Great Knight

The Great Knight (グレートナイト Gurēto naito) is a horse-mounted combat physical class that recurrently appears across the Fire Emblem Series, beginning from Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War. Introduced as the promoted form of the Axe Knight class, the Great Knight has also been instituted as one of the possible promotions for the Cavalier and Knight classes. The Cavalry incarnation wields Axes as their sole weapon of choice, while the Armored incarnation are known to be able to wield Swords and Lances in addition to Axes.

History in the Series
In its original inception in Genealogy of the Holy War, the Great Knight class is established as the promoted form of the Axe Knight class, focusing on strength, and wielding Axes as its sole weapon of choice.

In Thracia 776, the Great Knight class is again the promoted form of the Axe Knight class, but this iteration can dismount, and is forced to do so indoor chapters. When dismounted, Great Knights are entirely unable to use axes, and must arm themselves with Swords.

While TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga does not feature Great Knight, the Iron Knight class is retroactively similar to the Armored Great Knight incarnation introduced in the Sacred Stones, though it predates it. Like all armored units in the game, Iron Knight uses Swords exclusively.

The Great Knight class is absent until the onset of The Sacred Stones, where it is one of the promoted forms of both the Cavalier and Knight classes. This version of the class is able to wield Swords, Lance, as well Axes as its weapons of choice. Additionally Great Knights are classified as an Armor units, and have lower move then the other mounted classes.

In Radiant Dawn, the Great Knight ( 斧騎将グレートナイト Gurēto naito) class is known as the Axe Paladin in localised versions of the game. Radiant Dawn reverted to the original unarmored, and axe specializing version of the class and further promotes into the Gold Knight class when the necessary requirements are fulfilled.

The armored version of Great Knight appeared again in Awakening. The Great Knight possess the Luna, and Dual Guard+ class skills. Great Knight wielded all three melee weapons like in Sacred Stones, and due to Generals losing swords, are the only class with this weapon combination.

In Fates, the Great Knight class is treated as a Nohrian class, it is again an armored class with one of the promoted forms of both the Cavalier and Knight classes. While Great Knight can still use all three melee weapons, unlike other appearances, Lances are the Great Knights main weapon as it is their highest weapon rank.

Combat
The Great Knight is a powerful horseback-mounted class that has higher Strength and Defense as compared to other physical damage-oriented mounted classes.

The Axe Cavalry variation of Great Knights that appears in Genealogy of the Holy War, Thracia 776 and Radiant Dawn is locked to Axes exclusively, but aside from this, it should, in most situations, be treated much as one would Paladins. Their high Strength at the cost of Skill means that they should have little difficulty with dispatching defensive units wielding lances or axes, but they will face more difficulties when dealing with faster Sword-using classes such as Swordmasters.

The armored variation of Great Knights can use Swords, Axes and Lances, giving them a better selection of weaponry compared to Paladins. However, they have poor Skill and Resistance caps (somewhat akin to that of Generals), which means they will miss more often and be more susceptible to magic attacks. They also have a Movement of 7 as a mounted unit, compared to other mounted units which have a movement of 8, which can cause problems when retreating.

In The Sacred Stones and Awakening, Great Knights are considered to be both an armored and a horseback-mounted unit. Because of this, both armor and horse "slayer" weapons (such as Armorslayer and Halberd) are effective against Great Knights, but weapons effective against armored and mounted foes, such as the Rapier, only inflict normal bonus damage (x3 weapon might instead of x9).

In Awakening, Great Knights learn two different skills. Luna, for one, causes the opponent's Defense/Resistance to be cut in half (Defense for all physical weapons such as axes, Resistance for all magical weapons such as Levin Swords and Tomes) when activated. This skill is excellent when facing units with high Defense or Resistance as it will allow them to deal greater damage to their foes. Dual Guard+, on the other hand, increases the chances for Dual Guard to activate by 10%, which can be helpful when facing strong enemies or protecting weakened units.

In Fates, Great Knights remain arguably parallel to their Awakening incarnation, but their Lance rank caps at A while Swords and Axes cap at B. Their Skill is also reasonably higher from what it was in Awakening in comparison to other classes, making them more likely to trigger Luna whenever needed. Their Dual Guard+ skill has been replaced by the outstanding Armored Blow, a very useful skill that allows them to push through most physical attacks, provided that they initiate battle (nothing they should have much issue with, given their wide range of Movement), matching their exceptional Defense perfectly. It is also possible to further improve their assets by making them spend time as a General in order to obtain the Wary Fighter skill, ridding them of any concerns of being double attacked due to their poor Speed, essentially turning them into wide-reaching, versatile and impenetrable physical walls.

In-Game

 * &#9733; - SP Class

Genealogy of the Holy War

 * Slayder - A general of Dozel working under Langobalt.
 * Schmidt - An officer serving under Danan during his reign in Isaach.
 * Possible promotions for: Lex and Johan.

Thracia 776

 * Promotion for: Brighton and Hicks.

The Sacred Stones

 * Duessel - A former Grado General known as the Obsidian. Joins Ephraim because he is suspected of treason after questioning Vigarde's acts.
 * Aias- A former member of Caellach's mercenary group, he attempts to stop Eirika from reaching Jehanna Hall.
 * Possible Promotion for Amelia, Franz, Kyle, Forde and Gilliam.

Radiant Dawn

 * Titania - Second in command of the Greil Mercenaries.
 * Kieran - Sub-commander of the Crimean Royal Knights under Geoffrey.
 * Lombroso - A general of Begnion.

Awakening

 * Frederick - A veteran who prefers to guide others in the Shepherds.
 * Ephraim (DLC)
 * (Spotpass) Mycen, Ephraim and Titania.
 * Possible promotion for: Sully, Stahl, Kellam and Kjelle.

Fates

 * Gunter - A knight and a retainer of the Avatar's who has served the kingdom of Nohr for a long period of time.
 * Possible promotion for: Peri, Silas, Siegbert, Sophie, Benny, Effie and Ignatius.

Trivia

 * In Awakening, the Great Knight's Magic cap is the lowest of all promoted classes, while it is tied with many unpromoted classes for said stat.
 * The Great Knight's Skill cap is also the lowest of all promoted classes available.
 * The Great Knight, Bride, Conqueror and Dread Fighter classes are the only ones to be able to use 3 different types of equipment with ranks in Awakening.
 * The helmet worn by generic Great Knights in Fates, with minor differences, uses the same design as the helmet for the unused female variant of the generic Great Knight from Awakening.

Gallery
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