History Main / FailureKnight

* In a way, ''{{Persona 4}}'' has Yosuke, who loved Saki Konishi only to [[spoiler: subsequently have her die]]. This is more subtle in that he didn't really have the power to protect anyone until [[spoiler: after she died, but her death definitely drives him]]. The game kind of slaps him in the face by revealing that [[spoiler: Saki hated his guts - she worked at the department store run by Yosuke's father, which was putting Saki's family's liquour store out of business, and despite her claims to the contrary, she secretly resented him for it.]]

* ''{{Lateline}}'' had one of these, a snarky sassy secretary type who idolized the jerky lead anchor character. I'd fill in the names, but there's so little in the way of Lateline material on the web, that you'll just have to take my word for it.

** Lulu from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' tried and failed to protect two other summoners before joining Yuna's party in the game.

* In ''{{Bionicle}}'', Toa Vakama got stuck in this rut as a result of what happened to Toa Lhikan, becoming a LeeroyJenkins around the time the Visorak invade Metru Nui.

** ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'' has a Pegasus Knight, Cordelia, go through a situation identical to Fiora's [[spoiler:(a slaughtered squadron under her watch)]], and instead of [[spoiler:a foul relationship with a sibling, she's instead stuck with [[AllLoveIsUnrequited an unrequited crush]] on leading Lord Chrom (game mechanics dictates that you can't pair them up together), while her friend and fellow knight Sumia has the highest priority to become his wife (providing you didn't pair him up with anyone else beforehand). Worse yet, everybody ''other than'' Sumia and Chrom [[EveryoneCanSeeIt can tell Cordelia loves him.]] No wonder she's so sad.]]

* Subverted in ''ASongOfIceAndFire'' with Ser Dontos, a literal FailureKnight who is saved from execution by young Sansa Stark and helps her escape the Lannisters in return, [[spoiler:but is really a greedy drunk working for Littlefinger, who has him killed]].
** In fact, the ''[[ASongOfIceAndFire Song of Ice and Fire]]'' is rife with these, as you might expect from a dark medieval fantasy. To name a few:
*** Jorah Mormont's wife Lynesse left him; now he is massively overprotective of Daenerys, who looks like her
*** Sandor Clegane's past failure is unspecified, but may have something to do with Gregor killing their younger sister; now he protects Sansa
*** Barristan Selmy carries the guilt of being too cowardly to stop [[TheCaligula Mad King Aerys's]] from starting a civil war, failing to protect Prince Rhaegar at the Trident, ''and'' failing to protect King Robert from a HuntingAccident. After getting forcibly retired by Joffrey, he threw his lot in with [[spoiler:Daenerys Targaryen.]]
*** Brienne of Tarth was in love with Renly Baratheon, who was the first man to treat her with something other than scorn, and swore to guard his life with her own; when he [[spoiler:was murdered by his brother through supernatural means]], she was devastated. While she doesn't seem to be in love with [[spoiler:Jaime Lannister]], the fact that he was the second man to treat her with something other than scorn plus her single-minded devotion to fulfilling the oath she made to him smacks of this trope.
*** Deconstructed with Robert Baratheon; he never got over Lyanna Stark's death, and trying to fill this role for his [[ArrangedMarriage new wife]] Cersei earned him her undying hatred (starting when he called her "Lyanna" on their wedding night,) while he built up more and more resentment over her not being [[ReplacementGoldfish more like Lyanna.]]

* Shoutarou, in ''KamenRiderDouble'', is intensely devoted towards protecting his clients no matter what. This stems from the teachings of [[TheObiWan his dead mentor]]. The sentiment is shared by Akiko in her more heroic moments.

** Ryuuken Ishida's worldview and life choices are deeply influenced by his inability to save his cousin [[spoiler:and [[ArrangedMarriage finacee]] Masaki]] from Hollowfication or his wife [[spoiler:[[MarryForLove Kanae Katagiri]], who was the sole person capable of [[YouAreNotAlone bringing him back]] from his HeroicBSOD over Masaki,]] from [[TheEmperor Yhwach's]] [[ThePurge purge]].

** Ryuuken Ishida's worldview and life choices are deeply influenced by his inability to save [[spoiler:his cousin/fiancee Masaki]] from Hollowification ([[spoiler:especially since Isshin WAS able to help her]]) or his wife [[spoiler:Kanae]] from [[TheEmperor Yhwach's]] [[ThePurge purge]].

->'''[[KnightInShinningArmor Snow]]''': I'll finish this Focus... and keep [[CrystalPrison Serah]] safe.\\

->'''[[IdiotHero Snow]]''': I'll finish this Focus... and keep [[CrystalPrison Serah]] safe.\\
'''[[ActionGirl Lightning]]''': [[DeadpanSnarker Great job]] [[SarcasmMode so far]].

A character with an empathic, almost embarrassing, [[TheDulcineaEffect level of devotion to another character they may not have known very long.]] Such a character will often matter-of-factly explain it as chivalry, [[BecauseDestinySaysSo destiny]] or whatever. Everyone who knows the other character will envy the situation, or tolerate it with minimal embarrassment. So far they seem to be a simple SatelliteCharacter.

Then we find out the tragic BackStory about [[MyGreatestFailure Their Greatest Failure]]. Sometimes this isn't the first person they've pledged devotion to, and the former [[CynicismCatalyst died, left or outright rejected them]]; it may have happened repeatedly. In some cases this role was a job of some kind, which gives the added punch to the gut to make them feel useless. So the FailureKnight keeps trying even harder now.

