RPG Classes & Their Synonyms

The standard physical fighting characters in many RPGs, based on medieval knights. They can wield swords, maces, axes and all kinds of other metal weapons. Their physical attack and defence are usually quite high, but they can be weak to magic attacks.

Fighter, Warrior, Knight, Viking, Dark Knight, Paladin, Gladiator, Samurai, Defender, Fencer, Lanista, Templar, Lancer, Squire, Hero, Magic Knight, Champion, Captain, General, Conquistador, Swordsman, Crusader, Barbarian.

Knights who can ride Dragons, or else channel their powers, are given special status in many games and stories. Often these characters wield lances and spears, and have some level of thundery or fiery magic powers.

Dragoon, Dragon, Dragonkin, Dragoneer, Dragon Keeper.

Physical attackers who don’t necessarily need weapons to deal heavy damage. Heroes in this class are often fast and have very high attack, but their lack of armor makes them weak.

In the game’s lore, Martial Artists will often be pure of heart and may rely on some kind of faith to hone their skills.

Monk, Black Belt, Grand Master, Martial Artist, Grappler, Wrestler, Boxer, Pugilist, Brawler.

Depending on your game’s story, it’s possible the ruler of the realm may even join your party at some point! When the going gets tough, monarchs are known to stand up and protect their kingdom.

Often these characters will have similar skills to knights, but royal women may also use white magic to heal the party.

King, Queen, Princess, Prince, Monarch, Emperor, Empress.

Rogues and their kin are fast and tricky. They often carry small, weak weapons like knives and daggers, but they can steal items and money from enemies during combat. Outside of battle they may help the player to open treasure chests or unlock doors.

Thief, Ninja, Assassin, Pirate, Bandit, Sailor, Rogue, Buccaneer, Corsair, Knave.

When you want to stay out of harm’s way but you prefer physical weapons to magic, you might employ a ranger to join your party. These characters are usually fast but weak. They can often hit multiple times in a row thanks to their ability to fire a flurry of arrows from a great distance.

Ranger, Archer, Hunter, Bowmaster, Fletcher.

In slightly more modern adventures, or perhaps steampunk-style stories, it’s popular to have characters use guns. They don’t have to be conventional weapons (in fact it’s better if they’re not). Magic guns or giant cannons will do the trick just fine.

Cannoneer, Bombardier, Gunner, Agent, Secret Agent, Fusilier, Sniper, Soldier, Gunslinger, Duellist, Marksman, Gangster, Blaster.

Sometimes they are merely animal whisperers, but often they are wild beasts in their own right. These characters, whether male or female, are almost invariably scantily clad – and apparently make the perfect mascots for box art.

They’re usually powerful with high physical attack, but prone to uncontrollable fits of rage.

Berserker, Mediator, Trainer, Beastmancer, Beast Master, Rancher, Monster Master, Tamer, Demon Hunter.

An absolute staple of the RPG genre, your game will definitely have at least one healer class. These characters are mostly terrible at wielding weapons and causing physical damage, but they restore the party and use light magic to defeat dark enemies.

White Mage, Devout, Sage, White Wizard, Bishop, Priest, Cleric, Acolyte, Healer.

Users of dark magic may simply be your stereotypical wizard, or they may specialise in controlling the power of spirits, or even harnessing death itself.

In some games, like Final Fantasy, they are the main users of elemental magic like Fire, Thunder and Ice.

Black Mage, Magus, Black Wizard, Necromancer, Witch, Warlock.

If Dark Mages aren’t the main users of elemental magic in your game, it’ll probably be this character instead. Mixed magicians can often use light, dark and elemental magic but with reduced proficiency compared to more specialised mages.

Mage, Red Mage, Red Wizard, Sorcerer, Elementalist, Shaman, Spellcaster, Magician.

Characters in this group can use magic related to time, space or seeing the future. We’ve also lumped in here characters who are able to use their abilities to scan the enemy and find out information about their surroundings through magic alone.

Scholar, Blue Mage, Oracle, Time Mage, Arcanist, Hermetic, Seer, Mystic, Fortune Teller, Professor, Astrologer, Astronomer.

