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"Battle doesn't need a purpose; the battle is its own purpose. You don't ask why a plague spreads or a field burns. Don't ask why I fight."

War Is Hell? Not to this guy!

Fighting is everything to the Blood Knight. He lives for it. It's not winning or losing, morality, the motives of his allies, or even the glory that drives this guy so much as it is the opportunity for a good fight.

A Blood Knight can be of any morality whatsoever, although Anti Heroes and Anti Villains tend to be most common.

Heroic examples will frequently be The Big Guy in an ensemble, the character most likely to solve his problems by force of arms. They might make the less violent members of the crew a little nervous, especially if they go off on a hair trigger. He may merely enjoy the challenge and not hurting others necessarily; some don't hurt people unprovoked since they have a sense of right and wrong.

The Blood Knight doesn't even have to be a particularly violent man most of the time. A common version found in Eastern fiction is the Wandering Martial Artist, who Wanders the Earth looking for strong opponents to test his skills against. This might be coupled with a love of fair duels and a desire to challenge the best and strongest. This type still enjoys the thrill of the fight, but usually eschews the death and bloodshed aspect. A living opponent, after all, can improve their skills and provide an even better challenge later. Defeat Means Friendship is a common occurrence with these guys, their opponent's or their own.

As an antagonist, he has a good chance of being an Anti-Villain, since he doesn't want to kill the heroes, necessarily, just fight them. If he can find someone tough enough to beat him he might undergo a Heel–Face Turn and join the hero's team, or simply gain a newfound respect for his foe that he didn't have before. He might deliberately disadvantage himself in order to make fights last longer and loves to reveal that he is not left-handed. Despite the brutality that this trope implies, it's not uncommon for them to be a Noble Demon as well when they want an exciting fight on specific terms or when they reject unfair advantages because it would make the fight no fun. He may even betray his boss if he insists on interfering to pursue and obsess over his foe on his own terms. Less pleasant ones may do all kinds of horrible things to provoke their opponents into fighting them. Though if they specifically love to kill (rather than fight) they are a Psycho for Hire.

Personality-wise, more evil ones may be a Flat Character (and quite possibly The Brute) who just shouts "Maim! Kill! Burn!". Good/Sympathetic ones are usually more sophisticated/developed and can have aspects of the Warrior Therapist, Warrior Poet or Cultured Warrior. He might be a normal, jocular guy when he's not brawling, or he might take the fight so seriously that he blocks out everything else and will therefore live only for battle. In some cases, the Blood Knight fights because he's looking for a way to die with meaning.

A War God is very often one of these though he could also be Ax-Crazy or just The Sociopath. If there's a whole society of guys who like combat, you've got a Proud Warrior Race. If the character likes the killing part more than the 'fighting' part, they're a Psycho for Hire. (In fact it's not uncommon for Blood Knights to also uphold Thou Shalt Not Kill). The Egomaniac Hunter also thrives on aimless violent thrill and loves a worthy quarry instead of an opponent. If a character is in it for the challenge rather than just the fight, then we've got a Spirited Competitor. The Blood Knight's love of combat may be platonic, or it may have sexual undertones. It could also overlap with Ax-Crazy if their love of fighting crosses the line into psychopathic violence and mental and emotional instability.

Sub-Trope of In Harm's Way. Sister Trope to Combat Sadomasochist, The Real Man, and Boisterous Bruiser. Compare Cavalier Competitor and, for a more general trope, Challenge Seeker. Also compare Sadist, whose favorite part of fighting is the pain and suffering of his opponent. May be from a Martyrdom Culture and will nearly always believe that War Is Glorious. If he (or she, though it's much rarer, however; see Lady of War) is in the military, then he will almost inevitably be a Colonel Kilgore. A Monster Knight has a high chance of being one. A more violent example that nonetheless fights on the side of good may (or may not) be a Sociopathic Hero. It also has nothing to do with a knight who uses Blood Magic. Contrast Shell-Shocked Veteran, who is of the opposite mindset (also contrast War Is Hell). If a character claims to be one of these but doesn't like the idea actually losing, it's a case of But Not Too Challenging.

Oh, just in case it wasn't clear, the character doesn't have to be a literal knight for this trope to apply. It is about the attitude, not the rank.

It should be clear by now that this character loves laying the hurt. And ironically, it's because of this that these characters are quite likely to get saddled with a No-Harm Requirement at some point. A mission's success may forbid the use of any violence, a target may be too dangerous to hurt recklessly, this particular opponent may be too precious to hurt, etc. Whatever the case, it's often quite ordeal for many Blood Knights to handle such a challenge. Beating opponents to a pulp? Easy peasy. Putting them out of commission without hurting them? Not so much...

Contrast with Reluctant Warrior, the exact opposite of this trope: rather than enjoying the thrill of battle, they instead treat it as a last resort.

Not to be confused with Blood-Splattered Warrior, though they sometimes overlap.


Example subpages:

Other examples:

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    Arts 
  • Oni Embodiments: "Embodiment of 'A's" name is a reference to its position, eternally in the middle of giving a battle cry.

    Card Games 
  • Magic: The Gathering:
    • The Blood Knight card has a very appropriate quote: His is the fury of the wildfire, the boiling blood of the volcano. He fights you not because you've wronged him, but because you're there.
    • This and Knight Templar are the worse aspects of the White/Red mixture, as seen in the Nobilis of War from the Shadowmoor block and the legendary creature Ruhan of the Fomori from the "Political Puppets" Commander pack.
    • The Blood Knight is a red-colored counterpart of the much older black-colored Black Knight, who provides the page quote above.
    • All native-born and -raised Keldons are like this, making them a Proud Warrior Race. They're also fully aware that their warmongering is to their own detriment as a society. Many of their abilities and mechanics work on an understanding that not fighting hurts, and fighting also tends to have some sort of extremist drawback. To wit:
      • Keldon Warlord: A single creature that gets stronger and harder to kill based on the number of total creatures (minus Walls) on the battlefield. What if they threw a war...and everybody came?
      • Keldon Berserker: They fight beyond fear, beyond thought, and beyond mercy.
      • Keldon Twilight: If no one attacked during your turn, one of your creatures dies.
      • Keldon Arsonist: By sacrificing two of your own lands, you can destroy a single opponent-controlled land. Fields can be replanted. Settlements can be rebuilt. Burn it all.
      • Keldon Vandals: Keldons divide all their spoils into two groups: trophies, and catapult ammunition.
      • Keldon Firebombers: [Jamuraa is the country Keld is invading] If there isn't enough of Jamuraa left to stand on, I will still claim it for Keld.
      • Keldon Megaliths: A land card with the special ability to inflict damage on a single target on your turn, but only if you have no cards in your hand. This means that in a situation where a normal player would have absolutely no options, the Keldons will still find a way to hurt someone.
    • There's even a recurring ability to sum up this trope. Formerly in black, now mostly in red, "this creature attacks this turn if able" is a common drawback, forcing creatures with it to run into the fray even if means certain death.
    • The Mardu Horde of Tarkir are very enthusiastic about combat, to the point where their Khan is a massively aggressive orc with the abovementioned attack-each-turn drawback. They have a clan mechanic that gives them bonuses for attacking, such as increasing the power of spells or giving creatures cast after the dust settles a useful enters-the-battlefield effect. Their alternate timeline counterparts, Clan Kolaghan, are much the same, with a bigger emphasis on swiftly bounding through the steppes and unpredictably attacking whatever foes they reach.
    • The Gruul Clans on Ravnica engage in this when not fighting out of more legitimate grievances. Bolrac Clan ogres pick fights with buildings if they run out of other opponents, and their favorite holiday, Rauck-Chauv, basically consists of breaking stuff and punching people.
    • The Tuskeri of Kaldheim are obsessed with battle and warfare, and don't need much of an excuse to go to war beyond being bored. They're extremely disorganized warriors, disregarding strategy and tactics in favor of enthusiastically throwing themselves into the thickest frays and attempting over-the-top heroics without paying much attention to what their fellows are doing. This gets them killed pretty regularly, but the Tuskeri see glorious death in battle as their highest calling in life anyway.
  • Sentinels of the Multiverse:
    • Ra started out in the fictional comics as "fire dude who fights things" (they mention an early outing where he went to Insula Primalis to set fire to dinosaurs) and got his actual personality kind of kludged into place afterwards.
    • Haka is an intensely compassionate and noble soul, one of the kindest and most patient people in the Sentinel Comics universe, a storyteller, a teacher, a mentor, a friend and a surprisingly skilled baker who is known for his pies. However. He also likes to beat the snot out of villains with a giant cudgel. At least he's relatively moral about it; he prefers fights that don't endanger innocent bystanders.
      Haka Hundreds of those skittering stabby robots came at me! It was great!

