Warrior Monk: Difference between revisions

[[File:m ordre hospitalier1 88.jpg|link=The Knights Hospitallers|frame|[[The Knights Hospitallers]] - Pray that they [[Combat Medic|care for you in a hospital]] rather than '''put you there in the first place'''.]]

 

 

This character is often a member of a [[Church Militant]], be it a martial-minded sect within a larger religion or the divine army of a powerful theocracy. Other Warrior Monks have more diverse backgrounds, and could hail from actual monasteries, master-apprentice relationships, or could even be self-taught. Warrior Monks may be shining examples of a religion's ideals, or in some situations may end up ''fighting'' a [[Church Militant]] if the latter has become a [[Corrupt Church]]. Others may ignore religious politics altogether, doing more for their faith by acting as an example.

 

{{examples}}

* Sister Schach of the [[Saintly Church|Belkan Saint Church]] in ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]''. {{spoiler|[[Intangible Man|Sister Sein]]}} is also currently training to be one under Schach as of ''[[Audio Adaptation|StrikerS Sound Stage X]]''.

* The Church Knights of the Holy Empire in ''[[Tears to Tiara]]''.

* In ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'', Scar, and by extension all the Warrior Priests of Ishbal, are this.

 

* [[X-Men|Nightcrawler]] is very religious, and was even ordained a Catholic priest {{spoiler|[[All Just a Dream|in a years-long hallucination]].}} His faith allowed his to defeat Dracula where other X-Men had failed.

* The Priestesses of Hathhalla are this in [[Artesia]]. Being women and brutally violent they also fall into [[Dark Action Girl]].

 

* The eponymous character from the movie ''[[Priest]]'' belongs to an Anglican/Catholic order with the sole purpose of ridding the world of vampires using knives and other pointy objects.

 

* The Thirty of ''[[David Gemmell]]''s drenai series are a group of warrior monks, who spend their lives training to fight in one battle against evil were all but one of them will die. The survivor is usually sent away before the final attack or their last stand and will form the next Thirty.

* Aramis of ''[[The Three Musketeers (novel)|The Three Musketeers]]'' was studying to become a priest.

* The Church Knights from the ''Elenium'' and ''Tamuli'' by [[David Eddings]] are an odd example. While technically orders of cloistered monks when not on the battle fields the normal rules of the clergy are relaxed for them. For example they can get married despite being clergy in an [[Expy]] of the medieval Catholic Church. What makes them ''really'' odd though is that in a world where [[Religion Is Magic]] their magical powers come from the Styric Gods (and in the case of the Genedian Knights, the Troll Gods as well). It leaves them essentially straddling two religions while otherwise playing the trope (mostly) straight. Lampshaded within the books themselves when it finally dawns on them all that since 'magic' comes from gods they never really needed to go outside their own religion as the Elene god probably could have been convinced to do the same thing for them that the Styric and Troll gods do for their followers. It's concluded that the Elene god is so aloof, it's no surprise no-one thought it would be possible.

* In some of the [[Robin Hood]] stories/ballads, Friar Tuck is an accomplished swordsman and archer, and when he isn't he can usually hold his own with his fists or a staff.

* Dragonriders in [[Dragonriders of Pern]]. They are not celibate, and they are not strictly religious, though esprit de corps is intense enough to make it de facto religious. Nor are they strictly warriors as they do not fight sentient beings primarily(the closest counterpart on earth is airtanker pilots during a forest fire). However they have a sort of trans-clan sodality that stands in a social niche much as warrior monks did in Europe. This is especially the case when the biggest threat to Pern is natural disaster while the biggest threat to Europe was invasion or at least the biggest threat they could deal with.

* In ''[[Elantris]]'' all clergy of the [[Church Militant|Derethi]] religion are trained in monastaries where they learn combat skills, among other things. This is taken to its most extreme by [[Priest King|Wyrn's]] favorite enforcers, the Monks of Dakhor, who use a combination of [[Body Horror]] and [[Blood Magic]] in tandem with fighting skills to make them so dangerous that opponents of the Derethi sometimes call them ''demons''.

