Thief

For the staff with the same name, see here. For the battalion with the plural name, see here.

Thief
Merrin as a Thief in Engage.
Name (JP)	(盗賊, Tōzoku) シーフ (Shīfu, シーフ) (FE4, FE5, FE14, FE17) 盗人シーフ (FE10)
Name (Localized)	Thief Outlaw (FE14, FEW)
First Seen	Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light
Promotes From	Myrmidon (FE16, FEW3H)
Promotes To	Assassin (FE7, FE8, FE9, FE13, FE16, FEW3H) Rogue (FE8, FE10) Thief Fighter (FE4, FE5) Trickster (FE13, FE14) Bow Knight (FE14) Dancer (FE4; Lara only) Grassrunner (Czene only)
Usable Weapon Types	Sword (FE1-FE8, FE11-FE13, FE16) Knife (FE9-FE10, FE17, TS2) Bow (FE14, FE16)
Class Skills	Shove Steal Locktouch Movement +1 (FE13-FE14) Pass (FE17)
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The Thief is a combat/utility physical class that debuted in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light.

History in the Series

The Thief is a recurring class in the Fire Emblem Series present since the very beginning starting in Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light. Thieves are noted particularly for two valuable command skills: Steal, the ability to rob a target of specific items, and Pick, the ability to unlock Chests, Doors, and Gates without the need for a specific key. In some games the latter is an innate ability that comes with the class, in others, it is tied to an equip Skill that can be learned from the class.

Thieves are usually a present but small number enemy type encountered on a map. Most commonly, they are a group of enemies allied or at least neutral to the current enemy of the map but present to fulfill their own personal agenda. Their purpose is generally to raid a map for valuable treasure and escape. Any item that they steal will be dropped when defeated. Other times, they have similar functions as a Brigand and can destroy a Village.

In combat, Thieves typically wield Swords or Knives as their weapons of choice. As their focus on on plundering, their stats tend to focus on Speed and Dexterity, making them likely to dodge attacks and deny Follow-Up Attacks, making them difficult to tag at times. In exchange, they have some of the lowest defensive stats and sometimes lack Strength to deal damage in retaliation on top of the sometimes innate weak Might of their preferred weapons. Depending on game, such as their debut game and Engage, the thief class is a unique class, giving them a higher Level cap and no promotion. In games where they can Promote, they usually turn into Assassins.

The advent of Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War sees the Thief class being able to promote for the first time in the series. Thief Fighters act as the promoted form of the class and are reputably capable fighters on the battlefield.

In Fire Emblem: Thracia 776, the Thief class is again able to promote into the Thief Fighter class. This incarnation of the class is particularly special for Lara; depending on whether the necessary requirements are met, she can promote from a Thief into either the Dancer or Thief Fighter classes. After this title, the Thief Fighter class is retired, though the later Rogue and Trickster classes fill the same niche of a promoted class that retains all functions of the original Thief class.

In TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga thieves are reverted to being unable to promote. In the game, there are two versions of the Thief class: a playable version in the mercenary class category, and an NPC/Enemy version in the criminal class category. The enemy version has a slightly higher strength cap in exchange for a slightly lower speed cap.

In Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Volke is the only Thief who can promote into an Assassin. This promotion is done without an item, and is part of the main plot, in which Volke either leaves or is rehired as an Assassin for a fee of 50,000 gold.

In TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga, Czene, the playable Thief, is able to promote into Grassrunner, and is the only thief able to promote at all. They wield Knives, making them good for inflicting injuries to make it easier to capture units. All thieves have the Locktouch and Hide skills and usually possess a stealing skill: Czene and some enemy thieves have Mug, whereas Sedy is the sole user of the Steal skill. There is also a bow variant of the class used by enemy units.

There are no playable Thieves to promote in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, effectively making it an enemy-only class, though it is coded to promote to Rogue within the game. All playable characters in the Thief class line come pre-promoted as Rogues or, in Volke's case, as an Assassin. 

In Awakening, Thieves are given the further option to promote into Trickster alongside Assassin.