* In ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'', [[spoiler: Akemi Homura]] is an unusual example in that [[spoiler: the person she's going out of her way to protect is the same person she failed to save. It's revealed that in another timeline, Madoka was a Magical Girl and died protecting Homura. Overcome with grief and guilt, Homura made a deal with Kyubey, wishing to be able to go back and protect Madoka in exchange for becoming a Magical Girl herself. Her wish was granted, and she became a Magical Girl with the power to control time, only to watch Madoka die or turn into a witch again [[GroundhogDayLoop several times over]]. Nonetheless, she remains determined to save her.]]

'''[[LadyOfWar Lightning]]''': [[DeadpanSnarker Great job]] [[SarcasmMode so far]].

** Rukia Kuchiki. In childhood, she swore to always stand by and protect her friends; all of them except Renji died and she chose to become a Shinigami. As a Shinigami, she was forced to kill the man she admired and perhaps even loved. Finally, she gave Ichigo the power to protect his family and mentored him only to see him cut down by her own brother, Byakuya. By the time her execution rolled around, she was almost looking forward to oblivion.

* ''Final Fantasy'' has a few examples:

* {{Batman}} is [[CrapsackWorld Gotham]]'s FailureKnight. Other characters who don't know his [[OrphansOrdeal backstory]] find him [[JerkAss insufferable]], until they realize he ''[[KnightInSourArmor feels]] [[StoicWoobie everything]]''.

* In ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'', [[spoiler: Rukia Kuchiki. In childhood, she swore to always stand by and protect her friends; all of them except Renji died and she chose to become a Shinigami. As a Shinigami, she was forced to kill the man she admired and perhaps even loved. Finally, she gave Ichigo the power to protect his family and guided him only to see him cut down by her own brother, Byakuya. By the time her execution rolled around, she was almost looking forward to oblivion]].

* OlderThanRadio: In a sense, The47Ronin who pulled a huge LongGame to kill the evil nobleman who got their master killed ''and'' still ended up as the heroes, allowed to kill themselves honorably via ''{{seppuku}}'' rather than be executed and die in shame.
* [[TheHouseOfHanover George III]]'s second son Frederick, Duke of York was so conscious of his disastrous experience in [[NapoleonicWars Flanders]] that he devoted himself entirely to being a better officer; Britain got its first serious army reform in the bargain.
** Unfortunately for Britain, this devotion also impacted his health and marriage: his bad marriage added to the uncertainty of the succession (the reign of George IV was a race among the previously-dissolute princes to produce a legitimate heir), as he wanted nothing to do with his wife; and his ill-health eventually killed him before his older brother died, leaving third son Prince William to take the throne--and while "Sailor Billy" was hardly a bad king given the circumstances, it's widely believed that Frederick would have been better.

** Senel from ''TalesOfLegendia'' goes through quite the TraumaCongaLine when it comes to protecting Shirley and Stella. [[spoiler:He inadvertently gets the village they live in [[DoomedHometown destroyed]], gets Shirley kidnapped by Vaclav, fails to save Stella in time, and then breaks Shirley's heart to the point that she pulls a FaceHeelTurn and attempts to flood the world with water. On top of all that, his repeated "not my problem" attitude grates on the other party members' nerves to the point they go on without him, and the Quiet Nerifes doesn't give him sacred eres until he realizes what a complete {{Jerkass}} he's been to everyone.]] Tough break.

* [[spoiler:Snape]] has a twisted version in the ''Literature/HarryPotter'' series. His failure, and motive for his subsequent behavior, doesn't become clear until late in the final book.

** Lucca is also something of a Failure Knight. Having witnessed a horrific accident involving machines in her childhood, when we meet her as a teenager she is fanatical about technology and science, and shows particular compassion towards Robo.

[[folder: Real Life ]]

* Prince Shanan from ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemJugdral Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War]]'', as a child, [[spoiler: failed to stop his leader's wife kidnapping and subsequent brainwashing by the enemy, who later killed almost everyone Shanan cared for.]] 17 years later, he's a badass and handsome swordsman who ''still'' feels horribly guilty after [[MyGreatestFailure that mistake]].

** LadyOfWar Fiora goes through this ''twice'' in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemElibe Fire Emblem: Blazing Sword]]''. First, [[spoiler: she had a huge fight with her middle sister Farina that almost split up the family]], and then [[spoiler: her whole Pegasus Knight squad is slaughtered, so her youngest sister Florina must talk her out of going into a suicidal FoeTossingCharge]]. [[BreakTheCutie YIKES]]!
** Don't forget Harken from the same game, who obsesses over his [[spoiler: failure to protect Lord Elbert from [[BigBad Nergal]]]].
** ''FireEmblemAwakening'' has a Pegasus Knight, Cordelia, go through a situation identical to Fiora's [[spoiler:(a slaughtered squadron under her watch)]], and instead of [[spoiler:a foul relationship with a sibling, she's instead stuck with [[AllLoveIsUnrequited an unrequited crush]] on leading Lord Chrom (game mechanics dictates that you can't pair them up together), while her friend and fellow knight Sumia has the highest priority to become his wife (providing you didn't pair him up with anyone else beforehand). Worse yet, everybody ''other than'' Sumia and Chrom [[EveryoneCanSeeIt can tell Cordelia loves him.]] No wonder she's so sad.]]

** ''FireEmblemAwakening has a Pegasus Knight, Cordelia, go through a situation identical to Fiora's [[spoiler:(a slaughtered squadron under her watch)]], and instead of [[spoiler:a foul relationship with a sibling, she's instead stuck with [[AllLoveIsUnrequited an unrequited crush]] on leading Lord Chrom (game mechanics dictates that you can't pair them up together), while her friend and fellow knight Sumia has the highest priority to become his wife (providing you didn't pair him up with anyone else beforehand). Worse yet, everybody ''except'' Sumia and Chrom [[EveryoneCanSeeIt can tell Cordelia loves him.]] No wonder she's so sad.]]