History Main / KnightInShiningArmor

* ''Fanfic/ChildOfTheStorm'' has several examples:

* “Gotham's White Knight,” District Attorney Harvey Dent in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' is trying to help bring down the criminal empire in Gotham. [[spoiler:Sadly, he ends up turning into the demented Two-Face after a horrific accident that disfigures half of his face]].

[[folder:Legends and Fairy Tales]]
* St. George in the medieval legend of [[Myth/SaintGeorge St. George and the Dragon]] kills a dragon, thereby saving a virginal princess, and aferwards refuses all material rewards but instead converts the locals to Christianity. Thus St. George the Dragonslayer embodies the ideal knight, as he is both an undaunted warrior and a saint who dedicates his martial prowess to helping the helpless and the promotion of Christianity.
* In '' [[http://www.mythfolklore.net/andrewlang/044.htm The Golden Crab]]'', the king tries to have TheTourney to substitute a bridegroom for the crab his daughter married. Three times the crab-husband shows up in human guise to fight.
* In ''Literature/IronHans'', the prince dresses up in armor to fight on the king's behalf. Then he does the same to catch the princess's golden apple.
* In "Literature/ThePrincessOnTheGlassHill", Boots finds suits of armor with each CoolHorse, and so can ride up the hill as a knight.
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** Though she has some aspects of a KnightInSourArmor, Brienne of Tarth is mostly this trope played as straight as you can get (being a woman in a job otherwise held solely by men notwithstanding). She suffers from deep insecurities, and and is struggling to reconcile the ideal of what knights should be with what most are... hence, some of the sour touches. Yet, she nevertheless [[{{Determinator}} shows]] the boys how it ''should'' be done. Heck, it rubs off on ''Jaime''.

* In Creator/LJagiLamplighter's ''Literature/RachelGriffin'' series, the ''The Raven, the Elf, and Rachel'' novel features a princess's vision where she sees two sets of these standing (with some allies) against the HorsemenOfTheApocalypse. They are referred to as Saracen knights and paladins, so they appear to be from the Matter of France -- and in an EnemyMine situation.

** The ''Literature/TheElenium'' trilogy:

* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'': Reinhardt Wilhelm is more of knight in [[PoweredArmor mechanical rocket powered armor]], but he still fits, and in fact ''[[InvokedTrope invokes]]'' this trope. He sees himself as a modern day knight, and was previously part of an entire ''order'' of modern knights in powered armor called The Crusaders. He acted as the TheHeart to the titular Overwatch, staunchly supporting the group, but calling them out the minute they started straying morally. His forced retirement was the first step to the organization's eventual collapse from corruption and infighting, leading him to become a KnightErrant. [[spoiler:In his youth, he was a hot-blooded and reckless gloryhound whose actions led to the massacre of his mentor and almost his entire unit. [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone He later deeply regrets it]]]].

