lorenz, despite being of different houses, bond over both being proud nobles and tea lovers making them more two of the same than contrasting, and their stat growths don't line up well. [[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Clanne and Framme (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'') [[note]]While they fit the archetype's color scheme and personality dynamic (in fact, their color schemes were picked to homage this archetype), they aren't the same class (by default, Clanne is a Mage whereas Framme is a Martial Monk).[[/note]]; Touma (''VideoGame/TokyoMirageSessionsFE'') [[note]]While he is Cain's Mirage Master and Abel also exists as a Mirage, Touma doesn't have a partner in the game. Abel instead appears as an antagonistic Mirage possessing an NPC in Touma's sidequest chain. They eventually partner up, but long after the end of the game's story[[/note]]
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* CharacterSelectForcing: Their early availability, high mobility, all-around good stats, and (in some games) wide range of available weaponry make them two of the most versatile characters the player will have in their disposal.
* ChromaticArrangement: The red Cain and green Abel are typically close with the (usually) blue Lord character, oftentimes serving as the Lord's loyal retainers.
* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Usually, the one in red is the red oni and the one in green is the blue oni; ''Mystery of the Emblem'' changed red for blue with Luke. ''The Blazing Blade'' is the only one that reverses this (and possibly ''Thracia 776'', where the duo filling the archetype are little more than extras). Their stat specializations also tend to follow a pattern where the red one is strong and the green one is swift, though both ''The Blazing Blade'' and ''The Sacred Stones'' reversed that one.
* CoolHorse: Are always of the Cavalier class, with the exception of Kaze and Saizo, who are of the Ninja class (which itself is a counterpart to the Thief class), Lukas and Forsyth, who are of the Soldier class, and Mae and Boey, who are of the Mage class.
* {{Foil}}: Almost always of clashing personalities, which gets brought up (or even emphasized) in support conversations.
* ForceAndFinesse: A common distinction between the two, with one having greater Strength and the other having more Skill and Speed. They could be considered mounted counterparts to the Fighter and Myrmidon classes, respectively.
* LightningBruiser: For the most part, they are durable, strong, fast, and mobile with weaknesses that might as well not exist.
* NonIndicativeName: Named for [[Literature/TheBible the original Biblical figures]] Cain and Abel... and the ''only'' two times the CainAndAbel trope actually comes into play (''Mystery of the Emblem'' and ''Fates: Conquest''), it's the ''Abel'' who betrays the ''Cain''. Please note that this is only in a matter of 'betraying the homeland', not 'betraying the hero', since Abel ended up betraying both the hero Marth and his home country Altea, while Kaze betrayed Hoshido in ''Conquest'', but sticks with the hero Corrin. And despite the namesakes of the archetype, only the ''Fates'' duo are ''actually'' siblings, though most of them do share a brother-like relationship with each other.
* RedOniBlueOni: Usually one is intense and the other is calm, or one takes their knightly duties seriously and the other pursues other interests or hobbies. While the original Cain and Abel are the former and latter respectively, other games occasionally swap around the aforementioned traits.
* ThoseTwoGuys: They generally act like this.
* WithAFriendAndAStranger: Occasionally, there will be a third cavalier who is closely associated with the main duo, but isn't as close as they are to each other. Examples include Frey (to Cain and Abel as another one of Marth's retainers), Cecil (to Luke and Roderick as part of their trainee division), Franz (to Kyle and Forde as the latter's younger brother), and Kagero (to Kaze and Saizo as the third ninja, and Saizo's fellow vassal to Ryoma). Ironically, the one who originated this tendency was from the brother archetype of this archetype (Bord and Cord): Barst.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Bord and Cord]]
A duo of axe fighters that typically join together in service of a sword fighter, either the Lord or the Ogma. Similar to Cain and Abel, they are mostly distinguished by their complementary growth rates. One will have better Strength, and the other better Speed. Typically the one with higher Strength also has higher Skill. They will have a RedOniBlueOni dynamic, with the exception of the original. Bord and Cord themselves were both {{Red Oni}}s and had a BlueOni in a third fighter named Barst, in which the 'third wheel' member like Barst would end up being utilized amongst the Cain and Abel archetype (see above on their folder).

Since ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'', this archetype in its classic form has been replaced with giving the player's army a single axe fighter at the beginning of the game, though this does not rule out the possibility for more axe fighters to join later on.

%%The main requirement of this archetype is '''ThoseTwoGuys Axe Fighters''' almost similar to Cain and Abel personality-wise and stat growth-wise (contrasting RedAndBlueOni), being depicted as very close in and they sacrifice color scheme in favor of always joining at the same time and constant class (or just very close times in case of Bord and Cord themselves in ''New Mystery of the Emblem''). Serving an Ogma-like figure is more preferable, but directly serving the Lord is also okay.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Bord and Cord (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Halvan and Osian (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Wade and Lot (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Dorcas and Bartre (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Garcia and Ross (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'')

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Iuchar and Iucharba [[note]] They are axe fighters with opposite stat lines and personalities... but are also mutually exclusive party members, meaning neither one can ever be with the player's army at the same time, so you can only get half of the archetype within a single playthrough. [[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Boyd and Oscar [[note]] If you read Ike as an Ogma, they're his immediate deputies with contrasting personalities and stats. However Oscar is a cavalier rather than a fighter [[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Boyd and Nolan[[note]]They possess contrasting stat growth, personalities and are the earliest axe fighters... ''for their respective groups''. In other words, they joined different people (Ike and Micaiah), don't fight in the same army for most of the game, and are completely unconnected storywise.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Arthur and Charlotte[[note]]They have differing stat growths and at the very least, they both originate from Nohr (despite the difference of their positions), thus available in any routes they are playable. While Arthur is the only early axe fighter in ''Conquest'', they have the same joining time in ''Revelation''. Their personalities, however, are different flavors of Red Oni, being HotBlooded in their own ways, and they aren't officially a pair InUniverse (they DO have pairs of fellow Armor Knights (Effie and Benny), but that's a different story unrelated to the archetype).[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Caspar and Edelgard, Caspar and Hilda[[note]]They are similar in a way of two starting axe fighters with different, contrasting personalities (Caspar is battle gung-ho while Hilda actively avoids battle out of laziness), but they never join at the same time since they belong to different houses (Black Eagles and Golden Deers), despite actually being able to have paired endings (and even worse, Hilda is flat out unavailable if you stick to the Crimson Flower route). Caspar and Edelgard are actually both available on the same route, and fit for personality and stat contrasts, but they aren't really connected outside of sharing a house, and their vastly different social standings mean they probably don't qualify.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')
----
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first Bord and Cord actually came as a trio with another axe fighter named Barst. Barst was the BlueOni to their collective Red, and a JackOfAllStats between the two about equal with Ogma.
* RedOniBlueOni: Usually, one is calm and the other is a BoisterousBruiser. For instance, Garcia and Nolan are older and more level-headed war vets while Ross and Boyd are young in their careers and eager to fight. Dorcas is doing mercenary work to save money for his sick wife, and Bartre is throwing himself into battle to get strong enough to fight his rival.
* SoldierVsWarrior: The two will often share this dynamic, with one being a BloodKnight eager to take part in battle, and the other being TheEveryman that just wants to be with their family. However, both play the Warrior to the Draug's Soldier, being independent mercenaries as opposed to members of an army. This is best shown in Dorcas' conversations with Oswin in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'' where the former (himself the Soldier to Bartre's Warrior) turns down the latter's offer to join the Ostian Knights, so that he could continue fighting on behalf of his wife.
* ThoseTwoGuys: They are usually friends, join at the same time, and even tend to look alike. Garcia and Ross are a father-son duo.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Pegasus Trio]]
A trio of Pegasus Knights who are either sisters or simply have a long history of working together. They typically join you one at a time, with one coming early-game, one coming mid-game, and one coming late-game. Together, they can execute the Triangle Attack, guaranteeing a CriticalHit on that turn.\\\

Personality-wise, the youngest is the most innocent, the eldest is the most mature. The middle child varies, but tends to be extremely dedicated to one thing, whether her duties, her family, money, an unrequited crush, etc. They're typically knights of the kingdom or mercenaries, with the eldest being TheCaptain of their own squadron. Rarely are they nobles with the exception of the ''Sacred Stones'' and ''Warriors'' entries.\\\

Notable for being one of the only typically-player-side archetypes that has been used by the enemy: a Pegasus trio of Meng, Maybell, and Bleg appears in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar''. Furthermore, a enemy trio of Banba, Fetra and Eliu also appears, with largely the same dynamics except that these three are mages instead.\\\

The Triangle Attack is absence from ''Awakening'' (barring a reference) and ''Fates'' being somewhat succeeded by the Pair-Up mechanic. The move returned in ''Three Houses'' as a universal mechanic that ''all'' female characters reclassed to pegasus knight can learn. However none of the default pegasus-aspiring units have any of the other elements of the archetype.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Palla, Catria, and Est (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeofLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Juno, Thea, and Shanna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Fiora, Farina, and Florina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Syrene, Vanessa, and Tana (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Sigrun, Tanith, Marcia, and Elincia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''[[note]]Not Sigrun[[/note]] and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Caeda, Cordelia, and Hinoka[[note]]While Caeda triggers the Triangle Attack on her own, Cordelia and Hinoka can join in for cosmetic purposes if their supports with her are maxed out[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriors Warriors]]'')

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Karin and Misha[[note]]As their number suggested, despite having similar backgrounds and profession, they are only two people, therefore, they can't be this.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Barthe, Bors, and Gwendolyn [[note]]They actually fit neatly, but are armor knights instead of pegasus riders, and include two males.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Oscar, Boyd, and Rolf [[note]]They fit in personality, and are all siblings, but three males and three different classes. Their Triangle is triggered by using the same weapon (bows) instead of being in the same class.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Phila, Cordelia, Sumia, and Cynthia[[note]]The first three are mentor and students, respectively, and were part of the same guard before Sumia was reassigned to the Shepherds. However, Phila suffers an irreversible PlotlineDeath without being able to be recruited, which renders Sumia and Cordelia as a duo, and thus unable to fulfill the requirement. Cynthia, meanwhile, fits as a recruitable starting Pegasus Knight, but while she is Sumia's daughter, she shares little relationship with Cordelia. Additionally, they all lack the ability to use the Triangle Attack, another major requisite for the archetype.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Hinoka, Subaki and Caeldori[[note]]It's a trio of Pegasus Knights, but they are not that closely related aside of 'originating from Hoshido': Subaki is Sakura's retainer and doesn't always have to pair up with Hinoka, and only by one specific combination (Hinoka marries Subaki) that the three could be family, and even then, they still don't have Triangle Attack.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'')
----
* AwesomeButImpractical: While definitely cool, setting up the Triangle Attack is often more trouble than it's worth.
* BadassesWearBandanas: They wear this as part of their attire.
* BoyishShortHair: One or two of them tend to have shorter hair than other girls.
* ChromaticArrangement: Sometimes. The original White Wings had a very clear red, blue, and green color scheme. However the ones that reprise this closest are the non-pegasus trios that can Triangle in ''Binding Blade'' and ''Path of Radiance.''
* BreakingOldTrends:
** In ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', the archetype is assigned to a trio of enemies during the final map that aren't given much characterization. Also, a similar trio of enemy mage sisters appear in Chapters 7 and 8 with similarly limited characterization and access to the Triangle Attack.
** In ''Binding Blade'' you have a trio of armor knights that can Triangle Attack, and are close on the other counts of the archetype. The eldest is still the captain of the guard, but the youngest is the most driven and the middle is the most gentle. Only two out of three are siblings.
** In ''Path of Radiance'' you have a trio that can triangle and arguably even closer, despite some key differences. The eldest was a high ranking knight (before resigning to take care of the family), the middle is the most battle focused, and the youngest is the most naive. They're ''brothers'' however, not sisters. And they all have different classes, Paladin, Warrior and Sniper. Despite this they can still Triangle Attack because of their shared weapon, bows.
* CombatMedic: Only in ''Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War'' (though the relevant characters are enemies, and while none of them are equipped with staves, they all carry [[LifeDrain Earth Swords to heal themselves with]]) and Elincia in the Tellius duology.
* CombinationAttack: The Triangle Attack. The effect is always a guaranteed CriticalHit on the unfortunate enemy. [[spoiler:Yes, the trio of enemy Pegasus Knights can do this as well, and while they will seldom pull it off thanks to their AI canto-ing out of range, they do have the Critical skill, which hits just as hard as a Triangle Attack.]]
* CompositeCharacter: Some games incorporated traits from Caeda into their resident youngest Pegasus Knight. Shanna, Florina, and Sumia are the starting Pegasus Knight in their games while being acquaintances with the starting Mercenary (Dieck) and a Lord (Lyn and Chrom) respectively. Elincia has elements of the Heroine archetype, and conveniently Ike is a Lord with elements of the starting Mercenary. While Tana's age is vague in relation to Vanessa, she is the least experienced fighter in the group and is close friends with Eirika and Ephraim. And there is Farina who fits into the Beowolf archetype that players had to pay to recruit her.
* CoolHorse: Well, Cool Pegasus actually.
* FragileSpeedster: Most of them tend to be this compared to other units, having high speed but mediocre to low defense.
* LongHairIsFeminine: The eldest of the sisters (Palla) always has long hair to emphasize their 'wife/mother' status in the TheThreeFacesOfEve dynamic and being the caretaker. The only exception for this rule is Tanith during ''Path of Radiance'', but in the sequel, the more feminine, long-haired Sigrun takes over the 'eldest sister' part.
* MageKiller: Because most of them tend to have high Resistance as well, they tend to excel at slaying mages.
* RuleOfThree: Three Pegasus Knights who all know each other and who can initiate the Triangle Attack exist as recruitable characters in most games.
* TheThreeFacesOfEve: Tend to have this dynamic. The Est is the Child and the Palla is the Wife. The Catria is the odd one out that they are usually the Serious One instead of the Seductress.
* UtilityPartyMember: The initial Pegasus Knight tends to have underwhelming combat abilities, with [[FragileSpeedster Speed]] being their only quality, not helped by their restriction to lances if the early game is [[TacticalRockPaperScissors dominated by axe-wielding enemies]]. However, they are nonetheless invaluable for their high Movement and ability to bypass terrain obstacles, not only allowing them to reach villages before the {{Bandit Mook}}s, but also ferry other units to where they're needed, but couldn't easily access on their own.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Wyvern Duo]]
The Wyvern Duo are usually a pair of Wyvern Knights who are always related to each other. The most common scenario is that they're from the enemy nation, which is usually the nation that houses Wyvern Knights, and decided that their Empire crossed the line and they're in the wrong, and so decided to join the heroes to set the nation right. A most common similarity can also be found in their colors, similar to Cain and Abel, except with Red and Black. For some reason, this pair is often fairer to the sex, you often get one boy and one girl, and the girl is almost always red. And they rarely join at the same time, similar to Merric and Linde, so if one joined and became your primary Wyvern Knight, you might end up not using the other, or benching the first-joiner until the second one came along. And the earlier joining time is usually mid-game.\\\

In the earlier days, only the red Wyvern Knight would join you, but eventually both would join, forming this archetype. If that happens, usually it's the female who joins first. This is why at first the archetype used to be named after the first female example of this: Minerva. There are other instances of this, however.\\\

There's also another similarity in traits for this. Unlike Cain and Abel, who are more or less equals in rank, the rank hierarchy is clear in this archetype: One would be a senior/senpai, the other one would be a junior/kouhai.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Minerva & Michalis (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'') [[note]]Michalis does not join you in ''Shadow Dragon'' or ''Mystery of the Emblem'', but in ''New Mystery of the Emblem'', he can join you[[/note]]; Altena & Arion (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'') [[note]]Arion does not join, but he can temporarily become an allied NPC in the final chapter[[/note]]; Eda & Dean (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Melady & Zeiss (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Heath & Vaida (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Cormag & Glen (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]'')[[note]]Glen is a throwback to Michalis and Arion, wearing red like Minerva and contemplating a HeelFaceTurn, but was killed off by Valter before he could go through with it, leaving Cormag the sole Wyvern Knight on the good guys' side[[/note]]; Jill & Haar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Scarlet & Camilla (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'') [[note]]due to ''Fates''[='=] branching paths, they can switch between who plays the Minerva and Michalis roles[[/note]]

