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Imperial Knight

2018-03-26T06:41:18Z

2001:8003:3895:3A00:D43C:5548:575D:8392: /* Knight Patterns */ Replaced the weird table format

{{Topquote|...who battled courageously during those times, some victorious, some not, but always in the name of chivalry.|The Five Star Stories}}

[[File:Knight vs Trygon.jpg|350px|thumbnail|right|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSrcMaid0mg Hmm... does this look familiar to you?]]]
Somewhere between a regular walker and a [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Titan]], the Imperial Knights are large single pilot war machines, similar to the [[Tau]] [[Riptide#XV104 Riptide Battlesuit|Riptide]]. Usually humanoid, the cockpit for the pilot is mounted in the head or just behind it in the main body.

In other words, they're a [[BattleTech|Battlemech.]]

Their somewhat unexpected return to the 40k setting is possibly a sign of [[Games Workshop|GW]] deciding that people would only play [[Warmachine]] because 40k has insufficient [[warjack]]s [[Skub|(and not because of arguably better rules and update schedule)]], or that they [[Profit|make more money by selling one huge model than lots of little ones]].

They are really [[butthurt|a fairly fan-wanky insertion]] of [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|Fantasy-era]] [[knight]]s into 40k, which, let's face it, is not exactly a setting devoid of knight analogues, but unlike [[Space Marines|the]] [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|others]], this one is much closer to the original source material: [[BattleTech|aristocratic dicks in high tech armor suits grinding the faces of the poor]] while being [[grimdark]] and all knightly and shit, including the [[Game of thrones|politics, incest and backstabbing]] that brings.

Funnily enough for such an in-universe niche unit, Imperial Knights are currently among the most popular models from the 40k range, if the top-seller list of Games Workshop is any indication, and with good reason; their whole design and grimdark steam-punk style catches the eyes, and surely a lot of people are buying it just because it looks that cool. Also, for 150 Naggaroth buckets you get a unit strong enough to be an army on its own or join any imperial force.

[https://youtu.be/ajP5q2HvycY In short they're big, baddass, chivalrous, stompy mechs. Really, what's not to love?]

== About the Knights ==
[[File:Errant Detachment.jpg|thumb|right|EPIC Errant Knights. For when you want to cook your enemies really fast.]]
[[File:PaladinDetachment.jpg|thumb|right|Paladin Titans from EPIC times.]]
The knights are allied with, or in some cases part of, the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] rather than being part of the greater Imperium's war machine. Knight Worlds are worlds which supply [[Forge World#Planet|Forge Worlds]] with foodstuff and raw materials, specifically those worlds defended by Knight Households. The Knight World gathers foodstuff and ores for a set period of time (usually a year) before the Adeptus Mechanicus arrive in a drop ship, occaisonally bringing new knight suits in exchange for the raw materials. Knight Worlds themselves are typically Feudal Worlds, which were easily brought into compliance during the Great Crusade, and which explains the rather aristocratic tone about the Knights. Knight World politics is fueled by the constant resource tithes and the possession of Knight Titans. Any kingdom that possesses a Knight Titan could absolutely smash a kingdom without one, so it behooves a kingdom to concede to being tithed in exchange for the (relatively) ultimate weapon. Once any given feudal kingdom has become a Knight Household, any Household with more Knights than it does is a huge threat, so getting more is always important. By the time that the escalation becomes preposterous these Households are already shipping knights of-world to cruise the stars and fighting things, so the extra-planetary losses constantly need to be replenished, lest the Households lose their on-world detachments to off-world conflicts. All that said, Knight Worlds tend to exist rather happily alongside their Forge World; Mechanicus get a defensive buffer and food forever, and the Knight Households get to continue ruling their chunks of the planet. Or all of the planet, depending on how far you can stretch a feudal society.

During the [[Epic]] days Knights were a complete fabrication by the Adeptus Mechanicus, supplied as battle fleets where the Imperial armies are in need of them, much like a Titan Legion is. Knights were a gimmick, given to Feudal Worlds that the Mechanicum settled near in exchange for getting shipments of food, manpower, and raw materials. This simplistic lore is [[retcon|no longer the case]]; apparently the original Knight Worlds were not the Mechanicus' idea. The Knights themselves are STC relics, dating before even the Dark Age of Technology. In a shocking twist, not only does the Knight STC appear to be relatively intact, the Knight itself seems easy to produce for any given Forge World; a rare case of the AdMech not shitting themselves. When Games Workshop released the new "heroic scale" Knight models, they also released new Knight fluff with them. The first Knights were actually colonists, arriving on new worlds during Humanity's first expansion into the galaxy at large. With no way of returning to Terra once they arrived, and long periods with no outside help, those original human colonies needed to be self-sufficient and the Knight suits were sent along with them, made for fighting against the [[Xeno|myriad threats]] [[Chaos|to their existence]]. Additionally, it turns out that giant stompy robots could also be re-purposed for peaceful uses: cutting down trees with their chainswords, blasting apart boulders with their main weapons, or using the sheer size of their bodies as cranes, lifts, earth-movers, and various other construction equipment. As a byproduct of the Throne Mechanicum bonding processes (see below), the Knights' pilots soon came to see themselves as protectors of their people. In the cases where these heavily-armed frontier colonies were never slated for further colonization, suffered a society-collapsing event as they grew, or otherwise remained isolated, Knight Titans were given the opportunity to become the industrial and military backbone of many of these worlds.

During the Age of Strife, when humanity at large lost it's ability to travel the Warp and everything generally went to shit, these planets were guaranteed to be alone and afraid, fighting for their survival against everything they already had to fight, plus all of the weirdness that comes with BIG FUCKOFF WARP STORMS. The proto-Knight-World colonies (fully-grown at this point) regressed from large-scale industrial societies into what are functionally feudal worlds with a sprinkling of techno-barbarianism. Why did this happen? Well, there are a number of possibilites: fear and panic over the lack of outside contact could have sparked apocalyptic military conflicts or nuclear wars, the whole "robot uprising" thing that was also happening during the Age of Strife could have resulted in a rejection of automation, or the entire would could have been slowly ground down to the barest essentials of living by millennia of constant conflict; take your pick! The Knights themselves eventually formed noble households as time went on, or else noble households formed around the knights, due mostly to the fact that only a large-scale organized society with military force can properly maintain a giant stompy robot. By the time of the Great Crusade (more importantly, by the time of the first Mechanicum Explorator Fleets ''during'' the Great Crusade), almost all of the remaining Knight Worlds had dwindled to feudalism over the course of the Age of Strife, and in many cases the survivors were living threadbare on dying worlds, in great need of new raw materials or the expertise required to maintain the suits. This situation was ripe for exploitation, and some clever bastard in the Mechanicum got the great idea of using these worlds as combination Agri-World, Mining World, and military training ground. Several Forge Worlds and lesser Mechanicum worlds were established intentionally within Knight World systems due to the easy symbiosis. It is assumed that any Knight Worlds which were not in need of assistance (or whom the Great Crusade found before an Explorator Fleet) sided with the Imperium at large, as opposed to becoming vassals of the Mechanicum.

As a side note, in a hilarious turn of events, in this new lore these feudal Knight Worlds leveraged their ritualization and xenophobia to purge witches and deviant thought, and therefor psykic influence, from their worlds entirely. This created pockets of relative calm in the hellish storms of un-reality that they floated in, and thus they were saved from the worst of the warpy shit, allowing them to survive into M31 and the Age of the Imperium. The only known things (as of this new canon being written) which can calm or negate the Immaterium are [[Gellar Fields]], [[Blank]]s, and Nulls. Gellar Fields work, but nobody knows why. Of the two living examples of warp nullification, a Null is literally soulless, and a Blank is an anti-Psyker and an abhorrent anathema to all other life. In a move [[Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka|rarely seen in this day and age]] some GW writer was a cheeky shit, and included a bit of direct political commentary by [[skub|implying that extreme social conservatism was equivalent to having no soul]].

A Knight's Machine Spirit is of a particularly unusual type: to interface with the suit, an aspiring noble must first join with the Throne Mechanicum (the Knight's control system) in a ritual known as the Rite of Becoming. Due to a quirk in the bonding process, the device retains an imprint of each of its former pilots' personalities at the time they were first bonded, and as a result individual suits may develop traits echoing those of their former masters. The link also affects the noble's own mind as well; exposure to the metaphorical (or possibly literal, since there's been at least one case where a Throne Mechanicum took over operating the Knight when its noble was slain by using the memories of its old operators) ghosts in the machine inevitably causes the noble to develop strong positive feelings towards the concepts of fealty and hierarchy along with a near-mystical reverence toward the noble's ancestors. [[Phoenix Lord|This idea isn't very original]]. Nobody knows why this is, but the Mechanicus thinks it may have been a failsafe in the original plans meant to ensure that no Knight would willingly betray or abandon his own House. Either way, this benefits the Mechanicus rather neatly. This kind of "ghost in the machine" presence exists for true [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Imperial Titans]] as well, though in their case the machine spirit is more of an AI/second ego, and storing past Princeps' personas is something that happens, but the Mechanicus try to avoid/scrub out. Go see the Titan page for a more in-depth comparison.

Knight Houses make a tradition of sending their Knights on glorious quests across the stars, which mostly involves going where the Imperium/Mechanicum tells them too, and shooting/punching everything dead once they get there. Knight Houses make a tradition of basically everything, but more on that later. These quests, which one can only assume are fulfilled by the Imperial Navy or Explorator Fleets (and *not* just jumping really high, as some fa/tg/uys suggest), must be chocked-full of silly fish-out-of-water scenes as the Knights must putter around the cargo holds of ships, interacting with Guardsmen, slaves, and Imperial navymen. Knights absolutely love going on quests, because *not* going on quests means staying home and doing rituals and ceremonies. The day-to-day lives and operations of Knight Households, and the noble caste that supports them on-world, are so regimented by ceremony that the Knights themselves *fucking hate it*. Eating, sleeping, social interaction, prayer, bathing (when it infrequently occurs), walking down hallways, looking at art, and probably *breathing* are so highly ritualized that it makes Japanese tea ceremonies look like a practice rehearsal of a theatrical production put on by a class of 3rd graders. You have actual, named, 64-part ceremonies described as happening *daily* in the Mechanicus codex, and those are only one of probably three-hundred-thousand common-to-esoteric ceremonies that could be required to properly perform a given action, formally acknowledge a nobleman's change in standing or status, or even to honor a specific year, month, week, or hour of the fucking day. And Emperor save you if you fuck any of it up.

=== Houses ===
There are two types of knight household, though a third association does exist.
*Those who align themselves with the Imperium directly such as Imperial Houses, acting as independently operating vassals of a greater empire (much like [[Space Marine Chapter]]s do), therefore answering calls for aid as they feel like, rather than being ordered to. Examples of Imperial Houses are:
**'''House Terryn''' - House known for its [[Mary Sue|courage and honor]] as well as [[Codex Astartes|rigidly adhering to ritual and ceremony]]. Supposedly its homeworld of Voltoris is so [[Macragge|peaceful and boring]] and the aforementioned rituals so tedious that it only encourages them to campaign across the galaxy. (Their colour scheme is [[Ultramarines|blue]].)
**'''House Hawkshroud''' - A very [[Noblebright]] house, who believe that kindness should be returned tenfold and who answer any and all requests for assistance, which means their homeworld of Krastellan lies virtually undefended. Also have links with the [[Imperial Fists]] having been praised by the chapter master for their efforts against the [[Eldar]] of Alaitoc. (Their colour scheme is yellow.)
**'''House Cadmus''' - Were once bound to the Mechanicum, but regained their independence and became an Imperial House when Gryphonne IV was nom nomed by [[Tyranid]]s. Based on the [[Caliban|mutant infested forest world]] of Riasa, they engage on mutant hunts every year, with the [[A Song of Ice and Fire|winner getting to rule the house]] until the next hunt. (Their colour scheme is [[Dark_Angels|green]]).
**'''House Griffith''' - A house of [[Salamanders|hotheads]] who almost exclusively make use of the Knight Errant pattern and come from a planet once inhabited by ''actual dragons''. They are also one of the [[Salamanders|smallest knight houses, but remain one of the most respected]]. They engage in regular jousting tournaments using old fashioned horses, but wearing adamantium armour. Have a preference for [[Rip and Tear|close combat]].
**'''House Mortan''' - A house only recently introduced to the Imperium after being cut off by a nebula which made their planet a night world. For thousands of years they fought giant monsters in the dark until the nebula dissipated in M35 and the Imperium arrived.
**'''House Drakkus''' - Featured in the mobile game 'Warhammer 40,000: Freeblade'. Known for being dead, and for having a rather fetching jade-green colour scheme.

*Other households are directly aligned to the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] and are based on ''(or linked to)'' Forge Worlds. Though they retain their independence from the Cult Mechanicus, they do have reciprocal trade and resupply agreements as well as swearing oaths of protection to the Mechanicum, often directly to specific Forge Worlds. Houses directly linked to the Mechanicus will have access to better weapons and technology than their more primitive cousins. Which isn't surprising because Techpreists tend to be [[Blood_Ravens|greedy buggers.]] Examples of Mechanicum Houses include:
**'''House Taranis''' - The ''First'' of all Knight Houses (read ''Mechanicum'' by [[Graham McNeill]]). They were founded on [[Mars]] during the [[Dark Age of Technology]], and were later the first Martians who met the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor]] before the [[Great Crusade]]. This house has ownership of some of the oldest knight suits. For some reason, their Knights' Throne Mechanicum units lack the typical mind-altering effects that they would normally possess; nobody knows why. One reason could be that the pilots of House Taranis are loyal to the mechanicus first, and house second.
**'''House Raven''' - The largest of all Knight Households, based on the world of Kolossi and have close links to forge world [[Heavy mythril|Metalica]]. Suspected to hold secret [[Standard Template Construct|STC]] data which explains why they have so many Knight suits. Their fortress, the ''Keep Inviolate'', is said to be one of the most well-protected bastions in the Imperium, on par with the Fang and the Imperial Palace, and appears on their coat of arms.
**'''House Krast''' - The first Knight World (Chrysis) to be rediscovered during the Great Crusade, its proximity to Mars meant it was swiftly brought into the fold, but had its homeworld ravaged by [[Horus]] during the [[Horus Heresy|Heresy]], leaving them the only Household left on the planet. Since the forces on Chrysis were led by the traitorous Legion Mortis, they have a preference for hunting traitor titans.
**'''House Vulker''' - A very wealthy but deeply mysterious house from a star system with vast mineral resources, they never expose any flesh and wear golden masks to cover their faces. Their close links to the Mechanicum are evident in the golden servitors they share between worlds, and their courts being filled with tech priests... Not that outsiders ever get to see inside their courts.

*Sometimes individual Knights detach themselves from Noble Houses entirely. Having been dishonoured, shunned, or otherwise made unable to continue life within the Household, they become Freeblades and ply the stars alone (dragging their large pool of retainers along to maintain the suit, naturally). These knights break out to either quest across the Imperium or settle down outside of the ritual of their Household and protect the citizens of whichever worlds they end up on.
**'''Amaranthine''' - Never ever speaks or leaves his suit. [[Inquisitor]]s chase him around trying to have a word about his loyalties.
**'''Auric Arachnus''' - Somehow connected to the [[Ultramarines]] and earned honour slaying a [[Dominatrix]] during the battle for [[Macragge]].
**'''Crimson Reaper''' - Freak who wears a red & black face mask, who is rumoured to be a [[Vampire|blood sucking mutant]]. Is very prone to collateral damage.
**'''Living Litany/Litany of Destruction''' - A grey, black, and orange Knight Gallant who constantly voxes droning sermons in High Gothic, only changing into loud chants when fighting. He's probably bonkers, but everyone lets it slide since he's still loyal to the Imperium at least. Or at least, they used to- at some point he lost what little was left of his sanity and went renegade. As the Litany of Destruction, his color scheme is identical to what it was as a loyalist but is now visibly emblazoned with the eight-pointed star of Chaos.
**'''Gerantius ''The Forgotten Knight''''' - maintains a secret mountain base on Alaric Prime, though his planet is shared by other lesser knight houses. Thought to be [[undead]] and [[Necromancer|in command of spirits]]. Days which he chooses to fight upon are regarded as ill-omens. Rules for him are in [[White Dwarf]], making him a Seneschal-level knight with ''It Will Not Die'' and the ability to both run & shoot in the same phase.
**'''Justice''' - A freeblade connected to the [[Iron Hands]] chapter who is a master of slaying traitor knights. The Iron Hands chapter appear to be keeping his secrets and will not talk of his past.
**'''Obsidian Knight''' - Fought in the [[Damocles Crusade|Damocles campaign]] along with House Terryn on the planet Agrellan. - Has his own rules in Warzone: Damocles making him an absolute WS/BS 6 [[Awesome|badass]] who hates [[Tau]] with a passion.
**'''Mydos Almighty''' - Hails from a world that was done in by the greed of its upper class, which it fled to actually fight. Rather hypocritically, this Knight is entirely bedecked in fucking GOLD.
**'''Retribution Incarnate''' - A hero of the [[Macharian Crusade]]s, believed to be the last member of an established household.
**'''White Warden''' - The last man standing for House Degallio from the planet of [[Lawful Stupid|Alaric Prime]] ''(same as Gerantius)'', known for his cracking mustache and his willingness to stand up for ridiculous laws.
**'''Tellurus''' - Only living member of a fallen house, and refuses to be seen without armor. Tellurus fought alongside both House Cadmus and House Hawkshroud on Vondrak. ''"...towering and monstrous, a giant of adamantium and fury. With a booming cannon and a roaring chainblade for arms, it was clad in armour the colour of a winter’s sky. Blue and cold, chevroned with streaks of black and amber. A bright gonfalon streamed from its left shoulder. A rearing horse with a fluted horn at its forehead."'' - from ''Knights of the Imperium'' by Graham McNeill. [[Samus|Turns out to be a girl.]]
**'''Domeenito Ohashi''' - Imperial Knight who got stuck on a primitive world under attack by the Orks. [[Awesome|In spite of being sworn to go back to his world of origin, he decides to go freeblade and fights back the greenskins becoming a hero to the population until receiving Imperial Guard reinforcement. since then he has wandered across the galaxy helping the Imperium to crush all kind of xenos raiders in the hopes of getting back home eventually.]]
**'''Dyros Kamata ''The Scorched Knight''''' - A Knight whose rider apparently severed all ties with his house and burned off all his livery by walking into a volcano. He eventually learned that his dad was a corrupt prick, so he killed the old man before going off again.