* [[UsefulNotes/PatronSaints Joan]] [[UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc of Arc]]. Although she was never technically a knight, she ''did'' wear armor into battle, and lived with an honor worthy of the title.
* Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard, was known in his lifetime as "the knight without fear and beyond reproach" and, to his friends, "the good knight". He served three kings of France with absolute loyalty, unimpeachable courage, chivalry and honour, and exceptional skill in war. Right up until the 20th century the name "Bayard" was a byword for courage and virtue.
* [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zawisza_Czarny Zawisza the Black]] was considered to be a model of knightly virtues in Poland in his lifetime and even more after his death. He served two kings, Władysław Jagiełło (of his native Poland) and Sigismund of Luxembourg (the king of Hungary and Holy Roman Emperor). Interestingly, in the Battle of Grunwald, where Sigismund allied with the Teutonic Knights against Poland, he decided that his national identity trumped the commitments to his overlord Sigismund, a sentiment quite innovative in the Middle Ages. Apart from being a jousting champion (in 1421 he defeated Prince John of Aragon at a tourney in the castle of Perpignan), he was also an accomplished diplomat and frequently negotiated peace treaties. He died while fighting Ottoman Turks in Serbia. Even today, in Poland his first name (quite a popular name at the time) is [[HistoricalHeroUpgrade is a shorthand of chivalry and righteousness]].
* John Hunyadi was known as the "White Knight of Wallachia" and much like Godfrey of Bouillon, was also was revered by his contemporaries for his crusade against the Ottoman Empire. His deeds led him to be awarded the title of ''Athleta Christi'' (Champion of Christ) by UsefulNotes/ThePope and he was respected by his enemies, with [[AntagonistInMourning Sultan Mehmed II allegedly grieving at his death]] when Hunyadi perished from the plague and ''that'' was shortly after Hunyadi dealt him such crushing defeat at the Siege of Belgrade that the Ottomans were unable to advance into Europe for 70 years. Today he is a Hungarian national hero and also revered as an example of chivalry in Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria.
* Franz von Sickingen was a German knight that cultivated this public image of himself as "protector of the oppressed", often taking side of the weaker party in many political disputes to the point he eventually earned the favor of Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. This led him to participate in the Protestant Reformation when he granted asylum to Martin Luther which culminated in leading the failed Knight's Revolt in order to stop the decline of status of the imperial knights.
* Sir Giles d'Argentan was known in the early 14th century as the "third best knight" in all of Christendom. Since he was just an ordinary knight, and the top two were the Holy Roman Emperor and [[UsefulNotes/RobertTheBruce King Robert of Scotland]], this ranking was particularly notable. He died at the Battle of Bannockburn, fighting on the English side -- having seen that the battle was lost, he escorted King Edward II to safety before telling him: "Sire, your protection was committed to me, but since you are safely on your way, I will bid you farewell for never yet have I fled from a battle, [[HonorBeforeReason nor will I now]]." He charged back into battle, and died.

** ''ComicBook/SevenSoldiers'': Both Shining Knights of the Seven Soldiers of Victory. One, Sir Justin, a knight of King Arthur, was given by Merlin a suit of magical armor that would protect him from all harm, and a magical sword that would cut through anything. Merlin also gave Justin’s horse wings and the ability to fly. Justin was frozen for centuries and revived in the 1940s, where he applies his honor as a knight to fighting crime in the present day.

* ''Manga/SnowWhiteWithTheRedHair'': Mitsuhide Lowen is a knight, kind man and excellent swordsman who is [[UndyingLoyalty completely loyal]] to prince Zen who he is a retainer for. He also attracts a number of female admirers due to his personality and looks but avoids romance both through [[ObliviousToLove obliviousness]] and [[MarriedToTheJob his dedication to his job]] as Zen's protector. Zen's other initial retainer Kiki Serian reflects this trope as well, though her stoic unreadable nature and the fact that she will have to give up living as a just a knight to take over as head of her family makes her an interesting take.
** Zen himself counts as well. As a prince, he's expected to be proficient in swordsmanship, horseback riding, and chivalry. He demonstrates all of these skills in the first episode, when he saves Shirayuki from Prince Raj ''without unsheathing his sword.''

*** Yet despite the above, the trope is steadily Reconstructed in [[GuileHero appropriately]] [[CombatPragmatist nuanced]] [[TaughtByExperience fashion]]. He's still dedicated to helping a newly reformed Maddie, [[JerkassRealization he's horrified when confronted by Cedric Diggory about how he's been terrorising his fellow students]] and he remains a KnightInSourArmor. As Strange says, he is ''still'' the person who will ''always'' do what is right rather than what is easy, and it's why he's TheChosenOne. The ''Bloody Hell'' arc shows him as a shining knight once, rescuing [[CourtlyLove Carol]] [[FightDracula from Dracula]] (who wants her [[spoiler: [[SuperSoldier special blood]]]]). He faces Dracula twice (once in a literal suit of armour), and despite being almost crippled and [[PhysicalGod horribly outmatched]], he plans ahead, gets help, and (eventually) succeeds, before nearly killing himself to [[spoiler: save Carol with an emergency transfusion]]. All while resisting the temptation to tap into his [[RealityWarper reality warping]] SuperpoweredEvilSide. Sealing the transformation, he receives [[PoweredArmour a personal silvery-white suit of Iron Man armour]], leading [[TheGadfly Coulson]] to codename him 'Agent Galahad'.