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Cherche & Gerome [[note]]They fit a majority of the requirements: Two Wyvern Riders with clear distinct seniority (mother and son), Cherche even has red color scheme (if only just by being a redhead). What they lacked was a major one that disqualified them: They originated from a country that's not at all antagonistic to Ylisse (Rosanne, which was already conquered by the Valmese Empire); therefore, there was no 'realizes that their country was in the wrong, thus defecting'.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''), Cyril & Seteth (and Ladislava) [[note]]Cyril and Seteth only slightly fit this as enemies on the Crimson Flower route; while Seteth has AntiVillain qualities, Cyril takes his loyalty to Murdock-esque levels. However, only Cyril comes from a Wyvern-breeding country (Almyra, and it didn't even defect to the Empire), Seteth is officially from the mainland and part of the Nabateans, and while they have some people close with each other, it's not them together (Shamir for Cyril, Flayn for Seteth), so they're not exactly closely related duos. Their color schemes also don't match. Ironically, Ladislava of the Adrestian Empire is closer to a shout out to Minerva alone, being a red-colored female wyvern rider and a sympathetic one at that despite working for the Empire, but the Adrestian Empire doesn't breed wyverns, she's still unplayable in Crimson Flower, she never betrays the Empire, and she lacks a black-colored wyvern rider companion.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''), Ivy & Rosado [[note]]Like Cherche and Gerome, both Ivy and Rosado hail from the same nation where Wyvern Knights come from, and it's clear that one is of higher class (Ivy being the princess, Rosado being the retainer). However, their closeness is tenuous at best, only being linked through Hortensia. Their color schemes don't match either, like Cyril and Seteth. Additionally, their weapons of choice differ, with Ivy being a pure mage while Rosado fits the physical elements of the archetype.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')

* ColorCodedForYourConvenience: Red and black, similar to Cain and Abel (switching green for black).
* DefectorFromDecadence: They always hail from the enemy empire, which is often made to be the only place capable of breeding wyverns. This is also why both Cherche and Gerome from ''Awakening'' don't quite make the cut despite being a duo of wyvern knights: the country they're from isn't antagonistic.
* DragonRider: They're always of the Wyvern Knight class.
* {{Foil}}: In a way, to the Cain and Abel archetype. Two color-coded mounted knight duos. One uses horses (mostly), one uses wyverns. One is from the Lord's country, one is from the enemy country. One seems to be equal with each other, one has a distinction in who's more experienced or in higher position.
* HeelFaceTurn: They are always defectors from the enemy nation (with the exception of Camilla in ''Fates: Conquest''), and often must be recruited directly from the enemy.
* LightningBruiser: As Wyvern Knights, they are extremely powerful and tanky, and usually have just enough speed to double as well, although [[AntiAir arrows]], [[WeakToMagic magic]], and especially [[BreadEggsBreadedEggs wind magic]] will deal big chunks of damage to them.
[[/folder]]

!!Recurring Physical Units
Utility physical units. Some join early-game to teach core mechanics of weapon variants, and common strategies like taking advantage of chokepoints.
* The Draug: A StoneWall armor knight to shield weaker units who came from commoner background.
* The Archer
** The Gordin: An Archer for the basics of ranged combat, evolving from ScratchDamage to GlassCannon. Typically a young and upcoming boy.
** The Jeorge: A typically pre-promoted mid-game bowman with a mentor relationship with a younger character, typically the Gordin.
* The Sword Fighter:
** The Ogma: A well-rounded Mercenary good for any situation.
** The Navarre: A CriticalHitClass Myrmidon who usually has to be recruited from the enemy.
** The Ayra: An aspiring female warrior who lives by the sword. Often an outsider among her group.
* The Thief:
** The Julian: A LovableRogue street urchin or spy to teach the mechanics of the Thief class.
** The Perne: A more experienced Thief (or promoted equivalent) that joins in the early-to-mid game.
* The Caeda: An early game [[AlwaysFemale female]] Pegasus Knight and the earliest access of aerial units. Usually a noble and has links with the Lord. Cannot perform any combination attacks unlike the Pegasus Trio and may end up as the sole Pegasus Knight of the team.

[[folder:The Draug]]
The Draug is the first, and sometimes only, (Armor) Knight that joins your army early in the game. Their high bulk helps shield your weaker units, but they are hindered by the poor mobility of their CharacterClass.\\\

The Draug is usually characterized by their loyalty and humble nature despite their imposing strength. Even if they are in service to nobles, they are typically from rural or lower-class backgrounds.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Draug (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Lukas and Valbar (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Arden (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Dalsin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Bors (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Oswin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Gilliam (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Brom and Meg (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Kellam (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Effie (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Dedue and Raphael (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Louis (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Mamori (''VideoGame/TokyoMirageSessionsFE'')

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Gatrie [[note]] Gatrie is the first armor knight you get, but as detailed above, he carries elements of an Eyvel, leaving the party for a few chapters while Brom joins in the interim. He certainly doesn't qualify for the archetype in ''Radiant Dawn'' due to the plot not focusing on the Greil Mercenaries until about halfway through the game.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'')
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* TheBigGuy: They're the muscle of your army early on.
* BreakingOldTrends: Raphael is the first one who's not an Armor Knight, but instead specializing in one of the classes just introduced in ''Three Houses'': Brawlers. It acts similarly to Armor Knights, except they have slightly higher attack power while sacrificing defenses; and at the very least, Raphael does consider Armor Knight as his secondary interest and has the proficiencies and stat spread to work very well in the class. Interestingly enough, Dedue himself considers Brawler as his secondary interest.
* CrutchCharacter: Some games make them fill this role alongside the Jagen/Oifey, giving them a starting level and statline well beyond the rest of the team, and usually even a passable Speed stat that lets them double slower enemies. Once the army catches up with them later on in the game, though, they tend to fall off even harder, since the drawbacks of the Armor Knight classline often hurt them a lot more than the mediocre statline of the Jagen, who can at least keep offering utility as a Paladin/Great Knight.
* {{Foil}}: With the Caeda, fellow early solo units:
** The Draug is defined as the MightyGlacier on the ground who may end up as a CrutchCharacter, whereas the Caeda is the flying FragileSpeedster with elements of MagikarpPower.
** A Draug is vulnerable against magic users, whereas a Caeda [[MageKiller is designed to withstand their magic and kill them with ease.]] In exchange, the Draug will completely laugh off at archers as most of them are going to do no damage at all (ScratchDamage if they're lucky), while a Caeda will easily be felled by them.
** A Draug is usually of a commoner origin, whereas a Caeda has a nobility pedigree.
* FragileSpeedster: In the games with reclassing available, they can be surprisingly squishy outside their base class, yet with tremendous speed to offset that.
* GentleGiant: They are all humble or stoic, but no one is unfriendly when approached. Kellam takes this to its logical extreme by being outright ignored, and sometimes even invisible to friends.
* SkillGateCharacter: They are useful by players who are new to the game due to their ability to soak up damage without needing to dodge. As they become more experienced, however, the inherent weaknesses of the Draug's classline makes them unfavorable compared to faster and more mobile classes who can still take a hit, though later games that have reclassing systems do allow them to transfer to these classes.
* StoneWall: Their biggest claim to fame is their high defense, making them ideal for holding chokepoints to protect weaker units.
* SuperStrength: They are known as great soldiers, if not capable of superhuman feats of power.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Archer]]
!!The Gordin
The Gordin is an archer, often the first one you recruit. He's the youngest of your starting army or a villager who decides to help out. They lack war experience but are good with a bow, optimistic, and eager to join the cause. However, their lack of war experience sometimes translates into being shy and deprived of confidence. They tend to be pretty good hunters, too. This unit is used to ease players into the adventure, to understand ranged vs. direct attacks. As such, they are the antithesis of the Draug, and often need to be defended by other units until they're fast enough to dodge.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Gordin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Python (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Ryan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Tanya, Ronan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Wolt (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Wil, Rebecca (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Neimi (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Rolf (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Leonardo (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Norne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Virion[[note]]Fulfills the gameplay aspect, but has a totally different personality. Still used to represent the archetype in ''Tokyo Mirage Sessions''[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Setsuna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Bernadetta, Ashe[[note]]A combination with the Julian archetype since he is from a thieving background, able to lockpick, but more attuned to knightly archery instead of sticking with his thieving ways[[/note]], and Ignatz (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Etie (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Ellie (''VideoGame/TokyoMirageSessionsFE''); Virion again (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'')
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* FriendlySniper: Many of them are upbeat and friendly towards others, especially the younger ones due to their age. This is in contrast to Jeorges, who are usually more cold or level-headed.
* GlassCannon: They can't defend themselves against direct attacks, but are useful for picking off enemies with proper training.
* MagikarpPower: If you can stand their low base damage and raise them properly, they can finally pick up the slack and be powerful archers on their own, though not to the extreme degree of Est characters. It also helps that they have early availability.
* ScratchDamage: When first recruited, they'll only be doing a little damage. You can use them to weaken units for your other fighters to swoop in for the kill, or have them [[CherryTapping pick off the last sliver from an already ailing opponent]].
* ShrinkingViolet: Several Gordins don't exactly have the best self-esteem due to either lack of war experience or just their inherent personality, although with early availability and MagikarpPower at hand, they can one day turn this around. Neimi and Bernadetta are primary examples of this.
* TagAlongKid: Usually the youngest of the early-game roster.
----

!!The Jeorge
The Jeorge is usually an upgraded version of the Gordin archetype. There's usually a mid/late-game prepromoted Sniper that will nicely answer to the player's need of an immediate archer if they have neglected to raise other low-leveled archers, since they usually possess good base stats. Their prepromoted status means that if there's a unique bow within the game, then they will need only a little time to start utilizing it, based on how Jeorge himself receives the Parthia bow come ''Mystery of the Emblem'', or sometimes, that unique bow is locked exclusively towards them. If a Jeorge comes unpromoted and a bit early-game, then the exclusivity of that unique bow would make them ahead of the curve of archery compared to other Gordins. Much like Merric and Wendell, the Jeorge in this case often tends to be a BigBrotherMentor figure or sorts to the Gordin character or a literal elder sibling to someone else.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Jeorge (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Jamke, Brigid, Febail, and Asaello (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Klein and Igrene (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Louise (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Innes (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Shinon (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Takumi and Shura [[note]]Takumi comes with a unique bow, and is the second archer to join in ''Birthright''; Shura fits being a prepromoted archer who joins late-game[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Python (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Shadows of Valentia]]''); Shamir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Takumi again (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'')

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Alcryst [[note]]Although he's an archer who joins later and at a higher level than Etie, the game's first archer, and has access to unique bow-focused classes, he lacks an exclusive bow and isn't promoted when he joins the army (although he does join at a level where he can promote as soon as the player acquires a Master Seal) while proper Jeorges have at least one of the two.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----
* ArcherArchetype: They are usually prepromoted Snipers, thus specializing in bows. However, some of them come with unique bows that only they can equip, such as [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Yewfelle]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fujin Yumi]]. Other non-exclusive unique bows include [[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Parthia]] (locked to Jeorge in ''Heroes''), [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade Mulagir]], [[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones Nidhogg]] (locked to Innes in ''Heroes''), and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Silencer]] (named Shinon's Bow in the Japanese version), and the Jeorge is a very likely candidate to wield them ASAP due to their already high affinity with bows.
* AloofBigBrother: [[BigBrotherMentor They tend to be a more aloof/stoic elder sibling of someone or mentoring a junior archer]]. Jeorge mentors Gordin, Louise (while not being totally aloof) is looked up to by Rebecca and Igrene, Igrene herself acts like a big sister figure to Fae and Sophia, Shinon mentors Rolf. Brigid is Edain's big sister, Febail is Patty's big brother, Klein is Clarine's big brother, Innes is Tana's big brother, Takumi has Sakura as his little sister and the young archer Kiragi as his ''son'', Shamir mentors Cyril. Zig-zagged with Jamke, as he's actually the ''youngest'' brother of the Verdane Princes, but he's also the OnlySaneMan of his siblings.
* ArcherArchetype: They usually possess a cool and calculating attitude when compared to the more eager Gordin.
* ColdSniper: Most of them can be a bit of an asshole (save Jeorge, Klein, and Louise), and they all favor bows as weapons.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: In the later games, their aloofness can veer into {{Jerkass}} levels to the point that they may look like a ColdSniper with a bow, but they will always have a HiddenHeartOfGold somewhere.
* MasterArcher: They're noted for their expertise in archery, and even most of them start out as prepromoted Snipers or the class equivalent of them, even nearing or at a high rank of bows.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Sword Fighter]]
!!The Ogma
The Ogma is the first Mercenary, joining early to mid-game. He usually has overall high stat growths, ending up [[JackOfAllStats well-balanced]] or focusing on Strength. He tends to be either a mercenary leader, or, in the case that there is no group of mercenaries involved, a mercenary who joins the player army on his own. If he's not part of a mercenary group, he might be employed by the enemy army as a {{Hired Gun|s}} and need to be convinced to join your cause. Appearance-wise, the Ogma is usually a heavily muscled man who might have scars here and there.\\\

In the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue, the Ogma will often vanish without a trace.
----
->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Ogma (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Saber (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Chulainn (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Fergus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Dieck (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Raven (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Gerik (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Ike (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Gregor (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'')
----
* DarkAndTroubledPast: They don't often have very bright pasts; whether it be the conditions they were raised in or the loss of loved ones or their status in the world, they haven't had an easy time. However instead of brooding about it they put up a strong front for those around them, with the exception of Raven.
* ForceAndFinesse: The Force to the Navarre's Finesse. Usually muscled men, the Ogma usually prefers massive swords and uses a rougher fighting style to go with it. Once they class change, they can even wield axes.
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: They usually start off tagging along because they're getting money out of it. Their difference with Beowolf characters is that their policy is "Job first, pay later."
* JackOfAllStats: Typically have overall solid stats.
* JadeColoredGlasses: They often have seen enough in their day and tend to not be optimistic, usually being very cynical, but no less loyal to the army.
* SoldierVsWarrior: The Soldier to the Navarre's Warrior, using the sword as a means to an end, which, as the class name "Mercenary" indicates, is usually to make a living. This is reflected in their stats. Their well-rounded stats give them a decent chance of surviving and they gain axes to help with the weapon triangle.

