Characters / Fire Emblem - Heroic Archetypes - Physical Units

Heroic Archetype Index | Main Characters | Availability Vs Growth | Teams | Physical Units | Magic Units | Mid-Late Game Units | Personalities | Others

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 Stone Wall 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 Scratch Damage to Glass Cannon. 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 Critical Hit Class 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 Lovable Rogue street urchin or spy to teach the mechanics of the Thief class.
  • The Perne: A more experienced Thief (or promoted equivalent) who joins in the early-to-mid game and has vastly more experience in the business than a Julian (without necessarily mentoring them).
• The Caeda: An early game 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.

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 Character Class.

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 (Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and Mystery of the Emblem); Lukas and Valbar (Gaiden); Arden (Genealogy of the Holy War); Dalsin (Thracia 776); Bors (The Binding Blade); Oswin (The Blazing Blade); Gilliam (The Sacred Stones); Brom and Meg (Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn); Kellam (Awakening); Effie (Fates); Dedue and Raphael (Three Houses and Warriors: Three Hopes); Louis (Engage); Mamori (Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE)

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.(Path of Radiance)

---

• The Big Guy: They're the muscle of your army early on.
• Breaking Old Trends: 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.
• Crutch Character: 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 Mighty Glacier on the ground who may end up as a Crutch Character, whereas the Caeda is the flying Fragile Speedster with elements of Magikarp Power.
  • A Draug is vulnerable against magic users, whereas a Caeda 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 (Scratch Damage if they're lucky), while a Caeda will easily be felled by them. Engage capitalizes on these differences by making the starting armor knight and pegasus knight join on the same map and cover each other's weaknesses.
  • A Draug is usually of a commoner origin, whereas a Caeda has a nobility pedigree.
• Fragile Speedster: In the games with reclassing available, they can be surprisingly squishy outside their base class, yet with tremendous speed to offset that.
• Gentle Giant: 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.
• Skill Gate Characters: 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.
• Stone Wall: Their biggest claim to fame is their high defense, making them ideal for holding chokepoints to protect weaker units.
• Super-Strength: They are known as great soldiers, if not capable of superhuman feats of power.

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 (Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and Mystery of the Emblem); Python (Gaiden); Ryan (Mystery of the Emblem); Tanya, Ronan (Thracia 776); Wolt (The Binding Blade); Wil, Rebecca (The Blazing Blade); Neimi (The Sacred Stones); Rolf (Path of Radiance); Leonardo (Radiant Dawn); Norne (Shadow Dragon and 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 (Awakening); Setsuna (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, and Ignatz (Three Houses and Warriors: Three Hopes); Etie (Engage); Eleonora (Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE); Virion again (Heroes)

---

• Friendly Sniper: 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.
• Glass Cannon: They can't defend themselves against direct attacks, but are useful for picking off enemies with proper training. They're even better against Pegasus Knights.
• Magikarp Power: 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.
• Scratch Damage: 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 pick off the last sliver from an already ailing opponent. Unless the enemy unit is a Pegasus Knight, where they will instead kill the knights off with ease as their best source of experience point. (They may have more troubles against Wyvern Knights due to the Wyvern Knights' bulkier stats while they lack the Jeorge's initial high firepower).
• Shrinking Violet: 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 Magikarp Power at hand, they can one day turn this around. Neimi and Bernadetta are primary examples of this.
• Tag Along Kid: 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 Big Brother Mentor figure or sorts to the Gordin character or a literal elder sibling to someone else.

Playable characters of this archetype: Jeorge (Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and Mystery of the Emblem); Jamke, Brigid, Febail, and Asaello (Genealogy of the Holy War); Klein and Igrene (The Binding Blade); Louise (The Blazing Blade); Innes (The Sacred Stones); Shinon (Path of Radiance and 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 (Fates); Python (Shadows of Valentia); Shamir (Three Houses and Warriors: Three Hopes); Takumi again (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. Additionally, his personality is more like a Gordin, the one who has a more 'confident' personality is instead Etie, who joins earlier and has Gordin's stat build, but lacks a Jeorge's gameplay perks. And while a confident Gordin isn't unheard of (Python and Virion), a Jeorge is never shy or lacking confidence. (Engage)

---

• Aloof Big Brother: 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 Only Sane Man of his siblings.
• Cold Sniper: Most of them can be a bit of an asshole (save Jeorge, Klein, and Louise), and they all favor bows as weapons.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: In the later games, their aloofness can veer into Jerkass levels to the point that they may look like a Cold Sniper with a bow, but they will always have a Hidden Heart of Gold somewhere.
• Master Archer: 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.