Thieves are known as Outlaws in the localized versions of Fire Emblem Fates and are treated as a Nohrian class. Outlaws wield Bows instead of Swords and Knives. They are given the further option to promote into Bow Knight alongside Adventurer, the Bow using equivalent to the Awakening Trickster. The Hoshidan counterparts to the Outlaw are the Archer class in terms of Reclassing, mirroring Outlaws' bow usage, and are similar to the Ninja class in terms of utility, even sharing the Locktouch skill with the latter class.

The Nohrian thief-type class, Outlaw, reappears in Fire Emblem Warriors as the base class of Niles, in which it acts as a clone of the Archer class. There are also enemy-only versions of both Thief and Outlaw which act like clones of the Myrmidon class, with the added ability to open chests. Additionally, the Hoshidan Ninja and Master Ninja classes act as the Hoshidan variant of the Thief class.

In Three Houses, the Thief Class is an optional promoted class of the Commoner or Noble class if the unit passes the Certification Exam at Lv. 10 with a Sword Skill Level of C or higher and an Intermediate Seal. The other option with these requirements is the Mercenary class.

In addition, there is also an enemy-only variant of the Thief class called Ruffian. Ruffians are much weaker, have no class skills and appear exclusively in the prologue.

In Vestaria Saga I, the Thief wields daggers like it's Tellius incarnations. The class possesses the Lurk skill which increases terrain bonuses by 50%. It promotes into the Thief Hunter.

In Vestaria Saga: The Holy Sword of Silvanister, two variants of the Thief are introduced. The Thief Fighter, which is exclusive to Sjarta and is no different from the normal Thief and the Thief Master, which wields Swords and is exclusive to Drake. The Thief Master has higher Strength and Skill, making it superior to the Thief.

Uniform

Due to their covert nature, Thieves tend to wear light armor, usually leather padded armor at best if not rudementary light clothing. More often than not, they tend to wear long cloaks that obscure a vast majority of their body outline and may have hoods to further obscure their identity. Several thieves also visually carry some sort of a cache to store their loot and may have belts on them that holster their weapons and thieves tools.

Overview

Combat

An attack animation of a Thief

The Thief class primarily focuses on agility in combat, and can dodge the majority of enemy attacks. However, their low Strength impairs their utility as combat units as they can rarely inflict heavy damage on foes. When raising a Thief, it is recommended to have hardier units cover them while the Thief concentrates on weakened foes. They are somewhat like weak Myrmidons and score well in the Skill, Speed and (sometimes) Luck departments to offset their lower Strength, Defense and Resistance. Though weak, their high speed means they will double most opponents. Thieves with a high Skill rating can perform regular critical hits. A well-raised Thief can hold their own in combat, capable of dealing out reliable damage cause of their high accuracy (skill) while remaining almost completely untouched.

Thieves with low offensive capabilities are still useful as support units. Thieves have higher Movement than other infantry units, making them good for quick assaults or reaching objectives quickly. They can see farther than other units in Fog of War battles, making them perfect for scouting. They can also pilfer supplies from the enemy with their ability to Steal, robbing enemies of assets such as medicine or staves. With sufficient Strength, they can even steal weapons (depending on the game), especially valued if they can steal unique enemy equipment. These, alongside their ability to open doors and treasure chests without keys, make them valuable assets on any player's army. However, as they are physically frail, it is advisable to not leave them unguarded at all times.

When promoted into an Assassin, apart from the normal boost in all parameters, the Thief gains more points in HP, Resistance and Defense than any of their other stats. They lose their ability to steal from enemies, but retain the ability to use Lockpicks. They also gain the Lethality ability, thus making Assassins much more combat-oriented than Thieves. Rogues, conversely, keep all the abilities of the Thief class, becoming even more effective in that regard. Their price to pay is possessing weaker combat stats as compared to Assassins. However, they have a critical bonus, which, while not being as large as the Assassins, is still hefty when compared to that of Thieves.

