Fire Emblem: Three Houses - Budding Talents, Hidden Talents and their bonuses

As you nurture your students in Fire Emblem: Three Houses, you might notice that some of them have a natural skill - a Budding Talent or Hidden Talent, depending on what terminology you prefer.. 

Budding Talents are represented as skills that have three stars next to it. You must train a character in that field in order to fill in those stars - and once you do, the Budding Talent is revealed, a hidden natural affinity that bestows a special bonus related to that skill.

How to unlock Budding Talents / Hidden Talents in Fire Emblem Three Houses

Actually unlocking each character's Hidden Talent is simple enough. First, just look for the three small stars in a triangle formation on the far-right of the skills menu when selecting a study focus for any given character. That is their budding talent - though you can also find all of the talents listed below for every character that has one, too.

As a professor of the academy, you'll be teaching your recruited students, earning them XP through both lessons, lectures and battle. The XP learned and skills mastered are used right the way throughout Three Houses, so in battle, but also to change class to reach the master classes or even, in the case of the protagonist's stats and skills, to recruit characters.

In lessons you can choose how each student will focus their studies, so you can direct them towards their Budding Talents if they have them. The only exception is the protagonist, Byleth, who doesn't learn in this way and must be boosted using faculty training in your spare time. 

All you have to do to fill in those stars is repeatedly train a student in their Budding Talent category until the talent is unlocked. Black Eagles house leader Edelgard has a hidden talent in Reason, for instance - so you'd focus her to study Reason until the talent and its associated bonus unlocks.

Budding Talent / Hidden Talent Bonuses for every character in Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Here's all the characters with hidden talent areas waiting to be unlocked, plus what bonus that character gets when the talent is maxed out with three stars. Each student also has a natural starting point with their budding talent skill - we've listed that too. Below that, we've listed all the characters who we've so far found to not have a hidden talent - just to avoid confusion.

• Ashe - Lance
  • Initially bad with this skill
  • Bonus: -5 DEF to an enemy on the next turn after being damaged by Ashe
• Bernadetta - Riding
  • Initially neutral with this skill
  • Bonus: Grants Pass ability to allows her to pass through enemies with movement
• Byleth - Faith
  • Initially neutral with this skill
  • Byleth cannot learn from classes, so use Faculty Training on free days. Manuela or Rhea teach Faith.
  • Bonus: Grants +20 to Avoid when using White MAG
• Claude - Axe
  • Initially neutral with this skill
  • Bonus: Grants the unique attack Diamond Axe. (Mt+14, Hit-20, Rng 1, Durability-7)
• Dimitri - Riding
  • Initially neutral with this skill
  • Bonus: -1 movement to an enemy on the next turn after being damaged by Dimitri
• Dorothea - Faith
  • Initially bad with this skill
  • Bonus: Grants +20 to Avoid when using White MAG
• Edelgard - Reason
  • Initially neutral with this skill 
  • Bonus: Grants +10 to Cricial when using Black MAG
• Felix - Reason
  • Initially bad with this skill
  • Bonus: Grants +10 to Avoid when using Black MAG
• Flayn - Reason
  • Initially neutral with this skill
  • Bonus: -6 to Magic to an enemy on the next turn after being damaged by Flayn
• Ferdinand - Heavy Armor
  • Initially neutral with this skill
  • Bonus: -6 to Speed to an enemy on the next turn after being damaged by Ferdinand
• Hilda - Heavy Armor
  • Initially neutral with this skill
  • Bonus: -6 to Speed to an enemy on the next turn after being damaged by Hilda
• Hubert - Lance
  • Initially neutral with this skill
  • Grants Frozen Lance, a strong unique ability
• Ignatz - Reason
  • Initially neutral with this skill
  • Bonus: -6 to Strength to an enemy on the next turn after being damaged by Ignatz
• Lysithea - Sword
  • Initially bad with this skill
  • Bonus: Grants combat art Soulblade, a unique attack. (Mt+2, Hit+10, Rng 1, Durability-4)
• Marianne - Lance
  • Initially neutral with this skill
  • Grants Frozen Lance, a strong unique ability. (Mt+3, Hit+5, Rng 1, Durability-4)
• Mercedes - Bow
  • Initially bad with this skill
  • Grants Waning Shot, a strong unique combat art
• Sylvain - Reason
  • Initially neutral with this skill
  • Bonus: Grants +20 to Avoid when using Black MAG
• Anna - Riding (Expansion Pass only)
  • Initially neutral with this skill
  • Bonus: Grants Pass ability to allows her to pass through enemies with movement
• Yuri - Bow (Expansion Pass only)
  • Initially neutral with this skill
  • Bonus: Grants Combat Art Deadeye (Range 3-5. Mt+6, Durability-5)
• Balthus - Reason (Expansion Pass only)
  • Initially neutral with this skill
  • Bonus: Grants ability Black Magic Crit +10
• Constance - Brawl (Expansion Pass only)
  • Initially neutral with this skill
  • Bonus: Grants Combat Art Mystic Blow (Mt+10, Hit+10, Durability-3)
• Hapi - Axe (Expansion Pass only)
  • Initially neutral with this skill
  • Bonus: Grants Combat Art Exhaustive Strike (consumes all remaining durability and adds 30% of it to Mt)

Characters without a Budding Talent / Hidden Talent

• Annette
• Dedue
• Caspar
• Ingrid
• Leonie
• Linhardt
• Lorenz
• Petra
• Raphael