** Arthur himself gets the best moment despite not wearing armor at the time: having taken refuge in a peasant's home, they learn no one goes near it because the occupants are dying of the pox, with the daughter upstairs and the mother too weak to see her off. The king, without a word, leaves the room and is heard going upstairs.

** And still, in some of the final chapters, in which Camelot falls apart all around, the admirable knightly Lancelot of the original Arthurian canon several times visibly breaks through Twain's cynicism.

* ''Literature/AConnecticutYankeeInKingArthursCourt'' was written as a scathing TakeThat at this trope (among other things), portraying the knights as little more than wandering bullies who picked fights with each other or even defenseless passersby for no reason. The tales of their heroic deeds are entirely fabricated (and absurd on their faces, leading the main character to marvel at how nobody picks up on the Antarctica-level FridgeLogic), and the story features a lengthy description of how uncomfortable the main character is when he is put in his own shiny armor to go on his own quest.

* ''Literature/AConnecticutYankeeInKingArthursCourt'' was written as a scathing TakeThat at this trope (among other things), portraying the knights as little more than wandering bullies who picked fights with each other for no reason. The tales of their heroic deeds are entirely fabricated (and absurd on their faces, leading the main character to marvel at how nobody picks up on the Antarctica-level FridgeLogic), and the story features a lengthy description of how uncomfortable the main character is when he is put in his own shiny armor to go on his own quest. And still, in some of the final chapters, in which Camelot falls apart all around, the admirable knightly Lancelot of the original Arthurian canon several times visibly breaks through Twain's cynicism.

This is 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 Creator/{{Disney}} and ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' saw this trope's stock rise like crazy.

* In Creator/MarvelComics' outer space stories, the [[HollywoodCyborg Spaceknights]] of Galador also aspire to this ideal, but arguably only [[ComicBook/RomSpaceKnight Rom]] ever truly achieved it. One story even has Rom encounter the frozen form of KingArthur, still waiting for the day he will reawaken to save Britain from some future calamity, and Rom feels an instant, instinctive kinship with him.

* In ''Literature/LeMorteDarthur'', written by Thomas Malory (who may have been this trope's complete opposite), [[Myth/KingArthur many characters]] are subversions in that they all had glaring flaws: King Arthur, usually portrayed as TheGoodKing, 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 [[WhatTheHellHero was rebuked by hermits and disembodied voices alike for his homicidal ways]]; the great Lancelot was an adulterer who had an affair with Arthur's wife, Guinevere, 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 the knightly ideal.

* Heavily featured in ''VideoGame/GoldenLogres,'' which has quests for all twelve [[KingArthur Knights of the Round Table.]]

*** Near the start of the sequel, in the ''[[DarkestHour Forever Red]]'' StoryArc, the trope is brutally Deconstructed. His [[TragedyOfImpulsiveness typical]] leap back into the Red Room for to try and talk Maddie, a LivingWeapon and [[spoiler: Jean's [[SeparatedAtBirth stolen-at-birth]] twin sister]] around ends in disaster: he's right that she's a TragicVillain and [[ArmourPiercingQuestion his question]] makes her think. [[RealityEnsues But a lifetime of ingrained obedience and programming isn't so easily overturned]], and instead he spends days being horribly tortured, a mere prelude to a TraumaCongaLine that includes [[spoiler: his BlankSlate body being turned into [[LivingWeapon 'the Red Son']], used to create an aggressive Russian Empire, and repeatedly raped by Yelena Belova, [[EvilCounterpart the Red Room's Black Widow]], in her twisted take on the Black Widow/Winter Soldier dynamic]]. This leaves him on the brink of a SuicidalCosmicTemperTantrum, and even after he's talked down, he's left [[ShellShockedVeteran horribly traumatised]] and deeply bitter.

* In ''VideoGame/GemsOfWar'', the Whitehelm region has a piety-and-honour theme to it, meaning that its units tend to fit this archetype (i.e. being good-aligned religious crusaders).

