History KnightTemplar / Literature

* ''TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms'' is ripe with these. Khelben "Blackstaff" Arunsun is a great self-sacrificing hero when there's a real threat. When there ''isn't'', however, he may easily ''find'' something or someone to absurdly overreact to. Eventually, he got kicked out from Harpers for carrying "dealing with evil forces against other evil forces" idea too far for their taste (and they aren't quite paladins themselves). That's the ''mild'' case.
** Renwick Caradoon, co-founder of The Knights of Samular, used his niece as a bait for a DealWithTheDevil -- or rather, an ''[[SuccubiAndIncubi incubus]]'' -- whom he planned to betray. When this backfired, he locked the fiend up...along with about 200 relatively innocent souls. When his sanctimonious indiscretions and {{half truth}}s sent ''Khelben'' into seething rage, he ensured that the power acquired from the deal stays with him -- through blackmail and hiding behind the paladins' WithUsOrAgainstUs mentality -- and continued in the spirit of such deeds.

** [[spoiler:Dumbledore]] and Grindelwald once wanted to take over the world, so wizards could stop hiding: "{{Muggles}} forced into subservience. We wizards triumphant. [Us], the glorious young leaders of the revolution." At the time, [[spoiler:Dumbledore]] stressed that they should use as little force as possible and that with their power ComesGreatResponsibility. Although Grindelwald may have seemed to be one during his rise to power (he even used the slogan "for the greater good") Dumbledore suspects he was only hungry for power.

* In the ''Literature/{{Dragonlance}}'' series of books, the Kingpriest is a Knight Templar. His insistence on destroying all evil leads to him attacking neutral people and gods (because if you aren't with us, you are against us) as well as evil. His upsetting the balance, as well as demanding from the gods the power to destroy all evil, brings about the destruction of a large part of the planet, as all the gods decide that humans have gone too far and get pissed.

* In ''Literature/OutboundFlight'', Jedi Master Jorus C'baoth is renowned for cutting past the bantha poodoo and solving whatever he's been assigned to solve ''very'' quickly. He also believes that, as a Jedi connected to TheForce that binds all things, he's under the best leader imaginable. Non-Jedi, if they don't have Force Sensitivity, are to submit -- well, everyone is to submit, but his Padawan watches him striding through a crowd which makes way "like a swirl of dried leaves" and realizes that she's starting to think of them the way he does. In command of Outbound Flight, he's terribly authoritarian and controlling; slowly, every decision becomes ''his'' decision, and his decisions are always right. C'baoth is largely responsible for Outbound Flight's destruction. The other Jedi on board questioned what he was doing, but.. .he was C'baoth. Surely, it couldn't be as bad as it looked.

* Father Ailnoth from ''Literature/TheCadfaelChronicles'' is so harsh with his parishioners that he ends up in a pond with his head bashed in, providing another mystery for Brother Cadfael to solve.

* The Commonwealth Police in Linda Nagata's ''The Bohr Maker'', particularly Kristin, it's Chief who is willing to terrorize, torture and even kill innocents, subvert legal procedure and at the end [[spoiler: nuke a colony of thousands]] to protect her vision of Nature's "purity."

* In ''Literature/HarryPotter'', [[spoiler:Dumbledore]] and Grindelwald once wanted to take over the world, so wizards could stop hiding: "{{Muggles}} forced into subservience. We wizards triumphant. [Us], the glorious young leaders of the revolution." At the time, [[spoiler:Dumbledore]] stressed that they should use as little force as possible and that with their power ComesGreatResponsibility. Although Grindelwald may have seemed to be one during his rise to power (he even used the slogan "for the greater good") Dumbledore suspects he was only hungry for power.

** Renwick Caradoon, co-founder of The Knights of Samular, used his niece as a bait for a DealWithTheDevil -- or rather, an ''[[HornyDevils incubus]]'' -- whom he planned to betray. When this backfired, he locked the fiend up...along with about 200 relatively innocent souls. When his sanctimonious indiscretions and {{half truth}}s sent ''Khelben'' into seething rage, he ensured that the power acquired from the deal stays with him -- through blackmail and hiding behind the paladins' WithUsOrAgainstUs mentality -- and continued in the spirit of such deeds.

--> "Evil!" the sword hissed, jerking Sir Thongolor's arms this way and that. "Any who would resist or prevent me or the holy warrior who bears me must be evil -- and must be destroyed!"

* Lord Gaethaa (aka the Crusader) from Literature/{{Kane}} story "Cold Light". He was born a noble but got tired of pampered life and his only aim and purpose is to destroy evil in all forms -- up to evil's unwilling slaves.

* The thesis of ''Literature/AllTomorrows'' is that belief in higher, abstract ideals will only lead to suffering, of others and even the self. The Qu went on a monstruous rampage out of religious extremism while the Gravitals became genocidal due to perceiving themselves as the sole true humans. The Author at the end seems to be an AntiNihilist, hence this may actually be textual biases.

* Creator/RobertEHoward's Puritan avenger, ''SolomonKane''.

* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''

** Catelyn Stark, upon [[CameBackWrong her resurrection as Lady Stoneheart]]. Her allies were mercilessly butchered by the Freys, during which she saw her firstbon son being killed, so her hatred is understandable. Except she extends her revenge towards all Freys, not just the ones who were involved in the Red Wedding, as well as the Lannisters, who masterminded the event in the first place. The moment when she almost executes Brienne, who swore an oath to her when she was alive, because she doesn't want to betray Jaime Lannister, who has been changed from his experiences in the war, embodies the trope perfectly. She doesn't believe in CharacterDevelopment, because to her, all Freys and Lannisters are evil.

