Fighter

Not to be confused with the Gaiden class of the same name.

The Fighter, also known as the Axe Fighter in some games, is a physical combat class found in every game in the series save for Fire Emblem Gaiden and its remake. Wielding Axes as their sole weapon of choice, they commonly appear as early-game units.

Uniform

In the Archanea titles, Fighters are depicted in the game as clad in only animal furs including a tunic, loincloth, armbands, and leg wraps. The playable Fighter characters are depicted in artwork with sleeveless tunics, leather pants and headbands.

In Genealogy of the Holy War, Fighters wear a horned executioner-style hood without a shirt in the game's battle animations, but their map animations depict them with a sleeveless shirt and a bandana instead of a hood.

In Fates, Fighters appear shirtless and have more armor than previous games. More specifically, they now have slightly bigger pauldrons as well as a blackart, gorget, and shin-guards that go down to their feet. Female Fighters in Fates wear toe-less heels while their male counterparts go barefoot. This shift in appearance matches with the class's promotion into the Berserker.

History in the Series

The Fighter class first appears in Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. Though Fighters are described as lacking Defense in the class roll, the three playable Fighter characters and the Fighter Boss all boast high Defense. Alongside Pirates, they are the only Axe-wielding classes appearing in this title. Like most other classes in the game, Fighters are unable to promote.

The title "Fighter" is used for class in Gaiden, but it is completely different from its predecessor. Gaiden and its remake, Shadows of Valentia, do not have any playable axe-wielding classes. In these games, Brigands, known here as Thieves, form the only axe-wielding class.

In Mystery of the Emblem, Fighters remain non-promotable and, due to pirates being made enemy-exclusive, are the sole playable Axe-wielding class. There are two additional enemy-exclusive axe classes: the Brigand and the more powerful Barbarian. The three Fighter units are only playable in Book 1, and thus there are no playable axe classes available in Book 2.

In Genealogy of the Holy War, the Fighter class is known as the Axe Fighter. For the first time in the series, the class is able to promote, specifically into the Warrior class.

The Fighter class was revamped in Thracia 776, in which it possesses similar characteristics to the Myrmidon class. The Fighter promotion in Thracia 776 is the Hero class, while the Warrior class is instead the promotion for the Brigand class.

After Thracia 776, the class largely reverted to mirror its Genealogy of the Holy War incarnation in terms of statistics, as well as Warrior serving as its promotion class. In the The Sacred Stones and Awakening, the branching promotion tree also grants Fighters the option to promote into Hero.

In Radiant Dawn, Fighters promote into Warriors and thereafter Reavers when the necessary requirements are met.

In Fates, the class is exclusive to Nohrian units, with its Hoshidan counterpart being the Oni Savage. Fates is also the first title in which female units can be Fighters. Charlotte is a Fighter as her starting class, and other female characters can reclass into Fighter if the requirements are met. Also as a series first, Fighters in Fates promote into the Berserker class.

In the spin-off title Fire Emblem Warriors, the class is enemy-only, and acts as a semi-clone of Lissa's axe-wielding Cleric class, as she is the only playable infantry axe unit in the game. Enemy units in Warriors are named differently depending on which faction they belong to, with the Nohrian variant and their promoted version called the Axe Fighter and Berserker, while the Hoshidan variants are the Oni Savage and Oni Chieftain. However, the differences between these enemy unit types are cosmetic.

In Three Houses, the Fighter is an optional class units may promote into from the Beginner Class curriculum of the Commoner and Noble. To promote, the unit must pass the Certification Exam at a minimum of Lv. 5 with either their Axe, Bow or Brawling at a Skill Level of D or higher. The promotion also requires a Beginner Seal. Due to having three weapon skill archetype affinities, the Fighter can be considered the branching point for the Armored Knight, Brigand, Archer, and the male unit-locked Brawler class lines. This is reinforced in the spin-off Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, though here Fighter and the other Beginner-tier classes (Myrmidon, Soldier, and Monk) are available to all units by default. Mastering the Fighter class allows the unit to promote into any of the four aforementioned classes.

Other Series

In TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga, the name Fighter is used for the Mercenary class, while the traditional Fighter is known as Axe Fighter as in the Jugdral titles. Axe Fighter is a playable class that promotes to Warrior. Fighters possess high speed and accuracy like in Thracia 776, as does the game's incarnation of Warrior.

Dean, the lone playable Axe Fighter in TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga, promotes into the unique Slayer class, while Warriors are a standalone enemy-exclusive class. Dean is a fast and powerful unit with a high critical.

