*Peeks out from under his hat*
The concept of the dark knight (and subsequently, the black knight) is present throughout literature, fantasy or otherwise. Historically, there are a few legendary tales of accounted soldiers, commanders, etc, bearing such a moniker simply for wearing black and being (to paraphrase) badass. Case in point, Polish knight Zawisza Czarny the Black of Garbow, who wore black armor and kicked incredible amounts of knightly butt in tournaments then went on to become a war hero.
In "the death of Arthur", the black knight is a representation of death and mystery, an interioris hominid (means "hidden man", loosely) who for lack of a broader explanation, is an assassin.
And for all my fellow literary nerds, the Nazgul of Middle Earth's mythos were extreme cases of dark knighthood. A band of magical wraiths bearing two handed swords who roamed the countryside effecting slaughter in the name of a cause.
Ishgardian "Dark Knights" seem to take this general theme and point it in the same extremist direction as much of the Ishgardian culture does and it makes a certain sense when put in proper perspective. Ishgardian temple knights and dragoons (not the jumpy ones, the actual dragoons) are the protectorate, household soldiers and militarized citizenry trained and dedicated to the safety and continued livelihood of Ishgard's people. These are their knights and knight-errants, but even they must bend the knee to the Holy See and the nobility. Their dark knights appear (from the text) to be the answer to corruption, a veritable collection of fighters with the mentality of "Who watches the watchmen? I do." This makes them that very "interioris hominid" I discussed early, a representation of death and mystery. "Be true, young lord, in all your dealings lest the dark knight find your door...." or something to that effect. I haven't seen any info saying that the DK are sanctioned by anyone at all, which leaves the possibility of operating "outside the law", in Batman fashion, a legitimate RP avenue.
Cheers!
-Black Hat
The concept of the dark knight (and subsequently, the black knight) is present throughout literature, fantasy or otherwise. Historically, there are a few legendary tales of accounted soldiers, commanders, etc, bearing such a moniker simply for wearing black and being (to paraphrase) badass. Case in point, Polish knight Zawisza Czarny the Black of Garbow, who wore black armor and kicked incredible amounts of knightly butt in tournaments then went on to become a war hero.
In "the death of Arthur", the black knight is a representation of death and mystery, an interioris hominid (means "hidden man", loosely) who for lack of a broader explanation, is an assassin.
And for all my fellow literary nerds, the Nazgul of Middle Earth's mythos were extreme cases of dark knighthood. A band of magical wraiths bearing two handed swords who roamed the countryside effecting slaughter in the name of a cause.
Ishgardian "Dark Knights" seem to take this general theme and point it in the same extremist direction as much of the Ishgardian culture does and it makes a certain sense when put in proper perspective. Ishgardian temple knights and dragoons (not the jumpy ones, the actual dragoons) are the protectorate, household soldiers and militarized citizenry trained and dedicated to the safety and continued livelihood of Ishgard's people. These are their knights and knight-errants, but even they must bend the knee to the Holy See and the nobility. Their dark knights appear (from the text) to be the answer to corruption, a veritable collection of fighters with the mentality of "Who watches the watchmen? I do." This makes them that very "interioris hominid" I discussed early, a representation of death and mystery. "Be true, young lord, in all your dealings lest the dark knight find your door...." or something to that effect. I haven't seen any info saying that the DK are sanctioned by anyone at all, which leaves the possibility of operating "outside the law", in Batman fashion, a legitimate RP avenue.
Cheers!
-Black Hat
What a colossal waste of time and energy.
