Monsters are, well,
monsters. They're uncouth, messy, dirty, disgusting, barbaric creatures with no sense of honor. The only times they do work together will more than likely resemble something akin to a
horde than anything like a professional army.
But, that's a bit too
Cliché for most writers these days, so it's not that surprising to see many monsters that are of a higher class than the mindless
brutes in fiction of yesteryear's. Monsters that are trained, with a thought for technique, tactics, strategy,
valour, and (perhaps) a sense of
honor that would make them seem
almost respectable. A monster that's also a true warrior.
A...
Monster Knight, if you will.
This kind of character is often a
Cultured Blood Knight, although they don't have to be. They're also more likely to be a
Noble Demon, and thanks to the
resonance the hero may have for this character, they may be found on any place on the
Character Alignment scale in contrast to the usual
Always Chaotic Evil treatment the characters race may receive in other works.
If you have an entire army of Monster Knights, they're almost guaranteed to be a
Badass Army as well.
They may or may not be working for a
Monster Lord, who may be an example themselves.
Hehe.
Compare the
Black Knight.
Examples
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Anime and Manga
- Berserk has Nosferatu Zodd, who as much as he hates to admit it, finds pleasure in his battles with Guts.
- The New Band of the Hawk is filled with these guys (making it a pretty Badass Army ). Grunbeld, Irvine, and Locus in particular demonstrate a strong sense of fair play, refrain from Kick the Dog moments, and genuinely believe themselves to be the heroes. Their leader, Griffith, tries to invoke this, but is an utter monster beneath his angelic appearance.
- The Skull Knight could also be an example. Little is known about his past though but he is clearly no longer human.
- Too many Digimon to name individually, though Leomon is a recurring example (especially in the anime) and some species literally have "Knight" in their name!
- Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann gives us Viral: A Beast Man with shark and cat genetics, he's got More Teeth Than The Osmond Family and a vicious Slasher Smile to go with them. He also happens to be the most honorable character in the series.
- Garyuu of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, a mute, multi-eyed humanoid insect that acts as Lutecia's knight much like Erio acts as one for Caro. He ends up being one of the first villains in the season to pull a Heel Face Turn, saving Erior and Caro before helping them protect Mid-Childa from Lutecia's out of control insect summons.
Comics
- In Marvel Comics, the Knights of Wundagore are an entire Tribe Of Hats who have this as their hat. They're all animals evolved into humanoid creatures by the High Evolutionary.
Film
- In Labyrinth, they meet Sir Didimus, some sort of strange dog-like knight monster astride a large regular-dog. His basic deal is standing on a bridge and declaring You Shall Not Pass.
Live Action TV
- Power Rangers had too many of these to list. Goldar probably counts as the most well-known one, and the Knasty Knight stands out as one of the first Monsters of the Week to fit the description.
Tabletop Games
- Legion Devils in Dungeons & Dragons
- Levistus, the Lord of The Fifth, who bills himself as the finest swordsman in the multiverse - when he's not encased in an Iceberg anyway.
- Bel, Lord of The First, who was a general in the Blood Wars.
- Death Knights. Duh.
- Every once in a while the game produces a warrior troll
◊.
- Some of the typical 'monstrous' races are also playable races, and makes good knights. Orcs and minotaurs are common examples.
- For all their Good-ness, some Celestial races are quite terrifying in appearance, but they can be knight either in spirit or as actual classes.
- The Yu-Gi-Oh! card game has a lot of these. One example is "Zure, Knight of Dark World," a demon knight. The Flavor Text indicates he's a Noble Demon. There's also the "Beast of Talwar", who may not be as noble, but is certainly siciplined, as his Flavor Text notes that only a Master Swordsman among fiends is allowed use of the Talwar, and his art shows him Dual Wielding.
Video Games
- Nelo Angelo, whom Dante comes to respect out of all the bosses in the first Devil May Cry game. Makes sense, considering Nelo Angelo is quite clearly his brother Vergil.
- The Knight enemies in Recettear.
- In later games in The Legend of Zelda franchise the evil Darknuts are jackal-headed monsters under their armor.
- The Dremora from The Elder Scrolls, who are a type of Daedra who fight in armor with weapons and often magic. They refer to themselves in their own language as "the people" as opposed to the other Daedra, whom they see as mindless animals.
- Dark Souls has the Capra Demon, a demon that is also a dual wielding warrior.
- Gogandantess (THE GREATEST SWORDSMAN OF ALL DEMONS) from the second Onimusha game. Despite being a pompous windbag he's also chivalrous and a Noble Demon to the point that the player character reacts with visible sadness when Gogandantess is mortally wounded in their final duel.
Web Original
- The skull-headed guy here.
Western Animation