 

* Series 5 of the new series of ''[[Doctor Who]]'' has a religious order of Clerics, who judging by the titles they hold appear to be members of a variant of Anglicanism. Refreshingly for a warrior monk order from the far future, they wear practical camouflage combat gear instead of anything overtly religious or ornate.

** It's an unusual version where [[The Reveal]] is that the soldiers are priests, rather than that the priests are soldiers.

 

* [[Super Soldier|Space Marines]] and [[Amazon Brigade|Sisters of Battle]] in ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'', as well as some of the more darkly devout [[Evil Counterpart|Chaos Space Marine]] legions. The Black Templars space marines (who are especially zealous) in particular take the colours and symbol of the Knights Hospitallers pictured on the top of the article.

** Space Marine Chaplains and Dark Apostles fill these roles specifically within Space Marine Chapters and Traitor Legions.

* ''[[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]]'' also gives us the Warrior-Priests of Sigmar who like to bash stuff with big hammers. Followers of Ulric are similar, but favor axes. There are also Bretonnian Questing and Grail Knights, and some Chaos warlords qualify as evil versions of this trope.

* Paladins and clerics in ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'', along with avengers and invokers from the new edition. There's a monk class as well, but oddly, it has significantly less religious content than the above classes. (But although the monk class is mostly a [[Not Using the Zed Word|another name for a ninja]], it too has some notion of a pseudo-Buddhist spiritual path.)

 

* Paladins in the ''[[Warcraft]]'' universe.

** In [[World of Warcraft]] some variations apply:

* Any tanker in [[Lineage 2]] is aligned with the god of their race, Shillien Knight/Templar is worship Shillen, while Eva Knight/Templar is favored by Eva. The exceptions being Human knights, both Paladin/Phoenix Knight and Dark Avenger has no deity, since Grand Kain is considered the [[Big Bad|Dark God of Destruction]].

* In ''[[Sonny]]'', near the end of the first game, Sonny and Veradux run into a [[Knight Errant|Palladin on a mission]], and in the second game meet a [[Religion of Evil|cult]] that has these as soldiers.

 

* The Warrior Priest of the Ishval religion in ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''.

* While not actual monks, in [[Eyeshield 21]], the students of Shinryuuji High School (Shinryuuji means Temple of the Dragon God) are encouraged to invoke this trope, often meditating and reciting Buddhist scriptures. Also subverted since we're often reminded that underneath their stern personas, they're really just your typical girl-crazy teenage boys.

* Sanzo from [[Saiyuki]] is a perfect example

 

* The Kyoto and Nara ''sohei'' from ''Shi'' are based on the Buddhist warrior-monks of Japanese history (see "Real Life" below), but Buddhism rarely seems to come up and they act more like ninja. Interestingly, protagonist Ana Ishikawa's internal struggle to balance her ''sohei'' training and her grandfather's shaping of her into a tool of vengeance with her devout Catholicism makes her the straightest example of this trope in the comic.

 

* ''Bulletproof Monk'''s protagonist. Self-explanatory.

* ''[[Babylon A.D.]]'' A [[Gender-Inverted Trope|gender inverted]] version is Sister Rebekka of the Neolite sect. Played by [[Michelle Yeoh]].

 

* Yao Shu in ''[[Conqueror|Lords of the Bow]]''.

 

* Kwai Chang Caine, ''[[Kung Fu]]''.

* The evil monks in the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' episode "Tooth and Claw" were martial artists. Which was a bit out of place given that they were 19th century Scots.

* Shaolin Monks appear as one of the contenders on ''[[Deadliest Warrior]]'' vs. the Maori. {{spoiler|They win, handily}}.

 

* The Monk class in ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''. Also the sohei from various editions' ''Oriental Adventures'' or ''Kara-Tur'' campaign settings.

 

* The Monk class in ''[[Final Fantasy]]''.

* ''[[Heroes of Might and Magic]]'' has monks who fire energy balls and later call down meteors. The exception was the two first games, but even ''they'' had religious figures in hooded robes that throw energy balls. They just happened to be called druids instead of monks.