    Films — Animation 
  • Bolt gives us Rhino, a little hamster in a plastic hamster ball of all creatures. He is psychotically excited about getting to share in the dangerous stunts Bolt tries to pull, will willingly attack a cat, has threatened grievous bodily harm against a human twice, and does all of this with seemingly no understanding of how small and vulnerable he is compared to everyone else he interacts with. Bolt himself can also qualify, but he at least has a Freudian Excuse.
  • Brave: Fergus isn't a violent man by any means, but he does love a good fight, whether he's in it or not.
  • How to Train Your Dragon 2: It is simply impossible to deny that Drago Bludvist enjoys fighting, in no small part due to his sadism.
  • Etrigan spent most of Justice League Dark: Apokolips War drinking in a depressed stupor, with only combat situations getting any sort of a rise from him. Even then, he fought in a half-hearted, disinterested manner until he came across something he considered to be a real challenge: a Brainwashed and Crazy Wonder Woman. Even when she ultimately killed him, he died with a satisfied smile on his face.
    Etrigan: And so it ends; my race is run.
    I regret nothing. It was fun.
  • The titular Villain Protagonist of Megamind was like this. He didn't want to conquer the world, but rather to find a Worthy Opponent to challenge and develop his skills and experience as a supervillain. As soon as he kills his own nemesis, he's left without a worthy opponent to reduce his boredom. So, he creates a new superhero nemesis to give him a good fight, only for him to, later on, become eviler than Megamind himself and thus have to be stopped. As soon as Megamind defeats his own creation, he ends up saving the city and becoming a superhero instead, thus giving him more real challenges to feed his adrenaline rush, even though it would mean retiring from the supervillain business to become said superhero.
  • Shan-Yu from Mulan is heavily implied to be this: He deliberately allows himself and the Huns to be sighted at the Great Wall of China as they breach it so they could send their best soldiers and thus have him prove his strength to them, and he later specifically chooses a route that would lead to his forces confronting the Imperial Army rather than going around and avoiding them. In fact, the entire reason he invades China in the first place is because, in his own words, the Emperor challenged his strength by building the Great Wall.
  • The Wolf from Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is one of these. After disarming Puss, he kicks the cat's sword back to him so he can keep fighting right to the end, and he even brings it with him to their second fight. The Wolf's response to Puss pointing a sword at him and telling him to bring it is a genuine smile.
    The Wolf: This is gonna be fun.
  • Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse: Noir Spider-Man is this, he even lampshades it awesomely when the Rogues Gallery come knocking.
    Aunt May: Do you mind taking this outside?
    Noir Spidey: We don’t pick the ballroom, we just dance.
  • The Koopas in The Super Mario Bros. Movie actively and vocally want to go to war with the Mushroom Kingdom. When Bowser reveals he wants to marry Peach, they become disappointed,note  but quickly start cheering again when he reveals that if she rejects him, they will destroy her kingdom.
  • Wonder Woman (2009): Artemis loves war and doesn't understand why her academically-inclined sister Alexa wouldn't want to die a warrior's death.

    Manhwa 
  • Majeh from King of Hell is this in spades, to the point where he's damned to super-hell.

    Music 
  • The narrator from David Bowie's "Running Gun Blues". Even after the war has ended, he still lusts for battle and blood, to the point of committing random acts of violence on civilians.
  • A lot of lyrics by Dismember are in the perspective of Blood Knights and Sadists, but "Of Fire" deserves mention over how crazy the protagonist is, killing anyone in his way, including his comrades.
  • "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor is a Blood Knight anthem, especially the chorus:
    It's the
    Eye of the tiger
    It's the thrill of the fight
    Rising up to the challenge of our rival
    And the last known survivor
    Stalks his prey in the night
    And he's watching us all with the eye
    Of the tiger
  • GWAR
  • "Iron" by Within Temptation describes one of these. "You can't live without the fire, it's the heat that makes you strong".
  • "Soldier of Three Armies" by Sabaton describes Lauri Allan Törni, a Finn who served his country in the Winter War and Continuation War, then joined the SS and finally the Green Berets to continue fighting the Soviets, as "addicted to the war game".
    Frankly, I enjoyed the war.
  • The narrator of "Follow The Blind" by Tarot wants death and destruction for the sake of death and destruction.
    We need no gods of war,
    petty excuses no more.
    Just what we always wanted,
    the blood of our kind
  • "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" by Warren Zevon is about one of these, his lust for battle infecting others even after his death.

    Mythology & Religion 
  • Beti-Pahuin Mythology:
    • Ntoutoume Mfoulou generally only felt two emotions: boredom and homicidal euphoria. That said, he drastically preferred killing people who stood a chance of actually killing him. He lived for war. That’s why they called him Nyele Mfoulou or “Yes, Mfoulou” because he says yes to death, but death continuously evades him. He had the time of his life fighting Oveng Ndoumou Obame because he could actually fight on or above his level, calling him the perfect warrior. After getting stabbed, slashed, blasted with fire, clubbed, tossed into the sky, and whipped with chains he was obsessed with fighting Oveng. Ntoutoume was excited to fake being a hostage of Alum Ndong Minko to raise hell in his village.
    • The Ekang immortals in general could be considered blood knights. Volleys of weapons were how they made their presence known to trespassers in their country.
  • Ares was one of the Greek gods of war. While Athena was the goddess of wisdom and tactics, the domain of Ares was bloodlust and slaughter. He fought because he loved violence. Which is not to say Athena didn't relish warfare (she was, after all, a war goddess), as indicated by this verse. She's just not as bloodthirsty as Ares. Then there's Ares's sister/sidekick Enyo, whose epithets include "blood-splattered", "destroyer of cities", and "impartial" — because she would support both sides of a battle to maximize the slaughter.
  • Existing on the edge between mythology and history, the legendary Viking Berserkers struck fear in the hearts of all Europe during the Viking Age. Historians have put forth several different theories to explain the rage that seized these warriors on the battlefield, but ultimately, all that is known is that they would rush into battle with little-to-no armor, ignore wounds that would cripple an ordinary man, and strike down anything and anyone who got in their way. Contemporary accounts state that even their allies gave them a wide berth, for The Berserker did not distinguish too well between friend and foe. According to their beliefs, a Berserker who fell in battle gained automatic access to the Warrior's Heaven of Valhalla (where they'd get to fight forever without dying, a Blood Knight's true paradise), and so they fought, not for plunder or honor — but simply for the fight itself, and for the eventual warrior's death. Dying outside of the battlefield would result in a Fate Worse than Death for any berserker: not getting into Valhalla.
  • The Morrigan from Celtic Mythology is famous for being the most fearsome goddess in most pantheons. She would often fight on both sides of a war, depending on who was slaughtering more people and specialized in making minor misunderstandings slowly escalate into countrywide bloodbaths. Poor Communication Kills? No, she's just that good.
  • The Asura of Hindu and Buddhist religion. They loved to fight and would seize on any opportunity to do so, whether it's for a good cause, an evil cause, or just for the hell of it. Which is why the race's name is often translated to "warring deities". In Buddhism, people who loved to engage in battle were often reborn as this. The Aesir, the Norse pantheon of sky gods, derive their name from the same Indo-European word that the name Asura came from.note 
    • While often evil in pop culture depictions, Kali is a benevolent goddess who fights against evil. That said, she gets really into violence, and after one fight she was so overexcited that she nearly destroyed the universe by dancing. Shiva, her more level-headed husband, snapped her out of it by throwing himself on the ground and getting her to stomp on him instead.
  • The Yazi, one of the nine offspring of the Chinese dragon. They love fighting and killing and they are often depicted on the handles of weapons.