=== Sacristans ===
Unlike the much larger [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Titan legions]], most Imperial Knight Households do '''NOT''' retain [[Techpriest]]s of the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] to maintain and repair the Knight suits (though deeply-bonded Mechanicum households usually do).

Instead they invariably include a specific class of individual called a '''Sacristan''', who is basically an artisan and a technology specialist. These Sacristans accompany the knight on his travels and keep his suit operational during the campaign, and if a Knight becomes somehow divorced from his household and becomes a Freeblade, the sacristans associated with the suit shall travel with him. It is assumed/alluded to that Sacristans have a cadre of serfs and underlings whom also follow ''them'' around, all of whom form the cadre of attendants for a single Knight.

Unbeknownst ''(or immaterial)'' to the Imperial Households, these Sacristans '''ARE''' inducted into the Machine Cult in a similar fashion to the [[Techmarines]] of the [[Adeptus Astartes]], having been trained either off-world or under an apprenticeship to an already established Sacristan. So while they may not be fully ordained Tech-Priests, they do further the interests of the Mechanicum while living amongst the Knight Households. Sacristans may be historically connected to whomever maintained the Knights during the Age of Strife, making Sacristans even more inspired by ''A Canticle for Leibowitz'' than the Mechanicum itself already is.

=== Chaos and Renegade Knights ===
Though they are rare, there are a number of Knight Households or lone Freeblade Knights who have fallen to [[Chaos]]. Most infamous of all is the [[Slaanesh]] Hellknights of House Devine, who turned during the [[Horus Heresy]] due to [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Targaryen]]-esque amounts of twincest. That said, Renegade and Chaos Knights are hunted down by Loyalist Households, who view their existence as shaming all other Knights. The "board game" <b>Imperial Knight: Renegade</b> shows one such hunt.

For those who survive, these Renegade Knights can find employment and protection within the warbands of [[Chaos Space Marines]], or find themselves on the heretical end of a [[Daemons|warp incursion]] that puts their skills and equipment to "good" use. Of course, being a massive war machine, Chaos Knights may find themselves converted into massive [[Daemon Engines]] called [[Daemon Knights]]. The only real distinction between Renegade and Chaos Knight is that Chaos Knights actually worship Chaos and can become Daemon Knights, whereas Renegade Knights can simply be disowned and mercenary Freeblades who don't always side with for the Imperium or humanity at large. The distinction is often irrelevant during the decision-making process of whether or not Imperial forces intend to kill them (though "kill for the honor of the House" and "kill the fucking traitor with ''extreme prejudice''" aren't exactly the same state of mind for the ones doing the killing).

==Knight Patterns==
The Knights themselves come in several varieties, all of which have an energy shield to protect them from incoming fire and have a mix of shooty and choppy. 6th edition introduced two varieties have just recently appeared in the 40k model range, the Knight Paladin with its rapid fire battlecannon and the Knight Errant with its thermal cannon. Forge World later joined in with several of its own varieties of Knights, and as of 7th edition three other types (the Crusader, Gallant, and Warden) were added to the main 40k line.

Knights usually deploy alongside Titan legions as auxiliary forces. Although some patterns of Knight are capable of going toe to toe with smaller titans, or even larger titans outfitted exclusively for ranged combat, the Knight's usual role is anti-infantry or anti-light vehicle freeing up the Titans to attack superheavies.

===Armiger Knight Patterns===
====Armiger Warglaive====
[[File:40kForgebane-Forgebane-Armiger.jpg|thumb|200px|left|An Armiger Knight Warglaive.]] A new type of Knight, said to be piloted by aspiring nobles, lowborn commoners with a knack for war, and the occasional bastard child of the High King. They are given the nickname of '''Baby Knights''', '''Mini-Knights''', '''Moe Knights''', '''Knight Jr''', '''The Wee Baby Brother of the Bunch''' or '''Mini-Me''' [[Dwarf|''for a very good reason''.]] Armiger Warglaives are the smallest Knight class shown to date (roughly the size of a [[Dreadknight]], Grey Knight converters take note), hunting and fighting at the flanks of their cousins. Due to their smaller size and lighter weight, the Armiger Warglaives are far faster and more agile than their larger brothers, which helps them work in groups and perform flanking maneuvers. Although they are obviously not as ridiculously tough as your basic Knight and aren't technically super-heavies like their full-sized cousins, they are still a tough nut to crack. They are equipped with Thermal Spears, Reaper Chain-Cleavers, and a heavy stubber or a melta gun. Unlike other knights it doesn't have titanic feet. Sadly it has lost the ability to move and shoot heavy weapons without penalty. Use them if you want to have the firepower of a Knight without wasting a bucket load in points, but watch out for hordes. Fluffwise, they are to larger knights what warhounds are to warlords - they serve as fast support to neutralize threats to the larger engine, while also helping in combat maneuvers. In crunch, they can be used in the exact same role.

===Questoris Knight Patterns===
====Questoris Knight Paladin====
[[File:Knight Paladin.jpg|thumb|200px|right|A Questoris Knight Paladin]]
The first knight to appear in regular 40k, along with the Errant, the Knight Paladin is armed with a Rapid-Fire Battle Cannon with an attached Heavy Stubber. Like all non-Forge World Knights, it can take either an Ironstorm Missile Pod (think Whirlwind minus Ordnance), a Heavy 3 Krak missile launcher, or a pair of Icarus autocannons (I.e. actual anti-aircraft weapons) as carapace weapons to supplement their firepower, can also replace the heavy stubber with a meltagun for extra anti-armor usefulness and can replace its Reaper Chainsword with a Thunderstrike Gauntlet.

====Questoris Knight Errant====
[[File:Knight Errant.jpg|thumb|200px|left|A Questoris Knight Errant]]
The tank hunter of the Questoris, the Knight Errant is armed with a Thermal Cannon, a Heav d6 36" S9 Melta weapon. Like the Paladin, it can take either an Ironstorm Missile Pod (think Whirlwind minus Ordnance), a Heavy 3 Krak missile launcher, or a pair of Icarus autocannons (I.e. actual anti-aircraft weapons) as carapace weapons to supplement their firepower, can also replace the heavy stubber with a meltagun for extra anti-armor usefulness and can replace its Reaper Chainsword with a Thunderstrike Gauntlet. Fun fact: In ye olde Epic days, the Errant carried a [[Power weapon#Power Fist|power fist]], from which the Thunderstrike Gauntlet probably draws inspiration.

====Questoris Knight Crusader====
[[File:99120108005_IMPERIALKNIGHTCRUSADER360.jpg|thumb|200px|right|A Knight Crusader.]]
The first purely ranged Knight, it has the same Battle Cannon as the Knight Paladin (which it can replace with the Thermal Cannon for tankbusting) but replaces its close combat weapon with an Avenger Gatling Cannon, which can unleash 12 S6 AP3 Rending shots per turn. You know, for when you need that squad of MEQs wiped out right now and they aren't clustered close enough for the Battle Cannon alone to kill them all. As an added bonus, the Gatling cannon comes with a built-in heavy flamer to compensate for its relative weakness at close range. (The key word is "relative". It can still Stomp, after all, and thanks to Smash it's still shitting out S10AP2 with normal cc attacks. It just can't give anyone the D.)

====Questoris Knight Gallant====
[[File:99120108005_IMPERIALKNIGHTGALLANT360.jpg|thumb|200px|left|A Knight Gallant.]]
Designed to smash apart enemies at close range, very few enemies can withstand the initial assault of the Knight Gallant. The ground shakes as the Knight Gallant stomps forward, closing in on their prey. The purely choppy counterpart to the Knight Crusader, the Gallant eschews its arm-mounted ranged weapons for a Reaper Chainsword and the Thunderstrike Gauntlet (described below) making it an absolute beast in close combat but of dubious use if it can't close in for the kill. Carapace weapons can mitigate this slightly, but it'll still struggle against shooty foes if it can't get into melee. A noble designated to pilot a Knight Gallant will learn the three basic tenets when he is bonded with his war machine. Though they may subtly differ, the three basic tenants are to trust in your Ion Shield, make all speed towards the foe, and strike swift and sure.

====Questoris Knight Warden====
[[File:99120108005_IMPERIALKNIGHTWARDEN360.jpg|thumb|200px|right|A Knight Warden.]]
The anti-horde option, by default the Warden comes with the Crusader's Gatling Cannon and a heavy flamer on top of the obligatory heavy stubber and Reaper Chainsword, but it can replace the sword with a Thunderstrike Gauntlet. At first glance, the gauntlet doesn't look like much of an improvement due to the gauntlet giving a -1 hit penalty; however, if the fist ever kills a MC or vehicle the Warden can then throw whatever it killed at someone else. In game terms, this translates to an out-of-phase shooting attack that deals D3 Mortal Wounds serving as an unpleasant surprise for careless opponents.

====Questoris Knight Magaera====
[[File:Knight Magaera.jpg|thumb|200px|left|A Questoris Knight Magaera.]]
Yet another Forge World model, this one is different however, this one is a Questoris variant, which means it's short and fat. It was specially made by the Mechanicus to curry favor with Knight Houses (or to control them, depending on who you ask), and it shows in the unique wargear options it gets. For a start, it has Blessed Autosimulacrum (giving it IWND-lite), and its ionic shield acts similarly to the Flare Shields normally used by superheavy tanks like the [[Spartan Assault Tank]]. Its weapons are no less unusual- it can replace its chainsword for a Siege Claw which grants it Wrecker (and a built in TL rad-cleanser to fuck with Toughness scores), and at range it can employ a phased plasma fusil and a Lightning Cannon that mulch both infantry and all but the heaviest-armored vehicles. There's a catch, though- its reactor is highly unstable, as reflected by the +1 it gets when rolling on the Catastrophic Damage chart.

====Questoris Knight Styrix====
[[File:Knight_Styrix.jpg|thumb|200px|right|A Questoris Knight Styrix.]]
Yes, Forge World is releasing another pattern of Knight, and it's another short and fat Questoris chassis with Blessed Autosimulacrum. The Styrix house a machine spirit which some say became too accustomed to slaughter during the Age of Strife and the Great Crusade that followed it. Many conservative Knight Houses consider the Styrix to be a malevolent pattern, the wanton destruction it unleashes being beneath a true Knight. Other Households hold no such reservations, loosing entire formations of Styrix Knights to annihilate their foes. This one packs a [[Volkite Weaponry#Volkite Chieorovile|Volkite Chieorovile]] and a [[Graviton weapons|Graviton Imploder]], and shares the Magaera's option of upgrading its Reaper chainsword to a Hekaton Siege Claw with complimentary Rad Cleanser.

===Ceratus Knight Patterns===
====Cerastus Knight Acheron====
[[File:Knight_Arheron.jpg|thumb|200px|left|A Ceratus Knight Acheron.]]
Another Forge World model, tall and lanky like all the other Cerastus pattern models. Acheron pattern Knights were configured as rapid moving strike units who rose to prominence during the legendary battles of the Great Crusade, but whose most terrible renown was to be found on the battlefields of the Horus Heresy. Rare, even in those ancient times for the singular difficulties of their construction, the Cerastus Knight-Acherons were amongst the most dreaded of their age. The Acherons’ machine spirits were regarded as [[World Eaters|particularly lusting for wanton destruction]] and only the strongest scion-minds could master them via the Throne Mechanicum, especially during the tumult of open battle. Has a Flame Cannon to make those Heretics extra crispy, and a [[Chainsword#Chainfist|chainfist]] (with built in twin-linked [[Bolter#Heavy Bolter|heavy bolter]]) that lets it reroll 1s on the Destroyer damage table against vehicles. Now you can give your opponent the D while also fisting them.

====Cerastus Knight Atrapos====
[[File:99560108146_MechanicumCerastusKnightAtrapos01.jpg|thumb|200px|right|A Ceratus Knight Atrapos.]]
One of the rarest and most potent types of Knights, the Cerastus Knight-Atrapos was created solely to destroy heretek engines and xenos war machines whose very nature and existence were considered a blasphemy to the Omnissiah. The machine spirits of the Knight Atrapos are said to carry with them a cold and all-destroying hunger, and for the scion who bonds with them, madness is a constant risk. It comes with the same Blessed Autosimulacra and flare shields the Questoris Knights have and also has a special rule that makes all his weapons twin-linked, if it is firing at a Super-heavy or Gargantuan Creature. All of his weapons are very close ranged but they are a big fuck off to armour and thanks to the swiftness of the cerastus knights he should be in range soon. It is armed with an Atrapos lascutter, a D weapon that can be used both in close combat and as a 8" shooting attack, and a Graviton singularity cannon ([[Awesome|yep, it shoots black holes]]), a 36", S8, Ap2, large blast weapon with Armorbane and the Collapsing Singularity rule. This means that before firing the weapon you roll a D6; on a 1 the knight loses one HP (but the attack is still carried out as long as the knight survives), and on a 6 the attack gains Vortex.

====Ceratus Knight Castigator====
[[File:Knight Castigator.jpg|thumb|200px|left|A Ceratus Knight Castigator.]]
A Forge World event model, and another close-combat variant. While fluff states that it is used to handle and take down hordes of lesser foes that could overwhelm other patterns of Knight through sheer numbers, in actuality there are other Knight variants more suited for horde cleansing such as the Porphyrion or Crusader who actually have more weapons suited into turning blobs of infantry into minced meat. Hence, it can be argued that the Castigator should be used as more on the lines as both crowd control and vehicle destroyer. Uses a big fuck-off sword (which is "only" S10, but has the same Deflagrate rule as the [[Volkite Weaponry|Volkite weapons]], rerolls failed armor penetration, and can exchange its attacks to hit everything in base contact once), and a Bolt Cannon which is essentially a S7 AP3 Heavy 8 giant [[bolter]].

====Ceratus Knight Lancer====
[[File:Lancer-trans.jpg|thumb|200px|right|A Cerastus Knight Lancer.]]
The close assault variant of Knight, much taller and faster than the Paladin & Errant by virtue of longer legs. It is ''far'' more specialized than the Paladin or Errant due to its weapon loadout and suffers if it is not supported. Has a physical ion shield rather than just being a force field, which means it cannot block attacks to the rear, however it ''can'' be used against close combat attacks. In its other arm is has a [[Combi-weapon|combi-melee/range weapon]] that gives it extra initiative when it charges into combat, its shooting mode is basically a 18" range 6-shot [[Plasma|plasma rifle]] that concusses its targets. So better to get it into melee with other big things. On a slightly more hilarious note, the Lancer's ranged attack is of a decent Strength and AP, and fires a lot of shots. It's also not a Template Weapon. While not recommended, it means in a pinch the Lancer ''can'' be used as an anti-aircraft gun should the Knights lack sufficient AA from other sources (e.g. you are running pure Knights and don't have the Icarus autocannons), the amount of shots it fires making it second only to the [[Forgefiend]] in terms of emergency AA. It's also excellent against TEQs! And, with its concussive plasma shots, this thing is actually capable of countering a Wraithknight; even if you don't knock it down to initiative 1, you will be hitting at the same time on the charge.

===Dominus Knight Patterns===
====Dominus Knight Castellan====
[[File:Knightcastellan.jpg|thumb|200px|left|A Knight Castellan.]]
Basically a dwarf [[Warlord Titan]] for all intents and purposes, the Knight Castellan is a large and especially shooty pattern of Knight armed with what appears to be a heavy plasma cannon on one arm, a magna-lascannon or turbo-laser on the other, two twin-linked battle cannons on the shoulders, and two multimeltas mounted near the head, for a total of TEN BARRELS OF HELL. Oh, and there's two missiles mounted on its back.

===Acastus Knight Patterns===
====Acastus Knight Porphyrion====
[[File:99560108172_AcastusKnightPorphyrion01.jpg|thumb|200px|right|An Acastus Knight Porphyrion.]]
A newly announced Knight variant, and by far the bulkiest one yet. I mean this thing is so big it is literally the size of a [[Warhound Scout Titan]] for Emprah's sake. As such, it is one of the most heavily armed and armored of all the Knight chassis in service. While it has no melee weaponry of its own, it packs a pair of twin-linked magna-lascannons- which are Ordnance 2 Large Blast lascannons which become Strength D when fired at a range of 12" or less, making it an ideal superheavy-killer. It also comes with a built-in Ironstorm missile launcher (that can be replaced with Helios defense missiles for anti-air purposes) and a pair of autocannons that can be swapped out for rad-cleansers or lascannons. Essentially, it is by far the most [[Dakka|Dakkaest]] of Imperial Knights and one so big we were all fooled into believing that Games Workshop was actually releasing a new Titan.

