Paladin

The Paladin (パラディン Paradin) is a horse-mounted combat physical class that recurrently appears across the Fire Emblem Series, beginning from Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. Commonly the promoted form of the Cavalier class, the equipment armed by the Paladin class varies depending on the title. On the whole, Paladins are known to be outfitted with Swords and Lances as their primary weapons of choice. A game's Jagen archetype is likely to be a Paladin.

History in the Series
In its original inception in Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, the Paladin class is established as the staple promoted form of the Cavalier class, wielding Swords and Lances as its weapons of choice.

In Gaiden, Paladins not just act as the promoted form of the Cavalier class, but they are also able to be further promoted into the Gold Knight class. This iteration of the class is locked to using Lances.

The Paladin class is reverted to its prior incarnation in Mystery of the Emblem, where it is simply the promoted form of the Cavalier class and cannot be further promoted.

In both Genealogy of the Holy War and Thracia 776, Paladins are not just the promoted form of the Cavalier class, but also the promoted form of Troubadours. These female Paladins are, apart from being armed with Swords and Lances, also able to equip Staves for support purposes. They act as the predecessors of the Valkyrie class. The Paladin class is one of the promoted forms of the Rook Knight class in TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga. Only Estelle and Rina are able to promote into this class, though Roger starts as such.

In Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade and Fire Emblem: The Blazing Blade, Paladins can wield axes in addition to Swords and Lances.

In The Sacred Stones, the Paladin class is not just one of the promoted forms of the Cavalier class, but also the promoted form of the Recruit (2) class. However, they can no longer use axes, as such ability is given to the Great Knight class.

In Path of Radiance, the Paladin class is the promoted form of a variety of horse-mounted classes, including the Sword, Lance, Axe and Bow Knight classes. Paladins in this title are able to wield any two of the four physical weapon types available, depending on their base weapon and secondary weapon selected at the point of promotion.

The Paladin class technically does not appear in Radiant Dawn, though there are specialised Paladins that specialize in specific weapon types and are thence split into the Blade, Lance, Axe and Bow Paladin classes. All of these variant Paladins have different names in the Japanese version which do not tie them to the "Paladin" name.

In Shadow Dragon and New Mystery of the Emblem, Paladins are merged back into a singular entity and are the promoted form of the Cavalier class yet again.

In Fates, the Paladin class is treated as a Nohrian class and is one of the promoted forms of the Cavalier class.

Combat
The Paladin class works in exactly the same manner as their unpromoted form, relying on their superior Movement to support their allies rather than engage in prolonged melee combat. They are often the first units to meet the enemy in battle, and with sufficient support from other mounted units, can clear out important sections of the map and kill off stray enemies with comparatively minimal effort. Because they lack the frailty and weakness to bows that plagues Pegasus and Falcon Knights, they are often the units best equipped to save villages and treasure chests from falling into enemy hands. Like Cavaliers, they are well rounded, but typically gain a significant boost to their Resistance, though this is a minor perk at best.

Because they have no real statistical strengths, Paladins and Cavaliers are often used to aid other characters, often assisting in kills at range or up close, rushing forward to quickly block a wave of approaching enemies, plugging reinforcement points, or (when applicable in the later games) use the Rescue command or Pair up with on an injured or slow ally to bring them into/out of the battle. If Paladins ever hit a point where they can reliably double and kill standard enemy mobs on their own, however, they can quickly become one-person armies. Regardless of the Paladin's strength, however, the player should always pay careful attention to ensure that Paladins do not get attacked by enemies armed with horse slaying weapons such as the Beast Killer.

Paladins are also capable of acting as substitutes for Generals due to their decent Strength and Speed. Very effective in disrupting enemy troops long enough for the player's units to get into position, Paladins are generally the center of attention when using this tactic and thus must either retreat or be rescued once the main objective is achieved.

In WiFi battles, Paladins have a Speed cap of 25 and a Defense cap of 30. This allows them to survive being attacked directly by any other unit (excluding critical hits and attacks performed with a forged Poleax/Ridersbane). Further bolstering these strengths is their high Movement of 10 points, which is considered the superlative out of any playable class. These traits make Paladins one of the best classes for WiFi battles.

Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light/Shadow Dragon

 * Camus - General of Grust and the leader of the Sable Order of Knights.
 * Jagen - Veteran knight of Altea who acts as Marth's guardian and later becomes his advisor.
 * Arran - Knight of Altea.
 * Midia - Knight of Archanea loyal to Nyna and the lover of Astram.
 * Sternlin - A subordinate of General Camus and a commander of the Sable Order of Knights who is stationed to guard the entrance to the Fane of Raman.
 * Heimler - Enemy in Chapter 12.
 * Dejanira - A Paladin who forces Horace to betray Archanea and ally himself to Dolhr.
 * Orridyon - Leader of an army of Macedonian Dragoons guarding the Borderlands.
 * Promotion for: Cain, Abel, Frey, Hardin, Roshea, Vyland and Matthis.

