Knight Errant: Difference between revisions

{{quote|''"While evil flourishes and wrongs grow rank, while men are persecuted and women wronged, while weak things, human or animal, are maltreated, there is no rest for me beneath the skies, nor peace at any board or bed. Farewell!"''|'''[[Solomon Kane]]''', '''''The Blue Flame of Vengeance'''''}}

 

 

Historically a knight errant would refer to a landless knight who would travel with his lord in service and hope of earning his own land. If he is traveling because he was sent by someone it might be a case of [[My Master, Right or Wrong]].

* They have no fixed home, and spend their lives [[Walking the Earth]] ([[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Errant means "wandering"]]). When they're finished smiting the local evil, they'll [[But Now I Must Go|up and leave.]]

* They have a code of honor. If they are heroes, they can be a [[Knight in Sour Armor]], but will always have some degree of idealism inside. On the rare occasion they're a villain, they're usually a [[Noble Demon]] or [[He Who Fights Monsters]].

* They are loners. They do not have any [[True Companions]] and are not part of a [[Five-Man Band]]. They may travel with a squire or two, but not with peers; they leave allies behind when they leave town. Their love interests, if any, are [[Temporary Love Interest|left behind or bumped off by the bad guys.]]

* Sometimes, they are [[The Stoic]], almost to the point of being less a character and more a physical incarnation of justice. They are very prone to having a [[Mysterious Past]]. This type generally overlaps with [[The Drifter]].

 

 

 

See ''[[Knights Errant (webcomic)|Knights Errant]]'' for the [[Web Comic]].

* Vash the Stampede does this, too, [[Obfuscating Stupidity]] turned [[Up to Eleven]]. He's a little less formal about it than Kenshin, because he hasn't got a vow, this is just his lifestyle, and he only learned to fight out of necessity, so he doesn't have quite the same type of warrior ethos as a proper knight or samurai.

* Jin of ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'', prior to the series. After [[The Last DJ|objecting to his master's choices]], he was forced to kill him in self-defense and flee. Rejecting bushido as a code that binds people to [[My Master, Right or Wrong|mindlessly follow villains and idiots]], he [[Walking the Earth|wanders around Japan]] searching for a purpose until Fuu makes him her bodyguard.

** Especially true in [[Fullmetal Alchemist (anime)|the 2003 anime version]], which had a few extra filler episodes near the beginning that consisted almost entirely of the Elrics going somewhere, righting some wrong, and going along their merry way, with the episode tying in minimally or not at all to the long-term plot.

 

* The protagonist of ''The Last Knight'' is a knight errant who lives about 200 years after errantry has gone out of fashion. His squire is a former con man who at first comes along mostly because it keeps him out of jail, and later to look after his employer, who's prone to [[Honor Before Reason]].

* [[The Dark Tower|Roland Deschain]] embodies this trope. Although he has a very specific mission/obsession, he explains that he'll never get to the Dark Tower unless he acts as part of "The White." This means he's obligated to fight evil wherever and whenever he finds it.

* Malik ibn Ibrahim from the ebook anthology [[Wandering Djinn]] seems to fall into this category constantly.

* The Knights of the Cross in ''[[The Dresden Files]]'' fit this archetype; even Michael, who has a home, a wife, and a small army of {{spoiler|potentially wizardly}} children spends much of his time traveling the globe, righting wrongs and fighting evil.

* [[Vorkosigan Saga|Miles Vorkosigan]] has been diagnosed as having Knight Errant tendencies - by his mother.

* Simon Templar, more commonly known as [[The Saint]], is this in many of creator Leslie Charteris's stories (one story collection was even titled ''Saint Errant'') and in some episodes of the TV series that starred Roger Moore. Not so much in the [[The Movie|Val Kilmer movie]].

** One story ends with the Bolo literally getting knighted.

* A very [[The Fair Folk|tiny]] knight errant is the subject of a poem by [[J. R. R. Tolkien|Tolkien]], aptly titled "Errantry." The poem includes descriptions of his [[Knight in Shining Armour|marvellously shiny armour]], his [[Shallow Love Interest|attempts to woo and marry a butterfly]], and his epic battles with [[Bug War|dragonflies and bumblebees]]. Also, perhaps coincidentally, you can sing it to the tune of [[Gilbert and Sullivan]]'s "[[Major-General Song|I Am the Very Model of a Modern Major-General]]".

* In ''[[Doctor Who]]'', the Doctor often fits this trope, even if he's not actively seeking wrongs to right, he seldom hesitates to get involved when he runs into one. He's had many companions, but they act more like "squires" than true partners and none of them stay with him forever. His [[The Nth Doctor|sixth incarnation]] outright calls himself a Knight Errant at least once.

* Dr. Sam Beckett from ''[[Quantum Leap]]'' is a [[Recycled in Space|time-traveling]] Knight Errant who [[Set Right What Once Went Wrong|"strives to put right what once went wrong"]] one life at a time.

* [[The Adventures of Brisco County Jr|Brisco County]] and Lord Bowler fit this perfectly. Bounty hunters travelling the West looking for bad guys, and usually finding them.

* Both Gwaine and Lancelot at times in BBC's [[Merlin]]

* After performing a service for the city of Leyawiin, you and a [[Boisterous Bruiser|jovial NPC]] receive this title.

* The Warden from ''[[Dragon Age]]'', who [[Walking the Earth|goes where they must]] and where they are [[We Help the Helpless|most needed.]]

** Hawke in ''[[Dragon Age II]]'', part of the reason why they came to be ''[[The Champion|Champion of Kirkwall]]''.

* [[Metroid|Samus]] is often seen as one.

[[Category:Western Characters]]

[[Category:Older Than Print]]

[[Category:In Harm's Way]]