Dark Mage

Dark Mage Artwork of the Dark Mage from the Trading Card Game. The Dark Mage shatters enemies with high physical defense using dark magic.

Unit type(s) Infantry Weapon(s) Tome, Staff (Mystery of the Emblem) Dark, Staff (Genealogy of the Holy War) Dark, Fire, Thunder, Wind, Staff (Thracia 776) Tome (Shadow Dragon, New Mystery of the Emblem) Tome (+Dark) (Awakening, Fates) Various, including magic (Three Houses) Black magic, Dark (Three Houses; specialty) Skill(s) Hex, Anathema (Awakening) Heartseeker, Malefic Aura (Fates) Miasma Δ, Heartseeker, Poison Strike (Three Houses)

The Dark Mage (Japanese: ダークマージ Dark Mage) is a magic-wielding class which debuted in Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem. Throughout its appearances in the Fire Emblem series, it can be roughly divided into two incarnations; both share in common the ability to wield dark magic and similar tomes.

Its first incarnation is as an advanced class in Mystery of the Emblem, Genealogy of the Holy War and Thracia 776. In these three games, the Dark Mage is primarily enemy-only, near-exclusively the domain of sinister enemy factions—Gharnef and his heretic bishop followers in Mystery of the Emblem, and the Loptr Church in the latter two. Between these three games it is playable exactly once, as the promoted class of Salem in Thracia 776. In addition to dark magic, in these games it can also wield staves and, in Thracia 776, the three types of anima magic.

The second version of the class is as a basic class, appearing in this capacity in Shadow Dragon and all subsequent games, acting as the successor of the role previously filled by the Shaman. Compared to their Mage counterparts, Dark Mages are slower, bulkier and more defensively oriented, though still possessing formidable offensive magical power; this difference is more pronounced in Shadow Dragon and New Mystery of the Emblem, where the absence of distinct dark magic gives them little clear distinction from Mages. In Awakening, however, dark magic returns as a subcategory of tomes which are exclusive to the use of Dark Mages and Sorcerers.

In Mystery of the Emblem and Genealogy of the Holy War, the Dark Mage is enemy only and thus is not associated with class changes in either direction, although in the latter it does have a stronger cousin class, the Dark Bishop, also enemy-exclusive. In Thracia 776, the Dark Mage is an advanced class, as the promoted form of the Loptr Mage. From Shadow Dragon onwards, Dark Mages promote to Sorcerer; in addition, Awakening and Fates give them an alternative promotion option, the Dark Knight, which loses the ability to wield dark tomes in exchange for mobility and swords.

In Shadow Dragon and New Mystery of the Emblem, no standard playable character joins as a Dark Mage, and the player's sole access to the class is through reclassing compatible units. Additionally, replacement units may initially be Dark Mages when they join.

Stats

Base stats

Game	HP	Strength	Magic	Skill	Speed	Luck	Defense	Resistance	Movement	Constitution	Weapon level
Mystery of the Emblem	26	5	--	1	3	0	8	8	6	--	Tome/Staff: 6
Genealogy of the Holy War	40	0	10	8	8	0	7	10	5	--	B B
Thracia 776	24	0	5	4	3	0	4	--	6	6	C E E E C
Shadow Dragon	16	0	2	1	3	0	4	3	6	--	E
New Mystery of the Emblem	16	0	2	1	3	0	4	3	6	--	E
Awakening	18	1	3	2	3	0	4	4	5	--	E
Fates	16	0	6	3	3	1	3	5	5	--	E
Three Houses	25	4	10	7	6	8	3	5	4	--	--
Warriors (Tharja)	62	3	9	4	7	4	6	10	5	--	E

Max stats

Game	HP	Strength	Magic	Skill	Speed	Luck	Defense	Resistance	Movement	Constitution	Weapon level
Mystery of the Emblem	52	20	--	20	20	20	20	20	20	--	Tome/Staff: 20
Genealogy of the Holy War	80	15	25	23	23	30	22	25	5	--	B B
Thracia 776	80	20	20	20	20	20	20	--	20	20	A A A A A
Shadow Dragon	60	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	32	--	A
New Mystery of the Emblem	60	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	8	--	A
Awakening	60	20	27	25	25	30	25	27	7	--	A
Fates	35	19	24	16	19	18	19	22	??	--	B
Warriors (Tharja)	999	53	160	79	126	64	107	151	5	--	S