==Times of Epic==
Back in the times of ''Epic Warhammer 40,000'', there were more types of Knights apart from the Paladin and the Errants (though ''Codex: Imperial Knights'' references the Lancer, Castellan and Crusader Knights in fluff at least, and the Lancer, Crusader, and Warden have all gained models):

{|border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 style="margin: 1em;"
|-
| align=right| [[File:Lancer Command.jpg|150px|thumbnail|centre|Commander type Lancer. They all go really fast.]] || Lancer: Faster than other Knights, this pattern is all about scouting, distraction and hit-and-run tactics. Instead of its standard Shock Lance, it can swap it for a shorter in range, yet more powerful Power Lance. The only downside of them is that they are the most fragile of Knight Pattern. Now in 40k too, being the first Forge World Knight kit.
|-
| align=right| [[File:CrusaderDetachment.jpg|250px|thumbnail|center|When you need to kill something hard, roll out the Crusaders.]] || Crusader: Slower, yet sturdier and more powerful, Crusaders are armed with heavy weapons that are usually found on [[Warlord Battle Titan|Warlord]] or [[Emperor Battle Titan|Imperator Class Titans]] (such as the Quake Cannon). Due to them moving slow (blame the heavy weapons and loads of armoured bits) compared to other Knights, these behemoths are used to snipe targets from extreme range and act as a powerful support force for the rest of the Knights.
|-
| align=right| [[File:CastellanDetachment.jpg|150px|thumbnail|centre|Castellans. Knight level of [[Dakka]].]] || Castellan: The short-ranged cousin of the Crusader that swaps its standard Lascannons for multi-barreled Autocannons. This makes the Castellan a nightmare for infantry and light vehicles, as well as allowing it to deplete an enemy Titan's shields in a disturbingly short time. Also now coming back to 40k with the new codex.
|-
| align=right| [[File:KnightBaron.jpg|150px|thumbnail|center|When a Baron enters the battlefield, [[AWESOME]] ensues.]] || Baron: The biggest, baddest of all the Knights. Baron Knights are piloted by the deadliest members of a Knight House. Each Baron is actually build from the very basics as an ace-custom for its pilots, combining the power to keep up with Lancers and armor nearly as tough as Crusaders. Typically armed with Battle Cannons and the Lancer's Power Lance, the Barons lead their kinsmen to war and victory.
|-
| align=right| [[File:KnightWarden.jpg|150px|thumbnail|center|Old people are actually as deadly as younglings.]] || Warden: Piloted by the eldest (read retired) members of a Knight House, these goofy-looking Knights shouldn't be underestimated, much like the old-timers that pilot them. Warden Knight make up (like the Crusader) the heavy support part of a Knight House in the long-range category. Although not as fast as the youngsters, the pilots of Wardens make it up with years of brutally hard-won experience that makes them as deadly as the Barons.
|}

== Why Knights are Awesome ==
[[File:Knight Errant of Freeblade Garantius.jpg|450px|thumbnail|left|Knight Errant of Freeblade Gerantius. The Forgotten Knight. Closest you get to the [[The Green Knight|Green]] [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|Knight]].]]
Knight Titan lore is some of the coolest stuff in 40k. True to both the medieval tradition and epic feel that 40k thrives from, Knight Titans protect the Agri Worlds that the Mechanicus use to supply (and predominantly feed) their incredibly ravenous [[Forge World#Planet|forge worlds]]. These Titans are easier to produce by far than even the humble [[Warhound Scout Titan]] and so can be made reliably, produced almost as an afterthought. So Knights aren't the biggest, baddest, most overblown thing in 40k -- but, they are to the Knight Worlders. The people who live and die on those Agri Worlds, delineated from other Agri Worlds by their designation as Knight Worlds, are all on the technological and societal footing of Medieval Europe. A lot of these worlds look like Bretonnia, from [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. Kings and Queens, Arthurian legend, stone brick castles and skullcapped peasantry abound; fields and forests extend to every horizon without end. Remember, [[grimdark|it's much, much more important to obey societal doctrine than to optimize food output]].

Imagine what someone from that world would think when they see a Knight Titan. The most agile giant robots the Imperium makes, capable of shrugging off lasers and plasma bombs, tower silently over a field on a world that probably doesn't even have gunpowder weaponry or a Copernican idea of the night sky. The kingdoms of the planet may have their petty wars, but life is dominated by meeting the food and resource quotas of machine-men from the sky, who build and fix the Knights that children and adults view with awe and reverence, like some amalgam of god and monster. These machine-men could destroy entire kingdoms on a whim by dropping stars from the sky. Kingdoms train their nobles and knightly warriors to fight with swords, horses, and hammers. They conscript armies from farming peasants, and use squads of bowmen to kill men at range....except for the Knight Titan pilots. Those who are honorable enough or skilled enough may graduate beyond knighthood, to Knighthood. Someone who takes a bath maybe twice a month and lives by torchlight has the duty to step inside a machine of such power and complexity that the science of the Fortieth Millennium proves incapable of comprehending it. Those men are revered beyond their kings, for they are the wielders of magic and death, and are entrusted with more true power than any other man on the planet. Those men fight monsters, murderous warriors from the sky, and even other Knights from enemy kingdoms. Sometimes, when the machine men come down when they aren't expected, the men who pilot the god-monsters must go far away to battle alongside the machine men in their wars. Not a war on the other side of the world, but a war on a distant star, surrounded by machines and giants even larger than they.

Imagine the man who has the lifelong job of knowing how to run the Knights, whose sacred duty is to recruit and train pilots. Imagine. A lord or general may give the order to bring cavalry around the left flank, and fire the laser cannon onto the walls of his enemy's castle. Despite his most valorous deeds, his children grow up playing with a giant metal god standing over them, silent and omnipotent, resplendent in livery and gold leaf. These children one day grow old and tell stories not of lords and generals, but of the time when their kingdom's metal giant slew a great beast, or razed an entire castle single-handedly, or ran across the entire world to deliver medicine to a dying king. Imagine what a pilot is to his subjects, or his lords. What legends would be told of them, the men who step inside the kingdom's giant? Their legends are not sagas of inscrutable gods or immortal emperors or statistic-scale tragedies, but of simple, honorable soldiers told by humble, hardworking people centuries after those soldiers are but dust and memory.

If you are not crying tears of pure [[awesome]] right now then you are either have no soul or are [[Sly Marbo]].

==6th Edition and Beyond==
[[File:IKErrant battle.jpg|450px|thumbnail|right|THOU SHALL NOT PASS BY A KNIGHT OF HOUSE TERRYN!! HAVE AT THEE [[Tau|BLUEBERRIES]]!!!.]]

Imperial Knights became a Codex in 6th edition. With the ability to be a Household detachment of 3-6 knights or an allied detachment of 1-3 knights, Knights may ally with [[Chaos]], [[Daemon]]s, [[Necron]]s and [[Tyranid|'Nids]] as Come the Apocalypse, [[Dark Eldar]], [[Tau]] and [[Orks]] as Desperate Allies; [[Eldar]] as Allies of Convenience; and all of the Imperium Faction as Battle Brothers (Yes, even [[Grey Knights]]).

'''Note:''' Imperial Knights are only Vehicles, only scoring if they're your primary. But let's face it you're always playing Purge the Alien anyway, even when it's not. The GW Imperial Knights are not Lords of War for other Imperial armies (the FW ones, however, can fit there), they are an army unto themselves. If you're playing 3-6 as a primary detachment, pick one as your Warlord; he gets relics and +1 WS/BS

Lets do the numbers:
*'''1000 pts''' - You can have up to 2 models to fit the points cost. Sadly this means no Primary Detachment or even formations in low point games as everything has a bare 3-knight minimum requirement. You could run 3 Gallants, and have 75 points left for other options/upgrades, but it's not even remotely competitive, even as the formation.
*'''1250 pts''' - Up to three models this time, making it the first points level you can play with your Primary detachment. With the new codex and a slew of upgrades, depending on what you choose, you can fill out the remaining 100 points with either upgrades to the knights themselves, or take one of the more expensive knights (like the Crusader).
*'''1500 pts''' - Perfect if you plan on only taking Paladins, taking Errants will nab you some extra points to upgrade those stubbers into melta guns (or take a gauntlet for every 2 Errants). At this points cost you can field 4 of these Knights. If you want to field any other types, especially the formations, you're gonna have to start dropping knights, or take a few Gallants to free up the points.
*'''1750pts''' - Now possibly the new sweet spot for Knights. With around 250 extra points to play around with, you can either afford to bring in some Crusaders to pack more damage, upgrade every knight with a carapace weapon, or take 3 Gallants (the cheapest Knights) to bring 5 knights in a 1750 game.
*'''1850pts''' - Similar to above, but now you can field 5 Knights without having 3 or 4 of them be Gallants while still having a decent amount of points to play around with. Note that 5 bare naked Errants cost exactly the same amount, so if you're confident in your melta-spam, this works too.
*'''2000pts''' - Now with upgrades, this has also become a sweet spot for people looking to field the Exalted Court or Baronial Court. With roughly 150 extra points to play with, you can either grant each of your knights one of the relics, or start upgrading them with extra weapons and other whistles. Alternatively, you can field up to 6 bare-bones Gallants at this point, which is just enough to take two Gallant Lance Formations (although this is not wise, it is recommended, if only to see the horror in your opponent's face when 6 knights basically leap across the table to charge him).
So what if you want to deploy 6 Knights on the field at once? You are looking at somewhere between 2220 - 2250pts. If you can do this you just paid $840 USD for an entire army of only 6 models, you sir are the envy of many neckbeards and [[Ork#Flash Gits|clearly have more dollars than sense]]. And we thought the Grey Knights were an elite army per model. Or you can just, oh I don't know, scratch build 6 knights and save yourself $820 bucks. Just sayin'.

Note: Flyers may not be laughing quite as hard with the new 7th edition codex, but may giggle a little as the carapace mounted AC isn't too scary (unless you have five knights all with that weapon...but then your opponent may laugh for different reasons). The Warden/Crusaders gatling cannon can do some credible anti-flyer work and may be your best bet. Regardless, it remains a valid tactic to continue to take all those point you couldn't spend (see above) and buy a Vengeance Weapons Battery w. Quad Icarus, or two, or even better a Firestorm Redoubt.

Second Note: FW have made their own version of an all-knight list, which actually has Knights fitting into a modified force org chart.

==Warhammer 40,000 Freeblade==
Yet another exercise in wasted potential, Warhammer 40,00: Freeblade is a [[Awesome|badass looking third person Imperial Knights game]] [[Skub|for iOS and Android]]. You can play it on Windows 10 now!

The plot's simple; you're a newly initiated knight of House Drakkus and your bonding ritual only just finishes when Chaos Space Marines dedicated to Khorne show up and fuck shit up. You end up being the last knight of House Drakkus and you get rescued by the Dark Angels who take you on a merry adventure of fucking [[Orks]] and [[Chaos]] up.

[[Fall of the Eldar|OH NO]]. Turns out that it is a free2play nightmare, with forced 30 second video ads and amazing amounts of not so subtle hints that you should really be buying their shitty supply drop 'loot crates' and a mind boggling array of other detritus.
You know you have a pile of exploitative and badly written shit on your hands when upon clicking on said loot crate, a [[Dark Angels|derpy marine]] with cybernetic implants and a voice like a talking vibrator pops up and proclaims he "Can scarce imagine what glorious spoils lie within- let us find out!" Bleargh.

Its only saving grace is the paint and customise your own knight section, which is kind of fun! One can then take take pictures of said pimped out knight and then promptly uninstall.

It's somewhat decent for a mobile game, which only goes to show the [[Fail|pitiful state]] of [[Derp|mobile gaming]].

==See Also ==
* [[Imperial Knight House Creation Tables]], work-in-progress tables you can roll on to generate a Knight House of your own.
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Imperial Knights(7E)]]
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Questoris Knight Crusade (30k)]]
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Imperial Knights(8E)]]

{{Mechanicus}}
{{40k-Imperial-Vehicles}}
{{Imperium}}
{{WH40k-Factions}}

Imperial Knight

2018-03-26T06:21:48Z

2001:8003:3895:3A00:D43C:5548:575D:8392: /* Knight Patterns */

{{Topquote|...who battled courageously during those times, some victorious, some not, but always in the name of chivalry.|The Five Star Stories}}

[[File:Knight vs Trygon.jpg|350px|thumbnail|right|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSrcMaid0mg Hmm... does this look familiar to you?]]]
Somewhere between a regular walker and a [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Titan]], the Imperial Knights are large single pilot war machines, similar to the [[Tau]] [[Riptide#XV104 Riptide Battlesuit|Riptide]]. Usually humanoid, the cockpit for the pilot is mounted in the head or just behind it in the main body.

In other words, they're a [[BattleTech|Battlemech.]]

Their somewhat unexpected return to the 40k setting is possibly a sign of [[Games Workshop|GW]] deciding that people would only play [[Warmachine]] because 40k has insufficient [[warjack]]s [[Skub|(and not because of arguably better rules and update schedule)]], or that they [[Profit|make more money by selling one huge model than lots of little ones]].

They are really [[butthurt|a fairly fan-wanky insertion]] of [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|Fantasy-era]] [[knight]]s into 40k, which, let's face it, is not exactly a setting devoid of knight analogues, but unlike [[Space Marines|the]] [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|others]], this one is much closer to the original source material: [[BattleTech|aristocratic dicks in high tech armor suits grinding the faces of the poor]] while being [[grimdark]] and all knightly and shit, including the [[Game of thrones|politics, incest and backstabbing]] that brings.

Funnily enough for such an in-universe niche unit, Imperial Knights are currently among the most popular models from the 40k range, if the top-seller list of Games Workshop is any indication, and with good reason; their whole design and grimdark steam-punk style catches the eyes, and surely a lot of people are buying it just because it looks that cool. Also, for 150 Naggaroth buckets you get a unit strong enough to be an army on its own or join any imperial force.

[https://youtu.be/ajP5q2HvycY In short they're big, baddass, chivalrous, stompy mechs. Really, what's not to love?]

== About the Knights ==
[[File:Errant Detachment.jpg|thumb|right|EPIC Errant Knights. For when you want to cook your enemies really fast.]]
[[File:PaladinDetachment.jpg|thumb|right|Paladin Titans from EPIC times.]]
The knights are allied with, or in some cases part of, the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] rather than being part of the greater Imperium's war machine. Knight Worlds are worlds which supply [[Forge World#Planet|Forge Worlds]] with foodstuff and raw materials, specifically those worlds defended by Knight Households. The Knight World gathers foodstuff and ores for a set period of time (usually a year) before the Adeptus Mechanicus arrive in a drop ship, occaisonally bringing new knight suits in exchange for the raw materials. Knight Worlds themselves are typically Feudal Worlds, which were easily brought into compliance during the Great Crusade, and which explains the rather aristocratic tone about the Knights. Knight World politics is fueled by the constant resource tithes and the possession of Knight Titans. Any kingdom that possesses a Knight Titan could absolutely smash a kingdom without one, so it behooves a kingdom to concede to being tithed in exchange for the (relatively) ultimate weapon. Once any given feudal kingdom has become a Knight Household, any Household with more Knights than it does is a huge threat, so getting more is always important. By the time that the escalation becomes preposterous these Households are already shipping knights of-world to cruise the stars and fighting things, so the extra-planetary losses constantly need to be replenished, lest the Households lose their on-world detachments to off-world conflicts. All that said, Knight Worlds tend to exist rather happily alongside their Forge World; Mechanicus get a defensive buffer and food forever, and the Knight Households get to continue ruling their chunks of the planet. Or all of the planet, depending on how far you can stretch a feudal society.

During the [[Epic]] days Knights were a complete fabrication by the Adeptus Mechanicus, supplied as battle fleets where the Imperial armies are in need of them, much like a Titan Legion is. Knights were a gimmick, given to Feudal Worlds that the Mechanicum settled near in exchange for getting shipments of food, manpower, and raw materials. This simplistic lore is [[retcon|no longer the case]]; apparently the original Knight Worlds were not the Mechanicus' idea. The Knights themselves are STC relics, dating before even the Dark Age of Technology. In a shocking twist, not only does the Knight STC appear to be relatively intact, the Knight itself seems easy to produce for any given Forge World; a rare case of the AdMech not shitting themselves. When Games Workshop released the new "heroic scale" Knight models, they also released new Knight fluff with them. The first Knights were actually colonists, arriving on new worlds during Humanity's first expansion into the galaxy at large. With no way of returning to Terra once they arrived, and long periods with no outside help, those original human colonies needed to be self-sufficient and the Knight suits were sent along with them, made for fighting against the [[Xeno|myriad threats]] [[Chaos|to their existence]]. Additionally, it turns out that giant stompy robots could also be re-purposed for peaceful uses: cutting down trees with their chainswords, blasting apart boulders with their main weapons, or using the sheer size of their bodies as cranes, lifts, earth-movers, and various other construction equipment. As a byproduct of the Throne Mechanicum bonding processes (see below), the Knights' pilots soon came to see themselves as protectors of their people. In the cases where these heavily-armed frontier colonies were never slated for further colonization, suffered a society-collapsing event as they grew, or otherwise remained isolated, Knight Titans were given the opportunity to become the industrial and military backbone of many of these worlds.

During the Age of Strife, when humanity at large lost it's ability to travel the Warp and everything generally went to shit, these planets were guaranteed to be alone and afraid, fighting for their survival against everything they already had to fight, plus all of the weirdness that comes with BIG FUCKOFF WARP STORMS. The proto-Knight-World colonies (fully-grown at this point) regressed from large-scale industrial societies into what are functionally feudal worlds with a sprinkling of techno-barbarianism. Why did this happen? Well, there are a number of possibilites: fear and panic over the lack of outside contact could have sparked apocalyptic military conflicts or nuclear wars, the whole "robot uprising" thing that was also happening during the Age of Strife could have resulted in a rejection of automation, or the entire would could have been slowly ground down to the barest essentials of living by millennia of constant conflict; take your pick! The Knights themselves eventually formed noble households as time went on, or else noble households formed around the knights, due mostly to the fact that only a large-scale organized society with military force can properly maintain a giant stompy robot. By the time of the Great Crusade (more importantly, by the time of the first Mechanicum Explorator Fleets ''during'' the Great Crusade), almost all of the remaining Knight Worlds had dwindled to feudalism over the course of the Age of Strife, and in many cases the survivors were living threadbare on dying worlds, in great need of new raw materials or the expertise required to maintain the suits. This situation was ripe for exploitation, and some clever bastard in the Mechanicum got the great idea of using these worlds as combination Agri-World, Mining World, and military training ground. Several Forge Worlds and lesser Mechanicum worlds were established intentionally within Knight World systems due to the easy symbiosis. It is assumed that any Knight Worlds which were not in need of assistance (or whom the Great Crusade found before an Explorator Fleet) sided with the Imperium at large, as opposed to becoming vassals of the Mechanicum.

As a side note, in a hilarious turn of events, in this new lore these feudal Knight Worlds leveraged their ritualization and xenophobia to purge witches and deviant thought, and therefor psykic influence, from their worlds entirely. This created pockets of relative calm in the hellish storms of un-reality that they floated in, and thus they were saved from the worst of the warpy shit, allowing them to survive into M31 and the Age of the Imperium. The only known things (as of this new canon being written) which can calm or negate the Immaterium are [[Gellar Fields]], [[Blank]]s, and Nulls. Gellar Fields work, but nobody knows why. Of the two living examples of warp nullification, a Null is literally soulless, and a Blank is an anti-Psyker and an abhorrent anathema to all other life. In a move [[Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka|rarely seen in this day and age]] some GW writer was a cheeky shit, and included a bit of direct political commentary by [[skub|implying that extreme social conservatism was equivalent to having no soul]].

