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{{trope}}
[[File:qfgclasses2.jpg|link=Quest for Glory III|
Ah, the RPG. The game genre that offers the player a mighty wealth of [[An Adventurer Is You|character choices]]. When you think about it, however, most Western RPGs offer three major choices of character specialization:
* ''Fighter'': The [[Mighty Glacier]]. A physical powerhouse of prodigious strength, the fighter solves problems by dicing or smashing them to bits with [[Weapon of Choice|weapons]]. These include [[Cool Sword|swords]], [[An Axe to Grind|axes]], [[Drop the Hammer|bludgeons]], [[Epic Flail|flails]], [[
* ''Mage'': The [[Glass Cannon]]. A [[Department of Redundancy Department|mighty wielder of arcane might]], the mage has a tendency to [[Squishy Wizard|die if enemies look at him funny]]. His method of solving problems therefore tends to consist of [[Black Mage|blowing them up before they can get to him]]. He has the ability to take advantage of [[Elemental Rock
* ''Thief'': The [[Fragile Speedster]]. Being quite a bit squishier than the fighter but not as much as the wizard, the thief relies on stealth and guile. His methods of solving problems typically involve sneaking by them, [[Back Stab|stabbing them in the back]], sniping them from a distance, or even talking to them. His weapons of choice are usually light weapons like [[Knife Nut|daggers]] or ranged weapons like [[The Archer|bows, crossbows]], and throwing knives. His survival usually depends on stealth abilities, evasion/speed, weapon range, or a combination of these factors, rather than armor.
Likely, there will be builds that allow the player to mix and match elements of the three paths, but usually, it boils down to strength, stealth, and sorcery.
These may include:
* ''Fighter+ Thief'' - [[Glass Cannon]]: A quick and powerful individual who does ''not'' want to get hit. May also be a [[Bare
* ''Fighter+ Mage'' - [[Magic Knight]]: Combines the power of might and magic to deadly effect.
** [[Sword and Sorcerer]]: Combines the two as different characters.
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* ''Fighter+ Thief+ Mage'' - [[Jack of All Stats]]: A jack of all trades that risks being a [[Master of None]] if his skills don't have synergy.
This trend stretches back to the grandpappy of all RPGs, ''[[Dungeons
See also [[An Adventurer Is You]] for a breakdown of the party-based RPG (especially the MMORPG). See also, [[Action Hero]], [[Science Hero]], and [[Guile Hero]].
{{examples|Examples}}▼
== [[Action Adventure]] ==▼
▲=== [[Action Adventure]] ===
* The ''[[Overlord]]'' games have minions that correspond to fighter, mage, thief, and cleric while mixing in [[Elemental Powers]]. The Overlord himself is always a [[Magic Knight]].
=== [[Adventure Game]] ===
* The ''[[Quest for Glory]]'' series has Fighter, Magic User (renamed Wizard in later games) and Thief. Unlocking cross-class abilities is possible at the expense of same-class starting abilities, though some quests are class-specific and criticized for it. It's possible to earn the class of Paladin, which amounts to a Fighter who does good things rather than just kill stuff, ''and'' has a [[Flaming Sword]] to kill stuff with. Appropriately but oddly, there's at least one Paladin quest which is done for the sake of right, with no reward.
** ''QfG'' loves to [[Anvilicious|hammer home]] the Paladin's need to be selfless: each game, starting with the second one, has a least one quest where you're either offered a reward that you should turn down, ''or'' you're not offered a reward at all. QfG4 even has a quest where the ''quest'' isn't given to you; you just hear the basics and you're expected to run with it.
*** It is possible to become a paladin if you're playing as a thief, but do any actual thieving ({{spoiler|except to steal an item needed to defeat an elemental}}) and you've lost your chance.
** Also, Wizard isn't a class, it's an title for academically certified Magic Users, earned in the second game upon graduation from the Wizard's Institute of Technocery. (As, if you haven't graduated from the school, you shouldn't be able to ''complete'' the second or subsequent games as a Magic User. This becomes part of a "new" character's assumed backstory.)
=== [[Beat
* ''[[
* ''[[Demon Stone]]'' has three playable characters you can switch between at any time: Rhannek, an armored warrior who fights with a two-handed sword. Zhai, a quick, stealthy half-drow rogue. And Illius, a sorcerer.
=== [[Collectible Card Game]] ===
* [[
=== [[First
* ''[[System Shock]] 2'' opens with the main character, a soldier, deciding whether to join the Marines (which specializes in combat), the Navy (which specializes in technical skills), or the OSA (which specializes in psychic powers), but there's nothing restricting a player from becoming adept with any particular skill. It's entirely possible to have a super-hacker psychic, for example.
