Thief

For the staff with the same name, see here. For the battalion with the plural name, see here.

The Thief is a physical combat/utility class that debuted in the Fire Emblem series in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light.

Quick Answers

What is the role of the Thief in the Fire Emblem series?

The Thief, a recurring class in the Fire Emblem series, wields Swords or Knives. Their primary role is to Steal and manipulate locks on doors and chests, and they can also destroy villages. Unique to the Thief class is the Steal skill, used to acquire items. This skill is used by several classes including Thief Fighter, Rogue, Assassin, and Whisper. The Thief class first appeared in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light.

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What are the two valuable command skills of the Thief in Fire Emblem?

The Thief in Fire Emblem boasts two crucial command skills: Steal and Locktouch. Steal enables the acquisition of diverse items from adversaries, with item types differing across games. Locktouch, a class ability learned from Level 1, allows Thieves to unlock doors and chests without keys.

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How does the ability to 'Steal' work in Fire Emblem?

In Fire Emblem, the 'Steal' skill enables a unit to take unequipped items or gold from foes. It was first seen in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and is primarily used by the Thief class, along with Thief Fighter, Rogue, Assassin, and Whisper classes. The skill requires the thief's Strength stat to exceed the weapon's weight for successful theft. In Fire Emblem: Three Houses, 'Steal' is an inherent ability of the Thief class, available to any character mastering the class.

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What does the 'Pick' ability allow the Thief to do in Fire Emblem?

The 'Pick' ability in Fire Emblem, a skill of the Thief and Rogue classes, enables the user to unlock doors and chests without Lockpicks or Keys. This skill, introduced in Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, increases inventory space by eliminating the need for these tools.

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When did the Thief character first debut in the Fire Emblem series?

In the Fire Emblem series, the Thief character made its debut in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. Thieves are recognized for their ability to steal and manipulate locks, with Swords or Knives being their preferred weapons.

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History in the Series

Thieves commonly have two unique command skills: Steal, the ability to rob a target of specific items, and Locktouch (sometimes localized as Pick), the ability to unlock Chests, Doors, and Gates without the need for a specific key. In some games, Locktouch is an innate ability that comes with the class, in others, it is tied to a skill that can be learned from the class.

Thieves sometimes appear as enemies. In many cases, enemy thieves will target treasure chests and villages and attempt to plunder them before the player's force can reach them. If a thief steals an item from a chest, they will typically drop the item for the player to claim if defeated.

In combat, thieves typically wield swords or knives. In terms of stats, the class tends to focus on Speed and Dexterity, making them likely to dodge attacks and deny Follow-Up Attacks. In exchange, they often have low Defense, sometimes also lacking Strength.

In games that feature fog of war maps, thieves typically have a greater visibility range than other units.

In some games including the original Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and Engage, the class is unable to promote, but is given a higher level cap to compensate.

Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War is the first game in the series in which thieves are able to promote, with their promotion class in this game being the Thief Fighter. Additionally, thieves are able to transfer their gold to any unit in the player's army, while other units are otherwise restricted to exchanging funds with only their lover.

In Fire Emblem: Thracia 776, the Thief class is again able to promote into the Thief Fighter class. Lara has an additional promotion option, and depending on whether the necessary requirements are met, she can promote into either a Dancer or Thief Fighter. Thracia 776 is currently the , the Thief Fighter class is retired, though the later Rogue and Trickster classes fill the same niche of a promoted class that retains all functions of the original Thief class.

In Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Volke is the only Thief who can promote into an Assassin. The manner of Volke's promotion is unique, in that it is tied to a story event. main plot, To retain his services as an assassin, the player must opt to pay Volke 50,000 gold, or he will otherwise leave the army.

In Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, the Thief class is enemy-only, though player-characters in the Thief class line come pre-promoted into either the Rogue class, or, in the case of Volke, the Assassin class.

In Awakening, Thieves are given the further option to promote into Trickster alongside Assassin.

