How Many Archetypes Do You Acknowledge?

[Slumber]

3 hours ago, Topaz Light said:

The way I see it, there are a decent amount, albeit some less common than others. I'm trying to exclude archetypes that are purely "the first character you get of X class", because in order for it to truly count as an archetype, it needs to go a bit deeper than that.

• The CAIN/ABEL, AKA CHRISTMAS KNIGHTS: A pair of two units of the same class, with one having a more hotheaded personality, and the other being more calm, with the differences in their stat balances tailored to match. These units are almost always Cavaliers, although on rare occasions they will be other classes instead, and almost always one of the characters will be given a predominantly-green color scheme, and the other a predominantly-red color scheme. They will almost always be recruited very early in the game, and frequently, although not always, at the same time.
  Examples: Cain/Abel, Boey/Mae, Luke/Roderick, Noish/Alec, Kane/Alva, Alen/Lance, Kent/Sain, Forde/Kyle, Oscar/Kieran, Sully/Stahl, Kaze/Saizou
• The CECIL: A bit of a sub-archetype to the Christmas Knights, and the archetype's awkward, less-common little sibling. A third unit of the same class as the Christmas Knights who is more or less equally as viable as they are, and who generally either stands in for them in their absence, is somehow affiliated or friends with them, or both. They tend to have their own third type of stat balance, as well as their own color scheme.
  Examples: Cecil, Lowen, Franz, Makalov, Frey, Kagero
• The JAGEN: Some love them, some hate them, everyone knows them. The prepromoted unit who joins the party very early on, if not from the get-go, and are intended serve primarily as a "panic button" unit to help you out of tricky situations. They're usually a class that promotes from Cavalier, but not always.
  Examples: Jagen, Arran (in FE3/12), Quan, Eyvel, Marcus, Seth, Titania, Sothe (in FE10), Frederick, Gunter
• The DRAUG: The first Knight recruited into the player's party, and a vassal in service of either the main character or another plot-important ally. They often join very early on.
  Examples: Draug, Lukas, Arden, Bors, Oswin, Gilliam, Gatrie, Kellam, Effie
• The GORDIN: The first Archer recruited into the player's party. They often have humble origins, although not always. They often join very early on.
  Examples: Gordin, Python, Ryan, Midir, Tania, Runan, Wolt, Wil, Rebecca, Neimi, Rolf, Leonardo, Virion, Setsuna
• The NORNE: A more specific sub-archetype of the Gordin. A plucky young villager who is proficient in archery and joins the protagonists early on, often as a result of being affected by some misfortune that protagonists seek to oppose. They are often tied to another recruitable character via a childhood friendship.
  Examples: Tania, Wil, Rebecca, Neimi, Norne
• The BORD/CORD: A pair of two axe Fighters, often with complementary personalities, similar to the Christmas Knights. Much like the Christmas Knights, there is often one more fiery Fighter with a more offense-oriented stat build, and a calmer Fighter with a more balanced or Skill-oriented stat build. Also much like the Christmas Knights, they tend to come at the same time as a pair.
  Examples: Bord/Cord, Orsin/Halvan, Lot/Wade, Dorcas/Bartre, Garcia/Ross
• The NAVARRE: Often the first Myrmidon the player recruits, Navarres very often wield Killing Edges, are almost exclusively recruited from the enemy side, and tend to have long hair and rather mysterious, secretive vibes.
  Examples: Navarre, Samuel, Ayra, Chulainn, Shiva, Rutger, Guy, Joshua, Marisa, Zihark, Lon'qu
• The LENA: A healer who joins the party early in the game after they are rescued or escape from enemy captors or assailants, and/or they come to the protagonists seeking help.
  Examples: Lena, Silque, Edain, Elen, Serra, Natasha, Laura, Maribelle
• The POWER TRIO: A trio of characters of the same class, very often a set of three Pegasus Knight sisters, with a special bond with one another. They can perform a Triangle Attack together when arranged in a certain position around a target enemy.
  Examples: Palla/Catria/Est, Vampa/Fetra/Eliu, Bleg/Meng/Maybell, Shanna/Thea/Juno, Bors/Gwendolyn/Barthe, Florina/Fiora/Farina, Vanessa/Tana/Syrene, Boyd/Oscar/Rolf, Marcia/Tanith/Elincia(/Sigrun), Barst/Bord/Cord (FE12 only)
• The EST: A character who joins later in the game, severely underleveled, but with great potential when trained. They are almost always fairly young in age.
  Examples: Est, Coirpre, Charlot, Miranda, Sara, Sophia, Zeiss, Nino, Ewan, Elincia
• The ARRAN/SAMSON: A pair of two units around mid-game, of whom the player can either recruit one or the other, but not both.
  Examples: Arran/Samson, Deen/Sonya, Iuchar/Iucharba, Olwen/Ilios, Saias/Ced, Lalum/Elffin, Echidna/Bartre, Wallace/Geitz, Harken/Karel
• The GOTOH: A very powerful character, generally elderly who joins the party close to or during the endgame in order to provide the player with a failsafe in case they've lost many strong characters already.
  Examples: Gotoh, Mycen, Ced (FE5), Karel (FE6), Athos, Tibarn, Naesala, Giffca, Nagi, Basilio, Flavia
• The GHARNEF: A sinister manipulator with a proficiency in the magical arts. While rarely the true final boss of the game, they are the ultimate driving force behind many of the story's calamities.
  Examples: Gharnef, Judah, Manfroy, Nergal, Riev, Lyon, Sephiran, Validar, Iago
• The CAMUS: An enemy commander with a just and noble heart, but convictions that force them to fight the protagonists' party against either group's wishes.
  Examples: Camus, Eldigan, Ishtar, Reinhardt, Galle, Lloyd, Linus, Selena, Shiharam, Levail, Xander (Birthright)
• The BANDIT BROTHERS: A more recent archetype, originating in Binding Blade. A pair of bandit siblings who are quite fond of each other, and often have rather flamboyant and somewhat effeminate personalities. Their character designs tend to directly call back to the original pair to a noticeably greater degree than most archetypes.
  Examples: Maggie/Rose, Paul/Jasmine, Pain/Agony, Vincent/Victor, Lloyd/Llewelyn

