"Blade with whom I have lived, blade with whom I now die. Serve right and justice one last time. Seek one last heart of evil, still one last life of pain. Cut well old friend, and then... farewell."
The Skull Knight doesn't do a lot of lady-wooing, preferring to act as a Mysterious Protector to Guts and Casca, but he's perhaps the closest thing so far to a Knight in Shining Armor in the Berserk universe, particularly when he saves Guts and Casca from being finished off by Griffith and the Godhand at the end of the Eclipse. Fan rumor is rampant that the guy is Emperor Gaiseric, the guy who unified Midland, who may have gone through a similar ordeal when Void was incarnated as a Godhand, explaining his stone-cold hate for the Godhand in general. And the guy is a complete Badass to boot.
Griffith, aside from leading a pack of mercenaries, fits this perfectly during the Golden Age arc, making for a nice, juicy Deconstruction.
Mist from Knights does his best at this despite being a Hero with Bad Publicity, as well as being just a squire. He fits the trope better than all the other knights thus far.
Digimon: There is a large group of Digimon called the "Royal Knights". As the name would suggest, they are a group of thirteen (not all of them have been revealed yet, but Word Of God states that there are thirteen members) Mega-level Digimon who all resemble a cross between a classic Knight and a mecha. They are supposedly a group of "good guys" who work for the God of the Digital World, but every one of their appearances so far has introduced them as antagonists of the Knight Templar or brainwashed variety.
It's worth noting that they're not all-exclusive to the group, though. A few of them have been partners to human characters in the series: Taichi and Yamato's Omegamon, and Takato/Guilmon as Dukemon are two good examples. These ones weren't actual members of the Royal Knights, though— they were just the same "species".
In Katekyo Hitman Reborn!, with the way that Tsuna is constantly afflicted with the Dulcinea Effect, the current Arc's Big Bad Byakuran even lampshades this by mocking Tsuna, asking him if he's trying to be Uni's Knight in Shining Armor.
Amati of Spice and Wolf is actually a very successful merchant, but he offers a not-so-small fortune to alleviate the debts of the pagan wolf deity/traveling nun Horo, and rescue her from Lawrence. He'd only seen her twice when he made the decision, and he presents his intention with a written contract and a proclamation in front of a small crowd. Horo points out he's not really in love with her, so much as the idea of rescuing a beautiful Damsel In Distress in a knightly way.
The Black Knight in Marvel Comics is a litteral one.
Comic Strip
In Frank And Ernest, Frank, as a knight, complains of having to dress on a cold morning.
Film
John Boorman's Excalibur takes this pretty literally with Lancelot. In his first scene, his armor is buffed almost to a mirror finish.
In Time Bandits, knights appear in Kevin's bedroom. Then, at the end, one of the sets of champions the dwarfs bring to fight Evil is a group of knights.
William Thatcher in A Knight's Tale is determined to not only be a knight when he is in fact a peasant but to defeat his jousting opponents and win London's World Championship.
Kate and Leopold: Imagine the look on a purse-snatcher's face when Leo rides him down on horseback.
Leopold: I warn you scoundrel, I was trained at the King's Academy and schooled in weaponry by the palace guard. You stand no chance. When you run, I shall ride, when you stop, the steel of this strap shall be lodged in your brain. [bag snatcher throws down the bag and flees, onlookers applaud]
Literature
Female examples: Alanna and Kel in Tamora Pierce's books.
Seen best in Song of the Lioness when Alana and her apprentices have to defend the Bloody Hawk tribe from being attacked.
The Dresden Files: Michael Carpenter, the noble Knight of the Cross, fits this trope to a T. Complete with kevlar-lined shining armour. He even met his wife by saving her from a fire-breathing dragon.
Nope, not a lesser fire-breather. The Fist of God has slain a cosmic deity to save his (future)wife.
Sparhawk, from the David Eddings' Elenium trilogy, 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 Distressed Damsel 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; enameled black.
Played with slightly with Sir Bevier and by extension the rest of the Cyrinic Knights from the same series who are literalKnight 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.
Sir Mandorallen from David Eddings' Belgariad 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. The other characters routinely tended to poke gentle fun of Mandorallen's utter dedication to chivalry. People who met him for the first time kept asking "Is this guy for real?" and "Did he really just charge the enemy? He's going to die!" - "No he isn't. He's Mandorallen."
