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He's writing a beautiful poem. Next he's gonna gouge someone's eye with the brush.
There are few men with more blood on their hands than me. None, that I know of. The Bloody-Nine, they call me, my enemies, and there's a lot of 'em. Always more enemies, and fewer friends. Blood gets you nothing but more blood. It follows me now, always, like my shadow, and like my shadow I can never be free of it. I should never be free from it. I've earned it. I've deserved it. I've sought it out. Such is my punishment.
"Just because I can drill you between the eyes at two hundred yards, it doesn't mean I can't like sensitive stuff."
Once he was but a Proud Warrior Race Guy, content with nothing more than dreams of crushing his enemies skulls 'neath his jewel-encrusted boots. But he has grown. He has embraced the spiritual side of his culture that his fellows have long ignored. He tries to teach, but they won't listen!
A prophet without honor in his own land, he has become a Warrior Poet!
For your own sake, do NOT mistake him for going soft. The "Warrior" part of the name is there for a reason. He has lost none of his edge from his rowdier days, and will not hesitate to make use of his martial skills when all other options have been exhausted. He merely asks questions before he shoots.
See also Real Men Wear Pink, a more specific example in which having "girly" interests does not make a character less Bad Ass.
Examples:
- Miyamoto Musashi is a famous Real Life example. Apart from being a swordsman, he painted and sculpted, practiced calligraphy and studied Zen Buddhism.
- Yagyu Jubei...ah, Hell, the big three, grand father (Sekishusai), father (Munenori), and son (Jubei) fit this trope. They mastered the sword, but also took time to write books on the Zen in sword, and Munenori was a politician, even if an Evil Chancellor.
- As pictured above, traditional Japanese culture is known for demanding samurai to be good at Ikebana (floral arrangement) and poetry and stuff.
- Similiarly, in old Ireland, you couldn't be a great warrior unless you played the harp and mastered fidchell (an ancient Irish boardgame somewhat similar to chess).
- Norsemen, similarly, got great social recognition for being good skalds as well as warriors.
- The medieval knights of Europe were also expected to be skilled at poetry, chess and ballroom dancing as well as following a strict code of chivalry.
- Another Real Life example: Irishman Joseph Mary Plunkett, executed for rebellion in 1916. He wrote "The Presence of God":
I see His blood upon the rose, // And in the stars the glory of His eyes; // His body gleams amid eternal snows, // His tears fall from the skies. // I see His face in every flower; // The thunder, and the singing of the birds // Are but His voice; and, carven by His power, // Rocks are His written words. // All pathways by His feet are worn; // His strong heart stirs the ever-beating sea; // His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn; // His cross is every tree. //
- Cao Cao from Romance Of The Three Kingdoms is a perfect example. Not only did he conquer most of Northern and Central China but was a famous poet that is credited today for starting the Jian'an style of poetry in China.
- King David of The Bible composes much of the book of Psalms, in his free time from giant slaying and country rebuilding. In fact, the only reason He Who Slew Hundreds of Thousands has an opportunity to become king is because the music he played could make you cry and the previous King had to hear him. He's also famous for taking his clothes off and dancing happily once he brought the Ark of the Covenant into Jerusalem.
- Samson tried to get in on the action quite a bit earlier, in the midst of a riddle game. Notable in that his poem actually rhymes—which, in the context of the times, may mean that it sucked. (Hebrew poetry was normally based on parallelism of content, rather than rhyme.)
- Worf, of Star Trek The Next Generation, sometimes.
- G'Kar, of Babylon Five, post-season three epiphany. While he has a difficult time teaching his people, he is highly respected and his book becomes one of their holy books, painstakingly reproduced by hand (complete with a certain circular mark on page 83).
- Kwai-Chang Caine, of Kung Fu
- Teal'c, of Stargate SG-1, although amusingly, despite a fairly philosophical mindset, his cultural interests are mainly centered on cheesy Tau'ri Sci-Fi and Action movies.
- The Brunnen-G of Lexx are always described as "a race of warrior poets", but don't seem to be examples of this trope; they're just warriors who happen to write a lot of poetry between wars.
- Kai himself might be considered a "reverse" warrior poet though - a member of a "poet race" who tried to motivate them to fight for their lives.