In-Game

Base Stats

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE1	16	3	-	1	9	0	2	0	7	-	-	Sword 2	-
FE3	16	2	-	1	7	0	1	0	7	-	-	Sword 1	-
FE4	26	3	0	3	0	7	1	0	6	-	-	C	-
FE5	16/14	1/0	0	1	6/7	0	0	-	7	5/3	-	E	-
TS	18	1	0	5	10	0	0	-	5	-	-	3	-
FE6	16	3/1	-	1	9/7	2/1	0/1	6	6/5	-	-	E	-
FE7	16/15	3/2	-	1/3	9/8	0	2/1	0/2	6	6/5	-	E	-
FE8	16	3	-	1	9	0	2	0	6	6	-	E	-
FE9	16	3	0	2	9	0	2	0	7	9	9	Knife	-
FE10	16	5	0	6	10	0	3	0	7	9	9	D	-
FE11	16	2	0	1	7	0	1	0	7	-	-	E	-
FE12	16	2	0	1	7	0	1	0	7	-	-	E	-
FE13	16	3	0	6	8	0	2	0	5	-	-	E	-
FE14	16	3	1	4	8	1	2	4	5	-	-	E	-
FE16	25	9	6	11	11	8	6	2	5	-	-	C	0
FE17	22	5	0	10	10	2	6	2	5	4	-	S	-
FEW	52	7	5	7	10	4	4	9	5	-	-	E	-

Maximum Stats

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE3	52	20	-	20	20	20	20	20	7	-	-	Sword 7	-
FE4	80	18	15	18	22	30	16	15	6	-	-	C	-
TS	60	16	15	20	25	30	15	-	5	12	-	16	-
FE6	60	20	-	20	20	30	20	20	15	20	-	A	-
FE7	60	20	-	20	20	30	20	20	15	20	-	A	-
FE8	60	20	-	20	20	30	20	20	15	20	-	A	-
FE9	40	20	15	20	20	40	20	20	7	9	9	Knife	-
FE10	30	15	10	20	20	40	15	10	7	9	9	A	-
FE11	60	20	20	25	30	30	25	20	7	-	-	A	-
FE12	60	20	20	25	30	30	25	20	7	-	-	A	-
FE13	60	22	20	30	28	30	21	20	5	-	-	A	-
FE14	35	19	18	20	24	18	17	22	5	-	-	B	-
FE17	60	43	22	51	42	30	33	23	7	13	-	S	-

Growth Rates

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE3	60%	30%	-	40%	50%	0%	30%	30%	-	-	-	-	-
FE4	100%	30%	0%	30%	30%	0%	30%	10%	-	-	-	-	-
FE5	70%	20%	0%	15%	15%	10%	10%	-	-	20%	-	-	-
FE6	50/45%	5%	-	45%	40%	40%	5%	20%	-	-	-	-	-
FE7	50/45%	5%	-	45%	40%	40%	5%	25%	-	-	-	-	-
FE8	50%	5%	-	45%	40%	40%	5%	20%	-	-	-	-	-
FE9	70%	45%	15%	60%	60%	40%	30%	20%	-	-	-	-	-
FE10	55%	40%	10%	55%	40%	70%	40%	30%	-	-	-	-	-
FE11	30%	10%	-20%	30%	40%	0%	5%	-10%	-	-	-	-	-
FE12	30%	10%	-20%	30%	40%	0%	5%	-10%	-	-	-	-	-
FE13	35%	15%	5%	25%	25%	0%	5%	5%	-	-	-	-	-
FE14	0%	10%	5%	10%	20%	0%	0%	20%	-	-	-	-	-
FE16	20%	0%/15%	0%	10%	10%/15%	0%	0%/10%	0%	-	-	-	+2 +1	5%
FEW3H	15%	0%	0%	15%	15%	0%	0%	0%	-	-	-	-	5%

Class Modifiers

	HP	Str	Mag	Skl	Spd	Lck	Def	Res	Mov	Con	Wt	Wlv	Cha
FE16	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	1	-	-	-	0
FEW3H	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	3	-	-	-	1