!!The Navarre
The Navarre is the first Myrmidon (Mercenary in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''), joining early to mid-game. They always need to be recruited from the ranks of enemies (usually bandits) and have a FragileSpeedster build (high Speed and Luck for dodging with lackluster defenses, occasionally also lacking in Attack) with some CriticalHitClass flavoring thanks to a good Skill stat. The Navarre carries a Killing Edge to further drive home their propensity to crit while simultaneously making it dangerous to approach them for recruiting.\\\

The Navarre usually has some sort of pre-established relationship with another character, usually the Lena or the Julian. They also have a code of honor alongside a desire to fight to hone their skills. Like the Ogma, the WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue will mention that the Navarre faded into obscurity after the conflict.
----
->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Navarre (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Deen (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Samuel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Jamke (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Shiva (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Rutger and Fir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Guy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Joshua and Marisa (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Zihark (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Aran (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Lon'qu (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Felix (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Kagetsu (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Yashiro (''VideoGame/TokyoMirageSessionsFE'')

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype:''' Felix [[note]]Unlike in ''Three Houses'', he cannot be recruited outside of the Kingdom Army in this game.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Lindon [[note]]He fulfills the RocketTagGameplay conditions of the archetype, being a GlassCannon with a skill that situationally boosts his crit rate and makes him tricky to recruit, but is a prepromoted SquishyWizard that comes in the lategame who otherwise fits the Wendell archetype to a tee.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----
* BloodKnight: They often have a particularly strong obsession with improving their skills in battle.
* BreakingOldTrends:
** Aran of ''Radiant Dawn'' fits most of the hallmarks of the character archetype (recruitable enemy — in fact, he's the ''only'' unit in the entire game that ''needs'' to be recruited from the enemy ranks in this fashion to become playable — with a pre-established relationship with the Lena and a CriticalHitClass), but he wields a lance rather than a sword (not even a Killer Lance) and he's so slow that he can still come off as rather fragile early on ''despite'' his StoneWall growths.
** Jamke actually fits the archetype despite being an archer rather than a swordsman. He is initially an enemy unit who must be recruited by the Lena, and comes equipped with a Killer Bow.
** Zihark, Guy, Joshua, and Kagetsu stand out from the rest in that they lack any of the aloofness or {{blood knight}} qualities of the rest — they're completely genuine {{nice guy}}s.
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: Despite their haughty nature, there are always kindhearted female members in the army that they would be more open to, forming this dynamic.
* CodeOfHonor: Legendary and often paid professional killers, they may hold themselves to some code that prevents them from killing certain targets, such as women, children, or in the case of Zihark, the laguz. Lon'qu plays with this in that he has a paralyzing fear of women.
* CriticalHitClass: Their starting weapon tends to be a Killing Edge or some other high-crit weapon, which makes getting to them to recruit them more dangerous. Two exceptions are Ayra and Felix. Ayra doesn't have a Killing Edge or similar weapon, but she has the Astra skill, which allows her multiple consecutive hits that acts like her CriticalHit. Felix also doesn't start out with a Killing Edge, but he has the Crest of Fraldarius which randomly boosts his damage and activates more often than a Critical Hit in exchange for less damage and the Sword of Moralta associated with said Crest does indeed have souped-up crit rate. Once they promote into Swordmaster, they often receive an innate crit bonus, meaning they can use regular swords to the same effect or even stack it with the aforementioned Killing Edge to boost their crit rate to ''absurd'' levels.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: The Myrmidon class that the archetype is known for was actually split off from the Mercenary swordfighter class to make them more distinct, being based off the original Navarre's FragileSpeedster statline in what is usually a JackOfAllStats class.
* ForceAndFinesse: The Finesse to the Ogma's Force. With their more lean build, the Navarre utilizes swift swordplay in battle to dodge hits and perform follow-up attacks. They rely on their equally high Skill to potentially deal critical hits to make up for their relatively low Strength.
* FragileSpeedster: Always fast, (nearly) always fragile, and depending on their growths, may be lacking in strength.
* HeelFaceTurn: Most Navarres are found on the enemy side and must be persuaded to join your army. Subverted with Lon'qu, in that he is a sullen swordsman with the Killing Edge who was intended to fight you in a gladiator-style match, but he was replaced as champion at the last minute by "Marth". After "Marth" is defeated, he still joins anyway. This is also averted by Felix in ''Three Houses'' and ''Warriors: Three Hopes''; he is recruited automatically with the rest of the Blue Lions, though it's noted that he has a strained relationship with his house leader Dimitri. In ''Three Houses'' you have to go out of your way to recruit him on the Black Eagle and Golden Deer routes before he becomes an enemy, while ''Warriors: Three Hopes'' straight up makes him unrecruitable outside of Azure Gleam. In the two maps where Kagetsu is encountered as an enemy, you can't actually persuade him to join your side; it's only when Ivy ([[UndyingLoyalty whom he's loyal towards]]) joins your side that he becomes your ally.
* MasterSwordsman: The Navarre is often noted for their exceptional prowess with a blade.
* RocketTagGameplay: What makes recruiting them as enemy units so difficult is that their high CriticalHit rate and low defense makes it so that either they easily kill one of your units, or vice-versa. Even if either one survives the encounter, the ensuing injuries make either one of them susceptible to being picked off by a nearby enemy (especially when encountered in a space crowded by enemies). The solution is to somehow talk to them ''without'' engaging in combat with them - which in itself can be difficult as the required units are often themselves {{Fragile Speedster}}s or {{Support Party Member}}s - while also having a plan to take out every enemy in the vicinity that turn (which will often involve the freshly-recruited Navarre themselves).
* {{Ronin}}: They're lightly-armored swordsmen that [[KatanasAreJustBetter wield katana-like weapons]] ([[AllSwordsAreTheSame in their attack animations, at least]], in the case of the [=2D=] games), and are normally first encountered working as a mercenary for an enemy group.
* SoldierVsWarrior: The Warrior to the Ogma's Soldier, being dedicated swordsmen that are either {{Blood Knight}}s or [[ToBeAMaster seeking to become a]] MasterSwordsman. This is reflected in their stats. They focus on the "live hard, die young" fighting style and rely on the flashy but unpredictable Critical Hits. When promoted, they simply focus more on their swordmanship instead of trying to diversify.
* ToBeAMaster: Those who are not {{Blood Knight}}s typically seek to become a MasterSwordsman.
* UnbuiltTrope: Samuel, one of the first "Navarre-style" Mercenaries/Myrmidons to be recruited in the series, was a CostumeCopycat [[FakeUltimateHero who was much weaker than the original]], and [[JokeCharacter not portrayed as awesome in the slightest]]. One could think of him as a Deconstruction of the Archetype and {{Exp|y}}ies in general, but he was probably the series' ''first''.
* WakeUpCallBoss: Their status as the first recruitable enemy (that isn't part of a ForcedTutorial) combined with the aforementioned RocketTagGameplay of their recruitment usually makes them the player's first real test of their ability to position units and strategize in advance, as opposed to simply "defeating the enemies before they defeat your units first."
----

!!The Ayra
Amongst your army, you may find certain ladies that specialize in sword fighting rather than traditionally "feminine" interests (or if they try to, they'd be horrible at it). The original Ayra is a foreigner to the main Lord’s country, hailing from an Asian-inspired region with a unique sword style. This is reflected in members of this archetype having troubles with customs foreign to them, though it can be mitigated with time.\\\

They enjoy finding sparring partners and worthy opponents to improve their sword skills. They won't take kindly to people insinuating that they can't swing their sword well enough because of their gender or heritage. Usually of the myrmidon class, they can be seen as a variation on the Navarre-type but may have key differences. \\\

Their reason for picking up the sword are usually more noble, typically from admiring their family member, being a successor to the lineage’s sword style or doing so as a way to protect their liege. Stat-wise, they tend to take a more speedy approach to Navarre, sacrificing even more power in exchange for more speed.
----
->'''Playable characters of this archetype''': Ayra and Larcei (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Mareeta (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Fir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Lyn and Karla (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Marisa (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Mia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Athena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragon Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemNewMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''), Say’ri (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Hana (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Yuzu (''[[TabletopGame/FireEmblemCipher Cipher]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Shadows of Valentia]]'') [[note]]While Yuzu is a Priestess and is unable to access the Myrmidon classline in ''Shadows of Valentia'', she still has the personalities and also comes from a foreign nation[[/note]]; Petra (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Kagetsu (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Machyua (''Thracia 776'') [[note]]Motivation is not sword-based, not foreign[[/note]]; Lucia (''Path of Radiance'' and ''Radiant Dawn'') [[note]]Her goal is more to be a knight, not too sword focused[[/note]]; Malice (''New Mystery of the Emblem'') [[note]]Unknown origin, but doesn’t show any foreign traits or passion for swordsmanship[[/note]]; Catherine (''Three Houses'') [[note]]Similar reason to Lucia[[/note]]; Lapis [[note]]Similar reason to Lucia, and is not foreign[[/note]] (''Engage'')
----
* BerserkButton: Many take offense if their prowess in swordsmanship is being questioned based on their gender. No, sir, they swing their sword as hard as the men could, or probably even better!
* BreakingOldTrends:
** Yuzu is the only member of this archetype that isn't part of a CriticalHitClass due to the mechanics of ''Echoes''. Instead, she's a [[MagicKnight Priestess]] who can use both swords and magic. That being said, this doesn't just apply to ''Echoes'' only, as in ''Cipher'', she is part of the Samurai, Swordmaster, Hero, Sniper, Dread Fighter, Master Ninja, General, the aforementioned Priestess, and Nomadic Trooper.
** While Petra does have a proficiency in swords, she's also proficient in axes, bows, and flying. Her canon class as an NPC is a swift sword (Myrmidon-Assassin) but she has equal aptitude for being a wyvern rider.
** Kagetsu is the first member of the archetype to be male: although his gender doesn't match the rest of the archetype, he hails from an Asian-inspired foreign nation, is part of a CriticalHitClass, and swordsmanship is a key part of his motivation. And he's the one whose accent is more pronounced.
* CriticalHitClass: They always belong to a sword class focusing on dealing lots of critical hits such as Swordmaster, Assassin, or Lyn’s Swordmaster-esque Blade Lord class.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Ayra herself is an example of the trope despite naming the archetype. Unlike other fellow Ayras, she is more cold-blooded and stoic than HotBlooded and she wasn't exactly social or looking for challengers, shooing off flirtations (although she bonded normally with Chulainn), and she actually took a lot more from the original Navarre. However, her clear foreign state and cultural code of honor around swords and [[MasterSwordsman her mastery over it]] (therefore she's less vocal about [[ToBeAMaster self-improvement]]) helped codify the archetype and perfected by her daughter Larcei, carrying the genes that laid the foundations of the archetype.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: They usually hail from a country not belonging to the main Lord, having differing customs or a thick accent. Since most games are in a western MedievalEuropeanFantasy, this foreign land is typically eastern. [[{{Wutai}} Far East]], [[{{Qurac}} Middle East]], or at least Eastern European. While Hana is not a foreigner within her group, her kingdom is Japan-based.
* FragileSpeedster: They dodge even better than Navarres, but they don't hit as hard, which can cause trouble when they just can't deal even 1 damage, since that would reduce their critical to nothing.
* FunnyForeigner: Their foreign status is often more highlighted than any Navarres, and as a result, a few (not all) of them had their different cultural traits get put as a distinct characterization, mostly either different social skills (Marisa) or peculiar and quirky speech patterns (Athena, Say'ri, Petra).
* HotBlooded: They are a lot more eager in battle, as opposed to the Navarre, who are typically more cold.
* MasterSwordsman: They're experts at swordsmanship or aspire to reach that status.
* TheOneGuy: Kagetsu is the first, and currently only, male member of the archetype; other than his gender, he still conforms to the rest of the archetype's hallmarks, as detailed above.
* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: No matter how foreign they are from the mainland, one thing for sure is that they are ''very'' proud of their heritage of sword mastery from their homeland.
* SpiritedCompetitor: A lot of their dialogue revolves around finding a sparring partner to hone their sword skills.
* {{Tomboy}}: Don't ask them to do feminine things. They will either refuse or be genuinely horrible at it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Thief]]
!!The Julian

The Julian is the first Thief (or its equivalent), making him the go-to guy to teach you how to lockpick things without the need of keys dropped by the enemy, or steal items from enemies. His combat ability isn't exactly superb due to being a FragileSpeedster lacking in Strength, but he's usually strong enough to not be useless.\\\

Despite his less-than-lawful ways, the Julian is still a generally good person with some sort of moral compass and is often a GentlemanThief. He tends to join your army alongside another character, usually one that he already has a close relationship with.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Julian (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Dew, Patty, and Daisy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Lifis (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Chad (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Matthew (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Colm (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Sothe (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Gaius (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Niles (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Ashe[[note]]A combination with the Gordin archetype since he is from a thieving background, able to lockpick, but more attuned to knightly archery instead of sticking with his thieving ways[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Yunaka (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Matthew again (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'')
----
* DeviousDaggers: As expected from the Thief class family, this is their primary weapon, even if the "knives" are actually just short swords most of the time. Averted with Niles and Ashe, who prefer bows instead.
* LovableRogue: With the adult examples as GentlemanThief and the kids the ArtfulDodger. Ashe takes this to another level by leaving behind his roguish way and acting more like a chivalrous knight (while still having his old lockpick skills).
* MoralityPet: On the flipside from the above. As the original was paired with Lena, the partner they pair with tends to be similarly squishy, even if not ''The'' Lena. Julian has Lena. Matthew had the NPC Leila ([[ILetGwenStacyDie emphasis on "had"]]), and to some extent the playable Serra. Colm and Neimi. Sothe and Micaiah.
* TokenEvilTeammate: Amongst the many Julians, Lifis is the only one who isn't a LovableRogue. Instead, he's a sleazeball who lies and cheats to get what he wants, and he routinely pillaged villages before joining your party, too, and while [[MoralityPet Safy's]] presence can mellow him down to 'fight for the good cause', he's only doing that in exchange of 'personal' favor from her ([[ILied and he's actually not planning to honor that too]]). He's only balanced out with the fact that at the same time, [[ButtMonkey he's made to suffer by several other characters]].
----

!!The Perne

The Perne is a second Thief (or promoted equivalent), usually recruited in the early-to-mid game. Serving as the Jeorge to the Julian's Gordin, they join some time after the Julian at a higher level or in a higher-tier class, sometimes serving as their upgraded version. Characterization-wise, it's not uncommon for them to be a GentlemanThief or a ProfessionalKiller, and many of them have some kind of connection to the Julian.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Perne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''), Astolfo and Cath [[note]]Although Cath is the third recruitable thief in ''Binding Blade'', she still joins at a higher level than Chad and can be recruited in the midgame depending on how many times Roy has talked to her.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''), Legault (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''), Rennac (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''), Heather (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''), Shura [[note]]A hybrid with the Jeorge as he is a prepromoted archer, though his default class, Adventurer, promotes from Outlaw, the Nohrian equivilent of Thief. Additionally, he only qualifies in ''Conquest'', since he joins after Niles, the Julian of ''Fates'', on that route's midgame, while Niles is unavailable in ''Birthright'' and joins after Shura in ''Revelation''.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''), Yuri [[note]]In ''Three Houses'', it's possible to recruit Yuri before Ashe, but Ashe is recruited automatically if the player chooses the Blue Lions, meaning he's available earlier.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''), Zelkov (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')

->'''Playable characters who only have elements of this archetype:''' Rickard [[note]]Rickard is the second Thief you get in ''Shadow Dragon'', but he joins at a ''lower'' level than Julian, and Julian is the more experienced of the two.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''), Jaffar [[note]]Although he's a prepromoted Assassin, he joins much later than the archetype allows.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''), Volke [[note]]He is a thief who joins at a higher level than Sothe in both of the Tellius games, even being an Assassin in ''Radiant Dawn''. However, in ''Path of Radiance'', he joins before Sothe, and in ''Radiant Dawn'', he joins near the end of the game.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'')
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* DeviousDaggers: Just like the Julian, most Pernes use daggers, even if most of them are actually just short swords. Shura is an exception due to being an archer, and while Yuri can't use daggers in ''Three Houses'', he uses them in his unique Warrior Special in ''Three Hopes''.
* FragileSpeedster: Many of them are on the higher end of the speed spectrum, but on the lower end of the defensive spectrum.
* GentlemanThief: The ones who turn to thievery do so with no malicious intent. Many, like Perne, Cath, and Yuri, [[JustLikeRobinHood primarily target the rich and assist the poor]].
* ProfessionalKiller: If they're not thieves in the story, chances are that they're this instead.
* TheTease: A good number of them, namely Legault, Heather, and Yuri, have a tendency to flirt with others.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Caeda]]
The Caeda is one of the earlier units you encounter (although sometimes she could be as late as early-mid game). They go around in battle riding a Pegasus and stabbing people with spear from the air. They teach you about the utility of an airborne unit: They're fast, agile, covers a lot of of the map, but [[AchillesHeel is especially vulnerable to archers.]] Characters of this archetype tend to be of noble birth (or will eventually become one), and a majority of them may have taken interest or have close relations with the Lord character, although they're not always of the Heroine archetype above.

