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The Dark Mage is a combat magical class that recurrently appears across the Fire Emblem Series. Wielding Dark magic as their primary weapon of choice, Dark Mages have exclusive access to dark magic spells such as Nosferatu and Mire in titles where all spells are collectively grouped under the Tome category.

Dark Mages usually have less Magic as compared to their Anima counterparts, but they compensate for this with their higher Defense. They commonly promote into Sorcerers in most games where they are available, and in the more recent 3DS installments, Dark Knights act as their alternate promotion option.

Dark Mages are considered to be the equivalent of the Shaman class from the GBA titles, as both are armed with Dark Magic for combat purposes.

History in the Series[]

The Dark Mage makes its debut to the series in Mystery of the Emblem, where it is an enemy-only variant of the Bishop class that is used by Gharnef and the priests of Dolhr in the later parts of Book 2.

Genealogy of the Holy War reintroduces the class as the primary wielders of enemy-only Dark Magic, with the Dark Bishop being its promoted equivalent.

In Thracia 776, the Dark Mage is made playable for the first time and is treated as a second-tier class that promotes from the Loptyrian Mage class. The class can also wield all forms of Anima magic as well, a feature that will remain with the class throughout the series from this point onwards.

TearRing Saga: Utna Heroes Saga returns the Dark Mage to an enemy-only class with the Dark Bishop class as the promoted equivalent; the player is granted access to Dark Magic through the Witch class instead. 

The Dark Mage class is absent from the Elibe Series and The Sacred Stones, being replaced by the Shaman class.

The class makes its return to the series in Shadow Dragon, where it promotes into 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 as compared to other candidates.

Dark Mage reappears in the sequel New Mystery of the Emblem. Like before, no playable unit is a dark mage by default but certain characters make good reclass candidates. Dark Mages now appear as enemies in the chapters taking place in desolate areas ruled by Barbarians and Dragons. Dark Mage enemies are replaced by their promoted counterpart, Sorcerer, in the last few chapters.

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

In Fates, the Dark Mage class is treated as a Nohrian class. Its Hoshidan counterpart is the Diviner.

In the spin-off Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE, the Dark Mage Tharja from Awakening appears as the Mirage partner of Kiria Kurono. Tharja can promote into either a Sage or Sorcerer. The Dark Mage also appears as an enemy Mirage in Illusionary Daitama and is considered the weakest of enemies second only to the Blob Mirages. A stronger variant, the Red Mage, is found in Illusory Daitou TV.

In the spin-off Fire Emblem Warriors, the Dark Mage class is considered an infantry unit that uses Tomes. It is the base class of Tharja and, fittingly enough, acts as a clone of the Tactician class.

In Three Houses, the Dark Mage Class is an optional promoted class of the Commoner or Noble class for males only if the unit passes the Certification Exam at Lv. 10 with a Reason Skill Level of C or higher and a Dark Seal. The other option is the Mage class.

In the spin-off Three Hopes, the Dark Mage class returns. While still locked to male units, the class is now an Advanced class and are somewhat more readily accessible, now needing an Advanced Seal, but to change into them, one needs to master the Mage class. A difference the Dark Mage have with most tome classes is that they don't have access to Bow Buster Lv. 3, but Cavalry Buster Lv 3, allowing them to deal soft weapon effectiveness damage to cavalry units, necessitating a battalion with Resist Bows to be equipped in order to retain their advantage over bows.

Other Games[]

In TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga, Dark Mages are associated with the Raze clergy and come in two varieties: the Raze Monk and the Raze Priest. The former is an enemy-only class that can only use Dark magic, whereas the latter can also use Fire, Wind, and Thunder magic and has a slightly different palette. Though Olwen is a High Priest, he has the ability to transform into a Raze Priest. If he's not permanently recruited, the transformation occurs automatically on turn 20, and he becomes an enemy unit for the rest of the battle. This limitation is removed once he's permanently recruited, giving him the ability to switch between his High Priest and Raze Priest forms at will, both under full player control.

Uniform[]

To match their name, Dark Mages are typically heavily cloaked and hooded to demonstrate their role as a mainly sinister-looking class that wields dark magics.