A Knight's Machine Spirit is of a particularly unusual type: to interface with the suit, an aspiring noble must first join with the Throne Mechanicum (the Knight's control system) in a ritual known as the Rite of Becoming. Due to a quirk in the bonding process, the device retains an imprint of each of its former pilots' personalities at the time they were first bonded, and as a result individual suits may develop traits echoing those of their former masters. The link also affects the noble's own mind as well; exposure to the metaphorical (or possibly literal, since there's been at least one case where a Throne Mechanicum took over operating the Knight when its noble was slain by using the memories of its old operators) ghosts in the machine inevitably causes the noble to develop strong positive feelings towards the concepts of fealty and hierarchy along with a near-mystical reverence toward the noble's ancestors. [[Phoenix Lord|This idea isn't very original]]. Nobody knows why this is, but the Mechanicus thinks it may have been a failsafe in the original plans meant to ensure that no Knight would willingly betray or abandon his own House. Either way, this benefits the Mechanicus rather neatly. This kind of "ghost in the machine" presence exists for true [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Imperial Titans]] as well, though in their case the machine spirit is more of an AI/second ego, and storing past Princeps' personas is something that happens, but the Mechanicus try to avoid/scrub out. Go see the Titan page for a more in-depth comparison.

Knight Houses make a tradition of sending their Knights on glorious quests across the stars, which mostly involves going where the Imperium/Mechanicum tells them too, and shooting/punching everything dead once they get there. Knight Houses make a tradition of basically everything, but more on that later. These quests, which one can only assume are fulfilled by the Imperial Navy or Explorator Fleets (and *not* just jumping really high, as some fa/tg/uys suggest), must be chocked-full of silly fish-out-of-water scenes as the Knights must putter around the cargo holds of ships, interacting with Guardsmen, slaves, and Imperial navymen. Knights absolutely love going on quests, because *not* going on quests means staying home and doing rituals and ceremonies. The day-to-day lives and operations of Knight Households, and the noble caste that supports them on-world, are so regimented by ceremony that the Knights themselves *fucking hate it*. Eating, sleeping, social interaction, prayer, bathing (when it infrequently occurs), walking down hallways, looking at art, and probably *breathing* are so highly ritualized that it makes Japanese tea ceremonies look like a practice rehearsal of a theatrical production put on by a class of 3rd graders. You have actual, named, 64-part ceremonies described as happening *daily* in the Mechanicus codex, and those are only one of probably three-hundred-thousand common-to-esoteric ceremonies that could be required to properly perform a given action, formally acknowledge a nobleman's change in standing or status, or even to honor a specific year, month, week, or hour of the fucking day. And Emperor save you if you fuck any of it up.

=== Houses ===
There are two types of knight household, though a third association does exist.
*Those who align themselves with the Imperium directly such as Imperial Houses, acting as independently operating vassals of a greater empire (much like [[Space Marine Chapter]]s do), therefore answering calls for aid as they feel like, rather than being ordered to. Examples of Imperial Houses are:
**'''House Terryn''' - House known for its [[Mary Sue|courage and honor]] as well as [[Codex Astartes|rigidly adhering to ritual and ceremony]]. Supposedly its homeworld of Voltoris is so [[Macragge|peaceful and boring]] and the aforementioned rituals so tedious that it only encourages them to campaign across the galaxy. (Their colour scheme is [[Ultramarines|blue]].)
**'''House Hawkshroud''' - A very [[Noblebright]] house, who believe that kindness should be returned tenfold and who answer any and all requests for assistance, which means their homeworld of Krastellan lies virtually undefended. Also have links with the [[Imperial Fists]] having been praised by the chapter master for their efforts against the [[Eldar]] of Alaitoc. (Their colour scheme is yellow.)
**'''House Cadmus''' - Were once bound to the Mechanicum, but regained their independence and became an Imperial House when Gryphonne IV was nom nomed by [[Tyranid]]s. Based on the [[Caliban|mutant infested forest world]] of Riasa, they engage on mutant hunts every year, with the [[A Song of Ice and Fire|winner getting to rule the house]] until the next hunt. (Their colour scheme is [[Dark_Angels|green]]).
**'''House Griffith''' - A house of [[Salamanders|hotheads]] who almost exclusively make use of the Knight Errant pattern and come from a planet once inhabited by ''actual dragons''. They are also one of the [[Salamanders|smallest knight houses, but remain one of the most respected]]. They engage in regular jousting tournaments using old fashioned horses, but wearing adamantium armour. Have a preference for [[Rip and Tear|close combat]].
**'''House Mortan''' - A house only recently introduced to the Imperium after being cut off by a nebula which made their planet a night world. For thousands of years they fought giant monsters in the dark until the nebula dissipated in M35 and the Imperium arrived.
**'''House Drakkus''' - Featured in the mobile game 'Warhammer 40,000: Freeblade'. Known for being dead, and for having a rather fetching jade-green colour scheme.

*Other households are directly aligned to the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] and are based on ''(or linked to)'' Forge Worlds. Though they retain their independence from the Cult Mechanicus, they do have reciprocal trade and resupply agreements as well as swearing oaths of protection to the Mechanicum, often directly to specific Forge Worlds. Houses directly linked to the Mechanicus will have access to better weapons and technology than their more primitive cousins. Which isn't surprising because Techpreists tend to be [[Blood_Ravens|greedy buggers.]] Examples of Mechanicum Houses include:
**'''House Taranis''' - The ''First'' of all Knight Houses (read ''Mechanicum'' by [[Graham McNeill]]). They were founded on [[Mars]] during the [[Dark Age of Technology]], and were later the first Martians who met the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor]] before the [[Great Crusade]]. This house has ownership of some of the oldest knight suits. For some reason, their Knights' Throne Mechanicum units lack the typical mind-altering effects that they would normally possess; nobody knows why. One reason could be that the pilots of House Taranis are loyal to the mechanicus first, and house second.
**'''House Raven''' - The largest of all Knight Households, based on the world of Kolossi and have close links to forge world [[Heavy mythril|Metalica]]. Suspected to hold secret [[Standard Template Construct|STC]] data which explains why they have so many Knight suits. Their fortress, the ''Keep Inviolate'', is said to be one of the most well-protected bastions in the Imperium, on par with the Fang and the Imperial Palace, and appears on their coat of arms.
**'''House Krast''' - The first Knight World (Chrysis) to be rediscovered during the Great Crusade, its proximity to Mars meant it was swiftly brought into the fold, but had its homeworld ravaged by [[Horus]] during the [[Horus Heresy|Heresy]], leaving them the only Household left on the planet. Since the forces on Chrysis were led by the traitorous Legion Mortis, they have a preference for hunting traitor titans.
**'''House Vulker''' - A very wealthy but deeply mysterious house from a star system with vast mineral resources, they never expose any flesh and wear golden masks to cover their faces. Their close links to the Mechanicum are evident in the golden servitors they share between worlds, and their courts being filled with tech priests... Not that outsiders ever get to see inside their courts.

*Sometimes individual Knights detach themselves from Noble Houses entirely. Having been dishonoured, shunned, or otherwise made unable to continue life within the Household, they become Freeblades and ply the stars alone (dragging their large pool of retainers along to maintain the suit, naturally). These knights break out to either quest across the Imperium or settle down outside of the ritual of their Household and protect the citizens of whichever worlds they end up on.
**'''Amaranthine''' - Never ever speaks or leaves his suit. [[Inquisitor]]s chase him around trying to have a word about his loyalties.
**'''Auric Arachnus''' - Somehow connected to the [[Ultramarines]] and earned honour slaying a [[Dominatrix]] during the battle for [[Macragge]].
**'''Crimson Reaper''' - Freak who wears a red & black face mask, who is rumoured to be a [[Vampire|blood sucking mutant]]. Is very prone to collateral damage.
**'''Living Litany/Litany of Destruction''' - A grey, black, and orange Knight Gallant who constantly voxes droning sermons in High Gothic, only changing into loud chants when fighting. He's probably bonkers, but everyone lets it slide since he's still loyal to the Imperium at least. Or at least, they used to- at some point he lost what little was left of his sanity and went renegade. As the Litany of Destruction, his color scheme is identical to what it was as a loyalist but is now visibly emblazoned with the eight-pointed star of Chaos.
**'''Gerantius ''The Forgotten Knight''''' - maintains a secret mountain base on Alaric Prime, though his planet is shared by other lesser knight houses. Thought to be [[undead]] and [[Necromancer|in command of spirits]]. Days which he chooses to fight upon are regarded as ill-omens. Rules for him are in [[White Dwarf]], making him a Seneschal-level knight with ''It Will Not Die'' and the ability to both run & shoot in the same phase.
**'''Justice''' - A freeblade connected to the [[Iron Hands]] chapter who is a master of slaying traitor knights. The Iron Hands chapter appear to be keeping his secrets and will not talk of his past.
**'''Obsidian Knight''' - Fought in the [[Damocles Crusade|Damocles campaign]] along with House Terryn on the planet Agrellan. - Has his own rules in Warzone: Damocles making him an absolute WS/BS 6 [[Awesome|badass]] who hates [[Tau]] with a passion.
**'''Mydos Almighty''' - Hails from a world that was done in by the greed of its upper class, which it fled to actually fight. Rather hypocritically, this Knight is entirely bedecked in fucking GOLD.
**'''Retribution Incarnate''' - A hero of the [[Macharian Crusade]]s, believed to be the last member of an established household.
**'''White Warden''' - The last man standing for House Degallio from the planet of [[Lawful Stupid|Alaric Prime]] ''(same as Gerantius)'', known for his cracking mustache and his willingness to stand up for ridiculous laws.
**'''Tellurus''' - Only living member of a fallen house, and refuses to be seen without armor. Tellurus fought alongside both House Cadmus and House Hawkshroud on Vondrak. ''"...towering and monstrous, a giant of adamantium and fury. With a booming cannon and a roaring chainblade for arms, it was clad in armour the colour of a winter’s sky. Blue and cold, chevroned with streaks of black and amber. A bright gonfalon streamed from its left shoulder. A rearing horse with a fluted horn at its forehead."'' - from ''Knights of the Imperium'' by Graham McNeill. [[Samus|Turns out to be a girl.]]
**'''Domeenito Ohashi''' - Imperial Knight who got stuck on a primitive world under attack by the Orks. [[Awesome|In spite of being sworn to go back to his world of origin, he decides to go freeblade and fights back the greenskins becoming a hero to the population until receiving Imperial Guard reinforcement. since then he has wandered across the galaxy helping the Imperium to crush all kind of xenos raiders in the hopes of getting back home eventually.]]
**'''Dyros Kamata ''The Scorched Knight''''' - A Knight whose rider apparently severed all ties with his house and burned off all his livery by walking into a volcano. He eventually learned that his dad was a corrupt prick, so he killed the old man before going off again.

=== Sacristans ===
Unlike the much larger [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Titan legions]], most Imperial Knight Households do '''NOT''' retain [[Techpriest]]s of the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] to maintain and repair the Knight suits (though deeply-bonded Mechanicum households usually do).

Instead they invariably include a specific class of individual called a '''Sacristan''', who is basically an artisan and a technology specialist. These Sacristans accompany the knight on his travels and keep his suit operational during the campaign, and if a Knight becomes somehow divorced from his household and becomes a Freeblade, the sacristans associated with the suit shall travel with him. It is assumed/alluded to that Sacristans have a cadre of serfs and underlings whom also follow ''them'' around, all of whom form the cadre of attendants for a single Knight.

Unbeknownst ''(or immaterial)'' to the Imperial Households, these Sacristans '''ARE''' inducted into the Machine Cult in a similar fashion to the [[Techmarines]] of the [[Adeptus Astartes]], having been trained either off-world or under an apprenticeship to an already established Sacristan. So while they may not be fully ordained Tech-Priests, they do further the interests of the Mechanicum while living amongst the Knight Households. Sacristans may be historically connected to whomever maintained the Knights during the Age of Strife, making Sacristans even more inspired by ''A Canticle for Leibowitz'' than the Mechanicum itself already is.

=== Chaos and Renegade Knights ===
Though they are rare, there are a number of Knight Households or lone Freeblade Knights who have fallen to [[Chaos]]. Most infamous of all is the [[Slaanesh]] Hellknights of House Devine, who turned during the [[Horus Heresy]] due to [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Targaryen]]-esque amounts of twincest. That said, Renegade and Chaos Knights are hunted down by Loyalist Households, who view their existence as shaming all other Knights. The "board game" <b>Imperial Knight: Renegade</b> shows one such hunt.

For those who survive, these Renegade Knights can find employment and protection within the warbands of [[Chaos Space Marines]], or find themselves on the heretical end of a [[Daemons|warp incursion]] that puts their skills and equipment to "good" use. Of course, being a massive war machine, Chaos Knights may find themselves converted into massive [[Daemon Engines]] called [[Daemon Knights]]. The only real distinction between Renegade and Chaos Knight is that Chaos Knights actually worship Chaos and can become Daemon Knights, whereas Renegade Knights can simply be disowned and mercenary Freeblades who don't always side with for the Imperium or humanity at large. The distinction is often irrelevant during the decision-making process of whether or not Imperial forces intend to kill them (though "kill for the honor of the House" and "kill the fucking traitor with ''extreme prejudice''" aren't exactly the same state of mind for the ones doing the killing).

==Knight Patterns==
The Knights themselves come in several varieties, all of which have an energy shield to protect them from incoming fire and have a mix of shooty and choppy. 6th edition introduced two varieties have just recently appeared in the 40k model range, the Knight Paladin with its rapid fire battlecannon and the Knight Errant with its thermal cannon. Forge World later joined in with several of its own varieties of Knights, and as of 7th edition three other types (the Crusader, Gallant, and Warden) were added to the main 40k line.

Knights usually deploy alongside Titan legions as auxiliary forces. Although some patterns of Knight are capable of going toe to toe with smaller titans, or even larger titans outfitted exclusively for ranged combat, the Knight's usual role is anti-infantry or anti-light vehicle freeing up the Titans to attack superheavies.

===Armiger Knight Patterns===
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| [[File:40kForgebane-Forgebane-Armiger.jpg|thumb|center|An Armiger Knight Warglaive.]] || ''' Armiger Warglaive''' <br> A new type of Knight, said to be piloted by aspiring nobles, lowborn commoners with a knack for war, and the occasional bastard child of the High King. They are given the nickname of '''Baby Knights''', '''Mini-Knights''', '''Moe Knights''', '''Knight Jr''', '''The Wee Baby Brother of the Bunch''' or '''Mini-Me''' [[Dwarf|''for a very good reason''.]] Armiger Warglaives are the smallest Knight class shown to date (roughly the size of a [[Dreadknight]], Grey Knight converters take note), hunting and fighting at the flanks of their cousins. Due to their smaller size and lighter weight, the Armiger Warglaives are far faster and more agile than their larger brothers, which helps them work in groups and perform flanking maneuvers. Although they are obviously not as ridiculously tough as your basic Knight and aren't technically super-heavies like their full-sized cousins, they are still a tough nut to crack. They are equipped with Thermal Spears, Reaper Chain-Cleavers, and a heavy stubber or a melta gun. Unlike other knights it doesn't have titanic feet. Sadly it has lost the ability to move and shoot heavy weapons without penalty. Use them if you want to have the firepower of a Knight without wasting a bucket load in points, but watch out for hordes. Fluffwise, they are to larger knights what warhounds are to warlords - they serve as fast support to neutralize threats to the larger engine, while also helping in combat maneuvers. In crunch, they can be used in the exact same role.
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===Questoris Knight Patterns===
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| [[File:Knight Errant.jpg|thumb|center|A Knight Errant.]] || '''Knight Paladin & Knight Errant''' <br> In 40k tabletop terms, the Knight Paladin and Knight Errant are superheavy walkers with strength D close combat weapons, a heavy stubber and a special Ion Shield that gives them a 4+ invulnerable on a facing chosen at the start of each of your opponents shooting phases. The only real difference between the two is arm loadout, since they both use the same basic model: The Paladin has a two-shot battle cannon and an extra heavy stubber, whilst the Errant has an S9 Thermal (i.e. [[Melta]]) Cannon with a large blast marker. They and all other non-Forge World Knights can take either an Ironstorm Missile Pod (think Whirlwind minus Ordnance), a Heavy 3 Krak missile launcher, or a pair of Icarus autocannons (I.e. actual anti-aircraft weapons) as carapace weapons to supplement their firepower and can also replace the heavy stubber with a meltagun for extra anti-armor usefulness. Fun fact: In ye olde Epic days, the Errant carried a [[Power weapon#Power Fist|power fist]]. || [[File:Knight Paladin.jpg|thumb|center|A Knight Paladin.]]
|-
| [[File:99120108005_IMPERIALKNIGHTCRUSADER360.jpg|thumb|center|A Knight Crusader.]] || colspan=2 | '''Knight Crusader''' <br> The first purely ranged Knight, it has the same Battle Cannon as the Knight Paladin (which it can replace with the Thermal Cannon for tankbusting) but replaces its close combat weapon with an Avenger Gatling Cannon, which can unleash 12 S6 AP3 Rending shots per turn. You know, for when you need that squad of MEQs wiped out right now and they aren't clustered close enough for the Battle Cannon alone to kill them all. As an added bonus, the Gatling cannon comes with a built-in heavy flamer to compensate for its relative weakness at close range. (The key word is "relative". It can still Stomp, after all, and thanks to Smash it's still shitting out S10AP2 with normal cc attacks. It just can't give anyone the D.)
|-
| [[File:99120108005_IMPERIALKNIGHTGALLANT360.jpg|thumb|center|A Knight Gallant.]] || colspan=2 | '''Knight Gallant''' <br> Designed to smash apart enemies at close range, very few enemies can withstand the initial assault of the Knight Gallant. The ground shakes as the Knight Gallant stomps forward, closing in on their prey. The purely choppy counterpart to the Knight Crusader, the Gallant eschews its arm-mounted ranged weapons for a Reaper Chainsword and the Thunderstrike Gauntlet (described below) making it an absolute beast in close combat but of dubious use if it can't close in for the kill. Carapace weapons can mitigate this slightly, but it'll still struggle against shooty foes if it can't get into melee. A noble designated to pilot a Knight Gallant will learn the three basic tenets when he is bonded with his war machine. Though they may subtly differ, the three basic tenants are to trust in your Ion Shield, make all speed towards the foe, and strike swift and sure.
|-
| [[File:99120108005_IMPERIALKNIGHTWARDEN360.jpg|thumb|center|A Knight Warden.]] || colspan=2 | ''' Knight Warden''' <br> A somewhat more customizable Knight than most, by default it comes with the Reaper chainsword and the Crusader's Gatling Cannon on top of the obligatory heavy stubber and a heavy flamer, but it can replace the sword with a Thunderstrike Gauntlet. At first glance, the gauntlet doesn't look like much of an improvement due to the gauntlet always striking at initiative 1 because of its Colossal special rule; however, if the fist ever kills a MC or vehicle the Warden can then throw whatever it killed at someone else. In game terms, this translates to an out-of-phase shooting attack with a large blast template that has a Strength score equal to either the MC's toughness or half of the vehicle's front AV value. Even though it has no AP, it's still capable of serving as an unpleasant surprise for careless opponents.
|-
| [[File:Knight Magaera.jpg|thumb|center|A Questoris Knight Magaera.]] || colspan=2 | '''Questoris Knight Magaera''' <br> Yet another Forge World model, this one is different however, this one is a Questoris variant, which means it's short and fat. It was specially made by the Mechanicus to curry favor with Knight Houses (or to control them, depending on who you ask), and it shows in the unique wargear options it gets. For a start, it has Blessed Autosimulacrum (giving it IWND-lite), and its ionic shield acts similarly to the Flare Shields normally used by superheavy tanks like the [[Spartan Assault Tank]]. Its weapons are no less unusual- it can replace its chainsword for a Siege Claw which grants it Wrecker (and a built in TL rad-cleanser to fuck with Toughness scores), and at range it can employ a phased plasma fusil and a Lightning Cannon that mulch both infantry and all but the heaviest-armored vehicles. There's a catch, though- its reactor is highly unstable, as reflected by the +1 it gets when rolling on the Catastrophic Damage chart.
|-
| [[File:Knight_Styrix.jpg|thumb|center|A Questoris Knight Styrix.]] || colspan=2 | '''Questoris Knight Styrix''' <br> Yes, Forge World is releasing another pattern of Knight, and it's another short and fat Questoris chassis with Blessed Autosimulacrum. The Styrix house a machine spirit which some say became too accustomed to slaughter during the Age of Strife and the Great Crusade that followed it. Many conservative Knight Houses consider the Styrix to be a malevolent pattern, the wanton destruction it unleashes being beneath a true Knight. Other Households hold no such reservations, loosing entire formations of Styrix Knights to annihilate their foes. This one packs a [[Volkite Weaponry#Volkite Chieorovile|Volkite Chieorovile]] and a [[Graviton weapons|Graviton Imploder]], and shares the Magaera's option of upgrading its Reaper chainsword to a Hekaton Siege Claw with complimentary Rad Cleanser.
|}

