History BloodKnight / Literature

** The Smiling Knight was an AxCrazy Blood Knight who wanted to fight a member of the Kingsguard. He got his wish and met his end when he fought [[KnightInShiningArmor Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning]]. Jaime witnessed the fight in his youth and considered it one of the best moments of his life. In a moment of self-reflection in the present, Jaime wonders how the boy who wanted to become the Sword of the Morning became the Smiling Knight instead.

* In Literature/NineteenEightyFour, this is one of the things Big Brother wants you to be. At first glance, one might think that since Oceania is at war with Eastasia, it's natural that they'd want patriotic and devoted soldiers. However, as O'Brien tells him in then end, [[spoiler:the ForeverWar between Eastasia and Oceania is of no importance at all, and merely one more way for the party to control the people.]] So in effect, this is what Big Brother encourages people to become.
* In ''Literature/BulldogDrummond'', Colonel Drummond enjoyed the war -- he used to sneak across enemy lines on unofficial solo attacks ''for fun'' -- and finds the subsequent peace "incredibly tedious". It's a great relief to him when he discovers a sinister criminal conspiracy that needs taking down.
* Major Sven Kornie in ''The Green Berets''. He is based on Lauri Törni - see the RealLife section.
* Hunter from {{Literature/Neverwhere}}. She wants one thing- to fight and kill the most ferocious beasts. She takes pleasure in this.
* In Terry Mancour's ''Literature/TheSpellmongerSeries'', almost every single one of the warmages from the first book are this, including the main character.

* The main character in ''Literature/DisAcedia'', Shroud, develop into one, but [[TheWorldsStrongestMan Brina]] turns out to be outright addicted to warfare.
* In ''Literature/DragonBones'', Ward mentions this as the reason why his father fought in the king's wars so valiantly, even though he hated the king's guts - he just enjoyed fighting so much. Ward himself gets into the mindset, too, and is rather disturbed by it. He doesn't make it a lifestyle. Averted with his aunt and tactical advisor, Stala, who is strongly opposed to fighting for the sake of fighting, and advises him to only fight if he's clearly stronger (or has a bigger army) than the opponent.
%% * This seems to be the attitude of many of the member of the Clave in ''Literature/TheMortalInstruments'', particularly Jace.
* Lord Borel, in Creator/RogerZelazny's ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfAmber'', has as his main goal in life to outfight either Eric, Corwin, or Benedict, some of the other best swordsmen in that universe. Corwin shows him that it's not all about bladework.
* The Jalis in Literature/DeltoraQuest are a race (or tribe) of Blood Knights, who relish combat and live for battle.
* The "Warriors at the End of Time" in some of Creator/MichaelMoorcock's fantasy novels (particularly ''The Dragon in the Sword'') are said to be powerful soldiers who loved fighting for its own sake, and were then damned to fight on behalf of the [[BalanceBetweenGoodAndEvil Cosmic Balance]] for all eternity.
* Sekhmet, in Matthew Laurence's ''{{Literature/Freya}}'' series, is wholly and completely this, right down to licking the blood of her foes off her hands after massacring them.
* From the Literature/{{Reboot Book Series}}, Wren 178 is stated to enjoy "the hunt" - the hunt of ''humans'', that is.
* Keeping in step with the trope's title, Radha of Keld in ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering's'' ''Time Spiral'' card set and novels was intent on little other than fighting, at first spurning the world-saving efforts of Teferi and his companions... at least until he gave her the ability to kick even more ass than she could previously. She softens a bit as she grows to accept the necessity of helping Teferi, but she's always a hard-bitten warrior first and foremost. To wit:
** ''[[http://ww2.wizards.com/gatherer/CardDetails.aspx?&id=128949 "Run home, cur. I've already taken your master's head. Don't make me thrash you with it."]]''
** "''I hope to have such a death - lying in triumph upon the broken bodies of those who slew me.''"
%%* Count Dracula from {{Literature/Dracula}}
* In several of the later ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' books she narrated, Rachel expressed fear that she might be slowly becoming like this. Too bad she was this soon after acquiring her grizzly bear form. Seriously. She and Zaraki up top would make a lovely couple.
* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' novel ''Literature/ColdDays'', Harry finds that [[spoiler:the Winter Mantle]] has a very strong drive for this. In fact, after a major battle, [[spoiler:Karrin]] says he had an erection throughout the battle. Suffice it to say, the change very much scares the person.
* The Silastic Armourfiends of Striterax in ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' took this to extremes since if one was locked in a room by himself he would eventually beat himself up just for something to do.
* Creator/DavidEddings' ''Literature/TheElenium'' and ''Literature/TheTamuli'' trilogies had the Atans, a race who bred themselves as fighters-- but did so a little ''too'' well, giving them hair-trigger violent reflexes, so that their society was plunged into endless war until they voluntarily pledged their entire race to slavery to the peaceful Tamuli, who as a result gained an unconquerable empire by default. Every Atan believes that they ''have'' to have a master to hold them back, or they go on killing sprees.
* ''Literature/HarryPotter''
** Godric Gryffindor apparently was one, especially as fans have pointed out [[FridgeLogic why the hell does a wizard]] need a sword?. The explanation is that Gryffindor was so HotBlooded he enjoyed dueling {{Muggles}} but being [[LetsFightLikeGentlemen honourable]] Gryffindor would use his badass goblin forged magical CoolSword instead of his wand to fight.
** Hell most Gryffindors in general appear to be Blood Knights as they’re eagerness for adventure and glory goes beyond heroics and into SuicidalOverconfidence. It’s especially evident in FinalBattle as [[WordOfGod JK noted]] the Gryffindors were most ready to fight for the sake of showboating and victory while Hufflepuffs (who were second biggest volunteers) are risking their lives out of genuine desire to protect their friends and loved ones.
** Sirus Black is a NiceGuy but he adores a good fight and his angst in fifth book stemmed from his inability to go out and aid The Order of the Phoenix, not helped by Snape mocking him over it.
** Mad-Eye Moody was one the greatest Aurors alive, personally filling up most of Azkaban with inmates and even past retirement Moody becomes giddy over the idea of bringing down dark wizards again.
** A lot of Death Eaters fall under this as killing, maiming, torturing and destruction is what they excel at. Bellatrix Lestrange and Fenrir Greyback in particular stand out as being the most psychotic even by Death Eater standards.

