Dark Knight (job)

The Dark Knight ( or ). sometimes abbreviated as DRK , is a special job class that appears in several games in the Final Fantasy series.
While translated as "Dark Knight" in titles, such as Final Fantasy III and War of the Visions: Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, the Dark Knights in those titles are the Warmage job in Japanese.
==Profile==
The Dark Knight's signature attire consists of tight, sometimes enclosed, black suit of armor. They wield swords steeped in wicked powers. Their physical stats, with exception of Defense, are usually high, but their other stats depend on the game they appear in. The typical Dark Knight ability is Darkness, which allows them to sacrifice their HP to perform stronger attacks. Darkness is not exclusive to the Dark Knight class, however.
Dark Knights may also have abilities based on blood equipment, which allows them to absorb HP and MP from enemies. Unlike many classes, Dark Knights bear a signature weapon, the Deathbringer, which has a chance to kill certain enemies in a single blow.
The Dark Knight is opposed by the Paladin, holy knights who protect allies and wield sacred powers. A unique variant known as the Warmage also appears in several installments, serving as a version of the Dark Knight that focuses more on debuffing and having access to various schools of magic.
==Appearances==
===Final Fantasy II===
Leon marks the first appearance of the Dark Knight within the series. He serves as the Emperor's right-hand man until the Emperor's defeat and subsequent revival, at which point he joins the party.
===Final Fantasy IV===
Cecil Harvey, the primary protagonist, serves as a Dark Knight until he becomes a Paladin on Mount Ordeals. Baron is also mentioned to have a battalion of Dark Knights in their army, but due to the intense training many Dark Knights fail to master the dark sword and lose their minds in the process. A reflection of Cecil's Dark Knight is fought as a boss. The King of Baron is also a Dark Knight.
As a Dark Knight, Cecil can use the Darkness ability to inflict damage to all enemies at the cost of some of his HP. In the 3D remake versions, Darkness doubles his attack for three turns at the cost of 10% of his maximum HP per attack.
====Final Fantasy IV: The After Years====
Cecil's dark side is fought as a boss. Cecil is also seen as a Dark Knight in several flashbacks.
===Final Fantasy X-2===
The Dark Knight dressphere can be obtained in Bevelle during Chapters 2, 3, and 5. The class uses skills that cause status effects, grant status immunity, and cause high damage by sacrificing HP. Their high strength and defense is hampered by their low speed.
===Final Fantasy XI===
The Dark Knight (DRK) job is awarded to the player by Zeid, after using the Chaosbringer sword to kill 100 monsters. In addition to their usual abilities, Dark Knights can also wield low-level Black Magic, but not nearly to the same extent as Red Mages and Scholars.
===Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII===
Lightning can acquire the Dark Knight garb based on the Dark Knight job by completing the sidequest "To Save the Sinless". Lightning must unravel the disturbing mystery surrounding a man named Ranulph and learn the true reason why pages from his journal are missing. The garb comes with two abilities, Darkness and Ashura. Both abilities consume Lightning's HP for powerful attacks. Darkness deals area damage, while Ashura focuses devastating power on a single target. The garb also contains the Soul of the Dark Knight, which slightly increases physical attack and magic resistance.
===Final Fantasy XIV===
Dark Knight (DRK) was introduced as a new job in the Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward expansion. It is the third tank class and wield greatswords as their weapon of choice.
===Final Fantasy Tactics===
Dark Knight is a job in The War of the Lions version. It has abilities that focus on delivering damage to opponents using the darkness to drain their HP or MP, and also can attack sacrificing their own HP to deal more damage. It costs 6,900 JP to master.
Fell Knight (Dark Knight on the PlayStation) is Gaffgarion's exclusive job. While his two abilities, Shadowblade and Duskblade, appear identical to Sanguine Sword and Infernal Strike, Gaffgarion's variants are slightly more powerful.
Deathknight is an enemy job used by the undead Argath when the player fights him in Chapter 4. It is a stronger version of the Fell Knight job used by Gaffgarion.
===Final Fantasy Tactics Advance===
Grissom, the leader of the Redwings, has a job named "Dark Knight", with a sprite and abilities as a Paladin and Blue Mage as secondary job.
===Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles===
The Black Knight is a character clad in all black armor that fights wildly with a large black bladed spear. The story tells that he was once a great warrior and hero before going mad and losing his memories. Later on, it is revealed his true name is Leon Esla, a reference to the Final Fantasy II Dark Knight.
===Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light===
Dark Fencer is one of the crowns. Dark Fencers can sacrifice their life force to deal large amounts of damage using the Darkside ability. They also have an ability to allows them to do higher damage when their HP is low, called Eye for an Eye, and a stronger version of Darkside that attacks multiple targets, called Darkerside, and a kamikaze attack, called Amok, that allows them to repeatedly use Darkside until they have one point of health left.
