Hero (class)

The Hero is a physical combat class that appears across the Fire Emblem series, beginning from Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. In a majority of its iterations, the Hero class is the promoted form of the Mercenary class, and in games where branched promotions are available, it is the secondary promotion option for Fighters. Heroes commonly wield swords and axes.

Quick Answers

What is the primary weapon of choice for the Hero class in Fire Emblem?

In Fire Emblem, the Hero class primarily wields swords. However, upon promotion to the Vanguard class, they gain the ability to use axes. In specific games like Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem, Heroes can use both swords and axes.

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What is the promoted form of the Mercenary class in Fire Emblem?

In Fire Emblem, the Mercenary class promotes to the Hero class. This change was first implemented in Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, distinguishing the Hero class from the Sword Fighter class. The Hero class also evolved to become the promoted form of the Axe Fighter class, marking the first time Heroes could wield Axes and Swords. The game also marked the introduction of female Heroes.

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In which Fire Emblem game did the Hero class first appear?

Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade is the first game in the series to introduce the Hero class, including the formal introduction of female Heroes. The Hero class is a promotion from the Mercenary class.

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What is the secondary promotion option for Fighters in Fire Emblem?

In Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones and Fire Emblem Awakening, Fighters have the secondary promotion option of the Hero class, enabling them to wield swords. In Fire Emblem Fates, Fighters can also promote to the Berserker class, alongside the Hero class.

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How does the Hero class in Fire Emblem: Three Houses differ from previous iterations?

The Hero class in Fire Emblem: Three Houses is exclusively male, a change from earlier games. It can be attained from the Commoner or Noble class if the unit achieves a B Sword Skill Level, a C Axe Skill Level, and an Advanced Seal at Level 20. This Hero class is also unique as it's the only non-unique class not used by any named NPCs in Three Houses.

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History in the Series

In its original inception in Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, the Hero class is established as the promoted form of the Mercenary class, wielding only swords.

In Fire Emblem Gaiden and its remake, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, the Hero class is known as the Myrmidon. The class is again the promoted form of the Mercenary class, and can be further promoted into the Dread Fighter class. There is another Hero class that is Alm's exclusive promotion.

In Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, the Hero class is again the promoted form of the Mercenary class and cannot be promoted any further.

In Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, the Hero class is renamed to Forrest. It is one of the promoted forms of the newly-introduced Sword Fighter, and is the promotion class for Chulainn, Ulster, Creidne, and Dalvin. Like its predecessors, the class also wields swords. This game is the first in the series in which a female character (Creidne) can access the Hero class.

In Fire Emblem: Thracia 776, the Hero class is renamed to Mercenary. The class is again one of the promoted forms of the Sword Fighter class; within the playable cast, Machyua is the only Sword Fighter who promotes into this class. The Mercenary class in this game also acts as the promoted form of the Axe Fighter class. Thracia 776 is the first game in the series in which Heroes are able to wield axes alongside swords.

As of Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade, the Hero class is separated from the Sword Fighter class and is instituted as the standard promoted form of the Mercenary class.

In Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, the Hero class is a promotion class for both Mercenary Fighter.

In Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, the Hero class is exclusive to Greil. Ike's Lord class shares the same statistical caps as the Hero class in this game, minus the ability to wield axes.

In Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, the Hero class is exclusive to Ike and, much like its older predecessors, only wields swords. Despite resembling its Path of Radiance incarnation, the Hero class only gains the ability to wield axes when it is further promoted into the Vanguard class.

In Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem, the Hero class is again the promoted form of the Mercenary class and can wield swords and axes.

In Fire Emblem Awakening, Heroes are once again one of the promoted forms of not just the Mercenary class, but also the Fighter class.

In Fire Emblem Fates, the Hero class is known as Brave Hero in the Japanese version. Treated as a Nohrian class, the Hero class is once again one of the promoted forms of both the Mercenary and Fighter classes.

In Fire Emblem Warriors, the class returns as the promoted class of Navarre. The class only wields Swords and functions as a clone of the Blade Lord class. There is also an enemy-only version that serves as the Nohrian clone of the Swordmaster class.

In Fire Emblem: Three Houses, the Hero class is male-only. It is an optional promoted class of the Commoner or Noble class if the unit passes the Certification Exam at Lv. 20 with a Sword Skill Level of B or higher, an Axe Skill Level of C or higher, and an Advanced Seal.

