Knight in Sour Armor: Difference between revisions

* Lelouch Lamperouge in ''[[Code Geass]]''. He could have shut out the horrors of the world, but his sense of justice wouldn't let him; in fact, when [[Fate Worse Than Death|forced into a normal life and robbed of his motivation for rebelling]], he [[Can't Stay Normal|still found himself dissatisfied and quickly returned to being Zero]]. Of course, when he starts actually taking the steps necessary to battle a [[World Half Empty]], he falls into the [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|well-intentioned extremism]].

* Jet Black of ''[[Cowboy Bebop]]'' flies around with a bunch of scoundrels collecting bounties, but he's still a policeman at heart.

'''Jet:''' I'm trying to, real hard. }}

* Edward Elric from ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''.

* Near the end of the 1st season of [[Mobile Suit Gundam 00]] {{spoiler|Neil Dylandy}} expresses his [[Knight in Sour Armor]] attitude that he has hidden deep inside with these words: "You people, are you satisfied with this world...? I'm not, and I hate it...!" {{spoiler|And right then, he dies.}}

* ''[[Tiger and Bunny]]'''s Blue Rose ''hates'' being a corporate sponsored superhero. [[Triple Shifter|She gets little time for herself and her interests]], has to wear an [[Stripperiffic|impractically sexy costume]] in dangerous situations, spout catchphrases she doesn't like, act like an oversexed dominatrix for ratings, and gets chewed out by her boss and sponsors if she doesn't manage this in addition to scoring points for capturing criminals -- who really don't care about the saving lives part so much as they care about their public image. So why does she keep at it?

* Homura Akemi from ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]''. For someone who knows how the [[Crapsack World|world]] works and that with kindness comes naïveté, courage becomes foolhardiness, and dedication has no reward, she has a particularly strong ideal and hope in protecting Madoka, even if it means [[You Are Worth Hell|suffering]] {{spoiler|[[Groundhog Day Loop|an endless recursion of time]]}} for it.

** {{spoiler|In the finale, Madoka. She sacrifices all semblance of her own identity to change the Magical Girl system. She creates a new world where suffering runs just as rampant as ever, acknowledging good cannot exist without evil. And why? Because, by God, Magical Girls deserve to die happily anyway, and she's willing to become the embodiment of hope itself in such a despair-filled world.}}

* Caphriel, angel and [[Love Martyr]], from the ''[[Good Omens]]'' [[Dark Fic]] ''[[The Sacred and the Profane]]:'' it's his job to love and protect the world and the people in it. It all keeps letting him down over and over again ([[Who Wants to Live Forever?|across millennia]]), [[Determinator|but he can't]] ''[[Determinator|afford]]'' [[Determinator|to give up.]]

* In the ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' fanfic ''[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/4942679/1/The_Long_Walk The Long Walk]'', the [[Original Character]], jaded [[Grumpy Bear]] cynic Breech Loader is portrayed this way - she's fighting on the side of good, for good reasons, but despite a devotion to learning the ways of honour, she still fights horribly dirty.

'''Breech:''' "You don't pay much attention when I fight, do you?" }}

* The only thing the protagonist of [[Dragon Age: The Crown of Thorns]] lacks is the attitude, but everything else fits in with the trope. He knows full well, and always did, that the world is full of liars and backstabbers, but he is determined to keep trying to make it a better place as long as worthwhile things (like the potential of the younger generation) continue to exist. Of course, he's trying to make sure the world itself keep existing at the moment.

* In every Fanfiction [http://www.fanfiction.net/~mrevil Mr. Evil] has used his [[Original Character]] Fredi Heat. He shows absolutely no care for people in general, and many of his own teammates appear to even be scared of him. But he always does what's right, despite his dislike for doing so.

