Thief

This article is about the class. For the staff from the SNES games and New Mystery of the Emblem, see Thief (staff). For the class from Gaiden and its remake known as Thief in the Japanese version, see Brigand.

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Thief Artwork of the Thief from the Fire Emblem Trading Card Game. Skilled at opening locks, the Thief has excellent speed and dexterity.

Unit type(s) Infantry (all titles) Barbarian (Mystery of the Emblem) Beorc (Path of Radiance) Weapon(s) Sword (most games) Knife (Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn) Bow (Fates) Various (Three Houses) Sword, Bow (Three Houses; specialty) Skill(s) Steal (Genealogy of the Holy War–Radiant Dawn) Knife (Path of Radiance) Shove (Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn) Locktouch, Movement +1 (Awakening, Fates) Steal, Locktouch (Three Houses) None (Three Houses prologue variant)

The Thief (Japanese: 盗賊 Thief) is a basic class which was introduced in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. Thieves act as a supporting class whose abilities lie primarily in the domain of stealing and obtaining items or gold from the enemy. Thieves are present in every game in the Fire Emblem series except Fire Emblem Gaiden and Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.

Thieves possess exceptional speed and good skill, but can seldom put these to use in combat as they typically have poor to mediocre strength and are rendered extremely frail by their low defensive stats. In emergencies they can wield swords, or knives in Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, to defend themselves, but their primary role is avoiding combat entirely to focus on their supporting roles: stealing from enemy units and unlocking doors, treasure chests and bridges. Their ability to unlock chests and doors depends on the game: some games require they use a lockpick item, others that they possess a skill, and some instead have it as an innate ability.

In Fates, Thieves are known as the Outlaw in the localization, and specialize in bows instead of swords or knives, and have unusually high magical resistance for a primarily physical-based class. Being locked to bows makes their low defense less of a concern than for the Thief, if the Outlaw triggers battle, but leaves them more vulnerable if they are attacked at close range.

The Thief's class change options have varied considerably throughout the series. In Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, Gaiden, Mystery of the Emblem, The Binding Blade, Shadow Dragon, and New Mystery of the Emblem, Thieves cannot change class at all; to compensate, the latter two Nintendo DS remakes designate it as a special class with the ability to reach a maximum level of 30. Genealogy of the Holy War and Thracia 776 were the first games to give the Thief a promoted class, the Thief Fighter. The majority of games since then from The Blazing Blade onward have Thieves promote to Assassins. The Sacred Stones gives them the alternative option of promoting to the Rogue class, which also acts their only hypothetical promoted class in Radiant Dawn. Awakening introduced another class change option for Thieves as an alternative to Assassins: the Trickster. In Fates, Outlaws promote to Bow Knight and Adventurer.

Stats

Base stats

Game	HP	Strength	Magic	Skill	Speed	Luck	Defense	Resistance	Movement	Constitution	Weight	Experience	Weapon Level
Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light	16	3	--	1	9	0	2	0	7	--	--	40	Sword: 2
Mystery of the Emblem	16	2	--	1	7	1	1	0	7	--	--	40	Sword: 7
Genealogy of the Holy War	26	3	0	3	7	0	1	0	6	6	--	--	C
Thracia 776	16/14	1/0	0	1	6/7	0	0	--	7	5/3	--	--	E
The Binding Blade	16	3/1	--	1	9/7	0	2/1	0/1	6	6/5	--	--	E
The Blazing Blade	16/15	3/2	--	1/3	9/8	0	2/1	0/2	6	6/5	--	--	E
The Sacred Stones	16	3	--	1	9	0	2	0	6	6	--	--	E
Path of Radiance	16	3	0	2	9	0	2	0	7	9	9	--	-- (+Knives)
Radiant Dawn	16	5	0	6	10	0	3	0	7	9	9	--	E
Shadow Dragon	16	2	0	1	7	0	1	0	7	--	--	--	E
New Mystery of the Emblem	16	2	0	1	7	0	1	0	7	--	--	--	E
Awakening	16	3	0	6	8	0	2	0	5	--	--	--	E
Fates	16	3	1	4	8	1	2	4	5	--	--	--	E
Three Houses	25	9	6	11	11	8	6	2	5	--	--	--	--
Three Houses (Prologue variant)	0	8	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	--	--	--	--
Warriors (Niles)	52	7	5	7	10	4	4	9	5	--	--	--	E