Other Games

In TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga, the class is known as Bastard. It serves as the promotion for Kramer, the sole playable Mercenary, granting him the Blade skill if he is not yet permanently recruited. Additionally, Sherpa's version of the Highlander (ハイランダー) can be considered a variant of the Hero, as lore-wise, it also represents a veteran mercenary and swordsman. In gameplay, the two classes share the same stat spread, the ability to use Blades, and sprites, with only slight differences in combat animations.

In Vestaria Saga I, the Hero is known as the Gladiator. The class comes with the Critical Edge skill which increases their crit rate equal to their Skill. The only Gladiator in the game is Zayid.

Overview

Combat

Statistically speaking, Heroes are somewhere in between the General and Swordmaster classes. While they are speedier and have less Defense compared to Generals, they are slower but more defensive than Swordmasters. As a result, well-trained Heroes are capable of effectively defending against attacks like Generals, but still have enough agility to dodge assaults like Swordmasters. This in turn places Heroes as one of the more "balanced" classes of the Fire Emblem series alongside the Soldier class. Many characters that are/can become Heroes across the series typically become very powerful units.

Heroes usually possess abnormally high Skill for axe users and unusually high Constitution for sword users. This combination means that Heroes are proficient with Hand Axes, which most axe users have trouble hitting consistently with.

In WiFi battles, Heroes are usually considered bad units. They have a low Speed cap, meaning they can be struck twice (four times if the opponent is using Brave weapons) without being able to retaliate in kind. Their average Defense means that they usually cannot survive being hit four times from forged brave weapons by the more offensively-oriented classes.

Uniform

Many times over, the hero class's attire have been shown to be adorned with moderate to heavy plate armor encasing them from head to toe. Armor pieces most recurrent throughout include breastplates with tassets and barbed pauldrons, a metal head-guard, leg armor from poleyns to sabatons, and a large shield strapped to the left arm.

Outside of these common armor pieces, other additions and variations upon this build are seen in each game. Early TCG artwork, TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, the Tellius Duology, and Priam from Fire Emblem: Awakening depict the hero class with a flowing cape (tattered shawl in Priam's case) wrapped around the front of the breastplate while Fire Emblem Fates depicts a single cape-like scarf over the left bicep and underneath the shield.

Raven's and Linus's variants of the hero class in the GBA games have them wearing unarmored tunics with knee-length trenchcoats rather than the breastplates with barbed pauldrons. (Raven, however, is depicted as wearing a breastplate in his artwork in Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher) while Linus continues to go shirtless.) Other times, a single loincloth is seen hanging from above the groin like with the myrmidon class in Echoes and the Forrest and Mercenary classes in the Jugdral duology for males, while females wear long skirts (female members of this class in Fates) or tunics (Echidna from Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade); Alm also wears such a tunic in Echoes.

On the head-guard, sometimes they are depicted absent as in the Archanean DS games, replaced with simple headbands such as with the Tellius games and TearRing Saga, upgrade into head-guards like in Awakening and Fates (the latter of whom incorporates bird-like designs akin to the eagle, a bird recognized for its bravery symbolism much like the class) or full-blown helmets in the older TCG and in Echoes; Echoes stylizes the helmet after a samurai's kabuto, presumably to liken it to the Dread Fighter, its ninja-themed promotion.

Lastly, on the subject of their second-most famous armament after their sword (their shield) its size and shape has varied considerably throughout installments; most of the time it is a large enough to nearly (if not completely) cover their entire arm and is rectangular in shape. The GBA games and Awakening put a unique spin on this particular design: the GBA games (much like Echoes later would do) had its Heroes sheath their swords or even their axes in their shields like Roman gladiators did, and though Awakening lacked this feature, their shields were radically different from others in that their oval-shaped shields were comprised of two individual components that were worn over both the shoulder and the forearm to allow greater flexibility.

Other times, the shield was much smaller and more varied in shape, either being worn on the forearm or in the hand as seen in the first three games in the series and the older TCG (and Echoes) or on the shoulder as seen in Fates; Echoes shields retain the GBA games ability to sheath swords inside of them. The shield is completely absent from the Tellius duology and TearRing Saga.

In Fates in particular (and in line with many other promoted classes), the standard uniform that Heroes wear are built more upon their preceding tier's original attire (or rather literally on top of it); additional embellishments include the breastplate over the diamond-patterned vest, metal guards added onto the forearms and shins, and a cape-like scarf worn over the left arm and underneath the shield, and the replacements are a larger circular shield over the original heater shield and a headguard fashioned after a bird's wings over the original forehead guard.