    Podcasts 
  • Cool Kids Table:
    • Kimmy from the Firefly game just likes killing people with explosives. She finds it a fun activity.
    • The three unfrozen Jedi in the Star Wars game are far less peaceful than Ackbar expected. Gol even says that it's a good thing he found them instead of other Jedi since the ones who died during the Empire's take-over must have been incredibly weak if they were defeated by clones.

    Professional Wrestling 
  • WWE wrestler Finlay attained tweener status, being between Face and Heel, for the sole reason that he'll simply beat up anybody he comes across for kicks, not particularly caring whether they're "good guys" or "bad guys". His catchphrase sums it all up: "My name is Finlay, and I love to fight!"
  • CHIKARA's Eddie Kingston turned into this after his Face–Heel Turn in 2007, declaring his desire for a "warrior's death" and pledging to take all of his hatred and misery stemming from an industry that he felt didn't respect him out on anyone who got in his way.
  • Having gradually alienated people for almost two years, in 2012 Mercedes Martinez went on to proclaim she needed no one and her love was pain.
  • The night after the 2012 installment of WWE "Hell in a Cell", Sheamus (who had lost the WWE RAW World Heavyweight Title at the event), came out and proclaimed with a smile that in spite of his loss, he got an amazing battle that he was thirsting for, regardless of the outcome. He declared Big Show a Worthy Opponent and said he was on pins and needles waiting for another swing at the world title.
  • Taz is this to such a level that he was the wrestler for whom the "(Wrestler Name)'s Gonna KILLL YOUUUU!!!!" chant was coined.
  • Shinsuke Nakamura is often seen as a nutball, but when it comes to fighting he's so brutal in the ring and nonchalant about who he's being brutal TO that some fans have joked that his name translates into "Come At Me Bro!".
  • Asuka is so much this, with a healthy dose of slasher smile and Kubrick Stare thrown in that she's the first woman wrestler in WWE to earn the aforementioned "Gonna Kill You" chant, since Kimber Lee received it at the start of her match with Heidi Lovelace at Remix Pro Throwdown for the Pound 12: Homeward Bound on October 12, 2015, and Kellie Skater received it during her match with Sara Del Rey at PWA Queensland's December 20, 2008 show.

    Puppet Shows 
  • Pili Fantasy: War of Dragons: Plenty, of note is Pa Mien Lang Chi. She loves battle, the company of men, and drink, in roughly that order but she's not picky. In fact, when ordered by the Eternal Empress to kill Chin Shao-yeh, she grows infatuated with him once he defeats her and refuses to try again. This leads to a lot of friction between her and her friend the Eternal Empress, doubly so once she actually rescues him from the Eternal Empress' second attempt at assassinating him.

