Site News
Warning: This wiki contains spoilers. Read at your own risk!

Social media: If you would like, please join our Discord server, and/or follow us on Twitter (X) or Tumblr!

Great Knight

From Fire Emblem Wiki, your source on Fire Emblem information. By fans, for fans.
Great Knight

FESK Great Knight.png
Artwork of the Great Knight from the TCG.


Nohrian. An armored, mounted knight. Wields swords, lances, and axes.

Unit type(s)

Unknown

Weapon(s)
Skill(s)

The Great Knight (Japanese: グレートナイト Great Knight), known as the Axe Paladin (Japanese: 斧騎将グレートナイト Great Knight) in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, is an advanced mounted class, primarily axe-wielders, which debuted in Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War. The class exists divided into two variations over the course of the Fire Emblem series, which share some fundamental similarities with each other but are intended somewhat differently.

In its original incarnation in Genealogy of the Holy War, Thracia 776 and Radiant Dawn, the Great Knight (Axe Paladin in Radiant Dawn) is the promoted version of the Axe Knight, exclusively wields axes, and is a counterpart to its fellow weapon-specific advanced mounted classes: Bow Knight/Bow Paladin, Duke Knight/Lance Paladin and Ranger/Blade Paladin. In Thracia 776, Great Knights are forced to dismount to enter buildings or participate in chapters set entirely indoors, and when doing so are forced to wield swords instead. The second variation is that of The Sacred Stones, Awakening, and Fates, acting as a promoted class for both Cavaliers and Knights, and possessing access to swords, lances and axes in equal measure.

In both cases, Great Knights are built to be bulkier and more defensively-oriented than their mounted counterparts by possessing greater HP and defense and slightly superior strength at the expense of lower skill and speed, though this is more pronounced in the Sacred Stones/Awakening version of the class. The Sacred Stones/Awakening variant is designed as a hybrid between mounted and armored classes, possessing the weaknesses of both categories and acting as a mid-point between the stat spreads of the two; similarly, the Sacred Stones/Awakening/Fates version possesses lower movement than all other advanced mounted classes, while the Genealogy of the Holy War/Thracia 776/Radiant Dawn version possesses equal movement to its counterparts. The Sacred Stones/Awakening/Fates Great Knights are also very effective in melee combat, as they are able to use all three weapons in the weapon triangle; they can easily pick a weapon that is advantageous against the weapon they are facing.

Stats

Base stats

Game HP Strength Magic Skill Speed Luck Defense Resistance Movement Constitution Weapon level
Genealogy of the Holy War 40 12 0 7 7 0 10 3 9 -- Axes A
Thracia 776 24 (24) 5 (4) 1 (1) 6 (5) 6 (4) 0 (0) 5 (4) -- 9 (6) 9 (9) Swords -- (E) Axes D (--)
The Sacred Stones 21/20 8/6 -- 4/6 6/7 0 11/9 3 6 13/10 Swords E Lances D Axes D
Radiant Dawn
(normal)
33/35 18/11 5/1 16/6 16/8 0 15/10 10/3 9 11/8 Axes C
Radiant Dawn
(Part 4 enemies)
38 20 7 18 18 0 17 12 9 11 Axes A
Awakening 26 11 0 6 5 0 14 1 7 -- Template:Sword3DS E Template:Lance3DS E Template:Axe3DS E

Max stats

Game HP Strength Magic Skill Speed Luck Defense Resistance Movement Constitution Weapon level
Genealogy of the Holy War 80 27 15 22 22 30 25 18 9 -- Axes A
Thracia 776 80 (80) 20 (20) 20 (20) 20 (20) 20 (20) 20 (20) 20 (20) -- 20 (20) 20 (20) Swords -- (A) Axes A (--)
The Sacred Stones 60 28/26 -- 24/26 24/25 30 29/28 25/26 15 25 Swords S Lances S Axes S*
Radiant Dawn
(normal)
45 26 15 25 23/25 30 24/22 16 ? ? Axes S
Radiant Dawn
(Part 4 enemies)
58 34 17 33 29 30 28 22 ? ? Axes SS
Awakening 80 48 20 34 37 45 48 30 9 -- Template:Sword3DS A Template:Lance3DSA Template:Axe3DS A

Class growth rates

Game HP Strength Magic Skill Speed Luck Defense Resistance Charm Constitution* Movement* Weapon level
Genealogy of the Holy War 100% 30% 10% 30% 30% 0% 30% 10% -- -- -- --
Thracia 776 70% 30% 5% 30% 20% 20% 30% -- -- 30% 0% --
The Sacred Stones 70% 30% -- 20/25% 15/20% 20% 21% 20/22% -- -- -- --
Radiant Dawn
(normal)
45 26 15 25 23/25% 30 24/22% 16% -- -- -- --
Radiant Dawn
(Part 4 enemies)
105% 75% 55% 80% 60% 80% 60% 55% -- -- -- --
Awakening 50% 25% 0% 15% 10% 0% 15% 5% -- -- -- --
See class growth rate for more details on the mechanics of class growths in each game.

