Fighter

Tordek, The manliest of all the Fighters. He is in it for the bitches.

The Fighter is one of the basic classes in almost every RPG system ever made.

Class role

The fighter's primary role is serving as a meat shield and smashing things. Fighters can wear armor and use powerful weapons. They are also traditionally good at physical activities like jumping, riding animals, balancing, and drowning under the weight of their own armor. Without fighter(s), a party typically needs to replace them via summoning or enchantment, to ensure that the GM doesn't casually pick off at least one party member on any given day.

Dungeons and Dragons

In D&D the Fighter class has existed since the very first incarnations (then called "fighting-man").

Basic/Advanced D&D

In the 1st editions, the fighter's strength was endurance. His killing power lasted far longer than that of magic-users, as he could not run out of sword. Players who rolled 18 Strength at character creation got the benefit of an "exceptional Strength score", metered strangely in the format "18/nn", (where "nn" is the roll of a d100) could add as many as 6 points of damage to every hit for those who received the blessings of the dice gods. By rule, it was possible for a fighter to obtain a level of armor fairly early on that made him unhittable unless the attacker rolled a natural 20. This even worked against touch attacks, as the rules granted them no bonus to hit. Fighters could also mass many hit points. Gear loss was not a problem in 1e, as the fighter could wear any armor and use any weapon that they found.

However, the fighter's "saving throw" defenses against special attacks were absolutely wretched, making him a sitting duck for paralysis, petrification, breath weapons, death magic, magic wands, spells, and most horribly, poison, which was everywhere in 1e and meant almost certain death. Many found playing a 1e fighter boring because every problem was solved in largely the same way, and found the extra dice rolling to be a chore rather than a pleasure.

2nd edition

Fighters in 2nd edition continued all of the trends from 1st edition. 2nd edition spellcasting was limited by onerous regulations, costly material components, and the likely permanent crippling of the caster, making fighters the kings of the 2e battlefield. They had the best "THAC0" chance of any class to hit enemies. In 2nd edition, fighters received bonus attacks based on their level, and these bonus attacks had no penalty to hit. With new 2e rules for bows allowing 2 shots per combat round at level 1, with the common sheaf arrow dealing an entire d10 "hit die" worth of damage, and with the advent of the "Odysseus-style" composite longbow adding Strength bonus to arrow damage, fighters were a serious threat at any range. The (optional) proficiency system meant that fighters couldn't quite achieve the "pick up anything they find and use it" levels of gear efficiency that they had in 1st edition, but since the fighter's penalty for using a weapon unskilled was only -2 to hit, and the nonweapon proficiencies were mostly worthless medieval fluff like Cobbling and Heraldry, Fighters still weren't particularly worried about Rust Monsters and Ethereal Filchers nicking all of their stuff.

3rd edition

In 3.x, the advent of Feats was supposed to make fighters more attractive to play. The fighter gets loads of feats, making it the only class that can take more than one full-size feat tree (Archery, Weapon Specialization, etc.) But feats brought a nerf in disguise. Fighters could no longer use the best weapons like the "spiked chain" without spending feats to do so, or taking a significant -4 penalty to hit. The only fighter feats really worth getting involved a horrible exploit in 3.0 called "the bag of rats" (the fighter dropped a bag full of rats in front of an enemy, then used Whirlwind Attack feat to attack all the rats in a single round, then used Great Cleave to get a free attack on the enemy for each rat killed. This was clobbered in 3.5.) There were other nerfs as well. Bonus attacks received hit penalties that made them nigh-worthless. Bow rate of fire and damage was nerfed, and crossbows, which any character could use, got a significant damage increase. The new skill system overtook things that any character could do in previous versions of the game, and with their tiny number of "skill points", fighters became helpless bumbling buffoons in just about everything.