* Stannis Baratheon from ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' is a complicated example of this trope, as [[DeconstructorFleet would be expected given the series he's from]]. His political opponents certainly cast him in this light, with Varys remarking that Stannis is a truly just man and that is absolutely ''terrifying''. Stannis is uncompromising, vengeful, envious, about as flexible as a bar of iron, stubborn to a fault and has the people's skills of a guillotine, but he's also driven to do the 'right thing' at all times and stick to his principles. He gets engaged in the SuccessionCrisis not because he actually wants to be king (he really doesn't), but because as Robert's true heir, becoming the king is the 'right thing' to do even if thousands have to die in the ensuing war ([[HeKnowsTooMuch granted, the Lannister regime would probably have had him assassinated or executed if he hadn't]]). His CharacterDevelopment over three books (guided by his HonestAdvisor Davos Seaworth) sees him become more aware of ''which'' principles a true king ought to prioritize, granting him a better sense of mercy and political savvy.

** [[BigBad Sauron]] himself is also one. He became evil out of a desire to impose order on what he saw as chaotic world, and believed that joining up with Morgoth was the best way to do this. After Morgoth's defeat, Sauron continued his campaign to conquer Middle-Earth and turn it into a totalitarian state under his rule.

** Lilith de Tempscire in the novel ''Literature/WitchesAbroad'', whose [[WrongGenreSavvy warped narrative awareness]] leads her to believe that ''anything'' she does as a fairy godmother is justified by the TheoryOfNarrativeCausality, and means that everyone will live HappilyEverAfter. She's absolutely shocked when Granny Weatherwax tells her that [[WrongGenreSavvy she's not "the good one"]].

** This is a temptation for Galadriel as well -- both Sam and Frodo encourage her to take the Ring, insisting that she'd help people and do good with it. She responds sadly that that is only [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope how it would begin]]...

* Keira in Creator/SandyMitchell's ''TabletopGame/DarkHeresy'' novels ''Scourge the Heretic'' and ''Innocence Proves Nothing'' - fanatic, dedicated to eradicating evil, convinced of the heinousness of the most minor of faults, and finding DirtyBusiness whenever she has to pass some trivial evil by. And people who have known her in the past think that she's mellowed out like this. Convinced that SexIsEvil, she's first [[ObliviousToLove oblivious to]] and then deeply disturbed by the notion that she is attracted to a man, even though they are both free to marry. To be just, confronted with a prostitute trying to escape that life, she is awed by the effort the woman put into her escape.

* In Creator/JimButcher's ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles'' novels and, to some degree, the TV series based on them, the White Council and their enforcers, the Wardens, frequently come across as Knights Templar, primarily with their draconian enforcement of the Seven Laws of Magic (usually entailing instant beheading). Morgan, one of the leaders of the Wardens, is the first and best example of this. However, this ends up somewhat subverted later in the novels when [[spoiler: Harry, who had been viewed as a troublemaker at best and Lawbreaker at worst, and had once been under a one-strike-you're-dead parole, is recruited into the Wardens after many of them are slaughtered during the war with the vampire Red Court. Even Morgan changes his position: while he still believes that Harry is dangerous, he no longer thinks that he's evil - just arrogant, undisciplined, and stupid. This is a major change from a character previously thought to be unchanging]]. Even more of a subversion, [[spoiler: as Morgan's changed opinion is mostly right]].

** This is a temptation for Galadriel as well - both Sam and Frodo encourage her to take the Ring, insisting that she'd help people and do good with it. She responds sadly that that is only [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope how it would begin]]...

* [[spoiler: Jorge of Burgos]] from Creator/UmbertoEco's ''Literature/TheNameOfTheRose'' is the ''epitome'' of this trope. He's already a crazed extremist at the beginning of the book, and then he ''kills - or has killed - seven people''. [[spoiler: All to prevent somebody from reading a book that Jorge considers heretical: Aristotle's lost chapter of the ''Poetics'' discussing comedy]]. His KarmicDeath comes as a huge relief, even to his ''allies''.

* In ''Literature/OutboundFlight'', Jedi Master Jorus C'baoth is renowned for cutting past the bantha poodoo and solving whatever he's been assigned to solve ''very'' quickly. He also believes that, as a Jedi connected to TheForce that binds all things, he's under the best leader imaginable. Non-Jedi, if they don't have Force Sensitivity, are to submit - well, everyone is to submit, but his Padawan watches him striding through a crowd which makes way "like a swirl of dried leaves" and realizes that she's starting to think of them the way he does. In command of Outbound Flight, he's terribly authoritarian and controlling; slowly, every decision becomes ''his'' decision, and his decisions are always right. C'baoth is largely responsible for Outbound Flight's destruction. The other Jedi on board questioned what he was doing, but...he was C'baoth. Surely, it couldn't be as bad as it looked.

* ''Literature/TheSpiritThief'': The League of Storms believes the demonseeds to be beyond saving and goes after them without mercy, often disregarding any damage to civillians and property they might inflict in the process. While most demonseeds ''are'' deadly, in Nico's case, she loses control of her demon precisely because she's trying to fight off the League's agents.

* ''Literature/TheTraitorSonCycle'': Jean de Vrailly insists - and sincerely believes - that he's on a MissionFromGod to save Alba from destruction, while in reality his actions help bring it to the brink of annihilation.

* ''Literature/{{Victoria}}'' has a few. Particularly the heroes who, at one point, barricade a group of liberal college professors in an auditorium and send in men dressed in Crusader supplices with swords to butcher them, while a group of monks chant the ''Dies Irae''. It's so gloriously over-the-top you can forget for a minute how horrifying the idea is.