The Villager (村人, Murabito) is a combat physical class that is introduced in Fire Emblem Gaiden. A trainee class that affords little value apart from possessing much potential to grow into valuable assets of the player's army, Villagers primarily wield either Swords or Lances as their weapons of choice.
History in the Series
In Gaiden and its remake, Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Villagers (むらびと, Murabito) wield Swords as their weapon of choice. They are regarded as a "tier zero" class in this title, given that they are able to promote into a variety of first-tier classes. Male Villagers can promote into the Mercenary, Soldier, Archer, Mage and Cavalier classes. Female Villagers (exclusive to Echoes) can promote into the Cavalier, Mage, Cleric, or Pegasus Knight classes. Villagers can promote into any one of these classes by visiting a shrine when their level is 3 or higher. In Gaiden, the class that they promote into is chosen randomly, but in Echoes, the player can freely choose what class they want their Villagers to promote into.
Although weak as a class, Villagers have the potential of leveling up infinitely by following the Mercenary path, as the corresponding third-tier class, Dread Fighter, is able to promote back into this class any time after reaching Level 10.
Futhermore, in Echoes, an item called a Pitchfork can be used to allow any unit in any class at any level to promote into a Villager at a shrine. This gives that unit the ability to then promote into a different class of their choosing, essentially allowing them to reclass in a manner somewhat similar to what is allowed by the Second Seal item in Awakening and the Heart Seal item in Fates. However, this can only be done three times, as there are only three Pitchfork items obtainable in the game, via the "Mila's Bounty" free DLC gifts.
The Villager class returns in Awakening, this time wielding Lances in a manner that is similar to the Recruit class. The class has no promotions and is considered a special class, capping at Level 30. However, unlike most other special classes, it has low stat caps and it is encouraged to reclass into a secondary class to absolve these low caps. It is exclusive to Donnel and is technically a male-only class. Any son of Donnel will inherit the class, however his daughters will not. Male Morgan can inherit the class either from Donnel or a son of Donnel.
In Fates, the class wields Lances as its sole weapon of choice, much like its incarnation in Awakening. The Villager is a fully-fleshed class instead of a trainee-tier one, given that it can directly promote into either the Merchant or the Master of Arms class. It is one of four base classes in Fates that cannot be chosen as the Avatar's secondary class and cannot be accessed via a Partner Seal and Friendship Seal. However, the children of Mozu inherit the class from her.
In TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga, the class is known as Farmer (農民 nōmin), an NPC only class that appears only in Chapter 12. They wield Forks, a subtype of the Spear class of weapons, although their poor stats hinder their effectiveness with them.
Combat
Because Villagers are basically civilian recruits who have not received formal combat training, their starting stats and growth rates tend to be extremely low. They are weak, pitifully so in some instances, and are extremely fragile and can be felled easily by most conventional enemies. In most instances, they appear no later than a quarter into the story, making them even weaker than most units in the army at the time, but not to the point that they are completely unusable. As a trainee class, they are ill suited for long term usage in the class and is merely a starting point. This is reinforced by the fact that their stat caps are generally quite low, forcing the player to promote or reclass them as soon as possible.
While initially weak and ill suited for combat, the Villager class is considered to be more of an archetype than a class. All units who start off as a Villager or a trainee class in general are noted for their potential, generally having some of the strongest growth rates in their respective games and becoming some of the strongest units in the game. If intending to use a Villager character, it is encouraged to use them immediately from recruitment and reclass them as soon as possible. Once they enter an actual combat class, their potential becomes more apparent and usually excels in their new role. Overall, Villagers are considered investment units. They require delicate handling and a bit of risk to give them the experience needed to grow in the beginning but offer large rewards once they are given time to grow.
In-Game
Base Stats
| HP | Str | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Mov | Con | Wt | Wlv | Cha | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FE2 | 26 | 7 | - | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | - | - | Sword | |
| FE13 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | - | - |  E | |
| FE14 | 17 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 5 | - | - |  E |
Maximum Stats
| HP | Str | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Mov | Con | Wt | Wlv | Cha | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FE2 | 52 | 40 | - | 40 | 40 | 40 | 40 | 4 | - | - | - | Sword | |
| FE13 | 60 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 30 | 20 | 20 | 5 | - | - | A | |
| FE14 | 35 | 19 | 15 | 19 | 19 | 22 | 18 | 15 | 5 | - | - | C |
Growth Rates
| HP | Str | Mag | Skl | Spd | Lck | Def | Res | Mov | Con | Wt | Wlv | Cha | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FE2 | 150% | 50% | - | 50% | 50% | 0% | 50% | 0% | - | - | - | - | |
| FE13 | 35% | 10% | 0% | 5% | 5% | 0% | 10% | 5% | - | - | - | - | |
| FE14 | 10% | 10% | 0% | 10% | 10% | 20% | 10% | 0% | - | - | - | - |
Class Skills
| Skill | Requirements | |
|---|---|---|
| FE13 |  Aptitude Underdog | Learnt at Level 1. Learnt at Level 15. |
| FE14 |  Aptitude Underdog | Learnt at Level 1 and above. Learnt at Level 10 and above. |
Promotions
| Base Class | Promotion Method | Promoted Class | |
|---|---|---|---|
| FE2 |  Villager | Visit a Shrine after reaching Level 3+. |  Mercenary Soldier Archer Mage Knight |
| FE14 |  Villager | Use a  Master Seal on a Level 10+ Villager. |  Merchant Master of Arms |
Notable Villagers
Gaiden/Shadows of Valentia
- Atlas - A villager from the Mountain Village on Celica's route.
- Kliff - One of Alm's friends from Ram Village and the youngest of the group.
- Gray - One of Alm's friends from the Ram Village.
- Tobin - One of Alm's friends from the Ram Village.
- Faye - One of Alm's friends from the Ram Village. She is exclusive to Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia.
- Possible promotion for: Saber, Kamui, Jesse, and Deen
Awakening
- Donnel - An Ylissean villager.
- Holland - A hostile villager who aids the nefarious Nelson in order to support his family.
Fates
Notes
- Villagers and the unplayable Soldier class share the same battle animations in Awakening.
- In Awakening and Fates, Villagers often seem to take the role of the Civilian class in some chapters, frequently appearing as functionally defenseless allied units that must be protected. The exceptions are Holland, who is an enemy, Donnel, who can be recruited, and Morgan who, if he is Donnel's son, starts out as a Villager and can be recruited.
- In Awakening, Villagers boast equal Defense and Resistance, a trait shared with their sister class, Lords, female Great Lords, Tacticians, Grandmasters, Cavaliers, Paladins, Dancers, Manaketes and Grima's personal class. Additionally, they boast equal Strength and Magic, a trait shared by Tacticians, Grandmasters, their sister class and Dancers.
- In Fates, Villagers are the only generic units that cannot be captured. Apart from being the rarest NPCs in-game (they do not appear in Birthright apart from the Arena (those NPCs cannot be captured) and Sophie's Paralogue as allies), the only times they appear as enemies are in Conquest and Revelation as Vallite enemies, who cannot be captured.
Gallery
.png "FF13 Villager (Donnel).png (23 KB)")