They serve as your first flying unit, until you recruit the Pegasus Trio (who are mostly not of nobility) and learn to utilize their teamwork (or not, sometimes a game (or a big portion of it) didn't have a trio of Pegasus Knights), therefore a Caeda can never do a Triangle Attack within their game, they fly solo for the most part (but [[ModestRoyalty they'll still mingle with friends within the army, even the Pegasus Trio who more likely had commoner backgrounds]]). However, their early availability means that they have a LOT of room to grow and they rarely ever become obsolete. The Caeda might not be able to utilize the more advanced Triangle Attack, but they can still hold their own.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype''': Caeda (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Clair (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Erinys[[note]]She was born a commoner, but is eventually set to become the Queen of Silesse regardless of who she married[[/note]] and Fee (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Elincia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]'')[[note]]She is not part of the archetype during ''Path of Radiance'', where she was part of the Pegasus Trio and was one of the last units to join[[/note]]; Hinoka (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Ingrid (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Chloé (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Tsubasa (''VideoGame/TokyoMirageSessionsFE'')

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Hermina[[note]]Despite being Fee's substitute and eventually the sole Pegasus Knight, she lacked the BlueBlood prerequisite of the archetype, she's just a soldier from Silesse.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Karin[[note]]She is the first encountered Pegasus Knight and mandatory recruit (Misha was optional), and without any trio, she can't do Triangle Attack either. However, she is not of the Silesse royalty, and the existence of Misha means that she's not a solo Pegasus Knight. Not to mention she mostly had no further interest in Leif aside of serving under him.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Shanna[[note]]She is the earliest recruited Pegasus Knight and could become a royalty should she marry Roy. However, the marriage was optional and she's already part of the Pegasus Trio with Thea and Juno[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Florina[[note]]She's also the first recruited Pegasus Knight and especially close to Lyndis and a potential bride for Hector. However, being the bride of Hector (which would make her an Ostian royalty) was optional and not set in stone, and she is already part of the Pegasus Trio with Fiora and Farina[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Tana[[note]]She is particularly close with Ephraim and there is a perk of keeping her alive in his route (see the Heroine section above). She is also already a Frelian noble since birth. Unfortunately, she's also part of the Pegasus Trio with Vanessa and Syrene.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Sumia[[note]]She is a very strong candidate to be Chrom's bride (see the Heroine section above), and she can't do a Triangle Attack. She's also noted to be a Ylissean noblewoman. However, the existence of both Cordelia and Cynthia means that she's not a solo flyer, which rules her out.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'');
----
* AlwaysFemale: A Caeda is always 100% a female. In [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates the rare time the franchise allows a male Pegasus Knight]], the only male in the class (Subaki) fails the requirement of a Caeda (being part of nobility).
* BlueBlood: A pretty much high-class Pegasus Knight. Even Erinys, who started out as a commoner, would end up becoming one since she would become the Queen of Silesse regardless of whom she marries.
* BoringButPractical: They lack the Pegasus Trio's Triangle Attack and the LightningBruiser statline of the Wyvern Duo, but they are around from the beginning, giving them the most room to grow and making them necessary for flight-related contributions early on.
* DifficultButAwesome: As the first Pegasus Knight, they exemplify the weaknesses of the archetype (poor damage output due to a combination of low strength and constitution, questionable HP and defense that completely crumples to [[AchillesHeel bows]], and constant weapon triangle disadvantage against the axe-wielding bandits that make up most of the early game) to the point where most newer players will be put off by them in favor of waiting for the Pegasus Trio and especially the Wyvern Duo, who generally have much better first impressions. More experienced players, however, tend to value them much more due to their exclusive earlygame flying utility and deceptively good offenses once they get going, and they are often considered some of the best units in the game as a result.
* DivergentCharacterEvolution: Because the original Caeda was also TheHeroine, some of them (particularly in the honorable mentions) have some downplayed Heroine traits. This is especially true of the members that end up being part of a trio, and are {{Composite Character}}s with the Est.
* FragileSpeedster: It's a common trait for Pegasus Knights and they'll teach you just that, having innately high Skill and Speed, although their Strength stat may suffer.
* {{Foil}}: Towards the Draug archetype, as detailed in that archetype's folder.
* LadyOfWar: The primary example of the series, flying around and swinging and stabbing spears from the sky on a majestic winged pony look graceful and deadly in the same time.
* MageKiller: Again, as Pegasus Knights, it makes them perfect to strike on mages with their innate high Res and their low Strength weakness is rendered irrelevant due to mages being squishy in the first place. If the Pegasus Trio are non-existant or joining a bit late when enemy mages start running rampart early, then the Caeda is your go-to lady to deal with these mages.
* ModestRoyalty: They get along just fine with the more common-born Whitewings. Even if they're solo flyers, they are not lone wolves.
* RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: They may be nobles, but they simply choose not to stand idle when others are also fighting for the good of the land.
[[/folder]]

!! Recurring Magic Units
* The White Mage: Typically a young girl that can only heal until promoted. The line between personality and class may be interchangeable from game to game.
** The Lena: The early on-foot priestess, typically religious and demure.
** The Maria: A healer who joins later, typically a noble, mounted and enthusiastic.
* The BlackMage Prodigy: Early-to-mid-game mages that specialize in offense, particularly Wind.
** The Merric: A social optimist who takes pride in the power of magic.
** The Arlen: A socially distant bookworm who values their studies.
* The Linde: Mid-game feminine auxiliary mage who compliments the Prodigy, and has had a family member killed by the bad guys, giving them a {{Revenge}} and tragedy angle.
* The Wendell: Mid-to-late-game pre-promoted Mage who mentors the Prodigy.

[[folder:The White Mage]]
!! The Lena
The Lena is one of the early-game healers, more often than not the first you will recruit. She usually ends up joining up with your army because she was rescued from some sort of tight situation, such as being kidnapped. Just like how the Gordin is used to teach you about how bows work, the Lena is used to ease players into the healing mechanic.\\\

The Lena tends to be a young and pure-hearted girl who is part of the faith/religious group of her country, and is also good friends with and/or the morality chain for another character. She starts off as a SupportPartyMember and needs to be defended until she can Class Change, at which time her high magic potential that has been used for healing can also be used for powerful attacks.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Lena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Silque and Genny (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Marisha (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Edain and Lana/Muirne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Safy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Elen (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Serra (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Natasha (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Rhys (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Laura (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Lissa (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Sakura (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Mercedes (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Framme (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----
* DamselInDistress: You usually meet them when their home is under attack, or when they're on the run from the enemy. There were only a few that were met not in distress.
* HealerSignsOnEarly: The Lena is usually your first medic (and if not, they're usually the second[[labelnote:for example...]]Wrys is the first healer you can obtain in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'', while Moulder is the first healer you can obtain in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''; both are male elderly priests, making them a mini-archetype of sorts, recruited very early in the game[[/labelnote]]).
* TheMedic: Will most likely be your main healer and joins early most of the time.
* MoralityPet: She may be paired with at least one guy who has a soft spot for her despite usually being more nonchalant. As the original was paired with Julian, they tend to be {{Fragile Speedster}}s. However, they are not always ''the'' Julian - sometimes it's the Navarre, and there have been some completely different examples. Lena has Julian. Serra and Erk (in Lyn's story, and to some extent Matthew in the main story). Natasha and Joshua. Rhys and Mia. Laura and Aran. [[spoiler:Mercedes and Jeritza.]]
* TheOneGuy: Rhys is so far the only male that's ever been considered part of this archetype. He even gets a female partner in Mia the Myrmidon.
* ProperLady: The older examples are always demure and polite, and even Rhys is like this even though he's a guy. The younger examples like Genny, Marisha, Serra and Lissa tend to avert this.
* TeamMom: The older ones tends to become the 'mommy' to the crew, working extra hard to care for the younger ones.
* TokenReligiousTeammate: Not just using the stock RPG class, they are almost always literal clerics and priests that are part of [[CrystalDragonJesus the fantasy faith tradition]] of the continent.
* WhiteMage: It takes a lot of effort to get her to level 10 to promote, or level 20 to get her maximum potential before attacking. But it's usually [[MagikarpPower worth the wait]].

!! The Maria
The Maria is the female mid-game healer, joining later than other healers, typically because she has somehow been sidelined. To justify using the Maria over previous healers you've obtained, she often comes equipped with more potent staves or has a different class. Starting from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'', this class is usually a Troubadour or other mounted healer class.\\\

While the Lena is typically a healer because [[TokenReligiousTeammate she's part of the faith,]] the Maria is often of BlueBlood and became a healer because it's an {{Acceptable Feminine Goal|s}} for a noble. The Maria also tends to focus on her family, with her siblings usually being playable. In many games, the two white mage archetypes are personality foils to each other, but who takes what role depends on the game.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Maria (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Yuliya (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Ethlyn[[note]]She is the very first healer obtained in the game, but fits the other traits[[/note]] and Lachesis (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Nanna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Tina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Clarine (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Priscilla (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); L'Arachel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Mist (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Maribelle (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]])''; Elise[[note]]''Revelation'' only, since she joins later than Sakura; in ''Conquest'', she's somewhat merged with the Lena role as she joins much earlier and is your first dedicated healer[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Flayn (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Hortensia [[note]]Like her sister, she plays double duty as a Linde, since she lost her parents due to the villains' actions.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Céline [[note]]She is the little sister of Prince Alfred of Firene, debuting with having to be rescued from Corrupted attack (along with Louis and Chloé), but she's more attuned with offensive magic. She's starts as a MagicKnight (thus cannot heal early), and while she can promote into TheRedMage, her healing is more of a secondary value than magic-slinging.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----
* BlueBlood: The Maria is often from a family of nobility, and sometimes this has an effect to make the Maria [[WellExcuseMePrincess a snobbish princess]], but still a good-hearted one.
* DamselInDistress: Almost all of them are held against their will at some point.
* MagicKnight: Almost as often as not, they'll have a promoted class that will give them access to swords (or knives in Elise's case) rather than tomes, and Ethlyn, Lachesis, Nanna, and Mist[[note]]''Radiant Dawn'' only[[/note]] don't even need to promote to be able to start slashing.
* ProperLady: Tends to be a noble, or have secret noble lineage.
* SiblingTeam: Most have at least one recruitable sibling. Usually an older brother.
* WhiteMage: Like Lena, she's primarily a medic.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Black Mage Prodigy]]
!!The Merric
The main mage archetype, The Merric is an early-to-mid game youthful mage who belies a lot of potential in magic and studies quite hard to achieve it.

As the "warm side" of this archetype, they tend to be eager and social, but overall a bit more passive. They could be a little shy or cowardly, or just too much of a NiceGuy to confront those that taunt them. They are often underestimated due to their age, but a lot of times, it doesn't bog them down.

Keeping with the warm theme, since ''Sacred Stones'', a dead giveaway is also their reddish hair.\\\

They usually have early joining time, allowing time for the players to invest in them as a magical powerhouse ASAP.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Merric (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Boey (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Azelle (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Asbel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Lugh (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Ewan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Tormod (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Ricken (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Hayato (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Annette (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Clanne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----

* BadassAdorable: They're young, youthful, and positive boys, they can be precocious, but they still pack a punch with magic tomes.
* BadassBookworm: Well read, and they fight with tomes.
* BlowYouAway: In games where Wind magic is distinct, many of them start with a wind tome and are associated with Excalibur and its equivalents. Hayato plays with this by being from the "Wind Tribe" despite Hoshidan mages using animal spirits instead of elements.
* ChildProdigy: A young teen or preteen that is often the best student of a well-known Sage, if not just having TheGift.
* CompositeCharacter: ''Three Houses'' attempts to merge their main Merric and Linde (see how it goes for the Linde below) with interesting results. Annette retains Merric's typical wind mastery and cheeriness and the fact that she had to study hard in order to master magic, but has Linde's gender and a variation of her 'father issues': [[spoiler:She has a DisappearedDad, though he is actually still alive and under the alias Gilbert. In Crimson Flower, if you recruited Annette, [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential you could have her attack and possibly kill Gilbert]] in an inverse situation with [[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Tailtiu and Reptor]], or if you haven't, you effectively turned Gilbert into Annette's Miloah and [[YouKilledMyFather she'll have a serious bone to pick against you.]]]]
* MagikarpPower: Downplayed; all of them join a little underleveled (except Azelle and ''Revelation'' Hayato), meaning you have to work a little to get them up to scratch.
* NiceGuy: All of them are mostly pretty nice to others, actually quite similar with the Peaceful Lord.
* PlayingWithFire: If they are not using Wind Magic, then they would instead specialize in Fire Magic. They never do [[ShockAndAwe Thunder Magic]].
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: Annette is the only female member to represent this archetype.
* TagalongKid: Some of them are very young, to the point of not being taken that seriously by the rest of the army. Ricken and Hayato in particular find this frustrating.

!!The Arlen
A subtype and foil to Merric. Their roles overlap to the point where you may only have one (like Oifey to Jagen), but later games tend to have both.

The tend to be a little older and they're not paragons in personality in comparison. Some traits that are more on the Arlen side of the spectrum include being more comfortable studying than talking to others. While they may share some of Merric's natural talent, they tend to focus on the scholarly side of magic, than raw power and intuition.

The "cool side" to the archetype, the Arlen is standoffish and doesn't always get along great with others. They're confrontational, sharp tongued, or maybe just so socially awkward that they come across as 'The Asshole Mage.' Despite having a dark air around them, they're just as dedicated in blasting evil with magic. Keeping with the cool theme, they usually have darker clothing and hair than pure Merrics.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Arlen (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Lewyn and Arthur/Amid (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Salem (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Raigh and Hugh (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Erk (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Lute (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Soren (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Miriel, Tharja, and Henry (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Nyx and Rhajat (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Luthier and Sonya (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Shadows of Valentia]]'')[[note]]Despite debuting in ''Gaiden'', Luthier was nondescript there. ''Shadows of Valentia'' gives him the 'socially awkward, can't make friends' personality that is more in-line with Arlens. Likewise, Sonya also benefits getting a bonus personality in ''Shadows of Valentia'', but while she has Linde's 'family drama' angle (her sisters being turned into Witches by her father Jedah), she lacks Linde's youth and pluckiness, instead having a more aloof stance and only having one possible friend (Genny)[[/note]]; Hubert and Linhardt [[note]]Only on the Crimson Flower/Scarlet Blaze routes in the former's case.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Ivy [[note]]Also counts as part-Linde since before [[HeelFaceTurn joining Alear]] she [[WhamEpisode just]] lost her father too.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Kiria (''VideoGame/TokyoMirageSessionsFE''); Raigh again (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'')
----
* AloofAlly: Every one of them probably wouldn't be the most friendly mages you'll meet, but they will still fight the bad guys.
* BadassBookworm: Much like Merrics, of course.
* BlowYouAway: Like Merrics, some of them also specialize in this when Wind Magic is distinct.
* BreakingOldTrends: Linhardt is the only member of this archetype that actually specializes in White Magic. However, he's not part of any faith and applies a majority of 'curious, distant magic researcher' personality like many members of the archetype, he just picked White Magic because it'll shed the least blood and he doesn't like shedding too much blood.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Another part that makes Arlen differ from Merric is that sometimes they're not afraid to dabble in dark arts, sometimes even actively pursuing it, when compared to Merric. whose bright personality would make them unsuited for dark magic. Regardless, they still kept their sanity to use the dark arts for good goals.
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Hubert at first looks like a typical 'asshole mage', but his UndyingLoyalty to his liege Edelgard essentially makes him the closest thing the series has to a heroic Gharnef. The harsh setting of the game and Edelgard's ambitions turn him into a puppet master, assassin, and generally a 'fixer' for her in the shadows; ironically mirroring the warnings given to the original Arlen that he might end up like Gharnef if he didn't temper his jackass attitude; in case of Hubert, he literally takes that route out of loyalty.
* {{Foil}}: Personality-wise, they serve as this to Merric, mirroring the originals' near-deadly rivalry. While the Merric is more open and social, the Arlen is more antisocial and comes off as jerkish.
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: They may be more confrontative and less social, but they're still decent-hearted people when you get to know them. Some of them hide their decency ''really'' well.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Linde]]
The second distinct mage archetype after the Merric/Arlen divide. The Linde is a female youthful mage that compliments Merric in a way that they tend to be blessed with more talents and sometimes confidence, the BrilliantButLazy to Merric's studious types.

They can be quite social, too, bonding with mostly Merric characters due to their shared interest with magic, or just as well to start a relations with other non-Merric characters. They appear plucky, but they may be hiding a personal tragedy, since most Lindes end up in the Lord's army because the bad guys have done something horrible to their family members, mostly parents. [[YouKilledMyFather And most of the time, it's going to be about death]], not any other horrible things that would be inflicted when they still draw breath.[[labelnote:For example]]Crippling for the rest of their life, stripping them from their wealth and status, inflict them with severe sickness, etc...[[/labelnote]]\\\

They tend to join later than Merric characters, thus people often have to choose which one would be their main magical powerhouse, their stat growth could be quite stellar that they could surpass the Merric character if the player invested their time, even if their starting stats and availability might not be that hot.