Class skills

Game Skill Learning conditions
Genealogy of the Holy War
Thracia 776
The Sacred Stones
Radiant Dawn
Is wii canto.png Canto Innate; hidden and unnamed in all appearances except Radiant Dawn.
Awakening
Fates
File:Is 3ds luna.png Luna Awakening: Learned at Level 5.
Fates: Learned from Level 5 and up.
Awakening File:Is 3ds dual guard+.png Dual Guard+ Learned at Level 15.

Class change

Genealogy of the Holy War

Base class Promotion method Advanced class
File:Bs fe04 lex axe knight axe.png
Axe Knight
Choosing the "Class change" option in a home castle after reaching Level 20. File:Bs fe04 lex great knight axe.png
Great Knight

Thracia 776

Base class Promotion method Advanced class
Bs fe05 brighton axe knight axe.png
Axe Knight
Using a Knight Proof after reaching Level 10. Bs fe05 brighton great knight axe.png
Great Knight

The Sacred Stones

Base class Promotion method Advanced class
Bs fe08 franz cavalier lance.png
Cavalier
and
Bs fe08 gilliam knight lance.png
Knight
Using a Knight Crest or Master Seal after reaching Level 10. Bs fe08 franz great knight lance.png
Great Knight

Radiant Dawn

Base class Promotion method Advanced class Promotion method Master class

Axe Knight
Using a Master Seal after reaching Level 10, or reaching Level 21.
Axe Paladin
Using a Master Crown after reaching Level 10, or reaching Level 21.
Gold Knight

Awakening

Base class Promotion method Advanced class
File:Ma 3ds cavalier playable.gif
Cavalier
and
File:Ma 3ds knight playable.gif
Knight
Using a Master Seal after reaching Level 10. File:Ma 3ds great knight playable.gif
Great Knight

Fates

Base class Promotion method Advanced class
Ma 3ds02 cavalier playable.gif
Cavalier
and
Ma 3ds02 knight playable.gif
Knight
Using a Master Seal after reaching Level 10. Ma 3ds02 great knight playable.gif
Great Knight

Frederick (Before Awakening)

Advanced class
File:Ma 3ds great knight other.gif
Great Knight

Playable Great Knights/Axe Paladins

Playable Characters
Name Game
Duessel The Sacred Stones
Kieran Radiant Dawn
Titania Radiant Dawn, Awakening
Frederick Awakening
Mycen Awakening
Ephraim Awakening
Gunter Fates
Playable Great Knight units in the Fire Emblem series.

Notable enemy Great Knights/Axe Paladins

Enemy Units
Name Game
Slayder Genealogy of the Holy War First Generation
Schmidt Genealogy of the Holy War Second Generation
Fisher Genealogy of the Holy War Second Generation
Aias The Sacred Stones
Lombroso Radiant Dawn
Peri Fates: Birthright
Gunter Fates: Revelation
Enemy Great Knight units in the Fire Emblem series.

Trivia

Gallery

Etymology and other languages

Names, etymology, and in other regions
Language Name Definition, etymology, and notes
English

• Great Knight
• Axe Paladin

• This name is used in The Sacred Stones, Awakening, and Fates.
• This name is used only in Radiant Dawn, matching the other "Paladin" classes of the game.

Spanish

• Jinete pesado
• Paladín hacha

• Heavy rider; this name is used in The Sacred Stones and Awakening.
• Axe paladin; this name is used only in Radiant Dawn.

French

• Grand chevalier
• Paladin hache

• Great knight; this name is used in The Sacred Stones and Awakening.
• Axe paladin; this name is used only in Radiant Dawn.

German

• Erzritter
• Rittmeister/Axt

• Archknight, in the sense of being a "highest knight", not in the sense of being an archer knight; this name is used in The Sacred Stones and Awakening.
Cavalry captain/Axe; this name is used only in Radiant Dawn.

Italian

• Gran cavalier
• Paladino ascia

• Great knight; this name is used in The Sacred Stones and Awakening.
• Axe paladin; this name is used only in Radiant Dawn.

References

See also

Project Classes.png This article is part of Project Classes, a project focused in writing articles for every class present in the Fire Emblem series.

Template:NavClass