* Several characters in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' see combat as an end to itself.
** Jaime Lannister hardly feels alive unless he's fighting (or [[{{Twincest}} with Cersei]].)
** Strong Belwas, a former pit fighter, delights in showing off his prowess to the point that he always allows his opponents to get one slash in before he kills them.
** Sandor Clegane lives for little other than fighting and believes that "killing is the sweetest thing there is", and he's the ''good'' brother. The bad one, Gregor, just seems to like the murdering part rather than having a battle at all, and actually putting up a fight (which is [[OneManArmy bloody hard]]) seems to piss him off.
** The Dothraki. They consider any event (like a wedding) with less than three deaths a dull affair.
** The Smiling Knight was an AxCrazy Blood Knight who wanted to fight a member of the Kingsguard. He got his wish and met his end when he fought [[KnightInShiningArmor Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning]]. Jaime witnessed the fight in his youth and considered it one of the best moments of his life. In a moment of self-reflection in the present, Jaime wonders how the boy who wanted to become the Sword of the Morning became the Smiling Knight instead.
** Robert Baratheon, before he was King he was warrior who lived to fight, and when he took the Iron Throne he grew bored of managing the realm. He would have left the throne, and sailed to the Free Cities to be a sellsword. The only thing stopping him from doing it is his ([[BastardBastard bastard]]) son [[TheSociopath Joffrey]] taking the throne.

* ''Franchise/StarWarsExpandedUniverse'':
** Mace Windu struggles with this in the novel ''Literature/{{Shatterpoint}}''. You don't get to be second-in-command of the Jedi Order by going to town on everyone with a lightsaber, and Windu loves the stability the Republic provides, but he likes fighting anyway. He develops the dangerous lightsaber style known as Vaapad as a way to channel this aggression for good purposes.
** The Yuuzhan Vong warriors live for combat, justified as they are raised in a caste system, and they live solely to fight and kill.
** Jacen Solo [[spoiler:AKA Darth Caedus]] is a lead from the front, get-stuck-in kind of fighter. It catches up with him in the end however, as the intensifying pace of battles leaves him increasingly debilitated.
** [[spoiler:Tash's first clone]] in ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'', is this as well as being DrunkOnTheDarkSide. So are the others, but she's specifically happy at the chance to kill Tash right then and there.
** In the end, however, few cultures in the Expanded Universe fit the Blood Knight trope better than the Mandalorians. Battle is not only an activity all Mandalorians share in, it's one of the core components of their very culture. Though they have changed over millenia since the original race, the Tuang, brought other species into the culture, conflict has always been a part of who they are. This can mean anything from total war against the Republic, as it was in the early days; the struggle to survive against the environment itself; or personal battles and tests of skill and strength, such as the Great Hunts. Not all battles required ending in death, either, and in many ways the culture was still very honorable.
--->'''Jedi Master Gnost-Dural:''' Mandalorians believe confrontation is required for growth, on the personal as well as the cultural level. War is the Mandalorian way of life.
* ''Literature/GreystoneValley'''s villain Baelan is a ruthless warlord who has grown frustrated with the fact that he's trapped in a world with nothing worth conquering. The entirety of his villainous plan is focused around opening up infinite other worlds where he can do battle.