Class Skills

	Skill	Requirements
FE4	Steal	Class skill of the Thief and Thief Fighter classes.
FE5	Steal	Class skill of the Thief and Thief Fighter classes.
TS	Steal Picklock	Class skill of the Thief (F) class. Class skill of the Thief class.
FE9	Knife Steal	Class skill of the Thief and Assassin classes. Class skill of the Thief and Assassin classes.
FE10	Shove Steal	Base skill of all foot units. Class skill of the Thief, Rogue and Whisper classes.
FE13	Locktouch Movement +1	Learnt at Level 1. Learnt at Level 10.
FE14	Locktouch Movement +1	Learnt at Level 1 and above. Learnt at Level 10 and above.
FE16	Locktouch Steal	Class Ability of Thieves. Class and Mastery Ability of Thieves.
FE17	Pass Savage Blow	Class Skill of Thieves. Maddening mode skill.
FEW3H	Steal Locktouch Axe Buster Lv 2 Appraisal Dex +2 Sword Prowess Thief's Ploy Thief's Wisdom Shadowblade Iceblade Lightblade	Class skill. Class skill. Class skill. 1-star Class Mastery for certain units. 1-star Class Mastery for certain units. 2-star Class Mastery for all units. 3-star Class Mastery for certain units. 3-star Class Mastery for certain units. 3-star Class Mastery for certain units. 3-star Class Mastery for certain units. 3-star Class Mastery for certain units.

Promotions

	Base Class	Promotion Method	Promoted Class
FE4	Thief	Choose the "Class Change" option in the Home Castle when the relevant unit reaches Level 20.	Thief Fighter
FE5 (Standard)	Thief	Use a Knight Proof on a Level 10+ Thief.	Thief Fighter
FE5 (Lara)	Thief	In Chapter 12x, have Lara speak to Perne.	Dancer
FE7	Thief	Use a Fell Contract on a Level 10+ Thief.	Assassin
FE8	Thief	Use an Ocean Seal or a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Thief.	Assassin Rogue
FE9 (Volke)	Thief	Choose to rehire Volke at the end of Chapter 19.	Assassin
FE13	Thief	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Thief.	Assassin Trickster
FE14	Outlaw	Use a Master Seal on a Level 10+ Outlaw.	Adventurer Bow Knight
FE16	Any class	Use an Intermediate Seal on a Level 10+ unit and pass the Thief Certification Exam.	Thief
FEW	Outlaw	Use a Master Seal on Niles.	Adventurer
FEW3H	Myrmidon	Use an Intermediate Seal on a unit that has mastered the Myrmidon class.	Thief
FEW3H	Thief	Use an Advanced Seal on a unit that has mastered the Thief class.	Assassin

Notable Thieves

Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light and Mystery of the Emblem

• Rickard - A thief who greatly admires Julian.
• Julian - Former member of the Soothsires.
• Dahl - Leader of the Raman Thieves.
• Barm - Boss in Fire Emblem: Archanea Saga.

Genealogy of the Holy War

• Dew - Thief who assisted in the rescue of Edain.
• Patty - Daughter of Brigid and the younger sister of Febail.
• Daisy - Sister of Asaello and the substitute character of Patty.

Thracia 776

• Lifis - Leader of the Lifis Pirates.
• Lara - Member of the Magi Squad.

The Binding Blade

• Chad - An orphan raised in Araphen along with Lugh and Raigh.
• Astolfo - A spy from Ostia who is Igrene's long-lost husband, Gorlois.
• Cath - A thief who has a strong hatred for nobles.

The Blazing Blade

• Matthew - A Happy-go-lucky spy from Ostia who's actually quite sly.
• Legault - Former member of the Black Fang known as the "The Hurricane" that left the group when it lost its way.

The Sacred Stones

• Colm - Thief from Renais and the childhood friend of Neimi.

Path of Radiance

• Volke - A mercenary assassin who works under the drive of monetary gains.
• Sothe - An orphaned stowaway seeking a lost, unnamed companion.