%%The main requirement of this archetype is '''Female Mage With Dead Family Members''' and had to be a more sociable ones too, merely youthful does not instantly make the cut. If their family members are unmentioned (or very much alive and well, with no problems), they do not count. The preferable requirements of this archetype include: TheGift in magic casting, youthful age, not being the first mage you recruit (Merric/Arlen comes first), and relationship perks with fellow mages.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Linde (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Mae and Delthea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Tailtiu and Tine/Linda (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Sara and Miranda (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Lilina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Nino (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Sanaki (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Katarina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Ophelia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Lysithea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Ivy[[note]]Also counts as part-Arlen. Ivy is older than other members of the Linde archetype, but still fits otherwise[[/note]] and Hortensia [[note]]Also counts at part-Maria, due to her exclusive classes being themed around staves and being recruited mid-game.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Sophia[[note]]Only looks youthful, but her parents are unmentioned, and if they died, the bad guys had nothing to do with it.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Ilyana[[note]]Looks youthful, but her parents are unmentioned[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Orochi[[note]]Same case with Ilyana[[/note]] and Nyx[[note]]Looks youthful and actually scores pretty strong within the 'naturally gifted' stance, but her parents are unmentioned (though most likely dead considering Nyx is really over 1000) and she also has a distant personality[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Sonya (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Shadows of Valentia]]'')[[note]]She did have dead family members courtesy of her father Jedah, but her personality is not exactly sociable and more distant. And she's older than most.[[/note]]; Annette[[note]]Her parent, in this case father (Gilbert), is in the game, but rather distant enough to be a DisappearedDad[=/=]ParentalAbandonment. He can explicitly survive the story if you circumvent him on Crimson Flower or don't get him killed on Azure Moon, and she can also die with him, so her tragedy angle is subverted a bit. Adding to that, she is noted to be more of a hard-worker in studying, and has praised Lysithea to be way more talented than she is, which makes her more of a female Merric.[[/note]] and Constance [[note]]She's naturally gifted, having a rare and powerful crest that helps her powers, and she actually does have a dead family. However, her family dying was not connected to the main villains of ''Three Houses'', meaning she lacks any revenge motivation[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Citrinne[[note]]Appears to be young and is a magical GlassCannon, but her parents were never mentioned to have died.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----
* BadassAdorable: Due to their youth, they tend to be very cute, but they pack a very heavy punch with their magic. Even moreso, the combination of adorableness and magical prowess (and a lot of times, tragedy angle) tend to make them high candidates to become [[EnsembleDarkhorse fan-favorites.]]
* BlackMagicianGirl: They're young girls with the gift of magic.
* BrilliantButLazy: Downplayed. They're not lazy, but due to their talent with magic, some of them can afford to focus on other personalities instead of 'studying magic really hard'.
* CompositeCharacter:
** ''Three Houses'' attempts to merge their main Merric and Linde (see how it goes for the Merric above) with interesting results. Lysithea retains Linde's immense gift of magic without a lot of studies as well as family tragedy angle, but she also possesses a trait seen in modern Merrics like [[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Ricken]] and [[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Hayato]]: Getting snappy when someone treats her like a child.
** ''Engage'' has two Lindes in Ivy and Hortensia, both of whom fall into another archetype as well: Ivy is part Arlen due to her more introverted personality, while Hortensia's focus on staff usage and midgame recruitment make her part Maria.
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Lysithea pretty much deconstructs the concept of [[TheGift natural talent in magic]] within this archetype. In her case, her talent was [[spoiler:experimented on her in form of having two crests, it gave her great magical talent, but it heavily shortens her lifespan, despite her still trying her best to live her short life the fullest.]]
* {{Foil}}: They tend to be a more positive foil to Merrics and are often seen paired with the Merric. Their growths also often differ with the Merric in a similar way with Cain and Abel.
* TheGift: They're often someone who's just born with magical talent, thus requiring less studies than some of their fellow mages.
* GlassCannon: Their stat growths or weapon focus tend to favor this approach compared to the speedier Merrics: low Defense, as is typical for mages, and usually comparatively lower Speed, so they can't dodge very well, but in exchange, they either have a much higher Magic growth or have a magic type or tome that hits really hard. Quite often, they compensate for failing to double by hitting so hard they kill the enemy in one ''shot.'' (One of the few cases of MaleMightFemaleFinesse being inverted in these archetypes.) It may have something to do with how a Linde rarely if ever specializes in [[BlowYouAway wind magic]], something that a lot of Merrics (or Arlens) tend to favor, and winds are associated with speed.
* MagikarpPower: Though not as much as Est characters, a Linde can come a bit late when you have already developed your Merric, but they have a chance to grow exponentially more powerful than Merrics.
* ParentalAbandonment: Most of their parents [[YouKilledMyFather are dead, usually by the hands of the bad guys.]]
** Linde's father Miloah was murdered by Gharnef.
** Tine's mother Tailtiu (or Linda's mother Ethnia) was tortured and driven to death in depression by Hilda. Tailtiu herself would see her father Reptor, who she still cared about despite how power-hungry he is, killed by her army or herself (and mainly due to the betrayal of Arvis).
** Miranda's whole family and relatives were slaughtered by the Friege army. Meanwhile, Sara's father were outright murdered by her own grandfather Manfroy due to not agreeing with the latter.
** Lilina's father Hector was killed by Zephiel.
** Nino's original family was killed by both Nergal and Sonia, and later, her new foster family, the Black Fang, was completely ruined and destroyed by them.
** Sanaki's grandmother was murdered by Lekain, who proceeds to manipulate her and use her as [[PuppetKing a figurehead ruler]].
** Katarina's parents were killed by bandits, and then her other foster families die one by one at the hands of her own foster mother, who was brainwashed by Gharnef.
** Ophelia might look normal, but during the ''Heirs of Fate'' scenario, her father Odin was murdered and raised as a revenant by Anankos.
** Lysithea's parents [[spoiler:lost the majority of their power and influence after they were ForcedToWatch as she and her siblings was experimented by "those who slither in the dark" to have two crests, which results all of her siblings dead and she's the SoleSurvivor, with shortened lifespan to boot.]]
** Hortensia lost her mother when she was seven, witnesses her loving father Hyacinth become crueler when Sombron returns, believed she lost her older sister Ivy while fighting Alear's Army, [[spoiler: after Sombron's revival he consumes Hyacinth before her eyes, and is forcefully brainwashed by Zephia into attempting to kill her sister Ivy who joins Alear]] all before she finally joins your army.
* {{Revenge}}: If they lost a relative as stated above, chances are, they want to exact the trope on the ones responsible within the enemy ranks.
* ShipTease: Much like Linde's crush on Merric, they tend to contain one to mostly fellow mages that may belong to the Merric archetype, or even Arlen. This is mostly seen with Mae, who'd end up as Boey's future wife; Delthea, who is the little sister of Luthier; Tailtiu being a childhood friend and strong predestined for Azelle, which results in Arthur and Tine being siblings; Sara having Support Bonus the dark mage Salem (and they're [[DarkIsNotEvil the only Loptous Church ex-members of the group]]); Sophia having a Support with the non-elderly non-Nabata dweller fellow dark magic user Raigh; Nino being able to support and marry Erk (despite her default pair deviating from the rule, being the Assassin Jaffar); Lysithea needs to be paired off with a mage (Linhardt or Hanneman) or Byleth and the Lords (Claude or Edelgard) or else [[spoiler:she suffers a DeadlyDistantFinale.]] The ones who deviate from the 'Mage-mage' rule include Miranda, who's implied to marry the knight Conomore; Lilina, who's instead paired with Roy (who ironically played the 'studious Merric' role when they studied under Cecilia); and the aforementioned Nino, who is primarily teased with Jaffar.
* StepfordSmiler: They mostly put up [[PluckyGirl a strong front]], but hide great anguish about losing a loved one.
* UnskilledButStrong: {{Downplayed}}, since magic is quite accurate overall, but they'll often be the most inaccurate spellcasters in your army due to their low Skill and propensity for stronger, less accurate tomes.
* YouKilledMyFather: Oftentimes, the murderer of their parents are amongst the enemy ranks and they have a chance to exact direct retribution for it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Wendell]]
The final of the mage archetypes is the mentor type. There's usually an elder magic user who's of the promoted class mentoring any of the three archetypes. While they often make comments that their students will definitely surpass them given time, if the player has been neglecting (or getting unlucky with) them, the Wendell can turn out to be a decent prepromote to handle the magical needs in usually mid- or late-game, where they joined. But if the player did raise the other three mages, the Wendell might turn out as a magical CrutchCharacter like Jagen.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Wendell (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Nomah (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Claude (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Ced (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Cecilia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Pent (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Saleh (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Calill (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Izana (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Hanneman (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Lindon (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Pandreo [[note]]He's a pre-promoted High Priest when he joins the player's army in the mid-game, but he doesn't really mentor anyone.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----
* BoringButPractical: As mentioned above, they are a perfectly serviceable prepromote who could feasibly last into the endgame if none of your early magic users have turned out well for any reason.
* MentorArchetype: Obviously. Claude's case is between-games, though it might be easy to think that Tailtiu is the student, but it's actually Sleuf.
* StudentAndMasterTeam: They're the 'Master' in question. Student can be any of the three mage archetypes.
* SupportPartyMember: They usually come packaged with a staff rank higher than even the trained mages can manage up to that point, letting them use high-end staves while their students are still busy building their rank up from basic heals.
* SurpassedTheTeacher: The Wendell will often remark that the student will surpass them. This is true to an extent: if you have been training the student, the Wendell would look like they're OverratedAndUnderleveled or a CrutchCharacter, though Ced is an exception because he also pulls double duty as the Gotoh as well, so he'll still be very strong even when Asbel can hold his own.
[[/folder]]

!!Other Mid-Late Game Units
These units show more variance between games. They are marked by similar story or gameplay impact, but exactly what that impact is changes depending on the arc of the game as you get deeper into the story.
* The Dancer: A unit that allows other units to act twice per turn. Commoner dancers are often perky teases. Plot-relevant dancers are elegant {{Mystical Waif}}s.
* The Tiki: A ReallySevenHundredYearsOld manakete/dragon unit taking form of [[TokenMiniMoe a little (often childish) girl]] that packs a massive punch but [[TooAwesomeToUse powered by a rare resource.]]
* The Lorenz: An enemy general with a strong conscience. They may have a complicated recruitment, but a HeelFaceTurn is possible.
* The Secret Noble: A character pretending to be a common traveler who turns out to be some sort of nobility.
* The Beowolf: A optional soldier for hire that actually charges you to use them.
* Arran and Samson: Mutually exclusive party members where only one can join depending on the choices you make.

[[folder:The Dancer]]
The resident QuirkyBard of the army. Their dances allow characters to take an extra action during their turn and sometimes provide stat boosts. Commoner dancers are beautiful girls that make their livelihoods as professional, or street performers, to climb themselves out of poverty. These ones are often perky, flirtatious, and wear clothing that shows off their features. After being RecruitedFromTheGutter, they may have to contend with the pressures of being a PennyAmongDiamonds if they end up in the company of nobles through adoption or marriage — especially if married to the main Lord through supports in the latter case. After the war, if still unmarried, they return to traveling the land inspiring the masses through their dances. \\\

Starting with Elffin from ''The Binding Blade'', the series introduces mysterious plot-important bards, a foundation that is laid by Lewyn from ''Genealogy of the Holy War'' (who is a travelling street performer in the "Bard" class, but lacks the ability to refresh allies in gameplay). These traits are then inherited by Ninian in ''The Blazing Blade'', giving rise to a subtype of dancers who focus on elegance rather than sultriness and are often imbued with some magic ability. This carried somewhat into the heron laguz, and directly succeeded by Azura in ''Fates''. These dancers are usually nobles or otherwise heir to powerful bloodlines (such as dragons) and have a much larger impact in the main storyline.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Phina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Silvia 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]]''); Elffin and Larum (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Nils and Ninian (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Tethys (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Reyson (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Rafiel and Leanne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Olivia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Azura (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Dorothea[[note]]While any student you choose can be a Dancer, she fits the traits of the commoner dancer; she is also the only one who has a personalized sprite as a Dancer and is the only one (prior to Version 1.1.0 of ''Three Houses'') who can still wear her regular outfit in this class after the timeskip[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Seadall (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Peony (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'')
----
* BellyDancer: Many Dancers are designed with an Arabian Nights theme in mind.
* BreakingOldTrends: Seadall is the first ''confirmed'' male Dancer. [[labelnote:*]]While any student you choose can be a Dancer in ''Three Houses'' male or female, as mentioned above Dorothea is the most recommended character to be a Dancer.[[/labelnote]]
* DanceBattler: In some games they also wield swords while a handful of them wield tomes. The ''Fates'' version, the Songstress, wields lances/naginata instead.
* GenkiGirl: The commoner dancers often have outgoing, bubbly personalities. Olivia, as a ShrinkingViolet, is played as an intentional inversion.
* LamarckWasRight: If there's more than one person with the dance or MagicMusic ability, odds are they're related. Silvia's daughter will be the only dancer in the second generation of her game. Ninian and Nils are siblings, as are the heron in the Tellius series. Inigo and Shigure inherit Olivia and Azura's abilities, if only in the plot (or during special circumstances in gameplay in the former's case).
* MadeASlave: See the descriptions under StreetUrchin below. Many have been kidnapped, or forced into abusive and controlling enviroments or relationships at one point or another in their lives.
* MagicDance: Mostly averted; the ability of Dancers to grant other units an extra turn is mundane, although it functions like magic. The only exceptions are Ninian and Peony.
* MagicKnight: Dancers in ''Three Houses'' use swords and magic.
* MagicMusic: Nils, the Heron Laguz, and Azura can all play MagicMusic. Although Elffin 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. In Seadall's case, he fits [[MrFanservice the opposite-gendered version of the trope]].
* 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; this is a safeguard against infinite action loops. The main exception, being ''Fire Emblem Heroes'', has an ObviousRulePatch to have them never refresh each other if the other unit has Dance or Sing equipped.
* 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.)
* StatusBuff: In certain games, their dances/songs can occasionally give 1-turn stat boosts to their recipients.
* SupportPartyMember: Dancer variants from the GBA and Tellius games can't attack enemies at all, and rely solely on [[ExtraTurn 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.
* StreetPerformer: Most of them come across as this, either as a WanderingMinstrel, or as a plausible cover story for their real role in the plot. And many of them return to this lifestyle after the war.
* StreetUrchin: Related to the above, or just ConvenientlyAnOrphan. Many are parentless and divorced from kin by their backstories for various reasons.
** The original Phina just got lost in the woods and separated from her performance group before joining the main party.
** Silvia was orphaned, and then had an [[AbusiveParents abusive foster father]] who she fled from. She was later RecruitedFromTheGutter by Lewyn and became attached to him. And there's a decent chance she's actually LostOrphanedRoyalty and Duke Claud's younger sister.
** Lene was abandoned by her mother Silvia and she became a dancer to find her. She was kept in a dungeon by Bramsel for refusing his advances before being rescued by Ares and Seliph's army.
** Lara was sold into slavery and forced to become a dancer at a young age. She was saved by Perne, but he eventually let her go due to [[JailBaitTaboo feeling weird about her being so young]].
** Larum was happily adopted off the street by General Douglas.
** Ninian and Nils' mother was kidnapped, so their father went to go look for her and never returned. They posed as traveling street performers at the time of Lyn's story before being hunted down by the Black Fang [[spoiler:— an organization being controlled by their long-lost father Nergal, years after he'd long since been corrupted by dark magic and lost his purpose]].
** Tethys (and her mage brother Ewan) were abandoned on the street as children. As the big sister, she forced herself to imitate dancers she saw on the street to have some sort of skill she could use to support them. They were later RecruitedFromTheGutter to be part of Gerik's mercenary company.
** The three Heron Laguz royals are the few survivors of the Serenes Massacre, which decimated most of their tribe. Their father did survive as well, but he stays offscreen and is presumably mostly incapacitated. Reyson, Leanne, and Rafiel became wards of the leaders of the Hawk, Raven, and Wolf Tribes respectively in the aftermath. They also all ran afoul of being "adopted" or sold in slavery by the Begnion clergy at least once.
** Olivia was a traveling street performer that was almost forcibly married off to a corrupt noble before being saved by Basilio.
** Azura is an orphaned princess of Nohr (by her mother's second marriage) that was raised by the Hoshidan royal family [[spoiler:with her maternal aunt. Her biological father was also the king of Valla]].
** Dorothea was a street urchin that was [[RecruitedFromTheGutter noticed by an opera company for her singing talents and good looks.]] She was able to segue that career and her connections to become a student of Garreg Mach.
** Peony, along with the other álfar in ''Heroes'' were once mortal children abandoned or mistreated by their parents before transformed by Freyr and Freyja and put under their service.
* TheTease: Of the commoner dancers, many of them are serial flirts (sometimes with both men and women) and [[ShamelessFanserviceGirl quite proud of their beauty]]. Ninian and Azura are much more [[MysticalWaif reserved and above such things]], and Olivia [[InvertedTrope is very self-conscious about]] the MaleGaze, [[InnocentFanserviceGirl whether she's getting too much or too little attention.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Tiki]]
This character is one of the last remaining benevolent manaketes, or last manaketes period. Most present as young girls despite being hundreds or thousands of years old. Despite their small size, they can be among the most powerful people on the continent in their dragon form, sometimes with the drawback of relying on dragonstones with very limited uses.\\\

