Knight Errant: Difference between revisions

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The medieval [[Knight Errant]] stems from the [[Chivalric Romance]], where individual [[Knight in Shining Armor|Knights In Shining Armor]] would wander the land, searching for [[Our Dragons Are Different|evil to slay]] and [[Distressed Damsel|ladies to rescue]] and whatnot, guided by the [[Damsel Errant]]. Since then, knights have declined in popularity, but the Knight Errant is still around in full force -- instead of knights, they are now often cowboys, samurai, or [[Samurai Cowboy|Samurai Cowboys]].

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]].

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]].

Knights Errant have some or all of the following traits:

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** The anime version also wears pink. (Based on color spreads, manga Kenshin has a red haori and a blue haori. Where he carried the one he wasn't currently wearing in his traveling days is a question for the ages, since he had no baggage.)

* 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.

* 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.

* The Elric brothers seem like this at the beginning of ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist (Manga)|Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', before the wider-reaching plot arcs start up--they travel from place to place, righting wrongs and searching for leads on how to get their bodies back.

** 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.

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* ''[[Don Quixote (Literature)|Don Quixote]]'' is a [[Deconstruction]] of, among other things, Knights Errant.

** The musical based on the novel is less tragic, and more of an [[Affectionate Parody]].

* [[Wuxia]] novels, films, plays, etc. are full of such figures, and the term even translates to something like "wandering knight." This derives from [~~http://en.~~wikipedia~~.org/wiki/Xia_%28philosophy%29~~ Chinese knighthood], which isn't a widely-known subject in the West.

* [[Wuxia]] novels, films, plays, etc. are full of such figures, and the term even translates to something like "wandering knight." This derives from [[wikipedia:Xia chr(28)philosophychr(29)|Chinese knighthood]], which isn't a widely-known subject in the West.

* 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.

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* ''[[The A-Team (TV)|The A-Team]]'', similarly: the knight-errant needs to be solitary.

* ''[[Angel (TV)|Angel]]'' Parodied when Wesley attempts to be this when first introduced.

* In ''[[~~Doctor Who (TV)|~~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.

* 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.

* Paladin, the protagonist of ''[[Have Gun Will Travel]]''.

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[[Category:Older Than Print]]

[[Category:Knight Errant]]

[[Category:Trope]]