Hero (class)


 * For the Hero class exclusive to Alm, see Hero (Gaiden).

The Hero (勇者 Yūsha lit. Brave) is a physical combat class that recurrently appears across the Fire Emblem Series, beginning from Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. In a majority of its iterations, the Hero class is the promoted form of the Mercenary class, and in titles where branched promotions are available, it is the secondary promotion option for Fighters. Heroes commonly wield Swords and Axes as their primary weapons of choice.

History in the Series
In its original inception in Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, the Hero class is established as the promoted form of the Mercenary class, wielding Swords as its sole weapon of choice.

In Gaiden, the Hero class is known as the Myrmidon (けんし Kenshi, lit Sword Fighter). The class is the promoted form of the Mercenary class yet again, and can be further promoted into the Dread Fighter class.

In Mystery of the Emblem, the Hero class is again the promoted form of the Mercenary class and cannot be promoted any further.

In Genealogy of the Holy War, the Hero class is renamed to Forrest (フォーレスト Fōresuto). Owing to the fact that the Mercenary class is absent in this title, the Hero class is thus not its promoted form; it is instead one of the promoted forms of the newly-introduced Sword Fighter. This class acts as the promoted form of a few selected Sword Fighters, including Chulainn, Ulster, Creidne and Dalvin, while the rest promote into Swordmasters. Like its predecessors, the class also wields Swords as its sole weapon of choice. This title is credited as being the first in the series within which a female character can access the Hero class, with Creidne being the only character given this honour.

In Thracia 776, the Hero class is renamed to Mercenary (マーシナリー Māshinarī). The class is again one of the promoted forms of the Sword Fighter class; within the playable cast, Machyua is the only Sword Fighter who promotes into this class. The Mercenary class in this title also acts as the promoted form of the Axe Fighter class. This title is credited as the first in the series within which Heroes are able to arm Axes alongside Swords.

With the onset of The Binding Blade, the Hero class is cleanly separated from the Sword Fighter class and is instituted as the staple promoted form of the Mercenary class. This title is the first in the series where female Heroes first begin to be formally introduced to the series, taking the form of Echidna.

In The Sacred Stones, the Hero class is not just one of the promoted forms of the Mercenary class, but is also a class that Fighters are able to promote into.

In Path of Radiance, the Hero class is exclusive to Greil, who assumes the class when he appears in the tutorial segment of the game. Originally defined by weakened stats for tutorial purposes, a stronger version of the class is used in the story sequence when he chases off Petrine. Ike's Lord class shares the same statistical caps as the Hero class in this game, minus the ability to arm Axes.

In Radiant Dawn, the Hero class is exclusive to Ike, the Hero class, much like its older predecessors, and wields Swords as its sole weapon of choice. Despite resembling its Path of Radiance incarnation, the Hero class only gains the ability to wield Axes when it is further promoted into the Vanguard class.

In Shadow Dragon and New Mystery of the Emblem, the Hero class is reverted to being the promoted form of the Mercenary class and is again able to wield both Swords and Axes. These remakes of the Archanea Series also sees a number of characters who were originally Mercenaries and would eventually promote into Heroes being altered to start out as Myrmidons instead. These characters are Navarre, Radd and Samuel.

In Awakening, Heroes are again one of the promoted forms of not just the Mercenary class, but also the Fighter class. Prior to the introduction of this title, all female Heroes are either pre-promoted or promoted from the Myrmidon class.

In Fates, the Hero class is known as Brave Hero (ブレイブヒーロー Bureibu hīrō) in the Japanese version. Treated as a Nohrian class, the Hero class is again one of the promoted forms of both the Mercenary and Fighter classes.

In Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, the Hero class is once again called the Myrmidon (剣士, Kenshi lit. Sword Fighter) and acts as the promoted form of the Mercenary like in Gaiden.