In-Game

Base Stats

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE1	24	8	-	14	14	0	8	0	7	-	-	Sword 10	-
FE2	30	11	-	11	14	0	7	6	5	-	-	Sword	-
FE3	22	6	-	10	12	0	7	3	7	-	-	Sword 10	-
FE4	40	12	3	12	12	0	7	3	6	-	-	A	-
FE5	24/20	6/5	1	7	8/9	0	5	6	6	-	-	D E	-
TS	25	7	0	8	7	0	5	-	6	-	-	5	-
FE6	22	6	-	9/10	10/11	0	8/6	2/3	6	10/9	-	C E	-
FE7	22	6	-	9/10	10/11	0	8/6	2/3	6	10/9	-	C E	-
FE8	22	6	-	9/10	10/11	0	8/6	2/3	6	10/9	-	C D	-
FE9	22	6	1	9	10	0	8	2	7	12	13	A A	-
FE10	38	9	1	13	11	0	9	2	7	12	13	S	-
FE11	22	6	1	10	12	0	7	3	8	-	-	D E	-
FE12	24	6	1	10	11	0	7	3	8	-	-	D E	-
FE13	22	8	1	11	10	0	8	3	6	-	-	E E	-
FE14	20	8	0	10	8	3	7	2	6	-	-	E E	-
FE15	30	11	-	11	14	0	7	6	5	-	-		-
FE16	30	17	8	12	14	10	12	8	5	-	-	B C	0
FE17	23	8	0	8	9	3	5	2	5	7	-	A C^ C^	-

Maximum Stats

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE1	52	20	-	20	20	20	20	7	12	-	-	Sword 20	-
FE3	52	20	-	20	20	20	20	20	7	-	-	Sword 20	-
FE4	80	27	18	27	27	30	22	18	6	-	-	A	-
FE5	80	20	20	20	20	20	20	-	20	20	-	A A	-
TS	60	22	15	23	22	30	20	-	12	-	-	20	-
FE6	60	25/24	-	30	26	30	25/24	22/24	15	20	-	S S	-
FE7	60	25/24	-	30	26	30	25/24	22/24	15	20/25	-	S S	-
FE8	60	25/24	-	30	26	30	25/24	22/24	15	25	-	S S	-
FE9	60	26	20	27	28	40	20	20	7	12	13	S S	-
FE10	50	27	10	30	30	30	26	15	7	12	13	S	-
FE11	60	25	20	30	26	30	25	22	8	-	-	A A	-
FE12	60	25	20	30	26	30	25	22	8	-	-	A A	-
FE13	80	42	30	46	42	45	40	36	6	-	-	A A	-
FE14	60	32	25	35	32	31	30	27	6	-	-	A B	-
FE17	75	45	20	37	41	33	34	22	7	16	-	A C^ C^	-
FEW	999	138	28	171	175	142	81	81	5	-	-	S	-

Growth Rates

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE1	?	?	-	?	?	0%	?	0%	-	-	-	-	-
FE2	150%	50%	-	50%	50%	0%	50%	0%	-	-	-	-	-
FE3	80%	30%	-	20%	20%	-	30%	0%	-	-	-	-	-
FE4	100%	30%	10%	30%	30%	0%	30%	10%	-	-	-	-	-
FE5	90%	30%	3%	30%	30%	20%	20%	-	0%	40%	-	-	-
FE6	75%	30%	-	30%	20%	25%	20%	10%	-	-	-	-	-
FE7	75%	30%	-	30%	20%	25%	20%	10%	-	-	-	-	-
FE8	75%	30%	-	30%	20%	25%	20%	10%	-	-	-	-	-
FE9	90%	45%	15%	45%	40%	25%	25%	20%	-	-	-	-	-
FE10	80%	50%	10%	70%	40%	30%	40%	15%	-	-	-	-	-
FE11	60/80%	20/30%	-20/0%	25/20%	20%	0%	5/30%	-10/20%	-	-	-	-	-
FE12	50/80%	20/30%	-20/0%	25/20%	20%	0%	10/30%	-10/20%	-	-	-	-	-
FE13	45%/90%	20%/45%	0%/0%	25%/50%	20%/45%	0%/40%	10%/30%	5%/25%	-	-	-	-	-
FE14	20%	15%	0%	20%	15%	5%	10%	0%	-	-	-	-	-
FE15	90%	50%	-	50%	50%	0%	35%	0%	-	-	-	-	-
FE16	30/50%	10/22%	0%	0/5%	10/15%	0%	0/30	-5%	-	-	-	+3 +2	5%
FE17	15%	15%	0%	10%	15%	15%	0%	10%	-	0%	-	-	-

