/Knights/

What is their appeal?

Those are some of the least convincing emeralds I've ever seen.

Chivalry, mastery of the blade (or at the very least, impressive skill of it), and bitchin' armor are all very appealing.

Is there a fetish for knights?

Well, one have to remember that the knights of old was the "superstars" of their time. To see a knight was in a weird sense comparable to see a rockstar.
They had money, power and attitude. And besides this, they could fucking fight (given that during this time, every lad growing up was probably a natural brawler, but these guys was trained from a very young age to actually know how to fight!)

They made a major impact on the social and political landscape of Europe, which is kind of impressing considering that there wasnt much separating them from just being well armed assholes.

Plus we have a lot of stories and legends surrounding them. Knights always come to save the day, they wear shiny armor and fancy helmets. They look cool while they're doing violence at things, and rest assured they're usually doing it for the right reasons (at least according to the stories)

To commoners, knights represented a sense of advocacy in the world. You might not have much and you might have to work like a slave to put food on your table, and your kids are all going to die of starvation... but there's a guy at the big house on the hill, and if you complain loud enough about something he'll come and use his sword and his horse to make it better if he can... so you can rest easy knowing the assholes from the next town over arent going to steal your shit because he claims that your shit is HIS to steal.
So...y'know... at least there's SOME kind of control over that.

Now take that weird sense of respect and extrapolate that over the centuries and assume that people are going to heap all this appreciation on them because they need them to do unpleasant things like Kill Foriegners and take land and yell at the King who's being a dickhole... and voila. We end up in modern times with a sense of wonderment about them.

Nobless Oblige is a really cool and romantic thing. There's just something about the image of a man in shining armor righting wrongs where the law does not reach far enough.

Thick armor, long sword, horse to ride around and the chance to become a lord.

yes

They are a microcosm of humanity in the three main ways that they can be portrayed.

A knight can be literally a hero in shining armor. A man who saves beautiful damsels and beleaguered peasants alike. A noble figure both in deed and title. The best kind of local ruler who is fair, honorable, courteous, just, and above all else strong and brave enough to rule well.
A knight can also be a complete bastard who uses his position to extort the week and crush anyone who gets in his way. He is the perfect low tier tyrant, one who usually gets things done himself with the power he has a warrior but who also demands respect and send his minions to do dirty work for him if need be.
Finally, a knight can be an indifferent force. No chivalry or dishonor here, he's just part of the feudal structure. He is a force of law and order, not of good and evil. The knight can be one who has one purpose: be landed warrior aristocracy. Mercy or malice are foreign to him, he is merely a perfected killing machine in the service of his lord.

I like all of these aspects, and while other occupations from across time can be similar, the knight is my favorite for how well he can show all three.

>Truth
Holy shit, you even mde me tear up a little, user, that was beatiful.

As for me, I loved knights when I was a kid (swords and armor are cool) and nostalgia is my reasoning for liking them today.

Daily reminder that Veeky Forums doesn't know shit about history

if they aren't lawful stupid
they're hawt

Knights are for people who want to say everyone 'I am better than thou' but think elves are too popular to be cool

At least this is not Veeky Forums

Same appeal as tanks have.
These guys were nigh invulnerable in good armor and damn lethal with their weapon of choice.

If you see a knight, you'd know that even if all the lads in your village ganged up on him, he might still come on top because you cannot go through his armor and he can slay with a single strike.

prima noctis

Well that depends on the flavor, doesn't it?

>Bog-standard knights

Warrior nobility with a focus on armor and horsemanship. What's not to love? Throw in a code of chivalry or other high ideal and the assumed dignity that comes with it, and you've got a pretty great basis for a huge variety of characters.

>Crusaders

As above, but with religious zeal. Once again, excellent basis for a lot of characters. In particular, I find the idea of a nobleman who selflessly sets aside his land and other privileges to join a holy order to be extremely appealing. Even if they're portrayed as a villain, I enjoy true believer villains far more than cynical, self-centered ones, and if they're heroic - well, they're pretty much the goodest good guys you could hope for.

>Questing knight errant/adventuring hedge knight

Yes

Basically what it boils down to is cool arms and armor and being associated with a larger ideal or principle combined with high status - whether they live up to their ideals (and how they interpret them) and other people's view of them makes it easy to construct a reasonably complex knight character.

>armour
>sword
All it needs is some zap zap magic, and it already is my favourite type of hero.

> These guys were nigh invulnerable in good armor

Nice armor you have there Mr. Knight.
It would be a pity if a peasant with a crossbow would put an hole in it...

Thank god for that.

Not just that, but knights didn't have to be of royal blood. Most of them were not, or only gained noble status by marriage later.

Knighthood, as unattainable as it seemed, was something that even a lowly peasant could theoretically aspire to if they managed to be the biggest, the strongest, and the best. or, at least big strong and best enough to earn distinction in the eyes of their liege lord.

And you wouldn't just be earning benefits for yourself. The most famous knights would earn lands and titles after the war, which meant your family was set for life and your kids were going to grow up well off.

People like to romaticise history,

>be born into a highly militaristic and war ravaged society
>your father had enough capital to afford to train you to become an efficient killing machine
>from the youngest age you are indoctrinated and conditioned to serve, fight, and kill
>you are trained constantly from youth to ride, fight in armour, fight with sword and lance
>your entire existence is devoted to the art of warfare
>your entire purpose is to make war
>your entire life is for the singular purpose of warfare

Earliest knights were the rich enough dudes who could own horse and armour in Charlemanges army. Over time they turned into a social class unto themselves - basically the warrior caste of other societies. The ideas of chivalry and shining armour does not appeal to me as much as the warlike society aspect.
Just imagining a honed killing machine charging with lance and horse into a bloc of armed farmers appeals to me.

>professional soldiers
>peasant

Pick one

Peasants are for farming and lewd, not fighting

>Crossbows
>Penetrating armour

Works right out of the box

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