Falcon Knight

The Falcon Knight (ファルコンナイト Farukon naito, also known as Falcoknight) is a Pegasus-mounted combat physical class that recurrently appears across the Fire Emblem Series, beginning from Fire Emblem Gaiden. One of the promoted forms of the Pegasus Knight class, Falcon Knights commonly wield Lances and Swords as their weapons of choice.

History in the Series
In its original inception in Gaiden, the Falcon Knight class is the promoted form of the Pegasus Knight class, wielding Lances as its sole weapon of choice. This version of the class has its attacks imbued with a special skill, allowing it to inflict effective damage against Monsters.

The Falcon Knight class is not established as the staple promoted form of the Pegasus Knight class until the onset of Genealogy of the Holy War, where the Pegasus Knight is cleanly separated from the Dracoknight class. This particular iteration of the class is, alongside Lances, able to arm Swords and utilize Staves.

In Thracia 776, the Falcon Knight class exists in the game data but is unused, owing to the fact that the Pegasus Knight assumes its role as a promoted class, while the Pegasus Rider takes over the Pegasus Knight class's original role as a first-tier class.

In Radiant Dawn, the Falcon Knight ( 聖天馬騎士ファルコンナイト Farukon naito) class is further able to promote into the Seraph Knight class when the necessary requirements are met.

As remakes of the original Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and Mystery of the Emblem, Shadow Dragon and New Mystery of the Emblem do not feature the Falcon Knight as the default promotion for the Pegasus Knight. Instead, the Falcon Knight class can only be accessed by Pegasus Knights through the use of the unique Elysian Whip promotion item.

Falcon Knights shed the ability to wield Swords in Awakening. Unlike most of their other counterparts, Falcon Knights can now double as support units with the ability to use staves, though they have lost their ability to use Swords in the process.

In Fates, the Falcon Knight (聖天馬武者 Seitenma musha, lit. Holy Pegasus Warrior in the Japanese version) is unisex and is treated as a Hoshidan class. The Falcon Knights in Fates are similar to those in Awakening, retaining their ability to use lances and staves.

Combat
After upgrading from the Pegasus Knight class, the Falcon Knight receives slight boosts to its Defense and Constitution, although these stats are still considered to be below average in comparison to other playable classes.

In Genealogy of the Holy War, Awakening and Fates, Falcon Knights are able to wield Staves. This ability, when combined with their high Movement and above average Magic, results in them functioning as very efficient healers. Granted, Falcon Knights will be inexperienced with Staves unless they have been reclassed from Clerics, Troubadours and the like, and it will thus take quite a bit of grinding for them to gain access to higher-levelled Staves like Catharsis and Fortify.

In WiFi battles, Falcon Knights are occasionally used. Falcon Knights are seen as the opposite to Dracoknights, in that they can be killed one-on-one by Swordmasters, but can survive Berserker onslaughts. Much the same tactics are used with Falcon Knights as are the ones used with Dracoknights, where usage of the Iote's Shield and scouting act as the main functions of these classes. Falcon Knights are usually considered inferior choices to Dracoknights, since they can be killed in melee combat by more classes.

Awakening
Falcon Knights retain the use of Lances as their sole weapon of choice, and so it is recommended that they stay away from Axe-wielding units. Griffon Riders in particular need to be avoided, as they not only have the weapon advantage and can chase Falcon Knights anywhere on the map, but are also in possession of the skill Lancebreaker, which can easily spell doom for these units if one is careless.

As they are flying units, Falcon Knights are susceptible to bows and wind magic, so those should be avoided unless they have Iote's Shield, which will prevent them from taking bonus damage from those sources. They should still be careful of Beast Killers, since Iote's Shield will not protect them from the bonus damage the Beast Killer inflicts.

Compared to most of the classes in Awakening, Falcon Knights are very well balanced in their stats. As a result, it is not uncommon for players to see Falcon Knights have higher stats then most of the enemies, even the boss themselves.

Fates
Just like in Awakening, Falcon Knights still use Lances as their primary weapon and staves as a support role. They still retain their A Rank in Lances (so they can use Brave and Venge weapons), however, their staff rank has fallen to B Ranks. They can still use a majority of the staves in-game, most notably the Hexing Rod.

Due to the changes in Fates stat system, Falcon Knights are a bit weaker than in Awakening, although they still share the same benefits and are a good magic-killer class due to their high resistance. They still retain the skill Rally Speed, and their Lancefaire has been swapped out for Warding Blow. Warding Blow essentially gives the user an effective +20 resistance which makes them take virtually no damage against high magic units like Sorcerers when the user initiates the fight.