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 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 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 "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue, the Ogma will often vanish without a trace.

---

Playable characters of this archetype: Ogma (Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light); Saber (Gaiden); Chulainn (Genealogy of the Holy War); Fergus (Thracia 776); Dieck (The Binding Blade); Raven (The Blazing Blade); Gerik (The Sacred Stones); Ike (Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn); Gregor (Awakening)

Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype: Diamant^note Has an Ogma-like growth and class type, which allows him to wield weapon like an Ogma. The 'Lord' class that he possesses does not work like an actual recurring Lord class. However, he's blatantly a prince of a kingdom, not a sellsword or posing as one. And finally, in the epilogue, he does not vanish, he just takes the throne of Brodia to rule it.(Engage)

---

• Dark and Troubled Past: 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.
• Force and Finesse: 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.
• Only in It for the Money: 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."
• Jack of All Stats: Typically have overall solid stats.
• Jade-Colored Glasses: 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.
• Soldier vs. Warrior: 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 Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and 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 Fragile Speedster build (high Speed and Luck for dodging with lackluster defenses, occasionally also lacking in Attack) with some Critical Hit Class 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 "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue will mention that the Navarre faded into obscurity after the conflict.

---

Playable characters of this archetype: Navarre (Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and Mystery of the Emblem); Deen (Gaiden); Samuel (Mystery of the Emblem); Shiva (Thracia 776); Rutger and Fir (The Binding Blade); Guy (The Blazing Blade); Joshua and Marisa (The Sacred Stones); Zihark (Path of Radiance); Lon'qu (Awakening); Felix (Three Houses); Kagetsu (Engage); Yashiro (Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE)

Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype: Jamke ^note Mostly fits the archetype but isn't a swordsman.(Genealogy of the Holy War); Aran ^note Fits most of the hallmarks of the character archetype, being a recruitable enemy with a pre-established relationship with the Lena and a Critical Hit Class, 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 Stone Wall growths.(Radiant Dawn); Felix ^note Unlike in Three Houses, he cannot be recruited outside of the Kingdom Army in this game.(Warriors: Three Hopes); Lindon ^note He fulfills the Rocket-Tag Gameplay conditions of the archetype, being a Glass Cannon with a skill that situationally boosts his crit rate and makes him tricky to recruit, but is a prepromoted Squishy Wizard that comes in the lategame who otherwise fits the Wendell archetype to a tee.(Engage)

---

• Blood Knight: They often have a particularly strong obsession with improving their skills in battle.
• Breaking Old Trends:
  • 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 guys.
  • Kagetsu breaks a trend where most of the Navarre characters are encountered earlier and are of the initial base class of Myrmidon. He instead joins mid-game (after the player already has an unpromoted swift sword fighter (Lapis)) and is already a promoted Swordmaster, similar with other prepromoted Swordmasters that somehow don't fit in any other archetypes (young Karel and Stefan)
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Despite their haughty nature, there are always kindhearted female members in the army that they would be more open to, forming this dynamic. Naturally, the nicer Navarre characters avert this since they miss the 'Brooding Boy' part.
• Code of Honor: 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.
• Critical Hit Class: 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. 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.
  • Ayra is an exception since she 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 Critical Hit.
  • 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.
• Divergent Character Evolution: 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 Fragile Speedster statline in what is usually a Jack of All Stats class.
• Force and Finesse: 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.
• Fragile Speedster: Always fast, (nearly) always fragile, and depending on their growths, may be lacking in strength.
• Heel–Face Turn: 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 (whom he's loyal towards) joins your side that he becomes your ally.
• Master Swordsman: The Navarre is often noted for their exceptional prowess with a blade. Generally downplayed since their early joining time means that they still need more levels to unlock their potential (as they start out as Myrmidon). However, some like Kagetsu is already of a Swordmaster class, meaning that he's already an expert swordsman the moment he joins.
• Rocket-Tag Gameplay: What makes recruiting them as enemy units so difficult is that their high Critical Hit 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 Speedsters or Support Party Members - while also having a plan to take out every enemy in the vicinity that turn (which will often involve the freshly-recruited Navarre themselves).
• Rōnin: They're lightly-armored swordsmen that wield katana-like weapons (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.
• Soldier vs. Warrior: The Warrior to the Ogma's Soldier, being dedicated swordsmen that are either Blood Knights or seeking to become a Master Swordsman. 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.
• To Be a Master: Those who are not Blood Knights typically seek to become a Master Swordsman.
• Unbuilt Trope: Samuel, one of the first "Navarre-style" Mercenaries/Myrmidons to be recruited in the series, was a Costume Copycat who was much weaker than the original, and not portrayed as awesome in the slightest. One could think of him as a Deconstruction of the Archetype and Expies in general, but he was probably the series' first.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: Their status as the first recruitable enemy (that isn't part of a Forced Tutorial) combined with the aforementioned Rocket-Tag Gameplay 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 (Genealogy of the Holy War); Mareeta (Thracia 776); Fir (The Binding Blade); Lyn and Karla (The Blazing Blade); Marisa (The Sacred Stones); Mia (Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn); Athena (Shadow Dragon and New Mystery of the Emblem), Say’ri (Awakening); Hana (Fates); Yuzu (Cipher and 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; Petra (Three Houses and Warriors: Three Hopes); Kagetsu (Engage)

Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype: Machyua (Thracia 776) ^note Motivation is not sword-based, not foreign; Lucia (Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn) ^note Her goal is more to be a knight, not too sword focused; Malice (New Mystery of the Emblem) ^note Unknown origin, but doesn’t show any foreign traits or passion for swordsmanship; Catherine (Three Houses) ^note Similar reason to Lucia; Lapis ^note Similar reason to Lucia, and is not foreign (Engage)

---

• Berserk Button: 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!
• Breaking Old Trends:
  • Yuzu is the only member of this archetype that isn't part of a Critical Hit Class due to the mechanics of Echoes. Instead, she's a 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 Critical Hit Class, and swordsmanship is a key part of his motivation. And he's the one whose accent is more pronounced.
• Critical Hit Class: 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.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: Ayra herself is an example of the trope despite naming the archetype. Unlike other fellow Ayras, she is more cold-blooded and stoic than Hot-Blooded 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 her mastery over it (therefore she's less vocal about self-improvement) helped codify the archetype and perfected by her daughter Larcei, carrying the genes that laid the foundations of the archetype.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: 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 Medieval European Fantasy, this foreign land is typically eastern. Far East, Middle East, or at least Eastern European. While Hana is not a foreigner within her group, her kingdom is Japan-based.
• Fragile Speedster: To an even more extreme degree than the Navarre, though their speed advantage is unfortunately prone to getting cancelled out by their worse ability to wield heavier weapons.
• Funny Foreigner: 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).
• Hot-Blooded: They are a lot more eager in battle, as opposed to the Navarre, who are typically more cold.
• Master Swordsman: They're experts at swordsmanship or aspire to reach that status.
• The One Guy: 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.
• Proud Warrior Race Guy: 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.
• Spirited Competitor: 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.
• Weak, but Skilled: They have some of the best Skill around, but their Strength can be disturbingly low to the point where even a Critical Hit from them is dealing Scratch Damage.

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 Fragile Speedster 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 Gentleman Thief. 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 (Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light); Dew, Patty, and Daisy (Genealogy of the Holy War); Lifis (Thracia 776); Chad (The Binding Blade); Matthew (The Blazing Blade); Colm (The Sacred Stones); Sothe (Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn); Gaius (Awakening); Niles (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 (Three Houses and Warriors: Three Hopes); Yunaka (Engage); Matthew again (Heroes)

Playable characters that only have elements of this archetype: Lara^note Technically, she is the first mandatory thief you get (Lifis can only be obtained by doing a side chapter first), and she comes with a Street Urchin background. However, she's a Red Herring: Her true class is a Dancer (which makes her part of the Dancer archetype), and she's the Morality Pet of another thief later down the road (Perne).(Thracia 776)

---

• Character Select Forcing: Earlier games would nudge players to deploy them for not just their utility, but also story relevance. This is in spite of limited room to grow their stats and survive late-game maps.
• Devious Daggers: 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.
• Lovable Rogue: With the adult examples as Gentleman Thief and the kids the Artful Dodger. 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).
• Morality Pet: 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 (emphasis on "had"), and to some extent the playable Serra. Colm and Neimi. Sothe and Micaiah.
• Token Adult: Niles is actually older than other Julians, it just so happens that he's the first thief character you get in Conquest, whereas the 'older/advanced thief' archetype goes to Shura. His daughter, Nina, has the attitude and age closer to a Julian, but she is not the first thief recruited.
• Token Evil Teammate: Amongst the many Julians, Lifis is the only one who isn't a Lovable Rogue. 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 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 (and he's actually not planning to honor that too). He's only balanced out with the fact that at the same time, he's made to suffer by several other characters.
• Utility Party Member: Due to their early joining time and low level, Julians are usually more valued for their lockpickings, especially in early games, but easily fall off or get ignored in combat due to how hard it is for them to be a true seasoned combatant. (Combatant-style thieves are more common on Pernes instead)