- Video game example: Thrall in Warcraft III. One of the Expanded Universe novels contains a Fictional Document which is basically a heroic poem he writes about his own father.
- Most of the traits that make up a Warrior Poet also exist in Destruction of The Endless from Neil Gaiman's series The Sandman. He abandoned his role as overseer of destruction to try his hand at being creative. Like writing poetry and painting pictures... really really badly.
- Dinobot from Beast Wars achieved Warrior Poethood in the episode which ended in his Heroic Death, even managing to be responsible for the rise of humanity by inspiring the primitive humanoids how to defend themselves using the stone axe he created to defend himself at the very end. Of course the rise of humanity also brought us Paris Hilton and reality TV, so it's sort of a mixed legacy
- Also, not content with writing his own prose, Dinobot also ripped off a few bits of Hamlet for use in his dramatic death speech. Who knows what this did to a generation of middle school English students.
- Solid Snake from Metal Gear Solid is a particularly schizophrenic example - one moment he's gunning down countless enemies with brutal efficiency, and the next moment he's discussing the meaning of life, morality, and nature, while simultaneously agonising about the agony of being a soldier.
- The Eldar of Warhammer 40000 exhibit signs of this trope, but here the order rebelled against was not so much dishonorable or brutish war as decadence.
- The entire Protoss race from Star Craft embody this ideal, having embraced a rigid quasi-religious collectivist social order based on self tempering, personal honor, and obedience, to escape a tumultous war-filled past. This leads to a peculiar view of warfare, wherein "modern" mass-destructive weapons have been largely shunned in favor of armies of melée combatants and machines of war whose purpose at heart is something else (the few examples to the contrary being regarded as abominable).
- Logen Ninefingers from The First Law, as in the quote at the top of the page. He was a Conan-esque adventurer in the past, but in the actual story is a tragic figure hounded by old feuds.
- The main villain from the film The Proposition, Arthur Burns, despite being a violent and dangerous sociopath, has a wonderfully eloquent and deep outlook on life. He is just as capable of looking off into the sunset and quoting Burrough as he is capable of torturing and murdering innocent people.
- The Proposition is full of such characters. Captain Stanley is a Shakespeare-quoting badass played by the mighty Ray Winstone, and Jellon Lamb is a bounty hunter of "no little education." Considering that Nick Cave wrote the screenplay, it's only natural that everyone around is going to be super-literate.
- Maglor from The Silmarillion, who, after spending the better part of the book (somewhat reluctantly) engaged in wholesale slaughter of innocent bystanders in an effort to steal back the eponymous Silmarils, decides to throw the one he eventually gets into the sea and take up a repentant existence Walking The Earth and singing about how sorry he is.
- Wrex of Mass Effect, who is surprisingly philosophical for your average reptillian Heroic Sociopath Bounty Hunter.
- Vivec from Morrowind is technically considered to be a poet. He is author of The 36 lessons of Vivec (in-game books) which are poetic and extremely cryptic stories of his greatness. The Lessons sometimes break the fourth wall in very subtle ways but mostly they just confuse you. And yet, one of these Lessons detail how he poked an evil god that had betrayed him into a crevice of fire with his spear. However since Micheal Kirkbride, who wrote the Leasons, did not write Vivec’s dialogue Vivec seems way too plain spoken for a poet when you meet him in-game. In fact, his title actually is "Warrior Poet."
- Gurney Halleck in Dune is a literal example. He is a musician and philosopher with seemingly infinite supply of witticisms for any occasion. He is also a remorseless killer, perfectly willing to cut any Harkonnen he comes across (or anyone who gets on the wrong side of Duke Leto for that matter) into pieces.
- Tyr Anasazi in Andromeda. Often seen reading Ayn Rand while on bridge duty. The whole of Nietzschean society was meant to be this by their progenitor.
- In War And Peace, a near-death experience turns Prince Andrei from being just a normal Proud Warrior Race Guy to a Warrior Poet.
- When you consider that it was (and still is) a requirement for all Greek men to serve in the military, then all the ancient Greek philosophers (Socrates, Aristotle, etc.) and playwrights (Euripides, Sophocles, etc.) were WarriorPoets. And since the Greeks fought each other all the time, the image of the "old philosopher" probably means the ones who survived that long were probably pretty good at fighting. To sum up: Socrates probably could have kicked your ass.