** Escalating skill point costs do restrict the player. While everyone can feasibly get a smattering of cross-training in other class abilities, attempting to be an across-the-board Jack-of-all-trades really will leave you [[Master of None]]. It may be possible to have a super-hacker psychic, it's not advisable except as a [[Self
* Although most people like to forget, the [[First
** ''[[
* ''[[Hexen]]'' allows you to choose one of three characters to play the game with. While the Fighter and the Mage play the trope straight, the Cleric does not act like a typical thief - his abilities are more of a combination of the Fighter and Mage.
=== [[Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game|MMORPG]]s ===
* In ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'', there are three main stats: Muscle, Mysticality, and Moxie (in that order), and two classes "attuned" to each stat. The fact that the whole game is basically a parody of the RPG genre makes this a no-brainer.
* ''[[Phantasy Star Online]]'' has three classes: Hunter, Ranger, and Force. Hunters use melee weapons, Rangers use ranged weapons, and Forces use [[Magic From Technology|Techniques]].
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** Warrior = Fighter
** Rogue = Thief
** Mage = [[Exactly What It Says
** Paladin = Fighter+ Mage with an emphasis on melee attacks and healing/defensive spells
** Shaman = Fighter+ Mage with an emphasis on spells
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** Warlock = Mage, but tougher and with more emphasis on demon pets
** Death Knight = Fighter+ Mage, with an emphasis on melee attacks and offensive spells
*** Note that Death Knights in ''[[
* ''[[
* ''[[Dragonica]]'' has 4 base classes: Warrior, Magician, Thief, and Archer. Later in the game, you can branch off to a different class.
** Warriors can choose to be [[Mighty Glacier|knights]](defense) or [[Blood Knight|gladiators]](offense)
** Magicians can choose to be [[The Medic|priests/acolytes]](healing) or [[Magic Knight|battlemagi]](attacking)
** Thieves can choose to be [[Lethal Joke Character|jesters/tricksters]](flashy, direct battling) or [[Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja|assasins]](stealthy, battling from afar)
** Archers can choose to be [[The Archer|rangers]](high attack, low in skills) or [[Nature Hero|hunters]](low attack, lots of skills)
* [[Guild Wars 2]] divides the classes into "soldiers", "adventurers", and "scholars" depending on the type of armor available. Though characters are in general quite flexible in roles, the two "soldier" classes are somewhat more direct combat and melee focused, the scholars are more magic focused, and the adventurer classes are all somewhat more range or quick movement focused.
* [[Age of Conan]] directly divides its classes into 4 archetypes, "warriors", 'rogues", "priests", and "mages". Classes within these roles get the same set of tortage quests and a talent tree in common.
=== [[Platform Game]] ===
* Some games in ''[[Wizards and Warriors]]'' series let you choose between a knight, wizard and a thief.
* ''[[Castlevania: Circle of the Moon]]'' has a version of this. After beating the game in "Vampire Hunter" mode (which has no perks) you get a code to change your class to Magician mode in the next playthrough. Beating Magician unlocks a code for another class (and so on).
** 2nd playthrough= Magician Mode (High MP and all abilities from beginning, but low Strength and Defense)
** 3rd Playthrough= Fighter Mode (High Strength and Defense, but no magic)
** 4th Playthrough= Shooter Mode (Increases Hearts, which are used for long range attacks)
** 5th Playthrough= Thief Mode (Low everything, but insane luck)
* In ''[[
=== [[Real Time Strategy]] ===
* ''[[
** The Undead heroes subverts this, due to the inherent fragileness of the faction itself. Both of its strenght-based heroes, the Death Knight and Dreadlord, are relatively squishy compared to the other factions. One of the better tactics for the Death Knight, for instance, is to stay out of melee fights entirely, taking advantage of their above-average movement speed to keep him out of harms reach and healing friendly units or sniping enemies using Death Coil. Played straight with the Crypt Lord hero added in the expansion, which has a passive that increases his armor and reflects damage, in addition an ultimate that heals him.