Since I'm a huge fan of Thracia, just did a replay of it, and you did an otherwise very good job on this, I'm gonna nitpick.

Dagdar fills the Jeigan role arguably more than Eyvel, since, despite having a few chapters of absence, actually will be around for most of the game to carry your team in those earlier/mid chapters while Eyvel's off getting stoned.

Safy should fall under the Lena archetype, as you save her from Lifis in the third chapter. Since you're including Troubadours, Nanna also qualifies, since she shows up just three chapters after Safy, and needs to actually be rescued in the middle of the map.

Dalshin could also arguably be the Draug, since he is recruited in chapter 4, but he's not important to the story and he is recruited from the enemy side, so he lacks the story significance.

Homer, Linoan, Sleuf and Sara all arguably also fit the Est role as well, as they all join around when Miranda does, are all similarly low leveled, are all magic units, all have fantastic growths, and all are prime candidates for Scrolls, which serve the same function as other growth-boosting items throughout the series that typically are best used when given to Est-types.

Conomor/Amalda and Miranda/Sleuf also fit the Arran/Samson archetype, since you can only get either Miranda or Sleuf, but not both, and each on is responsible for recruiting either Conomor(For Miranda) or Amalda(For Sleuf).

And finally, Galzus is the Gotoh of Thracia, not Ced. Or rather, Galzus is ALSO the Gotoh, since he is the last recruitable unit, has the highest base stats in the game, joins at max level, and has all of his weapon ranks maxed out. AND he has maxed out Pursuit Coefficient and Movement Stars. He is, bar-none, the best unit you can recruit. He's your last out if your team has fallen apart by the last two chapters(Assuming Mareeta wasn't one of the pieces that fell with the rest of your team). He's also "elderly"(He's like, late 30s-mid 40s, which is ancient by FE standards).

Otherwise, everything seems in order. FE5 really liked to double/triple/quadruple/quintuple up on some archetypes.

