Dagger

This article is about daggers and knives as a weapon type. For the specific weapons, see Dagger (weapon) and Knife (weapon). For the skill permitting their use, see Knife (skill).

Jakob attacking with numerous daggers in Fire Emblem Cipher.

The dagger (Japanese: 暗器 concealed weapon) or knife (Japanese: 短剣 knife) is a weapon type which was introduced in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and is present only in it, Radiant Dawn, and Fates. They are the weakest weapon type in the games they appear in and universally have lower might than their counterparts, but they tend to have good accuracy and, in Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, they are by far the most lightweight weapons. Additionally, in Fates, every dagger has the ability to inflict stat reductions on enemies.

Daggers and knives often have enhanced range, being able to attack both at melée range and at a distance. All knives in Path of Radiance are melée range only, while the knives of Radiant Dawn are divided into two varieties, daggers (melée only) and throwing knives (enhanced range). In Fates, all daggers have enhanced range.

In Path of Radiance, knives lacked an actual weapon level of their own, instead having their use locked to classes possessing the Knife skill and thus allowing any such unit to use any knife; they gained a proper weapon level and according rank scaling in Radiant Dawn. The daggers of Fates are specifically associated with Nohr, and like every other weapon type in Fates, they have a unique Japanese-themed counterpart weapon type which is used primarily in Hoshido: the shuriken. Units who can wield daggers can wield shuriken just as easily, and vice versa.

There are 47 dagger/knife varieties in the Fire Emblem series; of these, three appear in Path of Radiance, thirteen in Radiant Dawn, and 32 in Fates.

In Fire Emblem Fates, their Hoshidan counterpart is called the shuriken (Japanese: 手裏剣 shuriken). They are almost exactly the same as daggers and share a weapon level, differentiated by the effect of that, when equipped, they increase the wielder's speed by 2, and, on average, they have lower hit rate.

Overview

Fates debuff system

Main article: Status conditions#Buffs and debuffs

In Fates, the key advantage of daggers is their debuff ability. When a dagger successfully hits, its target has temporary stat reductions applied after the battle ends; all daggers reduce the defense and resistance stats, and most also reduce one or two further stats in addition to defense and resistance. These debuffs do not stack but can be combined with other debuff effects on different stats (if there is a conflict, the larger stat reduction takes priority). Debuffed stats recover by 1 point each turn until the stat is back to normal.

Daggers in the Fire Emblem series by type

Basic knives/daggers

Weapon	Available in:																Notes
	FE01	FE02	FE03	FE04	FE05	FE06	FE07	FE08	FE09	FE10	FE11	FE12	FE13	FE14	FE15	FE16
Knife																	--
Dagger																	--
Stiletto																	--
Bronze Dagger																	--
Iron Dagger																	--
Steel Dagger																	--
Silver Dagger																	--
Kard																	--
Brass Shuriken																	--
Iron Shuriken																	--
Steel Shuriken																	--
Silver Shuriken																	--
A means that the weapon is available in that game, while a indicates the contrary.

Ranged knives/daggers

These knives/daggers have the capability of hitting beyond the typical 1 range (Radiant Dawn) or 1-2 range (Fates).

Weapon	Available in:																Notes
	FE01	FE02	FE03	FE04	FE05	FE06	FE07	FE08	FE09	FE10	FE11	FE12	FE13	FE14	FE15	FE16
Bronze Knife																	--
Iron Knife																	--
Steel Knife																	--
Silver Knife																	--
Peshkatz																	--
Spy's Shuriken																	3 range only
A means that the weapon is available in that game, while a indicates the contrary.

Close-range daggers

This dagger, on the other hand, is incapable of hitting within the full 1-2 range that normal daggers have in Fates.

Weapon	Available in:																Notes
	FE01	FE02	FE03	FE04	FE05	FE06	FE07	FE08	FE09	FE10	FE11	FE12	FE13	FE14	FE15	FE16
Caltrop																	1 range only.
A means that the weapon is available in that game, while a indicates the contrary.

Magic daggers

This dagger inflicts magical damage instead of physical.

Weapon	Available in:																Notes
	FE01	FE02	FE03	FE04	FE05	FE06	FE07	FE08	FE09	FE10	FE11	FE12	FE13	FE14	FE15	FE16
Flame Shuriken																	--
A means that the weapon is available in that game, while a indicates the contrary.