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 Poul Anderson's Three Hearts And Three Lions, the hero Holger is thrown in a world where the Matter of France, Charlemagne and his paladins, is fact, and both becomes a Knight in Shining Armor and meets up with knights. The three hearts and three lions of the title are the coat of arms on his shield. The Paladin class of Dungeons & Dragons is primarily inspired by the paladins from this story.
Forgotten Realms: There's a rather nice paladin in The Threat from the Sea trilogy (never mind that he once was pious enough to carry the symbol of his divine patron... and then hurl it to sea), but though he eventually acquires a mount (sort of), he never wears heavy armor (after all, he's a seaman). Complemented with the usual Knight in Shining Armor for contrast. There were more traditional stiff ones (including some protagonists) in The Pools trilogy. And now there's Thornhold featuring Knights of Samular who "seems to think that Harpers and Zhents are fit to stew in the same pot" (which seems right to some extent) but seems not to be any less fit for the same pot themselves. Not to mention that they have an agent of a Chaotic Evil church among them. With other "knights" (that is, random heavy cavalrymen) your mileage may vary much, much more.
Dragonlance has the Solamnic knights (see Tabletop RPG's examples below). In particular Sturm Brightblade, who holds to the Oath and Measure upheld by his father, even though he was never actually knighted and most people he knows hold the order in scorn.
A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court: was written as a scathing deconstruction of 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 Fridge Logic), 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 knighly Lancelot of the origial Arthurian canon several times visibly breakes through Twain's cyniciam.
Subverted in Second Apocalypse with Sarcellus, who turns out not to be what he looks like, to say the least.
The Deed Of Paksenarrion: Played straight with the titular character in the trilogy by Elizabeth Moon. Paks is intentionally designed to be a Paladin from Dungeons & Dragons (see below), written after seeing so many Lawful Stupid Paladins at conventions. Also literally true: the armor worn by paladins will gradually become more lustrous whether or not they actively polish it. The gods have decreed that paladins imply shining armor.
The Chivalric RomancesSir Triamour and Erl of Toulouse (among others) revolve about an innocent wife accused of adultery and delivered by a knightly champion.
In Patricia A. McKillip's The Bell At Sealey Head, Princess Ysabo's home also has many knights, and part of her prescribed rituals is to perform certain services for them, filling cups with wine. She is told she must marry one, and when she asks why, he hits her. However, this turn out to be false knights, not even human. The crows she feeds every day as part of the ritual are in fact the true knights, and when restored, they behave in a much more knightly manner.
Discworld: Carrot Ironfounderson is an urbanized version, right down to the well-polished City Watch breastplate.
Costis in The King of Attolia of Megan Whalen Turner's Sounis series. Not only does he have "a sense of honor as wide as a river," but he actually spends quite some time hoping that his armor is shiny enough for the King's critical eye.
Guy Crouchback in Sword Of Honour by Evelyn Waugh consciously sees himself as a throwback to this. As one of the points is that no one else is honorable, perhaps he is also a Knight in Sour Armor. But despite that, he fits the mold.
Frank Yerby's The Saracen Blade describes the hero's friend Gautier of Montrose as "a true knight" and specifically states he was "one of the few" who lived up to the best ideals of knighthood and did a bit to redeem the period from savagery.
As an adaptation of the Arthurian legends, Gerald Morris' The Squire's Tales naturally features this, but Lancelot's character arc actually deconstructs it.
The Knights of Khryl in The Acts of Caine have this reputation as an order, which makes it all the more depressing in that their membership consists of individuals who either count as this, or Knight Templar. Caine Black Knife reveals that Caine himself has a secret admiration for the Knights and their most exemplary members that dates back to the stories he enjoyed as a child. (This is ironic since Caine is a Combat Pragmatist and the Knights' code of honour is a primary cause behind how he spends most of the novel kicking their asses.)
In The Guardians, Hugh was a medieval knight sincerely striving towards honor and chivalry when he met Lilith. She taunts his naivete by nicknaming him "Sir Pup". He was rewarded for his life of honesty with the Gift of lie detection.
Bolo: The eponymous supertanks of Keith Laumer's series are intentionally programmed with this notion in mind.
The Knight In Rusty Armor: The Knight is this twenty four hours a day. Subverted as he only does this because he'll be appreciated by others for it. Indeed, the armor is also a metaphor for hiding one's True Self, and when he sheds it, so he does this trope.
In "Saint George and the Dragon" the knight bade his lady stand apart, out of danger, to watch the fight, while the beast drew near, half flying, half running.
Galahad, from An Elegy For The Still Living initially appears to be one of these. But when the time comes for him to fight the dragon, he reveals that it is unbeatabe and that he only went there to die.
Dalinar from The Stormlight Archive is this to the core, and encourages his eldest son to be. This usually causes him to be regarded as an eccentric or fuddy-duddy by the other characters.
Live Action TV
One is summoned by accident in Charmed, thanks to Paige.
In "The Girl in the Fireplace": The Doctor does a Super Window Jump on a white horse to save the lady from evil. The chivalrous parallel is increased by the fact that in doing so, he's trapping himself in time.
The Doctor takes up a big sword in a duel to decide the fate of Earth as the planet's champion during "The Christmas Invasion".
Sir Thomas Grey, 'Quite the Knight of the Realm' as an outlaw observes in one episode of Covington Cross. Sir Thomas' sons William, Richard and Cedric are aspiring knights - as is his only daughter! On the other hand his eldest son wants to be a cook...
Jon Stewart's sudden appearance on The Colbert Report to save Stephen from utter humiliation at the hands of Conan O'Brien, with the now-famous shout of "Don't you do it, boy!", has been referred to as the 'knight in shining Armani' moment by fans. (Ordinarily, he's much more of a Butt Monkey.)
Bones: Angela refers to Booth as a "knight in shining FBI standard-issue body armor".
Criminal Minds: In the first season finale the Un Sub is suffering from the delusion that Reid and the team are this. It's also been stated in the special features that they attempt to write stories about knights in shining bulletproof vests, and end up with what the show is.
Adam in The Wanderer goes from cutthroat businessman to Knight in Shining Armor in a single episode. Handwaved by the fact he is reverting to the mindset of an earlier incarnation.
Alistair in one episode of As Time Goes By shows up dressed as a Knight in Shining Armor to help him win Judy's affection.
Prince Eric Greystone of Wizards And Warriors (the TV series, not the video games), golden haired and usually clad in gold lame. Honorable to the point of folly - or beyond. His even hunkier brother Prince Justin on the other hand is a total subversion of the Trope.
Lancelot in Merlin, albeit only briefly until he is thrown out for being a commoner. Meanwhile, Prince Arthur is becoming one, and part of the point of the series is Merlin helping Arthur become one.
Although not a literal knight David Shephard in Kings fulfills all the other qualifications and as a soldier could be said to be the modern equivalent of a knight.
Jamie Reagan in Blue Bloods is a cop not a knight but plays to this trope in the sense of dedicating his live to protecting order, being loyal to his family and comrades, helping the helpless and in general putting honorway before reason. And wearing a cool uniform. Call him a Knight in shining blue cloth.
Sheriff Cody Johnson, Brian Thompson's character in the short-lived series Key West, was thoroughly one of these.
It seems to go for the more heavily armored Ranger-like characters, but we'll see if that term continues beyond that series and the next once it comes time to adapt Tensou Sentai Goseiger.
and strives to reach it so he can be a knight in shining armor. Daggeron, the Solaris Knight, fits the bill quite well already, though again, any Ranger tends to. However, Daggeron's the one who gives the most stereotypically "knightly" lines like "I'd rather die with honor than live without it." Noble Demon Koragg, also of knight rank, gives such speeches, but it's actually his true self bleeding through the brainwashing; he actually doesn't want to fight the Rangers at all. Of course, pre-evil Koragg taught Daggeron everything he knows.
In some of the darker stories stories he can come off as more of a Knight in Sour Armor, when dealing with more disgusting individuals his bitterness can shine through.
Music
The song Glory of Love by Peter Cetera
Just like a knight in shining armor From a long time ago Just in time I will save the day Take you to my castle far away.
Tabletop RPG
Dungeons & Dragons: The paladin class was based on Knight in Shining Armor archetype in general and supposedly Three Hearts and Three Lions in particular. Paladins are more like holy crusaders empowered with divine magic, though.