===Final Fantasy Dimensions===
Graham is a Dark Knight hailing from Falgabard, and he gives the Dark Warriors the Dark Knight job class.
Dark Knights have access to the Draw Attacks ability, as well as access to the Dark Sword ability list. Dark Sword attacks include Darkness, which deals improved physical damage for 1 MP at the cost of 25% of the user's maximum HP, Onyx Wave, which deals heavy damage to all enemies at the cost of 33% of the user's maximum HP, Curse, which inflicts Curse and Sap status on one enemy, Last Resort, which greatly improves the user's stats but inflicts them with Doom, Final Thrust, which deals damage equal to the Dark Knight's maximum HP and is more accurate at low HP, and Ebony Slash, which deals more damage than Darkness and costs no health, but costs 28 MP.
As Dark Knights level up, they also gain access to Absorb HP, which heals the Dark Knight by 10% of the damage they deal with a basic attack, and Backliner, which allows them to deal full damage from the back row.
There is also an enemy called Dark Knight, unconnected to the job.
===Final Fantasy Dimensions II===
Parai gets an alternate costume based on the Dark Knight job from the "Phantom Beast Great Decisive Battle!" event. The costume can only be seen when Parai is equipped with the "Dark Knight Equipment" accessory. The accessory provides 25% boost to attack strength and 1,300 HP to max health.
FFLII Dark Knight Artwork.png|Artwork (Rank 6).
FFLII Dark Knight Alt2 Artwork.png|Artwork (Rank 8).
FFLII Dark Knight.png|Signet (Rank 6).
FFLII Dark Knight Alt2.png|Signet (Rank 8).
===Dissidia Final Fantasy (2008)===
Cecil appears as both a Dark Knight and a Paladin, able to shift forms when attacking. His Dark Knight form specializes in slow but powerful sword attacks infused with dark magic.
====Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy====
Dark Knight is one of Cecil's forms, learning a new HP attack called Shadow Bringer.
The Dark Knight is also a job that can be selected for a character in the player's party for Quick Battle, Friend Cards, or wireless matches. The Dark Knight job grants the character +5 ATK at a cost of -3 DEF, and is needed to unlock the Mystic Knight and Berserker jobs.
====Dissidia Final Fantasy NT====
The Dark Knight appears as one of Cecil's forms. The Dark Knight's 2nd form is Cecil's outfit from Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy.
===Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin===
Dark Knight is an Expert job in Stranger of Paradise unlocked by leveling the Warrior, Black Mage, and Berserker jobs. 
It serves as a high-risk/high-reward job that possesses one of the highest damage outputs of the Expert Jobs by sacrificing its HP for extra power with each strike through the "Souleater" job action. As the Dark Knight levels, it gains passives that increase damage dealt when near death, the ability to eliminate MP when near death, and even have the Near Death status active at all times, provided the player reaches the Last Resort Affinity requirement.
===Pictlogica Final Fantasy===
===Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade===
The Dark Knight is a job available after obtaining a level 5 Warrior and a level 10 Black Mage. The preferred weapons for the job are swords and scythes. The job specializes in both strength and intelligence abilities.
===Final Fantasy Artniks===
The Dark Knight appears as a character card.
===Final Fantasy Record Keeper===
Dark Knight is a playable character who can be recruited as the First Time Reward for completing The Palamecia, Part 2 on Classic difficulty in the realm of the core dungeons.
===Final Fantasy Explorers===
Dark Knight is a job unlocked by defeating 500 enemies. Dark Knight is a powerful damage dealer. They can initially equip axes, scythes and swords; after mastery dual axes, dual swords, and spears can be equipped.
===Mobius Final Fantasy===
===Final Fantasy Trading Card Game===
The Dark Knight job appears in Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as Ice-, Earth-, and Lightning-elemental Backup and Forward cards. The cards depict a Galka and a Mithra from Final Fantasy XI, an Au Ra from Final Fantasy XIV, and the job from Final Fantasy Tactics and from Final Fantasy Explorers.
DarkKnightFemale TCG.png|Dark Knight [1-076C] Chapter series card.
DarkKnightMale TCG.png|Dark Knight [5-077C] Chapter series card.
DarkKnight XI TCG.png|Dark Knight [8-043C] Chapter series card.
DarkKnight2 XI TCG.png|Dark Knight [10-022C] Chapter series card.
DarkKnight Explorers TCG.png|Dark Knight [15-024C] Chapter series card.
Dark Knight 1-092C from FFTCG Opus.jpg|Dark Knight [1-092C] Opus series card.
Dark Knight 2-073C from FFTCG Opus.jpg|Dark Knight [2-073C] Opus series card.