Miscellaneous stats

Game	Experience	CRP	Gold	Weight mod.	Capacity	Vision	Size
Mystery of the Emblem	40	--	--	--	--	--	--
Genealogy of the Holy War	--	--	3,000	--	--	--	--
Thracia 776	--	3	--	--	--	--	--

Class growth rates

Game	HP	Strength	Magic	Skill	Speed	Luck	Defense	Resistance	Charm	Constitution*	Movement*	Weapon level
Mystery of the Emblem	40%	20%	--	30%	10%	0%	20%	40%	--	--	--	--
Genealogy of the Holy War	100%	10%	30%	30%	30%	0%	10%	30%	--	--	--	--
Thracia 776	30%	3%	20%	10%	10%	10%	5%	--	--	--	--	--
Shadow Dragon	20/40%	−15/0%	20/30%	20/30%	20/30%	0%	−15/20%	20%	--	--	--	--
New Mystery of the Emblem	20/40%	−15/0%	20/30%	20/30%	20/30%	0%	−15/20%	20%	--	--	--	--
Awakening	50/80%	5/0%	15/25%	15/20%	15/20%	0/20%	10/25%	10/25%	--	--	--	--
Fates	0/60%	10/0%	20/65%	0/30%	10/35%	0/15%	5/45%	10/45%	--	--	--	--
Three Houses	5/10%	-5%	10%	5/0%	0%	0%	−5/−10%	5/35%	0%	--	--	+2 +1
Warriors: Three Hopes	10%	0%	30%	15%	0%	0%	0%	20%	0%	--	--	--

See class growth rate for more details on the mechanics of class growths in each game.

Class modifiers

Game	HP	Strength	Magic	Skill	Speed	Luck	Defense	Resistance	Charm	Movement
Three Houses	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	1	0	0
Warriors: Three Hopes	0	0	6	3	0	0	0	5	0	2

Class skills

Game	Skill	Learning conditions
Awakening	Hex	Learned at Level 1.
Awakening	Anathema	Learned at Level 10.
Fates Three Houses	Heartseeker	• Fates: Learned from Level 1 and up. • Three Houses: Innate.
Fates	Malefic Aura	Learned from Level 10 and up.
Three Houses Warriors: Three Hopes	Miasma Δ	Innate.
Three Houses	Poison Strike	Class mastery. (100 class Exp required)
Warriors: Three Hopes	Dark Magic Mastery	Innate.
Warriors: Three Hopes	Cavalry Buster Lv 3	Innate.

Class change

Mystery of the Emblem

Base class
Dark Mage

Genealogy of the Holy War

The class a unit changes into in Genealogy of the Holy War is determined by the unit and not the class; however, no units change into or out of the Dark Mage class.

Base class
Dark Mage

Thracia 776

The class a unit changes into in Thracia 776 is determined by the unit and not the class; however, all units that change into the Dark Mage class have the following class change option:

Base class	Promotion method	Advanced class
Loptr Mage	Using a Knight Proof after reaching Level 10.	Dark Mage

Shadow Dragon

Base class	Promotion method	Advanced class
Dark Mage	Using a Master Seal after reaching Level 10.	Sorcerer

New Mystery of the Emblem

Base class	Promotion method	Advanced class
Dark Mage	Using a Master Seal after reaching Level 10.	Sorcerer

Awakening

Base class	Promotion method	Advanced class
Dark Mage	Using a Master Seal after reaching Level 10.	Sorcerer or Dark Knight
Promotion choice criteria: The player may freely choose.

Fates

Base class	Promotion method	Advanced class
Dark Mage	Using a Master Seal after reaching Level 10.	Sorcerer or Dark Knight
Promotion choice criteria: The player may freely choose.

Three Houses

Base class	Certification requirements	Intermediate class
Any class	Level 10 Dark Seal C	Dark Mage
This class is only available for male units.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE

Base class	Promotion method	Advanced class
Dark Mage	Using a Master Seal while talking to Tiki.	Sage or Sorcerer
Promotion choice criteria: The player can freely choose.