Gaiden/Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

 * Mathilda - A legendary knight of Zofia who is captured by Desaix.
 * Conrad - A Mysterious masked knight who rides to Celica's aide.
 * Lando - A DLC character originating from Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher).
 * Berkut - Alm's cousin who aspires to become the king of Rigel.
 * Slayde - The ruthless Captain of the guard of Zofian traitor, Desaix.
 * Loso - A Riglian general.
 * Promotion for: Clive, Kliff, Gray, Robin, Faye, and Atlas.

Mystery of the Emblem/New Mystery of the Emblem

 * Arran - Knight of Altea who takes Jagen's place.
 * Abel - Knight of Altea who is forced to betray his country.
 * Roshea - Member of the Wolfguard.
 * Vyland - Member of the Wolfguard.
 * Sirius - A masked knight who is heavily implied to be Camus.
 * Promotion for: Roderick, Luke, Cecil, Cain, Matthis, Frey, Belf and Reiden.

Genealogy of the Holy War

 * Oifey - A member of House Chalphy who serves as Sigurd's tactician and later fights alongside Sigurd's son, Seliph.
 * Eldigan - Lord of Nordion castle in Agustria and direct descendant of the crusader Hezul. Half-brother of Raquesis and the father of Ares.
 * Ridale - A powerful enemy character in Light and Dark.
 * Robert - A boss in the The Last Holy War.
 * Promotion for: Alec, Naoise, Ethlyn, Nanna, Jeanne and Ares.

Thracia 776

 * Fred - Knight of Freege and Olwen's deputy.
 * Amalda - Knight of Freege who opposes the Child Hunts.
 * Conomore - General of Alster.
 * Aizenau - A general sent to capture Leif in The Shield of Thracia.
 * Farden - A general ordered to help capture the escaping children in The Palace of Evil.
 * Promotion for: Carrion and Nanna.

TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga

 * Promotion for: Estelle and Rina.

The Binding Blade

 * Marcus - Knight of Pherae.
 * Perceval - The Knight General of Etruria.
 * Zelot - Lord of Edessa in Ilia and leader of the Ilian mercenaries. Husband of Juno.
 * Eliwood - Marquess of Pherae and father of Roy. One of the three main characters of The Blazing Blade.
 * Reis - A general of Bern who is tasked with the defence of a small fort on the Etrurian border.
 * Arcard - Noble of Etruria who betrays his country and sides with Bern.
 * Robarts - A boss exclusive to hard mode in The Hero of the Western Isles.
 * Promotion for: Lance, Alen, Trec and Noah.

The Blazing Blade

 * Marcus- Knight of Pherae.
 * Isadora- Knight of Pherae and lover of Harken.
 * Eagler - The Knight Commander of Caelin who was forced by Lundgren to fight Lyn and her companions.
 * Cameron - Secondary boss of Ch.19E/20H.
 * Eubans - Leader of a mercenary band that is loyal to Darin.
 * Pascal - A corrupt noble who joins the Black Fang and is known as the Crazed Beast.
 * Maxime - A subordinate of Ursula who hunts down Jaffar and Nino.
 * Promotion for: Sain, Kent and Lowen.

The Sacred Stones

 * Seth - Knight of Renais.
 * Orson - Former knight of Renais who betrayed his country.
 * Possible promotion for: Franz, Kyle, Forde and Amelia.

Path of Radiance

 * Titania - Deputy commander of the Greil Mercenaries.
 * Geoffrey - Lucia's younger brother and one of Elincia's allies.
 * Mackoya - General of Daein and subordinate of the Black Knight
 * Petrine - One of the Four Riders of Daein, she pursues the Greil Mercenaries during their flight to Gallia with Elincia in tow.
 * Rikard - A Daein officer who is obsessed with glory and fame.
 * Bertram - One of the Four Riders of Daein who is, in actuality, a mind-warped Duke Renning of Crimea.
 * Promotion for: Oscar, Kieran, Astrid and Makalov.

Awakening

 * Equus - One of the twelve Deadlords.
 * Possible Promotion for: Stahl and Sully.
 * Possible class swap for: Chrom, Frederick, Ricken, Lucina, Brady, Kjelle and Morgan.

Fates

 * Xander - Crown prince of Nohr.
 * Possible Promotion for: Silas, Peri, Siegbert and Sophie.
 * Possible Class Swap for: Arthur, Jakob, Dwyer and Gunter.

Etymology
The paladins were the first 12 warriors of Charlamegne's court.

Trivia

 * Path of Radiance incarnation of the Paladin class has the highest number of classes promoting into it (Sword, Axe, Lance and Bow Knights), sharing the number with the General of Genealogy and the Holy War and Thracia 776, the Sage class from The Sacred Stones and Archsage class from Radiant Dawn.
 * In Fates, Paladins are one of the three playable classes capable of reaching rank A in multiple weapon types, the other two being Hoshido and Nohr Nobles.