Dark Knight 4-074C from FFTCG Opus.jpg|Dark Knight [4-074C] Opus series card.
Dark Knight 6-065C from FFTCG Opus.jpg|Dark Knight [6-065C] Opus series card.
===Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon===
The Dark Knight has several skills that sacrifice Chocobo's HP to damage enemies. It is unlocked by defeating Croma Shade and Croma on the thirtieth floor of Guardian of the Light.
==Non-Final Fantasy guest appearances==
===Lord of Vermilion===
In the arcade-based card game Lord of Vermilion there are two cards representing the Dark Knight job.
In the sequel Lord of Vermilion II there is another appearance of the Dark Knight card.
===Knights of the Crystals===
The Dark Knight appears on a bronze card.
Knightsofthecrystals-DarkknightMale.png|Dark Knight (male).
Knightsofthecrystals-DarkknightFemale.png|Dark Knight (female).
===Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars===
In the overseas version of the game, as well as all releases of the Nintendo Switch remake, the optional boss Culex introduces himself as a Dark Knight of Vanda and a resident of another world that was interested in invading Mario's world, but Mario's world is uninhabitable for Culex and his kind. Before he departs and closes the portal, Culex asks for a duel with the party.
===Minna to BIOHAZARD Clan Master===
As a crossover collaboration with Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade, the character Albert Wesker is a Dark Knight. This is likely in correlation to Albert's juxtaposition to Chris Redfield as an agent of Umbrella Corporation, and his constant and successful use of the experimental and dangerous super viruses created by Umbrella to empower him; one such virus that further draws simile to the "dark power" the Dark Knight wields is that of his most potent and signature creation of the Ouroboros Virus.
===Bravely series===
Alternis Dim is a Dark Knight, and the holder of the Dark Knight asterisk that grants the job to the player in Bravely Default and Bravely Second. Dark Knight deals high damage at the cost of HP. Other Dark Knight skills don't cost HP directly, but are only effective if the Dark Knight takes damage from enemies. Dark Knights have an affinity with the dark element.
BDFF Dark Knight.png|Agnès and Tiz as Dark Knights in Bravely Default.
BDFF Edea Dark Knight.png|Edea as a Dark Knight in Bravely Default.
BDFF Ringabel Dark Knight.png|Ringabel as a Dark Knight in Bravely Default.
BS Magnolia Dark Knight.png|Magnolia as a Dark Knight in Bravely Second: End Layer.
==Gallery==
Leon.jpg|Artwork of the Dark Knight Leon in Final Fantasy II.
EarlyFFIX-Job design image 2.jpg|Early Final Fantasy IX concept art showing a Dark Knight among other discarded job ideas.
Ffx2-darkknight.jpg|Rikku, Paine and Yuna from Final Fantasy X-2 wearing the Dark Knight dressphere.
FFXI-Hume-DarkKnight.jpg|An Elvaan Dark Knight in Final Fantasy XI.
LRFFXIII Dark Knight.png|Lightning dressed as Dark Knight in Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII.
FFXIV Dark Knight.png|Concept art of a Dark Knight from Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward
FFT DarkKnight.jpg|Dark Knights from Final Fantasy Tactics.
LOV Heavy Armored Dark Knight.jpg|Another Dark Knight in Lord of Vermilion, clad in heavy armor.
Ffl-char-gram.png|Gram, a Dark Knight from Final Fantasy Dimensions.
FFD - Dark Knight.png|Dark Knight job in Final Fantasy Dimensions.
FFLTnS Parai Dark Knight.png|Parai's Dark Knight costume from Final Fantasy Dimensions II.
PFF Dark Knight Costume.png|Dark Knight costume from Final Fantasy Dimensions II.
File:DFFNT Cecil DK transparent.png|Cecil's Dark Knight form in Dissidia Final Fantasy NT.
DFF2015 Cecil Dark Knight 2nd Form.png|Cecil's Dark Knight 2nd form in Dissidia Final Fantasy NT.
PFF Dark Knight M.png|Male Dark Knight in Pictlogica Final Fantasy .
PFF Dark Knight F.png|Female Dark Knight in Pictlogica Final Fantasy .
FFAB Dark Knight Male.png|A male Dark Knight in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade.
FFAB Dark Knight Female.png|A female Dark Knight in Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade.
FFTWoL Dark Knight R F Artniks.png|Final Fantasy Artniks.
FFE Dark Knight.png|A Dark Knight in Final Fantasy Explorers.
Chocobo Dark Knight.png|Chocobo as a Dark Knight in Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon.
Avatar Dark Sword.png|Square Enix Members avatar.
==Etymology==
de:Dunkelritter (Beruf)
es:Caballero Oscuro
it:Cavaliere nero
 
Category:Recurring jobs