Black Knight

Black Knight
Official artwork of the Black Knight from Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance.
Universe	Fire Emblem
Debut	Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (2005)
Smash Bros. appearances	Brawl SSB4 Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	Fire Emblem Engage (2023, cameo)
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo GameCube
Species	Branded
Gender	Male
Place of origin	Tellius
Designed by	Senri Kita
English voice actor	Robert Clotworthy
Japanese voice actor	Junji Majima
Article on Fire Emblem Wiki	Zelgius

The Black Knight (漆黒の騎士, Dark Knight), real name Zelgius (ゼルギウス, Zelgius), is a major antagonist and Ike's rival in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.

Origin

General Zelgius lives a dual life: under his true identity, he is revered as the most esteemed and honorable general of the Begnion Empire and is a vassal of Prime Minister Sephiran; and as the Black Knight, he is a mysterious servant of the Kingdom of Daein whose true identity is unknown even to its king, Ashnard. Both identities are regarded as immensely strong and talented warriors, and as the Black Knight, he also wields a variety of mysterious magical artifacts, including blessed armor that repels weapons that are not blessed themselves; warp powder that allows him to instantly travel anywhere, at the cost of exhausting him; and the divine sword Alondite.

The Black Knight first appears early in Path of Radiance at the outbreak of the Mad King's War, when he challenges Ike's father and his own former mentor, Greil, to a duel in order to retrieve Lehran's Medallion. He kills the aging and crippled Greil far more easily than he expected, right in front of Ike, and flees the scene when Caineghis interrupts them; he leaves behind Ragnell, the counterpart to Alondite, which the Black Knight had unsuccessfully attempted to goad Greil into using. From this point, Ike's quest for vengeance against the Black Knight is one of his biggest motivations throughout the war, but whenever they meet, Ike is unable to harm him at all with his ordinary swords. Near the end of the game, Ike and the Black Knight face each other at Nados Castle, with Ike now wielding Ragnell; Ike emerges triumphant, and as he escapes the castle crumbles behind him, leaving him to presume that the Black Knight has died. Meanwhile, under his Zelgius identity, he leads a Begnion battalion to reinforce Ike's war effort against Daein in the latter days of the war and is tasked with occupying Daein after its capture, instead of fighting alongside Ike in any of his battles.

Three years later, in Radiant Dawn, the presumed-to-be-dead Black Knight resurfaces in the fight for Daein's liberation from Begnion as an ally to the Daein freedom fighter Micaiah. After saving her from an ambush by hostile forces, he comes to her aid in the final battle to free Daein. When the war between Begnion and the Laguz Alliance coalition breaks out, Zelgius fights on both sides: as the Black Knight, he continues to serve and protect Micaiah; and as himself, he reluctantly leads the Begnion charge but is embroiled in conflict and infighting with Begnion politicians, and when the Begnion forces experience a schism over the conflict, he sides with Empress Sanaki, Sephiran, and the Laguz Alliance against the politicians. He has become fixated on Ike - who now serves on the side of the Laguz Alliance - as a rival: in the Nados duel, Ike had mentioned that Greil had crippled himself, robbing Zelgius of his desire to face Greil as he had been in his prime, so the Black Knight chose to let Ike win in the hope that he would grow stronger and provide him a future challenge worthy of the prime Greil.

Zelgius survives the judgement of the awakened goddesses Ashera and Yune, and as the Black Knight appears before Micaiah and unsuccessfully tries to convince her to stop fighting so that he can protect her. In the finale of the game, the Black Knight confronts Ike, Micaiah, and their party in the Tower of Guidance, standing in the way of their climb to its top to face Ashera, and reveals his true identity. Ike and Zelgius duel for the final time: Ike wins, mortally wounding him, and Zelgius dies content that his wish to face Greil in his prime has, by proxy in Ike, been fulfilled. Before and after the duel, Ike and Micaiah see visions that reveal Zelgius's past: he was born in Daein as a Branded, and while that mixed beorc/laguz ancestry gave him both incredible strength and long life, it also made him an outcast among both species. Sephiran (true identity Lehran, an ancient laguz) had taken him in and made him a key player in his plans, winning Zelgius's absolute loyalty with the promise that he would no longer need to be an outcast.

In combat, the Black Knight is one of the most powerful units in both games. He belongs to the armored unit archetype, but has higher stats and unique traits compared to regular armored units. He has immense strength and defenses, and in Path of Radiance, he has a blessed armor effect which makes him immune to all weapons at the player's disposal up to that point except Ragnell (this effect has faded by the time of Radiant Dawn). Even when the blessing effect is being bypassed, however, he can still power through opposing attacks and sustain relatively little damage. Like Ragnell, his sword Alondite has the bonus ability to attack over long distances by slinging shockwaves. In both games he possesses a special skill that gives him a chance of triggering an attack that ignores enemy defenses: in Path of Radiance, this is the stock Luna skill that he shares with other armored units, while in Radiant Dawn he has an even more powerful personalized version of Luna called Eclipse. In addition to his recurring boss appearances, Radiant Dawn gives the player the opportunity to control him in three chapters played from Micaiah's perspective, in which he is by far the strongest unit at their disposal. Additionally, after his final defeat in Radiant Dawn, Alondite is given to the player's army and can be used by any advanced sword-wielding ally, with all of the same strength and abilities as before.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

The Black Knight appears as a trophy and a sticker. He is also referenced in the form of the song Against the Dark Knight, which plays on Castle Siege.

