Requesting Dark Knight Lore Summary

[Sig]

Google and the inter-forum search function have failed me.  I've been looking for a basic summary of dark knight lore, specifically information regarding the nature and origin of their powers.  I believe this information is revealed in level 50-60 dark knight class quests.  If anyone could provide a brief summary of dark knight lore, I would appreciate.  

 

Thanks!

[Warren Castille]

It's very lightly dusted over. Sith Dark Knights use emotions to drive themselves to fight, and the culmination proves that love is the most powerful one.

 

There's no real acknowledgment of why "Dark ____" is every one of their skills.

[S'imba]

My personal interpretation, so take it with a grain of salt. 

 

The first Dark Knight was an everyday knight that channeled his emotions to form these dark knight abilities. Though after this knight killed a priest defending some innocent soul from him, the Ishgardians did what they always do and completely demonized the art. Playing off the fact that hatred and anger are the easiest emotions to fight with only served to make portraying them as practitioners of evil arts eaiser. 

 

Over time dark knights just kinda embraced this view for one reason or another, the source of emotion becoming known as the abyss. The rest of their abilities becoming named after dark powers. Several motivations being it part of the whole ideal of serving no real country and as a method to use fear as an ally to help face an enemy that straight up out numbered them. 

 

Like I said mostly just personal interpretation of what I got out of it...but I feel a lot of the lore in this game is purposely left ambiguous to let the player interpret things so they can be part of making the story.

[Lydia Lightfoot]

Simple answer: It's less "Dark" as in "villainous & demonic" and more "Dark" as in "that thing emo people talk about".

[Wemrys]

Simple answer: It's less "Dark" as in "villainous & demonic" and more "Dark" as in "that thing emo people talk about".

 

Oh look it's this joke again.

 

The "Dark" in Dark Knight actually refers to the fact that they're a knight without a banner. They pledge allegiance to no one essentially. It's an old medieval term and dark knights were indeed real things in the past (minus flashy magical emotion powers).

 

In terms of lore to extrapolate on S'imba's post...the very first Dark Knight was actually just a regular Knight under one house or another and saw a member of the clergy doing something despicable to another person and getting away with it (it's intentionally vague). The Knight attacked the clergyman and was eventually put to trial by combat for it. While the Knight won, he displayed a new magic that was coming from the core of his emotions. The Inquisitors saw this as a demonic thing but could not legally charge him for the crime he was tried for...instead he was stripped of his title and lands and dubbed a "dark" knight or a knight with no banner. Rather than be disgraced, the dark knight embraced his new title and continued to mete out his own form of justice. His abilities were developed and passed on over time to allow his disciples and descendants to use those powers to protect the weak from the oppressive without fear of retribution (of course there IS retribution if they get caught but you know...people tend to leave dark knights alone).

 

The Dark Knights don't know much about the source of their own power but they know a few things such as when they touch their soul stone a voice calls out to them and that voice is the one that shall guide them. Some even speculate the voice is someone they are meant to find in the future. The power of the Abyss can overtake a person easily so it's no simple task becoming a Dark Knight. Fall too far and you can be destroyed by your own inner darkness.

 

As for their abilities...the "dark" monikers are just for flavour. The abilities assume you can use your injuries to give you strength by building your anger. You can replenish your own aether by stealing the enemy's own (resulting in health or mana regeneration in game mechanics) or even use the darkness to drive an opponent mad (one of their DoTs gives a debuff which says so in the mouse-over description). They're very plainly like Sith from Star Wars which are more menacing and cunning than anything else despite mocking jokes by some about the class' practitioners listening to Linkin Park and being emo the like.