Awakening

• Gaius - A thief from Ylisse known for his nimble hands and sweet tooth.

Fates

• Niles - One of Leo's retainers and a Nohrian scoundrel who wags his saucy tongue at everyone.
• Nina - The calm and intelligent daughter of Niles who is prone to intense bouts of daydreaming.
• Anna - One of many savvy merchants of the same name known throughout the Fire Emblem franchise who are known for get-rich-quick schemes to expand their coin purses.

TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga

• Czene - A daughter of nomads that seeks to prove her worth.
• Sedy - An orphaned thief from Narvia that steals to provide for a group of other orphaned children.

Three Houses

• Kostas - Bandit who tried to kill Edelgard, Dimitri and Claude.
• Pallardó - Ex-merchant who gave himself to thievery, he doesn't seem to care in sacrificing others to save himself. Takes refuge at the ruined Garreg Mach Monastery.

Engage

• Yunaka - A sprightly thief of Brodia who has a hidden past.
• Zelkov - The retainer to Princess Ivy who speaks as if his words have a underlying message.

Vestaria Saga I

• Cezar - A roving tomb raider to prefers to describe himself as "all man, all adventure."

Vestaria Saga: The Holy Sword of Silvanister

• Sjarta/Irene - A young girl suffering from PTSD after being kidnapped.
• Drake - A master at thievery. His true name is Dorian, the son of the slain former Duke of Frist.

Trivia

• Every naturally-occurring thief-class character in Awakening - Gangrel, Gaius, and Anna (and all three characters' potential Morgan) - is a redhead.
• Thieves are often portrayed with a pack slung over their backs, as well as some manner of hooded cloak or cowl.
• Outlaws wielding bows in Fire Emblem Fates is likely a nod to Robin Hood, a historical outlaw/archer.

See also

• Assassin
• Trickster
• Rogue
• Steal
• Lockpick

Gallery

Concept artwork of the Thief class from Genealogy of the Holy War.

Concept artwork of the Thief class from Path of Radiance.

Concept artwork of the unused Thief class from Path of Radiance.

Concept artwork of the Thief class from Radiant Dawn.

Concept artwork of the female variant of the Thief class from Awakening.

Concept artwork of the male variant of the Thief class from Awakening.

Concept art of a female Outlaw from Fates.

Concept art of a male Outlaw from Fates.

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

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

Generic CG artwork of the Thief class from the GBA titles.

Generic portrait of the Thief class from TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga.

Generic portrait of the Thief class from TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga.

Generic portrait of the Thief class from TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga.

Generic portrait of the Thief class from TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga.

Generic CG artwork of the Thief class from the DS titles.

Generic portrait of the Thief class from Awakening.

Generic class portrait of an Outlaw from Fates.

Generic portrait of the Male Thief class from Three Houses.

Battle model of an enemy Thief from Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light.

Patty as a Thief in Genealogy of the Holy War.

Lara as a Thief in Thracia 776.

Sprite of the enemy variant of Thief in TearRing Saga.

Sprite of Yuni, a female thief in TearRing Saga.

Battle model of Czene, a female thief in Berwick Saga.

Battle model of a generic Thief in Berwick Saga.

A bow thief in Berwick Saga.

Sothe as a Thief in Path of Radiance.

Volke as a Thief in Path of Radiance.

Gaius as a male Thief in Awakening.

Anna as a female Thief in Awakening.

Niles, a male Outlaw from Fates.

Battle model of a male thief in Fire Emblem Three Houses.

Battle model of a female thief in Fire Emblem Three Houses.

Edelgard as a Thief in Three Houses.

Map sprite of the Thief class from Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light.

Map sprite of the Thief class from Fire Emblem: Mystery of the Emblem.

Map sprite of the Thief class from Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones.

Map sprite of the female variant of the Thief class from Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade.

Map sprite of the Thief class from the DS titles.

Map sprite of the enemy variant of the Thief class from the DS titles.

Gaius's map sprite as a Thief from Awakening.