The Complete Evolution of Dark Knights

[Music] within the realm of fantasy numerous roles exist that help to push forward the narrative and provide context for the various actions that end up being taken many of these roles help to define a character as either being on the side of good or evil but there are also roles that sit somewhere in the middle creating an air of ambiguity about what might serve as a source of motivation as final fantasy has built out those narrative roles have sometimes found themselves associated with job classes and one of the more interesting in that regard has always been the dark knight due to the job classes close relationship with negative thoughts and emotions actions taken as part of the narrative were often portrayed as immoral and their combat prowess was based around extracting the essence of either themselves or their target to assert their dominance but even though that may be the case dark knights at least within the realm of final fantasy are not inherently evil and many have ended up being warriors of light as opposed to the aggressors that the warriors of light oppose throughout this video we will look to explore the very soul of the dark knight as even though the job class has seldom appeared throughout the main numbered games it has still managed to make a significant impact and we can't wait to explore this topic with all of you so strap yourselves in as we explore the complete evolution of dark knights we stole a crystal from people who had done no wrong i've worn this darkened armor for so long now there's no motive light left in me not even in my heart the first canonical dark knight was seen within final fantasy 2. appearing as a party member at the start of the game leon fought alongside firion against the empire but after being separated and subsequently incarcerated leon was brainwashed and ended up succumbing to the will of the emperor now reborn lyon was manipulated into serving as the emperor's dark knight and in this role he himself was able to manipulate and harness dark energy in order to not only make himself stronger but to bend others to his will as shown by his control over the entire town of bafsk from a gameplay perspective when leon later rejoined the party he had high strength and high intelligence denoting not only his abilities in physical combat where he had an affinity with swords and axes but also with black magic but outside of those specific traits due to the wider mechanics adopted by final fantasy 2 there was nothing inherently unique about leon from a gameplay perspective and most of his dark knight charm was evidenced by his cold-hearted nature and black armor final fantasy 3 attempted to build upon what had been established in the previous game but in the original famicom version it wasn't anywhere near as clear as it has been made in subsequent versions and that's because what is now known as the dark knight was originally called makinshi which translates to either magic swordsman or demon swordsman the job could be obtained from the water crystal and it's said that those who were able to master it did so after learning to harness the negative energies that flowed throughout the world around them they possessed great strength and could wield dark blades as well as regular swords and daggers they also had a strong association with dark and demonic armor but in opposition to what was seen within final fantasy 2 even though there was an association with magic the job now had low intelligence and that was because they could use white magic as opposed to black magic final fantasy 4 was where the dark knight came into its own as for the initial part of the story it was the job class associated with cecil harvey the game's main protagonist this built upon the narrative association seen within final fantasy 2 as the alignment of dark knights with the side of evil was diminished we did still see cecil manipulated into committing atrocious acts against the masidian people but whereas leon showed no remorse after breaking away from the emperor cecil was consumed by guilt and ended up rebelling against his king from a gameplay perspective cecil had many similarities with the magic swordsman from final fantasy iii he had high strength and low intelligence and was able to wield dark blades in isolation as well as a wider selection of dark armor but there was no longer any association with magic white or black cecil did however have a specific ability called darkness when used it would see cecil sacrifice 1 8 of his maximum hp to deal powerful non-elemental damage to all enemies and from this point on perhaps due to how unique it was darkness would become a signature ability for the class featuring almost every time the dark knight resurfaced in one shape or another but even though the dark knight had interesting applications from a narrative and gameplay perspective its next appearance wouldn't be until final fantasy tactics in the original version of tactics gothard gafgarian was designated as a dark knight and based on his various abilities and traits as well as his personality it was a fitting designation known to have committed great acts of barbarism throughout the 50 years war gafgaryan seemed to have no conscience and would perform any act if the price was right and when engaged in combat his style was all about dominating his opponent and making them submit to his will his two main abilities were duskblade also known as dark sword and shadowblade also known as knight sword they would allow gafgarian to absorb an opponent's mp and hp respectively and were associated with the dark element and one of these moves would receive a higher degree of prominence when the dark knight next appeared in final fantasy xi dark knight was available pretty close to the launch of