General

The General is a physical combat class that debuted in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light.

History in the Series

A class that recurrently appears across the Fire Emblem Series, it is most often the promoted form of the Knight class. Generals primarily wield Lances as their weapons of choice, but in other specific titles, this class is known to be armed with other types of weaponry alongside the Lance, a fact that further increases its combat viability. The General class is defined by superior offense and Defense, alongside a fairly decent evasive ability for their bulk and somewhat decent Resistance. These strengths are offset by the class's lack of maneuverability.

Generals first appear in Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light as a powerful armored class surpassing the Knight. Despite this and the class roll indicating otherwise, the Knight class does not promote into this class, possibly due to hardware and time limitations. Generals only wield Swords in this installment, unlike their Knight counterparts, who wield both Swords and Lances. While most Generals appearing in the game are enemy units, a powerful late-game unit of this class is recruitable. This is the only Fire Emblem title where Generals do not wield Lances or have it as their main weapon.

Generals technically do not appear in Gaiden, but the Baron class can be said to be this game's iteration of the General class in hindsight. The Baron class is the promoted form of the Armor Knight, and is represented by an edit of the General's map sprite on battlefields. Barons exclusively wield Lances in this title, much like the rest of the Armored line in Gaiden.

In Mystery of the Emblem, Generals are finally instituted to be the promotion of Armor Knights. Due to there being no classes that are able to use two weapon types in the game, Generals thus wield Lances exclusively. While the game's Dismount mechanic causes many Lance-wielding units to drop their weapons in favour of Swords indoors, Generals are one of few classes who are not affected by this penalty, wielding Lances in such combat situations.

In Genealogy of the Holy War, Generals are the promoted form of not only the Armor Knight class, but also its other variations: Armor Sword, Armor Axe, and Armor Bow. Generals are thus given full control of all physical weapons, holding a B-Rank in Bows and Axes and a solid A-Rank in Lances and Swords. All Generals possess the powerful Great Shield skill in the new skill system, one that gives them the chance to completely nullify an attack. The Map graphics, sprites and artwork for Generals depict them brandishing Lances, firmly establishing it as their primary weapon.

Generals appear in a similar vein in Thracia 776, where due to the return of the Dismount mechanic and there being only one recruitable Axe Armor, they are thus the only playable class capable of using Lances indoors. Great Shield is no longer a class skill of Generals, but a late-game recruitable General possesses it as a personal skill.

In TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga, Generals are like their Fire Emblem counterparts, promoting from Knights and possessing Pavise as a class skill. In a similar fashion to the original Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, Generals in this title wield Swords exclusively.

Generals are playable in all three GBA titles. In the first two, The Binding Blade and The Blazing Blade, Generals do not have the Great Shield skill due to the removal of the skill system. In the third GBA title, The Sacred Stones, Generals are granted the Great Shield skill again due to the return of the skill system, working as it did previously.

In Path of Radiance, Generals uniquely possess Luna as their class skill, while Hawk Laguz are instead given Great Shield (now known as Pavise).

In TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga, the General class is disconnected from Armor Knights, who are now unable to promote. Unlike Armor Knights who wield Axes exclusively and wear bulky armor, Generals in this game don streamlined armor without helmets and are armed with Swords. Generals are also equipped with exclusive General Shields, almost always have the Commander skill, and are all named characters.

In Radiant Dawn, the classic Generals are known as Lance Generals (槍武将グローリードゥクス Gurōrī dukusu, lit. Glory Dux in the Japanese version), and are joined by Axe and Sword Generals. Lance Generals are characterized by Resistance that is considered high for a physical class in this installment, only falling behind the Falcon Knight. Generals are given a third-tier promotion for the first time, promoting into Marshalls when the necessary requirements are fulfilled.

In Fire Emblem Fates, the General is treated as a Nohrian class. As with all previous incarnations of the General, they are the promoted form of the Knight.

The class also appears in the spin-off title Fire Emblem Warriors as an enemy-only class, which wields Lances and is considered an Armoured unit. The General class has a Hoshidan variant called Shield Masters (盾聖 Tatesei, lit. Shield Saint).

In Three Houses, they are known as the Fortress Knight (フォートレス Fōtoresu) class, and are considered an Advanced Class. Once more, they are considered the promoted form of the Armored Knight. The Fortress Knight Class is an optional promoted class of the Commoner or Noble class if the unit passes the Certification Exam at Lv. 20 with an Axe Skill Level of B or higher, a Heavy Armor Skill Level of B or higher and an Advanced Seal.