Max stats

Game	HP	Strength	Magic	Skill	Speed	Luck	Defense	Resistance	Movement	Constitution	Weapon Level
Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light	52	20	--	20	20	20	20	20	20	--	Sword: 20
Mystery of the Emblem	52	20	--	20	20	20	20	20	20	--	Sword: 20
Genealogy of the Holy War	80	18	15	18	22	30	16	15	?	20	C
Thracia 776	80	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	A
The Binding Blade	60	20	--	20	20	30	20	20	15	20	A
The Blazing Blade	60	20	--	20	20	30	20	20	15	20	A
The Sacred Stones	20	20	--	20	20	30	20	20	15	20	A
Path of Radiance	40	20	15	20	20	40	20	20	??	??	-- (+Knives)
Radiant Dawn	30	15	10	20	20	40	15	10	32	--	A
Shadow Dragon	60	20	20	25	30	30	25	20	32	--	A
New Mystery of the Emblem	60	20	20	25	30	30	25	20	9	--	A
Awakening	60	22	20	30	28	30	21	20	7	--	A
Fates	35	19	18	20	24	18	17	22	??	--	B
Warriors (Niles)	900	115	91	118	171	75	62	159	5	--	S/

Class growth rates

Game	HP	Strength	Magic	Skill	Speed	Luck	Defense	Resistance	Charm	Constitution*	Movement*	Weapon Level*
Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light	?	?	--	?	?	0%	?	0%	--	--	--	--
Mystery of the Emblem	60%	30%	--	40%	50%	0%	30%	0%	--	--	--	--
Genealogy of the Holy War	100%	30%	10%	30%	30%	0%	30%	10%	--	--	--	--
Thracia 776	70%	20%	0%	15%	15%	10%	10%	--	--	20%	0%	--
The Binding Blade	50/45%	5%	--	45%	40%	40%	5%	20%	--	--	--	--
The Blazing Blade	50/45%	5%	--	45%	40%	40%	5%	20/25%	--	--	--	--
The Sacred Stones	50%	5%	--	45%	40%	40%	5%	20%	--	--	--	--
Path of Radiance	70%	45%	15%	60%	60%	40%	30%	20%	--	--	--	--
Radiant Dawn	55%	40%	10%	55%	45%	70%	40%	30%	--	--	--	--
Shadow Dragon	30/60%	10/20%	-20/0%	30/40%	40/50%	0%	5/30%	-10/0%	--	--	--	--
New Mystery of the Emblem	30/60%	10/20%	-20/0%	30/40%	40/50%	0%	5/30%	-10/0%	--	--	--	--
Awakening	35/60%	15/20%	5/0%	25/40%	25/40%	0/20%	5/20%	5%	--	--	--	--
Fates	0%	10%	5%	10%	20%	0%	0%	20%	--	--	--	--
Three Houses	20%	0/15%	0%	10%	10/15%	0%	0/10%	0%	5%	--	--	+2 +1
Three Houses (Prologue variant)	0%	0%	0%	10%	10%	0%	0%	-5%	0%	--	--	+2 +1

Click here 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	0	2	2	0	0	0	0	1
Three Houses (Prologue variant)	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	1

Class skills

Game	Skill	Learning conditions
Genealogy of the Holy War Thracia 776 The Binding Blade The Blazing Blade The Sacred Stones Path of Radiance Radiant Dawn Three Houses	Steal	• All titles: Innate. • Three Houses: Class mastery. (100 class Exp required)
Path of Radiance	Knife	Innate.
Path of Radiance Radiant Dawn	Shove	Innate; hidden in Path of Radiance.
Awakening Fates Three Houses	Locktouch	• Awakening: Learned at Level 1. • Fates: Learned from Level 1 and up. • Three Houses: Innate.
Awakening Fates	Movement +1	• Awakening: Learned at Level 10. • Fates: Learned from Level 10 and up.

