Dark Mage

Dark Mage
First Seen	Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem
Promotes From	Lopto Mage (FE5 only)
Promotes To	Sorcerer (FE11-FE14) Dark Knight (FE13-14)
Usable Weapon Types	Dark Fire (FE5 onwards) Thunder (FE5 onwards) Wind (FE5 onwards) Staff (FE4-5)
Class Skills	Hex (FE13 only) Anathema (FE13 only) Heartseeker (FE14 only) Malefic Aura (FE14 only)
[view]

The Dark Mage (ダークメイジ) is a magic using class that appears in the Fire Emblem series.

Dark Mages usually have less magic than Mages, though they generally have higher defense and exclusive access to Dark Magic, if present. They tend to upgrade into Sorcerers in most games where they are available, as well as Dark Knights in Awakening and Fates.

They are considered to be the equivalent of the Shaman class from the Game Boy Advance titles.

History in the Series

The Dark Mage first appeared in Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem, where it was an enemy only variant of the Bishop class that was used by Gharnef and the priests of Doluna in the later parts of Book 2.

Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War reintroduced the class as the primary wielders of enemy only Dark Magic, with the Dark Bishop being its promoted equivalent.

In Fire Emblem: Thracia 776, the Dark Mage was made playable for the first time and was a promoted unit that promoted from the Dark Magic using Lopto Mage. The class could also wield all forms of Anima Magic as well, a feature that would remain with the class throughout the series from this point on.

TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga returned the Dark Mage to an enemy only class with Dark Bishop as the promoted equivalent; Dark Magic was instead given to the player through the Witch class instead.

The Dark Mage class was absent from the Elibe Series and Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, being replaced by the Shaman class.

The class returned in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon, where it gained the ability to promote to Sorcerer. No unit starts as a Dark Mage by default, but Cord and Caesar are recommended reclass candidates, as they both have a 30% growth rate in magic as Dark Mages, which is higher than other candidates.

The class remained in Fire Emblem Awakening and Fire Emblem Fates, where they and the Sorcerer have the innate ability to wield Dark tomes alongside the normal Anima tomes. The Dark Mage was also given the alternate promotion of Dark Knight, which removes Dark Magic access in exchange for a mount and Sword usage.

Stats

Base

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE3	26	5	-	1	3	0	8	8	6	-	-	Tome/Staff 6
FE4	40	0	10	8	8	0	7	10	5	-	-	B B
FE5	24	0	5	4	3	0	4	-	6	5	-	E E E C C
TS	20	0	5	5	4	0	3	-	?	-	-	5
FE11	16	0	2	1	3	0	4	3	6	-	-	E
FE12	16	0	2	1	3	0	4	3	6	-	-	E
FE13	18	1	3	2	3	0	4	4	5	-	-	E
FE14	16	0	6	3	3	1	3	5	5	-	-	E

Maximum

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE3	52	20	-	20	20	20	20	20	6	-	-	Tome/Staff 20
FE4	80	15	25	23	23	30	22	25	5	-	-	B B
FE5	80	20	20	20	20	20	20	-	6	5	-	A A A A A
TS	60	15	20	20	19	30	18	-	?	-	-	20
FE11	60	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	6	-	-	A
FE12	60	20	20	20	20	20	20	20	6	-	-	A
FE13	60	20	27	25	25	30	25	27	5	-	-	A
FE14	35	19	24	16	19	18	19	22	5	-	-	A

Growth rates

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE3	40%	20%	-	30%	10%	0%	20%	40%	-	-	-	-
FE4	100%	10%	30%	30%	30%	0%	10%	30%	-	-	-	-
FE5	30%	3%	20%	10%	10%	10%	5%	-	0%	-	-	-
FE11	20%	-15%	20%	20%	20%	0%	-15%	20%	-	-	-	-
FE12	20%	-15%	20%	20%	20%	0%	-15%	20%	-	-	-	-
FE13	50%	5%	15%	15%	15%	0%	10%	10%	-	-	-	-
FE14	0%	10%	20%	0%	10%	0%	5%	10%	-	-	-	-

Class Skills

	Skill	Requirements
FE13	Hex Anathema	Learnt at Level 1. Learnt at Level 10.
FE14	Heartseeker Malefic Aura	Learnt at Level 1. Learnt at Level 10.

Promotion

	Base Class	Promotion Method	Promoted Class
FE5	Lopto Mage	Use a Knight Proof on a Level 10+ Lopto Mage.	Dark Mage
FE11	Dark Mage	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Dark Mage.	Sorcerer
FE12	Dark Mage	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Dark Mage.	Sorcerer
FE13	Dark Mage	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Dark Mage.	Sorcerer Dark Knight
FE14	Dark Mage	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Dark Mage.	Sorcerer Dark Knight

Notable Dark Mages

Monshō no Nazo

• Gharnef: The Dark Pontifex who wishes to revive Medeus and destroy the world.*

*Gharnef is a Sorcerer in Shadow Dragon and Shin Monshō no Nazo.

Genealogy of the Holy War

• Sandima: Member of the Lopto Sect who manipulated the country of Verdane.

Thracia 776

• Possible Promotion for: Salem

Awakening

• Tharja: A moody mage from Plegia who stalks the Avatar to gain their affections.
• Henry: A jolly mage from Plegia who has an oddly happy disposition and a thirst for war and blood.

Fates

• Nyx: A prodigious fortune-teller from Nohr who bears a curse preventing her from aging.
• Odin: A familiar traveler from the outrealms and Leo's retainer.
• Ophelia: Odin's daughter, and a frequent daydreamer with heroic aspirations akin to her father's.
• Zola: A mage in service of King Garon who specializes in deceptive illusions.

Gallery

The first set of concept artwork featuring the female variant of the Dark Mage class from Awakening.

The second set of concept artwork featuring the female variant of the Dark Mage class from Awakening.

Concept artwork of the male variant of the Dark Mage class from Awakening.

Concept artwork of the female variant of the Dark Mage class from Fates

A Level 1 generic Dark Mage, as he appears in the first series of the TCG.

A Level 10 generic Dark Mage, as he appears in the fifth series of the TCG.

Generic CG portrait of the Dark Mage class from Genealogy of the Holy War.

Generic CG portrait of the Dark Mage class from TearRing Saga

Generic CG portrait of the Dark Mage class from the DS titles.

Generic portrait of the Dark Mage class from Awakening.

Battle model of the Dark Mage class from TearRing Saga.

Henry's unique Dark Mage model from Awakening.

Battle model of Laurent, a male Dark Mage from Awakening.

Battle model of Tharja, a female Dark Mage from Awakening.

Battle model of Odin, a male Dark Mage from Fates.

Battle model of Nyx, a female Dark Mage from Fates.

Map sprite of the Dark Mage class from Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem.

Map sprite of the Dark Mage class from Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War.

Map sprite of the Dark Mage class from Fire Emblem: Thracia 776.

Map sprite of the Dark Mage class from TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga.

Map sprite of the Dark Mage class from Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon.

Map sprite of the Dark Mage class from Fire Emblem: Shin Monshō no Nazo ~Hikari to Kage no Eiyū~.

Map sprite of the male Dark Mage class from Fire Emblem Awakening.

Map sprite of the female Dark Mage class from Fire Emblem Awakening.

Map sprite of Odin, a male Dark Mage from Fire Emblem Fates