final fantasy xi as an advanced job and it could be unlocked by completing the blade of darkness this would involve the player using the chaos bringer to slay 100 enemies something that would activate the weapon's potential once acquired the dark knight would end up being a very powerful class and not long after its introduction the developers ended up having to enact some significant nerfs to reduce its strength in comparison to some of the other jobs this iteration of the dark knight regained the ability to use black magic and they could also use dark magic because of this they had relatively high intelligence alongside their high strength something that mirrored what was seen with leon in final fantasy 2. they could also use swords and axes again but they now had access to two new types of weapons sides and greatswords their array of dark armor was also expanded over the years thanks to the addition of various artifact relic and imperial armor but perhaps the most impactful aspect of the dark knight was its abilities unlike many of the other quintessential jobs as dark knights did not appear between final fantasy 4 and 11 outside of tactics there was no real iterative progression and it meant the developers who were working on final fantasy 11 were afforded a lot more room to be creative to further that darkness did not appear as one of the available moves at least not in its original form darkness was instead morphed into a similar move called soul eater which would see the player sacrifice 10 of their health to enhance the damage output of their next attack alongside this were a whole host of other complementary moves such as last resort which would allow a dark knight to weaken their defense to bolster their attack and consume mana which would convert all available mp to again enhance attack immense dark knights could deal considerable amounts of damage and if not moderated the enmity of the damage generated would lead to a quick death as they would become the definition of a glass cannon still dark knights weren't without their defensive qualities as they gained resistance against unnatural forces through arcane circle could use weapon bash to stun an enemy and could also use dark seal to make sure their next dark magic spell landed with a high degree of certainty and they could also fall back on their special ability blood weapon this referenced gafgaryon's shadow blade as it would allow dark knights to drain hp from their target with every attack but now as it was based over a duration of time as opposed to being isolated to a single move blood weapon was even more powerful especially when combined with soul eater after this very strong showing that helped to flesh out the dark knight the next appearance was quite odd as part of a quest in final fantasy tactics advance players were tasked with tracking down a notorious dark knight called grissom who was the leader of the red wings a nice knot back to cecil from final fantasy iv but upon starting the encounter players would find that grissom had been renamed to glasum and that even though he was technically a dark knight he had much more in common with a paladin it meant the next actual appearance of a dark knight came in final fantasy 10 2 as it could be obtained as early as chapter 2 from the bevelle underground with the dress fear being found within a treasure chest there was no connection with the narrative this time around but what players gained access to was pure power dark knights had enhanced strength had access to black and dark magic and could wield swords they also had access to the signature move darkness which much like its original incarnation would deal non-elemental damage to all enemies at a cost of the character's health they also gained access to a rather extreme ability called charon much like the self-destruct blue magic that had appeared in a few prior games it would allow a dark knight to sacrifice all of their life to deal massive damage to all enemies and it no doubt served as a nod to taron from greek mythology dark knight was not a playable class in crystal chronicles but it was again associated with the narrative as the party ventured out in search of miasma they would start to hear about a wayward soul known as the black knight once a noble soldier who wielded a spear the black knight had been driven mad after having their memories stolen by raim and as the story concluded the player would learn that the black knight who had caused so much pain and confusion was called leon a fitting ode to the original dark knight who was also driven to commit heinous acts after being manipulated by a higher power final fantasy tactics war of the lions was another game that retcons dark knights into the mix in the original game the dark knight was exclusive to kafkarion but in war of the lions the developers made the job available to players but only if they had knight and black mage mastered as well as samurai dragoon geomancer and ninja at level 8. due to these severe requirements dark knights possessed the highest attack power of any of the standard jobs and it meant they could use their regular attacks to deal significant amounts of damage they also gained an interesting assortment of abilities such as sanguine sword and infernal strike which were carbon copies of gravarian's duskblade and shadowblade as well as crushing blow which was similar to weapon bash from final fantasy 11 except instead of inflicting the stun status it applied stop the most powerful ability was called abyssal blade and this evolved what had previously been seen with darkness and soul eater it would see the characters sacrificed their own health deal damage to a group of enemies but it was now an area of effect move and the enemies who were closest to the dark knight would take the