Thief

For the Thief Staff see: Thief (Staff)

Thieves (盗賊) make for a very special class in the Fire Emblem series. As expected, these sword or knife using units specialize in speed and stealth over power and defense. Naturally, this means they are not the kind of class used for heavy offense. The class is open to several special abilities unusable to other classes, including Steal, which allows them to take an unequipped item from an enemy's inventory, and can see farther in Fog of War (up to 8 spaces) compared to other units. Enemy Thieves are capable of destroying villages, in the event that they happen to move to one. Unlike other enemies, they usually leave the map after they have done their job.

Bandits go by the name Thief in Fire Emblem Gaiden.

Combat
The Thief focuses on quickness and agility in combat. Expect them to dodge the majority of attacks thrown at them, but don't count on getting much out of their low attack power. If interested in raising a Thief, it is recommend to have other characters cover them while they take on weakened foes. With proper raising, thieves are capable of holding their own in combat thanks to their massive speed similar to myrmidons.

In WiFi battles, Thieves are mediocre units. Their high speed makes them unable to be doubled, but their low strength makes them unable to deal much damage. Unusually, the thief class has a higher defense stat than the Swordmaster class, making them somewhat peculiar to play. Unlike in most other games, a thief in Fog of War cannot see further than normal units. Due to there being only one map with doors, there is little practical use in having a Thief. Thieves are also locked to a single weapon, giving them a disadvantage against many lance users.

Promotions
Though Thieves are among the most consistently appearing classes in the games, their promotion paths are anything but consistent.

From Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi to Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, Thieves did not promote.

In Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War, a promotion class was finally introduced in the form of the Thief Fighter, a thief that could now truly hold their own in combat. For some reason, this class was retired after Fire Emblem: Thracia 776, and for the record Lara had the additional possibility of promoting to Dancer.

In Fire Emblem: Binding Blade, Thieves once again could not promote.

In Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken, Thieves are upgraded into the Assassin class through the use of the difficult-to-obtain Fell Contract. Jaffar joins as an Assassin.

In Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Thieves can upgrade to either Assassins or Rogues through the use of an Ocean Seal.

In Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Volke is the only Thief that can promote to an Assassin. This promotion is done without an item, and is part of the storyline in which Volke either leaves or is rehired as an Assassin for a fee of 50,000 gold.

In Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn there are no playable Thieves to promote, as the characters who would be Thieves come pre-promoted as Rogues.

In Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, a remake of the first Fire Emblem game, Thieves once again do not promote. However, they are allowed to reach up to Level 30.

In Fire Emblem: Awakening, they can promote to Assassins or Tricksters.

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 keep the ability to use Lockpicks. They also gain the Lethality ability, thus making Assassins much more combat-oriented than Thieves. Rogues, however, keep all the abilities of the Thief, becoming even more effective in that regard. Their price to pay is possessing weaker combat stats compared to Assassins. However, they have a critical bonus, which, while not being as large as the Assassins, is still hefty compared to Thieves.

Mystery of the Emblem

 * HP: 52
 * Str: 20
 * Skl: 20
 * Spd: 20
 * Lck: 20
 * Def: 20
 * Res: 20
 * Mov: 7

Genealogy of the Holy War

 * HP: 80
 * Str: 18
 * Mag: 15
 * Skl: 18
 * Spd: 22
 * Lck: 30
 * Def: 16
 * Res: 15

GBA Series

 * HP: 60
 * Strength: 20
 * Skill: 20
 * Speed: 20
 * Luck: 30
 * Defense: 20
 * Resistance: 20

Shadow Dragon

 * HP: 60
 * Str: 20
 * Mag: 20
 * Skl: 25
 * Spd: 30
 * Lck: 30
 * Def: 25
 * Res: 20
 * Sword: A

Awakening

 * HP: 60
 * Str: 22
 * Mag: 20
 * Skl: 27
 * Spd: 28
 * Lck: 30
 * Def: 21
 * Res: 20
 * Sword: A

In Fire Emblem: Ankoku Ryū to Hikari no Tsurugi and Fire Emblem: 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: Akaneia Saga

In Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War

 * Dew - Thief who asissted in the rescue of Adean
 * Patty - Daughter of Briggid and the younger sister of Faval
 * Daisy

In Fire Emblem: Thracia 776

 * Lifis - Leader of the Lifis Pirates
 * Lara - Member of the Magi Squad

In Fire Emblem: Binding Blade

 * Chad - An orphan raised in Araphen along with Lugh and Raigh
 * Astore - A spy from Ostia who is heavily implied to be Igrene's long lost husband, Gorlois
 * Cath - A thief who has a strong hatred for nobles

In Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken

 * Matthew - A spy from Ostia
 * Legault - Former member of the Black Fang, known as the "Hurricane"

In Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

 * Colm - Thief from Renais and the childhood friend of Neimi

In Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

 * Volke
 * Sothe

In Fire Emblem: Awakening

 * Gaius - A thief from Ylisse with a strong addiction to sweets