* [[Mortal Kombat]] gives us Liu Kang and Kung Lao. They even got a spinoff called ''[[Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks|Shaolin Monks]]''.

 

* Even if Aang of ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]'' didn't expect to turn out this way, he certainly fits the mold.

* The monks in ''[[Xiaolin Showdown]]''.

 

* Jedi Knights from ''[[Star Wars]]'' combine Western chivalry and swordsmanship with Eastern mysticism and acrobatics.

 

* The members of the eponymous organization of ''[[Special Circumstances]]'' come from a wide range of religions, both Western and Eastern varieties, each having their faith an integral part of their offensive and defensive capabilities.

 

* The Immaculate Order in ''[[Exalted]]'' is mostly of the Eastern type, but—Exalted being the [[Fantasy Kitchen Sink]] it is—they also have some overtones of the Western variety.

 

* ''[[Mass Effect 2]]'' adds not one but two Warrior Monks to [[Player Character|Commander Shepard]]'s team. First is Samara, a member of a very rare sect of asari warriors who swear off having family or possessions beyond weapons and armor, and follow a strict Code which obligates them to protect the innocent and stop lawbreakers. Samara at one point compares herself to a [[Knight Errant]] or a samurai.

** On a more informal level, meanwhile, there is Thane Krios, a drell [[Career Killers|assassin]] and devout polytheist who kills people he believes deserve to die in an effort to [[Hitman with a Heart|make the galaxy a better place]]. Best illustrated in his first lines:

** The Paladins, also made available by building a Temple to Dauros, are rather obviously based on Joan of Arc.

 

* In ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'', Miko Miyazaki and the rest of the Azurite Paladins of the Sapphire Guard are Western-style Paladins from an Eastern-inspired civilization who call themselves Samurai. Miko further complicates matters by having levels in the actual Monk class.

 

* The ''[[Kids Next Door]]'' could fit this trope to a certain degree, though they're modeled mostly as a military organization, the kids that join them are generally taught and trained to fight to protect kids and their rights from evil, and do whatever is associated with achieveing that goal. And KND Operatives, for the most part, have an ingrained determination to fight for that cause while never giving it up. Those traits give the KND much in common with warrior monks. Essentially they're taught to fight for an ideal, though not political or religious, has been what kept the KND together and what might be the cause of how it's an organization that's been around since the 19th century.

 

* Bishops and other clergy often fought in the Crusades. It's widely believed that clerical law against spilling blood forced them to use [[Carry a Big Stick|blunt weapons such as maces]], but this is a myth. There are a number of medieval illustrations of clerics using edged weapons, for instance, in the ''Rolandslied'' of Conrad the Priest, ''c''. 1170.

* The [[wikipedia:Sohei|Sohei]] of Japan and the original Shaolin monks are obvious historical Eastern variants. Famous warlord [[Uesugi Kenshin]] became a monk of the Buddhist god Bishamonten, and is depicted as His devout follower in both ''[[Samurai Warriors]]'' and ''[[Sengoku Basara]]''.

* As Western examples, crusading orders such as [[The Knights Hospitallers]] and [[The Knights Templar]], as well as organizations such as the [[The Teutonic Knights|Teutonic Knights]] or Norse War Clerics. How holy these warriors were depends on how favorably you view their actions and members..

* On the Islamic side, ghazis and some orders of dervishes would also qualify to varying degrees. Most of the key religious figures in Islam including their founding fathers were warriors or commanders because the political situation of the time demanded it. Followers of the religion also have difficulty practicing it properly without an Islamic government framework, which at that point took force to implement if it wasn't already in a city-state.

* In the 1380 CE Battle of Kulikovo, both Russian and Mongol armies put forth a champion to decide the outcome without actually fighting. The Mongol champion was Temir-murza and the Russian, the [[wikipedia:Alexander Peresvet|warrior monk Alexander Peresvet]]. Unfortunately, the two killed each other in the first round and an all-out battle still took place.

* Military chaplains are considered non-combatants, but carry a side arm and are often present in combat operations.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Knight in Shining Tropes]]

[[Category:Religion Tropes]]

[[Category:Military and Warfare Tropes]]