most damage when combined with vehemence a support ability that replicated last resort from final fantasy xi it made dark knights fearsome warriors that could turn the tide in battle and they were an interesting addition to the game final fantasy fable's chocobos dungeon featured the dark knight as a job class that could be unlocked after defeating chroma shade on the 30th floor of the guardian of the light much like its predecessors this job class had enhanced attack power but reduced defensive capabilities to compensate making them susceptible to enemy attacks if the fight was prolonged to ensure the encounters were kept short dark knights had an interesting array of abilities shadow was similar to darkness as it allowed the character to use their own hp to deal increased damage but it now only affected one enemy as opposed to a selection covenant was similar to last resort and vehemence as it doubled attack power but halved at defense and much like bloodsword and shadowblade drainblade would allow the dark knight to sap hp from a single target but there were also some new moves that evolved the application of the dark knight dark breaker iterated on weapon bash and crushing blow to apply a knock back effect and a stronger version called dark blade could also be used an ability called dark would allow for the casting of a dark elemental spell and nightmare inflicted sleep on all nearby targets and then there was chaos which would allow a dark knight to drain hp from multiple enemies at once it meant that even though final fantasy fable's chocobos dungeon was the epitome of a spin-off its take on the dark knight was rather solid and the developers even added some new traits that would become parts of the tours of the trade in future iterations the next major appearance of a dark knight came into cydia final fantasy as cecil was selected as the warrior of light to represent final fantasy iv and the developers chose to have both cecil's dark knight and paladin job classes available to the player when in his dark knight form cecil would deliver slow but powerful attacks something that played into the wider traits of the class and he would use a sword as well as a spear an interesting inclusion as the only other dark knight to ever wield a spear was the black knight in crystal chronicles cecil would be able to employ numerous moves that had similar naming conventions to previous games but due to the nature of the experience very few had an application that matched minor changes were then made to cecil's abilities in duodecim with a new hp attack called shadowbringer that had its brave damage increased if cecil was in his dark knight form and it was much the same in decidia nt although dark flame was adjusted to have cecil sacrifice hp to create a wave of darkness the next appearance for dark knights was in final fantasy 4 heroes of light where they were classified as dark fences yet despite the name change their attributes and moveset were very closely aligned they had a strong affinity with swords and axes as well as a new weapon classification called short swords and the strength attribute was boosted whereas intelligence was relatively low to build upon their attributes dark fences had numerous abilities that would see their damage output increased based on manipulating their hp darkseid replicated would have been seen from shadow in final fantasy fables as it allowed a character to sacrifice a pull of their health to deal increased damage but only to a single target darker side then upgraded the move to act more like the quintessential darkness as it would attack all foes as opposed to a single enemy the dark fence's third ability was called eye for an eye it would see the character able to deal an attack that would increase as the character's hp decreased and this referenced a move called minus strike that had appeared in final fantasy 9 as part of steiner's arsenal and then there was a mock an interesting evolution of charon which had been seen in final fantasy 10 2 except instead of the dark fencer instantly sacrificing their life to deal considerable damage they would use dark side repeatedly until all of their hp was consumed in final fantasy dimensions the dark knight was appropriately aligned to the warriors of darkness as opposed to the warriors of light it could be obtained towards the end of act 2 upon the completion of a blessing in disguise and in the initial sense they were necessary to progress as their dark swords were able to stop enemies from auto reviving this acted as an interesting reference back to the final fantasy 3 remake as players were encouraged to use dark knights to bring a swift end to enemies that could replicate themselves alongside the appearance of dark swords which had not been associated with dark knights since final fantasy 4 the class could also wield the typical swords and axes and they were able to make use of numerous abilities from the dark knight's arsenal while also adding a few new ones from the outset dark knights could use darkness and this would see a character consume one quarter of their maximum hp to deal enhanced damage but unlike previous situations of the move it now only attacked a single target much like shadow and dark side which had been seen in final fantasy fables and four heroes of light respectively what would normally be expected from darkness was instead called onyx wave as when used it would consume one third of the character's maximum hp that did enhance damage to all foes in addition dark knights can inflict curse and sap and in an interesting twist could now provoke enemies using draw attacks something that would not be often encouraged due to how weak dark knights were to counterbalance their incredible damage output to compensate dark knights could use absorb hp