Combat
Heroes are somewhere in-between the General and Swordmaster classes statistically. While they are speedier and have less Defense as compared to Generals, they are slower but more defensive than Swordmasters. As a result, well-trained Heroes are capable of effectively defending against attacks like Generals, but still have enough agility to dodge assaults like Swordmasters. This in turn posits Heroes as be one of the more "balanced" classes of the Fire Emblem series alongside the Soldier class. Many characters that are/can become Heroes across the series typically become very powerful units.

Heroes usually possess abnormally high Skill for axe users and unusually high Constitution for sword users. This combination means that Heroes are proficient with Hand Axes, which most axe users have trouble hitting consistently with.

In WiFi battles, Heroes are usually considered bad units. They have a low Speed cap, meaning they can be struck twice (four times if the opponent is using Brave weapons) without being able to retaliate in kind. Their average Defense means that they usually cannot survive being hit four times from forged brave weapons by the more offensively-oriented classes.

Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light/Shadow Dragon

 * Samson - An Altean gladiator and eventually Sheema's bodyguard in Mystery of the Emblem.
 * Astram - Midia's lover and loyal soldier of Archanea.
 * Promotion for: Ogma, Caesar, Radd and Navarre (only in Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light).

Gaiden

 * Deen - A mercenary forced to work for the pirate king Grieth.
 * Blake - A servant of the pirate king Grieth.
 * Possible promotions for: Gray, Tobin, Kliff, Saber, Kamui, Jesse and Atlas.

Mystery of the Emblem/New Mystery of the Emblem

 * Promotion for Samuel in Mystery of the Emblem only; otherwise same as above, with Navarre only promoting to a Hero in Mystery of the Emblem.

Genealogy of the Holy War

 * Jacoban - A mercenary hired by King Chagall of Agustria.
 * Bovis - The second member of the twelve Deadlords.
 * Promotion for: Chulainn, Ulster, Creidne and Dalvin.

Thracia 776

 * Galzus - The prince of the fallen kingdom of Rivough and Mareeta's father.
 * Ralf - A traveling mercenary.
 * Promotion for: Orsin, Halvan and Machyua.

The Binding Blade

 * Echidna - A resistance leader from the Western Isles. Also a female Hero.
 * Henning - Leader of a bandit gang who was at the shrine of the Durandal.
 * Randy - Leader of a group of mercenaries hired by Bern to attack the village of Arcadia.
 * Promotion for: Dieck and Ogier.

The Blazing Blade

 * Linus - Brendan Reed's youngest son, the 'Mad Dog' of the Black Fang and one of the Four Fangs.
 * Harken - A knight in service of House Pherae. Sole survivor of Lord Elbert's crew and Isadora's lover.
 * Kaim - Guardian of the "Thunder Axe", Armads.
 * Promotion for Raven.

The Sacred Stones

 * Caellach - One of the Six Generals of Grado.
 * Possible promotion for: Garcia, Gerik and Ross.

Path of Radiance

 * Greil - Father of Ike and Mist, and the founder of the Greil Mercenaries.

Radiant Dawn

 * Ike - The son of Greil and Hero of The Mad King's War. A swordsman who is fondly referred to as the Savior of Crimea.

Awakening

 * Flavia - The East Khan, and later Khan Regnant, of Ferox.
 * Priam - A person who claims to be a descendant of Ike, wielding the legendary blade Ragnell.
 * Xalbador - A bandit leader who lost his faith in the gods.
 * Possible promotion for: Vaike, Gregor, Inigo and Severa.

Fates

 * Possible promotion for: Selena, Laslow, Arthur, Charlotte, Soleil, Zhara (captured), and Gazak (captured),.

Trivia

 * Heroes almost always wield swords and shields, sometimes including axes in their armament. The GBA titles and Echoes, however, are unique in that they keep their weapons inside their shields (at least the generic units in Echoes), similar to Roman warriors. They are at their most acrobatic in the GBA and 3DS titles, with somersaults being a mainstay of their animations.