Class Modifiers

Class Skills

	Skill	Requirements
FE4	Pursuit	Class skill of Swordfighters, Bow Fighters, Thief Fighters, and Master Knights.
FE9	Aether	Occult skill of the Hero and Lord classes; assign with an Occult Scroll.
FE10	Shove	Base skill of all foot units.
FE13	Sol Axebreaker	Learnt at Level 5. Learnt at Level 15.
FE14	Sol Axebreaker	Learnt at Level 5 and above. Learnt at Level 15 and above.
FE16	Swordfaire Vantage Defiant Strength	Class Ability of the Hero class. Class Ability of the Hero class. Mastery Ability of Heroes.
FE17	Brave Assist Triangle Adept	Class Skill of Heroes. Maddening mode skill.

Promotions

	Base Class	Promotion Method	Promoted Class
FE1	Mercenary	Use a Hero Proof on a Level 10+ Mercenary.	Hero
FE2	Mercenary	Visit the Shrine after reaching Level 7.	Myrmidon
FE2	Myrmidon	Visit the Shrine after reaching Level 10.	Dread Fighter
FE3	Mercenary	Use a Hero Proof on a Level 10+ Mercenary.	Hero
FE4	Sword Fighter	Choose the "Class Change" option in the Home Castle when the relevant unit reaches Level 20.	Forrest (Chulainn, Ulster, Creidne, Dalvin)
FE5	Sword Fighter	Use a Knight Proof on a Level 10+ Sword Fighter.	Mercenary (Machyua)
FE5	Axe Fighter	Use a Knight Proof on a Level 10+ Axe Fighter.	Mercenary
FE6	Mercenary	Use a Hero Crest on a Level 10+ Mercenary.	Hero
FE7	Mercenary	Use a Hero Crest on a Level 10+ Mercenary.	Hero
FE8	Mercenary	Use a Hero Crest on a Level 10+ Mercenary.	Hero
FE8	Fighter	Use a Hero Crest on a Level 10+ Fighter.	Hero
FE8	Journeyman (2)	Use a Hero Crest on a Level 10+ Journeyman.	Hero
FE10	Hero	At the end of Chapter 3-E.	Vanguard
FE11	Mercenary	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Mercenary.	Hero
FE12	Mercenary	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Mercenary.	Hero
FE13	Mercenary	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Mercenary.	Hero
FE13	Fighter	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Fighter.	Hero
FE14	Mercenary	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Mercenary.	Hero
FE14	Fighter	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Fighter.	Hero
FE16	Any class	Use an Advanced Seal on a Level 20+ male unit and pass the Hero Certification Exam.	Hero
FE17	Sword Fighter	Use Master Seal on Level 10+ Sword Fighter with Lance or Axe Proficiency.	Hero
FEW	Mercenary	Use a Master Seal on Navarre.	Hero

Notable Heroes

Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light/Shadow Dragon

• Samson - An Altean gladiator and eventually Sheema's bodyguard in Mystery of the Emblem.
• Astram - Midia's lover and loyal soldier of Archanea.
• Promotion for: Ogma, Caesar, Radd, and Navarre (only in Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light).

Gaiden

• Deen - A mercenary forced to work for the pirate king Grieth.
• Blake - A servant of the pirate king Grieth.
• Possible promotions for: Gray, Tobin, Kliff, Saber, Kamui, Jesse, and Atlas.

Mystery of the Emblem/New Mystery of the Emblem

• Promotion for Samuel in Mystery of the Emblem only; otherwise same as above, with Navarre only promoting to a Hero in Mystery of the Emblem.

Genealogy of the Holy War

• Jacobi - A mercenary hired by King Chagall of Agustria.
• Bovis - The second member of the twelve Deadlords.
• Promotion for: Chulainn, Ulster, Creidne, and Dalvin.

Thracia 776

• Galzus - The prince of the fallen kingdom of Ribaut and Mareeta's father.
• Ralf - A kindhearted traveling mercenary.
• Aihiman - A hitman for the Loptyrian Cult.
• Promotion for: Orsin, Halvan, and Machyua.

The Binding Blade

• Echidna - A resistance leader from the Western Isles. Also a female Hero.
• Henning - Leader of a bandit gang who was at the shrine of the Durandal.
• Randy - Leader of a group of mercenaries hired by Bern to attack the village of Arcadia.
• Promotion for: Dieck and Ogier.