Sturm Brightblade of the Dragonlance D&D saga is the epitome of this trope played straight except for not actually being a knight until shortly before his death. His fellow Knights of Solamnia are not quite so ideal but, with a couple of (important) exceptions, are generally good.
The Player's Handbook II from late in D&D 3rd Edition introduced the knight class, which is a lot like the paladin but without magical abilities. The knight's abilities focus on mounted combat, single combat with an opposing champion, and maintaining honor.
The 1st edition Cavalier class, introduced in that era's Unearthed Arcana, was closer to the "standard" Arthurian knight. For a while, the Paladin class was a subclass of the Cavalier instead of the Fighter.
Paizo's Pathfinder RPG has brought the Paladin full-circle with the "Shining Knight" archetype, complete with bonuses to mounted combat and riding skill.
In Warhammer, all noble Brettonians aspire towards becoming true knights in shining armour. Grail Knights, who have been found pure in heart and soul and blessed by the Lady of the Lake, all qualify for this trope by definition. The Empire also has several noble knightly orders, but their modernization means that the chivalric ideals are not as predominant there as in Brettonia.
Parodied with Sain in , who acts like this just so he can get women. The only result is that his comrade, Kent, repeatedly tells him to drop it and get back to work.
Played straight as an arrow with Seth and Geoffrey.
Chrono Trigger: Cyrus in the English version. His apprentice Glenn takes on traits of this as well along with being a cursed knight. Not in the original Japanese version: Lost in Translation.
Baldur's Gate: The series had a few-brash but idealistic squire Anomen, relentlessly pious and judgmental Ajantis, and the old but still fighting Keldorn. Oddly enough, perhaps the most outspokenly classical example is a female halfling, Mazzy, who comes as close as a halfling can come to a paladin in a Second Edition-based game. The Knights of the Noble Order of Radiant Heart were an entire order of this trope, whom the protagonist could join if s/he was a paladin too.
Ditto Neverwinter Nights 2 with Casavir. Granted, he has all the personality of a brick, but he's a chivalrous paladin nevertheless.
In the first game, Lady Aribeth, Paladin of Tyr, thr god of Justice is a rare female example. Her fall towards evil after seeing the city she had sacrificed so much for execute her fiancé for a crime he is innocent of (he was made a scapegoat and the people condemning him are fully aware of it) as well as the blatant injustice committed in the name of the god of justice is the main plot of the game
As his banters reveal, Keldorn may go closer to Knight in Sour Armor — having been a paladin for longer than the main character has been alive, and he understands full well just how horrid the world can be.
"Knight" is a playable class in The Elder Scrolls. In an expansion pack for the fourth game, the player can found his own holy order of shiny-armored knights.
The Knight class in Runes of Magic is apparently inspired by this trope.
Cecil in Final Fantasy IV. Indeed, his turn from the dark side to this is one of the driving forces behind and most emotionally satisfying part of the overarching plot.
Steiner in Final Fantasy IX, to the point that he makes a clanking sound whenever he walks. He is also chivalrous to a fault, and is torn by his conflicting duties to Queen Brahne and Princess Garnet.
Basch in Final Fantasy XII. Lampshaded when Judge Gabranth wonders, in their final confrontation, how come Basch failed his motherland, and then the kingdom who took him in, but is still the one who keeps his sense of honor of the two.
The Warrior of Light in Dissidia: Final Fantasy takes the trope and runs with it. As does Cecil, but that rather goes without saying.
Ky Kiske from Guilty Gear. Prior to the events of the game, he's the commander who willingly risked his life to save people even if the situation seemed hopeless or even if the person to be saved was questionable. An in XX Ky continues to be a noble public servant as a high ranking police officer. In Overture, his popularity and charisma earns him the position of a king.
Samara in Mass Effect 2, even going so far as to give a Knight Errant (perhaps with a bit of Samurai) as the closest human equivalent to her order. Though she is much more Lawful Neutral than Lawful Good.
Although we all know she is really an Expy for a Jedi.
Alistair, in Dragon Age is mostly this. On top of all that, he's also a Prince Charming, as you learn over the course of the story. Covers a lot of bases, does our boy Alistair.