In Vestaria Saga I, the Fighter is once again known as the Axefighter. Axefighters can promote into the Axemaster. One of the Axefighters, Jean, can promote into a class exclusive to him called the Goliath once he reached level 15. This class gives Jean 20 HP in exchange for 1 Movement. The stat line of the Axefighter is unclear as all three recruitable Axefighters have drastically different stats from one another.

Overview

Combat

In terms of stats, Fighters are similar to other axe-wielding units such as Pirates and Brigands. They tend to have high HP and Strength, moderate Speed and poor Defense. Their somewhat low Speed often prevents them from being able to double attack, but their high Strength offsets this, as they can deal heavy damage in only one blow. In Thracia 776, TearRing Saga and Berwick Saga Axe Fighters have higher Skill and Speed, essentially acting as Myrmidons with axes instead of swords.

Due to their weapon triangle advantage, fighters often work well for killing enemy lance-users such as Soldiers and Knights in early-game sequences. In Fire Emblem: Fates, they gain an additional weapon triangle disadvantage over magic users and advantage over Shuriken. Attacking magic users is risky thanks to not only Fighters' low resistance but also the decreased hit rate thanks to the weapon triangle disadvantage.

Promotion

Fighters cannot class change in Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and Mystery of the Emblem. In Thracia 776, Axe Fighter units promote into Mercenaries. In all other games, fighters promote into Warriors, gaining in the ability to use bows. In both The Sacred Stones and Awakening, they are given the option of promoting into either a Warrior or a Hero, which gives them the ability to wield bows or swords respectively. In Fire Emblem Fates, they no longer can promote into Warriors, but can now promote into the Berserker class in addition to the Hero class.

In Three Houses, due to the Fighter having three weapon skill level proficiencies (the most out of the four Beginner-rank classes) in order to pass their Certification Exam, Fighters can promote into four different specialty classes provided the unit's weapon skill rank is high enough, these being the Armored Knight, the Brigand, the Archer, and the new, male unit-exclusive Brawler.

In-Game

Base Stats

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE1	18	5	-	1	7	0	4	0	6	-	-	Axe 4	-
FE3	20	5	-	0	1	0	3	0	6	-	-	Axe 10	-
FE4	35	8	0	3	10	0	8	0	6	-	-	A	-
FE5	20	4	0	4	5	0	2	-	6	8	-	E	-
TS	22	5	0	5	6	0	3	-	5	-	-	3	-
FE6	20	5	-	2	4	0	2	0	5	11	-	D	-
FE7	20	5	-	2	4	0	2	0	5	11	-	D	-
FE8	20	5	-	2	4	0	2	0	5	11	-	D	-
FE9	24	5	0	3	3	0	3	0	6	12	12	D	-
FE10	22	10	0	6	8	0	5	0	6	12	12	D	-
FE11	20	5	0	1	7	0	3	0	6	-	-	E	-
FE12	22	7	0	3	6	0	3	0	6	-	-	E	-
FE13	20	8	0	5	5	0	4	0	5	-	-	E	-
FE14	19	7	0	6	6	2	4	1	5	-	-	E	-
FE16	20	8	3	6	6	4	5	2	4	-	-	D D D	0
FE17	26	9	0	5	5	1	3	1	4	7	-	B	-

Maximum Stats

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE1	52	20	-	20	20	20	20	20	6	-	-	Axe 20	-
FE3	52	20	-	20	20	20	20	20	6	-	-	Axe 20	-
FE4	80	23	15	18	25	30	23	15	6	-	-	A	-
FE5	80	20	20	20	20	20	20	-	20	20	-	A	-
TS	60	21	15	25	25	30	18	-	12	-	-	20	-
FE6	60	20	-	20	20	30	20	20	15	20	-	A	-
FE7	60	20	-	20	20	30	20	20	15	20	-	A	-
FE8	60	20	-	20	20	30	20	20	15	20	-	A	-
FE9	40	20	15	20	20	40	20	20	6	12	12	A	-
FE10	45	20	5	20	20	30	20	10	6	12	12	A	-
FE11	60	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	6	-	-	A	-
FE12	60	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	6	-	-	A	-
FE13	60	29	20	26	25	30	25	23	5	-	-	A	-
FE14	45	25	15	23	22	21	19	18	5	-	-	B	-
FE17	94	46	17	23	29	23	20	11	6	20	-	B	-