    Tabletop Games 
  • BattleTech: The Warrior caste of the Clans live solely for war, and prefer to die in combat than of old age. Some Crusader Clans are more ruthless than the rest, such as Clan Jade Falcon, Smoke Jaguar, and Ice Hellion. Rather than die of old age, "outdated" Clan warriors past 35 years old are reassigned to Solahma units, given an outdated assault rifle, and sent out as Cannon Fodder to distract battlearmor and battlemechs. Not being complete idiots, however, the Clans make exception for older warriors who've earned Bloodnames (that is, the right to use the last name of their genetic ancestors); they get promoted into command positions instead of being shoveled into Solahma units.
  • The Dark Eye has the clerics of Kor, god of bloodshed and war, whose definition of a "good fight" almost crosses into Combat Sadomasochist territory.
  • Dungeons & Dragons:
    • The "murderhobo" phenomenon most associated with this game happens when players care nothing for character interaction, backstory or plot; they just want to kill things and take their stuff, moving on to another location when they run out of victims or resistance is too high (believed by some to be a reaction to the kind of Killer DM who exploits a characters' backstory to make them suffer). The savvier DM will ensure the campaign has something for everyone before deploying Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies.
    • Eberron:
      • The elves of the Valaes Tairn were mercenaries in the Last War, come from the elven homeland of Aerenal in search of any decent fight. Eventually they got tired of being told when and where they could fight and carved out a large chunk of Cyre for themselves, naming it Valenar. Now, they continue to raid everyone around them, despite having officially signed the peace treaty. This is all based on tradition and religion. All elves were originally slaves to the giants of Xen'drik, until there was a rebellion that led to the downfall of the giant civilization. The Tairnadal are those who seek to emulate their heroic ancestors; each Tairnadal is chosen by a dead ancestor upon reaching adulthood, and try to follow in their footsteps as precisely as possible. Since those ancestors were all soldiers fighting a guerilla war, that's what the Tairnadal want to do now. They don't even treat Valenar as their own nation—all their civilians and children remain back on Aerenal, and they leave the administration to the locals. What they want is for the surrounding nations to attack them, on the home turf that they have spent the past few decades learning, so that they can fight a guerilla war like their honored ancestors. If they lose the war, they can simply retreat, since they don't have anything of value on the continent.
      • On the continent of Sarlona, several countries hosted manifest zones to Shavarath, the plane of endless war, and that seeped into the cultures more than a little. The ogres of Borunan fought beside angels to keep devils from spilling out of portals, and the paladins of Khalesh were both righteous and self-righteous, attacking other nations over even minor evils. These nations were part of the lynchpin that the Inspired used when they threw the continent into anarchy, so that they could be hailed as heroes for bringing peace later.
    • Forgotten Realms:
      • Battleragers are dwarves enamored with battle. While they also protect their home clanholds, the fight is what they desire most, and they run towards it with a fervent glee that give even drow pause.
      • Garagos is the divine exemplar of Blood Knightdom, a multi-armed blood-soaked berserker who even makes the other gods nervous; Tempus is a much more sensible war god who likes fearless berserkers and isn't shy about bloodletting but avoids excessive destruction of resources or lives (which can be used for another battle) and generally advertises war as the most heroic pastime possible. He also does not consider those who oppose his dogma real foes worthy of a conflict (some of the descriptions even indicate that while he doesn't understand Eldath, the goddess of peace, he does genuinely respect her conviction), and has the necessity of peace as part of his dogma ("war is only given meaning by the peace that follows").
    • Planescape: The Outer Plane of Ysgard is the Chaotic Good/Neutral realm of the sympathetic Blood Knight. They fight all day, drink and party all night, and if they die, they are revived the next day to fight again. Basically, think Vikings but without the evil.
  • Hobgoblins are this too but in a different way than orcs. They focus on collective martial prowess and victory rather than raving like madmen.
  • A number of demons, such as armanites and bulezaus, are vicious fighters who eagerly attack anything they encounter and turn on each other if no better target presents itself. More powerful demons find them useful as shock troops, as they're often brave to the point of insanity and terrifyingly savage.
  • Warblades, from the Book of Nine Swords, revel in melee and seek, above all else, to gain glory from combat.
  • Exalted:
    • After the end of the Primordial War, a Solar general despaired at the thought of peace because of strongly he had defined himself in the war he had been created to fight. After the minor wars of consolidation that followed the victory failed to satisfy him, he went directly to the Primordials' prison-world, deliberately forgoing any protection, to look for a fight. He got precisely what he wanted, and spent most of the High First Age happily rampaging his way through Hell.
    • Slayers among Green Sun Princes are well-known for this. Their patron defines the smoldering rage that burns the world with overwhelming power.
    • The Valor virtue effectively judges just how much of a blood knight you are. At higher levels, it can be called upon to let you wreak havoc against your foes... but the higher it is, the harder it becomes to turn down a challenge or ignore the chance to do battle.
  • Fate of the Norns: Ragnarok: The only way to escape the Crapsack World of pre-Ragnarok Midgard is to die gloriously in battle in order to be resurrected as an immortal warrior, to drink and fight every day until the end. Needless to say, the world is full of Blood Knights.
  • Games Workshop: Warhammer, Warhammer: Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000 feature several species and factions who exhibit this trope to varying degrees.
    • The Orcs/Orks were genetically engineered by a precursor race for the specific purpose of being tireless warriors and killers, and will gleefully fight anything, themselves included if there's a good fight to be had from it. Orks actually need fights like a human needs exercise; in one book an Ork Boy imprisoned and kept for study gradually wastes away and even develops a prominent gut. Orks can have their brains replaced with that of a face-eater squig, a mindlessly violent eating machine incapable of experiencing pain or fear — and their comrades may not even notice the change. That part about them needing fights to stay in shape cannot be understated — the Orks were originally a far more impressive warrior race called the Krorks. Not being in constant warfare against opponents as formidable as the ones they were created to fight in the first place (namely the Necron Empire and the C'tan at their peak) has led to them degenerating into the far weaker Orks.
    • Worshippers of Khorne qualify partially — but their main interest is spilling blood and spreading death and mayhem in Khorne's name, not in the quality of the battle. After all, "Khorne cares not from whence the blood flows, as long as it flows" — they've been known to kill themselves if they run out of other victims to kill. Notably, the quote is interpreted differently Depending on the Writer. Those trying to make Chaos a bit less of a mustache-twirling For the Evulz villain go for the full trope, so that the "from whence the blood flows" quote refers to Khorne not caring which particular faction bleeds, only about the skill level of your opponent. Decapitating a fellow Chaos Champion is just pleasing to Khorne as slaying an Imperial hero while killing a lowly cultist or citizen barely gets His attention. It ultimately comes across as a Zig-Zagging Trope — while Khorne enjoys any and all bloodshed, he dislikes cowards and weaklings and prefers the slaughter of strong warriors and worthy opponents.
    • The appropriately named Skulltaker, the highest ranking of Khorne's lesser daemons is this trope personified. His sole reason for existence is to look for the greatest warriors and fight them in hand-to-hand combat. If he wins (and he usually does) he'll rip the foe's head off and attach the skull into his cloak.
    • The Dwarfs are an interesting example. Left to their own devices, they'd be more than happy to live a peaceful life mining rare minerals and turning them into impressive works of craftsmanship. However, they are also obsessed with grudges; any wrong against the Dwarfen people are recorded in the Great Book of Grudges, and the pursuit of revenge is essentially a religious sacrament. The Warhammer universe being what it is, the Dwarfs are wronged very often and so the Book is more than a little full. As such, the Dwarfs glorify battle because they believe they're always in the right. Slayers exhibit this in a different way because it's not a question of thrills: seeking out the biggest and meanest foe you can think of and fighting it is essentially the Dwarfs' form of honorable suicide.
    • Blood Dragon vampires subvert this; they're trying to emulate the first Blood Dragon Abhorash, who defeated a dragon and drank its blood, permanently quenching his bloodthirst. The Blood Dragons have the goal of becoming great enough fighters to do the same, meaning that their constant fighting actually has the ultimate goal of allowing them to stop killing people. In the newer edition, they're available only in squads of lesser vampires actually known as Blood Knights.
    • Dark Eldar Incubi are essentially a dark reflection of the Aspect Warriors and are essentially entirely built around this trope. The Incubi don't fight for any higher cause, or even to improve their skills or find a worthy opponent. They fight for the sole purpose of killing, and everything else they do is to make them more efficient killers. Ironically, the Incubi are actually the most trustworthy of the Dark Eldar, as they don't care for things like wealth and political power and therefore have no reason to betray their employer (in fact, they apparently have a code of honor forbidding them from doing that), making them popular bodyguards for Dark Eldar Archons.
    • While the Imperium's soldiers are generally better described as Church Militant, the fact that many in-universe statements, prayers, and sermons seem to consider warring against their enemies to be a way of worshiping the God-Emperor means that it can get kind of confused at times.
    • In the previous edition of the Chaos codex, Lucius the Eternal used to lower his stats in-game if he fought an unworthy opponent, and raise his stats if he found a worthy one. He also takes a memento of people who defeat him and take pride in it by fusing their souls to his armor.
    • Plenty of Space Marine chapters have this as their quirk. The Manticores, Carcharodons, Executioners, Mortifactors, Space Wolves (some of them, at least), Black Templars, Knights of Blood, Flesh Tearers and Angels Encarmine, to name but a few.
    • The Minotaurs, a chapter that actually specializes in fighting other Space Marines. Because what is a worthier opponent for a Space Marine than another Space Marine?
    • Witch Elves of the Dark Elves are this trope, as well as Khainites in general. As the brides of the Elven god of war, murder, pain, suffering, and bloodshed in general, they go in a drug-induced frenzy and rush into battle with a flurry of attacks. Oh, and to make sure they kill something, they use poisons. Even other Khainites are not too terribly sane as their Khaineite rule prevents non-Khainite characters from joining them, as no one trusts them.
    • Drazhar (which means 'Living Sword') is such an extreme example of this that he unnerves even the other Dark Eldar Incubi. Drazhar just showed up one day, killed a Hierarch to prove his prowess, and is now The Thing That Would Not Leave. He hasn't even taken an official position in the Incubi hierarchy despite being more than qualified to be a Hierarch. He shows no ambition whatsoever and exists solely to kill. Nobody knows anything concrete about him, though rumors abound that he is actually the fallen Eldar Phoenix Lord Ahrha.
    • The twelfth legion of the Space Marines, once known as the War Hounds and now better known as the World Eaters, fought with a ferocity that reminded the Emperor of the white war hounds employed by a warrior tribe on Terra (hence the name). They became even more extreme examples after their Primarch Angron had the Butcher's Nails copied and implanted in most of their heads. The Nails made it so that rampant fighting and bloodshed were the only things that could grant them satisfaction. Small wonder this was the legion that would pledge themselves to Khorne during the Heresy.
  • GURPS gives us the Bloodlust disadvantage, and with it rules to handle playing a Blood Knight character.
  • Mage: The Awakening: The Adamantine Arrows believe that reality expresses itself most profoundly through conflict (Existence is War) and so believe that conflict is the most viable path to enlightenment. They thus seek to become the ultimate warriors by honing their minds, bodies, and souls (The Supernal is the Self) and training themselves in as many methods of combat as possible (Adaptability is Strength), then engaging in as much conflict as possible. However, they also believe that conflict is meaningless unless the warrior is fighting for an individual, office, organisation, or cause (Service is Mastery) and adopts some manner of a code of honor (Enlightenment is Honor). The Arrow Sourcebook notes that in virtually every war in history, there were Arrows fighting for both sides, and includes an example of a character who was on both sides of the Vietnam War.
  • In Nomine: Calabim motivations are fairly straightforward: they like breaking things and they like hurting people, and they need very little encouragement to indulge in either activity.
  • Pathfinder:
    • The chaotic neutral god Gorum, god of strength, battle, and weapons. His followers are almost entirely all Blood Knights of one kind or another.
    • Many half-orcs are also Blood Knights, to the point where a large group of them have formed their own Gorumite sect claiming Gorum is, in fact, the first Half-orc ever, and the reason he's always seen with steel armor covering all of his body is to hide his true appearance from human Gorumites, who wouldn't be able to handle his true appearance.
    • Downplayed with leaf leshys. They're some of the most combat-happy of their kind, and spend much of their free time engaging in extensive mock battles and duels. However, they're quite aware that real battles are not games, and act much cautiously and strategically during true combat.
  • Rocket Age: Maduri males are bred to be savage and recklessly brave. They often charge into suicidal situations and rarely take prisoners.
  • Werewolf: The Forsaken has the Blood Talons, who consider the "hunter" aspect of a werewolf's existence the most important part. Almost all of their rituals involve someone's ass being kicked. Their extra part of the Oath of the Moon forbids them from surrendering in a fight unless they would make the offer to their opponent in similar circumstances.

    Theater 
  • Tybalt from Romeo and Juliet is one: During the opening fight scene, he states that he hates two things: peace and Montagues. At the party, he asks a page boy who is carrying his rapier to give it to him so he can kill Romeo, although he is stopped by Lord Capulet. And he swordfights with Mercutio even when Benvolio tries to negotiate.

