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{{trope}}{{Needs Image}}
{{quote|'''Delenn:'''
'''Lennier:'''
'''Delenn:'''
'''Lennier:'''
Alice can be [[The Hero]], the [[Femme Fatale]], the [[Knight in Shining Armour]], [[The Stoic]], even [[The Ditz]], but regardless of alignment or characterization there is one rather noticeable pattern in Alice's actions: she always puts Bob first, no matter what. This is because she is Bob's
Basically
▲Alice can be [[The Hero]], the [[Femme Fatale]], the [[Knight in Shining Armour]], [[The Stoic]], even [[The Ditz]], but regardless of alignment or characterization there is one rather noticeable pattern in Alice's actions: she always puts Bob first, no matter what. This is because she is Bob's [[The Champion|Champion]].
Though more prevalent in chivalric romance or courtly settings, this trope can be found in settings as banal as a high school. The person who always sticks up for that one bullied kid simply because he/she is ''that'' bullied kid is playing
▲Basically [[The Champion]] is the character who is The Hero to one specific person. This character is not by default a [[Knight in Shining Armour]] or [[Knight Errant]] type because they lack the [[Chronic Hero Syndrome|chronic nature]] of their heroics. Instead they are devoted to the cause/life/honour of one character and everything that it entails. [[Heroic Sacrifice]]? [[Taking the Heat]]? Kicking a few dogs who happened to get in the way ? All's fair.
May result due to a case of [[I Owe You My Life]]. If The Champion fails at his task, he will likely become a [[Failure Knight]]. Very often a [[Love Interest]]. Compare [[Bodyguard Crush]]. Will by definition have [[Undying Loyalty]]. Almost certainly a [[Satellite Character]]. [[A Hero to His Hometown]] is a champion to a larger group.▼
▲Though more prevalent in chivalric romance or courtly settings, this trope can be found in settings as banal as a high school. The person who always sticks up for that one bullied kid simply because he/she is ''that'' bullied kid is playing [[The Champion]].
▲May result due to a case of [[I Owe You My Life]]. If The Champion fails at his task, he will likely become a [[Failure Knight]]. Very often a [[Love Interest]]. Compare [[Bodyguard Crush]]. Will by definition have [[Undying Loyalty]]. Almost certainly a [[Satellite Character]]. [[A Hero to His Hometown]] is a champion to a larger group.
{{examples}}
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* Knights for Britannian royal family members of ''[[Code Geass]]'' generally tend to take on these roles, such as Suzaku and especially Guildford. Xingke is an [[I Owe You My Life]] example.
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* Klaus in ''[[Hyakujitsu no Bara|Maiden Rose]]'' explicitly states that his goal is to help win the war for Taki's pride and honour, having already surrendered all personal rights to be Taki's champion in the first place.
* Hungary is champion to Austria in ''[[Axis Powers Hetalia]]'', albeit she's willing to let him get [[Yaoi Fangirl|molested]] a little first before she steps in to protect him.
* [[Monster (
* Kira becomes this for Lacus midseries in ''[[Gundam Seed]]''. After that point, he doesn't fight for ZAFT or the Earth Alliance, but for the Clyne Faction.
** [[Alternate Character Interpretation]] for Lacus has her actively courting people for this role in order to [[Take Over the World]]. The two biggest badasses alive are her Champions by the end of ''[[Gundam Seed|Seed]]'', and the epilogue of ''[[Gundam Seed Destiny|Destiny]]'' adds a third via [[Warrior Therapist|Warrior Therapy]].
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* [[Tall, Dark and Bishoujo|Akemi Homura]] for [[The Chick|Kaname Madoka]], in ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]''. It then takes a religious bent after {{spoiler|Madoka becomes a goddess in the final episode}}.
* First Knight Ran Kurono is this towards Sei Ohtori in ''[[Hana no Kishi]]''.
* Issei Hyodou is this for Rias Gremory in ''[[High School
== [[Comic Books]] ==
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== [[Film]] ==
* In ''[[The King and
* Will of ''[[
* Taken to [[Tear Jerker]] levels in the backstory and duration of the movie ''[[Brick]]''. Brendan Frye went to such lengths to protect his junkie girlfriend from cartels and drug rings so much she ended up breaking off their relationship and diving into the underground herself. [[Too Dumb to Live|Her death kicks off the movie.]]
* When Anakin professes his love for Padme in ''[[Attack of the Clones]]'' he says that he will do anything she asks.