[Dandy Druid]

The only ones I'll recognize is

Jagen (with the Oifay subcategory, it's not it's own thing)

Camus

Christmas Duo

Flamboyant Bandit Duo

Est (Note: Donnel and Moze ARE NOT ESTS. PERIOD. They don't come in late game)

Gotoh (aka I screwed up all game and he's the last resort)

Lena+Julian (it's a package deal).

I don't really think the "Navarres" or the "Ogmas" or the "Merrics" an archetype. They're just a niche that's needed to fulfill the roster with a particular class. And in the Navarre and Merric cases, sometimes they tend to overlap in terms of backstory. Feena doesn't get an archetype and the majority of our dancers tend to fit her personality and individual story arc, yet she doesn't get a special archetype. It's a niche.

[Topaz Light]

2 hours ago, Slumber said:

Since I'm a huge fan of Thracia, just did a replay of it, and you did an otherwise very good job on this, I'm gonna nitpick.

Dagdar fills the Jeigan role arguably more than Eyvel, since, despite having a few chapters of absence, actually will be around for most of the game to carry your team in those earlier/mid chapters while Eyvel's off getting stoned.

Safy should fall under the Lena archetype, as you save her from Lifis in the third chapter. Since you're including Troubadours, Nanna also qualifies, since she shows up just three chapters after Safy, and needs to actually be rescued in the middle of the map.

Dalshin could also arguably be the Draug, since he is recruited in chapter 4, but he's not important to the story and he is recruited from the enemy side, so he lacks the story significance.

Homer, Linoan, Sleuf and Sara all arguably also fit the Est role as well, as they all join around when Miranda does, are all similarly low leveled, are all magic units, all have fantastic growths, and all are prime candidates for Scrolls, which serve the same function as other growth-boosting items throughout the series that typically are best used when given to Est-types.

Conomor/Amalda and Miranda/Sleuf also fit the Arran/Samson archetype, since you can only get either Miranda or Sleuf, but not both, and each on is responsible for recruiting either Conomor(For Miranda) or Amalda(For Sleuf).

And finally, Galzus is the Gotoh of Thracia, not Ced. Or rather, Galzus is ALSO the Gotoh, since he is the last recruitable unit, has the highest base stats in the game, joins at max level, and has all of his weapon ranks maxed out. AND he has maxed out Pursuit Coefficient and Movement Stars. He is, bar-none, the best unit you can recruit. He's your last out if your team has fallen apart by the last two chapters(Assuming Mareeta wasn't one of the pieces that fell with the rest of your team). He's also "elderly"(He's like, late 30s-mid 40s, which is ancient by FE standards).

Otherwise, everything seems in order. FE5 really liked to double/triple/quadruple/quintuple up on some archetypes.

My apologies; I actually haven't played Thracia 776 past the first chapter and a half or so, so I didn't want to make assumptions, but nor did I want to simply parrot the Wiki without having knowledge of my own by which to assess its claims.

Thanks for the corrections!

[Shadow Mir]

The only archetypes I acknowledge these days are the Jeigan, Cain, Abel, and Lena archetypes - most of the others have disappeared into the ether as the series went on or are not defined clearly enough.

Edited March 14, 2017 by Levant Mir Celestia

[Heptade]

Jagen, Cain and Abel, Gotoh (though it's been a long time since we saw one), Navarre (recruitable Myrmidon enemy with a Killing Edge is too specific not to be considered an archetype) and the Pegasus trio.

Some supposed "archetypes", though, make very little sense to me. The "Ogma" is simply the first Mercenary to join. And you have a similar one for almost every class. That's not an archetype; that's a recurring class.

Also, both Narcian and Caellach are considered to be of the Michalis archetype... One is an incompetent, pathetically evil buffoon; the other is an hypercompetent mercenary-turned-general, who, while generally being a jerk, comes off as quite likeable is his conversations with Joshua... I haven't played Shadow Dragon or Mystery of the Emblem, so I know little of Michalis himself, but didn't he get a redemption arc in the sequel? I can't imagine that for either Narcian or Caellach...