Growth Rates

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE3	30%	30%	-	30%	30%	0%	20%	30%	-	-	-	-	-
FE4	100%	30%	10%	30%	30%	0%	30%	10%	-	-	-	-	-
FE5	70/90%	20/30%	0/3%	15/30%	15/30%	10/20%	10/20%	-	-	-	-	-	-
FE6	85%	55%	-	35%	30%	15%	15%	10%	-	-	-	-	-
FE7	85%	55%	-	30%	20%	15%	15%	10%	-	-	-	-	-
FE8	85%	55%	-	35%	30%	15%	15%	10%	-	-	-	-	-
FE9	85%	55%	10%	40%	45%	30%	40%	30%	-	-	-	-	-
FE10	80%	50%	5%	60%	45%	25%	40%	30%	-	-	-	-	-
FE11	80/90%	40/50%	-20/0%	15/30%	10/20%	0%	0/50%	-15/5%	-	-	-	-	-
FE12	70/90%	40/50%	-20/0%	25/30%	10/20%	0%	5/50%	-15/5%	-	-	-	-	-
FE13	45%	25%	0%	20%	15%	0%	10%	5%	-	-	-	-	-
FE14	20%	20%	0%	15%	15%	5%	5%	0%	-	-	-	-	-
FE16	10%	5/10%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	-5/-10%	-	-	-	+1 +1 +1	5%
FE17	25%	20%	0%	5%	10%	0%	5%	0%	-	5%	-	-	-

Class Modifiers

Class Skills

	Skill	Requirements
FE10	Shove	Base skill of all foot units.
FE13	HP +5 Zeal	Learnt at Level 1. Learnt at Level 10.
FE14	HP +5 Gamble	Learnt at Level 1 and above. Learnt at Level 10 and above.
FE16	Strength +2 Shove	Class Mastery. Class Mastery.
FEW3H	Lance Buster Lv 1 Spirited Seize Str +2 Axe Prowess Bow Prowess Brawling Prowess Swinging Fury Smash Spiral Shot Tracking Shot Dual Devastators	Class skill. 1-star Class Mastery for certain units. 1-star Class Mastery for certain units. 2-star Class Mastery for most units. 2-star Class Mastery for Bernadetta, Ashe, Ignatz and Shamir. 2-star Class Mastery for Raphael and Balthus. 3-star Class Mastery for certain units. 3-star Class Mastery for certain units. 3-star Class Mastery for Bernadetta, Ignatz and Shamir. 3-star Class Mastery for Ashe. 3-star Class Mastery for Raphael and Balthus.

Promotions

	Base Class	Promotion Method	Promoted Class
FE4	Axe Fighter	Choose the "Class Change" option in the Home Castle when the relevant unit reaches Level 20.	Warrior
FE5	Axe Fighter	Use a Knight Proof on a Level 10+ Axe Fighter.	Mercenary
TS	Axe Fighter	Use a Hero Proof on a Level 10+ Fighter.	Warrior
FE6	Fighter	Use a Hero Crest on a Level 10+ Fighter.	Warrior
FE7	Fighter	Use a Hero Crest on a Level 10+ Fighter.	Warrior
FE8	Journeyman	Automatically at the start of next map after reaching Level 10	Fighter
FE8	Fighter	Use a Hero Crest on a Level 10+ Fighter.	Warrior Hero
FE9	Fighter	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Fighter.	Warrior
FE10	Fighter	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Fighter or train a Fighter to Level 21.	Warrior
FE11	Fighter	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Fighter.	Warrior
FE12	Fighter	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Fighter.	Warrior
FE13	Fighter	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Fighter.	Warrior Hero
FE14	Fighter	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Fighter.	Berserker Hero
FE16	Any class	Use a Beginner Seal on a Level 5+ unit and pass the Fighter Certification Exam.	Fighter
FE17	Axe Fighter	Use Master Seal on Level 10+ Axe Fighter. Use Master Seal on Level 10+ Axe Fighter with Bow Proficiency.	Berserker Warrior
FEW3H	Fighter	Use an Intermediate Seal on a unit that has mastered the Fighter class.	Brigand Armored Knight Archer Brawler (male-only)

Notable Fighters

Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light/Mystery of the Emblem/Shadow Dragon

• Barst - A mercenary under Ogma who has a mild-mannered personality. After the War of Shadows, he left Talys and supposedly became a pirate.
• Bord - A mercenary under Ogma who is known for his skill. After the War of Shadows, he became a woodcutter.
• Cord - A mercenary under Ogma who is known for his speed. Like his fellow mercenary Bord, he became a woodcutter after the War of Shadows.
• Hyman - The leader of the Soothsires, a feared group of thieves. (Brigand in Mystery of the Emblem).

Archanea Saga/New Mystery of the Emblem

• Dice - A mercenary resembling a Viking who seeks fortune. He is Malice's father.

Genealogy of the Holy War

• Iucharba- The youngest son of Danann, younger brother of Brian and Iuchar, half-nephew of Lex, and grandson of Lombard
• Gerrard - A General in Verdane.
• Dimaggio - A servant of Prince Munnir of Verdane.