In Awakening, their clothes under their cloaks consist of revealing, tight clothing as well as black lace and sewn-in gold inspired off clothing used by priests from ancient civilizations. In place of a hood, they wear an additional dragon headpiece to show their allegiance to the Fell Dragon Grima and emphasize the fact that most (if not all) playable and enemy Dark Mages are from Plegia, whose culture and architecture is based off of ancient Egypt. This is further supported by the fact that male Dark Mages sport shendyts, an Egyptian skirt worn by men of that era.

Dark Mages from Fates are largely the same as Awakening although they now have a more European design, with a new clothed headdress replacing the Grima inspired one.

Dark Mages in Three Houses return to their heavily cloaked design from previous games, though now they don a plague doctor-esque crow mask to conceal their faces further. In most cases, dark mages are part of Those Who Slither in the Dark, a mysterious faction led by Thales that oppose the goddess.

In-Game[]

Base Stats[]

HPStrMagSklSpdLckDefResMovConWtWlvCha
FE3265-130886--Tome/Staff 6-
FE4400108807105--FE4 Dark B FE4 Staff B-
FE524054304-65-FE5 Fire IconE FE5 Thunder IconE FE5 Wind IconE FE5 Dark IconC FE5 Staff IconC-
TS20055403-?--TS Fire MagicTS Thunder MagicTS Wind MagicTS Dark Magic 5-
FE111602130436--FE12 Tome E-
FE121602130436--FE12 Tome E-
FE131813230445--TomeIconFE13 E-
FE141606331355--FE14 Tome E-
FE1625410768354--FE16 reason icon C0
FEW62394746105--FEW Tome E-

Maximum Stats[]

HPStrMagSklSpdLckDefResMovConWtWlvCha
FE35220-20202020206--Tome/Staff 20-
FE480152523233022255--FE4 Dark B FE4 Staff B-
FE580202020202020-2020-FE5 Fire IconA FE5 Thunder IconA FE5 Wind IconA FE5 Dark IconA FE5 Staff IconA-
TS60152020193018-12--TS Fire MagicTS Thunder MagicTS Wind MagicTS Dark Magic 20-
FE1160202020202020206--FE12 Tome A-
FE1260202020202020206--FE12 Tome A-
FE1360202725253025275--TomeIconFE13 A-
FE1435192416191819225--FE14 Tome B-

Growth Rates[]

HPStrMagSklSpdLckDefResMovConWtWlvCha
FE340%20%-30%10%0%20%40%-----
FE4100%10%30%30%30%0%10%30%-----
FE530%3%20%10%10%10%5%-0%----
FE1120%-15%20%20%20%0%-15%20%-----
FE1220%-15%20%20%20%0%-15%20%-----
FE1350%5%15%15%15%0%10%10%-----
FE140%10%20%0%10%0%5%10%-----
FE165/10%-5%10%5/0%0%0%-5/-10%5/35%---FE16 reason icon +2 FE16 faith icon +10%
FEW3H10%0%30%15%0%0%0%20%----0%

Class Modifiers[]

HPStrMagSklSpdLckDefResMovConWtWlvCha
FE16002100010---0
FEW3H006300052---0

Class Skills[]