* From the Negima/Naruto crossover fanfic [http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7441275/1/Broken_Faith Broken Faith] by [[Kur 0 Kishi]]; Naruto Uzumaki becomes jaded due to [[The Lost Lenore|certain]] [[Break the Cutie|extrenuating]] [[Jumping Off the Slippery Slope|circumstances]] before the story begins. The end result, is a bitter idealist who at times tells the other characters as he trains them to not follow his path, as well as becoming an enforcer of sorts [[The Dreaded|known and feared by most mages worldwide as]] ''[[Red Baron|The Black Paladin]]''

 

 

== Film -- Animation ==

* Ezylryb {{spoiler|(Lyze of Kiel)}} of ''[[Legend of the Guardians: the Owls of ga Hoole]]'' may be a legendary warrior, but he takes no pleasure in it whatsoever, as he demonstrates by displaying his slashed face and blind eye.

* [[Shrek]] is crude, hot-tempered and cynical, but nearly always manages to do the right thing, especially for people (and donkeys) that have proven they're able to see past the idea of "big, stupid, ugly ogres."

* [[The Hero|Woody]] becomes this in ''[[Toy Story|Toy Story 3]]'', in that {{spoiler|he knows full well that going back to the daycare is suicide, not to mention the difficulty in helping his friends escape ''and'' making it back home before Andy leaves for college. The logical thing to do would be to try and go home alone. No points for guessing what he decides to do.}}

* An [[Alternate Character Interpretation]] of Arthur Bishop in ''[[The Mechanic]]'' says he is this, and that's why {{spoiler|he lets his [[The Mole|student McKenna]] kill him.}}

* Sheriff 'Monk' McGinn in ''[[Gangs of New York]]''. He starts out as an Irish [[Ronin]] [[Psycho for Hire|muscle for hire]] with dozens of notches on his [[Drop the Hammer|shillelagh]], and is viewed with contempt until we find out he's really this. Then he goes out with a [[Kirk Summation|rousing speech]] and puts the villain in his place, which unfortunately, Bill the Butcher [[Shut Up, Kirk|does not]] respond [[Dropped a Bridge on Him|well to]].

* Several characters in ''[[Sin City]]'', an otherwise [[Black and Grey Morality|Black and Grey]] [[Crapsack World]].

* The title character in ''[[RoboCop]]'' has nothing to live for, and as the film series progresses, seems more aware that his creation was only a publicity stunt, but his sense of duty and spirit for justice keeps him going.

* Olive Penderghast in ''[[Easy A]]'' is an extremely [[Deadpan Snarker]], but she is willing to let her reputation be ruined to rescue a friend from bullying, preserve her favorite teacher's marriage, and otherwise help people.

* This list would not be complete without a mention of [[Reasonable Authority Figure|Jim Gordon]] from [[Batman Begins]] and [[The Dark Knight]].

* Walt Kowalski from ''[[Gran Torino]]''

* Fire Chief O'Halloran from ''[[The Towering Inferno]]'' is clearly sick and tired of saving [[Too Dumb to Live|stupid people]] from the consequences of their own [[Idiot Plot|idiotic mistakes]], but he still keeps [[Big Damn Heroes|charging into burning buildings to rescue them]].

* Sparhawk of [[David Eddings]]' ''[[Elenium]]'' is a [[Shell Shocked Senior|world-weary]], cynical knight, old before his time who will readily cooperate with and ally with career criminals against far more terrible evils and [[Combat Pragmatist|readily establish a reputation for savagery in combat]] to convince enemies not to fight. Nonetheless, he has an ironclad sense of personal honor and dignity, and his bark is generally far worse than his bite.

** Which is to say that, while he threatens to do a ''lot'' of horrible things, he only actually does ''some'' of them. In the last book of the Tamuli trilogy, he does nothing to prevent one of his allies from setting a man on fire and imprisoning him forever in a frozen moment, where nothing moves. So not only will that man burn forever in the space between every second, he'll be forever alone as well even if he did find some way to douse himself.