Warriors

Base class	Promotion method	Advanced class
Dark Mage	Using a Master Seal after reaching Level 15.	Sorcerer

Warriors: Three Hopes

Beginner class	Method	Intermediate class	Method	Advanced class	Method	Master class
Monk	Using an Intermediate Seal after mastering Monk.	Mage	Using an Advanced Seal after mastering Mage. (Male units only)	Dark Mage	Using a Master Seal after mastering Bishop, Warlock, or Dark Mage. (Male units only)	Dark Bishop

Playable Dark Mages

Playable Characters
Name	Game
Tharja	Awakening, Warriors
Henry	Awakening
Deirdre	Awakening
Salem	Awakening
Micaiah	Awakening (DLC version only)
Odin	Fates: Conquest, Revelation
Nyx	Fates: Conquest, Revelation
Ophelia	Fates: Conquest, Revelation
Kiria Kurono	Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE
Playable Dark Mage units in the Fire Emblem series.

Notable enemy Dark Mages

Enemy Units
Name	Game
Gharnef	Mystery of the Emblem Book 2
Sandima	Genealogy of the Holy War
Chalard	Awakening
Zola	Fates: Birthright, Revelation
Hubert	Three Houses
Enemy Dark Mage units in the Fire Emblem series.

Flavor text

Game	Text (English)	Text (Japanese)
Shadow Dragon	Wicked conjurers who wield dark tomes. A threat to those with high defense.	魔道書を用いて戦う闇の魔道使い。 守備力の高い敵に対し力を発揮する。
New Mystery of the Emblem	Sinister conjurers who wield dark tomes. Powerful against those with high defense.*	魔道書を用いて戦う闇の魔道使い。 守備力の高い敵に対し力を発揮する。
Awakening	A mage able to use dark tomes. High in Def and tough to kill.	闇魔法を操る異端の魔道使い。 守備が高く、打たれ強い。
Fates	Nohrian. A wizard who practices the forbidden techniques of dark magic.	暗夜の兵種。暗夜の術を学んだ邪術師。 魔道で敵を攻撃する。
Three Houses	The Dark Mage shatters enemies with high physical defense using dark magic.	闇魔法を使って戦う者。 守備の高い敵に対して強い。 魔法が使える兵種。
Warriors: Three Hopes	The Dark Mage shatters the defenses of their foes by employing dark magic.	闇魔法を駆使して戦う者。 魔法が使える兵種。

Etymology and other languages

Names, etymology, and in other regions
Language	Name	Definition, etymology, and notes
English	Dark Mage	--
Japanese	• ダークマージ • やみしさい • 暗黒魔道士 • ダークメイジ	• Officially romanized as Dark Mage. This name is used in all appearances except Three Houses. • Dark bishop; used in the battle UI of Mystery of the Emblem. • Dark Mage; used in ending titles in Thracia 776. • Dark Mage; used only in Three Houses.
Spanish	Mago oscuro	Dark mage
French	Mage noir	Black mage
German	Dunkelmagier	Dark mage
Italian	• Mago nero • Mago oscuro	• Black mage. Used in every game except Fire Emblem: Three Houses. • Dark Mage. Used in Three Houses.
Korean	다크 메이지	Dark mage
Simplified Chinese	暗术师	Dark arts user
Traditional Chinese	暗術師	Dark arts user

Gallery

• 

  Artwork of the Dark Mage from the Trading Card Game.

• 

  Concept artwork of a Dark mage from The Art of Fire Emblem Awakening.

• 

  The generic Dark Mage portrait in Genealogy of the Holy War.

• 

  The generic Dark Mage portrait in Thracia 776.

• 

  The generic Dark Mage portrait in Shadow Dragon.

• 

  The generic Dark Mage portrait in New Mystery of the Emblem.

• 

  The generic Dark Mage portrait in Awakening.

• 

  The generic Risen Dark Mage portrait in Awakening.

• 

  The generic Dark Mage portrait in Fates.

• 

  The generic Dark Mage portrait in Three Houses.

• 

  Hubert, as a Dark Mage, as he appears in battle Three Houses.

See also

• Loptr Mage
• Shaman

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