[Original Alear]

The Jeigan archetype is probably my favorite, and if I end up talking about archetypes in FE in some nostalgic manner, I will likely wish to dwell upon these.

I'm willing to consider any archetype if I'm going to post in a thread where someone is discussing it. I don't think simply being able to list archetypes is useful. I only want to use them when discussing characters with someone. Looking at how a character reflects back upon other characters can be fun.

The reason I'm willing to believe in the existence of obscure archetypes that are less obvious and clear is mostly based on my willingness to believe that characters "refer back and forth" to one another. As of right now, I've never made real connections between certain sets of characters who fall into an archetype. I do not, for instance, have much grounds for trying to make interesting, plot related discussion off of trying to compare/contrast Florina, Fiora and Farina to Thany, Tate and Yunno - nor either of those three sisters to Oscar, Boyd and Rolf or Marcia, Tanith and Sigrun (much less the two former characters along with Elincia!).

There was recently a Camus discussion thread, and the fact that I thought some of the posts about those characters were interesting basically justifies the existence of the archetype for me. I was negligent in paying much attention to any of the discussion about Xander that was contained in that thread, though.

EDIT-Basically, if I'm gonna argue an archetype is too vague, I'm acknowledging it anyway, so I might as well discuss the characters themselves, too.

Edited March 14, 2017 by Help

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

17 hours ago, Topaz Light said:

My apologies; I actually haven't played Thracia 776 past the first chapter and a half or so, so I didn't want to make assumptions, but nor did I want to simply parrot the Wiki without having knowledge of my own by which to assess its claims.

Thanks for the corrections!

 

Ced is actually clearly the intended "Gotoh" of FE5. If anything Galzus is a new kind of Gottoh in that game in a sense that Gottoh in original was a mythical mentor figure first, late game superpower second. Ced provides two sides of the coin, while Galzus provides the second portion only.

This become clear if you see the games after this. FE6 Karel is a Galzus Style Gottoh. FE7 Athos is a Classic Gottoh. Dunno how Laguz Royals falls in this specification though. After this the game never really had an actual Gottoh, so its pointless to argue about it

 

As for Jeigan of FE5, the real list of Jeigan is actually Finn and Dagda, with Eyvel as that kind of character who is essentially "Main character parents that is killed off".

 

 

Speaking of Archetype, honestly Est as it is usually defined isn't really an archetype that actually exists(the fact that its named after Est who is nothing special should tell enough), but its clear that once in a while IS tried to add character that is intended as a special unit that you need to train. Really if such an archetype exist, the name should be Tiki since she's the very first example in the series(with the full list being Tiki, Tiki, Lachesis, Leaf, Sara, Fae, Nino, Myrh, Wolf, Sedgar, Tiki, Donnel, and Mozu)

 

Edited March 14, 2017 by JSND

[Slumber]

59 minutes ago, JSND said:

FE6 Karel is a Galzus Style Gottoh. FE7 Athos is a Classic Gottoh.
 

 

This seems completely backwards, if I'm being honest.

FE6 Karel isn't built like a crazy strong unit, but has completely ludicrous growth rates that make his last level really affect how powerful he ends up. Similarly, Ced has pretty good bases, but he's squishy and not exactly mind-blowing with his base stats compared to other units who are at 20/12. His saving grace comes in the fact that he can level up to reach some caps, and he has Holsety, which boosts his avoid. Similarly to Karel, a chunk of Ced's "Gotoh-ness" is situational.

Galzus, meanwhile, comes in as a fully developed unit, and if you even manage to have a few units who might match him stat-wise, his movement and PC stars are both at the max possible, which is something no other units have. His "Gotoh-ness" is not situational, and like a proper Gotoh, he's is both the last unit in the game you recruit, and the oldest member of your party, barring potentially Xavier and Dagdar, your Jeigan.