Overview

Combat

Generals can act as very effective "walls" in the formation of chokepoints to block the advance of enemy forces as well as endure in survival and defense-objective battles. Enemy troops tend to have a difficult time penetrating these units, and thus set up a nigh-unbreakable chokepoint, especially if a healer is right behind them. They can be used to block small entrances to prevent opposing units from getting past them, a fact that is very useful to prevent thieves from escaping with looted treasure. A General's weaknesses are magic and anti-armor weapons (such as the Armorslayer), as well as fast-moving, durable and powerful units like Heroes, experienced Paladisn and Warriors. In many recent titles, Generals have higher Resistance, thus making speedy units and anti-armor weapons their prime weakness.

However, Generals, though great walls, are seen by many players as lackluster for one main reason: their Movement. Their movement throughout the series is very low: most games in the series see Generals with only 5 movement, with the exceptions of Thracia 776, Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Shadow Dragon, and New Mystery of the Emblem, where they have 6 movement. This means that in most instances, Generals have the lowest movement of the army, and when combined with their harsher movement costs on terrain, Generals often struggle to keep up with their allies. While this doesn't impact a slower, more methodical player, players who take advantage of classes like Paladins and Wyvern Lords will often find their Generals missing out on crucial EXP unless they go out of their way to feed kills to them, and without taking the time to let Generals kill enemies, the statistical difference between them and other units will decrease. This often makes the best time to use a General, and, to a larger extent, to use a Knight, in the early chapters of the game, where their high base Defense allows them to easily soak up hits where other units wouldn't be able to, and where enemies often have low enough speed that they needn't worry about getting doubled. This makes Generals rather mixed in terms of their popularity: casual players can use Generals to their fullest extent, making their high Defense and ability to use multiple weapon types valuable, where as players looking to play the games as fast as possible will see their low movement as a detriment and will overlook the class in favor of classes with move favorable mobility, with the Wyvern Lord in particular being seen as largely superior to the General by some because of this.

In WiFi battles, Generals suffer greatly for their low Speed cap. Although their high Defense helps them survive at least four hits from a Swordmaster, they can hardly survive being doubled by a Berserker or a Sage. They lack high Movement, and are vulnerable to anti-armor weapons. Individually, these flaws can be addressed with cards, but when combined as a whole they cannot. Using a General often means leaving the fate of a battle in the opponent's choice of squad. If a General is placed up against a Swordmaster, and the Swordmaster does not have an Armorslayer, the battle can be quite even (especially when using cards like Fleet Feet). However, due to the relative ease of counter-picking teams to beat Generals, it is difficult to use them reliably on WiFi.

In Fates they received a significant buff in the form of their new skill Wary Fighter. This skill effectively halves all the damage they take, as it prevents the opponent doubling them. Although it also prevents them from doubling anyone, their low Speed means they will rarely be able to double anyone anyway.

In-Game

★ - FE10 SP Class.

Base Stats

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv
FE1	28	9	-	1	4	0	14	0	5	-	-	Sword 13
FE3	28	8	-	3	3	0	15	3	5	-	-	Lance 10
FE4	40	10	0	6	5	0	12	3	5	-	-	A A B B
FE5	26	7	1	5	2	0	12	-	6	10	-	E E E E
TS	30	7	0	7	4	0	10	-	4	-	-	5
FE6	21/20	8	-	4/5	3/5	0	13/11	3/4	5	15/11	-	C E
FE7	21/20	8	-	4/5	3/5	0	13/11	3/4	5	15/11	-	C E
FE8	21/20	8	-	4/5	3/5	0	13/11	3/4	5	15/11	-	E C E
FE9	23/24	8/7	2/1	4	2/1	0	10/11	3/2	6	13	18	E/S C
FE10	35	18	5	17	16	0	20	10	6	13	23	C D
FE10 ★	40	20	7	19	18	0	22	12	6	13	23	D A C
FE11	28	8	1	3	4	0	15	3	6	-	-	D E
FE12	28	8	1	3	4	0	15	3	6	-	-	D E
FE13	28	12	0	7	4	0	15	3	5	-	-	E E
FE14	22	11	0	7	3	4	12	3	5	-	-	E E

Maximum Stats

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv
FE1	52	20	-	20	20	20	20	20	5	-	-	Sword 20
FE3	52	20	-	20	20	20	20	20	5	-	-	Lance 20
FE4	80	25	15	21	20	30	27	18	5	-	-	A A B B
FE5	80	20	20	20	20	20	20	-	20	20	-	A A A A
TS	60	22	15	22	19	30	25	-	12	-	-	20
FE6	60	27/25	-	25	21/22	30	30	25/26	15	20	-	S S
FE7	60	29/25	-	27/25	24/22	30	30	25/26	15	20	-	S S
FE8	60	29/27	-	27/28	24/25	30	30/29	25/26	15	25	-	S S S
FE9	60/70	29/30	20	27/30	24/35	40	30	25/30	6	13	18	S S
FE10	45	27	15	25	23	30	30	20	6	13	23	S A
FE10 ★	55	34	18	32	29	30	35	28	6	13	23	A SS S
FE11	60	27	20	25	21	30	30	20	6	-	-	A A
FE12	60	27	20	25	21	30	30	20	6	-	-	A A
FE13	80	50	30	41	35	45	50	35	5	-	-	A A
FE14	70	38	25	32	25	32	40	30	5	-	-	A B