** Silverbolt, from ''WesternAnimation/BeastWars'', is a usually tongue-in-cheek example of this type. He's not a parody so much as a walking LampshadeHanging, complete with trumpet fanfares when he speaks. It really helps that both his animals -- one a wolf, the other an eagle -- are typical "noble" animals. (which sorta makes a Griffin an even more noble animal)

* Roman from ''WebVideo/SandersSides]]'' would very much ''like'' to be one, but he has difficulty since, 1) He's simply a facet of Thomas' personality, not an actual human, and, 2) Thomas lives in modern, suburban Florida. He still tries to push Thomas into acting like one from time to time.

* Sir Nigel Loring, of ''Literature/TheWhiteCompany'', fits this to the letter.

* As an adaptation of the Arthurian legends, Gerald Morris's ''Literature/TheSquiresTales'' naturally features this.

* The ''Literature/TheRoyalDiaries'' series has Eleanor crushing on a knight in''Eleanor: Crown Jewel of Aquitaine]]'', and she wants him to be her bodyguard. Once when they are attacked, Clotaire the Strong pulls her into his saddle, and races her back to the safety of the castle.

* ''Literature/Horseclans'': Sir Geros Lahvoheetos, a gentleman's valet who earns a knighthood and myriad other honours through his chivalry and courage. Honest, humble and kind to others, convinced of his own cowardice - because in his eyes wetting himself in terror outweighs such suicidal courage as running into a blazing inferno to rescue a wounded comrade pinned beneath debris.

* In ''Literature/{{The Guardians|MeljeanBrook}}'', Hugh was a medieval knight sincerely striving towards honor and chivalry when he met Lilith. She taunts his naiveté by nicknaming him "Sir Pup". He was rewarded for his life of honesty with the [[PersonalityPowers Gift]] of [[LieDetection lie detection]].

* ''Literature/TheBelgariad'':
** Sir Mandorallen from David Eddings's ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' saga (and its sequel, the ''Malloreon'' saga) is a textbook example of the Knight in Shining Armor; 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, culminating in a moment when he ''kills a lion with his bare hands''.
** The other characters routinely tended to poke gentle fun of Mandorallen's utter dedication to chivalry, wondering to each other if he actually has any brains (answer: yes, to an extent. However, he has absolutely no common sense whatsoever) and 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." Everything you need to know about Mandorallen is summed up in this exchange from ''Castle of Wizardry'', wherein Mandorallen is escorting the Rivan Queen out to the center of a field to address over fifty thousand heavily-armed, potentially hostile soldiers during a ''very'' tense diplomatic stand-off. It's important to note that Mandorallen is speaking here with ''absolutely no irony whatsoever'':
--->'''Mandorallen:''' We are some distance from our own forces, your Majesty. I pray thee, be moderate in thine address. Even I might experience some difficulty in facing the massed legions of all Tolnedra.
** In the sequel series, he suggests to the rest of [[FiveManBand Big Guy Band]] - all barred from involvement this time around by the strictures of prophecy - that they should help their friends indirectly. Specifically, by going to Mallorea, a continent ruled by a single almighty Empire, and ''take on the entire Mallorean army''. Barak, the OnlySaneMan, just puts his head down on the table and cries.

* Creator/DavidEddings' ''Literature/TheElenium'' trilogy:
** Sparhawk fits the spiritual heroism of this trope even as he rejects its superficial aspects. Ironically, Sparhawk's own mental image is the aging, weather-beaten, not-especially handsome professional soldier he is, rather than a romantic hero, and the affections of his formerly DistressedDamsel wife were at first a source of considerable guilt, as she is almost half his age. His armor, by the way, like all knights of the Pandion order, is far from shining; it's enameled black.
** Downplayed with Sir Bevier and by extension the rest of the Cyrinic Knights from the same series who are ''literal'' Knights in Shining Armor. 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.

* ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' has the Solamnic knights (see TabletopRPG's examples below). In particular, Sturm Brightblade holds to the Oath and Measure upheld by his father, even though [[spoiler:he was never actually knighted]] and most people he knows hold the order in scorn.