If you want to make a tick box for Gotoh traits(Highest level unit you recruit, highest bases in the game, maxed out weapon ranks, last unit you recruit, magic unit, one of/ if not THE eldest member of the party, has a relationship with the game's main boss), Galzus marks more of them. He has quirks of his own, being an enemy unit throughout the whole game that you have to recruit at the end, rather than an ally who willingly joins at the end like a typical Gotoh, but aside from being a magic unit, he fits most of the main "Gotoh" boxes.

Again, Ced and Galzus both fit as Gotohs, since Thracia had a bunch of units who fit the same archetype, relative to other games, but I think Galzus is intended to be more of a Gotoh.

Edited March 15, 2017 by Slumber

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

9 minutes ago, Slumber said:

This seems completely backwards, if I'm being honest.

FE6 Karel is built like a normal unit, but has completely ludicrous growth rates that make his last two levels really affect how powerful he ends up. Similarly, Ced has pretty good bases, but he's squishy and not exactly mind-blowing with his base stats compared to other units who are at 20/12. His saving grace comes in the fact that he can level up to reach some caps, and he has Holsety, which boosts his avoid. Similarly to Karel, a chunk of Ced's "Gotoh-ness" is situational.

Galzus, meanwhile, comes in as a fully developed unit, and if you even manage to have a few units who might match him stat-wise, his movement and PC stars are both at the max possible, which is something no other units have. His "Gotoh-ness" is not situational, and like a proper Gotoh, he's is both the last unit in the game you recruit, and the oldest member of your party, barring potentially Xavier and Dagdar, your Jeigan.

If you want to make a tick box for Gotoh traits(Highest level unit you recruit, highest bases in the game, maxed out weapon ranks, last unit you recruit, magic unit, one of/ if not THE eldest member of the party, has a relationship with the game's main boss), Galzus marks more of them. He has quirks of his own, being an enemy unit throughout the whole game that you have to recruit at the end, rather than an ally who willingly joins at the end like a typical Gotoh, but aside from being a magic unit, he fits most of the main "Gotoh" boxes.

Again, Ced and Galzus both fit as Gotohs, since Thracia had a bunch of units who fit the same archetype, relative to other games, but I think Galzus is intended to be more of a Gotoh.

 

the thing with my post is really more that Galzus and Sety defines what we know as Gottoh right now, but the presentation of Gotoh solely as a late game superpower is something that Galzus started.

 

In the context of FE5 building in on what they had in FE1 and FE3, Sety who acts as a bigger power throughout FE5, and as a mentor/motivator towards Leif and his ally is more in line with what Gottoh used to be. But, he comes as a bonus of being a super late game carry. With A Staff, and Holsety right off the bat, he is by far the most capable character for the remainder of the game. This is exactly how they pulled off Gotoh back in FE1.

Galzus on the other hand is well, he's kind of irrelevant. He shows up in like 2 chapters, and suddenly at late game he shows up as an enemy that you can recruit with his daughter, with by far the strongest combat parameter in the game, and then he proceed to become one of your 2 late game powerhouse.

 

The comparison with Karel and Athos went in this direction. Athos acts as a sort of older figure who provides guidance towards the lords in FE7, and at the very end, he shows up with S Staff and S on every magic, and he just generally kicked butt. His purpose in the game is both to act as a guide, and also to act as a late game superpower, hence why Athos is a "Sety/Gotoh styled Gotoh"

Karel, on the other hand shows up during what is essentially the final chapter in the game, with an insane stats(if worse than Percival). He need some time to get going but once he does he is, indeed the ussual final chapter nuke. But as far as story relevance? he had none. He randomly shows up in a village with a busted stats and thats about it. Thats more inline to how Galzus did it.

 

[Just call me AL]

I honestly think "Arran" would be a better name for the "Oifey" sub-category of Jagens. After all, high growths or not, some, like Frederick, end up falling behind your team around midgame like Arran does as soon as Sirius joins. And Oifey himself falls behind as well, but yet he's given the same sub-category as monsters such as Seth and Titania, whereas Jagen isn't given that same sub-category even though he can last about as long as FE7 Marcus.

