The Black Knight

The Black Knight
Real Name	Unknown
Species	Beorc
Class	General
Affiliation	Kingdom of Daien
Weaponry	Alondite
Voiced by	Mark Dias
Debut	Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

The Black Knight is a primary antagonist in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. It has been confirmed that he will return in Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.

Background

The Black Knight is Daein's most powerful general and may have been equal in strength with Ashnard. The Black Knight's identity is an enigma, as he never takes off his armor and his real name is never spoken. The only information of The Black Knight's past is that he was once a pupil of Ike's father, Greil (back when Greil was known as Gawain) and is one of the Four Riders of Daien.

The Black Knight is first seen at the end of "Chapter 7: Shades of Evil", when he convinces his fellow Rider, Petrine, to retreat from the Gallian forces. Afterwards he meets up with Greil and battles him to find Lehran's Medallion for Ashnard. Greil was no longer capable of wielding a sword, so the Black Knight was able to finish him off. The Black Knight threatened to kill Ike if Greil didn't tell him the medallion's location, but, but he fled after he heard the roar of King Caineghis. The Black Knight is later seen in Chapter 11 and Chapter 24, but in those chapters he is more of something to be avoided rather than an enemy to kill.

In "Chapter 11: Blood Runs Red", he at first stood back and let Mackoya try defeating Ike's mercenary crew to capture the princess Elincia at Port Toha. But after Mackoya entered the battle, the Black Knight became impatient and set out to stop them himself. Ike and his friends successfully escaped. Ranulf then tried attacking Black Knight to hold him off, but Sephiran convinced Black Knight to leave Ranulf alone and not pursue the boat. Black Knight was forced to obey, because Sephiran was Prime Minister of Begnion, and King Ashnard did not want war with Begnion yet. Then in "Chapter 24: Battle Reunion", the Black Knight observed Ike's battle with several Daein forces without moving. Ike later tried to attack him, but his sword did not damage. The Black Knight saw Ike as a promising opponent, so he let Ike live and told him to bring Ragnell next time so they could have a real battle.

Throughout the game, Ashnard sends The Black Knight on various jobs to help the Daein Army, first capturing a Serenes royal so that Ashnard could use their galdr to revive the dark god in Lehran's Medallion. He ultimately decided to capture Leanne. In "Chapter 28: Moment of Fate", he is sent to Grados Castle and assigned to execute Ena. The Black Knight however, does not land a clean blow on Ena after he states that he will make her death "swift and painless". He then does battle with Ike, who brought Ragnell this time. If Ike defeats The Black Knight in four turns, he will acknowledge Ike's growth in strength, before collapsing. The soldiers then set off the traps that cause the castle to collapse in a last-ditch attempt to kill Ike's group. Black Knight, unconscious while the castle fell on him, was left to an ambiguous fate.

Alternate Plotlines

In "Chapter 28" of Path of Radiance, if Ike fails to defeat The Black Knight in four turns or flees, Nasir will sacrifice himself by setting off traps in the castle and bury himself and The Black Knight in debris.

Abilities

The Black Knight is an extremely powerful warrior, easily dwarfing King Tibarn in strength and matching even Ashnard. The Black Knight's armor is blessed by the goddess Ashera and can only be damaged by blessed weapons. He has an assortment of blessed items such as his sword Alondite, and his Arcane Powder which lets him teleport at will, but it apparently takes a toll on his body as well.

Trivia

• Ashnard received his blessed armor from The Black Knight.
• Ashnard acknowledges The Black Knight's great strength and wishes to test who's stronger one day.
• The Black Knight was the former owner of Ike's sword Ragnell.
• In Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Ike uses the Black Knight's arcane powder to warp into battlefields as his pre-battle entrance.