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* In ''[[Deryni]] Rising'' Duke Alaric Morgan is actually named "King's Champion" by Kelson on his coronation day. Morgan has been effectively been the Deryni Champion of the Haldanes most of his life; his parents dedicated him to the job before he was born at the end of ''In The King's Service''.
* In some [[King Arthur|Arthurian]] legends, Lancelot takes on this role to Guinevere, despite also being a garden variety [[Knight in Shining Armour]].
* Gimli tokenly champions Galadriel in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', mainly in upholding her name and honour rather than taking on any protector role.
** Sam Gamgee is closer to being this for Frodo.
* In [[Michael Crichton]]'s ''Timeline'', the medieval history fanatic Andre Marek falls prey to this instinct after hearing Lady Claire's [[I Did What I Had to Do]] speech.
* The Kingsguard of ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' are ''supposed'' to be this for the royal family. Not everyone measures up to the positive aspects of it, and like everything else, the series deconstructs what happens when [[Knight in Shining Armor|good knights]] are caught being the champions for bad rulers. It usually means either having to adopt [[My Master, Right or Wrong]], or sometimes deciding to say [[I Did What I Had to Do]], at great cost.
* Kim in [[Rudyard Kipling|Rudyard Kipling's]] book by that name is an interesting example. He acts as this to the Red Lama, protecting his goodness, with Kim's streetwise common sense. In a partial subversion, he is also using the Red Lama as a handy cover for his work as a secret agent of [[The Raj]].
* In the ''[[Elenium]]'' trilogy by [[David Eddings]], the knights of the Sparhawk family have served as royal champions to the monarchs of Elenia for generations. The King's Champion (or in the case of the current generation, ''Queen's'' Champion) is pre-eminent among servants of the realm.
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** To a lesser degree, Ta'Lon to Sheridan, after Sheridan saved his life in the second season. Despite this, Ta'Lon has other duties that tend to take up most of his time, particularly helping G'Kar with [[La Résistance]].
* In ''[[Gilmore Girls]]'', Luke is always there for Lorelai since long before they started going out. At one point she calls him her knight in shining armor merely for letting her cry on his shoulder and another time she needed a replacement cook for her inn and at the end of the day she called him her white knight.
* In the ''[[Wonder Woman (TV series)|Wonder Woman TV Series]]'' this is invoked by Queen Hippolyte: the Amazon winner of a tournament will escort Steve Trevor to his country. Subverted because his is less for his safety that to preserve the [[Lady Land]] in Paradise Island.
{{quote|
'''Princess Diana:''' ''But all the girls will want that task.''
'''Queen Hippolyte:''' ''I know. To forestall any ill feelings, I have planned a tournament of athletic games, by which I alone will determine the strongest, nimblest, and most likely candidate for the assignment.'' }}
** Princess Diana / Wonder Woman is the champion for Paradise Island, for Steve Trevor and for Liberty and Democracy while she stays in man’s world.
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[Skyrim]]'' gives you Housecarls after you become a Thane in a city. Each Jarl also has one. Each Housecarl [[Memetic Mutation|carries the heroes burdens]], lives with them, and will defend thier charge until death.
* Drakath from ''[[
** Artix acts this way to the side of good {{spoiler|and he is [[Dark Is Not Evil|The Champion of Darkness]]}}
** The Hero is this to the side s/he chooses
** {{spoiler|Gravelyn}} is [[Light Is Not Good|The Champion of Light]] and is on the side of evil
* In ''[[Beyond Good
* In ''[[
* In ''[[
*
* In the Heaven's Feel path of ''[[Fate/stay
* In ''[[
** Following {{spoiler|Dynaheir's death}} at the beginning of the second game, he may adopt one of the female mages in the group and be her Champion instead.
* Arguably, Link is Princess Zelda's champion in several games in the ''Zelda'' series, including the [[The Legend of Zelda (
* You can play Hisao as this in any route of ''[[Katawa Shoujo]]''. {{spoiler|It never ends well, though.}}
* Fenrich of ''[[Disgaea 4:
* In ''[[Mass Effect 3]]'', Javik explicitly calls Commander Shepard
* Hawke in ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' towards their sister Bethany. When Ser Wesley realises that Bethany is a mage, Hawke's immediately reaction is to step in front of their sister and give a [[Death Glare]] to the Templar that informs him they will have to [[Go Through Me|go through them]] first.
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
* In ''[[Thundercats 2011
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Archetypal Character]]
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