Additionally, Thieves in Three Houses do not suffer any loss of movement while traveling across Forest or Thicket tiles.

Class change

Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light

Base class
Thief

Mystery of the Emblem

Base class
Thief

Genealogy of the Holy War

Base class	Promotion method	Advanced class
Thief	Choosing the "Class change" option in a home castle after reaching level 20.	Thief Fighter

Thracia 776

Base class	Promotion method	Advanced class
Thief	Using a Knight Proof after reaching Level 10.	Thief Fighter

Thracia 776 (Lara only)

Base class	Promotion method	Advanced class
Thief	Using a Knight Proof after reaching Level 10. Talk to Pirn in Chapter 12x.	Thief Fighter or Dancer
Promotion choice criteria: Lara can promote to Thief Fighter at any time through normal use of a Knight Proof, but promoting to Dancer is only available in Chapter 12x.

The Binding Blade

Base class
Thief

The Blazing Blade

Base class	Promotion method	Advanced class
Thief	Using a Fell Contract after reaching Level 10.	Assassin

The Sacred Stones

Base class	Promotion method	Advanced class
Thief	Using an Ocean Seal or Master Seal after reaching Level 10.	Rogue or Assassin
Promotion choice criteria: The player can freely choose.

Path of Radiance

Base class	Promotion method	Advanced class
Thief	Event at the end of Chapter 19, if the player chooses to hire Volke. Volke only.	Assassin

Shadow Dragon

Base class
Thief

New Mystery of the Emblem

Base class
Thief

Awakening

Base class	Promotion method	Advanced class
Thief	Using a Master Seal after reaching Level 10.	Trickster or Assassin
Promotion choice criteria: The player can freely choose

Fates

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

Three Houses

Base class	Certification requirements	Intermediate class
Any class	Level 10 Intermediate Seal C	Thief
This class is available for any unit.

Warriors

Base class	Promotion method	Advanced class
Outlaw	Using a Master Seal after reaching Level 15.	Adventurer

Playable Thieves

Playable Characters
Name	Game
Julian	Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, Mystery of the Emblem, Shadow Dragon, New Mystery of the Emblem
Rickard	Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, Mystery of the Emblem, Shadow Dragon, New Mystery of the Emblem
Dew	Genealogy of the Holy War First Generation
Patty	Genealogy of the Holy War Second Generation
Daisy	Genealogy of the Holy War Second Generation
Lifis	Thracia 776
Lara	Thracia 776
Chad	The Binding Blade
Astore	The Binding Blade
Cath	The Binding Blade
Matthew	The Blazing Blade, Awakening
Legault	The Blazing Blade
Colm	The Sacred Stones
Volke	Path of Radiance
Sothe	Path of Radiance
Gaius	Awakening
Niles	Fates: Conquest, Revelation, Warriors
Nina	Fates: Conquest, Revelation
Anna	Fates
Playable Thief units in the Fire Emblem series.

Notable enemy Thieves

Enemy Units
Name	Game
Vaam	BS Fire Emblem: Archanea War Chronicles, New Mystery of the Emblem
Dahl	Mystery of the Emblem, New Mystery of the Emblem
Kostas	Three Houses
Petra	Three Houses
Pallardó	Three Houses
Niles	Warriors
Enemy Thief units in the Fire Emblem series.

Notable NPC Thieves

Other Units
Name	Game
Leila	The Blazing Blade
Neutral Thief units in the Fire Emblem series.