Thracia 776

• Osian- Member of the Freeblades of Fiana
• Halvan- Member of the Freeblades of Fiana

The Binding Blade

• Lot - An overly cautious mercenary who is led by Dieck.
• Wade - A reckless and confident man who also works under Dieck.
• Damas - Leader of the Bole mountain bandits.

The Blazing Blade

• Bartre - A brash man who appreciates strength.
• Dorcas - A mercenary gathering money to fix his wife's injury.
• Zagan - A member of the Black Fang who fights for pleasure.

The Sacred Stones

• Garcia - Former soldier of Renais and the father of Ross.
• Ross (possible promotion from Journeyman) - A young man who aspires to be strong like his father.
• O'Neill - A common soldier in Grado's army.

Path of Radiance

• Boyd - A member of the Greil Mercenaries, the younger brother of Oscar, and the older half-brother of Rolf.

Radiant Dawn

• Nolan - Leader of the Dawn Brigade.
• Pugo - An unrepentant Daein Bandit.

Awakening

• Vaike - The brash, self-proclaimed rival of Chrom with a history of easily misplacing his possessions.

Fates

• Arthur - A self-proclaimed Hero of Justice whose attempts at good deeds are often muddied by his abysmal luck. He is one of Elise's retainers.
• Charlotte - The first Female fighter in the series. Though she appears like a delicate woman, she is a fierce fighter with a sharp tongue deep down.
• Gazzak - A bandit that lurks around the border and targets small villages (encountered as a boss; can be captured).

Engage

• Boucheron - A knight of Firene and retainer of Alfred.
• Anna - An aspiring merchant traveling the world for expensive treasures.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE

• Barry Goodman - A Retired musician who works for Fortuna Entertainment. (Fighter only in the Switch re-release.)

TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga

• Barts - A fighter from the village of Taurus.
• Samson - The husband of Princess Katrina of Arial.

TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga

• Dean: A volunteer axefighter with a deeply bitter grudge towards the Raze Empire.

Vestaria Saga I

• Jean - A woodcutter from Lucca Village. He and Ash often seek to outdo one another.
• Ash - A fearless (or as Jean would say, reckless) woodcutter from Lucca Village.
• Hilda - A Norden axefighter who has been charged with keeping Lianka safe.

Trivia

• Non-playable and enemy Fighters only appear in one map in Thracia 776: The First Rain of May, where ally fighters can be summoned from villages.
• In Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes, the Fighter is the only class that can equip more than one weapon type, being able to use axes, bows, and gauntlets.

Gallery

Concept artwork of the Fighter class from Radiant Dawn.

Concept artwork of the Fighter class from Awakening.

Concept art of a female Fighter from Fates

Concept art of a male Fighter from Fates

A Level 1 generic Axe Fighter, as he appears in the first series of the TCG.

A generic Fighter, as he appears in the fifth series of the TCG.

Speaking portrait for a generic Fighter in Radiant Dawn

Generic CG portrait of the Fighter class from the DS titles.

Generic portrait of a Fighter from Awakening.

Battle model of Samson, an Axe Fighter from TearRing Saga.

Animation of Lot, a Fighter from The Binding Blade, performing a critical attack.

Animation of Dorcas, a Fighter from The Blazing Blade, performing a critical attack with a Hand Axe.

Battle model of Dean, a Fighter from Berwick Saga.

Battle model of Boyd, a Fighter from Path of Radiance.

Battle model of Pugo, a Fighter from Radiant Dawn.

Nolan's unique fighter model in Radiant Dawn

Battle model of Gaius as a Fighter in Awakening.

"Large" battle model of Vaike, a Fighter from Awakening.

Generic class portrait of a Fighter from Fates.

Battle model of Arthur, a male Fighter from Fates.

Battle model Charlotte, a female Fighter from Fates.

Battle Model of Gazak as a Fighter in Fates

Battle model of a male fighter in Fire Emblem Three Houses

Battle model of a female fighter in Fire Emblem Three Houses

Petra as a Fighter in Three Houses.

Map sprite of the Fighter class from Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light.

Map sprite of the Fighter class from Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem.

Map sprite of the Axe Fighter class from Genealogy of the Holy War.

Map sprite of the enemy variant of the Axe Fighter class from Genealogy of the Holy War.

Map sprite of the Axe Fighter class from TearRing Saga.

Map sprite of the Fighter class from the GBA titles.

Fighter map model in Path of Radiance

Fighter map model in Radiant Dawn

Map sprite of the Fighter class from the DS titles.

Map sprite of Vaike as a Fighter in Awakening.

Map sprite of Arthur as a Fighter in Fates.

Map sprite of Charlotte as a Fighter in Fates.