===Ceratus Knight Patterns===
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| [[File:Knight_Arheron.jpg|thumb|center|A Ceratus Knight Acheron.]] || colspan=2 | '''Cerastus Knight Acheron''' <br> Another Forge World model, tall and lanky like all the other Cerastus pattern models. Acheron pattern Knights were configured as rapid moving strike units who rose to prominence during the legendary battles of the Great Crusade, but whose most terrible renown was to be found on the battlefields of the Horus Heresy. Rare, even in those ancient times for the singular difficulties of their construction, the Cerastus Knight-Acherons were amongst the most dreaded of their age. The Acherons’ machine spirits were regarded as [[World Eaters|particularly lusting for wanton destruction]] and only the strongest scion-minds could master them via the Throne Mechanicum, especially during the tumult of open battle. Has a Flame Cannon to make those Heretics extra crispy, and a [[Chainsword#Chainfist|chainfist]] (with built in twin-linked [[Bolter#Heavy Bolter|heavy bolter]]) that lets it reroll 1s on the Destroyer damage table against vehicles. Now you can give your opponent the D while also fisting them.
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| [[File:99560108146_MechanicumCerastusKnightAtrapos01.jpg|thumb|center|A Ceratus Knight Atrapos.]] || colspan=2 | '''Cerastus Knight Atrapos''' <br> One of the rarest and most potent types of Knights, the Cerastus Knight-Atrapos was created solely to destroy heretek engines and xenos war machines whose very nature and existence were considered a blasphemy to the Omnissiah. The machine spirits of the Knight Atrapos are said to carry with them a cold and all-destroying hunger, and for the scion who bonds with them, madness is a constant risk. It comes with the same Blessed Autosimulacra and flare shields the Questoris Knights have and also has a special rule that makes all his weapons twin-linked, if it is firing at a Super-heavy or Gargantuan Creature. All of his weapons are very close ranged but they are a big fuck off to armour and thanks to the swiftness of the cerastus knights he should be in range soon. It is armed with an Atrapos lascutter, a D weapon that can be used both in close combat and as a 8" shooting attack, and a Graviton singularity cannon ([[Awesome|yep, it shoots black holes]]), a 36", S8, Ap2, large blast weapon with Armorbane and the Collapsing Singularity rule. This means that before firing the weapon you roll a D6; on a 1 the knight loses one HP (but the attack is still carried out as long as the knight survives), and on a 6 the attack gains Vortex.
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| [[File:Knight Castigator.jpg|thumb|center|A Ceratus Knight Castigator.]] || colspan=2 | '''Ceratus Knight Castigator''' <br> A Forge World event model, and another close-combat variant. While fluff states that it is used to handle and take down hordes of lesser foes that could overwhelm other patterns of Knight through sheer numbers, in actuality there are other Knight variants more suited for horde cleansing such as the Porphyrion or Crusader who actually have more weapons suited into turning blobs of infantry into minced meat. Hence, it can be argued that the Castigator should be used as more on the lines as both crowd control and vehicle destroyer. Uses a big fuck-off sword (which is "only" S10, but has the same Deflagrate rule as the [[Volkite Weaponry|Volkite weapons]], rerolls failed armor penetration, and can exchange its attacks to hit everything in base contact once), and a Bolt Cannon which is essentially a S7 AP3 Heavy 8 giant [[bolter]].
|-
| [[File:Lancer-trans.jpg|thumb|center|A Cerastus Knight Lancer.]] || colspan=2 | '''Ceratus Knight Lancer''' <br> The close assault variant of Knight, much taller and faster than the Paladin & Errant by virtue of longer legs. It is ''far'' more specialized than the Paladin or Errant due to its weapon loadout and suffers if it is not supported. Has a physical ion shield rather than just being a force field, which means it cannot block attacks to the rear, however it ''can'' be used against close combat attacks. In its other arm is has a [[Combi-weapon|combi-melee/range weapon]] that gives it extra initiative when it charges into combat, its shooting mode is basically a 18" range 6-shot [[Plasma|plasma rifle]] that concusses its targets. So better to get it into melee with other big things. On a slightly more hilarious note, the Lancer's ranged attack is of a decent Strength and AP, and fires a lot of shots. It's also not a Template Weapon. While not recommended, it means in a pinch the Lancer ''can'' be used as an anti-aircraft gun should the Knights lack sufficient AA from other sources (e.g. you are running pure Knights and don't have the Icarus autocannons), the amount of shots it fires making it second only to the [[Forgefiend]] in terms of emergency AA. It's also excellent against TEQs! And, with its concussive plasma shots, this thing is actually capable of countering a Wraithknight; even if you don't knock it down to initiative 1, you will be hitting at the same time on the charge.
|}

===Dominus Knight Patterns===
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| [[File:Knightcastellan.jpg|thumb|center|A Knight Castellan.]] || '''Knight Castellan''' <br> Basically a dwarf [[Warlord Titan]] for all intents and purposes, the Knight Castellan is a large and especially shooty pattern of Knight armed with what appears to be a heavy plasma cannon on one arm, a magna-lascannon or turbo-laser on the other, two twin-linked battle cannons on the shoulders, and two multimeltas mounted near the head, for a total of TEN BARRELS OF HELL. Oh, and there's two missiles mounted on its back.
|}

===Acastus Knight Patterns===
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| [[File:99560108172_AcastusKnightPorphyrion01.jpg|thumb|center|An Acastus Knight Porphyrion.]] || colspan=2 | '''Acastus Knight Porphyrion''' <br> A newly announced Knight variant, and by far the bulkiest one yet. I mean this thing is so big it is literally the size of a [[Warhound Scout Titan]] for Emprah's sake. As such, it is one of the most heavily armed and armored of all the Knight chassis in service. While it has no melee weaponry of its own, it packs a pair of twin-linked magna-lascannons- which are Ordnance 2 Large Blast lascannons which become Strength D when fired at a range of 12" or less, making it an ideal superheavy-killer. It also comes with a built-in Ironstorm missile launcher (that can be replaced with Helios defense missiles for anti-air purposes) and a pair of autocannons that can be swapped out for rad-cleansers or lascannons. Essentially, it is by far the most [[Dakka|Dakkaest]] of Imperial Knights and one so big we were all fooled into believing that Games Workshop was actually releasing a new Titan.
|}

==Times of Epic==
Back in the times of ''Epic Warhammer 40,000'', there were more types of Knights apart from the Paladin and the Errants (though ''Codex: Imperial Knights'' references the Lancer, Castellan and Crusader Knights in fluff at least, and the Lancer, Crusader, and Warden have all gained models):

{|border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 style="margin: 1em;"
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| align=right| [[File:Lancer Command.jpg|150px|thumbnail|centre|Commander type Lancer. They all go really fast.]] || Lancer: Faster than other Knights, this pattern is all about scouting, distraction and hit-and-run tactics. Instead of its standard Shock Lance, it can swap it for a shorter in range, yet more powerful Power Lance. The only downside of them is that they are the most fragile of Knight Pattern. Now in 40k too, being the first Forge World Knight kit.
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| align=right| [[File:CrusaderDetachment.jpg|250px|thumbnail|center|When you need to kill something hard, roll out the Crusaders.]] || Crusader: Slower, yet sturdier and more powerful, Crusaders are armed with heavy weapons that are usually found on [[Warlord Battle Titan|Warlord]] or [[Emperor Battle Titan|Imperator Class Titans]] (such as the Quake Cannon). Due to them moving slow (blame the heavy weapons and loads of armoured bits) compared to other Knights, these behemoths are used to snipe targets from extreme range and act as a powerful support force for the rest of the Knights.
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| align=right| [[File:CastellanDetachment.jpg|150px|thumbnail|centre|Castellans. Knight level of [[Dakka]].]] || Castellan: The short-ranged cousin of the Crusader that swaps its standard Lascannons for multi-barreled Autocannons. This makes the Castellan a nightmare for infantry and light vehicles, as well as allowing it to deplete an enemy Titan's shields in a disturbingly short time. Also now coming back to 40k with the new codex.
|-
| align=right| [[File:KnightBaron.jpg|150px|thumbnail|center|When a Baron enters the battlefield, [[AWESOME]] ensues.]] || Baron: The biggest, baddest of all the Knights. Baron Knights are piloted by the deadliest members of a Knight House. Each Baron is actually build from the very basics as an ace-custom for its pilots, combining the power to keep up with Lancers and armor nearly as tough as Crusaders. Typically armed with Battle Cannons and the Lancer's Power Lance, the Barons lead their kinsmen to war and victory.
|-
| align=right| [[File:KnightWarden.jpg|150px|thumbnail|center|Old people are actually as deadly as younglings.]] || Warden: Piloted by the eldest (read retired) members of a Knight House, these goofy-looking Knights shouldn't be underestimated, much like the old-timers that pilot them. Warden Knight make up (like the Crusader) the heavy support part of a Knight House in the long-range category. Although not as fast as the youngsters, the pilots of Wardens make it up with years of brutally hard-won experience that makes them as deadly as the Barons.
|}

== Why Knights are Awesome ==
[[File:Knight Errant of Freeblade Garantius.jpg|450px|thumbnail|left|Knight Errant of Freeblade Gerantius. The Forgotten Knight. Closest you get to the [[The Green Knight|Green]] [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|Knight]].]]
Knight Titan lore is some of the coolest stuff in 40k. True to both the medieval tradition and epic feel that 40k thrives from, Knight Titans protect the Agri Worlds that the Mechanicus use to supply (and predominantly feed) their incredibly ravenous [[Forge World#Planet|forge worlds]]. These Titans are easier to produce by far than even the humble [[Warhound Scout Titan]] and so can be made reliably, produced almost as an afterthought. So Knights aren't the biggest, baddest, most overblown thing in 40k -- but, they are to the Knight Worlders. The people who live and die on those Agri Worlds, delineated from other Agri Worlds by their designation as Knight Worlds, are all on the technological and societal footing of Medieval Europe. A lot of these worlds look like Bretonnia, from [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. Kings and Queens, Arthurian legend, stone brick castles and skullcapped peasantry abound; fields and forests extend to every horizon without end. Remember, [[grimdark|it's much, much more important to obey societal doctrine than to optimize food output]].

Imagine what someone from that world would think when they see a Knight Titan. The most agile giant robots the Imperium makes, capable of shrugging off lasers and plasma bombs, tower silently over a field on a world that probably doesn't even have gunpowder weaponry or a Copernican idea of the night sky. The kingdoms of the planet may have their petty wars, but life is dominated by meeting the food and resource quotas of machine-men from the sky, who build and fix the Knights that children and adults view with awe and reverence, like some amalgam of god and monster. These machine-men could destroy entire kingdoms on a whim by dropping stars from the sky. Kingdoms train their nobles and knightly warriors to fight with swords, horses, and hammers. They conscript armies from farming peasants, and use squads of bowmen to kill men at range....except for the Knight Titan pilots. Those who are honorable enough or skilled enough may graduate beyond knighthood, to Knighthood. Someone who takes a bath maybe twice a month and lives by torchlight has the duty to step inside a machine of such power and complexity that the science of the Fortieth Millennium proves incapable of comprehending it. Those men are revered beyond their kings, for they are the wielders of magic and death, and are entrusted with more true power than any other man on the planet. Those men fight monsters, murderous warriors from the sky, and even other Knights from enemy kingdoms. Sometimes, when the machine men come down when they aren't expected, the men who pilot the god-monsters must go far away to battle alongside the machine men in their wars. Not a war on the other side of the world, but a war on a distant star, surrounded by machines and giants even larger than they.

Imagine the man who has the lifelong job of knowing how to run the Knights, whose sacred duty is to recruit and train pilots. Imagine. A lord or general may give the order to bring cavalry around the left flank, and fire the laser cannon onto the walls of his enemy's castle. Despite his most valorous deeds, his children grow up playing with a giant metal god standing over them, silent and omnipotent, resplendent in livery and gold leaf. These children one day grow old and tell stories not of lords and generals, but of the time when their kingdom's metal giant slew a great beast, or razed an entire castle single-handedly, or ran across the entire world to deliver medicine to a dying king. Imagine what a pilot is to his subjects, or his lords. What legends would be told of them, the men who step inside the kingdom's giant? Their legends are not sagas of inscrutable gods or immortal emperors or statistic-scale tragedies, but of simple, honorable soldiers told by humble, hardworking people centuries after those soldiers are but dust and memory.

If you are not crying tears of pure [[awesome]] right now then you are either have no soul or are [[Sly Marbo]].

==6th Edition and Beyond==
[[File:IKErrant battle.jpg|450px|thumbnail|right|THOU SHALL NOT PASS BY A KNIGHT OF HOUSE TERRYN!! HAVE AT THEE [[Tau|BLUEBERRIES]]!!!.]]

Imperial Knights became a Codex in 6th edition. With the ability to be a Household detachment of 3-6 knights or an allied detachment of 1-3 knights, Knights may ally with [[Chaos]], [[Daemon]]s, [[Necron]]s and [[Tyranid|'Nids]] as Come the Apocalypse, [[Dark Eldar]], [[Tau]] and [[Orks]] as Desperate Allies; [[Eldar]] as Allies of Convenience; and all of the Imperium Faction as Battle Brothers (Yes, even [[Grey Knights]]).

'''Note:''' Imperial Knights are only Vehicles, only scoring if they're your primary. But let's face it you're always playing Purge the Alien anyway, even when it's not. The GW Imperial Knights are not Lords of War for other Imperial armies (the FW ones, however, can fit there), they are an army unto themselves. If you're playing 3-6 as a primary detachment, pick one as your Warlord; he gets relics and +1 WS/BS

Lets do the numbers:
*'''1000 pts''' - You can have up to 2 models to fit the points cost. Sadly this means no Primary Detachment or even formations in low point games as everything has a bare 3-knight minimum requirement. You could run 3 Gallants, and have 75 points left for other options/upgrades, but it's not even remotely competitive, even as the formation.
*'''1250 pts''' - Up to three models this time, making it the first points level you can play with your Primary detachment. With the new codex and a slew of upgrades, depending on what you choose, you can fill out the remaining 100 points with either upgrades to the knights themselves, or take one of the more expensive knights (like the Crusader).
*'''1500 pts''' - Perfect if you plan on only taking Paladins, taking Errants will nab you some extra points to upgrade those stubbers into melta guns (or take a gauntlet for every 2 Errants). At this points cost you can field 4 of these Knights. If you want to field any other types, especially the formations, you're gonna have to start dropping knights, or take a few Gallants to free up the points.
*'''1750pts''' - Now possibly the new sweet spot for Knights. With around 250 extra points to play around with, you can either afford to bring in some Crusaders to pack more damage, upgrade every knight with a carapace weapon, or take 3 Gallants (the cheapest Knights) to bring 5 knights in a 1750 game.
*'''1850pts''' - Similar to above, but now you can field 5 Knights without having 3 or 4 of them be Gallants while still having a decent amount of points to play around with. Note that 5 bare naked Errants cost exactly the same amount, so if you're confident in your melta-spam, this works too.
*'''2000pts''' - Now with upgrades, this has also become a sweet spot for people looking to field the Exalted Court or Baronial Court. With roughly 150 extra points to play with, you can either grant each of your knights one of the relics, or start upgrading them with extra weapons and other whistles. Alternatively, you can field up to 6 bare-bones Gallants at this point, which is just enough to take two Gallant Lance Formations (although this is not wise, it is recommended, if only to see the horror in your opponent's face when 6 knights basically leap across the table to charge him).
So what if you want to deploy 6 Knights on the field at once? You are looking at somewhere between 2220 - 2250pts. If you can do this you just paid $840 USD for an entire army of only 6 models, you sir are the envy of many neckbeards and [[Ork#Flash Gits|clearly have more dollars than sense]]. And we thought the Grey Knights were an elite army per model. Or you can just, oh I don't know, scratch build 6 knights and save yourself $820 bucks. Just sayin'.

