History ComicBook / DemonKnights

''Demon Knights'' was a comic book published by Creator/DCComics, initially written by Creator/PaulCornell and later by Robert Venditti. It was launched as part of the ComicBook/{{New 52}} and is set in TheDarkAges of the Franchise/DCUniverse.

The series lasted 23 issues, and shows the origin of the AncientTradition of the rebooted ''ComicBook/{{Stormwatch}}'' (which Cornell began).

!!This comic has examples of:

* SweetPollyOliver: Sir Ystin. Nobody is fooled with regard to his sex, however. Turns out Ystin is actually [[spoiler: a trans man/genderqueer/intersex/something else]], depending on your interpretation of the following quote]].

** (possibly MythologyGag depending on what official policy on Creator/VertigoComics is this week): Lucifer is easily bored, and while he's certainly happy to [[spoiler: invade Avalon]] he can't help wondering what the point is. You get the feeling that in a mere thousand years, he'll decide to [[Comicbook/TheSandman quit altogether]] and [[Comicbook/{{Lucifer}} do something else]].

* TriangRelations: Between Jason, Xanadu, and Etrigan (as detailed below). Looks like a type seven.[[spoiler: May turn out to be a type four, with Xanadu and Jason love each other, unfortunately Etrigan has the hots for Xanadu as well.]]

[[NamesTheSame Not to be confused with]] ''Film/DemonKnight''.

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: True dragons.
* TheExile: Exoristos.

** At the end of #14, King Arthur calls them his "Watchers of the Storm" and describes them as "eminences of blades, modern Apollos, doctors of magic, an engineer". All codenames from the current ''ComicBook/{{Stormwatch}}'' apart from "doctors of magic" (which may be {{foreshadowing}} the Doctor from ''ComicBook/TheAuthority'' being introduced to ''Stormwatch'').

* SweetPollyOliver: Sir Ystin. Nobody is fooled with regard to his sex, however. Turns out Ystin is actually [[spoiler: [[{{Transgender}} a trans man/genderqueer/intersex/something else]], depending on your interpretation of the following quote]].

* MistakenForProstitute: A young girl sees [[HotAmazon Exoristos]] and says she "dresses like a tart" and Exoristos not only thanks her but asks [[IsItSomethingYouEat if it's some sort of pastry]].

* TruceZone: In #0, Merlin meets Morgaine at "the truce place, by the waters that lead to Avalon". This may well be the future site of Time In A Bottle, from Cornell's ''Knight & Squire'' miniseries.

''Demon Knights'' was a comicbook published by Creator/DCComics, initially written by Creator/PaulCornell and later by Robert Venditti. It was launched as part of the ComicBook/{{New 52}} and is set in TheDarkAges of the Franchise/DCUniverse.

After a prologue establishing ComicBook/MadameXanadu's and ComicBook/{{Etrigan}}'s roles in the last days of KingArthur, the story skips forward a few centuries. Xanadu and Jason o' the Blood visit a small village in Europe, where they meet ComicBook/VandalSavage, [[ComicBook/SevenSoldiers the Shining Knight]], a Saracen inventor named Al Jabr and an Amazon warrior named Exoristos. They join forces when the Questing Queen and her [[TheHorde horde]] attacks the village on its way to sack the nearby city of Alba Sarum. In defending the village, they meet the Horsewoman, who has been protecting it, and afterwards embark on other quests together; some for the nobility of assisting those in need, some for profit, and some for reasons all their own.

* KingArthur: Arthurian mythology plays a significant role in the series. The founding and destruction of Camelot was experienced by multiple characters, [[EternalRecurrence multiple times]], and the series takes place at the beginning of a new cycle, with the city of Alba Sarum hoping to be declared New Camelot. [[spoiler:KingArthur himself joins the team briefly, having left Avalon.]]

* BadDreams: The Horsewoman again.

* CallForward

* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler: [[AntiMagic The Waters of Avalon]], a minor detail from the beginning of the second arc, end up being the key to defeating the armies of both Lucifer and the Questing Queen in the climax of the third arc.]]

* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: [[spoiler: Vandal Savage is quickly becoming this.]]

* DinosaursAreDragons: Played with; the characters ''call'' the [[BuffySpeak big lizardy creatures]] dragons, because it's [[DarkAgeEurope The Dark Ages]], but to the audience they're clearly dinosaurs with no draconic characteristics at all.
** Also worth noting that they make a distinction between "true dragons" (dinosaurs) and "heraldic dragons" (the fire breathing flying ones, presumably. The only "heraldic dragons" we see are mechanical).

* TheExile: Exoristos
* FaceHeelRevolvingDoor: [[spoiler: After his plan of stealing money from the Horde goes south, Vandal Savage claims that his FaceHeelTurn was all a distraction to help the village, and not a way to make a quick buck out of the confusion of battle, he later does this a few more times before the series end.]]
** [[spoiler:Etrigan after the second arc betrays the team and sends them to hell but by the post time skip arc most of characters still tolerate him because of his power.]]

* GambitPileup: Between Xanadu, Etrigan and Vandal Savage, it's rather hard to tell who's backstabbing whom.

** And [[spoiler: the Questing Queen]] has a plan that takes advantage of ''all'' the above ones.
** And [[spoiler: Arthur and Merlin]] have prepared for ''that'' too...

* HandicappedBadass: The Horsewoman

* MeaningfulName: The princesses of Alba Sarum note that Al Jabr is Arabic for "the numbers" (It is actually Arabic for "restoration").

* MuggingTheMonster: Issue #10 opens with pirates attempting to rob the team as they travel to Britain, unaware of just who it is they are robbing.

-->'''Sir Ystin''': We've faced dragons, demons, and a giant sea beast, but you common thieves have us ''truly'' scared.

* NonindicativeName: There is only one demon on the hero side, and even he shares space with a human. For that matter, there is only one knight, too.
** The name comes from something Sir Ystin shouted during a vision quest which the rest of the group decided was AGoodNameForARockBand. Said vision quest was supposed to ''warn'' them about a group of Demon Knights. [[spoiler:[[CallForward The Daemonites]].]]

* SweetPollyOliver: Sir Ystin. Nobody is fooled with regard to his sex, however.
** Turns out Ystin is actually [[spoiler: [[{{Transgender}} a trans man/genderqueer/intersex/something else]], depending on your interpretation of the following quote]].
-->'''Shining Knight:''' I was born this way. I've kept ''saying'', whenever anyone asks. [[spoiler: I'm not just a man or a woman. I'm ''both''. ]]
* TimeSkip: The series jumps ahead thirty years after the events of issue 15
** [[spoiler:The only character that shows visible change is [[BadassNormal Al Jabr]].]]

* WarIsHell: The series focuses heavily on the civilian casualties and property destruction of combat; when the protagonists are being congratulated on their great and glorious victory (And it ''was'' a great and glorious victory, since their actions saved a vast city and thousands, possibly millions, of lives) the 'camera' focuses on the dead bodies and burned buildings that came from the fight.
* WipeThatSmileOffYourFace: [[spoiler: Vandal Savage seems to have done this to Jason after the TimeSkip.]]

** [[Film/TheLordOfTheRings "One does not simply]] [[WalkIntoMordor walk into Hell."]]

* InfantImmortality: Averted in the first story arc.

* KillItThroughItsStomach: ComicBook/{{Etrigan}} climbs inside a dragon's mouth [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome to cast a spell and make it explode from the inside.]]

** Turns out Ystin is actually [[spoiler: [[{{Transsexual}} a trans man/genderqueer/intersex/something else]], depending on your interpretation of the following quote]].