[Slumber]

6 hours ago, Just call me AL said:

I honestly think "Arran" would be a better name for the "Oifey" sub-category of Jagens. After all, high growths or not, some, like Frederick, end up falling behind your team around midgame like Arran does as soon as Sirius joins. And Oifey himself falls behind as well, but yet he's given the same sub-category as monsters such as Seth and Titania, whereas Jagen isn't given that same sub-category even though he can last about as long as FE7 Marcus.

The thing is, Arran in FE1 joins late in the game, and has solid growths. Arran in FE3 joins right away, but his growth rates are garbage, and his bases are about on par with Jeigan's. He's straight up a Jeigan replacement in FE3.

An Oifaye is strictly a promoted unit who joins early, has good bases, Pursuit, and has growth rates that warrants regular use. And while Oifaye isn't some sort of beast like Titania, he is about on par with Seth(Who gets a boost in utility by simply being in Sacred Stones, where enemies are thinner than toilet paper). If you do a substitute run, he'll probably be your best unit behind the children who you can't avoid(Namely Seliph, Leif, Ares), and him being on a horse is always a major boost in FE4. If you don't do a sub run, he'll likely lose out to more units, but a good chunk of people would argue that him being on a horse puts him ahead of every child who isn't on a horse. He really doesn't fall that far behind.

Edited March 20, 2017 by Slumber

[Just call me AL]

1 hour ago, Slumber said:

The thing is, Arran in FE1 joins late in the game, and has solid growths. Arran in FE3 joins right away, but his growth rates are garbage, and his bases are about on par with Jeigan's. He's straight up a Jeigan replacement in FE3.

And it's his performance in FE3pt2 and FE12 that I'm more focused on. Like I said, in those two, he's obsolete as soon as Sirius joins. Jagen on the other hand? Just take a look for yourself at how "quickly" Jagen falls behind. And in FEs 1 & 3pt1, he goes on for longer than when you see in that link, thanks to stat boosters.

An Oifaye is strictly a promoted unit who joins early, has good bases, Pursuit, and has growth rates that warrants regular use.

And you just basically described Frederick here. Frederick has good bases and growth rates that warrant regular usage too, but that doesn't stop him from falling behind the rest of your team as quickly as FE6 Marcus. Oifey's in a similar position. Regardless of if you're doing a subs run or not. But in his case, that's because Seliph, Leif, Altena, Shanan, Ares, your dancer, and healers exist. And if you're not doing a subs run, just add Faval, Fee, Ced, and Arthur.

And while Oifaye isn't some sort of beast like Titania, he is about on par with Seth(Who gets a boost in utility by simply being in Sacred Stones, where enemies are thinner than toilet paper).

Oh, come on, now! There's really no way that Oifey is "about on par" with pretty much the only unit in the series that's competing with Sigurd for the title of "best unit in the series".

If you do a substitute run, he'll probably be your best unit behind the children who you can't avoid(Namely Seliph, Leif, Ares), and him being on a horse is always a major boost in FE4. If you don't do a sub run, he'll likely lose out to more units, but a good chunk of people would argue that him being on a horse puts him ahead of every child who isn't on a horse. He doesn't really fall that far behind.

But the amount in which he does fall behind is pretty noticeable. After all, he can't use a legendary weapon like Tyrfing or Gae Bolg. And I'm sure his higher level makes it a little more harder for him to stay ahead of everyone else for very long.

I've put my responses in bold here.

[Slumber]

5 minutes ago, Just call me AL said:

I've put my responses in bold here.

You can think what you want, but I really question Seth being behind only Sigurd as "best unit in the series".

Also, linking to a 0% growths playhtrough as an example of Jeigan "not falling behind" is a bit extreme as an argument. Who would have thought that the units with the best bases and high move turn out to be good units when nobody in your army gets any stronger than when you recruit them?