Note: Flyers may not be laughing quite as hard with the new 7th edition codex, but may giggle a little as the carapace mounted AC isn't too scary (unless you have five knights all with that weapon...but then your opponent may laugh for different reasons). The Warden/Crusaders gatling cannon can do some credible anti-flyer work and may be your best bet. Regardless, it remains a valid tactic to continue to take all those point you couldn't spend (see above) and buy a Vengeance Weapons Battery w. Quad Icarus, or two, or even better a Firestorm Redoubt.

Second Note: FW have made their own version of an all-knight list, which actually has Knights fitting into a modified force org chart.

==Warhammer 40,000 Freeblade==
Yet another exercise in wasted potential, Warhammer 40,00: Freeblade is a [[Awesome|badass looking third person Imperial Knights game]] [[Skub|for iOS and Android]]. You can play it on Windows 10 now!

The plot's simple; you're a newly initiated knight of House Drakkus and your bonding ritual only just finishes when Chaos Space Marines dedicated to Khorne show up and fuck shit up. You end up being the last knight of House Drakkus and you get rescued by the Dark Angels who take you on a merry adventure of fucking [[Orks]] and [[Chaos]] up.

[[Fall of the Eldar|OH NO]]. Turns out that it is a free2play nightmare, with forced 30 second video ads and amazing amounts of not so subtle hints that you should really be buying their shitty supply drop 'loot crates' and a mind boggling array of other detritus.
You know you have a pile of exploitative and badly written shit on your hands when upon clicking on said loot crate, a [[Dark Angels|derpy marine]] with cybernetic implants and a voice like a talking vibrator pops up and proclaims he "Can scarce imagine what glorious spoils lie within- let us find out!" Bleargh.

Its only saving grace is the paint and customise your own knight section, which is kind of fun! One can then take take pictures of said pimped out knight and then promptly uninstall.

It's somewhat decent for a mobile game, which only goes to show the [[Fail|pitiful state]] of [[Derp|mobile gaming]].

==See Also ==
* [[Imperial Knight House Creation Tables]], work-in-progress tables you can roll on to generate a Knight House of your own.
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Imperial Knights(7E)]]
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Questoris Knight Crusade (30k)]]
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Imperial Knights(8E)]]

{{Mechanicus}}
{{40k-Imperial-Vehicles}}
{{Imperium}}
{{WH40k-Factions}}

Imperial Knight

2018-03-26T06:20:53Z

2001:8003:3895:3A00:D43C:5548:575D:8392: /* Knight Patterns */ The Standard pattern is the Questoris

{{Topquote|...who battled courageously during those times, some victorious, some not, but always in the name of chivalry.|The Five Star Stories}}

[[File:Knight vs Trygon.jpg|350px|thumbnail|right|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSrcMaid0mg Hmm... does this look familiar to you?]]]
Somewhere between a regular walker and a [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Titan]], the Imperial Knights are large single pilot war machines, similar to the [[Tau]] [[Riptide#XV104 Riptide Battlesuit|Riptide]]. Usually humanoid, the cockpit for the pilot is mounted in the head or just behind it in the main body.

In other words, they're a [[BattleTech|Battlemech.]]

Their somewhat unexpected return to the 40k setting is possibly a sign of [[Games Workshop|GW]] deciding that people would only play [[Warmachine]] because 40k has insufficient [[warjack]]s [[Skub|(and not because of arguably better rules and update schedule)]], or that they [[Profit|make more money by selling one huge model than lots of little ones]].

They are really [[butthurt|a fairly fan-wanky insertion]] of [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|Fantasy-era]] [[knight]]s into 40k, which, let's face it, is not exactly a setting devoid of knight analogues, but unlike [[Space Marines|the]] [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|others]], this one is much closer to the original source material: [[BattleTech|aristocratic dicks in high tech armor suits grinding the faces of the poor]] while being [[grimdark]] and all knightly and shit, including the [[Game of thrones|politics, incest and backstabbing]] that brings.

Funnily enough for such an in-universe niche unit, Imperial Knights are currently among the most popular models from the 40k range, if the top-seller list of Games Workshop is any indication, and with good reason; their whole design and grimdark steam-punk style catches the eyes, and surely a lot of people are buying it just because it looks that cool. Also, for 150 Naggaroth buckets you get a unit strong enough to be an army on its own or join any imperial force.

[https://youtu.be/ajP5q2HvycY In short they're big, baddass, chivalrous, stompy mechs. Really, what's not to love?]

== About the Knights ==
[[File:Errant Detachment.jpg|thumb|right|EPIC Errant Knights. For when you want to cook your enemies really fast.]]
[[File:PaladinDetachment.jpg|thumb|right|Paladin Titans from EPIC times.]]
The knights are allied with, or in some cases part of, the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] rather than being part of the greater Imperium's war machine. Knight Worlds are worlds which supply [[Forge World#Planet|Forge Worlds]] with foodstuff and raw materials, specifically those worlds defended by Knight Households. The Knight World gathers foodstuff and ores for a set period of time (usually a year) before the Adeptus Mechanicus arrive in a drop ship, occaisonally bringing new knight suits in exchange for the raw materials. Knight Worlds themselves are typically Feudal Worlds, which were easily brought into compliance during the Great Crusade, and which explains the rather aristocratic tone about the Knights. Knight World politics is fueled by the constant resource tithes and the possession of Knight Titans. Any kingdom that possesses a Knight Titan could absolutely smash a kingdom without one, so it behooves a kingdom to concede to being tithed in exchange for the (relatively) ultimate weapon. Once any given feudal kingdom has become a Knight Household, any Household with more Knights than it does is a huge threat, so getting more is always important. By the time that the escalation becomes preposterous these Households are already shipping knights of-world to cruise the stars and fighting things, so the extra-planetary losses constantly need to be replenished, lest the Households lose their on-world detachments to off-world conflicts. All that said, Knight Worlds tend to exist rather happily alongside their Forge World; Mechanicus get a defensive buffer and food forever, and the Knight Households get to continue ruling their chunks of the planet. Or all of the planet, depending on how far you can stretch a feudal society.

During the [[Epic]] days Knights were a complete fabrication by the Adeptus Mechanicus, supplied as battle fleets where the Imperial armies are in need of them, much like a Titan Legion is. Knights were a gimmick, given to Feudal Worlds that the Mechanicum settled near in exchange for getting shipments of food, manpower, and raw materials. This simplistic lore is [[retcon|no longer the case]]; apparently the original Knight Worlds were not the Mechanicus' idea. The Knights themselves are STC relics, dating before even the Dark Age of Technology. In a shocking twist, not only does the Knight STC appear to be relatively intact, the Knight itself seems easy to produce for any given Forge World; a rare case of the AdMech not shitting themselves. When Games Workshop released the new "heroic scale" Knight models, they also released new Knight fluff with them. The first Knights were actually colonists, arriving on new worlds during Humanity's first expansion into the galaxy at large. With no way of returning to Terra once they arrived, and long periods with no outside help, those original human colonies needed to be self-sufficient and the Knight suits were sent along with them, made for fighting against the [[Xeno|myriad threats]] [[Chaos|to their existence]]. Additionally, it turns out that giant stompy robots could also be re-purposed for peaceful uses: cutting down trees with their chainswords, blasting apart boulders with their main weapons, or using the sheer size of their bodies as cranes, lifts, earth-movers, and various other construction equipment. As a byproduct of the Throne Mechanicum bonding processes (see below), the Knights' pilots soon came to see themselves as protectors of their people. In the cases where these heavily-armed frontier colonies were never slated for further colonization, suffered a society-collapsing event as they grew, or otherwise remained isolated, Knight Titans were given the opportunity to become the industrial and military backbone of many of these worlds.

During the Age of Strife, when humanity at large lost it's ability to travel the Warp and everything generally went to shit, these planets were guaranteed to be alone and afraid, fighting for their survival against everything they already had to fight, plus all of the weirdness that comes with BIG FUCKOFF WARP STORMS. The proto-Knight-World colonies (fully-grown at this point) regressed from large-scale industrial societies into what are functionally feudal worlds with a sprinkling of techno-barbarianism. Why did this happen? Well, there are a number of possibilites: fear and panic over the lack of outside contact could have sparked apocalyptic military conflicts or nuclear wars, the whole "robot uprising" thing that was also happening during the Age of Strife could have resulted in a rejection of automation, or the entire would could have been slowly ground down to the barest essentials of living by millennia of constant conflict; take your pick! The Knights themselves eventually formed noble households as time went on, or else noble households formed around the knights, due mostly to the fact that only a large-scale organized society with military force can properly maintain a giant stompy robot. By the time of the Great Crusade (more importantly, by the time of the first Mechanicum Explorator Fleets ''during'' the Great Crusade), almost all of the remaining Knight Worlds had dwindled to feudalism over the course of the Age of Strife, and in many cases the survivors were living threadbare on dying worlds, in great need of new raw materials or the expertise required to maintain the suits. This situation was ripe for exploitation, and some clever bastard in the Mechanicum got the great idea of using these worlds as combination Agri-World, Mining World, and military training ground. Several Forge Worlds and lesser Mechanicum worlds were established intentionally within Knight World systems due to the easy symbiosis. It is assumed that any Knight Worlds which were not in need of assistance (or whom the Great Crusade found before an Explorator Fleet) sided with the Imperium at large, as opposed to becoming vassals of the Mechanicum.

As a side note, in a hilarious turn of events, in this new lore these feudal Knight Worlds leveraged their ritualization and xenophobia to purge witches and deviant thought, and therefor psykic influence, from their worlds entirely. This created pockets of relative calm in the hellish storms of un-reality that they floated in, and thus they were saved from the worst of the warpy shit, allowing them to survive into M31 and the Age of the Imperium. The only known things (as of this new canon being written) which can calm or negate the Immaterium are [[Gellar Fields]], [[Blank]]s, and Nulls. Gellar Fields work, but nobody knows why. Of the two living examples of warp nullification, a Null is literally soulless, and a Blank is an anti-Psyker and an abhorrent anathema to all other life. In a move [[Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka|rarely seen in this day and age]] some GW writer was a cheeky shit, and included a bit of direct political commentary by [[skub|implying that extreme social conservatism was equivalent to having no soul]].

A Knight's Machine Spirit is of a particularly unusual type: to interface with the suit, an aspiring noble must first join with the Throne Mechanicum (the Knight's control system) in a ritual known as the Rite of Becoming. Due to a quirk in the bonding process, the device retains an imprint of each of its former pilots' personalities at the time they were first bonded, and as a result individual suits may develop traits echoing those of their former masters. The link also affects the noble's own mind as well; exposure to the metaphorical (or possibly literal, since there's been at least one case where a Throne Mechanicum took over operating the Knight when its noble was slain by using the memories of its old operators) ghosts in the machine inevitably causes the noble to develop strong positive feelings towards the concepts of fealty and hierarchy along with a near-mystical reverence toward the noble's ancestors. [[Phoenix Lord|This idea isn't very original]]. Nobody knows why this is, but the Mechanicus thinks it may have been a failsafe in the original plans meant to ensure that no Knight would willingly betray or abandon his own House. Either way, this benefits the Mechanicus rather neatly. This kind of "ghost in the machine" presence exists for true [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Imperial Titans]] as well, though in their case the machine spirit is more of an AI/second ego, and storing past Princeps' personas is something that happens, but the Mechanicus try to avoid/scrub out. Go see the Titan page for a more in-depth comparison.

Knight Houses make a tradition of sending their Knights on glorious quests across the stars, which mostly involves going where the Imperium/Mechanicum tells them too, and shooting/punching everything dead once they get there. Knight Houses make a tradition of basically everything, but more on that later. These quests, which one can only assume are fulfilled by the Imperial Navy or Explorator Fleets (and *not* just jumping really high, as some fa/tg/uys suggest), must be chocked-full of silly fish-out-of-water scenes as the Knights must putter around the cargo holds of ships, interacting with Guardsmen, slaves, and Imperial navymen. Knights absolutely love going on quests, because *not* going on quests means staying home and doing rituals and ceremonies. The day-to-day lives and operations of Knight Households, and the noble caste that supports them on-world, are so regimented by ceremony that the Knights themselves *fucking hate it*. Eating, sleeping, social interaction, prayer, bathing (when it infrequently occurs), walking down hallways, looking at art, and probably *breathing* are so highly ritualized that it makes Japanese tea ceremonies look like a practice rehearsal of a theatrical production put on by a class of 3rd graders. You have actual, named, 64-part ceremonies described as happening *daily* in the Mechanicus codex, and those are only one of probably three-hundred-thousand common-to-esoteric ceremonies that could be required to properly perform a given action, formally acknowledge a nobleman's change in standing or status, or even to honor a specific year, month, week, or hour of the fucking day. And Emperor save you if you fuck any of it up.

=== Houses ===
There are two types of knight household, though a third association does exist.
*Those who align themselves with the Imperium directly such as Imperial Houses, acting as independently operating vassals of a greater empire (much like [[Space Marine Chapter]]s do), therefore answering calls for aid as they feel like, rather than being ordered to. Examples of Imperial Houses are:
**'''House Terryn''' - House known for its [[Mary Sue|courage and honor]] as well as [[Codex Astartes|rigidly adhering to ritual and ceremony]]. Supposedly its homeworld of Voltoris is so [[Macragge|peaceful and boring]] and the aforementioned rituals so tedious that it only encourages them to campaign across the galaxy. (Their colour scheme is [[Ultramarines|blue]].)
**'''House Hawkshroud''' - A very [[Noblebright]] house, who believe that kindness should be returned tenfold and who answer any and all requests for assistance, which means their homeworld of Krastellan lies virtually undefended. Also have links with the [[Imperial Fists]] having been praised by the chapter master for their efforts against the [[Eldar]] of Alaitoc. (Their colour scheme is yellow.)
**'''House Cadmus''' - Were once bound to the Mechanicum, but regained their independence and became an Imperial House when Gryphonne IV was nom nomed by [[Tyranid]]s. Based on the [[Caliban|mutant infested forest world]] of Riasa, they engage on mutant hunts every year, with the [[A Song of Ice and Fire|winner getting to rule the house]] until the next hunt. (Their colour scheme is [[Dark_Angels|green]]).
**'''House Griffith''' - A house of [[Salamanders|hotheads]] who almost exclusively make use of the Knight Errant pattern and come from a planet once inhabited by ''actual dragons''. They are also one of the [[Salamanders|smallest knight houses, but remain one of the most respected]]. They engage in regular jousting tournaments using old fashioned horses, but wearing adamantium armour. Have a preference for [[Rip and Tear|close combat]].
**'''House Mortan''' - A house only recently introduced to the Imperium after being cut off by a nebula which made their planet a night world. For thousands of years they fought giant monsters in the dark until the nebula dissipated in M35 and the Imperium arrived.
**'''House Drakkus''' - Featured in the mobile game 'Warhammer 40,000: Freeblade'. Known for being dead, and for having a rather fetching jade-green colour scheme.

*Other households are directly aligned to the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] and are based on ''(or linked to)'' Forge Worlds. Though they retain their independence from the Cult Mechanicus, they do have reciprocal trade and resupply agreements as well as swearing oaths of protection to the Mechanicum, often directly to specific Forge Worlds. Houses directly linked to the Mechanicus will have access to better weapons and technology than their more primitive cousins. Which isn't surprising because Techpreists tend to be [[Blood_Ravens|greedy buggers.]] Examples of Mechanicum Houses include:
**'''House Taranis''' - The ''First'' of all Knight Houses (read ''Mechanicum'' by [[Graham McNeill]]). They were founded on [[Mars]] during the [[Dark Age of Technology]], and were later the first Martians who met the [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor]] before the [[Great Crusade]]. This house has ownership of some of the oldest knight suits. For some reason, their Knights' Throne Mechanicum units lack the typical mind-altering effects that they would normally possess; nobody knows why. One reason could be that the pilots of House Taranis are loyal to the mechanicus first, and house second.
**'''House Raven''' - The largest of all Knight Households, based on the world of Kolossi and have close links to forge world [[Heavy mythril|Metalica]]. Suspected to hold secret [[Standard Template Construct|STC]] data which explains why they have so many Knight suits. Their fortress, the ''Keep Inviolate'', is said to be one of the most well-protected bastions in the Imperium, on par with the Fang and the Imperial Palace, and appears on their coat of arms.
**'''House Krast''' - The first Knight World (Chrysis) to be rediscovered during the Great Crusade, its proximity to Mars meant it was swiftly brought into the fold, but had its homeworld ravaged by [[Horus]] during the [[Horus Heresy|Heresy]], leaving them the only Household left on the planet. Since the forces on Chrysis were led by the traitorous Legion Mortis, they have a preference for hunting traitor titans.
**'''House Vulker''' - A very wealthy but deeply mysterious house from a star system with vast mineral resources, they never expose any flesh and wear golden masks to cover their faces. Their close links to the Mechanicum are evident in the golden servitors they share between worlds, and their courts being filled with tech priests... Not that outsiders ever get to see inside their courts.

