Caltrop

Caltrop
Kaze wielding the Caltrop.
First Seen	Fire Emblem Fates
Weapon Type	Shuriken
Most Common Rank	B
Uses	∞
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The Caltrop (まきびし Makibishi) is a Shuriken that is introduced in Fire Emblem Fates. Apart from raising its wielder's Speed by 2, the Caltrop reduces the Speed, Defense and Resistance of its target by a substantial amount upon successful striking. The Caltrop does, however, induce its wielder to suffer Strength and Skill penalties post-battle.

Unlike other Shuriken, the Caltrop is limited to a range of 1. It makes up for its lack of range with having the best speed, defense, and resistance debuffs in the game by a considerable margin.

Weapon Stats

Fire Emblem Fates

Name					Type
Caltrop					Shuriken
Rank	Uses	Mt	Hit	Crt	Avo	Rng	WEx	Worth
B	∞	5	95%	5%	0%	1	?	0
Effect
After use in combat, wielder suffers Str/Skill -2; recovers by 1 each turn. Enemy's Spd/Def/Res -8 upon a successful hit.

Etymology

The Makibishi is the Japanese version of the caltrop. It is believed that they were among the tools utilized by Ninjas. They were designed to be able to puncture the Waraji sandals commonly worn in Feudal Japan.

Trivia

• The Caltrop's appearance bears a striking semblance to that of the Brass Shuriken. This makes it bear little resemblance to real-world caltrops with spikes often pointing in a tetrahedronal shape. 

• Ironically, shurikens mostly look like small discs with flat spikes protruding out the sides, so that it could slice while being thrown and spinning. The caltrop seen in Fire Emblem Fates looks much more like a kunai (苦無), which were diamond shaped knives that were originally used for farming and repurposed into weapons by some ninjas
  • Furthermore, kunai were mostly used as close combat weapons for stabbing people up close, while actual shurikens were meant to be thrown.