Thieves are known as Outlaws in Fire Emblem Fates and are treated as a Nohrian class that wields bows. Outlaws are given the option to promote into either Bow Knight or Adventurer, the bow-using equivalent to the Awakening Trickster. The Hoshidan counterparts to the Outlaw are the Archer class, mirroring Outlaws' bow usage, and are similar to the Ninja class in terms of utility, even sharing the Locktouch skill with the latter class.

The Nohrian thief-type class, Outlaw, reappears in Fire Emblem Warriors as the base class of Niles, in which it acts as a clone of the Archer class. There are also enemy-only versions of both Thief and Outlaw which act like clones of the Myrmidon class, with the added ability to open chests. Additionally, the Hoshidan Ninja and Master Ninja classes act as the Hoshidan variant of the Thief class.

In Three Houses, the Thief class is an optional promoted class of the Commoner or Noble class if the unit passes the Certification Exam at Lv. 10 with a Sword Skill Level of C or higher and an Intermediate Seal. The character Ashe has the Lockpick personal ability, which allows him to open locked doors and chests without needing to access the thief class.

In addition, there is also an enemy-only variant of the Thief class called Ruffian. Ruffians are much weaker, have no class skills and appear exclusively in the prologue.

In Engage, the Thief class is the starting class of both Yunaka and Zelkov. The class has no promotion, but like other classes, a Second Seal may be used to reclass any character into or out of the class.

Other Games

In TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga, thieves are unable to promote. There are two versions of the Thief class: a playable version in the mercenary class category, and an NPC/Enemy version in the criminal class category. The enemy version has a slightly higher strength cap in exchange for a slightly lower speed cap.

In TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga, Czene, the playable Thief, is able to promote into Grassrunner, and is the only thief able to promote at all. They wield knives, making them good for inflicting injuries to make it easier to capture units. All thieves have the Locktouch and Hide skills and usually possess a stealing skill: Czene and some enemy thieves have Mug, whereas Sedy is the sole user of the Steal skill. There is also a bow variant of the class used by enemy units.

In Vestaria Saga I, the Thief wields daggers. The class possesses the Lurk skill which increases terrain bonuses by 50%. It promotes into the Thief Hunter.

In Vestaria Saga: The Holy Sword of Silvanister, two variants of the Thief are introduced. The Thief Fighter, which is exclusive to Sjarta and is no different from the normal Thief, and the Thief Master, which wields swords and is exclusive to Drake. The Thief Master has higher Strength and Skill, making it superior to the Thief.

Uniform

Thieves tend to wear light armor with leather padding at best, if not rudimentary light clothing. More often than not, they tend to wear long cloaks and may have hoods to further obscure their identity. Several thieves also visually carry some sort of a cache to store their loot and may have belts on them that hold their weapons and tools.

Overview

Combat

The Thief class primarily focuses on agility in combat, and can dodge the majority of enemy attacks. However, their low Strength impairs their utility as combat units as they can rarely inflict heavy damage on foes. When raising a Thief, it is recommended to have hardier units cover them while the Thief concentrates on weakened foes. They are somewhat like weak Myrmidons and score well in the Skill, Speed and (sometimes) Luck departments to offset their lower Strength, Defense and Resistance. Though weak, their high speed means they will double most opponents. Thieves with a high Skill rating can perform regular critical hits. A well-raised Thief can hold their own in combat, capable of dealing out reliable damage cause of their high accuracy (skill) while remaining almost completely untouched.

Thieves with low offensive capabilities are still useful as support units. Thieves have higher Movement than other infantry units, making them good for quick assaults or reaching objectives quickly. They can see farther than other units in Fog of War battles, making them perfect for scouting. They can also pilfer supplies from the enemy with their ability to Steal, robbing enemies of assets such as medicine or staves. With sufficient Strength, they can even steal weapons (depending on the game), especially valued if they can steal unique enemy equipment. These, alongside their ability to open doors and treasure chests without keys, make them valuable assets on any player's army. However, as they are physically frail, it is advisable to not leave them unguarded at all times.