*Sometimes individual Knights detach themselves from Noble Houses entirely. Having been dishonoured, shunned, or otherwise made unable to continue life within the Household, they become Freeblades and ply the stars alone (dragging their large pool of retainers along to maintain the suit, naturally). These knights break out to either quest across the Imperium or settle down outside of the ritual of their Household and protect the citizens of whichever worlds they end up on.
**'''Amaranthine''' - Never ever speaks or leaves his suit. [[Inquisitor]]s chase him around trying to have a word about his loyalties.
**'''Auric Arachnus''' - Somehow connected to the [[Ultramarines]] and earned honour slaying a [[Dominatrix]] during the battle for [[Macragge]].
**'''Crimson Reaper''' - Freak who wears a red & black face mask, who is rumoured to be a [[Vampire|blood sucking mutant]]. Is very prone to collateral damage.
**'''Living Litany/Litany of Destruction''' - A grey, black, and orange Knight Gallant who constantly voxes droning sermons in High Gothic, only changing into loud chants when fighting. He's probably bonkers, but everyone lets it slide since he's still loyal to the Imperium at least. Or at least, they used to- at some point he lost what little was left of his sanity and went renegade. As the Litany of Destruction, his color scheme is identical to what it was as a loyalist but is now visibly emblazoned with the eight-pointed star of Chaos.
**'''Gerantius ''The Forgotten Knight''''' - maintains a secret mountain base on Alaric Prime, though his planet is shared by other lesser knight houses. Thought to be [[undead]] and [[Necromancer|in command of spirits]]. Days which he chooses to fight upon are regarded as ill-omens. Rules for him are in [[White Dwarf]], making him a Seneschal-level knight with ''It Will Not Die'' and the ability to both run & shoot in the same phase.
**'''Justice''' - A freeblade connected to the [[Iron Hands]] chapter who is a master of slaying traitor knights. The Iron Hands chapter appear to be keeping his secrets and will not talk of his past.
**'''Obsidian Knight''' - Fought in the [[Damocles Crusade|Damocles campaign]] along with House Terryn on the planet Agrellan. - Has his own rules in Warzone: Damocles making him an absolute WS/BS 6 [[Awesome|badass]] who hates [[Tau]] with a passion.
**'''Mydos Almighty''' - Hails from a world that was done in by the greed of its upper class, which it fled to actually fight. Rather hypocritically, this Knight is entirely bedecked in fucking GOLD.
**'''Retribution Incarnate''' - A hero of the [[Macharian Crusade]]s, believed to be the last member of an established household.
**'''White Warden''' - The last man standing for House Degallio from the planet of [[Lawful Stupid|Alaric Prime]] ''(same as Gerantius)'', known for his cracking mustache and his willingness to stand up for ridiculous laws.
**'''Tellurus''' - Only living member of a fallen house, and refuses to be seen without armor. Tellurus fought alongside both House Cadmus and House Hawkshroud on Vondrak. ''"...towering and monstrous, a giant of adamantium and fury. With a booming cannon and a roaring chainblade for arms, it was clad in armour the colour of a winter’s sky. Blue and cold, chevroned with streaks of black and amber. A bright gonfalon streamed from its left shoulder. A rearing horse with a fluted horn at its forehead."'' - from ''Knights of the Imperium'' by Graham McNeill. [[Samus|Turns out to be a girl.]]
**'''Domeenito Ohashi''' - Imperial Knight who got stuck on a primitive world under attack by the Orks. [[Awesome|In spite of being sworn to go back to his world of origin, he decides to go freeblade and fights back the greenskins becoming a hero to the population until receiving Imperial Guard reinforcement. since then he has wandered across the galaxy helping the Imperium to crush all kind of xenos raiders in the hopes of getting back home eventually.]]
**'''Dyros Kamata ''The Scorched Knight''''' - A Knight whose rider apparently severed all ties with his house and burned off all his livery by walking into a volcano. He eventually learned that his dad was a corrupt prick, so he killed the old man before going off again.

=== Sacristans ===
Unlike the much larger [[Titan (Warhammer 40,000)|Titan legions]], most Imperial Knight Households do '''NOT''' retain [[Techpriest]]s of the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]] to maintain and repair the Knight suits (though deeply-bonded Mechanicum households usually do).

Instead they invariably include a specific class of individual called a '''Sacristan''', who is basically an artisan and a technology specialist. These Sacristans accompany the knight on his travels and keep his suit operational during the campaign, and if a Knight becomes somehow divorced from his household and becomes a Freeblade, the sacristans associated with the suit shall travel with him. It is assumed/alluded to that Sacristans have a cadre of serfs and underlings whom also follow ''them'' around, all of whom form the cadre of attendants for a single Knight.

Unbeknownst ''(or immaterial)'' to the Imperial Households, these Sacristans '''ARE''' inducted into the Machine Cult in a similar fashion to the [[Techmarines]] of the [[Adeptus Astartes]], having been trained either off-world or under an apprenticeship to an already established Sacristan. So while they may not be fully ordained Tech-Priests, they do further the interests of the Mechanicum while living amongst the Knight Households. Sacristans may be historically connected to whomever maintained the Knights during the Age of Strife, making Sacristans even more inspired by ''A Canticle for Leibowitz'' than the Mechanicum itself already is.

=== Chaos and Renegade Knights ===
Though they are rare, there are a number of Knight Households or lone Freeblade Knights who have fallen to [[Chaos]]. Most infamous of all is the [[Slaanesh]] Hellknights of House Devine, who turned during the [[Horus Heresy]] due to [[A Song of Ice and Fire|Targaryen]]-esque amounts of twincest. That said, Renegade and Chaos Knights are hunted down by Loyalist Households, who view their existence as shaming all other Knights. The "board game" <b>Imperial Knight: Renegade</b> shows one such hunt.

For those who survive, these Renegade Knights can find employment and protection within the warbands of [[Chaos Space Marines]], or find themselves on the heretical end of a [[Daemons|warp incursion]] that puts their skills and equipment to "good" use. Of course, being a massive war machine, Chaos Knights may find themselves converted into massive [[Daemon Engines]] called [[Daemon Knights]]. The only real distinction between Renegade and Chaos Knight is that Chaos Knights actually worship Chaos and can become Daemon Knights, whereas Renegade Knights can simply be disowned and mercenary Freeblades who don't always side with for the Imperium or humanity at large. The distinction is often irrelevant during the decision-making process of whether or not Imperial forces intend to kill them (though "kill for the honor of the House" and "kill the fucking traitor with ''extreme prejudice''" aren't exactly the same state of mind for the ones doing the killing).

==Knight Patterns==
The Knights themselves come in several varieties, all of which have an energy shield to protect them from incoming fire and have a mix of shooty and choppy. 6th edition introduced two varieties have just recently appeared in the 40k model range, the Knight Paladin with its rapid fire battlecannon and the Knight Errant with its thermal cannon. Forge World later joined in with several of its own varieties of Knights, and as of 7th edition three other types (the Crusader, Gallant, and Warden) were added to the main 40k line. Other varieties, yet to be seen in 40k, are the Knight Castellan with [[Autogun#Autocannon|Autocannons]] and a Quake Cannon and the command Baron Class Knight with an even faster firing battlecannon, improved armor, and the speed and choppiness of the Lancer.

Knights usually deploy alongside Titan legions as auxiliary forces. Although some patterns of Knight are capable of going toe to toe with smaller titans, or even larger titans outfitted exclusively for ranged combat, the Knight's usual role is anti-infantry or anti-light vehicle freeing up the Titans to attack superheavies.

===Armiger Knight Patterns===
{|border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 style="margin: 1em;"
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| [[File:40kForgebane-Forgebane-Armiger.jpg|thumb|center|An Armiger Knight Warglaive.]] || ''' Armiger Warglaive''' <br> A new type of Knight, said to be piloted by aspiring nobles, lowborn commoners with a knack for war, and the occasional bastard child of the High King. They are given the nickname of '''Baby Knights''', '''Mini-Knights''', '''Moe Knights''', '''Knight Jr''', '''The Wee Baby Brother of the Bunch''' or '''Mini-Me''' [[Dwarf|''for a very good reason''.]] Armiger Warglaives are the smallest Knight class shown to date (roughly the size of a [[Dreadknight]], Grey Knight converters take note), hunting and fighting at the flanks of their cousins. Due to their smaller size and lighter weight, the Armiger Warglaives are far faster and more agile than their larger brothers, which helps them work in groups and perform flanking maneuvers. Although they are obviously not as ridiculously tough as your basic Knight and aren't technically super-heavies like their full-sized cousins, they are still a tough nut to crack. They are equipped with Thermal Spears, Reaper Chain-Cleavers, and a heavy stubber or a melta gun. Unlike other knights it doesn't have titanic feet. Sadly it has lost the ability to move and shoot heavy weapons without penalty. Use them if you want to have the firepower of a Knight without wasting a bucket load in points, but watch out for hordes. Fluffwise, they are to larger knights what warhounds are to warlords - they serve as fast support to neutralize threats to the larger engine, while also helping in combat maneuvers. In crunch, they can be used in the exact same role.
|}

===Questoris Knight Patterns===
{|border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 style="margin: 1em;"
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| [[File:Knight Errant.jpg|thumb|center|A Knight Errant.]] || '''Knight Paladin & Knight Errant''' <br> In 40k tabletop terms, the Knight Paladin and Knight Errant are superheavy walkers with strength D close combat weapons, a heavy stubber and a special Ion Shield that gives them a 4+ invulnerable on a facing chosen at the start of each of your opponents shooting phases. The only real difference between the two is arm loadout, since they both use the same basic model: The Paladin has a two-shot battle cannon and an extra heavy stubber, whilst the Errant has an S9 Thermal (i.e. [[Melta]]) Cannon with a large blast marker. They and all other non-Forge World Knights can take either an Ironstorm Missile Pod (think Whirlwind minus Ordnance), a Heavy 3 Krak missile launcher, or a pair of Icarus autocannons (I.e. actual anti-aircraft weapons) as carapace weapons to supplement their firepower and can also replace the heavy stubber with a meltagun for extra anti-armor usefulness. Fun fact: In ye olde Epic days, the Errant carried a [[Power weapon#Power Fist|power fist]]. || [[File:Knight Paladin.jpg|thumb|center|A Knight Paladin.]]
|-
| [[File:99120108005_IMPERIALKNIGHTCRUSADER360.jpg|thumb|center|A Knight Crusader.]] || colspan=2 | '''Knight Crusader''' <br> The first purely ranged Knight, it has the same Battle Cannon as the Knight Paladin (which it can replace with the Thermal Cannon for tankbusting) but replaces its close combat weapon with an Avenger Gatling Cannon, which can unleash 12 S6 AP3 Rending shots per turn. You know, for when you need that squad of MEQs wiped out right now and they aren't clustered close enough for the Battle Cannon alone to kill them all. As an added bonus, the Gatling cannon comes with a built-in heavy flamer to compensate for its relative weakness at close range. (The key word is "relative". It can still Stomp, after all, and thanks to Smash it's still shitting out S10AP2 with normal cc attacks. It just can't give anyone the D.)
|-
| [[File:99120108005_IMPERIALKNIGHTGALLANT360.jpg|thumb|center|A Knight Gallant.]] || colspan=2 | '''Knight Gallant''' <br> Designed to smash apart enemies at close range, very few enemies can withstand the initial assault of the Knight Gallant. The ground shakes as the Knight Gallant stomps forward, closing in on their prey. The purely choppy counterpart to the Knight Crusader, the Gallant eschews its arm-mounted ranged weapons for a Reaper Chainsword and the Thunderstrike Gauntlet (described below) making it an absolute beast in close combat but of dubious use if it can't close in for the kill. Carapace weapons can mitigate this slightly, but it'll still struggle against shooty foes if it can't get into melee. A noble designated to pilot a Knight Gallant will learn the three basic tenets when he is bonded with his war machine. Though they may subtly differ, the three basic tenants are to trust in your Ion Shield, make all speed towards the foe, and strike swift and sure.
|-
| [[File:99120108005_IMPERIALKNIGHTWARDEN360.jpg|thumb|center|A Knight Warden.]] || colspan=2 | ''' Knight Warden''' <br> A somewhat more customizable Knight than most, by default it comes with the Reaper chainsword and the Crusader's Gatling Cannon on top of the obligatory heavy stubber and a heavy flamer, but it can replace the sword with a Thunderstrike Gauntlet. At first glance, the gauntlet doesn't look like much of an improvement due to the gauntlet always striking at initiative 1 because of its Colossal special rule; however, if the fist ever kills a MC or vehicle the Warden can then throw whatever it killed at someone else. In game terms, this translates to an out-of-phase shooting attack with a large blast template that has a Strength score equal to either the MC's toughness or half of the vehicle's front AV value. Even though it has no AP, it's still capable of serving as an unpleasant surprise for careless opponents.
|-
| [[File:Knight Magaera.jpg|thumb|center|A Questoris Knight Magaera.]] || colspan=2 | '''Questoris Knight Magaera''' <br> Yet another Forge World model, this one is different however, this one is a Questoris variant, which means it's short and fat. It was specially made by the Mechanicus to curry favor with Knight Houses (or to control them, depending on who you ask), and it shows in the unique wargear options it gets. For a start, it has Blessed Autosimulacrum (giving it IWND-lite), and its ionic shield acts similarly to the Flare Shields normally used by superheavy tanks like the [[Spartan Assault Tank]]. Its weapons are no less unusual- it can replace its chainsword for a Siege Claw which grants it Wrecker (and a built in TL rad-cleanser to fuck with Toughness scores), and at range it can employ a phased plasma fusil and a Lightning Cannon that mulch both infantry and all but the heaviest-armored vehicles. There's a catch, though- its reactor is highly unstable, as reflected by the +1 it gets when rolling on the Catastrophic Damage chart.
|-
| [[File:Knight_Styrix.jpg|thumb|center|A Questoris Knight Styrix.]] || colspan=2 | '''Questoris Knight Styrix''' <br> Yes, Forge World is releasing another pattern of Knight, and it's another short and fat Questoris chassis with Blessed Autosimulacrum. The Styrix house a machine spirit which some say became too accustomed to slaughter during the Age of Strife and the Great Crusade that followed it. Many conservative Knight Houses consider the Styrix to be a malevolent pattern, the wanton destruction it unleashes being beneath a true Knight. Other Households hold no such reservations, loosing entire formations of Styrix Knights to annihilate their foes. This one packs a [[Volkite Weaponry#Volkite Chieorovile|Volkite Chieorovile]] and a [[Graviton weapons|Graviton Imploder]], and shares the Magaera's option of upgrading its Reaper chainsword to a Hekaton Siege Claw with complimentary Rad Cleanser.
|}

===Ceratus Knight Patterns===
{|border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 style="margin: 1em;"
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| [[File:Knight_Arheron.jpg|thumb|center|A Ceratus Knight Acheron.]] || colspan=2 | '''Cerastus Knight Acheron''' <br> Another Forge World model, tall and lanky like all the other Cerastus pattern models. Acheron pattern Knights were configured as rapid moving strike units who rose to prominence during the legendary battles of the Great Crusade, but whose most terrible renown was to be found on the battlefields of the Horus Heresy. Rare, even in those ancient times for the singular difficulties of their construction, the Cerastus Knight-Acherons were amongst the most dreaded of their age. The Acherons’ machine spirits were regarded as [[World Eaters|particularly lusting for wanton destruction]] and only the strongest scion-minds could master them via the Throne Mechanicum, especially during the tumult of open battle. Has a Flame Cannon to make those Heretics extra crispy, and a [[Chainsword#Chainfist|chainfist]] (with built in twin-linked [[Bolter#Heavy Bolter|heavy bolter]]) that lets it reroll 1s on the Destroyer damage table against vehicles. Now you can give your opponent the D while also fisting them.
|-
| [[File:99560108146_MechanicumCerastusKnightAtrapos01.jpg|thumb|center|A Ceratus Knight Atrapos.]] || colspan=2 | '''Cerastus Knight Atrapos''' <br> One of the rarest and most potent types of Knights, the Cerastus Knight-Atrapos was created solely to destroy heretek engines and xenos war machines whose very nature and existence were considered a blasphemy to the Omnissiah. The machine spirits of the Knight Atrapos are said to carry with them a cold and all-destroying hunger, and for the scion who bonds with them, madness is a constant risk. It comes with the same Blessed Autosimulacra and flare shields the Questoris Knights have and also has a special rule that makes all his weapons twin-linked, if it is firing at a Super-heavy or Gargantuan Creature. All of his weapons are very close ranged but they are a big fuck off to armour and thanks to the swiftness of the cerastus knights he should be in range soon. It is armed with an Atrapos lascutter, a D weapon that can be used both in close combat and as a 8" shooting attack, and a Graviton singularity cannon ([[Awesome|yep, it shoots black holes]]), a 36", S8, Ap2, large blast weapon with Armorbane and the Collapsing Singularity rule. This means that before firing the weapon you roll a D6; on a 1 the knight loses one HP (but the attack is still carried out as long as the knight survives), and on a 6 the attack gains Vortex.
|-
| [[File:Knight Castigator.jpg|thumb|center|A Ceratus Knight Castigator.]] || colspan=2 | '''Ceratus Knight Castigator''' <br> A Forge World event model, and another close-combat variant. While fluff states that it is used to handle and take down hordes of lesser foes that could overwhelm other patterns of Knight through sheer numbers, in actuality there are other Knight variants more suited for horde cleansing such as the Porphyrion or Crusader who actually have more weapons suited into turning blobs of infantry into minced meat. Hence, it can be argued that the Castigator should be used as more on the lines as both crowd control and vehicle destroyer. Uses a big fuck-off sword (which is "only" S10, but has the same Deflagrate rule as the [[Volkite Weaponry|Volkite weapons]], rerolls failed armor penetration, and can exchange its attacks to hit everything in base contact once), and a Bolt Cannon which is essentially a S7 AP3 Heavy 8 giant [[bolter]].
|-
| [[File:Lancer-trans.jpg|thumb|center|A Cerastus Knight Lancer.]] || colspan=2 | '''Ceratus Knight Lancer''' <br> The close assault variant of Knight, much taller and faster than the Paladin & Errant by virtue of longer legs. It is ''far'' more specialized than the Paladin or Errant due to its weapon loadout and suffers if it is not supported. Has a physical ion shield rather than just being a force field, which means it cannot block attacks to the rear, however it ''can'' be used against close combat attacks. In its other arm is has a [[Combi-weapon|combi-melee/range weapon]] that gives it extra initiative when it charges into combat, its shooting mode is basically a 18" range 6-shot [[Plasma|plasma rifle]] that concusses its targets. So better to get it into melee with other big things. On a slightly more hilarious note, the Lancer's ranged attack is of a decent Strength and AP, and fires a lot of shots. It's also not a Template Weapon. While not recommended, it means in a pinch the Lancer ''can'' be used as an anti-aircraft gun should the Knights lack sufficient AA from other sources (e.g. you are running pure Knights and don't have the Icarus autocannons), the amount of shots it fires making it second only to the [[Forgefiend]] in terms of emergency AA. It's also excellent against TEQs! And, with its concussive plasma shots, this thing is actually capable of countering a Wraithknight; even if you don't knock it down to initiative 1, you will be hitting at the same time on the charge.
|}

===Dominus Knight Patterns===
{|border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 style="margin: 1em;"
|-
| [[File:Knightcastellan.jpg|thumb|center|A Knight Castellan.]] || '''Knight Castellan''' <br> Basically a dwarf [[Warlord Titan]] for all intents and purposes, the Knight Castellan is a large and especially shooty pattern of Knight armed with what appears to be a heavy plasma cannon on one arm, a magna-lascannon or turbo-laser on the other, two twin-linked battle cannons on the shoulders, and two multimeltas mounted near the head, for a total of TEN BARRELS OF HELL. Oh, and there's two missiles mounted on its back.
|}