Effective knives/daggers

These weapons deal bonus damage to certain types of enemies.

Weapon	Available in:																Notes
	FE01	FE02	FE03	FE04	FE05	FE06	FE07	FE08	FE09	FE10	FE11	FE12	FE13	FE14	FE15	FE16
Stiletto																	Deals bonus damage to armored units in Path of Radiance. No effect in Radiant Dawn.
Beast Killer																	Deals bonus damage to beast units.
Hunter's Knife																	Deals bonus damage to beast units.
Kris Knife																	Deals bonus damage to monster units.
Sting Shuriken																	Deals bonus damage to armored units.
A means that the weapon is available in that game, while a indicates the contrary.

Character's daggers

Fates includes five daggers named for individual characters but not locked specifically to them.

Weapon	Available in:																Notes
	FE01	FE02	FE03	FE04	FE05	FE06	FE07	FE08	FE09	FE10	FE11	FE12	FE13	FE14	FE15	FE16
Felicia's Plate																	Magic weapon.
Jakob's Tray																	--
Kaze's Needle																	--
Saizo's Star																	--
Kagero's Dart																	--
A means that the weapon is available in that game, while a indicates the contrary.

Miscellaneous daggers

Weapon	Available in:																Notes
	FE01	FE02	FE03	FE04	FE05	FE06	FE07	FE08	FE09	FE10	FE11	FE12	FE13	FE14	FE15	FE16
Soldier's Knife																	Brave weapon.
Fruit Knife																	Can be used to recover 10 HP.
Quill Pen																	--
Stale Bread																	--
Raider Knife																	--
Votive Candle																	Grants Miracle when equipped.
Sacrificial Knife																	--
Pebble																	--
Barb Shuriken																	--
Dual Shuriken																	Reverses the weapon triangle.
Chopstick																	--
Hair Pin																	Female units only.
A means that the weapon is available in that game, while a indicates the contrary.

Regalia knives/daggers

Weapon	Available in:																Notes
	FE01	FE02	FE03	FE04	FE05	FE06	FE07	FE08	FE09	FE10	FE11	FE12	FE13	FE14	FE15	FE16
Baselard																	--
Chakram																	--
A means that the weapon is available in that game, while a indicates the contrary.

Classes capable of using knives/daggers

There are 11 classes which have wielded knives and daggers.

Class	Wields knives/daggers in:																Notes
	FE01	FE02	FE03	FE04	FE05	FE06	FE07	FE08	FE09	FE10	FE11	FE12	FE13	FE14	FE15	FE16
Thief																	--
Assassin																	--
Sage																	Optional, with each individual Mage having to choose between gaining knives or staves upon promotion to Sage; Bastian and Calill have knives by default.
Rogue																	--
Whisper																	--
Ninja																	--
Mechanist																	--
Master Ninja																	--
Dread Fighter																	--
Butler																	--
Maid																	--
A means that the class wields knives/daggers in that game, while a indicates the contrary.

Trivia

• Early Fates localization footage which was shown at E3 2015 referred to daggers as "kunai".

Etymology and other languages

Names, etymology and in other regions
Language	Name	Definition, etymology and notes
English	• Knife • Dagger	• This weapon category is known by this name in Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn. • This weapon category is known by this name only in Fates.
Japanese	• 軽器 • 短剣 • 暗器	• Romanized as knife in internal file listings; literally "light weapon". The weapon category is known by this name only in Path of Radiance. • Knife; the weapon category is known by this name only in Radiant Dawn. • Concealed weapon. This weapon category is known by this name only in Fates.
Spanish	Cuchillo	Knife
French	Couteau	Knife
German	Dolch	Dagger
Italian	Pugnale	Knife

Shuriken

Names, etymology and in other regions
Language	Name	Definition, etymology and notes
English	Shuriken	From 手裏剣 shuriken (literally "sword concealed in the hand"), a Japanese throwing weapon.
Japanese	手裏剣	Shuriken
Spanish	Shuriken	As above.
French	Shuriken	As above.
German	Shuriken	As above.
Italian	Shuriken	As above.

Gallery

• 

  A Thief wielding a knife in Path of Radiance.

• 

  Jakob attacking with numerous daggers in Fire Emblem Cipher.