When promoted into an Assassin, apart from the normal boost in all parameters, the Thief gains more points in HP, Resistance and Defense than any of their other stats. They lose their ability to steal from enemies, but retain the ability to use Lockpicks. They also gain the Lethality ability, thus making Assassins much more combat-oriented than Thieves. Rogues, conversely, keep all the abilities of the Thief class, becoming even more effective in that regard. Their price to pay is possessing weaker combat stats as compared to Assassins. However, they have a critical bonus, which, while not being as large as the Assassins, is still hefty when compared to that of Thieves.

In-Game

Base Stats

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE1	16	3	-	1	9	0	2	0	7	-	-	Sword 2	-
FE3	16	2	-	1	7	0	1	0	7	-	-	Sword 1	-
FE4	26	3	0	3	0	7	1	0	6	-	-	C	-
FE5	16/14	1/0	0	1	6/7	0	0	-	7	5/3	-	E	-
TS	18	1	0	5	10	0	0	-	5	-	-	3	-
FE6	16	3/1	-	1	9/7	2/1	0/1	6	6/5	-	-	E	-
FE7	16/15	3/2	-	1/3	9/8	0	2/1	0/2	6	6/5	-	E	-
FE8	16	3	-	1	9	0	2	0	6	6	-	E	-
FE9	16	3	0	2	9	0	2	0	7	9	9	Knife	-
FE10	16	5	0	6	10	0	3	0	7	9	9	D	-
FE11	16	2	0	1	7	0	1	0	7	-	-	E	-
FE12	16	2	0	1	7	0	1	0	7	-	-	E	-
FE13	16	3	0	6	8	0	2	0	5	-	-	E	-
FE14	16	3	1	4	8	1	2	4	5	-	-	E	-
FE16	25	9	6	11	11	8	6	2	5	-	-	C	0
FE17	22	5	0	10	10	2	6	2	5	4	-	S	-
FEW	52	7	5	7	10	4	4	9	5	-	-	E	-

Maximum Stats

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE3	52	20	-	20	20	20	20	20	7	-	-	Sword 7	-
FE4	80	18	15	18	22	30	16	15	6	-	-	C	-
TS	60	16	15	20	25	30	15	-	5	12	-	16	-
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	7	9	9	Knife	-
FE10	30	15	10	20	20	40	15	10	7	9	9	A	-
FE11	60	20	20	25	30	30	25	20	7	-	-	A	-
FE12	60	20	20	25	30	30	25	20	7	-	-	A	-
FE13	60	22	20	30	28	30	21	20	5	-	-	A	-
FE14	35	19	18	20	24	18	17	22	5	-	-	B	-
FE17	60	43	22	51	42	30	33	23	7	13	-	S	-

Growth Rates

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE3	60%	30%	-	40%	50%	0%	30%	30%	-	-	-	-	-
FE4	100%	30%	0%	30%	30%	0%	30%	10%	-	-	-	-	-
FE5	70%	20%	0%	15%	15%	10%	10%	-	-	20%	-	-	-
FE6	50/45%	5%	-	45%	40%	40%	5%	20%	-	-	-	-	-
FE7	50/45%	5%	-	45%	40%	40%	5%	25%	-	-	-	-	-
FE8	50%	5%	-	45%	40%	40%	5%	20%	-	-	-	-	-
FE9	70%	45%	15%	60%	60%	40%	30%	20%	-	-	-	-	-
FE10	55%	40%	10%	55%	40%	70%	40%	30%	-	-	-	-	-
FE11	30%	10%	-20%	30%	40%	0%	5%	-10%	-	-	-	-	-
FE12	30%	10%	-20%	30%	40%	0%	5%	-10%	-	-	-	-	-
FE13	35%	15%	5%	25%	25%	0%	5%	5%	-	-	-	-	-
FE14	0%	10%	5%	10%	20%	0%	0%	20%	-	-	-	-	-
FE16	20%	0%/15%	0%	10%	10%/15%	0%	0%/10%	0%	-	-	-	+2 +1	5%
FEW3H	15%	0%	0%	15%	15%	0%	0%	0%	-	-	-	-	5%