* All the Brothers in J.R. Ward's ''Literature/BlackDaggerBrotherhood'' series fit this trope. They're elite vampire warriors bred to protect the vampire race from vampire hunters and they '''love''' their job. All of them, but especially Zsadist, live for fighting and killing -- until they meet a good woman because LoveRedeems.
* In Creator/AlanDeanFoster's ''The Damned'' novels, [[PlanetOfHats all of humanity]] were Blood Knights. It turns out that the humans only fought each other because they lacked an external enemy to fight. When such an enemy presented itself...
* Kage in Gav Thorpe's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} The Last Chancers''. [[spoiler:At the end of ''13th Legion'', he receives a pardon, resolves to stay in the forces outside the penal legion, and shortly thereafter loses it by brawling. In ''Kill Team'', he is told that he used up his last chance and will never be pardoned again, and he can cope, realizing that he would have ended up fighting again.]]
* Raymond Feist's ''[[Literature/TheRiftwarCycle Dark War]]'' trilogy.
** Ralan Bek from Since it turns out he is really [[spoiler:the Dasati God of War.]]
** The Dasati themselves have this, taken to AlwaysChaoticEvil extremes, as their hat.
* In ''Literature/{{Dragaera}}'', this is the [[PlanetOfHats hat]] of the Dzur house, along with being {{Proud Warrior Race Guy}}s. In the novel ''Dzur'', the psychology of the House is discussed to the effect that while they love fighting in general, they will do what is right when no one else is (but not until then). Vlad tells the joke: "[[LightBulbJoke How many Dzur does it take to sharpen a sword?]] Four: one to sharpen the sword and three to put up enough of a fight to make it worthwhile." Dzur characters vary from BoisterousBruiser Tazendra to Telnan, who is TheDitz, but still embraces the philosophy, to Sethra Lavode, a FourStarBadass LadyOfWar [[TimeAbyss older than some geography]] and [[PersonOfMassDestruction as powerful as a lot of gods]].
** An occasional Dragon, like Aliera or Napper, is this trope as well. Rarely a Jhereg who does "work" will have this attitude, although in Vlad's experience they don't last long.
%%* Richard the Lionhearted in ''Literature/{{Ivanhoe}}''. Friar Tuck too.
* All [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Mantids]] in ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheApt'', Felise seems to be one of these, at least after she [[spoiler:stops going after]] Thalric.
* ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' is a straight-up example of this trope. He comes from a culture of northern barbarians who consider the thrill of battle to be one of the only true joys in life.

* Fëanor in ''Literature/TheSilmarillion''. Also his seven sons, of which the two eldest, Maedhros and Maglor, eventually become ShellShockedVeteran s.
%%* Reepicheep in ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia''.
%%* Wild Edric in ''Literature/TheHerewardTrilogy''.
* The warships and militarised drones of ''Literature/TheCulture'' all exhibit this to some extent. They have exceptional self control but when they feel that circumstances are such that they can let themselves off the leash they will utterly annihilate their opponents and have enormous fun doing so. In at least a couple of cases, they've been known to keep very high resolution recordings of the battles they're involved in that they seem to get an almost sexual thrill from watching later.
* ''Literature/PeterPan''. No, really. [[LighterAndSofter The various adaptations have gentled him down]] but the book version, in Creator/RobinWilliams' words is "a ''lethal'' boy who never grew up." He switches sides when fighting Indians if he feels the fight is too easy, kills thirteen pirates in a pitch black room and the whole rivalry with Hook? [[ButForMeItWasTuesday He doesn't even]] ''[[ButForMeItWasTuesday remember]]'' [[ButForMeItWasTuesday Hook after he kills him.]]
* ''Literature/TrappedOnDraconica'': All Leondians love fighting. This means their Prince, Kalak, will always choose fighting over any other solution.
* ''Literature/WildCards''. Billy "[[MeaningfulName Carnifex]]" Ray is this, displaying increased strength, speed and healing abilities to get him back in the fight. This is a man who once pursued an opponent with half of his face cut off, and seems to revel in combat. Considering that he's an {{Expy}} of Comicbook/{{Wolverine}}, it's not surprising.
* In Creator/JohnMilton's ''Literature/ParadiseLost'', when the devils take council, Moloc is the first to speak and urges immediate and outright attack.
* Sculley from ''[[Literature/TheGrailQuest 1356]]'', who is very upset to realise he hasn't killed anyone in at least a month.
-->'''Sculley:''' Are we fighting yet?\\
'''Robby:''' Yes!\\
'''Sculley:''' Who?\\
'''Robby:''' Everyone!\\
'''Sculley:''' About bloody time!

* The [[OurOrcsAreDifferent trollocs]] of ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' are what happens when Blood Knight meets DirtyCoward. They're extremely bloodthirsty and love to fight, but really don't seem psychologically equipped to deal with defeat. So when they're winning, they're inhumanly aggressive and brutal, and when they're losing, their morale breaks almost instantly and they route easily. Whip-wielding [[HumanoidAbomination Myrddraal]] ensure that no matter which mode they're in, trolloc forces remain pointed at the enemy.
* Most of the Career tributes in ''Literature/TheHungerGames'', who are trained from childhood to fight and to treat the Games like a ''game'' and an honorable tournament. They usually proudly volunteer at the reapings, something most kids from the lesser districts would never consider doing.
* [[Literature/ChaosWalking Mayor Prentiss]]. When he witnesses [[spoiler:an army vastly superior to his own descending upon his city with the intention of killing him in retribution for a genocide that he committed]] for the sole purpose of instigating this war his reaction is to grin with joy and utter: "War. At last."

%%* Caine from ''Literature/TheActsOfCaine''
* T. Sean Collins, the mercenary, in ''Literature/WorldWarZ''. He realizes that he is "addicted to murder" and will eventually either kill himself when he runs out of zombies to kill or face losing control and slaughtering actual people.
* Skeeter Traps from ''Literature/ChroniclesOfMagic'' is a ten year-old version of this. While one of the good guys, she enjoys fighting and is naturally prone to violence.
* ''[[Literature/AMagesPower A Mage's Power]]'': Tiza looks forward to fighting monsters on missions.
-->'''Tiza:''' A mercenary's life for me!
* Cecily Herondale from ''Literature/TheInfernalDevices'', is a milder example of this. Gabriel Lightwood notes that she seems to enjoy fighting.
* Several villains from ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' qualify as this - mainly Kitiara, the very deadly FemmeFatale, but also Ariakas, the goddess Takhisis and all villains of the Istar arena.
* Talia in ''Literature/ThePrincessSeries.'' When Snow first meets Danielle, she mentions how happy she is to have someone to talk to besides Talia. When Talia tells her to be quiet, Snow explains that Talia is only happy when she's stealing something or beating people to a pulp,
* ''Literature/QuantumDevilSagaAvatarTuner'':
** Heat has no problem accepting to his new demonic form and as a result, likes to rush headlong into battle to soothe his blood-thirst.
** Serph absolutely relishes the thrill of the hunt, [[WhatHaveIBecome much to his horror]]. Subverted as he gets over his initial reservations but never becomes a full-blown BloodKnight.
** Bat [[spoiler:betrayed his leader Jinana because he thought she was too weak due to her pacifist methods]]. After that, he makes it no secret that he wants to eat everyone and becomes Heat's [[TheRival rival]].
* Snowflake from ''Literature/WintersTaleEmrysVaughn'' claims to be literally addicted to violence, going into withdrawal if she goes more than a week without getting into a fight.
%%* Rei Acerba Bathory, DarkActionGirl from ''Literature/ZeroSight'' is one.
%%-->'''Dieter:''' Those crazed eyes, that gleeful smile... Rei had totally lost it. She was battle-mad.
* ''Literature/BloodMeridian'' has [[BigBad Judge Holden]], a mysterious GeniusBruiser who believes that "war is god" and appears to be solely motivated by the desire to propagate violence and pain. He tries to convert the [[VillainProtagonist Glanton gang]] into this frame of mind, succeeding with all but [[TheHero the kid]].
* Sid from ''Literature/ThePostmodernAdventuresOfKillTeamOne'' is very much one of these. He enthusiastically jumps straight to violence as a solution to even mundane problems. In ''Godless Murder Machine'' he disembowels a shoplifter at the Gamestop where he works. In ''Red Scare'' he severely beats a gun shop owner rather than fill out the paperwork necessary to buy a gun.
** At the end of ''Godless Murder Machine'' he actually declares that [[spoiler:killing people is way better than not killing people.]]

* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': The Alethi people used to be a ProudWarriorRace charged with protecting the other nations from the [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Voidbringers]], but when the Voidbringers were finally defeated, the Alethi never gave up their arms. Over four and a half thousand years later, the fighting is all they have left. The ideals of competition have pervaded every aspect of their society (even their religion has a points system), and they consider war the greatest of arts. Several times in the series, Alethi are asked "Why are we fighting," and the Alethi look at the asker like they're crazy. This is all made worse by the "Thrill," a nationwide bloodlust that afflicts the Alethi in battle, blunting the worst aspects of war even when they're on the front lines themselves. Ultimately, it is revealed that the Alethi Thrill is caused by [[spoiler:a spirit named Nergaoul, an [[FallenAngel "Unmade"]] spren serving Odium, the setting's resident BigBad GodOfEvil. Being a God of passion and hatred, he uses Nergaoul to corrupt armies into a berserk fury, even to the point of turning on their allies. Although some of the Unmade are sentient, Nergaoul itself is more akin to a force of nature than an intelligent being, acting as a pure expression of the need to fight and kill.]]
* ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen''
** While [[BarbarianHero Karsa Orlong]] [[DynamicCharacter mellows out some]] during the course of the series, he begins it as straight-up obsessed with combat, bloodshed and [[GloryHound glory]]. He arrogantly derides his companion Bairoth Gild for advising caution when they are about to ambush the warriors of a rival tribe and charges straight in. Even as he sees more of the world and learns to think before acting, he never stops charging right into battle for battle's sake. He also wants to end civilazation as it is and has no compunctions about the bloodshed that would cause.
** We don't see Fener in action onscreen, but conversations about him suggest that he is rather irritable and fond of bloodshed. Not surprising considering he's, you know, the [[WarGod god of war]].
* The Seguleh form an entire nation of masked, battle-crazy warriors. That said nation only sent three people as their force against an entire empire is a testament to their prowess.
* Bad Tom of ''Literature/TheTraitorSonCycle'' got his nickname precisely because he's a combat monster who loves being in the thick of the fight. He even passes the sizeable family fortune over to his younger brother because it'd keep him at home rather than out in the field with the Red Company.
* ''LightNovel/TheWeaknessOfBeatriceTheLevelCapHolySwordswoman'': The members of the guild Elkiad, who are former soldiers from the Cold War. They were dissatisfied at not being able to fight seriously on Earth (due to politics), so they took to the alternate world of Ground's Nir with glee. [[spoiler:After becoming zombies, and hence unable to permanently die, this has only gotten worse]].
* ''Literature/TheFourHorsemenUniverse'': Tortantulas ''love'' to fight, and being {{Giant Spider}}s with grasping hands and thorax-mounted eyes that give them incredible peripheral vision, are extremely good at it. They often pair up with Flatars, which ride saddle on the Tortantula into battle.
* ''Literature/WarriorCats'' has a lot of examples.
** Most notably, Tigerstar, Hawkfrost, Thistleclaw, and the other warriors of the Dark Forest all have a love for bloodshed and battle, which is even why Thistleclaw ended up there.
** Blackstar counted when he was Blackfoot, being the top enforcer of Brokenstar, who was himself a brutal warrior who only used his Clan for battle purposes.
** On the heroic side, Lionblaze counted when he was an apprentice, enjoying battle and scaring others with how brutal he could get.
** Mudclaw supposedly being one was the reason Tallstar appointed Onewhisker as deputy just before his death, demoting Mudclaw and preventing him from becoming a bloodthirsty leader.
* The warlike spirit nicknamed "Audrey" in [[Literature/{{Okuyyuki}} "Okuyyuki"]] is a straight example. Unfortunately, she inhabits an ancient Japanese sword which has recently spent years cooped up in a dry antiques store. Thus, she is bored to tears, and very eager to be bought by an American soldier who might soon see combat when he comes by.

* ''Literature/TheOneWhoEatsMonsters'': Our protangonist Ryn is usually fairly subdued, but she loves fighting.
--> '''Ryn:''' I enjoy breaking things — breaking humans. It makes my spirit sing. ''And it is easy.''
* ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}'': The HotBlooded dragon Iskierka tries to fight an adult dragon literally as soon as she hatches and only gets more battle-eager from there. This ends up jeopardizing her position in the Aerial Corps when she repeatedly goes off to fight enemy dragons in defiance of orders, which once gets her and her [[DragonRider captain]] captured.

* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': The Alethi people used to be a ProudWarriorRace charged with protecting the other nations from the [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Voidbringers]], but when the Voidbringers were finally defeated, the Alethi never gave up their arms. Over four and a half thousand years later, the fighting is all they have left. The ideals of competition have pervaded every aspect of their society (even their religion has a points system), and they consider war the greatest of arts. Several times in the series, Alethi are asked "Why are we fighting," and the Alethi look at the asker like they're crazy. This is all made worse by the "Thrill," a nationwide bloodlust that afflicts the Alethi elite in battle, blunting the worst aspects of war even when they're on the front lines themselves. Ultimately, it is revealed that the Alethi Thrill is caused by [[spoiler:a spirit named Nergaoul, an [[FallenAngel "Unmade"]] spren serving Odium, the setting's resident BigBad GodOfEvil, and he uses Nergaoul to corrupt armies into a berserk fury to turn on their allies. Nergaoul itself isn't malicious, but it is a pure expression of the need to fight and kill.]]

** Sandor Clegane lives for little other than fighting and believes that "killing is the sweetest thing there is", and he's the ''good'' brother.

* Heat from ''Literature/QuantumDevilSagaAvatarTuner'' has no problem accepting to his new demonic form and as a result, likes to rush headlong into battle to soothe his blood-thirst.

* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': The Alethi people used to be a ProudWarriorRace charged with protecting the other nations from the [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Voidbringers]], but when the Voidbringers were finally defeated, the Alethi never gave up their arms. Over four and a half thousand years later, the fighting is all they have left. The ideals of competition have pervaded every aspect of their society (even their religion has a points system), and they consider war the greatest of arts. Several times in the series, Alethi are asked "Why are we fighting," and the Alethi look at the asker like they're crazy. This is all made worse by the "Thrill," a nationwide bloodlust that afflicts the Alethi elite in battle, blunting the worst aspects of war even when they're on the front lines themselves. Ultimately, it is revealed that the Alethi Thrill is caused by [[spoiler:a spirit named Nergaoul, an [[FallenAngel "Un-Made"]] spren serving Odium, the setting's resident BigBad GodOfEvil, and he uses Nergaoul to corrupt armies into a berserk fury to turn on their allies. Nergaoul itself isn't malicious, but it is a pure expression of the need to fight and kill.]]

* In Literature/NineteenEightyFour, this is one of the things Big Brother wants you to be. At first glance, one might think that since Oceania is at war with Eastasia, it's natural that they'd want patriotic and devoted soldiers. However, as O'Brien tells him in then end, [[spoiler: the ForeverWar between Eastasia and Oceania is of no importance at all, and merely one more way for the party to control the people.]] So in effect, this is what Big Brother encourages people to become.

* Count Dracula from {{Literature/Dracula}}

* In ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' novel ''Literature/ColdDays'', Harry finds that [[spoiler: the Winter Mantle]] has a very strong drive for this. In fact, after a major battle, [[spoiler: Karrin]] says he had an erection throughout the battle. Suffice it to say, the change very much scares the person.

* ''[[Literature/TheFirstLaw The Heroes]]'' by Joe Abercrombie has two big ones: Bremer Dan Gorst of the Union's entire existence is fighting to the point where he compares fighting one-on-one with another enemy to romantic affection. The other one is Whirrun of Bligh who actually faces off against the former.[[spoiler: Gorst is extremely disappointed when it ends prematurely.]]

** Jacen Solo [[spoiler: AKA Darth Caedus]] is a lead from the front, get-stuck-in kind of fighter. It catches up with him in the end however, as the intensifying pace of battles leaves him increasingly debilitated.
** [[spoiler: Tash's first clone]] in ''Literature/GalaxyOfFear'', is this as well as being DrunkOnTheDarkSide. So are the others, but she's specifically happy at the chance to kill Tash right then and there.

-->'''Jedi Master Gnost-Dural''': Mandalorians believe confrontation is required for growth, on the personal as well as the cultural level. War is the Mandalorian way of life.

* Kage in Gav Thorpe's ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} The Last Chancers''. [[spoiler: At the end of ''13th Legion'', he receives a pardon, resolves to stay in the forces outside the penal legion, and shortly thereafter loses it by brawling. In ''Kill Team'', he is told that he used up his last chance and will never be pardoned again, and he can cope, realizing that he would have ended up fighting again.]]

** Ralan Bek from Since it turns out he is really [[spoiler: the Dasati God of War.]]

* All [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Mantids]] in ''Literature/ShadowsOfTheApt'', Felise seems to be one of these, at least after she [[spoiler: stops going after]] Thalric.

-->'''Sculley:''' "Are we fighting yet?"\\
'''Robby:''' "Yes!"\\
'''Sculley:''' "Who?"\\
'''Robby:''' "Everyone!"\\
'''Sculley:''' "About bloody time!"

* [[Literature/ChaosWalking Mayor Prentiss]]. When he witnesses [[spoiler: an army vastly superior to his own descending upon his city with the intention of killing him in retribution for a genocide that he committed]] for the sole purpose of instigating this war his reaction is to grin with joy and utter: "War. At last."

-->''A mercenary's life for me!''

%%--> '''Dieter''': Those crazed eyes, that gleeful smile... Rei had totally lost it. She was battle-mad.

* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': The Alethi people used to be a ProudWarriorRace charged with protecting the other nations from the [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Voidbringers]], but when the Voidbringers were finally defeated, the Alethi never gave up their arms. Over four and a half thousand years later, the fighting is all they have left. The ideals of competition have pervaded every aspect of their society (even their religion has a points system), and they consider war the greatest of arts. Several times in the series, Alethi are asked "Why are we fighting," and the Alethi look at the asker like they're crazy. This is all made worse by the "Thrill," a nationwide bloodlust that afflicts the Alethi elite in battle, blunting the worst aspects of war even when they're on the front lines themselves. Ultimately, it is revealed that the Alethi Thrill is caused by [[spoiler: a spirit named Nergaoul, an [[FallenAngel "Un-Made"]] spren serving Odium, the setting's resident BigBad GodOfEvil, and he uses Nergaoul to corrupt armies into a berserk fury to turn on their allies. Nergaoul itself isn't malicious, but it is a pure expression of the need to fight and kill.]]

* Hunter from ''Literature/Neverwhere''. She wants one thing- to fight and kill the most ferocious beasts. She takes pleasure in this.

* ''[[Literature/TheFirstLaw The Heroes]]'' by Joe Abercrombie has two big ones: Bremer Dan Gorst of the Union's entire existence is fighting to the point where he compares fighting one-on-one with another enemy to romantic affection. The other one is [[CrazyAwesome Whirrun of Bligh]] who actually faces off against the former.[[spoiler: Gorst is extremely disappointed when it ends prematurely.]]

* ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'': The Alethi people used to be a ProudWarriorRace charged with protecting the other nations from the [[OurDemonsAreDifferent Voidbringers]], but when the Voidbringers were finally defeated, the Alethi never gave up their arms. Over four and a half thousand years later, the fighting is all they have left. The ideals of competition have pervaded every aspect of their society (even their religion has a points system), and they consider war the greatest of arts. Several times in the series, Alethi are asked "Why are we fighting," and the Alethi look at the asker like they're crazy. This is all made worse by the "Thrill," a nationwide bloodlust that afflicts the Alethi elite in battle, blunting the worst aspects of war even when they're on the front lines themselves.

** While Karsa is not as much of one now as he was when the series started, he's still quite fond of, and skilled at, combat. He also wants to end civilazation as it is and has no compunctions about the bloodshed he will cause.
** We don't see Fener in action onscreen, but conversations about him suggest that he is rather irritable and fond of bloodshed. And of course, you know, the god of war.

* The Rohirrim in ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', ''And then all the host of Rohan burst into song, and they sang as they slew, for the joy of battle was upon them.'' Not to mention when they later charge at the, far numerically superior, enemy screaming "Death!".