In terms of relationships, this archetype often has an attachment to one of the Lords, and an adult caretaker figure (despite usually being older than they are). Like the original Tiki, they may also have some sort of relationship to holy powers, or another legendary dragon.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Tiki (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]'', ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]'', and ''VideoGame/TokyoMirageSessionsFE''); Fae (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Nils and Ninian (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'')[[note]]they split the difference from a story perspective, though gameplay-wise, they can only be used as Dancers in their original game[[/note]]; Myrrh (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Kurthnaga and Yune [[note]]Yune is not formally playable in ''Radiant Dawn'', but she possesses Micaiah and feeds energy into Ike.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Nowi and Tiki (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Sothis [[note]]Like Yune, Sothis is not formally playable in ''Three Houses'', but she is SharingABody with Byleth and eventually performs a FusionDance with them.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Nel and Nil/[[spoiler:Rafal]] [[note]]They appear older than most other examples of the archetype, but they fit as they can use dragonstones and have connections to both another powerful dragon (Sombron) and the Lord (Alear).[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': [[spoiler:Flayn]] [[note]]Although she is a manakete in the body of a young girl, she lacks a unique class and her dragon form is never seen in-game.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''), Veyle[[note]]She is a young-looking dragon like previous dragon characters, but she lacks a dragon form and is not associated with light magic, but dark instead.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
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* BadassAdorable: They look like young, but their main feature is the ability to ''turn into a dragon'' and lay waste to the enemy.
* BreakingOldTrends: Instead of being directly playable, Yune introduced the idea of being part of another character's subconscious and bestowing extra power on them or possessing them when necessary. This would later be reprised by Sothis.
* CuteMonsterGirl: At least appearance-wise. Most look like young girls but with dragon-like features like odd-colored eyes, pointy ears, fangs, or even wings.
* HiddenDepths: They are often much wiser and more mature than they first seem.
* ImmortalImmaturity: Despite being hundreds of years old, they are still young by dragon standards and tend to act as such.
* InterspeciesFriendship: Implied in their bond to the Lord or another figure. Some of these relationships overlap with PrecociousCrush towards these figures. Tiki to Marth, Fae to Elffin, Myrrh to Ephraim. Sothis to Byleth. As Ninian presents as an adult, it's allowed to become a full InterspeciesRomance with Eliwood. Nowi and Adult!Tiki also have some marriage options due to ''Awakening''[='=]s marriage/child mechanics, but [[https://www.awkwardzombie.com/comic/minor-setback the former may attract some... troubles to some people.]]
* MayflyDecemberRomance: If the precocious crush below is allowed to blossom. Even on a platonic level, they are all very aware that they'll outlive their allies. Subverted with Ninian, who chooses to live a shorter life if she marries Eliwood.
* TheOneGuy: Nils splits the traits of the archetype with his sister Ninian. He's the childlike one, but she is more valued for her latent powers, and has the crush on the Lord.
* ParentalSubstitute: A few of them may have an 'older figure' looking out them. Bantu to Tiki is the straightest example as he's also a manakete. Fae has the guardians of Nabata, both Hawkeye and Igrene. Saleh to Myyrh. Nowi comes in the company of Gregor. Nils, despite being the younger sibling, plays a Bantu-like role in being protective of Ninian.
* TokenMiniMoe: Tiki (particularly her younger self) is bound to appear in spin-off titles as the cute mascot of the series, only right behind Marth in terms of the "most marketed Archanea character". She's the originator of the trend of young-looking girls who are actually ReallySevenHundredYearsOld dragons who join the player's party.
* TooAwesomeToUse: In some games, there are only a handful of dragonstones, so once it's used up, they become useless. It's a delicate balance of saving it for when it counts, but still letting them get enough EXP somehow.
* {{Weredragon}}: Played straight with all of them except for Ninian and Nils. While they can transform, Ninian only does it once during a cutscene and Nils not at all in their first game. When she comes with a proper dragonstone in ''Heroes'', however, Ninian can function as both a full-time manakete and a dancer.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Lorenz]]
The Lorenz is an enemy general that is loyal enough to their country to fight for them to the end, but can eventually be persuaded to join your side after you convince them that fighting alongside you is in their country's best interests. Recruiting them can be tricky, as many games from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]'' onward require that several specific conditions (differing depending on the game) are met before they will join you. Those with requirements will be noted below.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Lorenz (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Zeke[[labelnote:Special Condition]]You need to recruit Tatiana first before even facing him, otherwise he will be unrecruitable, and neither will Tatiana.[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Astram[[labelnote:Special Condition]]You must not kill him in the first three chapters he appears; in the fourth, you can recruit him with Jeorge.[[/labelnote]] and Sheena[[labelnote:Special Condition]]In the level to recruit her, you are not allowed to kill any Gra soldiers (Level 1 Soldiers) before talking to Sheena with Marth, otherwise she will not join. In ''New Mystery'', once you recruit her, you still cannot kill any Gra soldiers for experience, otherwise she deserts.[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Hannibal[[labelnote:Special Condition]]In the level to recruit him, you must first conquer the castle behind the castle Hannibal is stationed in order to recruit Coirpre/Charlot, then have Coirpre/Charlot talk to Hannibal, all while Hannibal keeps sieging your main castle and returns with reinforcements when he runs out of soldiers.[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Xavier[[labelnote:Special Condition]]In the map to recruit him, you must have all the NPC villagers rescued and talk to their corresponding Armor Knights without missing any or getting any of them killed; only then can you have Leif talk to Xavier to recruit him[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Douglas[[labelnote:Special Condition]]You must finish the map where Douglas appears as an enemy without killing Douglas at all (and he will make a beeline to your army instead of standing still). Many team members can talk to him, but none will recruit him. He's then unlocked with the side chapter.[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Vaida and Jaffar[[labelnote:Special Condition]]For Vaida, keep her alive until the time runs out in her debut map, and she will join much later. For Jaffar, recruit Nino and have her talk to him and keep them both alive until the end of their joining chapter.[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Duessel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Tauroneo (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Oliver [[labelnote:Special Condition]]You need to have Rafiel enter Oliver's attack range, [[ViolationOfCommonSense which is normally a terrible idea]] due to Rafiel being a SupportPartyMember. If you succeed, Oliver will instead run up to Rafiel and join your army.[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Wolf [[labelnote:Special Condition]]In the map where you fight the Wolfguard, first, you must not kill any of them while visiting the western village so the King of Aurelis will force the Wolfguard to retreat (otherwise, they risk being killed). Then in the next map, you must first recruit Roshea, followed by having him recruit Vyland, followed by having Vyland recruit Sedgar, and ''finally'' have Sedgar talk to Wolf. Miss any of them, and Wolf cannot be recruited.[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Ryoma and Xander[[note]]Only in ''Revelation''; otherwise, one of them becomes a Camus while the other one is a straightforward ally.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Lysithea[[note]]Crimson Flower route[[/note]], Lorenz[[note]]Azure Moon and Silver Snow routes[[/note]], and Ashe [[note]]Verdant Wind and Silver Snow routes[[/note]][[labelnote:Special Condition]]Lorenz and Ashe have to be recruited normally in Part I; they will desert you during the timeskip, but you can get them back in Part II by defeating them and sparing them. Lysithea does not have to be recruited and can simply be beaten up.[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Mauvier (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Byleth and Jeralt[[labelnote:Special Condition]]You must complete the appropriate chapter without failing certain objectives or defeating Byleth. If you succeed, they will surrender and join at the end of the map.[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]'')
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* EleventhHourRanger: While not as much as the Gotoh archetype, they join late, but have good base stats and growths.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Lorenz himself wasn't that hard or tricky to recruit, unlike his successors. All he needed was just Caeda talking some sense to him.[[note]]Doing so immediately would put her in danger, however, as there are many ballista units ready to kill her off if she tries to get into talking range.[[/note]] The real "difficulty" of his recruitment came from subverting BeautyEqualsGoodness, since his thuggish appearance made it easy to mistake him for yet another generic, unrecruitable MiniBoss, especially in comparison to the ''actual'' unrecruitable boss of the chapter, [[HonorBeforeReason Camus]].
* {{Foil}}: To the antagonistic Camus and Murdock archetype. Both archetypes are renowned enemy generals and [[AntiVillain Anti-Villains]], but while the Camus is too mired in HonorBeforeReason and Murdocks are too mired with UndyingLoyalty to fight for what's right, the Lorenz's virtue ultimately wins out and he can join your side.
* GuideDangIt:
** Subverted. If a Lorenz has a special condition to join, you're usually told via dialogue about what's keeping them from joining, so the only way you'll not know how to recruit them is if you don't pay attention to the story.
** Played straight with Zeke. You are told how you're supposed to recruit him... after you've killed him as a boss and lost Tatiana forever. [[WhatTheHellHero The NPCs will chew you out for this.]]
* MightyGlacier: The ones appearing up to ''Path of Radiance'' tend to be slow armored classes, and even when they're not in those types of classes, their stat spread often tends towards power and defense. The ones appearing afterward have more mixed statlines, but Xander still qualifies.
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: This is a common trait for many characters of this archetype, though unlike the Camus, they're always recruited in the end.
* PermanentlyMissableContent: While other characters can suffer this fate, Lorenz characters can be really prone to this due to the difficulty of their recruitment method. Miss out on one step, and say goodbye to the prospects of them existing within your ranks. Zeke takes this further, in that no one tells you his issues until you have already fought and killed him. This means that unless you actually knew his issues ahead of the encounter, you can end up missing him out and having to reload to get him (if you haven't already saved your progress).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Secret Noble]]
This character presents themselves as some sort of commoner, usually a bard. But as the story advances, you will find out that this character turns out to be a high-ranking member of the nobility from the neighboring kingdom of the main character, a status that tends to be critical to the plot.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Jeorge (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Lewyn (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Seliph (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Elffin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Raven (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]'')[[note]]his sister Priscilla doesn't count because she never really keeps it a secret that she's nobility[[/note]]; Joshua and L'Arachel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Kurthnaga (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Virion (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Odin and maybe Laslow[[note]]He could potentially fit if Olivia married Chrom, Virion, or Robin[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Conrad (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Shadows of Valentia]]''); Seteth and Flayn (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Kagetsu (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Céline and Timerra [[note]]Support conversations reveal that both of them to disguise themselves as a commoner to travel and do various non-noble things depending on the character. However, this amounts to absolutely nothing in the main story, as they presents themselves as their nation's princesses from get-go to Alear. In a sense, they only count as the archetype for the non-playable commoner [=NPC=]s, but not for the player.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')

----
* BlueBlood: They hide it for whatever personal reasons, but they are always high-ranking members of the nobility or royalty. Seteth and Flayn, however, live amongst nobles and already had high position in the Church, therefore [[spoiler:they take the archetype up a notch by being of Nabatean/draconic heritage usually held by a Naga figure]].
* ChekhovsGunman: They are usually introduced as some random unit you get, but then they prove to have hidden noble heritage, about three quarters of whom are plot-relevant.
* KingIncognito: They are a part of the nobility, but somehow have a need to hide it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Beowolf]]
The Beowolf is an OptionalPartyMember who's a mercenary at heart. If you want to recruit them, then you have to pay a substantial amount of gold up-front. This usually ups the difficulty of the game, because gold is usually a finite resource within the game. Hence, after the Tellius saga, this archetype has been mostly retired, presumably to make the games at least easier to bear. By 'mostly', we mean that Intelligent Systems stopped making brand new characters for the archetype[[note]]Saber's characterization in ''Shadows of Valentia'' is an upgrade from his FlatCharacter status in ''Gaiden'', and while he does demand payment, he didn't subtract actual money as he doubles as the Ogma.[[/note]], for the most part, this archetype lives on in form of [[Characters/FireEmblemRecurringCharacters the series' recurring character Anna]], the redheaded lady who always comes with money fetish and usually becomes a DLC character of the game. This means that the player literally has to pay actual money to get her services.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Beowolf (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Malice and Dice[[note]]They join for free in ''New Mystery of the Emblem''[[/note]] (''BS Fire Emblem: Archanea War Chronicles''); Hugh (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Farina (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Rennac[[note]]if L'Arachel talks to him, she gangpresses him into joining the army without the player having to pay anything[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Volke (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Anna (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'')[[note]]In a very meta sense, since recruiting her in these games requires the player to pay actual money for DLC[[/note]]; Saber (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Shadows of Valentia]]'')
----
* OnlyInItForTheMoney: They're only helping you because the cast paid them. Differing from Ogma, their policy is "Pay in advance".
* OptionalPartyMember: Recruiting the Beowolf is optional and requires payment.
* ShadowArchetype: They're what the Ogma would be had they been put in more desperate circumstances, which would make them more concerned with the payment aspect of mercenary work, thus more demanding for payment upfront.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Arran and Samson]]
A set of characters who can fight alongside the player, but once one of them joins you, the other never will, either because they support a cause the other opposes, they reside on the opposite end of a pair of paths you had to choose between to advance the plot, one or the other joins due to fulfilling certain requirements (or lack thereof), or they just plain don't like each other. They either fulfill completely different roles, meaning it's a question of what kind of role you need at the time, or fulfill the same role for your army, meaning that the choice is based upon what they offer stat-wise. Typically, they join around the mid-game, but might appear much later on.

It's possible for the Arran and Samson (or just one) to belong to another archetype, and it's also possible for there to be multiple pairs of them. It's also one of the archetypes that has been used by [=NPCs=]: Gyrall and Dalen in ''Awakening'', leaders of opposing mercenaries, may attempt to recruit your army to their side, with the one you didn't recruit becoming the boss of the chapter. Similarly, in Chapter 6 of ''Genealogy'', your female swordfighter can recruit one of two enemy characters, but the other one will become the next miniboss.