Growth Rates

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv
FE3	90%	30%	-	30%	20%	0%	20%	0%	-	-	-	-
FE4	100%	30%	10%	30%	30%	0%	30%	10%	-	-	-	-
FE5	50%	20%	3%	15%	10%	10%	15%	-	0%	15%	-	-
FE6	75%	30%	-	25/35%	10%	20%	23%	15%	-	-	-	-
FE7	75%	30%	-	20/25%	10%	20%	23%	25%	-	-	-	-
FE8	75%	30%	-	20/25%	10%	20%	23%	25%	-	-	-	-
FE9	75%	45%	20%	45%	30%	25%	55%	45%	-	-	-	-
FE10	55%	40%	45%	30%	25%	40%	50%	50%	-	-	-	-
FE10 ★	80%	75%	60%	70%	60%	65%	70%	85%	-	-	-	-
FE11	60%	15%	-15%	20%	0%	0%	30%	-10%	-	-	-	-
FE12	60%	15%	-15%	20%	0%	0%	30%	-10%	-	-	-	-
FE13	50%/100%	25%/50%	0%/0%	15%/35%	10%/25%	0%/40%	15%/35%	10%/20%	-	-	-	-
FE14	25%	20%	0%	15%	0%	10%	20%	5%	-	-	-	-

Class Skills

{{ClassSkills |fe4=Great Shield*Class skill of the General, Baron and Emperor classes. |fe8 = Great Shield*Base skill of the General class. |fe9=Luna*Occult skill of the General and Halberdier classes; assign with an Occult Scroll. |fe10=Shove*Base skill of all foot units. |fe13=Rally Defense
Pavise*Learned at Level 5.
Learned at Level 15. |fe14=Wary Fighter
Pavise*Learned at Level 5 and above.
Learned at Level 15 and above. fe16=Axefaire
[[File:Weight -5 FE16.png|20px]Weight -5
Pavise*Class Ability of the Fortress Knight class.
Class Ability of the Fortress Knight class.
Mastery Ability of Fortress Knights.

Promotions

Notable Generals

Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light/Shadow Dragon

Lorenz - A general of Grust who opposed his country's alliance with Dolhr, and an old friend of King Mostyn of Talys
Horace - A general of Archanea who was forced to betray his country to protect his people
Emereus - A Macedon general stationed at Aurelis Castle to halt Marth and Hardin's advance.
Harmein - A general put in charge of Minerva and the Whitewings to prevent Marth's advance towards Archanea's royal palace.
Zharov - A Grustian general put in charge of Castle Deil's defence.
Hollstadt - A Grustian general put in charge of defending Altea Castle's entrance.
Jiol - The king of Gra who betrayed Altea and sided with Dolhr.
Dactyl - A Macedon general stationed in Helena Castle.
Larissa - A Grustian general who is loyal to the alliance with Dolhr.
Promotion for: Draug, Macellan, Dolph and Roger (such promotions are only possible in Shadow Dragon).

Mystery of the Emblem and New Mystery of the Emblem

Sheema - Daughter of King Jiol and later the ruler of Gra.
Macellan - Knight of Archanea who is loyal to Nyna. (Exclusive to New Mystery of the Emblem.)
Dolph - Knight of Archanea who is loyal to Nyna. (Exclusive to New Mystery of the Emblem.)
Lang - Marquess of Archanea and leader of the Grust Occupational Army.
Rucke - Leader of Macedon's military coup.
Eibel - Commander of the Altea occupation army.
Nehring - Archanean knight who sided with the crown.
Promotion for: Draug.

Genealogy of the Holy War

Hannibal - A general of Thracia who is known as "The Shield of Thracia" and the foster father of Coirpre.
Philip - Retainer of lord Boldor.
Boldor - Duke of Heirhein in Agustria.
Macbeth - Corrupt duke of Anphony in Agustria.
Donovan - Brutal Silesse commander .
Harold - Retainer of Dozel.
Bramsel - Count of Darna under Bloom.
Muhammad - Fregat commander with a rivalry with his comrade, Ovo.
Maikov - Thracian guarding Mease castle.
Kanatz - Loyal retainer to Hannibal.
Disler - Close confidant to King Travant of Thracia.
Promotion for: Arden.