The Blazing Blade

• Linus - Brendan Reed's youngest son, the "Mad Dog" of the Black Fang, and one of the Four Fangs.
• Harken - A knight in service of House Pherae. Sole survivor of Lord Elbert's crew and Isadora's lover.
• Kaim - Guardian of the "Thunder Axe", Armads.
• Promotion for Raven.

The Sacred Stones

• Caellach - One of the Six Generals of Grado.
• Possible promotion for: Garcia, Gerik, and Ross.

Path of Radiance

• Greil - Father of Ike and Mist, and the founder of the Greil Mercenaries.

Radiant Dawn

• Ike - The son of Greil and Hero of The Mad King's War. A swordsman who is fondly referred to as the Savior of Crimea.

Awakening

• Flavia - The East Khan, and later Khan Regnant, of Ferox.
• Priam - A person who claims to be a descendant of Ike, wielding the legendary blade Ragnell.
• Xalbador - A bandit leader who lost his faith in the gods.
• Possible promotion for: Vaike, Gregor, Inigo, Morgan, and Severa.

Fates

Possible promotion for: Selena, Laslow, Arthur, Charlotte, Soleil, Zhara (captured), and Gazak (captured).

Engage

• Goldmary - One of Hortensia's retainers.
• Morion - The King of Brodia. Diamant and Alcryst's father.
• Possible promotion for: Lapis

Vestaria Saga I

• Zayid - A laconic ex-gladiator who swore to protect Sheela to repay a debt.

Vestaria Saga: The Holy Sword of Silvanister

• Zayid - A laconic ex-gladiator who swore to protect Sheela to repay a debt.

Trivia

• Heroes almost always wield swords and shields, sometimes including axes in their armament. The GBA games and Echoes, however, are unique in that they keep their weapons inside their shields (at least the generic units in Echoes), similar to Roman warriors. They are at their most acrobatic in the GBA and 3DS games, with somersaults being a mainstay of their animations.
• Hero is the only non-unique class in Three Houses that is never used by any of the named NPCs. With that said, Holst (a character from Three Houses and Three Hopes) does wear the outfit of the Hero class in Three Hopes and uses the Swordmaster class because the Hero class is unavailable in the latter game. If Holst is considered a Hero, then every non-unique class is used by the named NPCs.

Gallery

Concept artwork of the Hero class from Genealogy of the Holy War.

Concept artwork of the male variant of the Hero class from Awakening.

Concept artwork of the female variant of the Hero class from Awakening.

Concept artwork of the female variant of the Hero class from Awakening.

Concept art of a female Hero from Fates

Concept art of a male Hero from Fates

Concept artwork of the Myrmidon class from Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.

A Level 1 generic Forrest, as he appears in the second series of the TCG.

A Level 10 generic Mercenary, as he appears in the fourth series of the TCG.

A Level 10 generic Hero, as he appears in the sixth series of the TCG.

Generic CG artwork of the Hero class from the DS games.

Generic portrait of the Hero class from Awakening.

Generic portrait of the Hero class from Fates.

Generic portrait of the Myrmidon class from Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.

Village sprite of the Myrmidon class from Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.

Battle model of the Myrmidon class from Gaiden.

Battle model of Attrom, a Hero from TearRing Saga

Battle animation of Harken, a male Hero from The Blazing Blade.

Battle model of Echidna, a female Hero from The Binding Blade.

Battle model of Ike , a Hero from Radiant Dawn.

Ike's model as a Hero from Radiant Dawn.

Battle model of Donnel, a male Hero from Awakening.

Battle model of Severa, a female Hero from Awakening.

A Myrmidon from Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.

Battle model of a generic enemy Myrmidon from Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.

Battle model of Ferdinand as a Hero from Fire Emblem Three Houses

Ferdinand as a Hero in Three Houses.

Battle model of Lapis, a female Hero from Engage.

Map sprite of the Hero class from Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light.

Map sprite of the Myrmidon class from Gaiden.

Map sprite of the Hero class from Mystery of the Emblem.

Map sprite of the male Hero class from Genealogy of the Holy War.

Map sprite of the female Hero class from Genealogy of the Holy War.

Map sprite of the Hero class from TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga.

Map sprite of the male Hero class from the GBA games.

Map sprite of the Hero class from the DS games.

Map sprite of the Hero class from Awakening.

Map sprite of the Hero class from Fates.

A Hero in Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes.