History Main / KnightInShiningArmor

** Once he was captured by the English and in order to collect his ransom, the English ''[[TooDumbToLive let Charny go to collect it himself]]'', what did Charny do? Run away never paying the English a single coin? [[HonorBeforeReason No, he found someone and had them pay the Ransom in full]]!
* The point of chivalry, as a code of honor, was to put behavioral restrictions on the Knight In Shining Armor. Most people alive today have never wielded a sword, much less against a suit of full plate, but if they tried they'd discover that it's ''really'' hard to cut through[[note]]In fact, that's why swords gradually moved from the swinging designs of the "broadsword" to the stabbing design of the fencing weapon; see our Useful Notes: UsefulNotes/{{Swords}} page for more[[/note]]. A Knight In Shining Armor is close to invincible, his only real vulnerabilities being stab wounds or ranged attacks (which are dishonorable in a [[TestosteronePoisoning Testosterone-Poisoned]] feudalism). So if you're gonna ''put'' a man in this Infinity +1 Armor, you'd better make sure he won't abuse his power once he's in there!
** Of course reasonably well-disciplined infantry could kill or frighten horses with a BladeOnAStick, a bow or later, a musket and then surround the de-horsed knight and pick at him until they got a dagger between his armor. For this reason knights thought bows to be unchivalrous. Which usually [[CombatPragmatist did not prevent]] them from taking archers to battle for them to be used against the other side.
** The demise of chivalry was not the lower classes overcoming the upper classes. Rather, it was the nature of the warfare itself. In the end the generals noticed that a professional soldier who has trained for warfare for all his life was a far more valuable as an [[OfficerAndAGentleman officer in a commoner unit]] than a private in an elite unit. The modern day officers are direct descendants of the knights.

* RoboCop is one modern example. Though replace "shining" with "Kevlar/Titanium laminated". With nifty purple-on-blue highlights to boot.

A cultural trope in Europe since medieval times, most good knights practice something called [[http://www.astro.umd.edu/~marshall/chivalry.html chivalry]], [[HonorBeforeReason Honor]], and [[EmotionsVsStoicism Self-Control]] and occasionally [[NatureAdoresAVirgin chastity]]. Prone to rescuing the DamselInDistress, or delivering her from [[MaliciousSlander false accusations]], often whilst bearing TheLadysFavour. The KnightInShiningArmour was a frequent victim of TheDulcineaEffect: medieval {{Chivalric Romance}}s, indeed, portrayed knights who fell in love with a ''[[PeerlessLoveInterest princesse lointaine]]'' merely on hearing her described, without even seeing her - though his love and heroism usually [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan won her heart]]. Another occupational hazard is ChronicHeroSyndrome, [[KnightErrant Knights Errant]] being charged to WalkTheEarth righting wrongs until a worthy quest shows up.

When PrinceCharming is a KnightInShiningArmor he's the WarriorPrince. PrinceCharmless, on the other hand would not be a knight by choice.

If the KnightInShiningArmor wanders the land seeking evil to slay, then he's also a KnightErrant.

** The Skull Knight doesn't do a lot of lady-wooing, preferring to act as a MysteriousProtector to Guts and Casca, but he's perhaps the closest thing so far to a KnightInShiningArmor in the ''Berserk'' universe, particularly when he [[spoiler:[[BigDamnHeroes saves Guts and Casca from being finished off by Femto(Griffith's Godhand self) and the Godhand at the end of the Eclipse]]]]. Fan rumor is rampant that the guy is [[spoiler: Emperor Gaiseric, the guy who unified Midland]], who may have gone through [[spoiler:a similar ordeal when Void was incarnated as a Godhand]], explaining [[spoiler:his stone-cold hate for the Godhand in general]]. And the guy is a complete {{Badass}} to boot.

* Jedi Knight, Qui-Gon Jinn in ''ThePhantomMenace'' will defy the council to to help supposed pathetic life forms.

** Played with slightly with Sir Bevier and by extension the rest of the Cyrinic Knights from the same series who are ''literal'' KnightInShiningArmor. The Cyrinic Knights polish their armor to a mirror finish as opposed to the Pandions, and the other two orders of Church Knights go with unadorned dull steel.
** Sir Mandorallen from David Eddings' ''{{Belgariad}}'' saga (and its sequel, the ''Malloreon'' saga) is a textbook example of the KnightInShiningArmor; he embodies this trope, both outwardly and inwardly. Complete with a tragic chivalric love-from-afar affair. Eddings lampshaded the heck out of the trope, though: Mandorallen is heroic, brave and fearless, unbeaten in combat, honorable, truthful, and so on and so on. The first time in his life that he suddenly felt real fear (when he faced a magical opponent that he couldn't defeat) let to a kind of nervous breakdown, a self-doubt of epic proportions during which Mandorallen developed phobophobia, a paralyzing fear of being afraid. He eventually got over it, with the help of his friends. The other characters routinely tended to poke gentle fun of Mandorallen's utter dedication to chivalry. People who met him for the first time kept asking "Is this guy for real?" and "Did he really just charge the enemy? He's going to die!" - "No he isn't. He's Mandorallen."

* In Creator/PoulAnderson's ''Literature/ThreeHeartsAndThreeLions'', the hero Holger is thrown in a world where the Matter of France, Charlemagne and his paladins, is fact, and both becomes a KnightInShiningArmor and meets up with knights. The three hearts and three lions of the title are the coat of arms on his shield. The Paladin class of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' is primarily inspired by the paladins from this story.
* ''ForgottenRealms'': There's a rather nice paladin in ''The Threat from the Sea'' trilogy [[spoiler:(never mind that he once was pious enough to carry the symbol of his divine patron... and then hurl it to sea)]], but though he eventually acquires a mount (''[[HorseOfADifferentColor sort of]]''), he never wears heavy armor [[spoiler:(after all, he's a ''seaman'')]]. Complemented with the usual KnightInShiningArmor for contrast. There were more traditional stiff ones (including some protagonists) in ''The Pools'' trilogy. And now there's ''[[http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Thornhold Thornhold]]'' featuring Knights of Samular who "seems to think that [[http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Harpers Harpers]] and [[http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Zhentarim Zhents]] are fit to stew in the same pot" (which ''seems'' right to some extent) but ''seems'' not to be any less fit for the same pot themselves. They have an agent of a ChaoticEvil church among them.

* Despite his anti-hero tendencies, Literature/PhilipMarlowe is explicitly compared, by Creator/RaymondChandler, to a KnightInShiningArmor.

** On the other hand, Jaime Lannister is a {{Deconstruction}}. At first he appears appears the perfect KnightInShiningArmor, being incredibly handsome, the best fighter in the land, the slayer of the previous [[TheCaligula tyrant king]] and, due to to having his armour gilded, actual shining armour. However, he's quickly revealed to be violent, arrogant and [[spoiler: in an incestous relationship with his sister]]. And thanks to being the Kingslayer, a breach of his vows as a knight of the Kingsguard, nobody trusts him. After going through BreakTheHaughty and a HeelFaceTurn, Jaime struggles to become a true Knight in Shining Armor.

* In ''FrankAndErnest'', Frank, as a knight, complains of having to dress on a cold morning.
* In one ''{{Garfield}}'' comic strip, Jon gets freaked out by a scary part in the movie theater and starts sucking his thumb. Liz mutters "My knight in shining armor", and Garfield says "Make that your sissy in double-knit."

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'': The [[AlwaysLawfulGood paladin]] class was based on KnightInShiningArmor archetype in general and supposedly ''Three Hearts and Three Lions'' in particular. Paladins are more like holy crusaders empowered with divine magic, though.

** The ''Shards of Alara'' expansion features Bant, a [[PlanetOfHats plane of]] [[KnightInShiningArmor Knights in Shining Armor]], who have a FantasticCasteSystem based on the acquisition of sigils, which are marks of great valor and honorable conduct.

** Something of a subversion is found in ''[[VideoGame/DragonAgeOriginsAwakening Awakening]]'' with the Spirit of Justice. A Fade Spirit based on the concept of Justice, it is eventually trapped in the corpse of a Grey Warden named Kristoff. It then joins your party as a KnightInShiningArmor [[DarkIsNotEvil Undead]].

* The recurring ''GummiBears'' character Sir Victor, the White Knight, was a classic KnightInShiningArmor. However, it turned out that he was actually the estranged brother of the series BigBad, Duke Igthorn, and lived in constant fear that he would [[InTheBlood turn evil like the rest of his family]] (before AnAesop was delivered to him, anyway) and righted wrongs as perceived [[TheAtoner atonement]] for his house's ill deeds.

* The point of chivalry, as a code of honor, was to put behavioral restrictions on the KnightInShiningArmor. Most people alive today have never wielded a sword, much less against a suit of full plate, but if they tried they'd discover that it's ''really'' hard to cut through[[note]]In fact, that's why swords gradually moved from the swinging designs of the "broadsword" to the stabbing design of the fencing weapon; see our Useful Notes: UsefulNotes/{{Swords}} page for more[[/note]]. A KnightInShiningArmor is close to invincible, his only real vulnerabilities being stab wounds or ranged attacks (which are dishonorable in a [[TestosteronePoisoning Testosterone-Poisoned]] feudalism). So if you're gonna ''put'' a man in this Infinity +1 Armor, you'd better make sure he won't abuse his power once he's in there!

** The Skull Knight doesn't do a lot of lady-wooing, preferring to act as a MysteriousProtector to Guts and Casca, but he's perhaps the closest thing so far to a KnightInShiningArmor in the ''Berserk'' universe, particularly when he [[spoiler:[[BigDamnHeroes saves Guts and Casca from being finished off by Griffith and the Godhand at the end of the Eclipse]]]]. Fan rumor is rampant that the guy is [[spoiler: Emperor Gaiseric, the guy who unified Midland]], who may have gone through [[spoiler:a similar ordeal when Void was incarnated as a Godhand]], explaining [[spoiler:his stone-cold hate for the Godhand in general]]. And the guy is a complete {{Badass}} to boot.

* Despite what many would think, [[KingArthur King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table]] weren't perfect examples of knighthood. In ''Literature/LeMorteDarthur'', written by Thomas Mallory (who may have been this trope's complete opposite), they all had glaring flaws: Arthur had an early NiceJobBreakingItHerod moment and later [[spoiler: is struck down by Mordred]] because he was too enraged to heed a prophetic dream; the wise mentor Merlin was a DirtyOldMan and met his doom because of it; Gawain, while on the Quest for the Sangreal (Holy Grail), refused to do penance and was rebuked by hermits and disembodied voices alike for his homicidal ways; the great Lancelot was an adulterer and failed in the Sangreal Quest due to his unstable virtue. Indeed, the Sangreal Quest itself shows, and was meant to show, how all these noble knights, great in the world, fell short spiritually. The only knight allowed to achieve the Sangreal was [[IncorruptiblePurePureness Galahad]], who exemplified what a knightly ideal.
** Galahad, fittingly enough for the best knight in the world, can even get his own bullet point. Because he was intended to represent knightly perfection, ''Literature/LeMorteDarthur'' writes him as a flawless creature. There is an unused chair at the Round Table that will kill any who sit in it, except the one destined to find the Sangreal. Galahad introduces himself to Arthur by sitting in it. Arthur then takes him to a stone with a sword sticking out of it (sound familiar?) that can only be pulled by the best knight in the world. Galahad pulls it. Arthur announces a jousting tournament. Galahad beats everyone he faces. The text makes several remarks on his virtue (that he's still a maid, that he doesn't kill), and he achieves the Sangreal, and eventually is allowed to ascend up to Heaven. ''Literature/TheOnceAndFutureKing'' uses him to deconstruct this trope, as he's so inhumanly perfect that all the other knights hate him.

* KingArthur, of the Knights of the Round Table. Perhaps best known in ''Literature/LeMorteDarthur'' and ''Literature/TheOnceAndFutureKing''. Although there might have been a real King Arthur, or a group of men whose stories were combined into one legend, he or they would have been alive well before the invention of plate armor.
** KingArthur's most trusted knight Sir Lancelot.
** Galahad, from ''AnElegyForTheStillLiving'' initially appears to be one of these. But when the time comes for him to fight the dragon, he reveals that it is unbeatabe and that he only went there to die.

As knights were also humans like any other, they mostly weren't like this, although it would be ''extremely'' cynical and most certainly false to say that none of them were like this or that any but the truly worst didn't aspire to at least be seen as one. It's best to describe it as an ideal to which most knights aspired, at least publicly. True, the average knight was more interested in pig farming than warfare, but the chivalric code defined them as a class.

See LordErrorProne for a common subversion/parody and KnightInSourArmor for what happens when the world fails to live up to their standards, but keep on being good anyway. A knight who is shiny for one person in particular is TheChampion. A knight that gets magical powers as a reward for this goodness is almost certainly ThePaladin to boot.

As knights were also humans like any other, they mostly weren't like this, although it would be ''extremely'' cynical and most certainly false to say that none of them were like this. It's best to describe it as an ideal to which most knights aspired, at least publicly. True, the average knight was more interested in pig farming than warfare, but the chivalric code defined them as a class.

* In ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'', Twilight Sparkle's big brother is named Shining Armor and is Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard.

* In ''Westernanimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirls'' Flash Sentry is another straight example.

** Played straight as an arrow with Seth and Geoffrey.

* In JohnCWright's ''Literature/CountToTheEschaton'', Knights Hospitalliar are frozen to wake when the Tombs need protection.

Often invoked to describe a man who acts''chivalrously'' toward women. The term may be used in more cynical works to indicate a WideEyedIdealist. Even the UrExample of the straight usage of trope, KingArthur, messed around with it a lot. The one-two punch of {{Disney}} and DungeonsAndDragons saw this trope's stock rise like crazy.

Often invoked to describe a man who acts -- well, ''chivalrously'' toward women. The term may be used in more cynical works to indicate a WideEyedIdealist. In fact, until recently this trope was almost never used except for deconstructions/subversions, keeping it in [[DeadUnicornTrope Dead Unicorn]] territory (even the UrExample of the straight usage of trope, KingArthur, messed around with it a lot) until the one-two punch of {{Disney}} and DungeonsAndDragons saw this trope's stock rise like crazy.

** Xing-ke plays the trope straight.

*** Sandor (AKA "The Hound") at one point explains that there is a vast discrepancy between what the people of Westeros idealize knights to be, and what knights ''actually'' are (professional killers with fancy titles).

* Mytho from ''PrincessTutu'', in his true form as the Prince from the fairytale the story revolves around, fits this trope almost perfectly (except he has no armor and rescues maidens while dancing on a magically formed pillar of flower petals). Also subverted with Fakir, who is the reincarnation of the Knight from the story but [[{{Jerkass}} doesn't behave]] like the stereotypical knight.