Edited March 20, 2017 by Slumber

[JSND Alter Dragon Boner]

Seth is right behind Siggy. Hes a chapter 1 unit with the stats of mid game character that can break through FE8 even at base stats. But he somehow have the best growth in the game aside from Myrh

The top of the top characters in the series(not including Telius and Gaiden stuff) is something along the lines of Seth Sigurd Robin Morgan Marcus Saphy Lena Marth without pants

And then you probably have character like Wendell who is probably one of the most blatant example of ridiculously unbalanced character in the series although Wendell is worthless in real LTC

The only way Seth could be improved in FE8 is if you replace Seth with Syrene since Syrene is basically just Seth but better

 

Also Jeigan does last that long even in growth run. Al's mistake is linking FE11, a game where having Lance rank make you lasts for 70% of the game and instantly better than everyone else without Lance Rank. 

What isnt shown in that is really the fact that Jeigan didnt lasts for 2-3 chapters after that due to forge being too expensive to keep up with the enemy, but dondon played the game in such a way that after that point Caeda, Lena, Wendell, Boah, and like Tiki is relevant. It still paints a really nice note on how ridiculous it is that Oifey is named for the archetype when he doesnt lasts as long as any incarnation of Jagen, including the Jagen that exists in a super stats power creep environment, let alone FE1 Jagen

Edited March 20, 2017 by JSND

[Folt]

The ones I acknowledge?

The Lord - The guy the story revolves around. Your King so to speak, using chess terms. Has a unique class with the name typically being Lord or a variation thereof. Tends to wield a sword and be nobility. Also tends to get their own signature/legendary weapon, sometimes both at the same time. A funny thing with Lords is that their Lord class, despite being unique (or semi-unique), tends to have it being based on one of the normal classes but reworked to fit their character. (F.ex. Eliwood was based on a Paladin, Hector on a General, Ike on a Mercenary, to name a few; Chrom and Lucina are essentially on-foot Paladins, Elincia was a Sword-using Falco Knight, and so on.)

Jagen - Pretty self-explanatory. The earlygame unit who's promoted and possess high stats compared to the other units at the time he joins so that you'll come to rely on them for most of the earlygame and may have their use afterwards as well. It's one of the iconic FE archetypes and one that is in almost every game of the series. Usually a vassal/servant to the main character, and likely much older than most characters too, and their promotion is typically a horse-mounted class (Indeed, it's extremely popular to have this one be a Paladin or something like it, though the 3DS games use the Great Knight class instead for Frederick and Gunter). Another thing the Jagen is associated with is the Silver Lance (in part due to how most of them tend to be mounted Lance-users). Newbies tend to overuse them. "Smart" people do not use them. Smarter people do use them.

Cain and Abel - The red and green guys who specialize in one stat each, typically Strength for one and Speed for the other. Like the Jagen, it's one of the most iconic FE archetypes, and one that is in almost every game of the series.

Lena - The earlygame healer who ensures that you have a means of healing besides items. Often on foot. Almost always a girl, but not always (Rhys for instance, is a male Lena). I actually consider Felicia and Jakob (the one who joins you first) to be this moreso than Sakura in Fates.

Maria - Another healer who typically joins after the Lena archetype. Often mounted to contrast with the Lena, and their approach to the healing arts tend to be different too. Always a girl. I consider both Sakura and Elise to be this in Fates, actually.

Est - The antithesis of the Jagen. A unit who joins fairly late with low stats for their level but who becomes pretty strong if one takes the time to level them up. Many Ests have often been magic users despite Est having actually been a physical unit, and many of them tend to have at least one stat that is relatively weak compared to the others. With a high cost for something that doesn't even exist for a good part of the game, it's one of the archetypes that appears to have fallen out of favor as time went on as there haven't really been any new Ests since the Tellius games. Instead, a new trend appears to be that you can recruit a earlygame unit with low bases for even the earlygame, but with incredible growths (thanks to a skill) to train them into a powerhouse that you could enjoy for the majority of the game if you do decide to train them up.

The Pegasus Trio - A trio of Pegasus riders who know each other and can execute the (rather impractical) Triangle Attack. A staple in almost every FE game, but might be retired after Tellius as no new Pegasus Trio has appeared since then.

Arran and Samson - The archetype where one or the other of a pair (or more) of units is barred from you when you pick one over the other. Often has at least one desirable quality over the other, though both tend to be outclassed by earlier units if trained.