* Winston Smith in ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four|1984]]''. He joins the Brotherhood knowing full well that he won't see any change in his lifetime and that he will be killed for it eventually. Too bad {{spoiler|the Brotherhood doesn't actually exist -- it was set up by the government as a way to entrap Thought Criminals.}}

* Gawyn Trakand from ''[[The Wheel of Time|The Wheel of Time series]]'' swears an oath as prince to protect his sister to the death and yet she not only makes his childhood a hell with her antics, she runs off in the middle of training in the White Tower two times leaving him behind. This comes to a head when Gawyn decides to support a coup against the Amyrlin and [[Badass|slays]] his own teachers from his frustration to help but later [[Heel Face Turn|helps the Amyrlin escape]]. The guy just can't catch a break and it doesn't help later when in the middle of Dumai Wells his men are surrounded and getting killed. Cue Min dropping the bomb on him that his sister is in love with [[A God Am I|Rand]] and [[Up to Eleven|the emotional turmoil must be unbearable]].

* In the play "The Dragon" by E. Schewartz we have Lancelot The Travelling Knight:

* [[Altered Carbon|Takeshi Kovacs]] seems to be an inversion of this; a life-long cynic, Kovacs has slowly but steadily gained an idealistic side, strongly influenced by the philosophy of his homeworld's revered revolutionary leader and [[Knight in Sour Armour]] Quellcrist Falconer. However, his particular status has left the cynicism ''deeply'' ingrained, with the result that he seems to strongly resent his idealistic side and reacts with a [[Snark Knight]] schtick that ranges from convincing to desperate.

* Typically in the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]], Luke Skywalker is quite idealistic. But in ''[[Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor]]'', the [[Big Bad]] makes him mentally experience [[And I Must Scream|an eternity after the heat death of the universe]] in an attempt to break him and get him ready for a [[Grand Theft Me]]. It doesn't entirely work, but when Luke gets out, he's made deeply cynical, believing that ''everyone's'' life is waste, saving someone wasn't really saving them because that would just prolong the brief interval. All striving leads to nothing, and everyone who talked about duty and honor and love was just using him. He doesn't want to believe it, but he does - and he makes the very conscious decision to act exactly like he did before, like when he trusted in these airy concepts and believed lives were worth saving, in the hope that he can fall back into the dream and [[Becoming the Mask|become the mask]]. Later he sees a very [[Mind Screw]]-y vision that relieves some of that cynicism, though, so he's not a sour knight for very long.

* Haymitch from [[The Hunger Games]]. He just wants a world where no more children can be tortured from being forced to kill each other.

* ''[[Chalion|The Hallow Hunt]]'': Ingrey is actually rather youthful for a [[Lois McMaster Bujold|Bujold]] protagonist, but the tortures he endured--meant to help him control the wolf-spirit he harbors--made him "frighteningly self-controlled" not to mention [[Deadpan Snarker|dour and sarcastic]]. His love interest lampshades it:

Her lips twisted in exasperation. "To be sure." }}

* DC Grant in ''[[Rivers of London]]'' tries to be idealistic even though he knows it is all going to end in tears.

* Squall Leonhart from ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'' veers between this and just being a [[Jerkass]] (later revealed to be [[Jerkass Facade]] because [[Love Redeems]].) Especially notable beause doing the right thing, for him, means not only fighting for a world he might not think is worth fighting for (most of the game, anyway), but also serving the forces which have forbidden him from exercizing his free will for his entire life. (Though, to be fair, he has been strung along most of the time because he doesn't know what he would do otherwise)

* Kratos Aurion in ''[[Tales of Symphonia]]'' fits this like a glove. He started out as {{spoiler|an idealist alongside Mithos Yggdrasill who just wanted half-elves to be accepted}}, and then became what we see in the game.

'''Kratos:''' Sigh...hope. }}

* [[Vigilante Man|Yuri]] [[Badass Long Hair|Lowell]] from ''[[Tales of Vesperia]]'' left the royal knights because he felt they were doing very little to change the lives of the poor and downtrodden and end the [[Aristocrats Are Evil|corruption among the upper class]], but his sense of honor and justice still drives him toward this goal.