Class Modifiers

Class Skills

	Skill	Requirements
FE4	Steal	Class skill of the Thief and Thief Fighter classes.
FE5	Steal	Class skill of the Thief and Thief Fighter classes.
TS	Steal Picklock	Class skill of the Thief (F) class. Class skill of the Thief class.
FE9	Knife Steal	Class skill of the Thief and Assassin classes. Class skill of the Thief and Assassin classes.
FE10	Shove Steal	Base skill of all foot units. Class skill of the Thief, Rogue and Whisper classes.
FE13	Locktouch Movement +1	Learnt at Level 1. Learnt at Level 10.
FE14	Locktouch Movement +1	Learnt at Level 1 and above. Learnt at Level 10 and above.
FE16	Locktouch Steal	Class Ability of Thieves. Class and Mastery Ability of Thieves.
FE17	Pass Savage Blow	Class Skill of Thieves. Maddening mode skill.
FEW3H	Steal Locktouch Axe Buster Lv 2 Appraisal Dex +2 Sword Prowess Thief's Ploy Thief's Wisdom Shadowblade Iceblade Lightblade	Class skill. Class skill. Class skill. 1-star Class Mastery for certain units. 1-star Class Mastery for certain units. 2-star Class Mastery for all units. 3-star Class Mastery for certain units. 3-star Class Mastery for certain units. 3-star Class Mastery for certain units. 3-star Class Mastery for certain units. 3-star Class Mastery for certain units.

Promotions

	Base Class	Promotion Method	Promoted Class
FE4	Thief	Choose the "Class Change" option in the Home Castle when the relevant unit reaches Level 20.	Thief Fighter
FE5 (Standard)	Thief	Use a Knight Proof on a Level 10+ Thief.	Thief Fighter
FE5 (Lara)	Thief	In Chapter 12x, have Lara speak to Perne.	Dancer
FE7	Thief	Use a Fell Contract on a Level 10+ Thief.	Assassin
FE8	Thief	Use an Ocean Seal or a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Thief.	Assassin Rogue
FE9 (Volke)	Thief	Choose to rehire Volke at the end of Chapter 19.	Assassin
FE13	Thief	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Thief.	Assassin Trickster
FE14	Outlaw	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Outlaw.	Adventurer Bow Knight
FE16	Any class	Use an Intermediate Seal on a Level 10+ unit and pass the Thief Certification Exam.	Thief
FEW	Outlaw	Use a Master Seal on Niles.	Adventurer
FEW3H	Myrmidon	Use an Intermediate Seal on a unit that has mastered the Myrmidon class.	Thief
FEW3H	Thief	Use an Advanced Seal on a unit that has mastered the Thief class.	Assassin

Notable Thieves

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

• Rickard - A thief who greatly admires Julian.
• Julian - Former member of the Soothsires.
• Dahl - Leader of the Raman Thieves.
• Barm - Boss in Fire Emblem: Archanea Saga.

Genealogy of the Holy War

• Dew - Thief who assisted in the rescue of Edain.
• Patty - Daughter of Brigid and the younger sister of Febail.
• Daisy - Sister of Asaello and the substitute character of Patty.

Thracia 776

• Lifis - Leader of the Lifis Pirates.
• Lara - Member of the Magi Squad.

The Binding Blade

• Chad - An orphan raised in Araphen along with Lugh and Raigh.
• Astolfo - A spy from Ostia who is Igrene's long-lost husband, Gorlois.
• Cath - A thief who has a strong hatred for nobles.

The Blazing Blade

• Matthew - A Happy-go-lucky spy from Ostia who's actually quite sly.
• Legault - Former member of the Black Fang known as the "The Hurricane" that left the group when it lost its way.

The Sacred Stones

• Colm - Thief from Renais and the childhood friend of Neimi.

Path of Radiance

• Volke - A mercenary assassin who works under the drive of monetary gains.
• Sothe - An orphaned stowaway seeking a lost, unnamed companion.