- In fact, Socrates makes note of his military service as part of his defense during his trial, although whether or not he could have kicked your ass is unknown. He almost certainly could have questioned you to within an inch of your life, however.
- General Baneus from Terry Pratchett's The Carpet People.
- Adam Sandler's character, Zohan, is a crazily competent Mossad agent who decides to leave war behind and choose the ambiguously gay profession of hair stylist
- Along similar lines but done seriously, Daniel Silva's series character Gabriel Allon is an Israeli spy and assassin who when on Ten Minute Retirement has the delicate profession of art restorer.
- Gennosuke Kouga from Basilisk is not only a mighty swordsman who doesn't even need to brandish his blade to kill you, he's also a talented flautist and dancer.
- Piandao from Avatar The Last Airbender is a borderline example. He's knowledgeable about many arts like calligraphy, painting, and landscaping, but apparently practices them because it helps to make him a better swordsman.
- D'Argo from Farscape, with the ultimate goal of becoming a farmer. It's his life long dream.
- Real Life example: Bruce Lee graduated from university with a degree in Philosophy.
- Another Real Life example: Roald Dahl, Ace Pilot as well as famous author.
- Patton. Anyone remember in the movie? "Through the travail of ages, midst the pomp and toils of war, have I fought and strove and perished, countless times amongst the stars.
- Saint Ignatius Loyola, along with the fellow founding members of the Society of Jesus. Aka Jesuits. He starts as a Genius Bruiser, finishes as the leader of a whole league of Badass Preachers.
- Blood Knight Karel managed to turn into one of these after Fire Emblem 7. In the prequel, Fire Emblem 6, he's a calm and philosophical swordsman, a far cry from his bloodthirsty younger self.
- Kuroi Sabato from Blade Of The Immortal was one of these.
- Real Life: many Irish rebels were also poets, most notably Patrick Pearse and James Stephens.
- In Naruto the newly introduced host of the eight-tailed ox is actually a warrior rapper, who in fact almost always speaks in rap.
- For a while, 'Warrior-Poet' took pride of place as the main word used to describe Stephen Colbert in the opening credits for The Colbert Report. (Others include 'Megamerican' and 'Grippy'.) Other than that, he has very little to do with this trope.
- Spike, from Angel and Buffy. He spends most of the series as either a big tough bad guy or trying to deny his Heel Face Turn. In the penultimate episode of Angel, however, he spends his last evening before the Final Battle drinking and talking big - acting like he's trying to start a bar-brawl - but it's all to work up his courage to get up and read his poetry to the audience at the bar. He actually was a poet before he became a vampire, and found himself with the nickname "William the Bloody" because his poetry was "so bloody awful".
- Ironically, the 21st Century crowd applauded the same poem that his 19th Century critics dismissed as "bloody awful." Either tastes have changed or everyone at open mic night was plastered.
- Daniel Hagman, of Sharpe, is the best marksman in his unit but is also a talented musician, singing for the other men (in one case as the man dies) and occasionally playing the guitar or some equivalent. Of course, this was mostly because his TV actor is primarily a folk singer and wrote or arranged most of the music for the show...
- Incidentally, Gurney Halleck does exactly the same thing (singing to a dying man) in Dune... coincidence?
- Lieutenant-Colonel Girdwood, on the other hand, thought of himself as a warrior-poet but proved to be incompetent in both areas.
- Bow, The One Guy and Straight Arrow from She Ra Princess Of Power, is a bard in his free time and loves playing his harp.
- The last lines of Braveheart: "They fought like warrior-poets. They fought like Scotsmen."
- Cyrano de Bergerac. Composing poems in the middle of a sword fight ought to count for something.
- The fictional version of Cyrano at least is perhaps the epitome of this trope.
- The fictional version? The real Cyrano was a famous writer, a fearsome duelist (in a time when duels hd been made illegal) who was so dangerous with a sword that his friends nicknamed him the Devil of Bravery and he fought alongside d'Artagnan: yep THE d'Artagnan
- Subverted in the sci-fi novel ''The Use of Weapons'' by Ian M. Banks. The protagonist Cheradenine Zakalwe wants to be a poet as well as a soldier, but all his efforts are amateurish. In a particular irony the novel is bookended by the (much better) poetic efforts of his co-workers.