Some mages use the power of their surroundings to their advantage. Classes like Geomancer will often use spells that are out of the player’s immediate control, because they are based on the terrain of the current dungeon.

Geomancer, Animist, Green Mage, Druid.

Not to be confused with the beast tamers already discussed above, Summoners are magical attackers. Unlike beasts and beast tamers, they have high magic attack and defence and they use their skills to call forth monsters to do their bidding.

Evoker, Summoner, Illusionist, Morph.

Item specialists often have mediocre stats all-round, but their ability to enhance items makes them great support characters for your party. Chemists and their relatives can boost the power of healing items.

They might also be able to convert items into weapons to be thrown at the enemies.

Chemist, Alchemist, Salve-maker, Apothecary, Pharmacist, Herbalist, Herbologist.

If you want classes that have more complicated out-of-battle mechanics to make your world feel more lived in, maybe try merchant class. Often these characters will have no particular battle skill, but they make items cheaper to buy in shops… or even make more items available with their bargaining skills.

Merchant, Trader, Vendor, Haggler.

An unusual set of classes, these focus on improving the use of food-based items. If your RPG has farming mechanics, they might cause your crops to grow better. Maybe you have a cooking minigame and these heroes can get more bang for their buck from ingredients?

If your game is simply about combat, these classes could make a great wacky addition – for example a chef whose attacks are all food based!

Farmer, Fisherman, Miller, Shepherd, Forager, Chef, Cook, Baker, Butcher, Greengrocer, Gardener.

These handy characters may have some out-of-battle skills that allow you to forge new weapons and armor, or upgrade your existing gear in some way. In battle, they have strong physical attack and defence, and they may be able to learn low level fire or thunder magic.

Blacksmith, Machinist, Gadgeteer, Tinkerer, Engineer, Mechanic, Electrician, Plumber, Scientist, Technician, Metalworker, Inventor, Handyman.

Like the engineers above, cloth workers may have out-of-battle skills that allow you to improve your characters’ clothing and imbue them with special effects. In battle they might have unusual attacks related to sewing or knitting… but they’re probably not going to be the strongest class in the game.

Tailor, Seamstress, Fashionista, Designer.

Musical magic has often played a role since the early days of RPGs. Usually weaker than elemental magic, music can be more effective at inflicting states; such as lulling enemies to sleep.

Bard, Singer, Songstress, Musician, Troubadour, Poet, Tenor.

Singers aren’t the only entertainers you can have on your team. Other kinds of entertainers like clowns and dancers are good physical attackers, plus they can play tricks on their opponents and dodge attacks easily. They might even mimic the enemy’s attacks!

Clown, Juggler, Jester, Trickster, Luminary, Minstrel, Gadabout, Performer, Harlequin, Gypsy, Comedian, Dancer, Acrobat, Gymnast, Mime, Mimic, Copycat, Impressionist.

We’re getting to the more niche characters now! Since money often plays a big role in adventure games, why not include a class that interacts with money in interesting ways? They might make items cheaper or cause enemies to drop more loot.

Gambler, Treasure Hunter, Miser, Jeweller, Forger, Executive, Banker.

We already have beast tamers and summoners who can harness the power of monsters any time they want to in battle, but what about a character who can control the monsters currently on the field? Puppeteers and hypnotists can use their skills to make monsters harm their own allies.

Puppet Master, Puppeteer, Hypnotist.

This class may be more quest-related than useful in or out of battle. Perhaps their very existence in your game’s party causes more side quests and story beats to happen for the player? They might even allow your player to skip unimportant battles with weaker enemies to focus more on the story.

Scribe, Storyteller, Author, Writer.

Non-human creatures may join your crew from time to time. Whether it’s an enemy you converted to be on your side, or perhaps the main character of your game, monsters and other creatures can have a broad range of talents in an RPG.

This could literally be its own list thousands of entries long, but we’ve gathered a small handful of classes we know that exist in some popular games:

Vampire, Demon, Fairy, Ghost, Phantom, Zombie, Undead, Devil, Angel.