Lord

"So what happens now? Do I have to wear a funny hat or something?"

- Ike, about to be promoted to Lord in Path of Radiance.

The Lord (ロード Rōdo) is an important class in nearly every Fire Emblem game, except in Fire Emblem Gaiden, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, and Fire Emblem Fates where the class does not exist for the main cast. In all instances of its appearance, the Lord class is usually designated to each game's main lead character(s). As such, they play critical roles in their story and their death in their games usually leads to a Game Over.

History in the Series
Acting as one of the longest-standing class in the series, the Lord class is first introduced to the series in Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, where it is the personal class of Marth. Unable to promote in this incarnation, the Lord class wields Swords as its primary weapon of choice and is able to arm the legendary Falchion.

The Lord class is absent in Gaiden and Shadows of Valentia, and its role is instead replaced by the Fighter and Priestess classes. These two classes are assumed by Alm and Celica respectively, and promote into the Hero and Princess classes.

The Lord class returns in Mystery of the Emblem, where it is again the personal class of Marth and is unable to promote.

In Genealogy of the Holy War, the Lord class is known as the Junior Lord (ジュニアロード Jyunia rōdo) and is the personal class of Seliph. This version of the class wields Swords as its sole weapon of choice, promoting into the Knight Lord class when the requirements are met. The Knight Lord is also the base class for Sigurd, the main protagonist for the first generation of the game.

The Lord class is the personal class of Leif in Thracia 776, again wielding Swords as its sole weapon of choice. This incarnation of the class eventually promotes into the Prince class. Unusually, Seliph's Junior Lord class appears as an unused class in Thracia 776, though whether this was a carry over from Genealogy of the Holy War or an intended appearance of the class is unknown.

In TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga, the Lord class is the promoted form of the Knight Lord class and is exclusive to Runan. The class wields Swords as its sole weapon of choice and is capable of arming the legendary ☆Seiken Reeve.

In The Binding Blade, the Lord class is the personal class of Roy, who, like his predecessors before him, wields Swords as his sole weapon of choice. The class eventually promotes into the Master Lord class when the requirements are met.

Three versions of the Lord class exist in The Blazing Blade, each one assigned to the different protagonists of the game. The first of these very much resembles the Myrmidon class and is the personal class of Lyn, wielding Swords and eventually promoting into the Blade Lord class. The second Lord class is that of Eliwood's, which similarly wields Swords but eventually promotes into the Knight Lord class. The last of these classes is Hector's, who wields Axes as his sole weapon of choice and eventually promotes into the Great Lord class.

In The Sacred Stones, two versions of the Lord class, each one assigned to the protagonists of the game. The first of these is much like Lyn's iteration of the class both in terms of its weapon of choice and style of fighting, and is the personal class of Eirika, eventually promoting into the Great Lord class. The second Lord class is Ephraim's, wielding Lances as its weapon of choice and eventually promoting into the Great Lord class.

In Path of Radiance, the Lord class is the promoted form of the Ranger class, and is the personal class of Ike. This version of the class wields Swords as its sole weapon of choice and is able to arm the legendary Ragnell.

In Radiant Dawn, just like in Gaiden, there is no formal Lord class. There are, nevertheless, characters who fulfill the role of a standard Lord character, including Micaiah, a Light Mage, and Ike, a Hero. Elincia, Geoffrey and Tibarn also serve as temporary leaders in specific sections of the game.

In Shadow Dragon and New Mystery of the Emblem, remakes of the Archanea Series, the Lord class is much the same as it was in Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and Mystery of the Emblem, wielding Swords and unable to promote. These two games permit the Lord class to achieve a maximum level of 30 to compensate.

In Awakening, the Lord class takes the form of two distinct versions, one assumed by Chrom, and the other by Lucina. Both wield Swords as their sole weapon of choice and promote into Great Lords. The Lord class cannot be passed down through the inheritance system in this title.

In Fates, the Lord class is yet again not formally a part of the game. The Avatar, starting out as a Nohr Prince/Princess, assumes the role that is normally played by the Lord class instead. In the Before Awakening DLC chapter, the Lord class makes a small cameo appearance, where it is assumed by Chrom, who acts as an NPC ally unit in the chapter.

In Warriors, the Lord class breaks convention by being the most populous class in the game, acting as the base class for six different characters. The class acts much the same as main series titles, being an infantry unit that wields swords in combat. It is to be noted, however, that the Lords Rowan and Lianna can also use Staffs.

Combat
The Lord class has had varying starting stats and stat growths throughout the Fire Emblem series, making each Lord generally unique. Most Lords are required to be be brought into all chapter fights where they are available to be used. The Lord character in each Fire Emblem game generally starts off with decent stats, but grow exceptionally strong thanks to solid growth rates and the fact that they are available for usage from the beginning of each game. However, using them in an overly aggressive manner can lead to their death. Unlike most units, whose death does not end a chapter, any Lord character that falls (with the exception of Lucina) will automatically trigger a Game Over, forcing the player to restart the chapter from the beginning of the chapter or the last save point.

For the most part, Swords are generally the weapon of choice for the Lord class, though there are exceptions like Hector who uses Axes and Ephraim who uses Lances. Additionally, Rowan and Lianna can use Staffs, but Warriors does not treat these as weapons. Also, all Lords usually start out with, or acquire at some point in the story, a powerful weapon that can only be used by them. These weapons usually play an important role in the story or is a necessity to take down the main antagonist of the game. Unlike most other classes, which have consistent themes and stat growths across the series, the Lord class varies by game and by character, thus there is no universal strength and weakness for all Lords.

Trivia

 * Through hacking in Genealogy of the Holy War, one can observe that the ability to seize a castle is not locked to the main character. The ability to seize castles is locked to the Lord class, and it can thus be deduced that "Seize" is very likely a hidden class skill of said class.
 * As noted above, every single Lord in Fire Emblem has been of noble birth, except for Ike. He was given a noble title and powers, and it was only then that he was promoted into a Lord. This also gives Ike the distinction of being the only main character that promotes into a Lord. After the game, he rejected any offers of peerage, thus the Lord class was lost to him in the next game.
 * With the exception of Lyn, every character in the Lord class wears a cape.