Monster Knight



Monsters are, well, monsters. They're uncouth, messy, dirty, disgusting, barbaric creatures with no sense of honor. The only times they do work together will more than likely resemble something akin to a horde than anything like a professional army.

But that's a bit too Cliché for most writers these days, so it's not that surprising to see many monsters that are of a higher class than the mindless brutes in fiction of yesteryear's. Monsters that are trained, with a thought for technique, tactics, strategy, Villainous Valour, and (perhaps) a sense of honor that would make them seem almost respectable. A monster that's also a true warrior.

A...Monster Knight, if you will.

This kind of character is often a Cultured Blood Knight, although they don't have to be. They're also more likely to be a Noble Demon, and thanks to the resonance the hero may have for this character, they may be found on any place on the Character Alignment scale in contrast to the usual Exclusively Evil treatment the characters race may receive in other works.

If you have an entire army of Monster Knights, they're almost guaranteed to be a Badass Army as well.

They may or may not be working for a Monster Lord, who may be an example themselves. Hehe.

Compare Black Knight.

Anime and Manga

 * Berserk has Nosferatu Zodd, who as much as he hates to admit it, finds pleasure in his battles with Guts.
 * The New Band of the Hawk is filled with these guys (making it a pretty Badass Army ).
 * The Skull Knight could also be an example. Little is known about his past though but he is clearly no longer human.
 * Leomon and a ton of other Digimon far too numerous to name.

Comics

 * In Marvel Comics, the Knights of Wundagore are an entire Tribe Of Hats who have this as their hat. They're all animals evolved into humanoid creatures by the High Evolutionary.

Film

 * In Labyrinth, they meet Sir Didimus, some sort of strange dog-like knight monster astride a large regular-dog. His basic deal is standing on a bridge and declaring You Shall Not Pass.

Mythology

 * Arthurian Legend features Sir Marrok, a Knight of the Round Table who also happens to be a werewolf.

Tabletop Games

 * Dungeons & Dragons
 * Legion Devils. Levistus, the Lord of The Fifth, who bills himself as the finest swordsman in the multiverse - when he's not encased in an Iceberg anyway. Bel, Lord of The First, who was a general in the Blood Wars.
 * Death Knights. Duh.
 * Every once in a while the game produces a warrior troll.
 * The Scro in Spelljammer, as a rule.
 * The Yu-GiOh! card game has a lot of these. One example is "Zure, Knight of Dark World," a demon knight. The Flavor Text indicates he's a Noble Demon.

Video Games

 * Nelo Angelo, whom Dante comes to respect out of all the bosses in the first Devil May Cry game. Makes sense, considering Nelo Angelo is quite clearly.
 * The Knight enemies in Recettear.
 * Later games in The Legend of Zelda franchise reveal that the evil Darknuts are jackal-headed monsters under their armor.
 * King Bulblin from Twilight Princess also qualifies.
 * The Dremora from The Elder Scrolls, who are a type of Daedra who fight in armor with weapons and often magic. They refer to themselves in their own language as "the people" as opposed to the other Daedra, whom they see as mindless animals.
 * Dark Souls has the Capra Demon, a demon that is also a dual wielding warrior.

Web Original

 * The skull-headed guy here.

Western Animation

 * Shrek's an ogre who is press-ganged into putting on armor and rescuing a princess. He's not really much of a trained warrior, though.
 * He's still pretty strong, able to take on many guys at once, and clever enough to set up traps for his enemies.