In PvP battles, Falcon Knights are used as support units, typically filled with various rally skills and staves to support the rest of the team. Their flying status allows them to quickly carry allied units and are not impeded by terrain.

Uniform
The uniform worn by Falcon Knights largely remains unchanged from the uniform donned by their un-promoted forms (Juno's outfit can be used as a reference). Their uniform is not without any changes, however; the most noticeable of these is the presence of pants or leggings underneath their tunic, with the tunic reaching knee-length with slits arranged on either side up to their hips (such as in Tanith's artwork). The belt that Falcon Knights wear as Pegasus Knights is also retained, on which they sometimes attach a sheath to carry their Swords in. Some Falcon Knights are also known to don headbands, and the boots they wear are mostly knee-length.

The mount of the Falcon Knight has a single horn on its forehead, giving it a close resemblance to a winged unicorn.

In Awakening, the tunic part of the design is very similar to Annand's uniform in her Level 15 Falco Knight TCG card. Some modifications are imposed on the outfit, including sleeves and a ring attached to both sides of the hips, alongside long drapes of cloth that appear to reach into their boots from underneath their armour. The boots that Falcon Knights wear are noticeably shorter than those worn by older incarnations, but this is compensated for by the very long socks that they also have on. This version of the Falcon Knight also features them wearing a helmet outfitted with a horn-like protrusion.

In-Game

 * &#9733; - FE10 SP Class.

Fire Emblem Gaiden/Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

 * Promotion for: Clair, Palla, Catria and Est.
 * Possible Promotion For: Faye.

Genealogy of the Holy War

 * Annand - One of the Angelic Knights of Silesse and the older sister of Erinys.
 * Deet'var - One of the Angelic Knights of Silesse and the mother of Misha.
 * Pamela - One of the Angelic Knights of Silesse.
 * Meng, Maybell, and Bleg - Three Silessean knights loyal to Ishtar.
 * Promotion for: Erinys, her daughter Fee and Fee's replacement Hermina.

The Binding Blade

 * Juno - Older sister of Shanna and Thea and wife of Zelot.
 * Sigune - Ilian flightleader who sides with Bern.
 * Promotion for: Shanna and Thea.

The Blazing Blade

 * Promotion for: Fiora, Farina and Florina.

The Sacred Stones

 * Syrene - Commander of the Frelian army's 3rd battalion and older sister of Vanessa.
 * Possible Promotion for: Vanessa and Tana.

Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn

 * Tanith - Deputy commander of Begnion's Holy Guard.
 * Sigrun - Commander of the Holy Guard and guard to Sanaki.
 * Marcia - Member of the Crimean Royal Knights and former member of the Holy Guard.
 * Catalena - Knight belonging to the Disciples of Order.

Shadow Dragon

 * Possible Promotion for: Caeda, Palla, Catria and Est.

Awakening

 * Phila - The commander of the Ylissean Pegasus Knights.
 * Elincia (DLC)
 * Palla (DLC)
 * Possible Promotion for: Sumia, Cordelia and Cynthia.

Fates

 * Possible Promotion for: Hinoka, Subaki, Caeldori and Shigure.

Trivia

 * In Shadow Dragon, it is possible for a Pegasus Knight to promote into a Falcon Knight with an Elysian Whip. However, the Elysian Whip is sold only in the Armory accessible via Wi-Fi Connection. Falcon Knights can no longer be obtained without a cheating device, due to the Nintendo Wi-Fi services for the DS having being discontinued.
 * In Gaiden, Falcon Knights seem to possess a predecessor to the skill Slayer as they are able to inflict effective damage against monster-type foes.
 * In Genealogy of the Holy War and Awakening, Falcon Knights can heal using Staves. Elincia's unique class, which use Swords and Staves, may be a reference to this.
 * In Awakening, Falcon Knights are the only physical class outfitted with two types of equipment (Lances and Staves) to have a weapon specialist skill (Lancefaire), which is likely due to the game not possessing a promoted class that wields Lances exclusively.
 * Despite the fact that the class is called "Falcon Knight", the mounts ridden by it are not actual birds, and are instead winged unicorns. The origin of this rather misleading name is unknown.
 * A conversation between Selena and Subaki in Fates'  Revelation route reveals that the mounts they ride are called Falicorns.