    Visual Novels 
  • Uruka and Takios in Aselia the Eternal - The Spirit of Eternity Sword. The former is rather honorable and the latter is something of a worthy opponent. Both of them serve as The Dragon to other villains. Uruka later makes a heel face turn and admits that while she really likes fighting, she hates killing.
  • The Longinus Dreizehn Orden from Dies Irae is absolutely loaded with these kinds of people, be it serial killers or war criminals, the majority of them want nothing more than endless war and bloodshed. Perhaps exemplified best with their leader, Reinhard Heydrich, whose driving motivation is to find a worthy foe that can fight with him on equal terms as well as having the secondary goal of creating a new natural law where everything will be nothing but eternal warfare and strife.
  • Lancer in Fate/stay night embodies this trope. He has no interest in the Holy Grail, only in beating the crap out of the other heroes in a good fight. Unfortunately, his Master does not share his Blood Knight tendencies, so there are only a few moments he can fight on his fullest and enjoy the fight. Assassin also qualifies, with his sole interest being matching blades with a Worthy Opponent, but as he's stuck in one place the entire time, he has to wait for people to come to him.
    • Fate/Grand Order implies that this is a trait shared by all Celtic heroes (the aforementioned Lancer among them... his True Name is Cú Chulainn). The Celts are portrayed as a warrior people who relish combat and live for the thrill of fighting a powerful foe. This mostly doesn't apply, however, to Celts whose characterization is based on later Medieval romances — i.e., Fate/stay night's main heroine, Saber and some characters from Arthurian mythology, as they're usually shown as chivalrous knights who may take satisfaction from honorable duels, but fight with higher goals in mind.
    • From the aforementioned game, we have Han Xin. Despite his eccentricies, he's an incredibly talented commander that loves war and bloodshed, to the point that the Emperor had to put him in cryostasis during periods of peace. Strangely, Han Xin himself is fine with this arrangement: he genuinely thinks that a peaceful world is overall better for the people (just not for himself), and therefore sealing away a warmonger like himself is a valid choice.
  • Momoyo from Majikoi! Love Me Seriously! is impossibly strong and easily one of the most, if not the most powerful character in the entire series and only gets stronger as she grows older. This proves to be a tremendous asset when helping the rest of her True Companions tackle whatever villain they're currently facing but also gives her a growing blood lust that can only be satiated by battling strong opponents. As Momoyo grows stronger, fewer and fewer characters prove capable of fulfilling this urge, which leads to the central conflict of her route.
  • In Slay the Princess, some of the incarnations of Princess are really interested in fighting you, to the point that it overrides their desire to be freed from the cabin.
    • If you openly challenge the Princess to a fight and end it with a Mutual Kill, she will manifest as the Adversary in Chapter II, with her being obsessed with fighting you forever. Her combat obsession will eventually lead to you and her becoming unable to stay dead, as you both rise Back from the Dead over and over and over again, locked in eternal fight. But if you forego brute force in favor on trying to keep your body alive, she'll be disappointed and will crush your head, returning in Chapter III as the more monstrous version of herself, dubbed "Eye of the Needle", descending further into bloodlust, even ditching her Fair-Play Villain traits in favor of pure combat.
    • As the Razor, the Princess is more interested in killing you over and over again just to see your reaction. However, she's still excited at the prospect of confronting you over and over again, and if you put up a good fight, she'll react with fascination, pleased by the new experience.
  • Ittosai from Yo-Jin-Bo loves fighting and killing, walking the line between this and Psycho for Hire.

    Web Animation 
  • Dreamscape: Jasmine shows signs of this. She's the one who suggests the group have their own tournament just for fun in 'An Unofficial Tournament', and she isn't afraid to pull out the big guns in said friendly competition.
    • Pita likes seeing his opponents in pain, especially if he is the one to dish it out.
  • DSBT InsaniT: Fighting is the one thing that actually livens Killer up, and he is very good at it. The more brutal the fight, the better.
  • In Homestar Runner, Strong Bad's anime alter ego, Stinkoman, is a good example of a (comedic, and not very bloody) Blood Knight; he's always "looking for a challenge".
  • In Lackadaisy, Marigold Gang's Louisiana Cajun Hired Guns Nico and Serafine relish a good fight and gleefully anticipate and laugh their way through a Car Chase Shootout with the whiskey runners horning in on Marigold's territory.
    Nicodeme: Looks like we got some live ones tonight!
    Serafine: Yeah, c'est bon. The chase is the best part!
  • Quirky Misadventures of Soldine the Cyborg:
  • Red vs. Blue has Sarge, who practically delights in the Red/Blue conflict, and is the only one enthusiastic about it and its continuation. On top of this, it's implied that Sarge was an Orbital Drop Shock Trooper during the war.
  • RWBY:
    • Nora Valkyrie is just as enthusiastic about battles as she is about everything else. Her response to being launched into a monster-infested forest is to smile.
    • Yang Xiao Long is a deconstruction of this trope. She admits that she's a thrill seeker who wants to travel the world and find exciting fights. Being a Huntress enables her to do that. As a result, instead of just entering a mob bar to find out what the bar owner knows about someone she's looking for, Yang deliberately antagonises the man and then fights all of his thugs, tearing up the bar in the process. Even her Semblance reflects her fight-happy personality — the more injured she gets, the more powerful her attacks become. However, this means she voluntarily leaves herself wide-open to attacks and her manner of fighting is extremely predictable. As a result, in Volume 3, the villains set her up to trigger their invasion: on international television, she is framed as apparently attacking a defeated and helpless tournament opponent, which triggers a global spike in negative emotions that enable the Creatures of Grimm, who are attracted by negative emotion, to attack humanity in force; this also brings her school, and its headmaster, into disrepute. At the height of the invasion, she attempts to save Blake from Adam Taurus by recklessly striking out, only for Adam to cut off her right arm with but a single stroke. She spends the whole of Volume 4 coming to terms with her defeat, PTSD, and discussing the consequences of this trope with her mentor and father. When she returns to the front lines in Volume 5, she's become a calmer, wiser fighter who is more interested in fighting to protect than in thrill-seeking.
    • Ruby Rose is a downplayed example. She wants to become a Huntress because she wants to protect people and, as she once tells the Beacon Academy headmaster, "if you're going to help people, you may as well make a career out of it". She has an instinctive talent for fighting and is a self-confessed "dork" when it comes to weapons. She designed her over-the-top weapon, a scythe that can also transform into a sniper rifle, and her first reaction to spotting a herd of giant Goliaths is "Let's kill it!"; when her friend Nora Valkyrie, who is also a Blood Knight, tells her to wait for them to arrive before she starts killing all the Grimm that are attacking a village, Ruby surveys the sheer amount of creatures and grins widely as she tells them they better hurry up, then charges in to take on the creatures alone. Ruby has silver eyes, which is a very rare trait on the world of Remnant. A legend so ancient most people haven't even heard of it states that anyone who is born with silver eyes has the power to kill the Grimm with a single glance; they are destined to lead the life of a warrior and become the greatest of all fighters. Ruby has manifested the power, she has no control over it, and, while the legend implies that she is born to fight and will know no other life, her enjoyment of fighting seems to be entirely her own.
    • While Tyrian Callows primarily loves killing and maiming, the look on his face whenever he realizes he's faced with a challenge is pure glee. When Jaune tells him that his group will fight him to prevent him from taking Ruby, he emphatically states "Good!" and when Qrow shows up to rescue them before Ruby can be stabbed, Tyrian looks thrilled.
    • The Headmaster of Shade Academy, Theodore, turns out to be one. In sharp contrast to his fellow Headmasters, Theodore has boundless energy and a childlike enthusiasm when it comes to testing his strength against others. He starts out school assemblies by challenging his students to spar with him, going so far as to suggest he'll hand his job over to anyone that manages to beat him. Around the world, Vacuo's eccentric Headmaster has a reputation as the strongest of the four Headmasters, essentially ruling over a brutal kingdom where Asskicking Leads to Leadership. Theodore's love for fighting extends to the point of getting distracted when he comes upon one of his teachers fighting with a trio of students — instead of intervening to stop what is clearly a strange situation, he stands on the sidelines and cheers them on.