Trophy

Black Knight's trophy in Brawl

Black Knight

One of Daein's Four Riders and wielder of the blessed sword Ettard. Once an apprentice to Ike's father, Greil, the two eventually duel, resulting in Greil's defeat. Thought to be dead after losing to Ike and the blessed sword Ragnell, the Black Knight survives and comes to the aid of Micaiah, the leader of the Dawn Brigade, a band of Daein freedom fighters.

One of Daein's Four Riders and wielder of the blessed sword Alondite. Once an apprentice to Ike's father, Greil, the two eventually duel, resulting in Greil's defeat. Thought to be dead after losing to Ike and the blessed sword Ragnell, the Black Knight survives and comes to the aid of Micaiah, the leader of the Dawn Brigade, a band of Daein freedom fighters.

: Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

: Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn

Sticker

Name	Game	Effect	Fighter(s)
The Black Knight	Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance	SpecialLaunchPower+040 +40

The Black Knight (Fire Emblem: PoR)

In Super Smash Bros. 4

The Black Knight appears in Super Smash Bros. 4 in several minor roles. His leitmotif, Against the Dark Knight, also returns in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Trophy

The Black Knight trophy is exclusive to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Black Knight's trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Black Knight

Not even the other members of the Daein army know the truth behind this dark knight. He is Ike's rival in Path of Radiance and the sequel, Radiant Dawn. His mastery skill Eclipse is so incredibly powerful, it'd be understandable if you thought his defeat would bring peace to the war-torn land.

: Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (10/2005)

: Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (11/2007)

It's said that the Black Knight's identity is a mystery even to the Daein army who he fights for. In Path of Radiance, he's Ike's mortal enemy, and this enmity continues into Radiant Dawn. His already fearsome strength is bolstered further by the skill Eclipse. He's so powerful that you might even expect him to be the final boss.

: Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (11/2005)

: Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn (03/2008)

As a costume

A Mii Swordfighter dressed as the Black Knight.

The Black Knight's armor is the basis of a paid downloadable content costume for Mii Swordfighters. The Black Knight's color scheme also serves as the basis for one of Ike's alternate costumes.

In Smash Tour

The Black Knight item in Smash Tour.

In Smash Tour, the Black Knight is a red item. A player using the Black Knight at the beginning of a battle will cause their smash attacks to have a 30% chance to have 5 times knockback, frequently causing them to one-hit KO for that battle.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

As an Assist Trophy

The Black Knight as an Assist Trophy in Ultimate.

The Black Knight appears as an Assist Trophy in Ultimate. He moves across the stage slowly, attacking any nearby opponents with his sword, Alondite. He either attacks with a single sword swing or a slow two-hit combo; both attacks are extremely powerful, trigger Special Zoom, and can easily KO at low percents. While he can be attacked and defeated, his HP is relatively high, he can't be grabbed, and he only flinches from sufficiently strong attacks. Training Mode describes his Assist Trophy: Slowly approaches, and then executes several extremely powerful slashing attacks. He cannot be summoned on Suzaku Castle.

Robert Clotworthy and Junji Majima reprise their roles in both English and Japanese, albeit via recycled voice clips from Fire Emblem Heroes.

In the English version, the Black Knight has three quotes:

• "Here I go." when summoned.
• "Know your place!" when departing.
• "Can't move!" when defeated.

As a costume

The Black Knight Mii costume returns, and is purchasable from the Shop.

Spirit

The Black Knight also appears as two different primary spirits.

Zelgius' Spirit Battle uses a Mii Swordfighter puppet fighter wearing the Black Knight Helm and Armor, and is fought on the Castle Siege stage. During the battle, the Mii Swordfighter will feature super armor, referencing the Black Knight's goddess-blessed armor, which features high defense and resistance stats. Also, the Mii Swordfighter's smash attacks will have increased power, referencing the Black Knight's goddess-blessed sword, Alondite, which features high attack stats.

The Black Knight can be obtained by enhancing the Zelgius spirit at level 99.

No.	Image	Name	Type	Class	Slots	Base	Max	Base	Max	Base	Max	Ability	Series
664		Zelgius		★★★	2	2678	8074	1406	4239	1272	3835	Can Be Enhanced at Lv. 99	Fire Emblem Series
665		Black Knight		★★★★	2	4823	12060	2328	5820	1866	4667	Armor Knight	Fire Emblem Series

Gallery

• 

  The Black Knight as a Mii Swordfighter costume

• 

  The Black Knight’s official render from Ultimate.

• 

  The Black Knight slashing Link on Tortimer Island.

• 

  Artwork of all playable Fire Emblem characters and Assist Trophies, as posted on the official Japanese Fire Emblem Heroes Twitter account.

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning
Japanese	漆黒の騎士	Dark Knight
English	Black Knight	—
French	Chevalier Noir	Black Knight
German	Schwarzer Ritter	Black Knight
Spanish	Caballero Negro	Black Knight
Italian	Cavaliere nero	Black Knight
Chinese (Simplified)	Black Knight	—
Chinese (Traditional)	漆黑騎士	Dark Knight
Korean	칠흑의 기사	Pitch-black Knight
Dutch	Zwarte Ridder	Black Knight
Russian	Черный рыцарь	Black Knight

Trivia

• Even though Zelgius has a spirit battle, Black Knight does not appear as an enemy Assist Trophy in it, being instead represented by the Mii Swordfighter clad in his armor. This makes him one of the two Assist Trophies not to appear in a battle pertaining to his own spirit, or its pre-evolved form (as is the case with Zelgius), with the other being Spring Man.
• On his Super Smash Bros. Brawl trophy, the NTSC version's description says that the Black Knight is the "wielder of the blessed sword Ettard", when the blade is only called such in the Japanese version of his origin game; in the West, Ettard was renamed Alondite. This was fixed in the PAL version.