which like the classic blood weapon attack would see hp drained when landing attacks and final thrust which had similar mechanics to eye for an eye except instead of dealing more damage with lower hp it would increase its chance of success the final two abilities available were quite interesting ebony slash built upon dark from final fantasy fables as it delivered a dark elemental strike and last resort was an extreme throwback to its original appearance in final fantasy xi as well as cheron it would see the dark knight cast doom on themselves with their stats enhanced significantly until their death final fantasy 14 featured an interesting iteration of the dark knight as unlike every prior version of the job class it was classified as a tank as opposed to being an alternate damage dealer this meant that even though there were numerous traits still pulled through dark knights were given an expanded array of abilities to help them adapt to their new function as a consequence it led to a fundamental change as the notion of consuming hp to deal increased damage a mainstay part of the class was removed dark knights were introduced in heaven's ward and the class could be acquired by working first with an npc known as frey and then an old friend of theirs called sid it would involve navigating an intense series of quests that would culminate in a fight against mughals and once the dark knight was obtained there were some clear differences from the outset due to the link with final fantasy 11 dark knights had a strong affinity with greatswords but now they were the only weapon type available to the class they still had their customary affinity with dark armor though and they featured high strength but due to their classification as tanks they also had high vitality and this then played into their use in combat as i've been seen throughout the years dark knights were given a mixture of abilities that were focused on a single target or multiple targets while others provided extra utility and another seldom used category also appeared damage mitigation amongst these standard moves were those that drained hp and drained mp but unlike prior games where these moves were quite isolated in final fantasy 14 there were numerous variants siphon strike blood weapon delirium and stalwart soul all had the potential to restore mp either as part of their base application or through combo bonuses and soul eater and abyssal drain then had the chance to restore hp while also dealing damage to the target due to the removal of the typical hp sacrifice mechanic the blood gauge ended up being introduced in storm blood certain moves would increase the blood gauge and it could then be expended on moves like quietus bloodspiller and the rather interesting living shadow which would see a simulacrum summoned but perhaps the most interesting move was living dead previous dark knights had gained access to numerous abilities that would bring about their demise but living dead went beyond allowing dark knights to continue fighting even if their hp dropped to zero it would allow a dark knight to expend all of its efforts and draw all hate for a limited period of time without fear of death but if the dark knight's health was not restored to maximum before the effect were off they would still end up perishing dark knights were not explicitly featured in final fantasy type zero but based on the traits of her character seis was a pretty strong candidate seis was only able to use sides which were first associated with dark knights in final fantasy xi and her unique feature was the ability to draw malice or hatred from her enemies something that drew from the earlier associations with dark knights and negative emotions this malice could then be used to deal damage to foes but size could also inflict negative status effects such as stop poison and death and she could also use drain throughout much of the final fantasy 13 trilogy dark knights did not feature but in lightning returns it was possible for lightning to acquire the dark knight garb it had a loose association with the story as it could be obtained after completing the side quest called to save the sinless and it featured two abilities darkness and assure the initial move darkness was quintessential as it allowed lightning to consumer hp to deal a powerful area of effect attack and assurer built upon dark breaker from final fantasy fables but instead of causing knock back it caused knock up record keeper featured numerous job classes as independent playable characters and dark knight was one of the classes chosen due to this designation dark knights were subpar in the grand scheme of things with poor stats and limited application but numerous traits were still apparent they had enhanced attack and could wield swords axes and daggers but they could also wield hammers something that had never happened before in combat dark knights could use dark blade which was now made similar to blood weapon but it was much weaker only offering a small chance to drain hp upon dealing damage the dark knight's soul break was also called dark blade and it acted in a similar manner to shadow with hp being sacrificed to deal enhanced damage to a single target unlike its predecessor final fantasy dimensions 2 did not have a clear and obvious job class system but pariah did exhibit some traits associated with dark knights and acted somewhat like the tank variant seen in final fantasy xiv featuring high strength barrai was able to deal considerable damage and was aligned with a variety of elements but there was also the ability to mitigate damage through the use of full defense and retain hp and mp through fixer-upper ferrari could also use seal to stun an opponent similar to weapon bash and low blow from final fantasy 11 and 14 respectively as