    Webcomics 
  • Akuma's Comics: Most characters considered "Warriors" are characters who tend to fit the mold of "living for the fight". The titular Akuma may not be as extreme an example as his namesake, but he still loves a good fight.
  • The titular Mons of Battle Kreaturez are designed for combat and enjoy it too, to the point where they become miserable if they go for too long without a fight.
  • Yatta-Ta of The Challenges of Zona is, in part, a parody of this.
  • In Circumstances of the Revenant Braves, both Mecha and by extension Sol are blood knights. Though in the latter's case, it's not necessarily by choice.
  • Capcom from Consolers loves fighting and challenging other companies to a friendly fight. She regularly fights her good friend Namco, who she considers a rival.
  • Skoll of Cry 'Havoc' is a mercenary who enjoys her job, and welcomes being a werewolf as a chance to fight more.
  • In El Goonish Shive, judging from the way he seems to really enjoy fighting the Golem, Magus seems to be this.
  • Naomi from The Far Side of Utopia is a pretty normal happy girl. Then you give her any excuse to start punching things. She seems to enjoy it more than a little too much.
  • Girl Genius has the Jägermonsters: Blood Knight Super Soldiers frequently slipping into Cloudcuckoolander territory. With nice hats.
    • Bangladesh Dupree is an Ax-Crazy example. And expects the same from others. Though she's aware enough to specify if "a town really needed burning" or if this time she didn't kill anyone.
    • Captain Vole, who is so bloodthirsty that the other Jägermonsters kicked him out. He initially joins up with Gil because the latter beat the crap out of him multiple times, but then makes it clear he is now perfectly willing to go with him simply because the ensuing civil war will be one of the most glorious things in history. He seems to have lost these tendencies, however, after an incident during his retrieval from a time-stop caused him to age hundreds of years in seconds. It's unknown if it's him being Older and Wiser or if the trauma of that stint, which he described as a hundred-year nightmare, traumatized him off bloodshed.
    • Klaus also has a bit of this trope, though in his case it's not so much a love of fighting that drives him as nostalgia for the simpler time when he was the Heterodyne Boys' Token Evil Teammate, and all the problems he faced could be solved through straightforward application of ray gun, sword or boot.
  • Sa Paecheon from Gosu revels in the thought of battling and defeating strong opponents in his single-minded pursuit for power.
  • Homestuck:
    • Jack Noir is implied to be this. He's compelled by general bloodlust, but he seems invariably drawn to fights that will challenge him most.
    • Ironically subverted for Karkat, whose Sgrub title is "Knight of Blood". He's anything but this. The title is still appropriate, just not by human standards. His entire species has been in perpetual conflict because they use blood color to define their caste system, so anything related to blood without specifying color has to do with the unity of the race. And indeed, he's the one most often struggling to keep his teammates from infighting.
    • The B2 session has Caliborn, one of two individuals who regularly contact the post-Scratch kids. He wants to get into the game seemingly just so he could satisfy his bloodlust, and he turns it into a competition between himself and Calliope to the point where he relishes the idea of outright killing her.
  • Galavant from Invincea and the Warriors from Hell is a powerful warrior, constantly seeking out a fair fight and though he is often disappointed by the opponents presented to him he always remains optimistic that he will find a worthy foe. Well, aside from Hadinn.
  • For literal knights, there are the Knights Belligerent of Kill Six Billion Demons. Their creed includes such cheery elements as "If it has a pulse, remove its skull!" and "Let us cut God to see if he bleeds!" They worship Jagganoth, one of the seven "New Gods", who happens to be an Omnicidal Maniac.
  • Zavier from Messenger enjoys killing outsiders, and can't even begin to consider the possibility of coexisting with them. He also hates Akiara, calling her a traitor for running away, and so is considering ways to kill her, even though he was ordered to bring her back alive.
  • Ramael from Misfile is a former angel of vengeance who, after killing two would-be rapists, admits that he finds it addictive.
  • MS Paint Masterpieces:
    • Quick Man, who LAUGHS when he is defeat and in pain.
      Reader: Excited when we lose, grumpy when we win. That's Quick Man.
    • Allegro, the eponymous Greatest Killer, also falls into this.
  • Nahast: Lands of Strife gives us Thunder the warrior spirit.
  • Jane Doe of Nobody Scores! enjoys a bare-fisted beatdown win, lose or draw. Any excuse or none, or even if she has no idea what's going on, Jane is down for a punch-up.
    Jane: A six-on-one climactic battle! You guys kick ass!
  • The Order of the Stick:
    • Belkar, the Token Evil Teammate, is this. Just look!
    • Tarquin, Elan's father, has shades of this as well. Just note his response when attacked by the entire Order, sans Vaarsuvius.
  • Vesper from Plume exhibits all signs of a Blood Knight in the making, from the apparent ease with which she takes to killing to her clear enjoyment of the whole thing.
    Vesper: But God help me, killing is therapeutic.
  • Questionable Content: Punchbot is one of the fixtures in Northampton's underground robot brawl scene. Outside the ring, he is polite, non-confrontational and a pretty great guy (he even has a day job as an accountant) but he also gets positively giddy at the chance to fight a new opponent, and thanks a combat AI for picking him up and smashing him into a wall.
  • Schlock Mercenary:
    • Most of the mercenaries are Private Military Contractors because of the money, their severe personality dysfunctions, a legally awkward situation in UNS space, or some combination of the above. Schlock, on the other hand, views the money as a nifty bonus that can be converted into Ovalkwik, guns, or both, and actively looks for the chance to get involved in carnage. It might be because amorphs don't really die, just get absorbed into the others, or it might just be because he's kind of nutty.
      Schlock: With these, I could have put a five-millimeter pulse bolt of plasma through Snipey McWipey's scope and into his brain. One shot, no collateral damage.
      Kevyn: But that's not what you would have done. If you'd had plasma cannons you would have hit his window with a two-meter blast, vaporizing him and setting the room on fire. Am I right?
      Schlock: Okay, that does sound like it would have been more fun for me.
    • Tenzy, too. Admittedly, a robot that started life as a heavily modified gun has low odds of becoming a committed pacifist.
      Ennesby: I can see why Urtheep Industries doesn't want you running around loose.
      Tenzy: Eventually, they'll come after me.
      Ennesby: You're using the happy voice when you say that, and it's creeping me out.
  • Sleepless Domain: Sally, Team Alchemical's excitable Fiery Redhead, gets very enthusiastic about fighting monsters. To a lesser extent, the quiet Gwen also appreciates a good fight, though she's less up-front about it than Sally. At one point, after Sylvia delivers the results of her aerial reconnaissance, the team leader Tessa prepares to move out, only to realize that Sally and Gwen had already left as soon as Sylvia mentioned a location.
  • Stand Still, Stay Silent: Sigrun. While she's pragmatic and tries to avoid trolls if she can, she clearly likes having a good fight when she gets the opportunity. When the crew has to get rid of a water troll via getting in stranded on land, she mentions that she chose to not go into seafaring because she doesn't like this method and prefers killing trolls and beasts with her own hands.
  • Played straight by Star Impact's Etna, who even remarks as such toward the end of her Chapter 3 title match to her challenger, Ponpon, right after getting pounded:
    Etna: This is it, Ponpon... THIS IS WHAT I LIVE FOR!!!
  • Hector, a Psycho for Hire from The Story of Anima. He chews his opponent out for being boring simply because they opened with a blow aimed at his neck, which would've ended things before they got to fight.
  • The Red-Haired Swordsman in TwoKinds, whose war cry is "In the Name of Meaningless Battle!!!".
  • Weak Hero:
    • Not only does Wolf love fighting, but the thrill of the battle might be the only thing he loves; whenever he isn't fighting, he's thoroughly disinterested in the world around him, regarding it all with half-masted boredom. It's because of this that he doesn't hate Gray after losing to him, because Gray actually gave him a decent fight.
    • Gray doesn't start out with a thirst of blood, but after nearly losing to Wolf he focuses so much on improving his fighting skills that he begins to anticipate the next challenge. His stoicism breaks for a second when Jake pinpoints his newfound bloodlust.
    • Dongha always seems to be spoiling for a fight, or at least itching to cause some sort of trouble. One chapter has him get tired of the posturing between rival schools, so he sprints down the hill to the basketball court where the standoff is happening, punches a dude in the face, then sprints back up the hill when the two sides start fighting. All the while with a look of joy on his face.
    • Robin Ha is a street fight addict, according to Grapes. When he's first introduced, he's hounding some strangers on the street for a fight.
  • In Yokoka's Quest, Yokoka begins turning into this after her training in the underground village, wanting to get into fights for fun, despite advice to the contrary.
  • Zokusho Comics: Serge really seems to enjoy shooting people. Raziel is also pretty gleeful at the thought of a fight.