''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'' takes this archetype to the extreme: The majority of the characters in that game will only join you on certain paths as a result of a choice you have to make, and as a result affects the story a fair amount. Most of them, however, can be recruited in the ''Revelation'' path. However, there are a few characters who are only fully available permanently in just ''one'' route, and in other routes, [[PlotlineDeath they don't fare very well]] or are not exactly playable. And they also ''still'' manage to get some traditional examples of the archetype.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Arran and Samson (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Deen and Sonya (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Iuchar and Iucharba (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Olwen and Ilios, Western route recruitable characters[[note]]Ilios again, Sleuf, Misha, and Amalda[[/note]] and Eastern route recruitable characters[[note]]Miranda, Shannam, and Conomore[[/note]], Saias and Ced (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Elffin and Larum, Bartre and Echidna, Juno and Dayan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Harken and Karel, Geitz and Wallace (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Nasir and Ena (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Nagi and Gotoh[[labelnote:*]]While Tiki ''is'' required to be "killed" and Falchion has to be lost in order to get Nagi, she can be resurrected with the Aum Staff, and it's possible to get the lost Falchion if she has it in her inventory upon her initial death[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]''); Scarlet and Flora/Fuga, Yukimura and all Nohrians, Izana and Fuga [[labelnote:Spoilers]]Scarlet suffers a PlotlineDeath before Flora and Fuga join in ''Revelation'' and will never fight alongside them. Yukimura is exclusive to the ''Birthright'' route and will never fight alongside the ''Conquest''/''Revelation'' exclusive characters. Izana is the default 'upgrade bath house' bonus member, but in the ''Revelation'' route, he suffers a PlotlineDeath and is replaced by Fuga.[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Empire-aligned characters[[note]]Edelgard, Hubert, and Jeritza[[/note]], Kingdom-aligned characters [[note]]Dimitri, Dedue, and Gilbert[[/note]], Claude, and Church-aligned characters [[note]]Hilda, Catherine, Cyril, Flayn, and Seteth[[/note]] [[labelnote:*]]The Empire characters are exclusive to the Crimson Flower route, the Church characters and Hilda cannot be recruited on Crimson Flower, the Kingdom characters are exclusive to the Azure Moon route, and Claude is exclusive to the Verdant Wind route[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Empire-aligned characters[[note]]Edelgard, Hubert, Ferdinand, Caspar, Monica, and Manuela[[/note]], Kingdom-aligned characters [[note]]Dimitri, Dedue, Felix, Sylvain, Ingrid, Annette, Rodrigue, Seteth, Flayn, and Catherine[[/note]], Alliance-aligned characters [[note]]Claude, Hilda, and Holst[[/note]], Kingdom-opposed characters[[note]]Leonie and Lysithea[[/note]], and Alliance-opposed characters[[note]]Mercedes and Jeritza[[/note]] [[labelnote:*]]The Empire characters are exclusive to the Scarlet Blaze route, the Kingdom characters are exclusive to the Azure Gleam route, the Alliance characters are exclusive to the Golden Wildfire route, the Kingdom-opposed characters cannot be recruited on Azure Gleam, and the Alliance-opposed characters cannot be recruited on Golden Wildfire; however, all party restrictions are lifted when replaying missions through the Record Keeper[[/labelnote]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]'')

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': The second-generation child units and their respective substitute units [[note]]While they are MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers, they don't support opposing sides. Additionally, getting the child units instead of the substitute units or vice-versa isn't presented as a choice but rather as a consequence of the player's actions during the first generation (I.E. players will only get the substitute units if the mothers of their respective child unit counterparts are either dead or unmarried by the end of the first generation).[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]'')
----
* CompetitiveBalance: If the pair fulfills the same role in your army, regardless of who is chosen, one member will typically be much better in a set of stats than the other and vice versa.
* CoolHorse: A popular way of differentiating one from the other is to make one in the pair into a member of a horse-riding class.
* {{Foil}}: Often, but not always.
* LateCharacterSyndrome: Can fall victim to this. Other times, they're the EleventhHourRanger, which is popular if they're part of the Gotoh archetype.
* MercyMode: Oftentimes, the deciding factor between one or the other depends on how well the player does at fulfilling a certain requirement. If they fail to meet those requirements, they'll get a BoringButPractical LightningBruiser to compensate for the player's inability to keep their characters alive etc., in contrast to the DifficultButAwesome GlassCannon they would have otherwise gotten.
* MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers: The choice is never taken lightly, as one of the pair will always be barred from joining your army.
* SchrodingersPlayerCharacter: Typically averted. The other character of the pair is typically alluded to in some form.
* StoryBranching: Many of these characters are only encountered or only allied with you if you choose to go down one story route or another.
[[/folder]]

!!Personality Archetypes
These archetypes are defined solely by personality. Their gameplay utility and class can vary, and may even overlap with other archetypes.
* The Casanova Wannabe: A (usually) male skirt chaser, who's typically unlucky in love.
* The Unrequited Lover: A (usually) female romantic, but their crush will never notice them.
* The Beautiful Priest: A pretty boy that can easily pass for a woman.
* The Malledus: An adviser for the Lord behind the scenes. May overlap with the Jagen, and was essentially replaced by The Avatar.
* The Sibling Worshipper: Someone who's a wee bit too obsessed with their siblings, most of the time [[BigBrotherWorship their big brother.]]

[[folder:The Casanova Wannabe]]
When you have so many people in your army, many of them being gorgeous women, there's bound to be at least ''one'' skirt-chaser. They try to impress as many ladies as possible, but they tend to fail in humorous fashion. Still, they're going to be a ChivalrousPervert in one way or another; there are lines they won't cross, and they're just as dedicated to stopping evil as the rest of your army. And sometimes, with some Support conversations, they just might succeed in wooing...\\\

Unlike most archetypes, there's no pattern at all as to which CharacterClass gets this type of personality. They've been everything from priests to knights to swordsmen.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Alec (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Saul (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Sain (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Joshua (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Gatrie (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Samuel[[note]]While Samuel is present in the original ''Mystery of the Emblem'', the only hint of him fitting this archetype is his recruitment line with Caeda, where she realizes he's not Navarre when he makes a remark on her looks. His ''New Mystery of the Emblem'' rendition plays this archetype straight through his supports.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Virion, Gregor, and Inigo (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Laslow and Soleil (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Jesse[[note]]Same case with Samuel — Jesse didn't fit this role in ''Gaiden'', but his personality in the remake fits[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Shadows of Valentia]]''), Sylvain, Lorenz, and Manuela (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]'')

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Fogado [[note]]Although he's a HandsomeLech and has a reputation for being a flirt, as shown in supports with Hortensia, he isn't seen doing all that much flirting in-game.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----
* BrilliantButLazy: When they put their heart into it, they are very competent in their area of job. Of course, most of the time they just prefer on hitting the ladies.
* ButtMonkey: HilarityEnsues whenever they get rejected or fail to impress.
* CasanovaWannabe: They try to be suave and impress the ladies, but almost always fail. Any success they achieve is usually very limited.
* ChivalrousPervert: They're clearly just trying to get some tail, but they also have standards and usually know when to stop. In fact, some of them tend to be some of the more heroic figures in the army, since they want to be a KnightInShiningArmor to any potential ladies they find and so try to be as helpful as possible.
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Sylvain. He sure acts like how this archetype does, but he only does so because he knows that the girls he woos are just interested in his Crest and hoping that they can have a Crest-bearing child, which has made him a lot more bitter than the normally happy-go-lucky examples of the archetype and led him to hate the girls he dates. This also lead him to develop a negative view of most woman. He only gets over this if he manages to score for real (with a girl (or [[HoYay Felix]]) that sees him for who he is, not his Crest).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Unrequited Lover]]
Somebody in the army has a huge crush on someone else, oftentimes the Lord. The problem? [[DidNotGetTheGirl They will never get to be with their crush]], because the game purposefully makes their union impossible. The object of the unrequited lover's (sometimes known as the Catria) affections either has eyes for somebody else or, in the case of games where marriage is based on Supports, isn't even given the chance to talk to them to let a relationship develop. With some effort, they may have a SecondLove, but sometimes even then they may not have wholly gotten over her first.\\\

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Catria, Palla and Roger (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Clair (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Miranda (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Thea (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Sain (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Lyon (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Cordelia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Flora and maybe Scarlet[[note]]Flora is openly stated to like Jakob, but it's not 100% confirmed if Scarlet ''is'' in love with Ryoma or not[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Faye and Leon (''Shadows of Valentia'')[[note]]Leon is present in the original ''Gaiden'', but doesn't fit there. ''Shadows of Valentia'' gives him a clear crush on Valbar.[[/note]]; Dimitri and Edelgard [[note]]It's all but stated that Dimitri at least at some point held romantic feelings towards Edelgard, and hinted that Edelgard may have returned them.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Madeline (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----
* CannotSpitItOut: Even if these characters is given the chance to confess, they will have trouble doing so. The reasons vary from one character to another, but in most cases, they never actually admit their feelings directly.
* {{Foil}}: For the CasanovaWannabe characters. While they try to hit on almost all members of the opposite sex, usually failing but with effort they can score for real, the UnrequitedLover only had one initial target but is doomed to never get that particular love answered. The best they could get (sometimes with player effort) is SecondLove.
* HopelessSuitor: The Unrequited Lover is never able to be with the one they are crushing on.
* SecondLove: Games with optional marriage will often let them to settle with a different person from their initial crush. Most games usually note that they end up becoming a happy couple in the end, showing the character moved on from the event.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Beautiful Priest]]
There's occasionally one guy in your army who is so pretty that he might pass as a woman, leading to [[UnsettlingGenderReveal some hilarious recruitment process or sometimes hilarious support conversation]]. The archetype started out as two separate characters, Midayle and Claud from ''VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar''; the former was a feminine-looking male archer that was often mistaken for a woman (in the Fujimori Nuts manga), while the latter was a LongHairedPrettyBoy priest who was a symbol of purity. Both aspects were combined in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade'', creating the modern incarnation.\\\

The characters of this archetype tend to be members of some church organization, thus giving them access to the more 'girlier' tools like healing magic or light magic, or make them look like a NonActionGuy to reinforce their ambiguity and the surprise element once the cat is out of the bag.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Sleuf (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Elffin (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Lucius (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Reyson (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Libra (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Forrest (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]'')

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Xane[[note]]The TropeMaker of the archetype: He's an androgynous person with feminine appearance but nobody ever touched or get confused on his girly appearance (not even Kris in ''New Mystery'') and he was not part of any religious movements.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''), Midayle and Claud[[note]]Midayle's feminine appearance and Claud's priesthood as the precursors to the trope, especially Claud and 'links with priesthood elements'.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''), Linhardt[[note]]He's bishonen in design but doesn't cause the signature gender confusion in-universe. While he's of a light magic class, he puts science over religion, like the Black Mage archetype.[[/note]] and Yuri [[note]]Like Linhardt, he is extremely effeminate in appearance, but doesn't cause the in-universe gender confusion. Also while he can use magic and favors faith magic over reason, he's primarily a thief who can also use magic.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''), Rosado[[note]]He is extremely effeminate in appearance, to the point of actively crossdressing, though he is a Wyvern Rider and not a magic user, so he doesn't qualify.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Forrest, to a certain extent. His feminine looks are because he's a WholesomeCrossdresser, and his refusal to conform to gender norms is a source of strain on his relationship with his father Leo. [[{{Reconstruction}} Fortunately, Leo ultimately learns to accept his son for who he is.]]
* DudeLooksLikeALady: The gag of the archetype is that they look very feminine and often get mistaken for women.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: The guy's beauty will often be praised by other men. Libra's solo ending straight-up says that he was courted by both women ''and'' men, and Linhardt and Yuri can be romanced by both female and male Byleth.
* FriendToAllChildren: Elffin befriends Fae, Lucius and Libra both open orphanages after the war.
* IncorruptiblePurePureness: They try to play the role of redeemers. Claud is a bit of a prude also.
* LongHairedPrettyBoy: Identifiable by their flowing blond locks. Forrest wears his in OjouRinglets.
* UnsettlingGenderReveal: Can induce such, and [[HilarityEnsues it usually leads to hilarity]], as seen in Lucius and Libra.
* WhiteMage: Associated with healing abilities, or restoration in Elffin's and Reyson's case. Lucius can also wield light magic.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Malledus]]
The Malledus is an NPC advisor that either serves as a MrExposition or gives advice to the hero. However, they are not at all playable, or if they are somehow controllable, they can't even fight. Their official positions are usually 'adviser'. In a way, they serve as a prototype of the Tactician/The Avatar, in a way that they're not playable, but is considered a strategist and gives your Lord someone to talk to when there's no other NPC from another side.\\\

Starting from ''The Blazing Blade'', the archetype is mostly 'retired' of sorts, as in either not present or merged with other playable classes or archetypes.

->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Malledus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Jagen (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Oifey[[note]]1st gen[[/note]] and Lewyn[[note]]2nd gen[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); August and Dorias (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Merlinus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Nasir (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]''); Lilith (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Rodrigue[[note]]Azure Moon route[[/note]] and Judith[[note]]Verdant Wind route[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Emblem Marth[[note]]Marth is unavailable in some chapters[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Maiko (''VideoGame/TokyoMirageSessionsFE''); Judith again (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]'')
----
* AdaptationalBadass: Since ''Three Houses'', any character in the Malledus archetype is now capable of combat, but they remain unplayable. However, Emblem Marth [[DownplayedTrope is held back]] from fighting independently due to being a ring-bound spirit, and therefore can only fight alone in locations where Emblems have unrestricted movement. Otherwise, the most he can do in a fight is perform coordinated attacks alongside his ring bearer, which gameplay-wise, is purely cosmetic and does not affect the damage output of the host unit.
* TheArtifact: They were conceived as a side effect of the {{Permadeath}} mechanic so that the Lord character has at least someone else to interact with in their army. Once subsequent games start to give important playable characters PlotArmor, their presence sticks out more (such as Oifey and Shannan being sidelined for Lewyn in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'''s second generation and Merlinus being essentially the only character Roy talks to in ''The Binding Blade'') and this archetype is barely revived ever since.
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: Rodrigue in the Azure Moon route. He attempts to play this trope straight and provide tactical advice to Byleth and Dimitri, but while Byleth listens without issue, Dimitri is so consumed by rage and revenge that he ignores Rodrigue's advice, causing Rodrigue to become a borderline YesMan to Dimitri, as he is too loyal to stand up to him. As a result, when he attempts to guide Dimitri, Dimitri snaps at him for it, leading to an ill fated encounter at Gronder Field with the Empire and the Alliance, ending with Rodrigue [[TakingTheBullet taking a knife wound]] to save Dimitri and dying. It's also [[{{Reconstruction}} reconstructed]] in that his dying words snap Dimitri out of his rage fueled state, and his advice is heeded after.
* MrExposition: Their main job is to dispense exposition of the world they're in, for both the Lord and the player.
* NonActionGuy: They never take to the front lines of battle. Rodrigue and Judith are a bit odd in that they do fight in a paralogue and two versions of a main chapter as an NPC between them and serve as bosses on the Crimson Flower route, but they are never directly controllable and remain unplayable when travelling with you. Emblem Marth also has a similar situation, in that outside of certain locations, he can never fight independently (Outside of clones summoned by Emblem Veronica), and [[spoiler:he gets stolen alongside five other Emblems in chapter 10 of ''Engage'']].
* NonPlayerCharacter: They are generally not direct members of your party. Merlinus is the exception, and he's a NonActionGuy, though Emblem Marth can also become temporarily playable if Emblem Veronica's "Summon Hero" skill is used to summon him.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Sibling Worshipper]]
''Fire Emblem'' is no stranger with the trope BrotherSisterIncest. In fact, back in the days, they ''really'' like to give out such subtexts within their game, mostly represented by this archetype. The Sibling-Worshipper is a character, most likely a little sibling or [[LittleSisterHeroine sister]], who adores their elder sibling, most likely big brother, ''way'' too much. They held their elder sibling in such a high pedestal that any suitors or those who interact with this character will find themselves talking about this elder sibling, or hearing the character ramble how great their sibling is, or saying to their elder siblings that they don't need anyone else, only the elder sibling is needed for them. If there are support conversations, be prepared to see them talk about their siblings more than their support partner.