- Worth noting is his behavior after he realized he was a better warrior than a poet. There was a nasty slave-driver who liked to cut off people's tongues. Right after Zakalwe left the planet he was on at the time, the guy's corpse was discovered with a look of horror on his face, and several human tongues and the paper on which Zakalwe was trying to write poetry shoved down his throat.
- Captain Raballo, the handler assigned to train Claes in Gunslinger Girl, has an extensive library on the grounds that knowledge is essential to any soldier. On noting however that the book he's reading is about growing vegetables he says dryly: "Should come in handy if we're invaded by plants from outer space." (manga only)
- Firefly. In 'War Stories' Shepherd Book who may be something of a warrior poet himself mentions the writings of Shan Yu.
Simon: "Shan Yu, the psychotic dictator?"
Book: "Fancied himself quite the warrior poet. Wrote volumes on war, torture, the limits of human endurance. He said, 'Live with a man forty years; share his house, his meals, speak on every subject. Then tie him up, and hold him over a volcano's edge. And on that day, you will finally meet the man."
Simon: "What if you don't live near a volcano?"
Book: "I suspect he was being poetical."
Simon: "Sadistic crap legitimized by florid prose."
- Sadistic gangster Adelei Niska turns out to be a big fan of Shan Yu, needless to say.
- It seems that a philosophical streak is a job requirement for the position of an Operative.
- Oh, and Mal read a poem. That counts for something, doesn't it?
- Karsa Orlong in Malazan Book of the Fallen, who is a great sculptor.
- Colonel Corazon Santiago shows signs of this in Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri. Like all faction leaders, the game occasionally gives quotes from her, ostensibly excerpts from books she's written, and while her philisophical side is very military-oriented and bleak, it's also perfectly suited for the Death World she and her followers have landed on.
- Darker Than Black has the character of Isaak who fits this both literally and figuratively. He is a KGB agent and has a compulsion to write poetry after using his powers. In a figurative sense, he and his partner Bertha are presented as being remarkably sensitive and likable, even though they feature in the series as opponents of the hero.
- Werewolf: the Apocalypse had the Fianna, which were a tribe of Warrior Poets in what was already a species of Proud Warrior Race Guys. They supposedly spawned the first werewolf bard in all of existence. They're also just a little bit Oirish.
- Speaking of that "werewolf bard", it's actually one of the five Auspices — the Galliard, born under the gibbous moon, who starts the game with the second-highest Rage rating of all five Auspices, but whose Gifts tend towards communication, inspiration, and passion. They reappear in Werewolf The Forsaken as Cahaliths, and while there are still bardic elements, they're more regarded as prophets.
- The Executioner. Soldier-turned-vigilante Mack Bolan is very well read. Each novel in the series begins with a couple of quotes from a literary work, then a quote from Bolan's journal giving his own take on it. His favourite book is Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, as Bolan often sees himself as "tilting at windmills".
- David Zindell's Requiem for Homo Sapiens has the Order of Warrior-Poets. Every year they clone billions of children, whose educational process includes regular fights to the death—either via combat, or poetry competitions. Each 'graduating class' numbers in the hundreds, if that.
- Forde from Fire Emblem 8 is one of Those Two Cavaliers and a very accomplished painter.
- Jonathan Hemlock of the Eiger Sanction. Assassin and art historian.
- Let from Rave Master
- Several of the characters from Black Lagoon have a tendency to fall into this.
- Hawk from Spencer: For Hire and A Man Called Hawk certainly qualify. He plays the Mbila, plays an excellent game of chess and often waxes philosophical with his mentor, all while fighting crime, Shaft style. Did I mention he's played by Capt. Sisko himself, Avery Brooks?
- In a twisted, delusional, batshit crazy way? Just read Rorschach's journal...
- "Death Star" has Nova Stihl, Imperial prison guard, trooper, and master of martial arts, who has Battle Precognition. He's also got a sense for fair play and likes training people. And the stash of illicit holograms under his bunk? Dissertations on philosophy. He doesn't think of himself as a particularly deep thinker in the start of the book, though.
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