    Web Original 
  • The aptly-named War from Fallout Is Dragons. After the heroes killed him, he turned down a resurrection on the grounds that he would probably never find such a thrilling fight again.
  • Jiang Wei in Farce of the Three Kingdoms. He refuses to stop fighting Wei, even as he fails time after time and bankrupts the country.
  • In If the Emperor Had a Text-to-Speech Device, the Big Bad of the first season, Lord Inquisitor Fyodor Karamazov, believes that there is no such thing as innocence and will gleefully bathe a whole world in blood, fire or both if he suspects it of heresy. It doesn't help that he's confident that he's the only person who knows what the real truth is and won't accept the possibility that he may be wrong.
  • Life SMP:
    • As a whole, Cleo loves fighting and is a ruthless fighter who thrives on chaos. Whenever she goes down to her final life, it results in a Mass "Oh, Crap!" almost every time because she becomes positively unhinged and does not hold back.
    • Also as a whole, in just about every season, Joel has led the charge on enemy factions or those with more lives than him.
      • In Limited Life (Season 4), Joel is pretty much the only guy on the server who wants to be the Boogeymannote  from the start so he can murder someone, and is disappointed when he doesn't get the role on Day 1. Come Day 2, and he's ecstatic to be cursed with the bloodlust geas.
      • In Secret Life (Season 5), he makes multiple comments during the Zombie Apocalypse event on Day 7 about wanting to go and fight the Infected instead of holing up with the rest of the Survivors and eventually does so. While this does lead to his death and infection, he's not too torn up about it and subsequently leads many of the charges against the rest of the Survivors rather gleefully.
    • In 3rd Life (Season 1), on his last life, Skizz openly talks about his bloodlust for others, which only strengthens after killing two people on Day 7. This becomes one of the factors that leads to him being Killed Off for Real at the end of Day 7.
  • Golgotha from Noob gets bored if she has to do a quest without any battles and frustrated if battles happen but are too short.
  • SCP Foundation:
    • SCP-076-2 seems to see combat as the only worthwhile pursuit in life and agreed to work with the Foundation instead of slaughtering them because he realized it could provide him with more dangerous creatures to fight. Backfired on the Foundation immensely when he got bored. He slaughtered his way through countless Foundation agents in what is currently the worst breach the Foundation has experienced so far.
    • Dr. Kondraki displays in the "Duke 'Til Dawn" tale; an extended Indy Ploy involving him decommissioning the old SCP-083, resulting in a multi-containment breach and protracted fight throughout the facility, all to achieve his true goal: riding 682 like a mechanical bull.
  • In the web serial Stone Soul, there are several characters that fit this trope, all of whom are from the Ovleni culture. However, they do not simply love to fight. The Ovleni culture is quite fixated on experienced the most amazing and intense sensations that can be found. In the serial, the "ultimate experience" they are usually after involves battle-axing people in the face. However the use of psychoactive plants is also featured heavily, and battle and hallucinogens are also combined in some instances in pursuit of the ultimate experience.
  • Survival of the Fittest:
    • Vesa Turunen of version two shows signs of this in his death scene, even believing that his death at the hands of Damien Carter-Madison was honorable enough to make up for his past mistakes and allow him to get into Valhalla. Version three character Adam Reeves, while mostly a Social Darwinist Jerk Jock, also has a few Blood Knight tendencies, as while he enjoys tormenting his weaker classmates and pushing them around he enjoys fighting the ones brave enough to push back even more.
    • Tyler Lucas from version 5 is also heavily implied (and confirmed by Word of God) to be one. He's known for starting physical altercations with the other students, seemingly because he enjoys the very act of fighting with others.
    • V6's Junko Kurosawa is described as someone who was an adrenaline junkie prior to the game. It's implied on a few occasions (and also confirmed) that fighting her classmates and being in danger gives her a buzz. This proves to be her undoing, as she attacks a friend over a misunderstanding, forcing him to shoot her. It's okay though: the experience gave her such an intense rush she simply smiles and gives a thumbs up before bleeding out.
  • Whenever Technoblade is in a PVP tournament or challenge, he always thrives for kills and win streaks, to the point that "Blood for the Blood God" is considered one of his Character Catchphrases for good reason.
  • Many characters in This Is War, ranging from simply enjoying combat to enjoying the feeling of winning a fight to grimly enjoying killing a particular species, it's all there.
  • Helen from Twig is this by design as an Artificial Human whose primary driving feeling is bloodlust, maintaining her relationships with the rest of the Lambsbridge Gang primarily because if she could crawl inside of them to feel the insides of their skin they'd be dead, and she doesn't want that.
  • AJ from Twitch Plays Pokémon Crystal has occasionally been written like this, as has his direct successor Camila A Slash — though while AJ is definitely in it for the fighting and vengeance, Camila's motivations for her violent streak are a little hazier.
  • YouTube personality Vaush is a non-physical example: he really likes to debate as well as make... err... reviews of horrible videos (usually made by Neo-Nazis and the like) where he criticizes and makes fun of them.
  • Zanthosus, Sonikdude, and Xbaxman from Water Glass Gaming are this when playing Burnout Revenge. The video in question is titled "Soccer Mom Massacre". They claim to have killed a soccer mom on her way to pick up her son from practice, a prostitute down the street that got impaled with some car shrapnel, Mr. Miyagi, a drug dealer, and Mr. Smith who was coming home from work to his wife when he got killed.
  • In the Whateley Universe stories, there's Counterpoint. He's a power mimic, among other powers, so whatever you've got, he's got too (within limits). He's regarded around campus as pretty psycho since all he wants to do is find worthy opponents and fight them. If he loses, he comes back and tries again. And again. And...he isn't interested in killing people, just beating them. It looks like Counterpoint might be the avatar (or something) of the Greek god Ares, so that actually makes sense.
  • Worm:
    • Taylor is not a combat monster, but she is a strategic genius who specializes in controlling the battlefield and developing strategies, and it's been suggested by at least one of her close friends that she lives for moments of great danger, when she is outnumbered and outgunned and the world is at stake, at least partially because that's when she's at her best.
    • Crawler, of the Slaughterhouse 9, is known to actively seek out anything that can give him a challenge or possibly harm him. This is mainly because his superpower is he heals from any damage done to him, stronger and more immune to whatever hurt him. He's been in so many battles that very few things can harm him anymore, and he gets excited whenever he finds something that can, because it means he can grow even stronger.

