Real Talk By: Ms. Throwback

A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a monarch or other political leader for service to the monarch or country, especially in a military capacity.  Many of the knights in gaming have their own agendas, claiming knighthood themselves and not by someone to which they answer.  Rouge knights who work for the dark side are not uncommon as are knights who choose a “take from the rich give to the poor” approach.  Whatever the scenario, knights have been as prevalent to video gaming as ninjas or zombies, and for that they deserve an article to honor their hard work to the entertainment of players and stories to which they tell.

7. The Knights of Castle Crashers

The knights of Castle Crashers are a myriad of cute little guys that pack a mean punch.  Each corresponding colored knight carries a different specialized weapon with which he can continue through the stages in a beat-em-up action packed adventure.  Players can unlock additional characters in game by competing in arena events and team up with other knights online to play cooperatively.  The big appeal of the Castle Crasher knights is their beautifully rendered art style and animation.  Each scene is filled with the knights taking out their enemies in a bloody, explosive, chaotic fashion, making for some well deserved fun.

6. The Knights of Elder Scrolls

One of the greatest things about any of the Elder Scrolls titles  is that the player can manipulate the game in whichever way they see fit.  The player themselves can create their character based around knight-like morals on their own, being honorable, religious, and protective.  Much of the high end armor in the game can be used to create any kind of knights look you desire.  From shiny gold royalty knight to dark and demonic the possibilities are endless. In game you will come across many of your enemies (enemies being a very loose word in the game depending on whose side you are on.) that have been sworn into knighthood.  The Death Knights of Skyrim can be accessed by downloading the latest update so feel free to enjoy the wide range of knights that Elder Scrolls has to offer. Elder scrolls gives players one of the only chances to experience knighthood as a female as well.   It doesn’t get much more diverse than this.

5. Link – Legend of Zelda Series

Link isn’t usually thought of as a knight but if you know the history of the series you might think differently.  In The Adventures of Link, two knights of Hyrule appear to teach Link their sword techniques.  Several comics and Manga’s also give us incite into Link’s life, his father was a Knight of Hyrule who protected the royal family and thus he is a descendant of the knights of Hyrule.  Although this isn’t mentioned outright in the games, several different games have Link obtaining magical items that are only available to the knights of Hyrule. He even encounters four Big Stalfos, transformed to enemies by Gannon’s magic,  whom he must defeat in Four Swords Adventures to return them to knighthood.  His honor to the knighthood and his service to princess Zelda make Link one of our most treasured knights.

4. Meta Knight – Kirby Series

Meta Knight is an interesting character in the Kirby series.  Players are unable to make out if he is friend or foe as his actions speak to neither side.  Meta Knight has helped Kirby by giving him invincibility candy, but then personally challenges him to battles later in certain games.  Fans of the Kirby series were excited to see Meta Knights appearance in Super Smash Brothers Brawl where he takes on his enemies with a combination of extreme speed and skill.  One of his greatest honors is that he does not take sides and players have never seen Meta Knight without his trusty knights mask.

3. Sir Daniel Fortesque of MediEvil

Sir Daniel Fortesque, a skeletal knight, graces us with his presence through the world of MediEvil.  Brought back to life by an evil sorcerer, Sir Dan uses a variety of short and long range weapons to help him on his quest.  If no weapons are available Sir Dan also has the unique ability to rip his own arms off and wield them as weapons.  Dan is a knight that has experienced a second chance at life….I mean, death.  He was in fact, struck down by the very first arrow fired in a battle he waged.  Due to his life’s failures Dan has been unable to make it into the hall of heroes, determined to change this fact Dan vows to take down the evil king and earn his rightful place.

2. Siegfried Schtauffen – Soul Calibur Series 

Siegfried is the offspring of a revolutionary father from the 16th century.  His father, who was a veteran of the service, spend 15 years teaching his son the techniques of swordsmanship and battle.  After his father leaves for war, Siegfried joins a band of thieves who decide to take out a battalion in the night.  Successful in their endeavor Siegfried kills the commander only to realize that it is his very own father whom he has decapitated.  Siegfried retreated to the woods where he became more insane and obsessed with finding the soul edge sword which he convinced himself was the reason his father was killed.  After sneaking into battle and slaughtering thousands the sword transforms him into the Azure Knight, Nightmare.

1. Tanooki Mario Knight

One of our favorite Mario power-ups is the Tanooki suit which allows Mario to fly through the air, glide more slowly to the ground, and as many forget turn into stone knight Mario.  Turning into the stone knight has several advantages, allowing Mario to shield himself from enemies and if he chooses to turn into the knight while in the air, comes crashing down on the head of his enemies in a thwomp fashion.  Leave it up to Mario to be a super-hero-flying-racoon-stone-knight with a mustache.  I’m sure no one else does knighthood quite like Mario.

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