Awakening

• Gaius - A thief from Ylisse known for his nimble hands and sweet tooth.

Fates

• Niles - One of Leo's retainers and a Nohrian scoundrel who wags his saucy tongue at everyone.
• Nina - The calm and intelligent daughter of Niles who is prone to intense bouts of daydreaming.
• Anna - One of many savvy merchants of the same name known throughout the Fire Emblem franchise who are known for get-rich-quick schemes to expand their coin purses.

Three Houses

• Kostas - Bandit who tried to kill Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude.
• Pallardó - Ex-merchant who gave himself to thievery, he doesn't seem to care in sacrificing others to save himself. Takes refuge at the ruined Garreg Mach Monastery.

Engage

• Yunaka - A sprightly thief of Brodia who has a hidden past.
• Zelkov - The retainer to Princess Ivy who speaks as if his words have a underlying message.

TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga

• Czene - A daughter of nomads that seeks to prove her worth.
• Sedy - An orphaned thief from Narvia that steals to provide for a group of other orphaned children.

Vestaria Saga I

• Cezar - A roving tomb raider to prefers to describe himself as "all man, all adventure."

Vestaria Saga: The Holy Sword of Silvanister

• Sjarta/Irene - A young girl suffering from PTSD after being kidnapped.
• Drake - A master at thievery. His true name is Dorian, the son of the slain former Duke of Frist.

Trivia

• Every naturally-occurring thief-class character in Awakening - Gangrel, Gaius, and Anna (and all three characters' potential Morgan) - is a redhead.
• Thieves are often portrayed with a pack slung over their backs, as well as some manner of hooded cloak or cowl.
• Outlaws wielding bows in Fire Emblem Fates are likely a nod to Robin Hood, an outlaw of legend who was said to be a highly skilled archer.
• In Engage, both of the game's thieves, Yunaka and Zelkov, have histories as assassins, but the assassin class does not exist in Engage, either as a promotion or separately.

See also

• Assassin
• Trickster
• Rogue
• Steal
• Lockpick

Gallery

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

Concept artwork of the Thief class from Path of Radiance.

Concept artwork of the unused Thief class from Path of Radiance.

Concept artwork of the Thief class from Radiant Dawn.

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

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

Concept art of a female Outlaw from Fates.

Concept art of a male Outlaw from Fates.

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

A Level 10 generic Thief, as he appears in the fifth series of the TCG.

Generic CG artwork of the Thief class from the GBA titles.

Generic portrait of the Thief class from TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga.

Generic portrait of the Thief class from TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga.

Generic portrait of the Thief class from TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga.

Generic portrait of the Thief class from TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga.

Generic CG artwork of the Thief class from the DS titles.

Generic portrait of the Thief class from Awakening.

Generic class portrait of an Outlaw from Fates.

Generic portrait of the Male Thief class from Three Houses.

Battle model of an enemy Thief from Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light.

Patty as a Thief in Genealogy of the Holy War.

Lara as a Thief in Thracia 776.

Sprite of the enemy variant of Thief in TearRing Saga.

Sprite of Yuni, a female thief in TearRing Saga.

Battle model of Czene, a female thief in Berwick Saga.

Battle model of a generic Thief in Berwick Saga.

A bow thief in Berwick Saga.

Sothe as a Thief in Path of Radiance.

Volke as a Thief in Path of Radiance.

Gaius as a male Thief in Awakening.

Anna as a female Thief in Awakening.

Niles, a male Outlaw from Fates.

Battle model of a male thief in Fire Emblem Three Houses.

Battle model of a female thief in Fire Emblem Three Houses.

Edelgard as a Thief in Three Houses.

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

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

Map sprite of the Thief class from Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones.

Map sprite of the female variant of the Thief class from Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade.

Map sprite of the Thief class from the DS titles.

Map sprite of the enemy variant of the Thief class from the DS titles.

Gaius's map sprite as a Thief from Awakening.