SkillRequirements
FE13FE13CurseHex
CrimsoncurseAnathema
Learnt at Level 1.
Learnt at Level 10.
FE14BindHeartseeker
Devilish WindMalefic Aura
Learnt at Level 1 and above.
Learnt at Level 10 and above.
FE16Miasma Δ FE16Miasma Δ
Heartseeker FE16Heartseeker
Poison Strike FE16Poison Strike
Class ability of dark mages.
Class ability of dark mages.
Mastery ability of dark mages.
FEW3HMiasma Δ FE16 Miasma Δ
Dark Tomefaire FE16 Dark Magic Mastery
FEW3H Dark Element Icon Essence of Darkness
Poison Strike FE16 Poison Strike
FEW3H Black Magic Icon Bolganone
FEW3H Black Magic Icon Thoron
FEW3H Black Magic Icon Ragnarok
FEW3H Black Magic Icon Bolting
FEW3H Black Magic Icon Excalibur
FEW3H Black Magic Icon Agnea's Arrow
FEW3H Dark Magic Icon Death Γ
Heartseeker FE16 Dark Mage's Ploy
FEW3H Sharpshooter Dark Mage's Wisdom
Apex Tome Apex Tome
Lifetaker FE16 Lifetaker
Transmute FE16 Transmute
Class ability.
Class ability.
1-star Class Mastery for Shez, Hubert and Jeritza.
1-star Class Mastery for most units.
1-star Class Mastery for Ferdinand and Linhardt.
1-star Class Mastery for Jeralt.
1-star Class Mastery for Sylvain.
1-star Class Mastery for Holst.
1-star Class Mastery for Claude, Yuri and Seteth.
1-star Class Mastery for Lorenz.
1-star Class Mastery for Hubert.
2-star Class Mastery for certain units.
2-star Class Mastery for certain units.
3-star Class Mastery for Hubert.
3-star Class Mastery for certain units.
3-star Class Mastery for certain units.

Promotions[]

Base ClassPromotion MethodPromoted Class
FE5FE5 lopto mageLoptyrian MageUse a Knight Proof (FE5)Knight Proof on a Level 10+ Loptyrian Mage.FE5 dark mageDark Mage
FE11FE11 Dark Mage Map SpriteDark MageUse a FE11mastersealMaster Seal on a Level 10+ Dark Mage.FE11 Sorcerer Map SpriteSorcerer
FE12FEDS Dark Mage Map SpriteDark MageUse a FE11mastersealMaster Seal on a Level 10+ Dark Mage.FEDS Sorcerer Map SpriteSorcerer
FE13FE13 Generic Dark Mage (M) Map SpriteDark MageUse a Master Seal FE13 IconMaster Seal on a Level 10+ Dark Mage.FE13 SorcererSorcerer
FE13 Generic Dark Knight Map SpriteDark Knight
FE14FE14 Generic Dark Mage Map SpriteDark MageUse a Master Seal FE13 IconMaster Seal on a Level 10+ Dark Mage.FE14 Generic Sorcerer (M) Map SpriteSorcerer
FE14 Generic Dark Knight Map SpriteDark Knight
FE16Any classUse a FE16 Seal IconDark Seal on a Level 10+ unit and pass the Dark Mage Certification Exam.FE16 Dark Mage IconDark Mage
FEWWarriors Tharja SpriteDark MageUse a Master Seal FE13 Icon Master Seal on Tharja.Warriors Tharja SpriteSorcerer
FEW3HFE16 Mage Icon MageUse an FE16 Seal Icon Advanced Seal on a male unit that has mastered the Mage class.FE16 Dark Mage Icon Dark Mage
FEW3H FE16 Dark Mage Icon Dark MageUse a FE16 Seal Icon Master Seal on a male unit that has mastered the Dark Mage class.FE16 Dark Bishop Icon Dark Bishop

Notable Dark Mages[]

Mystery of the Emblem[]

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

*Gharnef is a Bishop in Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light, and a Sorcerer in Shadow Dragon and New Mystery of the Emblem.

Genealogy of the Holy War[]

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

Thracia 776[]

TearRing Saga: Berwick Saga[]

  • Olwen: A gentle Verian priest suffering from a curse placed on him by the Raze church.*

*Olwen is a High Priest but can transform into a Raze Priest.

Awakening[]

  • Tharja - A moody mage from Plegia with a dark side and a possessive streak, especially with Robin.
  • Henry - A mage with a bright grin and a taste for the gruesome in battle.
  • Chalard - A Grimleal priest attempting to capture Nowi.

Fates[]

  • Nyx - A recluse fortune-teller woman of age who was cursed to retain her youthful image.
  • Odin - A familiar eccentric man from a distant land and one of Leo's retainers who tends to be overly theatrical.
  • Ophelia - Odin's daydreaming daughter who applies a flair for the dramatic to her magic.
  • Zola - A mage in service of King Garon who specializes in deceptive illusions.

Gallery[]

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