They sometimes overlap with the Maria, but they do not always take the healer role and a Maria usually did not take their adoration to their elder siblings too far. The elder sibling usually recognizes how much loved they are, but tends to focus on somewhere else, rarely did they ever fully reciprocate, and thus the incest image of the series did have some covers.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype''': Lachesis (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Clarine (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Priscilla (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Eirika (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Leo [[note]]A gender-inverted example, Leo had a lot of hots towards his big sister Camilla, he just rarely expressed it[[/note]] and Camilla [[note]]Age-inverted. Camilla dotes on her ''little'' sibling Corrin way too much, and can get away with marriage thanks to being NotBloodSiblings[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Alcryst (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Olwen [[note]]She has a certain adoration towards her big brother Reinhardt, but she keeps it on a more level-headed rank instead of going overblown about it, and in the end, Reinhardt became a BrokenPedestal to her.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Fleche [[note]]She has a great adoration of her brother Randolph and the extension of it is clearly shown in a certain route... except she's not playable at all on any route[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Freyja and Ótr[[note]]Both are basically villainous, non-playable takes of the archetype (Being in ''Heroes'', they became summonable just like Surtr and Hel before them, but storywise, neither had a HeelFaceTurn, though Freyja had some sort of DeathEqualsRedemption)[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'')
----
* BigBrotherWorship: Hoo boy. They like to think that their big bro (or sis) is the best ever and nothing you say can convince them otherwise!
* BrotherSisterIncest: It's only shown in subtexts and such, but they might as well be the poster girl/boy of the franchise about this trope.
* CharacterExaggeration: Believe it or not, their traits are not always about being sibling-worshippers, they can have other traits they can claim on their own. Unfortunately, sometimes they tend to be vulnerable to PoesLaw, thus their BigBrotherWorship tends to get focused the most by the fandom.
* ClingyJealousGirl: At times, if said elder sibling decided to focus their attention to another, they may admit for being jealous, but [[EveryoneHasStandards they still have enough standards]] to not try to MurderTheHypotenuse. With the exception of Camilla, but that is usually when she's on the opposing side of Corrin.
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype:
** Despite being an age-inversion, Camilla provides a two-part deconstruction of this kind of archetype: Being the SoleSurvivor of a brutal succession feud of her own family left her horrified and overprotective towards any of her little siblings, especially one who had potential to just leave her and relive her memories about losing her siblings again. Unfortunately, Camilla herself prefers a rather... ahem, hands-on and overly forward approach that it caused many to get unnerved at her, even Corrin themselves at times.
** Having their worshiped sibling killed usually was just treated as a BerserkButton (albeit a severe one), as shown with Lachesis (after clearing it up, they calm down). However, there are times that this character was so overly adoring of their sibling that [[SanitySlippage they suffer a mental breakdown]] as a result of their sibling killed. This is shown in the Mitsuki Oosawa manga version of Lachesis (she doesn't take the death of Eldigan that well beyond avenging him and contemplates suicide a lot of times before being talked down by Finn) and the Azure Moon version of Fleche ([[spoiler:she turns into an unhinged vengeance-obsessed woman against Dimitri and relishes in describing [[ToThePain what kind of pain Dimitri will suffer]] for killing Randolph unfairly (as she thought); Rodrigue dies stopping her, and Byleth is forced to put her down]]).
** While she's only a partial example on the basis that she's the BigBad of her arc, Freyja deconstructs this by presenting this question: What if the one who worships their elder siblings was landed in a villainous role? The result is a destructively vicious {{Yandere}} that will cause a whole heap of chaos at the slightest hint that her sibling (Freyr) takes even a slight turn from her. [[AndThatsTerrible Not a good thing.]]
** Ótr is a villain who displays the traits of this archetype taken to their worst extremes. As Book V progresses, it becomes increasingly clear that Ótr values his own relationship with Fáfnir more than he does Fáfnir's own well-being, to the point of [[spoiler:allowing him to be corrupted into a monster just so he never leaves him]].
** Alcryst looks up to Diamant... so much that it's also the reason of his self deprecation, as much as he believes his brother is the pinnacle of perfection, he believes he himself is on the opposite end.
--->'''Alcryst:''' Brother is cut from the finest cloth.... when I'm the leftover scraps.
* LittleSisterHeroine: A majority of the members of this archetype are little sisters being obsessed with their big bro.
* RedeemingReplacement: [[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Ótr]] is the first attempt on the variant of 'little brother worshipping big brother', but he only fulfills partial parts of the archetype and his adoration is portrayed as a negative trait of his overall character. The next 'little brother worshipping big brother' character in the franchise history is [[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Alcryst]], and he's portrayed much more sympathetically than Ótr and is not a partial example (not to mention, being a playable character and heroic on his own).
* RelativeButton: Talking crap about their elder sibling is generally not a good idea... or even to kill that sibling.
[[/folder]]

!!Others

* The Past Legends: Backstory characters, a group of legendary heroes that fought in the past war and founded nations or weapons that would shape the present day stories.
* The Naga: Backstory character, a god-like being who empowered the heroes in ancient history.

[[folder:The Past Legends]]
The Past Legends are a group of elite heroes that have already passed away, but had a hand in the game's world-building. In the distant past before the current events of the ''Fire Emblem'' series, there was a big chaos, initiated most likely by the Medeus archetype (and perhaps even Naga or her derivatives had a hand in it), but then heroes rose and quelled the chaos, being the one who would first wield the legendary weapons and even found the nations that shaped the land. Their time has passed and their names only appeared in history books, but their presence is still vital to how the world was shaped.

->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Archanea's founders[[note]]Anri, Cartas, Marlon, Iote, Ordwin, Gotoh, Artemis[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]''); Twelve Crusaders[[note]]Heim, Baldr, Hoðr, Od, Njörun, Dáinn, Nál, Ulir, Fjalar, Thrud, Ced, Bragi[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Eight Legends[[note]]Hartmut, Roland, Durban, Athos, St. Elimine, Barigan, Hanon, Bramimond[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Five Heroes[[note]]Grado, Latona and three unnamed heroes[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Ashera's Three Heroes[[note]]Altina, Soan, Dheginsea[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Marth and the First Exalt (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Four Saints[[note]]Macuil, Indech, Cichol, Cethleann[[/note]] , the Ten Elites[[note]]Blaiddyd, Riegan, Lamine, Goneril, Charon, Fraldarius, Gloucester, Dominic, Gautier, and Daphnel[[/note]], and the Four Apostles [[note]]Noa, Chevalier, Timotheos, and Aubin[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Twelve Emblem Rings[[note]]Marth, Celica, Sigurd, Leif, Roy, Lyn, Eirika, Ike, Micaiah, Lucina, Corrin, and Byleth[[/note]] and seven Emblem Bracelets[[note]]Tiki, Hector, Soren, Chrom and Robin, Camilla, Edelgard, Dimitri, and Claude, and Veronica; Fell Xenologue only[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')
----
* AscendedExtra: ''Engage's'' past legends, the Emblem Rings and Bracelets, are part of the game's core mechanic as opposed to just being part of the game's backstory unlike most previous past legends.
* BadassCrew: In the past, these guys banded together and quelled the past chaos instigated by the Medeus archetype character.
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype:
** The Twelve Crusaders, to the point of being an UnbuiltTrope. They were heroes through and through, but it's shown that their more unscrupulous descendants can and will use their lineage to commit heinous actions (Reptor, Lombard, Andrey, and Hilda, just to name a few examples).
** In a similar way, Elibe's Eight Legends. Being descended from Roland and Hartmut didn't stop Lundgren and Desmond respectively from being utter bastards.
** Tellius's Three Champions. The identities of their descendants already implies some dirty secrets about Tellius's history, but repeat playthroughs of ''Radiant Dawn'' reveal just how much of the modern world's problems stem directly from the Champions' well-meaning mistakes.
** The Ten Elites. [[spoiler:They were only propagated as heroes to hide the fact that they're accomplices of Nemesis and advance Seiros' own personal agenda since [[AHeroToHisHometown they already had the adoration of the people]], and they were ''at best'' [[LockedOutOfTheLoop ignorant of the depths of the evils]] their leader and his benefactors sank to for their powers.]]
* TheGhost: They're already dead, so you rarely ever meet them in person. Only a few are alive (most notably Athos in ''The Blazing Blade'' and all of the Emblems in ''Engage''), more likely taking the Gotoh archetype above and are probably not long for this world anyway. And then comes ''Three Houses'' where [[spoiler:two of the Four Saints (Cichol/Seteth and Cethleann/Flayn) are playable (and available early too unlike Gotoh), the other two are bonus bosses, their leader Seiros is the Nyna, and one of the Elites who was written out of history (Maurice) is also a bonus boss.]]
* HeroicLineage: The originators. A lot of your heroes might have descended from them and inherited their virtues [[spoiler:except the Ten Elites]]. That said, merely being descended from them does not guarantee that you will be a virtuous person; just look at some of the nastier characters in ''Genealogy of the Holy War'', the Elibe duology (''Blazing Blade'' and ''Binding Blade'', the descendant of the main hero of the legend (Hartmut) is the BigBad of ''Binding Blade'') and ''Three Houses'' ([[spoiler:which turns out to be an inversion: Merely being descended from the Ten Elites does not guarantee that you will be a 100% nasty bastard.]]).
* LivingLegend: Those who lived might be considered as such. And boy, what a long life they lived.
* PrecursorHeroes: Their defining trope. They are groups of ancient heroes who banded together to seal away the ultimate evil.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Naga]]
The Naga is a god-like being who is directly responsible for empowering the Past Legends or other precursor heroes. They are typically extremely powerful dragons. [[GodIsGood Generally acting as a divine champion for humanity]], they stand as the natural opposite of the Medeus, but sometimes, they are not alone. The Naga may consist of ''several'' Gods banding together. Of note, there is a possibility that the Naga themself might not remain a hero; the chance of falling to corruption is always ever present ([[HumansAreFlawed the humans that worship them may unwittingly play a part in it]]), [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis which may degrade them into a Medeus themselves.]]

->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Naga (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Mila and Duma (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Forseti, Salamander, Naga again, and nine other unnamed dragons (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Ashera, Yune, and Ashunera (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); The Dawn Dragon, the Dusk Dragon, and Anankos (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Sothis (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Nifl, Askr, and Embla (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'')
----
* BecameTheirOwnAntithesis: Many [[GodIsGood Naga archetypes]] degenerate into [[GodOfEvil Medeus archetypes]]. Most of them suffer from draconic degeneration, although Ashera genuinely lost faith in humanity's goodness.
* BigGood: They are the biggest and most powerful force of good in the setting.
* BreakingOldTrends: Nearly all of them are extremely powerful divine dragons who are worshiped as gods. Ashera and Yune, on the other hand, are PiecesOfGod, and their true form Ashunera is a legitimate creator deity.
* CrystalDragonJesus: Almost literally. They are often the deity worshiped in the religion of the continent, and may even be the figure depicted in the Goddess Icon [[RareCandy stat boost.]]
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype:
** Ashunera started out just fine, but her inability to prevent the beorc and laguz from coming into conflict caused her to accidentally cause a flood. In horror and regret, she split her logic and emotions into Ashera and Yune, but Ashera saw how flawed mankind was. This made her bitter and unleashed her own worst impulses, thus [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis turning her into a Medeus archetype]].
** Sothis was just like these fine fellows in her backstory. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for her, a human named Nemesis decided that he wanted the sort of power she could grant and took it by force. He murdered her, drank her blood to gain the Crest of Flames, forged her bones into a sword, and proceeded to slaughter nearly all of her descendants to grant this same power to his followers.]] In the present day, [[spoiler:her surviving daughter Seiros takes advantage of her reputation to advance an agenda which is selfish at best and flat-out tyrannical at worst]].
** Embla also started out fairly well: according to Askr, she used to be a kind goddess who truly loved her people, and the two of them got along fairly well. However, after a mortal tried to kill her for her power and Elm ranted about [[HumansAreBastards all mortals being selfish]], Embla started to believe all mortals deserve to die. Then, when her people started visiting Askr to see what it was like, she saw this as betrayal and became cruel and tyrannical. By the time of Book VI, she has only hatred for mortals.
* GodIsGood: They are all worshiped as gods (or in Ashunera's case, actually are gods), and are the biggest forces of good in the setting.
* GoodCounterpart: To the villainous Medeus archetype. In fact, many Nagas turn into Medeuses by the time the story starts; Duma and Anankos suffered from draconic degeneration-induced mental breakdowns, Mila was well on her way to the same fate by the time Rudolf put her down, and Ashera lost faith in humanity and ultimately decides they need to be purged.
* GoodIsNotNice: Just because they're paragons of goodness doesn't mean they're always going to be super duper nice guys, although they don't cross into JerkassGods territory. Sothis is known for her snarky tongue, [[spoiler:long before the fact that she wiped out a whole nation was passed,]] Mila was almost degenerating, Forseti erases Lewyn's memories and turns him into an uncaring father [[spoiler:unless he marries Tailtiu; after hearing her tragic fate, Forseti shows that EveryoneHasStandards and allows Lewyn to shed a tear]]. Taken to the extreme and we get those who [[BecameTheirOwnAntithesis fell from grace]], especially Ashera.
* GreaterScopeParagon: When not directly present, they are still responsible for the heroes being able to combat the evil forces.
* SuperEmpowering: They are all capable of granting divine power to their champions, typically through blood-bonds.
[[/folder]]

** A Draug is vulnerable against magic users, whereas a Caeda [[MageKiller kills them.]]
** A Draug is usuall of a commoner origin, whereas a Caeda has a nobility pedigree.

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Céline [[note]]Support conversations reveal that Céline likes to disguise herself as a commoner to travel and enjoy various types of tea. However, this amounts to absolutely nothing in the main story, as she presents herself as a Princess from get-go to Alear. In a sense, she only counts as the archetype for the non-playable commoner [=NPC=]s, but not for the player.[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]'')

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Julian (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Dew, Patty, and Daisy (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Lifis and Perne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Chad (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Matthew (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Colm (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Sothe (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Gaius (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Niles (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Ashe[[note]]A combination with the Gordin archetype since he is from a thieving background, able to lockpick, but more attuned to knightly archery instead of sticking with his thieving ways[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Yunaka (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Matthew again (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'')

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Julian (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Dew (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Lifis and Perne (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Chad (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Matthew (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Colm (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Sothe (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Gaius (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Niles (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Ashe[[note]]A combination with the Gordin archetype since he is from a thieving background, able to lockpick, but more attuned to knightly archery instead of sticking with his thieving ways[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]''); Yunaka (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Matthew again (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]'')

* BreakingOldTrends: Yunaka is the first female example of the Julian Archetype.

->'''Playable characters of this archetype:''' Gotoh (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]''); Mycen (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGaiden Gaiden]]''); Ced and Galzus (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Karel (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Wallace[[note]]Lyn's Tale only - if/when he returns in Eliwood/Hector's Tale, he's instead part of an [[MutuallyExclusivePartyMembers Arran and Samson]] duo with Geitz[[/note]] and Athos (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Tibarn, Naesala, and Giffca (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Caineghis, Nailah, and Lehran (''Radiant Dawn''); Nagi (''Shadow Dragon'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem New Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Basilio and Flavia (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Mauvier and Veyle (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Byleth, Jeralt, and Jeritza[[note]]Jeritza only counts in Azure Gleam, as he joins near the start of Scarlet Blaze and is unrecruitable in Golden Wildfire[[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]'')

->'''Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Yoder[[note]]Shares many gameplay and story parallels with Gotoh himself, as well as being the last character to join if the Legendary Weapons were not collected, but outside of his capped Resistance he is a JackOfAllStats at best at the point in the game where he joins.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]'')

** The Miloah variants generally zig-zag this. While the default Miloah and very few of his successors (like Misaha) are PosthumousCharacter and also adhering to the trope, others can range between {{Sacrificial Lion}}s or even antagonists (especially Reptor), or appearing mid-game and lasting short enough before they get killed (Ismaire). Basically, they often get better screentimes than Cornelius characters until latter games tried to expand a Cornelius' lifetime more.

* FlatCharacter: They exist to get killed off, so they usually don't get much development within the game/timeline where they took up the archetype role, most of their development are usually accessed via backstories or supports. Some later games try to avert this by allowing them to live a bit longer and showcasing their personalities before they finally die.

At times, there are cases where it's not the Lord who has a Cornelius figure, but instead a party member, usually of the Linde archetype. When that happens, the Cornelius can be referred to as a 'Miloah' (named after Linde's dead father), but they can overlap with the original Cornelius since they have the same role.

->'''Characters of this archetype:''' Cornelius (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemShadowDragonAndTheBladeOfLight Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemMysteryOfTheEmblem Mystery of the Emblem]]''); Byron and Sigurd (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemGenealogyOfTheHolyWar Genealogy of the Holy War]]''); Calf and Quan (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThracia776 Thracia 776]]''); Hector (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBindingBlade The Binding Blade]]''); Uther and Elbert (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheBlazingBlade The Blazing Blade]]''); Fado (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''); Greil (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance Path of Radiance]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn Radiant Dawn]]''); Emmeryn[[note]]An optional endgame mission shows she actually survives her apparent death, but she ends up with LaserGuidedAmnesia and still fulfills the general narrative purpose of the archetype.[[/note]] (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening Awakening]]''); Mikoto (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemFates Fates]]''); Jeralt and Lambert (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemThreeHouses Three Houses]]''); Lumera (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemEngage Engage]]''); Gunnthrá, Gustav, and Askr (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemHeroes Heroes]]''); Berling, Getz, and Lazley (''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]'')

->'''Characters that only have elements of this archetype''': Randolph, Rodrigue, and Judith [[note]]Scarlet Blaze, Azure Gleam, and Golden Wildfire, respectively; Though they serve the same narrative purpose in the route Shez sides with them in, they are only killed [[PermanentlyMissableContent if the player fails to recruit Byleth.]][[/note]](''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemWarriorsThreeHopes Warriors: Three Hopes]]'')

* SoleSurvivor: Only Emmeryn and Jeralt manage to survive being straight examples of this archetype. Still, even if Emmeryn is recruited, she is revealed to have suffered irreversible brain damage, and Jeralt can only be spared in ''Warriors: Three Hopes'' if the player makes sure not to mess up his and Byleth’s recruitment. Gunnthrá and Gustave are also weird cases of this thanks to the game mechanics of ''Heroes''; they can be summoned by the player even before their death scenes, and nothing stops the player from summoning them afterwards too (nor does their death scenes remove any of her playable versions from the player's party).
* YouKilledMyFather: A common motivation for the Lord is to avenge these guys' deaths. Ike and Dimitri in particular want vengeance for their fathers’ demises.