Something of a subversion is found in Awakening with the Spirit of Justice. A Fade Spirit based on the concept of Justice, it is eventually trapped in the corpse of a Grey Warden named Kristoff. It then joins your party as basically a Knight in Shining ArmorUndead.
Oersted from Live A Live is this trope. Demon-slaying, princess-saving, the whole nine yards. Then, the whole concept is brutally deconstructed.
Balmung of the .Hack// series (all incarnations) is probably one of the straightest examples in quite a while. While the setting of the series is an MMORPG, Balmung specifically investigates circumstances which could easily get him hurt in the real world. However, he has a strong moral code on issues of lesser significance, such as a strong distaste for hacking and player harassment. He also has a penchant for swooping in at the last moment to save other characters:
In Sign, Balmung only appears in one episode, but rushes in to distract the Phase monster so that Subaru and company can escape.
Similarly, Balmung's introduction in the video games has him chasing down another corrupted monster and trying to get Kite and Black Rose to run away.
and in the Legend of Twilight manga, Balmung (Now a sysadmin) swoops down yet again and saves Rena, takes out the data bug, and disappears before they can even find his name. When the people he works for ban him from getting involved in this again, he quits his job and takes up arms on his own.
His status as this in-universe even extends to Newly born AI Aura taking his character template for use as an automated defender of the World.
The Colour Tuesday: Kyle fits this; he only rebels when its clear his sister will die if she does not recieve medicine that he can't leave town for because of an arbitrary law. (Apparently its the wrong "season") He's consistently the most polite and level-headed character, and doesn't think twice about sacrificing his relationship with Alex and his powers to cross the magical flames which separate him and the medicine he carries from his sister. Thankfully this isn't necessary.
Edrick/Loto from Dragon Quest is one of the earliest examples for Japanese RPG history by saving a princess in distress and defeating an evil dragonlord on his own.
Link, while not a knight by job, has been an ideal hero who saves the princess and the land of Hyrule from Evil overlord Ganon since 1986.
Webcomics
Goblins: Big-Ears is made of this trope. Kore, on the other hand, is a rather brutal subversion.
Sir Toby, from Chivalry and Knavery. A Christian knight (who happens to be an anthropomorphic lion), who is kind, brave and extremely strong. And patient, otherwise he would have run screaming from Kira and Ulf. According to his character description, he believes that there is good in everyone-amazingly, his time with the two of them hasn't beaten that belief out of him.
Sir Muir in Harkovast fits this trope, even if his armour is more battered then shining most of the time!
Silverbolt, from Transformers: Beast Wars, is a usually tongue-in-cheek example of this type. He's not a parody so much as a walking Lampshade Hanging, 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)
Blackarachnia: Oh no. You're not saving my life again? Even after I shot you?
Silverbolt: It's my duty, ma'am, as a Maximal and as a heroic character.
Although most D&D adaptations (as in the cases of Record of Lodoss War and Dragonlance) play the trope straight, the trope is subverted in the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon series, in which Eric the Cavalier, the cast member closest to a knight, is vain, selfish, and cowardly. (He does demonstrate a well-buried better nature at certain points, usually against his better judgment). Hank the Ranger, meanwhile, occupies the Knight In Shining Armor role.
The recurring Gummi Bears character Sir Victor, the White Knight, was a classic Knight in Shining Armor. However, it turned out that he was actually the estranged brother of the series Big Bad, Duke Igthorn, and lived in constant fear that he would turn evil like the rest of his family (before An Aesop was delivered to him, anyway) and righted wrongs as perceived atonement for his house's ill deeds.
Shining Knight of Justice League Unlimited. Especially played up in "Patriot Act" where he and a mutated General Ripper do battle while they argue what duty to one's country means.
Sir Giles in Disney's animated featurette of Kenneth Grahame's The Reluctant Dragon chapter of Dream Days both embodies and subverts this trope, in that although he actually is a famous dragon-slaying hero (in Grahame's book actually St. George himself), he is nevertheless willing to fake a combat with the titular dragon on learning that he, too, is 'a bit of a bard'.
South Park: Stan Marsh became a mix of this and the Only Sane Man
The Flight of Dragons: Sir Orrin Neville-Smythe is set on fire by dragon's flame. He withstands the heat long enough to hurl the now-flaming sword into the heart of the black dragon, then collapses next to his fallen love.
