While Fire Emblem is a series most associated with skilled swordsmen and spell-casting mages, the series contains a wide variety of unique types of units. One such type of unit would be a transforming unit, that rather than fighting with traditional weaponry or spells, fights by transforming into a dragon or other creature. These units come in various forms but are most commonly Manaketes, beings capable of turning into dragons, or Laguz, beings capable of assuming the form of animals such as tigers and hawks.
While there are no playable transforming characters in the most recent entry of the series, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, these characters have a rich history in the series that dates back to the very first Fire Emblem game. So today, we're going to examine the ten strongest and most useful transforming units from across Fire Emblem: History!
10 Ulki - Radiant Dawn
Ulki is one of the two Hawk Laguz players have access to in Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn. Between these two appearances, Ulki is notably powerful in Radiant Dawn. Appearing in Part Three, in which a player has access to few flying units, Ulki can reliably back up fellow his fellow flier, Haar, and use his excellent mobility to maneuver through difficult terrain.
Ulki notably benefits from his Vigilance skill that provides him with a constant +20 avoid buff, making him difficult to hit. While Ulki must manage his transformation meter with items, his aerial mobility allows him to easily fall back and do so safely.
9 Selkie and Velouria - Fates
Appearing in Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright and Conquest respectively as well as Revelations, Selkie is the daughter of Kaden while Velouria is the daughter of Keaton. While transforming units such as Manaketes are often hindered by their limited resources and reliance on a single usable weapon, Kitsune and Wolfskins benefit from Fates' unbreaking weapon system.
While each of these units is not as readily available and accessible as their parents, requiring their respective parents to gain an S support, they are quite flexible and can gain access to powerful benefits depending on who their mothers are.
8 Mordecai - Path of Radiance
Mordecai is the first Tiger Laguz recruited in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and is a unit with a surprising amount of utility. Tiger Laguz begins each map untransformed and must wait numerous turns before they are able to engage in combat. Once transformed, Tigers gain mobility on par with Calvary, with stats reminiscent of powerful generals.
Mordecai is surprisingly still an excellent unit when he is untransformed due to his skill, Smite. Smite allows Mordecai to push another unit two tiles, helping reposition allies and allow them to reach their objectives earlier than they would otherwise.
7 Giffca - Radiant Dawn
As a Lion Laguz, Giffca is a monster of a unit with amazing stats that allow him to tear through many enemies with ease. However, Giffca has quite the availability problem, only being available to use in the final few chapters of Radiant Dawn.
However, if one can look past this low availability and judge him purely on his performance in Radiant Dawn's endgame, he's quite the force to be reckoned with. Players who use Giffca just need to be wary and monitor his transformation gauge.
6 Keaton - Fates
Keaton is the only Wolfskin that players will gain access to without the use of the game's child mechanic, and is one of the most physically-oriented units in Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest. Possessing stellar bulk and physical offense, Keaton can reliably fight in the front lines, dealing damage while soaking up hits.
Once Keaton learns the Better Odds skill at level five of his promoted Wolfssegner class, he'll automatically heal 40% of his maximum HP every other turn. When this ability is paired with his already notable bulk, Keaton will become seemingly impossible to kill by any means aside from magic.
5 Corrin - Fates
Corrin is the player's avatar character in Fire Emblem Fates, is the only protagonist in the series who fills the role of a transforming character. Corrin is an incredibly flexible unit due to their their nature as the game's protagonist and is the only character in the series who can both wield and weapon and transform without changing classes.
When transformed, Corrin is a much more resilient unit and deals magic damage rather than the physical damage they deal with a sword. This allows them to flexibly adapt to situations on the fly and serve different roles at a moment's notice.
4 Caineghis - Radiant Dawn
While the previously mentioned Giffca is a powerhouse in his own right, the Lion King Caineghis is his superior in nearly every conceivable way. Although Caineghis has the exact same availability as Giffca and totes comparable stats, Caineghis's status as a royal Laguz really puts him over the top.
While normal Laguz are balanced by their necessity to switch between their transformed and non-transformed states, royal Laguz are capable of remaining transformed for the duration of a map. Even though Caineghis may not be around for much of Radiant Dawn, there are few foes he can't dispatch in a single round of combat.
3 Nailah - Radiant Dawn
Another royal Laguz, the Wolf Queen Nailah is one of the most powerful units in all of Radiant Dawn. Nailah is capable of remaining transformed for entire chapters due to her royal status, and is ready to take on the toughest enemies the game has to offer as soon as she becomes available.
While units like Caineghis and Giffca are hindered by horrendous availability, Nailah is around for the later chapters of Part One, allowing her to pick up the slack for weaker units, such as members of the Dawn Brigade.
2 Tibarn and Naesala - Radiant Dawn
The king of the Hawk Laguz and the King of the Raven Laguz respectively, Tibarn and Naesala are two of the most overpowered units in Part Four of Radiant Dawn.
Each capable of shifting indefinitely, these two kings each tote the incredible blend of mobility and power, both able to fly across significant portions of a map to take out any target they see fit. While they're each only available in Part Four Tibarn and Naesala make most other units in the game look subpar by comparison.
1 Reyson - Path of Radiance
The only non-combative unit on this list, Reyson is a Heron Laguz and essentially serves the role of a player's dancer in Fire Emblem Radiant Dawn. This means that rather than contributing to combat traditionally, Reyson can reinvigorate his allies, bestowing them with an additional action.
While he can normally invigorate one ally at a time, when he assumes his Heron form, he is capable of bestowing up to four units with additional actions, providing unparalleled utility.