Meanwhile, spells became so powerful that a single caster could bring down entire armies in one or two rounds. The result was that your party was better off having any character with Summon Monster I than with a fighter. Fighter became something you multi-classed your rogue or cleric into for one or two levels, in order to get their level 1 automatic feats, Martial Weapons, Tower Shields, all armors, +d10 hp, full attack bonus, and a bonus feat. It was still a scrumptious dip class for those first few levels, but it was generally best left behind afterwards.

Pathfinder

Fighters are generally a little beefier and a lot better in Pathfinder, with more unique passive benefits and fewer classes that can be described as "like a Fighter but better." They don't have the raw power of the spellcasting classes, but they're now actually very good at their actual jobs, namely, killing tons of dudes while shrugging off damage, while many martial and exotic weapons, particularly archery, are more attractive options. The archetype system also helps them a lot, sacrificing much of their versatility in terms of weapon use to make them even deadlier or tougher with a single combat style. (Two-handed weapon, sword-and-board, unarmed combat, etc.)

Unfortunately, with a pitiful dribble of skill points and limited skill selection anyway, they don't tend to be much use once things are actually being done out of combat, barring pure roleplaying or trait-use to gain one good skill. A lot of the time, if no fighting's going on, the fighter's player may as well just go off to use the restroom or crack open a soda for all the use he'll be. One way around this is to take the Tactician archetype, which gives them a lot more skill points and class skills, offers great bonuses and buffing capacity for having high mental stats, and barely reduces their combat effectiveness in the bargain. The only real price is a little bit of MAD trouble, but if you rolled well on your scores and want to make a character who can kick ass and still be the charismatic and intelligent party leader, consider it.

4th edition

In 4th edition, the Fighter is listed as a "Defender". His main purpose is to serve as a meatshield and prevent the enemies from getting close to the squishies behind them. Fighters do more single-target damage than any other class in the game that isn't a "Striker" (and in some cases can out-damage strikers, especially if they get a lot of opportunity attacks). They also make the squares around them a living hell for any marked foe who tries to move through them at all. They come in five flavors: "Great Weapon" (uses two-handed weapons, considered to be a striker "by the back door"), "Guardian" (the archetypical 4th Edition fighter, uses a one-hand weapon and a shield, has primary access to most of the best Fighter powers including the truly awesome Tide of Iron at-will), "Battlerager" (a berserker fighter build, lives on yummy, yummy, temporary hit points), "Tempest" (a two-weapon fighter build for those who feel like they cannot live without a two-weapon warrior who wears heavy armor), and "Brawler" (uses a one-handed weapon, but leaves the other hand open so they can grab people to use them as human shields, break faces, or snap necks).

5th edition

In 5th edition, the Fighter is the only class who hangs onto 4e's Healing Surge (called Second Wind, and usable once per short rest). He also has more feat opportunities, and since you can use those for either 2 stat points or 1 feat, fighters are likely to have 20s in any stats they want and still have slots left over for feats. They can go into one of three subclasses: the Champion, which gives him more sustain and tankiness with better crits and strength checks; the Battle Master, who can perform maneuvers in combat similar to the Warlord to debuff enemies and buff himself; and the Eldritch Knight, who casts spells and swings swords, and eventually can cast and swing at the same time. The Fighter also eventually gets four attacks (the highest of any class, and explicitly the only class whose extra attacks stack with those offered by other classes while multiclassing) and is capable of dealing tons and tonnes of damage.

The Classes of Pathfinder 1st Edition
Core Classes:	Barbarian - Bard - Cleric - Druid - Fighter - Monk Paladin - Ranger - Rogue - Sorcerer - Wizard
Advanced Player's Guide:	Alchemist - Antipaladin - Cavalier Inquisitor - Oracle - Summoner - Witch
Advanced Class Guide:	Arcanist - Bloodrager - Brawler - Hunter - Investigator Shaman - Skald - Slayer - Swashbuckler - Warpriest
Occult Adventures:	Kineticist - Medium - Mesmerist Occultist - Psychic - Spiritualist
Ultimate X:	Gunslinger - Magus - Ninja - Samurai - Shifter - Vigilante