---

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. For this, they serve as a more durable thief that can handle combat well enough from get-go while still minding their thieving business. Characterization-wise, it's not uncommon for them to be a Gentleman Thief or a Professional Killer, and many of them have some kind of connection to the Julian.

Playable characters of this archetype: Perne (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. (The Binding Blade), Legault (The Blazing Blade), Rennac (The Sacred Stones), Heather (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. (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. (Three Houses and Warriors: Three Hopes), Zelkov (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. (Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and Mystery of the Emblem), Jaffar ^note Although he's a prepromoted Assassin, he joins much later than the archetype allows. (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. (Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn)

---

• Boring, but Practical: They can usually handle themselves from the moment they join compared to the Awesome, but Impractical Julian, who can become a Lightning Bruiser with effort but is questionable to train at all on account of being a Utility Party Member.
• Convenient Replacement Character: They join at around the time an untrained Julian is starting to get one-shot by the average enemy, picking up right where they left off (though having them both around can still be very useful on maps with a lot of locks to pick).
• Devious Daggers: 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 (though one of his main reclasses is Master Ninja), and while Yuri can't use daggers in Three Houses, he uses them in his unique Warrior Special in Three Hopes.
• Gentleman Thief: The ones who turn to thievery do so with no malicious intent. Many, like Perne, Cath, and Yuri, primarily target the rich and assist the poor.
• Jack of All Stats: Compared to the Julian, they start out bulky enough to take a hit or two, but are less prone to reaching blistering speeds (though they're still a Fragile Speedster compared to the rest of the army).
• Professional Killer: If they're not thieves in the story, chances are that they're this instead.
• Older and Wiser: The Perne has been in the thief/spy business longer than a Julian, so they usually know more about the ins and outs of their job desk as well as just how unscrupulous and amoral their actual job is (even if they use it for good). For that, there's also a good chance that the Perne may show the Julian the ropes and more advanced thieving/spying skills and attitude, usually via supports. Hilariously, the original Perne doesn't even do this to his own Julian (Lifis), he just gives him several well-deserved bullying remarks as his show of seniority. He actually does mentor the partial example (Lara) more genuinely (to the point of giving her the choice to pursue her true calling of dancer rather than keeping her a thief).
• The Tease: A good number of them, namely Legault, Heather, and Yuri, have a tendency to flirt with others.

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 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 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 (Shadow Dragon and Mystery of the Emblem); Clair (Gaiden); Erinys^note She was born a commoner, but is eventually set to become the Queen of Silesse regardless of who she married and Fee (Genealogy of the Holy War); Elincia (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; Hinoka (Fates); Ingrid (Three Houses and Warriors: Three Hopes); Chloé (Engage); Tsubasa (Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE)

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 Blue Blood prerequisite of the archetype, she's just a soldier from Silesse. (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.(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 (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 (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. (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. (Awakening);

---

• Always Female: A Caeda is always 100% a female. In 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).
• Blue Blood: 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.
• Boring, but Practical: They lack the Pegasus Trio's Triangle Attack and the Lightning Bruiser 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.
• Composite Character: Notably during the Gameboy Advance games (Elibe and Magvel), the Caeda is always combined with the Est part of the Pegasus Trio, making people who started out in the GBA era not noticing that this archetype has been around for so long. Even the first Tellius game follows suit with Elincia, but afterwards, pure Caedas start making appearance again (ironically by transforming Elincia into a solo flyer with nobility status, with Sigrun taking her place in the trio (as its most senior member, demoting Marcia to Elincia's position)).
• Difficult, but Awesome: 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 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.
• Divergent Character Evolution: Because the original Caeda was also The Heroine, 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 Characters with the Est.
• Fragile Speedster: 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.
• Lady of War: 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.
• Mage Killer: 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.
• Modest Royalty: They get along just fine with the more common-born Whitewings. Even if they're solo flyers, they are not lone wolves.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: They may be nobles, but they simply choose not to stand idle when others are also fighting for the good of the land.