Counter (カウンター Kauntā, Counter, Contre in the French version, Contrattacco in the Italian version) is a skill from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn, Fire Emblem Awakening and Fire Emblem Fates.
In Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, the enemy will receive half the damage he/she inflicted onto his/her opponent. The activation of the skill is also based on the user's Skill stat.
However, in Awakening, it will always activate. The effects of Counter will only go off against a non-fatal attack on the user and will only reflect back when the attacker is next to the user. In Lunatic+ mode, the enemy often suicide rushes units with Counter because of its effectiveness against the player early on. This continues until Chapter 4 when the player can start level grinding units that can attack from a distance to kill them.
Counter, along with Miracle, can be a devastating combo, especially if the user has +5 HP against melee units, as Miracle can leave the enemy in a dangerous state or even kill them if used properly. However, this also leaves your units in a fairly dangerous state. It can also be used with low defense units that can fight back at a distance, as the enemy will either have to risk taking heavy damage from either their own attacks or the user's attacks.
If an enemy is killed by the effects of Counter, reduced experience is given if the user had dealt some damage during that skirmish. Otherwise, the user will not gain any experience.
Stats
Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
| Name | Activation | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
 Counter
|
(Skill)% | 10 |
| Effects | Upon activation, the enemy will sustain half of the damage he/she inflicted upon his/her opponent. | |
| Users | Base skill of Titania; Can be assigned with the  Counter Scroll.
| |
Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
| Name | Activation | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
 Counter
|
(Skill)% | 10 |
| Effects | Upon activation, the enemy will sustain half of the damage he/she inflicted upon his/her opponent. | |
| Users | Base skill of Titania; Can be assigned with the  Counter Scroll
| |
Fire Emblem Awakening
| Name | Activation | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
 Counter
|
Receive non-fatal damage from an adjacent enemy. | - |
| Effects | The user will deal back all damage received when attacked by an adjacent enemy. Will not activate on a Dual Strike attack or if the attacker defeats the user. | |
| Users | Class skill of Level 15 Warriors.
Upon reaching Chapter 3 and beyond of Lunatic+ mode, all enemies have a chance of appearing with this skill.
| |
Fire Emblem Fates
| Name | Activation | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Counter
|
Receive non-fatal damage from an adjacent enemy. | - |
| Effects | When an enemy adjacent to the user initiates a battle, the user deals the full damage taken back at the enemy. | |
| Users | Learned by Oni Chieftains at level 15 or higher.
| |
Non-Canon Appearances
Counter is the down special move of Marth, Roy, Ike, Lucina, and Corrin in the Super Smash Bros. series. In all of its versions, Marth, Roy, Ike, Lucina, and Corrin all take a defensive stance and will flash white or blue for a few seconds. If any opponents hit them while they are in their defensive stance, they will quickly counterattack and nullify all damage they would have received. The amount of damaged dealt differs between characters and games. They can nullify projectiles with this move, but they will cause explosive items to detonate such as Link's Bombs or an explosive Crate, dealing damage to them anyways. (The only exception to this rule is Corrin, who dodges the items instead of detonating them.)
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Marth's counter deals a maximum of 7% damage depending on the intensity of the move he is countering. Marth's counter is much quicker to start up and lasts longer, but the damage is low.
Roy reflects 1.5x the amount of damage he would have received. Roy's is much slower to start up and does not last long, but the damage output is much higher.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Marth's counter now reflects 1.1x the amount of damage he would have received with a minimum of 8%. Marth's counter starts up quicker than Ike's counter, but is left vulnerable slightly after his Counter ends.
Ike's counter reflects 1.2x the amount of damage he would have received with a minimum of 10%. Ike's start up leaves him vulnerable, but lasts longer and has a shorter recovery window compared to Marth.
Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U
In Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, five of the six Fire Emblem characters have Counters, and also have two custom versions of their one.
Marth's counter now reflects 1.2x the amount he would have received but still with a minimum of 8%. Ike's counter executes slightly faster than it was in Brawl.
Marth and Lucina's first Custom counter is Easy Counter which has an expanded hit window but deals 0.7x damage with a minimum of 4%. Iai Counter starts up faster and has higher knockback but has a smaller counter window. It reflects 1.4x the damage.
Ike's Paralyzing Counter paralyzes the enemy instead of damaging them, allowing Ike to combo them during the stun, but does 1% and has a far smaller window. Smash Counter's hit starts up much slower than his standard Counter but deals 1.5x the damage he would have received with a minimum of 15%.
Roy has his normal counter from Melee and does not have any variations to his Counter due to him being a DLC character. His Counter has been slightly nerfed and only reflects 1.35x damage.
Corrin also has counter as their down special, named Counter Surge. Unlike the other Fire Emblem fighters, Counter Surge hits both sides and Corrin outright dodges the attack instead of nullifying it, making it so that other fighters will get hit by the dodged attack. Corrin uses their Dragon Fang skill to transform into a dragon to attack. This move does 1.3x the damage dealt by the opponent to both sides of Corrin, and launches opponents vertically instead of horizontally, making it the third strongest counter in the game. (behind Shulk's Vision and Roy's counter.) Like Roy, Corrin lacks variations to their Counter due to being a DLC character.