Thracia 776

Xavier - Former general of Leonster who sided with Freege in order to protect Leonster's people.
Lobos - A general under Raydrik who was tasked with guarding captured children in Fort Kelves.
Bandol - A general of Manster who was tasked with stopping Leif and the Magi Group from escaping Manster Castle.
Truman - A general of Manster, also tasked with thwarting Leif's escape.
Largo - A powerful general of Friege who holds contempt for Kempf and guards the Thracian-Grannvalean border.
Rist - An ambitious general of Friege prematurely leads the attack on Tahra.
Baldack - A general of Friege under Paulus who continues the attack on Tahra, leading the 8th Legion.
Brook - A general of Friege who guards Fort Norden.
Nicolov - A general who guards the entrance to Leonster Castle in the A route.
Palman - A general who guards the entrance to Leonster Castle in the B route.
Hannibal - A general of Thracia who is known as "The Shield of Thracia" and the foster father of Coirpre.
Promotion for: Dalsin.

TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga

Zacharia - A general in service of the Kingdom of Salia under the command of Ahab.
Merlon - The count of Verge and father of Estelle.
Domes - One of Codha's trusted generals known for his strong body.
Berom - One of Codha's trusted generals.
Chamos - A honorable general of Canaan.
Jeff - A general of Canaan who employs the Condor Squad in his battle against Runan's army.
Praeva - A general of Canaan serving under Shion.
Barbaross - A general of Canaan known as the "Shield of Canaan".
Promotion for: Billford.

The Binding Blade

Douglas - The Great General of Etruria,
Hector - The Marquess of Ostia and Lilina's father. One of the main characters of The Blazing Blade.
Murdock - The military commander of Bern and the leader of the Three WyvernGenerals.
Roartz - Noble of Etruria who betrayed his country and sided with Bern.
Leygance - Traitorous Ostian general.
Zinc - Corrupt Marquess of the Western Isles.
Morgan - An Etrurian commander who turned traitor.
Teck - Bern Commander working under Murdock.
Promotion for: Bors, Gwendolyn and Barthe.

The Blazing Blade

Darin - The Marquess of Laus.
Murdock - Young vassal to Prince Zephiel of Bern.
Lundgren - The younger brother of the Marquess Hausen of Caelin who attempted to overthrow his brother.
Uther - The Marquess of Ostia and Hector's older brother.
Bernard - Remorseful general of Laus.
Promotion for: Wallace and Oswin.

The Sacred Stones

Vigarde - The "Silent Emperor" of Grado.
Tirado - General Valter's aide.
Fado - The king of Renais.
Possible promotion for: Gilliam and Amelia

Path of Radiance

Tauroneo - A general of Daein and a former member of the Four Riders of Daein.
Bryce - A very honorable knight who is a member of the Four Riders of Daein.
Black Knight - A enigmatic knight who is one of the Four Riders of Daein.
Danomill - Cruel Daein warden.
Kimaarsi - Retainer to Duke Oliver of Tanas.
Kasatai - Patriotic knight guarding Daein's capital under Ena.
Promotion for: Gatrie and Brom.

Radiant Dawn

Tauroneo - A general of Daein and a former member of the Four Riders of Daein.
Gatrie - Member of the Greil Mercenaries.
Yeardley - Recruiter for the Duke Ludveck's Crimean rebellion.
Septimus - A Laguz fearing Begnion commander working under the senate.

Awakening

Ignatius - A Valmese commander and boss of Chapter 14.
Cervantes - One of Walhart's officers and boss of Chapters 16 and 20.
Campari - Ruthless commander of Plegia.
Ignatius - Leader of Valm's armada of transport ships.
Gyral - Commander of the Stonewall Knights, a mercenary troop of armored soldiers.
Mus - Enemy from Chapter 22 and one of the Deadlords. Boss of Infinite Regalia.
Possible promotion for: Kellam and Kjelle.

Fates

Possible promotion for: Benny, Effie and Ignatius.

Three Houses

promotion for: Edelgard, Ferdinand, Dedue, Hilda, Raphael, Balthus, and Alois.
Gilbert - Former noble and knight of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, he was known with another name. He's Annette's father.

Trivia

Owing to the position of Generals as a defensive class and position as leaders of an army, it is the most popular class among Boss units in the series.
- Fates is the only game to have to lack bosses in the class.
In various games, the General class can be seen as a parallel to the Wyvern Lord: both have the highest Strength and Defense caps (on the ground and in the air respectively), both have a status which makes them vulnerable to a certain type of weapon (in the case of the General, being weak against Armorslayers, Hammers, and Rapiers/Noble Rapiers) and both classes often wield Axes and Lances.
Generals consistently possess the lowest Speed cap of all promoted classes in most of their appearances.
In Fates, even if their shield is knocked off, their shield arm will still be placed as if they were carrying it.
- In addition to this, if all of their armor is removed or they are encountered in the Hot Spring, they will use the same animations as they do during combat (such as their walking animation).
In Fates during Chapter 13 of Birthright, before Ryoma reveals himself, his portrait and sprite is a General.