** There IS one melee int hero, the Goblin Tinker. No ranged STR heroes, though.
* And when you think about the more modern real-time strategy games like ''[[
** Fighter=Slow-but-strong units like tanks.
** Mage=Ranged splash-damage units like artillery and naval-ships.
** Thief=Fast-but-weak units like the ATVs and aircraft.
=== [[Role
* ''[[Planescape: Torment]]'': the Nameless One begins the game as a Fighter, and can remember the skills needed to become a Thief or a Mage by respectively speaking to the thief Ratbone and to the midwife Old Mebbeth (who will first send you on a set of [[Fetch Quest
* In ''[[
** In one particular battle in [[Pokemon Rangers Shadows Of Almia]] you face [[Dual Boss|three bosses]] that fit perfectly in the categories: Rhyperior (slow-moving but resistant and with an array of close-range attack), Magmortar (Less HP, but capable of using devastating long-range and area attacks) and Gallade (Smaller, faster, and regularly teleporting away from danger)
* ''[[The Elder Scrolls]]: [[Oblivion]]'' generally tacks in these three directions, though some of the builds you're offered at the beginning are a blend of two or three. The leveling system generally means that every character winds up the pinnacle of all 3, especially in games before ''Morrowind'', where a bunch of skills leveled even if you weren't trying to practice them - Stealth, Medical, Backstab, Critical Hit, and Running and Jumping, for some examples.
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*** Although normally invisible to the player, when you start modding around NPCs, espescially if you are modding in partners/followers, they strictly grow in skill according to their class. Fortunately, you can custom-build classes for them, as well, to cherry-pick the abilities of your companions.
** The Elder Scrolls also has an in-universe example of this trope in the form of the three "guardian constellations" in the in-game zodiac. Each confer benefits suited to their corresponding play styles.
* ''[[Fable
** ''[[
*** Not like anyone would specialize in a single path unless they wanted a [[Self
* ''[[Ultima]]'' has the stats of strength, dexterity, and intellect, with the three Principles each related to one stat (Strength = Courage, Int = Truth, Dex = Love). The classes associated with the virtues derived from the principles also mostly work out, with the meleeist Fighter for Valor (courage), pure-caster Mage for Honesty (truth), ranged fighter Bard for Compassion (love), Magic Knight Paladin for Honor (truth and courage), more-agile fighter Tinker for Sacrifice (love and courage), more-agile caster Druid for Justice (truth and love), jack-of-all-trades Ranger for Spirituality (all three), and mostly-worthless Shepherd for Humility (none!)
** ''[[Ultima IX]]'' gives you starting equipment based on what class you choose. The super-awesome Ranger gets an immediate boost to the three main stats, but crappy equipment. The super-crappy Shepherd, which gets no boost at all to the three main stats, gets equipment that other classes can't get for a least four or five hours. It pays to handicap yourself, apparently.
** While ''[[Ultima I]]'' and ''[[Ultima II|II]]'' and the standard roster of fighter, cleric, thief and wizard, [[Ultima III]] expanded this to include not only RPG standbys such as the barbarian and druid, but also the illusionist and lark.
* ''[[Jade Empire]]'' has the stats of Body (health and strength), Mind (raises Focus, which allows you to enact [[Bullet Time]] and use <s> special or non-mastered</s> weapons), and Spirit (raises Chi, which allows you to heal and use magical martial arts). It's not a traditional breakdown, as there's little stealth involved, but it does provide a basic breakdown between strength, speed, and sorcery.
* Because magic doesn't exist in the ''[[Fallout]]'' universe, the three basic character builds are Fighter (punches and guns), Thief (stealth and stealing), and Diplomat ([[Talking the Monster
* ''[[Arcanum]]: Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura'': The game does not have pure character classes, instead having more open-ended character building like in Fallout (see above), but there are still three basic builds: fighter (put the bulk of your points into combat skills), thief (distribute points broadly among stealth and social skills), and wizard (concentrate on willpower, intelligence and magickal skils). Technology is a unique fourth option; it functions as a prototypical [[Item Crafting]] system, and technological aptitude interferes with your magickal aptitude. (However, there's no such thing as a "pure" technologist; a tech-user must use his technological skills to enhance his abilities as a fighter or thief.)
* ''[[Knights of the Old Republic]]'' uses a modified version of the D&D D20 system. Basically, a character can have 3 kinds of features that the user specifically selects: skills, feats, and Force Powers. Each of the 6 classes in the game focuses on one of these. Soldiers focus on feats, while Scouts and Scoundrels focus on different sets of skills. The Jedi classes work like this too, only adding Force Powers to the mix. Guardians are basically Fighters with a few Force Powers; they get lots of access to feats. Consulars are Wizards with [[Laser Blade|lightsabers]]. And Sentinels are Thieves that don't steal (skill-focused).
** The sequel's Prestige Classes play it even straighter, essentially boiling down to a combat monster, an arch-wizard and a stealthy assassin each with some Jedi or Sith flavour text.
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** In practice, it's more Fighter, [[The Beast Master]], [[Magic Knight]].
* ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]'' gives you a similar choice at the beginning, between Fighter, Mage, and ''Defender''. The latter isn't as strong or agile as the Fighter, but learns defense and [[Money Spider|drop]] related abilities earlier, and has more item slots. The game also makes you give up one of the three, giving the feel of a bit more depth in the trio set-up.
** ''[[Kingdom Hearts
* ''[[
** The classical lineup is particularly obvious in the ''Leliana's Song'' DLC, where your party consists of exactly three characters: warrior (Tug, who is, subversively, not the leader, {{spoiler|and Silas}}), mage (Sketch), and thief (Leliana herself). Other DLCs tend to remove one of the three parts: ''Golems of Amgarrak'' gives you no real mage (unless your PC is one), while ''Witch Hunt'' features no rogues (ditto).
* The original ''[[Diablo]]'' provided a breakdown of Warrior, Rogue, and Sorcerer, with later games adding more classes.
** ''Diablo'' is also a partial subversion in that any character can potentially learn any magic and use any equipment.
** Played straight in ''[[Diablo III]]'' with the followers; Kormac the Templar, Lyndon the Scoundrel, and Eirena the Enchantress.
* ''[[
* ''[[
** Fighter = [[Exactly What It Says
** Thief = [[Exactly What It Says
** (Black) Mage = [[Exactly What It Says
** (White) Mage = Cleric
** (Red) Mage = [[Magic Knight]]
** Monk = Fighter
** In addition, the Class Change that marked the midpoint of the game would give the magic-users access to more powerful spells and the monk a better attack, but would also grant [[Magic Knight]] status to the Fighter (who became the Knight and could use White Magic) and the Thief (who got a major upgrade as the Ninja and could use Black Magic).
* ''[[
** Soldier (pure Combat): [[Jack of All Trades]] (a gun for any situation), or [[Mighty Glacier]] (most durable of all player classes)
** [[The Engineer|Engineer]] (pure Tech): Debuffer, [[Master of Unlocking]]
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** Infiltrator (Combat/Tech): [[Glass Cannon]] Trickster
** Sentinel (Tech/Biotics): [[Jack of All Stats]] or [[The Tank]], depending on how you play the class.
** In the third game, the only three squad-mates you're guaranteed to have the entire game fall into this - James (weapons), Liara (biotics) and EDI (tech).
* Played straight in ''The Tomb of the [[Task Maker]]'': fighters can use the most weapons, magicians can use the most spells, and thieves can steal items and pick locks.
* ''[[Fate Extra]]'' Allows the player to choose one of three servants to fight for him/her.
** Saber (Fighter): Has the best stat growths in [[Mighty Glacier|strength and endurance]], and has skills that are either direct physical damage, or add small [[Status Buff|buffs]] to her choices in the game's [[Tactical Rock
** Archer (Thief): Specializes in [[Jack of All Stats|agility, endurance, and magic]], and has a unique skill set revolving around preparation to use his [[Hyperspace Arsenal]], dealing a mix of physical and magical damage.
** Caster (Mage): Can easily gain levels in [[Glass Cannon|magic, agility, and luck]], and is the only character whose skills rely almost completely on magical damage and MP recovery.
* ''[[Kingdoms of Amalur
* [[Tales of the World]]: Radiant Mythology has four basic classes you can choose, and three of them are a Fighter, a Mage and a Thief. The fourth is a Cleric, which is basically a mage with healing magic.
=== [[Strategy Game]] ===
* [[Lords of Magic]]: Warrior, Mage, and Thief are the three types of champions (single unit characters that lead armies) in its gameplay, and much of the rest of gameplay is influenced by this division. Unit production buildings are divided along these lines as well, with a "barracks" producing infantry, cavalry, ships, and warrior champions, a "thieves Guild" producing thieves, ranged units, and scouts, and a "mage tower" used to produce mages and magical creatures, as well as having an associated building for spell research. Each chamopion can be used to "train" at its associated building, improving the experience of units produced there, and each type of unit uses different types of resources to produce and maintain depending on its category.
* In the iOS game [[
▲=== Non-video game examples: ===
==
=== [[Tabletop Games]] ===
* The True20 RPG system, based off of the D20 system for ''[[Dungeons
* ''[http://www.basicfantasy.org/ Basic Fantasy Role-Playing Game]'' has four classes; Fighter, Thief, Magic-User and Cleric
** ''[http://www.swordsandwizardry.com/ Swords and Wizardry]'' uses five classes based on OD&D: the Fighting-Man (or Fighter), the Magic-User, the Cleric, the Dwarven Warrior (who was much like the fighting-man) and the Elven Adventurer (who could choose whether to be a fighter or a magic-user once a day).
** ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20090726041928/http://www.goblinoidgames.com/labyrinthlord.htm Labyrinth Lord]'', another old-style D&D retroclone, uses the Cleric, the Fighter, the Magic-User, and the Thief. In addition, the other races are classes in their own: the Dwarf (basically a Fighter, who is limited to level 12), the Elf (a [[Magic Knight]] who combines the powers of a Fighter and a Magic-User and is limited to 10th level), and the Halfling (small fighters with a few thief abilities who are limited to level 8).
* ''[[White Wolf|Werewolf the Apocalypse]]'' somewhat does this with the five Auspices. Ragabashes are the thief-type with gifts related to stealth and deception, Theurges and Galliards could be considered mages as their gifts don't give direct combat ability but can act as buffers/good for working with spirits to make magical effects, and Philodoxes and Ahrouns as the fighters with Philodox gifts more focused on [[Mighty Glacier|taking it]] and shrugging it off and Ahroun gifts more focused on dishing out punishment for extended periods.
* ''[[Exalted]]'' does it,
** It's been noted that ''White Wolf'' games that stick to the five-by-five system usually have a familiar breakdown for the social splats: Leader, Warrior, Mystic, Rebel, and Spy. ''[[Werewolf: The Forsaken]]'' goes Blood Talons (Warrior), Bone Shadows (Mystics), Hunters in Darkness (Spy), Iron Masters (Rebel), and Storm Lords (Leader). ''[[
** From ''[[Exalted]]'' you have the Lunar who are the exception to the [[White Wolf]] usual trope of the [[Five
* In the ''[[Dungeons
* There's an indie roleplaying game called ''Warrior, Rogue, and Mage'' that fills this trope perfectly.
=== [[Comic Books]] ===
* The three main characters in the ''[[Birds of Prey]]'' comic each fit these archetypes: Oracle, who, with her hacking abilities, can gain knowledge and harm enemies from a great distance, but, being a paraplegic, is not as good (thought [[Handicapped Badass|not completely helpless]]) in close combat, is the wizard; Black Canary, who, being the best martial artist of the three, and having the canary cry for dealing with more powerful enemies, is the best close combatant, is the fighter (although her ability to soak up damage is not appreciably greater than the others'); Huntress, being the best at and most reliant upon stealth, and using a crossbow as her primary weapon, is the thief.
=== Literature ===
* Unsurprisingly, a number of ''[[Dungeons
** ''[[Ravenloft|Vampire of the Mists]]'' has Jander Sunstar (fighter, although he has some supernatural abilities, and is quite stealthy, from being a vampire), Sasha (spellcaster, although he's actually a cleric, not a mage), and Leisl (thief).
** ''[[Dragonlance|War of the Twins]]'' has Caramon Majere (fighter), Raistlin Majere (mage), Crysania of Tarinius (cleric, which, again, is a different kind of spellcaster in D&D), and Tasslehoff Burrfoot (thief, [[Berserk Button|but don't you dare call him one]]).
* In ''[[Harry Potter and
* As noted in the main text, the [[Ur Example]] in modern literature is probably the dwarfs' party in ''[[The Hobbit]]'', composed of a dozen fighters, one wizard and one "burglar".
* ''[[A Certain Magical Index]]'': The three protagonists fit this dynamic. Touma fights using his magic-negating right fist, Accelerator with his extraordinarily-powerful esper ability, and Shiage relies on guns and other technology. Though there's plenty of overlap between them. Touma often has to use stealth or whatever tools are around him (especially against non-supernatural opponents) while Accelerator learns to use a gun (as backup for when he can't use his power) and becomes much more physically resilient over the course of the series.
=== [[Live Action Television]] ===
* The Minbari on
* On ''[[Leverage]]'', [[The Big Guy|Eliot]], [[Playful Hacker|Hardison]], and [[Classy Cat Burglar|Parker]] largely fulfill these roles, though Hardison is a hacker instead of a mage.
=== [[Web Comics]] ===
* ''[[Problem Sleuth]]'', which was designed to imitate a video game, has its three main characters match up with the archetypes: Ace Dick is the Fighter, Pickle Inspector is the Mage, and Problem Sleuth is the Thief.
** Defined by their high Vim, Imagination and Pulchritude, respectively.
=== [[Western Animation]] ===
* In ''[[My Little Pony
** Interestingly, prior to the founding of Equestria, the Pegasus tribe was the [[Proud Warrior Race]].
* The [[Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers
=== [[Real Life]] ===
* When you consider the United States military branches, they also fall into one of those three categories:
** Fighter=Army and Marines
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{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Video Game Characters]]
[[Category:Tabletop
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