The Manakete - The one unit who transforms into a dragon in some way or another. Almost omnipresent and almost all of them look like little girls. They're typically your only means of getting someone with the dragon transforming class.

Gotoh - The one guy who joins extremely late but with stats so good they essentially ensure you can win the game, even with bad luck and most of your good units killed/screwed over. These guys also tend to be legendary figures in-story and you usually meet and get to know them before they join you.

The Early Bandit - A (usually rather overconfident) small-fry raider who's of an unpromoted axe infantry class, raids (or makes an attempt to raid) a small village, noble land, or kingdom and serves as the first problem that your Lord needs to EXTERMINATE LIKE THE LITTLE SHITS THEY ARE deal with before the larger plot is dumped on him. Always an Axe user to give you an enemy that's challenging on the surface but who your (sword-wielding) Lord can dispatch with relative ease (though luck may not always favor you).

The Early Commander - Many FEs use this guy to mark the end of the earlygame; a unit who's promoted with stats that are relatively high for that point in the game. Usually gets upgraded boss music too. Most games also make this unit a General so that they gain access to Lances and beefy defenses, something that means that your Lord (who are typically Sword wielders) isn't automatically an answer to this guy, even if trained. Essentially, this guy hammers home what the Early Bandit may not necessarily have taught you. In some cases, this unit is simply a lower-ranking enemy commander, but they are equally as likely to be the main villain for your army to take down in the earlygame, perhaps even the leader of a nation.

Camus - The noble enemy, typically in service to someone else, and who is unrecruitable due to story reasons. As one of the NPC archetypes, very, very few Camuses tend to be playable in the games where they fulfill the Camus role.

Michalis - The one asshole who uses reprehensible means to achieve something, typically in pursuit of more power or advancing a cause that could be seen as noble. Tends to have a high opinion of themselves. They have at times been manipulated, and they've also been manipulators at times. You will love to hate them (and they can even be charming). Like the Camus archetype, very few of these guys are playable in the games where they fulfill the Camus role. As many of the early Michalises were wyvern/dragon riders, they tended to have the Iote's Shield or something like it which nullified the fliers' typical bow weakness, but this aspect was dropped when the Wyvern Rider class became less used for these guys.

Gharnef - The evil manipulator behind the scenes. A lot of FE plots tend to be started/orchestrated by this guy. Just about always a magic user. Tends to manipulate a character of the Hardin archetype whenever both appear in the game, but that's not set in stone. I believe that this archetype has been playable only once (excepting one chapter in New Mystery where you actually could use THE Gharnef, and Riev who appeared in Sacred Stones's Creature Campaign) and that was in Radiant Dawn. Typically fought as the penultimate boss, but almost never as the final boss. This archetype actually didn't appear in Fates, having appeared in every game (sans Gaiden, I believe) beforehand.

Hardin - The antagonistic ruler, their reasons may vary, but they're always in opposition to the hero for the majority of the game. Basically the opposite King, to use chess terms, and much like the one they're opposing, the Hardin tends to get their own unique class (yet, like the Lord, their class is typically based on a normal class but reworked to fit them; Hardin, Zephiel, and Garon are essentially Generals, while Ashnard is a Wyvern Rider, Walhart was a Great Knight, and so on) and their own powerful signature weapon. Hardins typically operate openly so the heroes have someone to directly oppose, rarely being behind-the-scene villains. Like the Gharnefs, they tend to not be the final bosses of their game. Only one character of the Hardin archetype (discounting the ones who appeared in Trial Maps/Lyon in Creature Campaign) has actually been playable.

The Evil Dragon - Vastly powerful beings, these guys are typically the final boss. They don't have to be a dragon (but many of them are dragons), but they're never human. They're typically intelligent, but are rarely seen (and are sometimes not even heard of) until the endgame. The Lord's legendary weapon tends to be fairly effective for fighting these guys.

The Bandit Twins - A relatively new archetype. Consists of a duo of two brothers who are ugly bandits (and always of the Berserker class) and are typically a little too fond of each other. Provides humor. Fates's Bandit Twins are actually playable.

Edited March 24, 2017 by Folt
Remembered one more archetype.