well as torned which would draw enemy attacks but perhaps the biggest clue was peris access to darkness a move that not only sacrificed one-fifth of their maximum hp to deal enhanced physical damage but was also now noted as being effective against demons pariah could also use dark gar assault which evolved dark and ebony assault moves previously seen in final fantasy fables and the original dimensions dark knight appeared as a powerful damage dealing class in final fantasy explorers and they can be unlocked after defeating 500 enemies at least not back to final fantasy xi in this initial form dark knights could wield swords axes and sides but after being mastered they could also use dual axes dual swords and spears an association seldom seen outside of crystal chronicles and acidia their standard attribute was strength and their main ability was darkness as have been seen many times before using darkness would sacrifice hp to deal enhanced damage but the move was now evolved as it could also steal attack and defense the move could also now be charged which would allow players to control how much hp was consumed with each use of the ability in mobius dark knight appeared as an evolved form of the onion knight starter job card and it was introduced as part of job batch 2 halfway through 2016. when utilized dark knights had decent attack and high brake power and their ultimate called chaos bringer dealt massive damage in a cone shape with an added drain effect due to the nature of the experience brave exvius has featured numerous dark knights with the most obvious being cecil but lunath also appeared as a dark knight and dwayne an original character also featured some of the more obvious traits each of them could use the classic darkness ability which now sacrificed hp to deal enhanced dark elemental damage to all enemies cecil could also access upgraded versions of the move including dark cannon and soul eater with the latter sacrificing 49 of health to deal 3.2 times more damage to a single enemy each of them also had access to abilities that allowed them to drain hp from their target cecil could use drain blade lunath could use bloodthirsty sword which also drained mp and dwayne had access to the standard drain spell but outside of that it was dark lunath that took the dark knight further not only did he have a passive ability called immortal power that similar to living dead from final fantasy 14 allowed him to ignore fatal damage but he also had a huge amount of dark blade moves that could provide a variety of positive status effects including one that healed party members cecil then reappeared in opera omnia and each of his moves drew from previous decider appearances however the application was now changed to adapt to the pve setting it meant darkness and valiant blow now consumed hp upon use and in the case of the latter it also mirrored dark breaker from final fantasy fables by adding a knockback effect in war of the visions dwayne returned and this time he was classified as a dark knight of remorse it meant many of his abilities were associated with the dark elemental effect but while abilities such as darkness returned and there was a notion of absorbing hp based on damage dealt there was no consumption of hp associated with the class dwayne was not the only dark knight of note to appear in war of divisions though gafgaryon for example appeared as part of the final fantasy tactics event quest unlike dwayne gafgarian who was assigned the fel knight class would still sacrifice his hp using abyssal blade and unholy sacrifice to deal heavy damage across an area he could also use vehemence which was introduced in war of the lions to increase attack and decrease defense and duskblade and shadowblade both returned now stealing tp and hp respectively instead of mp in hp another example was stern who was classified as a knight of ruin they also possessed abilities that would sacrifice their own health to deal damage and lower the defense of their targets and that brings us on to the final entry into our list the final fantasy 3 pixel remaster which changed the ability associated with dark knights yet again it has seen soul leader now replaced with a new move called blade blitz it still allows the dark knight to unleash an attack that deals damage to all targets but the sacrifice of hp is no longer necessary something that builds upon the recent trend and that wraps up this evolutionary topic we'd love to hear your thoughts about how the dark knight has evolved over the years and if you enjoyed the study please consider giving us a like make sure you also let us know which job class you'd like us to tackle next and if you enjoy what we do and would like to support the channel please do consider supporting us on patreon you can find out more information at patreon.com alright guys with that this is daryl signing out i'd like to extend a big thank you to all of our patreon and youtube membership supporters especially reigning eckham benjamin snow and gregory who are super special united supporters and of course a big thank you to everyone for watching this video i'll see you all again soon for more final fantasy goodness you

Channel: Final Fantasy Union

Views: 163,895

Keywords: dark knight, the dark knight, final fantasy dark knight, evolution of dark knight, dark knight final fantasy xi, dark knight final fantasy xiv, dark knight gameplay, dark knight darkness, dark knight rotation, dark knight cecil, cecil final fantasy iv, final fantasy iv dark knight, final fantasy iii dark knight, final fantasy xi dark knight, final fantasy 14 dark knight, ff14 dark knight, dark knight job guide, dark knight job class, final fantasy evolutions

Id: gnn_dMAK-Qo

Length: 27min 20sec (1640 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 27 2021