A Brief History of Dark Knights

In what mindset do you choose to live? Can you find strength in your weaknesses, or will the darkness overcome you? Has the pain you felt led to the downfall of other people? Just some things to keep in mind as we go through a brief history of today's class, the Dark Knight. And no, I'm not talking about Batman.
It is fitting that we approach this class as the Halloween season comes to a close and enters our rear view window, as Dark Knights complement things such as the theme of darkness very well. They tend to wear armor that is dark in nature and their weapons follow suit. The Deathbringer sword for example, has a chance to kill enemies in one fell swoop. But such great classes don't come without having great pitfalls. Most Dark Knights have a signature ability called Souleater, also known as Darkness, which allows them to sacrifice some of their HP in exchange for a dark-elemental attack. A good weapon of choice for this class is the Blood Sword, as hitting an enemy with it can restore some of your HP, possibly nullifying some of the loss from the Souleater ability.

Not to mention the fact that while this class generally has high physical stats, their defense is lacking. Lower defense is not a good thing when your special attack drains some of your HP, but there's always a price to pay when you're a heavy hitter. Given that this class has a general theme of sadness and loss, I can appreciate the vulnerability that low defense gives them on some level.

“I've worn this darkened armor for so long now, there's no mote of light left in me. Not even... in my heart.”
—Cecil to Rosa, Final Fantasy IV

The Dark Knight made its way in to the Final Fantasy series early, in the form of Leon, or Leonhart, in Final Fantasy II. Leon is quite an amazing character in the sense that not only is he a powerful ally, but he serves as the games secondary antagonist as well. I don't believe it is ever stated why he decides to join sides with the Emperor, but he ultimately redeems himself by siding with Firion and crew in their quest to defeat the Emperor in Pandaemonium. His legacy lives on in later Final Fantasy titles. For example, his name is given to Squall Leonhart in Final Fantasy VIII. Something else I think is cool is that the designs of Caius in Final Fantasy XIII-2 were inspired by Leon. There's also a sword that Cecil from....

Wait, speaking of Cecil....

Cecil Harvey is a Dark Knight in Final Fantasy IV. Up to a certain point, anyway. As a Dark Knight he is a much respected and admired captain of the elite air force of Baron, the Red Wings. While he is brave and he has firm beliefs, he is also modest and shy. The burden of his Dark Knighthood is a great asset to his character development. At one point he even has to face off with "himself" in battle. I felt it was a sort of spiritual experience which you as the gamer could use as a metaphor about how he needed to overcome himself and his darkness in an effort to be a better person as well as being more powerful and dependable.

Interestingly enough, The King of Fabul gives Cecil a Deathbringer sword said to be left behind by a Dark Knight named Leonheart who lived approximately 100 years ago. Cecil later becomes a Paladin, but that's another class for another time. In Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, Dark Knight Cecil appears in flashback scenes and his dark side is fought as a boss. He can switch between Dark Knight and Paladin classes in the Dissidia games.

Another great example of a Dark Knight is Goffard Gaffgarion from Final Fantasy Tactics. Well, he is considered a Dark Knight in the original game, but in War of the Lions is considered a Fell Knight. Just to give you some insight on how bad this guy is, let it be known that he was discharged from service from being too brutal in the Fifty Year War. He later became a mercenary. You start the game out thinking he's on your side, but it turns out he was just a spy for the protagonist Ramza's brother Dycedarg.

He's a frequent boss throughout the game and proves to be a tough challenger. His two powerful sword skills, Shadowblade and Duskblade, have the opposite effect of the Souleater ability. This makes him a difficult adversary in my book! There's one battle where you risk facing him one on one which can be a pain if you have difficulty getting to the switch that lets your party in the castle gates. What's interesting about this character (aside from the distinguished mustache, howdy Movember) is that unlike the other two characters I mentioned, Gaffgarion has no redemption or a story of inner light to be found. His loyalty goes to the highest bidder.

Other notable mentions:

-The Dark Knights primarily show up as a job class in Final Fantasy III, X-2, XI, and Tactics. There's also a Dark Knight named Grissom in Tactics Advance.
-In Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, there's a similarly named Dark Fencer class with a lot of the same abilities. Final Fantasy XII:International has a similar class called the Uhlan which specializes in polearm weapons.
-There is also yet another Leon who is a Black Knight in Crystal Chronicles.
-You can also expect to see the job class present in Bravely Default: Flying Fairy.

That's not even counting the various card games and Japan-only cell phone releases!


Hopefully you've found the darkness here to be fitting of the Halloween season in which it's written. Do you have a favorite Dark Knight? Do you feel there's anything I should have included? Do you have constructive criticism in the structure of this article or a suggestion for what class to do next time? Whatever the case may be, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. And as always, your encouragement and support are appreciated!

Picture Sourceshttp://images.wikia.com/finalfantasy.../1/18/Leon.jpg
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