    Western Animation 
  • Finn the Human of Adventure Time once entered into a battle arena he knew to be a trap just so he could fight gladiator ghosts.
  • Polly from Amphibia has shown many signs of being a Blood Knight from being eager to get into danger as well getting into fights more often than Anne or her brother despite only being a pollywag. In one instance, she even freely gave weapons when a fight between the frogs, toads, and newts was about to start.
  • Binky Barnes from Arthur was hinted to have shades of this in one episode. During a summer workshop session, he and Sue Ellen competed in a karate match, and he manages to win against Sue Ellen, only for him to be upset that she lost due to realizing that she didn't even bother to try and beat him (due to thinking from one of Francine's sister's teen magazines that kids hate people who are exceptionally skilled), sending him into a deep amount of depression, which was only cured when Sue Ellen managed to actually defeat him in karate after getting her act together.
  • Toph Beifong from Avatar: The Last Airbender is a short, blind girl who routinely (and gleefully) kicks the asses of grown men almost three times her size. When she tells her parents about this, she states that she loves fighting and being an Earthbender and that she's really good at both.
  • In Ben 10: Ultimate Alien, Ben and Gwen's cousin Sunny only decides it's fun being around them once she gets to fight. Ben is also eager to get into fights for him to go alien and beat up bad guys...a desire that's amplified even further if the alien he turns into happens to be Rath.
  • Vinnie from Biker Mice from Mars once explained there is no fun in a fair fight… as in, a fight he and his bros have a fair chance at winning.
  • Castlevania (2017):
    • Trevor Belmont has two great skills in life (drinking and fighting The Legions of Hell as a Vampire Hunter) and he enjoys both. It's especially evident when fighting monsters like the Cyclops, Minotaur and other beasts as Trevor cracks a smile and will happily kill things with just a stick.
    • Godbrand The Brute from Dracula's army, a Viking vampire that loves hunting, killing, having sex and turning human beings into boats. At one point Godbrand has a blissful flashback-dream where he butchers a bunch of "livestock" and actually drools with pleasure, of course when Dracula makes it clear he intends to murder all humans and leave no fresh blood supply, Godbrand takes issue with it.
    • Dracula himself was shown to be this in a flashback to "simpler times", where he happily slaughters a town full of merchants and toys with them; in one instance he beheads a man and treats his blood like it's shampoo. It's a mark of how much Dracula mellowed after meeting Lisa, that he no longer takes any pleasure in bloodshed at all and even starves himself.
  • Numbuh Four from Codename: Kids Next Door suggests we beat the crud out of those Delightful dorks!
  • Manny Rivera's mother Maria in her alter ego Plata Peligrosa from El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera. She is reluctant to use the glove that gives her powers because it makes her very bloodthirsty. At first, El Tigre enjoys fighting crime with her, but once they run out of criminals to fight, she releases them from prison so she can fight them again.
  • Fangbone!: As a Proud Warrior Race of Barbarian Tribes, this applies to all Skullbanians, including Fangbone himself. Some however take it to another level, like the legendary warrior Hammerscab, who was so bloodthirsty she was abandoned by her entire clan for constantly picking fights for the sheer sake of it and now roams Skullbania on a constant search for the strongest opponents to defeat in battle.
  • Gravity Falls: Both of the show's Action Girls, Mabel Pines and Wendy.
    Mabel: Alright, here's the plan. I'll take out those two guard guys, you karate chop the other dude in the neck and then we'll back flip through the front door!
    Wendy: Finally! A place where I can be violent with zero repercussions!
  • Justice League Hawkgirl: "Less talking, more hitting!"
  • Kaeloo: Depending on the episode, Mr. Cat may or may not be one of these. In some episodes, he actually goes out of his way to make people get angry at him so he can have a fight.
  • Hank's father Cotton from King of the Hill loved fighting in World War II and often told others of his actions he would've continued to fight in other wars had the Japanese not blown his shins off, he will still pick fist fights if he feels he has to, usually to defend his honor, he is a formidable fighter for someone of his size and sometimes has to be restrained before he can kill someone if angered enough. Slightly deconstructed in that this eventually has him landed in a mental hospital in one episode.
  • The Legend of Korra:
    • When she's first introduced, Avatar Korra loves to fight and picks battles just for fun. She sees bending as purely a physical skill and ignores the spiritual side of being the Avatar. Character Development sets in slowly but surely, however, and over the course of the series, she mellows out and becomes a great deal more diplomatic.
    • On a more sinister note, there's the Book 3 waterbender villainess Ming-Hua and her recurring habits of threatening everyone and grinning evilly in battle.
  • Both Mao Mao and Adorabat in Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart really, really love to break stuff. Mao Mao is more of a Glory Seeker about it, while Adorabat is more unnerving...especially since she's, like, five.
    Adorabat: Violence! Woo!
  • In Mega Man, Proto Man seems to only be happy when he's fighting — sometimes, only when it's with Mega Man.
  • Norman in Mighty Max. He eats Blood Knights for breakfast! In one episode, in particular, he responds to all problems with "Want me to break it?"
  • Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Multiple times she has been shown reveling in the idea of battling monsters, and her favorite dream is one where she battles endless hordes of Changelings.
    • Yaks as a race are characterized by these, initially depicted as an annoying habit of theirs before the show focused more on the admirable aspects of it. To outsiders, yaks seem like dumb brutes who only care about breaking things and getting into fights, but through Yona we see a bit more of their nuance.
  • Buttercup of The Powerpuff Girls enjoys fighting the most out of her sisters and will sometimes boast to others of her battles. She also has a habit of sometimes taking it too far and is disappointed when a monster won't fight back. She doesn't take too kindly to the Professor or her sisters being threatened, though. You've been warned.
  • Rick and Morty: Krombopulos Micheal. He just loves killin', no matter who his target is.
  • Samurai Jack: The Ikamandi that Aku hires to capture Jack are this when it comes to hunting; they absolutely love hunting to the point where it is the basis of their entire cultural identity, and they are the best hunters in the galaxy. They refuse to accept money for completing the mission, only agreeing because Aku promised that hunting Jack would be a satisfying endeavor. Of course, Aku also didn't consider the possibility that Jack would prove to be a sufficient enough challenge to the Ikamandi that they would happily let him go out of respect for his skill.
  • She-Ra and the Princesses of Power: Perfuma generally comes across as a hippie-ish New Agey type who believes in the oneness of the universe and all of that, and this is broadly accurate... buuuut she discovers in her introductory episode that she also really loves to use her plant powers to beat up Horde troopers, to the point where she agrees to join the resurgent Princess Alliance because it will give her more opportunities to use flowers as weapons of war.
  • Star Trek: Lower Decks: Lieutenant Shaxs, security chief of the Cerritos. He refers to his security team as the "Bear Pack", throws new recruits into an Unwinnable Training Simulation that consists of a dozen Borg in a boxing ring, begs to be allowed to shoot another ship's warp core (which he has already locked onto) because "I have been very good this month!", and in "No Small Parts" gleefully exclaims that going on a potential suicide mission to infiltrate and disable an enemy ship is the most fun that he's ever had in his life. Given that he is a gray-haired Bajoran, it's probably safe to assume that he got this attitude as part of La Résistance.
  • Star vs. the Forces of Evil: Princess Star Butterfly is an endless fountain of energy who loves fighting monsters. Her friend Marco Diaz was a safety-obsessed kid who thought his life was boring until he got caught up in her adventures. Now he relishes fighting alongside her.
  • Steven Universe: Pearl is this to an extent, having a highly romanticized recollection of her time fighting in the Gem Rebellion. Garnet, whom would be expected to at least have traces of this due to Ruby's personality, averts this trope, reflecting on the war with the attitude of a Shell-Shocked Veteran. Amethyst and Jasper play the trope straighter, as both are more aggressive and enjoy fighting for its own merit. Given the events of "Steven Vs. Amethyst", it's possible that fighting is a natural form of emotional expression/venting/bonding for Quartz gems.
  • The Tick: In the short-lived animated version, the Tick once notably said, "I don't want to stop evil. I just want to fight it!"
  • Transformers has quite a few of these.
    • Dinobot, from the Beast Wars, fits the trope to a tee. He's all about honor and glory and abhors an unfair fight because there's no honor in winning that way. He can't let a "clear out" order by without at least one objection, either.
      Dinobot: I prefer to beat my opponents the old-fashioned way: brutally!
    • There's also Quickstrike, who will fight anyone, anytime, anywhere, while speaking in an incredibly stereotypical cowboy accent.
    • Scourge, from Cybertron, refuses to listen to anyone who won't face him in combat.
    • Sunstreaker from Generation 1 (comics and cartoon) was a Sociopathic Hero version of this, generally willing to run right into a heavily guarded Decepticon outpost and try to outright fight everyone inside at once. He also happens to be a huge Jerkass.
    • The Dinobots in all their incarnations, especially the leader Grimlock who values strength above all else.
    • Megatron in all his incarnations has grand designs to conquer the universe. Destroying Autobots is his greatest joy. He destroys everything he touches because everything is food for his hunger. His hunger for power! Of course, different incarnations are different when it comes to whether or not he loves to smash. Some versions are patient schemers and some versions love to get into the fight personally and smash some Autobots...and if you're a Decepticon, you'd still better stay out of his way when he's in this mood. G1 Megatron interestingly goes through several types over the course of his existence: as Megatron, he's a campy cartoon villain. Upgraded to Galvatron in The Movie, he becomes smart, patient, and using his increased power in conjunction with brains. Processor damage results in Galvatron becoming the biggest Blood Knight in franchise history, all about mad schemes and maximum destruction.
  • Brock Samson from The Venture Bros. vacillates between someone who solves things violently because there is no other way and someone who relishes an opportunity to fling blood across the room. Rarely limits himself to mere incapacitation when dismemberment is an option.
  • Yang from Yin Yang Yo!, whose favorite hobby is to "hit stuff" and even struggles to suppress it at times. Yuck is an evil example since he's gotten his aggression from Yang.
  • Zak Storm: Being a viking, The Big Guy Crogar loves fighting. Unsurprisingly, he is usually the first to rush into battle yelling "Ragnarok!"
  • Zorro: The Chronicles: Antonio Ramirez. The so-called "Maestro" welcomes any opportunity to fight Zorro, if only to prove himself the superior swordsman.

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The Adversary Wants To Fight

The Adversary explains how she wants nothing more than to fight an equal in deadly combat for eternity.

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