Flavor text

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Game Text (English) Text (Japanese) Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light Village-destroying rogues. They've low power and can open chests.* ?? Mystery of the Emblem ?? ?? The Binding Blade (class roll) Rogues and fortune-hunters. Possess weak attacks but have many other skills.* 宝を求めて戦場をかけ回る者たち 戦闘能力はひくいが　さまざまな特技をもつ The Binding Blade (help) Jacks of all trades who can pick locks and learn secrets.* カギ開けや　盗みなど さまざまな特技をもつ The Blazing Blade (class roll) Rogues and fortune-hunters. Possess weak attacks but many other skills. ?? The Blazing Blade (help) Jacks of all trades who can pick locks and learn secrets. ?? The Sacred Stones (class roll) Rogues and fortune hunters. They possess weak attacks but many other skills. ?? The Sacred Stones (help) Multitalented knaves with an eye for riches. Equip: Swords. ?? Path of Radiance Multitalented knaves who are skilled at picking locks and stealing items from unwary foes. ?? Radiant Dawn (class roll) Multitalented knaves with a knack for finding treasures in battle. They have low combat abilities. ?? Radiant Dawn (help) Multitalented knaves who are always on the lookout for treasure. They have weak combat abilities. ?? Shadow Dragon Organized rogues who raze villages. Poor at fighting, but talented with locks. ?? New Mystery of the Emblem ?? ?? Awakening A shadowy figure who fares better picking locks than fights. ?? Fates Nohrian. A rogue able to pick any lock. Uses bows and has high Spd and Res. ?? Three Houses Skilled at opening locks, the Thief has excellent speed and dexterity. 鍵開けを得意とする盗賊。 技と速さに優れる。 Three Houses (Prologue variant) This common criminal lives for plunder and fights with dexterity and speed. 各地を荒らす盗賊。 技と速さに優れている。 Warriors Thieves travel the land in search of their next plunder. They can open any chest and use the confusion of battle to slip onto the field and make off with treasure. They fight using swords, which means they're strong against axes and weak to lances. They're wary fighters, leaving few openings in their attacks. ??

Etymology and other languages

Names, etymology and in other regions
Language	Name	Definition, etymology and notes
English	• Thief • Outlaw	• Used in most games. • Used in Fates.
Japanese	• 盗賊 • シーフ • 盗人シーフ	• Officially romanized as Thief. This kanji name (previously spelled in hiragana as とうぞく in Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and Mystery of the Emblem) is used in every game except Genealogy of the Holy War, Thracia 776, Path of Radiance, and Radiant Dawn. • Thief; this katakana name is used only in Genealogy of the Holy War, Thracia 776, Path of Radiance, and Fates. • Officially romanized as Thief. This kanji name is used only in Radiant Dawn, where all Japanese class names are spelled primarily in kanji (i.e. 盗人), with a foreign-language name in katakana applied as furigana (i.e. シーフ) and used as the basis for the romanized name in the class roll. Unusually in Radiant Dawn, the Thief's usual kanji name, 盗賊, is the name of the Rogue class instead.
Spanish	• Ladrón • Granuja	• Thief; used in most games. • Scoundrel; used in Fates.
French	• Voleur • Hors-la-loi	• Thief; used in most games. • Outlaw; used in Fates.
German	• Dieb • Diebin • Gesetzloser	• Thief; used in most games. • Feminine variant of the former, used exclusively for female Thieves in The Blazing Blade, alongside the male "Dieb". • Outlaw; used in Fates.
Italian	• Ladro • Fuorilegge	• Thief; used in most games. • Outlaw; used in Fates.
Korean	도적	Thief
Simplified Chinese	盗贼	Thief
Traditional Chinese	盜賊	Thief

Gallery

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  Artwork of the Thief from the Fire Emblem Trading Card Game.

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  The generic Thief portrait in Mystery of the Emblem.

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  The generic Thief portrait in Thracia 776.

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  The generic Thief portrait in the Game Boy Advance games.

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  The generic Thief portrait in Shadow Dragon.

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  The generic Thief portrait in New Mystery of the Emblem.

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  The generic Thief portrait in Awakening.

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  The generic Risen Thief portrait in Awakening.

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  The generic Outlaw portrait in Fates.

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  An enemy Thief in Path of Radiance.

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  An enemy Thief in Radiant Dawn.

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  Petra as a Thief in Three Houses.

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  Concept art of Thieves from Genealogy of the Holy War.

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  Niles as an Outlaw in Fates.

See also

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