* Garrus from ''[[Mass Effect]]'' and especially the sequel fall into this. He starts a vigilante group on Omega to help combat the crime, corruption, and decay of the station, and admits that he knows he wasn't really making a big difference; for all of the irritation he gave the mercenary groups after him, Omega was a pisshole when he started and was a pisshole when he left. And he fights on anyway.

** Shepard can be played like this, if you act douchey in dialogue but ultimately do good things. If you have a [[Dark and Troubled Past|Colo]][[Iron Woobie|nist]] background, the asari consort says as much, 'detecting a sadness behind your eyes'.

** At the end of the ''Lair of the Shadow Broker'' DLC, Liara will ask Shepard how s/he's doing. If you choose the right dialogue option, Shepard will vent about how tired s/he is of dealing with Cerberus and the Council treating him/her like s/he's nuts. But in the end s/he keeps going because s/he wants to give people the chance to change for the better.

** By ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'', Shepard has embraced this trope and taken it [[Up to Eleven]]. S/he vocalizes at MANY points in the story his/her doubts that anything s/he does is actually going to win the war but s/he never stops going.

'''Shepard:''' [[Determinator|I'll sleep when I'm dead.]] }}

* ''[[Fate/stay night]]'': Archer shifted towards this from [[Iron Woobie]] in his former life, working his best towards being an idealistic crusader while recognizing that the world wasn't that convenient and knowing he'd have to kill a few to save many. {{spoiler|After he became a guardian spirit and lost his free will, he crossed the [[Despair Event Horizon]] and lost all faith in his ideal, even though he technically acts on it through his role.}}

* Keldorn and Jaheira from the ''[[Baldur's Gate]]'' series have shades of this, the former being a 60+ year old [[Knight in Shining Armor|paladin]] and the second a ''very'' cynical Harper (a secret society devoted to spreading good).

* [[Metal Gear Solid|Solid Snake]] is arguably the best example in gaming. He's [[Deadpan Snarker|cynical]], [[Gallows Humor|jaded]], [[Shell-Shocked Veteran|world-weary]], really couldn't care less about being seen as a hero or a legend, and doesn't believe he'd make a difference to the future ("I'm not as arrogant as that."), but he continues to fight because no one else can or will.

** His papa, Big Boss, is another example until his [[Face Heel Turn]], particularly after being forced to kill the Boss.

* {{spoiler|Keisuke}} from ''[[Devil Survivor]]'' becomes this {{spoiler|if you can convince he's wrong after he [[Knight Templar|snaps.]] }}

** Worth spelling out that Swift was the Dean of Dublin Cathedral, thus a high official in the Episcopalian church, which at the time believed that ''all Catholics would go to hell.'' (And it gets better - the Deanship was really a political appointment, so he was not just going against the policy of the Church, but of the State as well.)

* The official philosopher of this view must be Joseph de Maistre, who wrote in his ''St. Petersburg Dialogues'':

But how can he accomplish this law, he who is a moral and merciful being, who is born to love, who weeps for others as for himself, who finds pleasure in weeping and who even invents fiction to make himself weep, and finally, to whom it has been said that ''whoever sheds blood unjustly, by man shall his blood be shed''? }}

* [[The Existentialist]] movement is like this. Yes, such a "meaning in life" [[Nietzsche Wannabe|does not exist anyway]] in this [[Crapsack World]], but they still continue to make the most meaningful out of it and live it.

** Can also be interpreted as [[Punch Clock Hero|Punch Clock Heroes]] or [[Knight Templar|Knight Templars]]. Those with military service behind them who retain some faith in humanity and/or good intentions often seem to live in sour armor.

* Kent M. Keith, "The Paradoxical Commandments":

Give the world the best you have, and you'll get kicked in the teeth. Give the world the best you have anyway. }}

* [[Dmitri Shostakovich]], a bitter Soviet composer who refused to become a propagandistic servant to the totalitarian state of Soviet until the end.