===Acastus Knight Patterns===
{|border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 style="margin: 1em;"
|-
| [[File:99560108172_AcastusKnightPorphyrion01.jpg|thumb|center|An Acastus Knight Porphyrion.]] || colspan=2 | '''Acastus Knight Porphyrion''' <br> A newly announced Knight variant, and by far the bulkiest one yet. I mean this thing is so big it is literally the size of a [[Warhound Scout Titan]] for Emprah's sake. As such, it is one of the most heavily armed and armored of all the Knight chassis in service. While it has no melee weaponry of its own, it packs a pair of twin-linked magna-lascannons- which are Ordnance 2 Large Blast lascannons which become Strength D when fired at a range of 12" or less, making it an ideal superheavy-killer. It also comes with a built-in Ironstorm missile launcher (that can be replaced with Helios defense missiles for anti-air purposes) and a pair of autocannons that can be swapped out for rad-cleansers or lascannons. Essentially, it is by far the most [[Dakka|Dakkaest]] of Imperial Knights and one so big we were all fooled into believing that Games Workshop was actually releasing a new Titan.
|}

==Times of Epic==
Back in the times of ''Epic Warhammer 40,000'', there were more types of Knights apart from the Paladin and the Errants (though ''Codex: Imperial Knights'' references the Lancer, Castellan and Crusader Knights in fluff at least, and the Lancer, Crusader, and Warden have all gained models):

{|border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=2 style="margin: 1em;"
|-
| align=right| [[File:Lancer Command.jpg|150px|thumbnail|centre|Commander type Lancer. They all go really fast.]] || Lancer: Faster than other Knights, this pattern is all about scouting, distraction and hit-and-run tactics. Instead of its standard Shock Lance, it can swap it for a shorter in range, yet more powerful Power Lance. The only downside of them is that they are the most fragile of Knight Pattern. Now in 40k too, being the first Forge World Knight kit.
|-
| align=right| [[File:CrusaderDetachment.jpg|250px|thumbnail|center|When you need to kill something hard, roll out the Crusaders.]] || Crusader: Slower, yet sturdier and more powerful, Crusaders are armed with heavy weapons that are usually found on [[Warlord Battle Titan|Warlord]] or [[Emperor Battle Titan|Imperator Class Titans]] (such as the Quake Cannon). Due to them moving slow (blame the heavy weapons and loads of armoured bits) compared to other Knights, these behemoths are used to snipe targets from extreme range and act as a powerful support force for the rest of the Knights.
|-
| align=right| [[File:CastellanDetachment.jpg|150px|thumbnail|centre|Castellans. Knight level of [[Dakka]].]] || Castellan: The short-ranged cousin of the Crusader that swaps its standard Lascannons for multi-barreled Autocannons. This makes the Castellan a nightmare for infantry and light vehicles, as well as allowing it to deplete an enemy Titan's shields in a disturbingly short time. Also now coming back to 40k with the new codex.
|-
| align=right| [[File:KnightBaron.jpg|150px|thumbnail|center|When a Baron enters the battlefield, [[AWESOME]] ensues.]] || Baron: The biggest, baddest of all the Knights. Baron Knights are piloted by the deadliest members of a Knight House. Each Baron is actually build from the very basics as an ace-custom for its pilots, combining the power to keep up with Lancers and armor nearly as tough as Crusaders. Typically armed with Battle Cannons and the Lancer's Power Lance, the Barons lead their kinsmen to war and victory.
|-
| align=right| [[File:KnightWarden.jpg|150px|thumbnail|center|Old people are actually as deadly as younglings.]] || Warden: Piloted by the eldest (read retired) members of a Knight House, these goofy-looking Knights shouldn't be underestimated, much like the old-timers that pilot them. Warden Knight make up (like the Crusader) the heavy support part of a Knight House in the long-range category. Although not as fast as the youngsters, the pilots of Wardens make it up with years of brutally hard-won experience that makes them as deadly as the Barons.
|}

== Why Knights are Awesome ==
[[File:Knight Errant of Freeblade Garantius.jpg|450px|thumbnail|left|Knight Errant of Freeblade Gerantius. The Forgotten Knight. Closest you get to the [[The Green Knight|Green]] [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle|Knight]].]]
Knight Titan lore is some of the coolest stuff in 40k. True to both the medieval tradition and epic feel that 40k thrives from, Knight Titans protect the Agri Worlds that the Mechanicus use to supply (and predominantly feed) their incredibly ravenous [[Forge World#Planet|forge worlds]]. These Titans are easier to produce by far than even the humble [[Warhound Scout Titan]] and so can be made reliably, produced almost as an afterthought. So Knights aren't the biggest, baddest, most overblown thing in 40k -- but, they are to the Knight Worlders. The people who live and die on those Agri Worlds, delineated from other Agri Worlds by their designation as Knight Worlds, are all on the technological and societal footing of Medieval Europe. A lot of these worlds look like Bretonnia, from [[Warhammer Fantasy]]. Kings and Queens, Arthurian legend, stone brick castles and skullcapped peasantry abound; fields and forests extend to every horizon without end. Remember, [[grimdark|it's much, much more important to obey societal doctrine than to optimize food output]].

Imagine what someone from that world would think when they see a Knight Titan. The most agile giant robots the Imperium makes, capable of shrugging off lasers and plasma bombs, tower silently over a field on a world that probably doesn't even have gunpowder weaponry or a Copernican idea of the night sky. The kingdoms of the planet may have their petty wars, but life is dominated by meeting the food and resource quotas of machine-men from the sky, who build and fix the Knights that children and adults view with awe and reverence, like some amalgam of god and monster. These machine-men could destroy entire kingdoms on a whim by dropping stars from the sky. Kingdoms train their nobles and knightly warriors to fight with swords, horses, and hammers. They conscript armies from farming peasants, and use squads of bowmen to kill men at range....except for the Knight Titan pilots. Those who are honorable enough or skilled enough may graduate beyond knighthood, to Knighthood. Someone who takes a bath maybe twice a month and lives by torchlight has the duty to step inside a machine of such power and complexity that the science of the Fortieth Millennium proves incapable of comprehending it. Those men are revered beyond their kings, for they are the wielders of magic and death, and are entrusted with more true power than any other man on the planet. Those men fight monsters, murderous warriors from the sky, and even other Knights from enemy kingdoms. Sometimes, when the machine men come down when they aren't expected, the men who pilot the god-monsters must go far away to battle alongside the machine men in their wars. Not a war on the other side of the world, but a war on a distant star, surrounded by machines and giants even larger than they.

Imagine the man who has the lifelong job of knowing how to run the Knights, whose sacred duty is to recruit and train pilots. Imagine. A lord or general may give the order to bring cavalry around the left flank, and fire the laser cannon onto the walls of his enemy's castle. Despite his most valorous deeds, his children grow up playing with a giant metal god standing over them, silent and omnipotent, resplendent in livery and gold leaf. These children one day grow old and tell stories not of lords and generals, but of the time when their kingdom's metal giant slew a great beast, or razed an entire castle single-handedly, or ran across the entire world to deliver medicine to a dying king. Imagine what a pilot is to his subjects, or his lords. What legends would be told of them, the men who step inside the kingdom's giant? Their legends are not sagas of inscrutable gods or immortal emperors or statistic-scale tragedies, but of simple, honorable soldiers told by humble, hardworking people centuries after those soldiers are but dust and memory.

If you are not crying tears of pure [[awesome]] right now then you are either have no soul or are [[Sly Marbo]].

==6th Edition and Beyond==
[[File:IKErrant battle.jpg|450px|thumbnail|right|THOU SHALL NOT PASS BY A KNIGHT OF HOUSE TERRYN!! HAVE AT THEE [[Tau|BLUEBERRIES]]!!!.]]

Imperial Knights became a Codex in 6th edition. With the ability to be a Household detachment of 3-6 knights or an allied detachment of 1-3 knights, Knights may ally with [[Chaos]], [[Daemon]]s, [[Necron]]s and [[Tyranid|'Nids]] as Come the Apocalypse, [[Dark Eldar]], [[Tau]] and [[Orks]] as Desperate Allies; [[Eldar]] as Allies of Convenience; and all of the Imperium Faction as Battle Brothers (Yes, even [[Grey Knights]]).

'''Note:''' Imperial Knights are only Vehicles, only scoring if they're your primary. But let's face it you're always playing Purge the Alien anyway, even when it's not. The GW Imperial Knights are not Lords of War for other Imperial armies (the FW ones, however, can fit there), they are an army unto themselves. If you're playing 3-6 as a primary detachment, pick one as your Warlord; he gets relics and +1 WS/BS

Lets do the numbers:
*'''1000 pts''' - You can have up to 2 models to fit the points cost. Sadly this means no Primary Detachment or even formations in low point games as everything has a bare 3-knight minimum requirement. You could run 3 Gallants, and have 75 points left for other options/upgrades, but it's not even remotely competitive, even as the formation.
*'''1250 pts''' - Up to three models this time, making it the first points level you can play with your Primary detachment. With the new codex and a slew of upgrades, depending on what you choose, you can fill out the remaining 100 points with either upgrades to the knights themselves, or take one of the more expensive knights (like the Crusader).
*'''1500 pts''' - Perfect if you plan on only taking Paladins, taking Errants will nab you some extra points to upgrade those stubbers into melta guns (or take a gauntlet for every 2 Errants). At this points cost you can field 4 of these Knights. If you want to field any other types, especially the formations, you're gonna have to start dropping knights, or take a few Gallants to free up the points.
*'''1750pts''' - Now possibly the new sweet spot for Knights. With around 250 extra points to play around with, you can either afford to bring in some Crusaders to pack more damage, upgrade every knight with a carapace weapon, or take 3 Gallants (the cheapest Knights) to bring 5 knights in a 1750 game.
*'''1850pts''' - Similar to above, but now you can field 5 Knights without having 3 or 4 of them be Gallants while still having a decent amount of points to play around with. Note that 5 bare naked Errants cost exactly the same amount, so if you're confident in your melta-spam, this works too.
*'''2000pts''' - Now with upgrades, this has also become a sweet spot for people looking to field the Exalted Court or Baronial Court. With roughly 150 extra points to play with, you can either grant each of your knights one of the relics, or start upgrading them with extra weapons and other whistles. Alternatively, you can field up to 6 bare-bones Gallants at this point, which is just enough to take two Gallant Lance Formations (although this is not wise, it is recommended, if only to see the horror in your opponent's face when 6 knights basically leap across the table to charge him).
So what if you want to deploy 6 Knights on the field at once? You are looking at somewhere between 2220 - 2250pts. If you can do this you just paid $840 USD for an entire army of only 6 models, you sir are the envy of many neckbeards and [[Ork#Flash Gits|clearly have more dollars than sense]]. And we thought the Grey Knights were an elite army per model. Or you can just, oh I don't know, scratch build 6 knights and save yourself $820 bucks. Just sayin'.

Note: Flyers may not be laughing quite as hard with the new 7th edition codex, but may giggle a little as the carapace mounted AC isn't too scary (unless you have five knights all with that weapon...but then your opponent may laugh for different reasons). The Warden/Crusaders gatling cannon can do some credible anti-flyer work and may be your best bet. Regardless, it remains a valid tactic to continue to take all those point you couldn't spend (see above) and buy a Vengeance Weapons Battery w. Quad Icarus, or two, or even better a Firestorm Redoubt.

Second Note: FW have made their own version of an all-knight list, which actually has Knights fitting into a modified force org chart.

==Warhammer 40,000 Freeblade==
Yet another exercise in wasted potential, Warhammer 40,00: Freeblade is a [[Awesome|badass looking third person Imperial Knights game]] [[Skub|for iOS and Android]]. You can play it on Windows 10 now!

The plot's simple; you're a newly initiated knight of House Drakkus and your bonding ritual only just finishes when Chaos Space Marines dedicated to Khorne show up and fuck shit up. You end up being the last knight of House Drakkus and you get rescued by the Dark Angels who take you on a merry adventure of fucking [[Orks]] and [[Chaos]] up.

[[Fall of the Eldar|OH NO]]. Turns out that it is a free2play nightmare, with forced 30 second video ads and amazing amounts of not so subtle hints that you should really be buying their shitty supply drop 'loot crates' and a mind boggling array of other detritus.
You know you have a pile of exploitative and badly written shit on your hands when upon clicking on said loot crate, a [[Dark Angels|derpy marine]] with cybernetic implants and a voice like a talking vibrator pops up and proclaims he "Can scarce imagine what glorious spoils lie within- let us find out!" Bleargh.

Its only saving grace is the paint and customise your own knight section, which is kind of fun! One can then take take pictures of said pimped out knight and then promptly uninstall.

It's somewhat decent for a mobile game, which only goes to show the [[Fail|pitiful state]] of [[Derp|mobile gaming]].

==See Also ==
* [[Imperial Knight House Creation Tables]], work-in-progress tables you can roll on to generate a Knight House of your own.
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Imperial Knights(7E)]]
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Questoris Knight Crusade (30k)]]
*[[Warhammer 40,000/Tactics/Imperial Knights(8E)]]

{{Mechanicus}}
{{40k-Imperial-Vehicles}}
{{Imperium}}
{{WH40k-Factions}}

A Song of Ice and Fire

2018-03-26T05:59:04Z

2001:8003:3895:3A00:D43C:5548:575D:8392: /* GRRM and Your Dudes */

[[image:Game_of_Thrones_Title-DVD.png|300px|thumb|WIENER PARTY! WIENER PARTY!]]
{{Template:Spoilers}}
'''Warning: This article contains so many spoilers we're ruining books that haven't even been released yet.'''

{{Topquote|If you think this story has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention.|Ramsay Bolton, nailing the grimdark theme of this series}}

[[A Song of Ice and Fire]] (abbreviated as ASoIF) is a fantasy book series for people who hate fantasy. Its central themes include incest, douchebaggery, and inefficiency. Thus it has become one of the most popular series of our generation and its author, [[George R. R. Martin]], has been praised for his highly realized world and gritty low fantasy style. He was even called "the American [[Tolkien]]" by <s>Time magazine</s> [[/Tg/|gormless idiots]]. On that topic, George's previous work has focused on saying that [[Imperium|war and religious extremists]] are not good, so if thats anything to go by, asoif wont end with a [[The Lord of the Rings|climactic battle of evil vs good]].

The series itself is set on the [[Original character, do not steal|totally not medieval European ripoff]] realm of Westeros as it is wracked by a massive succession war drawing its realms into conflict. A bunch of dudes declare themselves kings (book two), they're burning the continent down in their scramble for power, and somehow all the fuck-ups managed to lose anyway (book three). Just when the guys who lost the least start thinking they get to rule over the remaining chaos, more fuck ups happen and more dudes show up (book four). Sadly, winter has finally come and, unbeknownst to most people, evil ice [[Thousand Sons|wizards leading soulless undead]] are about to invade the continent from the north. By the fifth book, things are going/will go to shit even for the bad guys.

According to a leaked fan conversation, George R R Martin stated the series would end with an epic cock-slap fight between Samwell Tarly and Jaime Lannister.

TL;DR: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_the_Roses War of Roses] redux, with a side helpin' of <s>cliched fantasy</s> George's old sci-fi writing plots and [[/d/]].

===Characters===
{{autism}}
Since these books have some thousand named characters, you won't remember most of them without an obsessive disorder over details.
Here's a relatively short list for the characters you'll care about.

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'''House Stark'''

''"Winter Is Coming"''
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">Proud, hardass northerners who serve as the series' main narrators. They have a tendency towards [[Lawful Stupid]] that bites them in the ass frequently. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_york House of York-ish].
* Eddard Stark, ''The Quiet Wolf'': Patriarch, lord and POV death-puppet. Not nearly as stupid as everyone tries to pretend, but still a dead man walking.
* Robb Stark, ''The Young Wolf'': Shiny, [[Lawful Stupid]] King Arthur-like hero. After waging a successful war to avenge his murdered father, he was betrothed to a noblewoman but got the hots for a commoner. Cacks it nastily. Got his head cut off and his pet's wolf's head stuck on his body which was paraded around while his enemis chanted "HERE COMES THE KING IN THE NORTH!" In other words, he's a Scottish [[Roman Empire|Hannibal Barca]].
* Sansa Stark: Useless teenage girl extraordinaire at the start of the series with dreams of marrying a prince and "having lots of babies" but get's shat on hard by reality. Becomes Littlefinger's replacement goldfish when Catelyn's no longer around, her father got killed and her best friend was sold as a sex slave, and ended up in the worst relationship we can possibly imagine with King Joffery. [[Grimdark|Even got deflowered via rape by Ramsey Bolton]] and married to him before managing to escape with the help of others. Currently acting as a co-ruler to her brother/cousin Jon Snow, and has learned much from her suffering; allowing her to kick Littlefinger out of the Great Game via throat slitting.
* Arya Stark: Little tomboy assassin. Has a kill list, but doesn't get to use it so long as she is an amnesiac apprentice of the Friendly Neighborhood Assassins Guild. After breaking away from the Asassin's she heads back to Westeros to get revenge on a LOT of people, giving her one of the highest kill counts in the series. Is currently back with her sister Sansa acting as a general "troubleshooter".
* Catelyn Stark (nee Tully): A woman who trusts the wrong people at the worst time, causing a lot of misery. Gets killed along with Robb, then comes back as an undead witch bent on killing all the Boltons, Freys, Greyjoys, Lannisters... pretty much everyone she thinks was tangentially involved in betraying her and her family, or somebody who just pissed her off.
* Bran Stark: Intelligent little boy, crippled in the first sign of major [[GrimDark]]. Has prophetic dreams and becomes a [[druid]]. In the TV series, fucks things up by alerting the Others to where he's hiding, which gets all of the Children, his loyal wolf, the Three-Eyed Crow and Hodor killed. For good measure, turns out to have accidentally ''caused'' Hodor to become, well, Hodor, as he was using his druid powers to figure out why Hodor is only able to say Hodor, resulting in Hodor's gruesome death-by-zombies being beamed directly into young!Hodor's brain.
* Rickon Stark: Four years old at the start, turning into a real little [[Barbarian]] from not being raised properly because everyone who would of have raised him was dead or missing. In the show, he ends up hanging out at the Umbers, then is handed over to Ramsay as a prisoner when Smalljon becomes afraid of the Wildings living north of him (who were invited by Jhon Snow to fight the Zombie Apocalypse), and finally dies via arrow in a sick game of "dodge the missiles" courtesy of Ramsey.
* Jon Snow, ''The White Wolf'': A bastard living in the Stark household before leaving for the Night's Watch (basically [[The Last Chancers|Colonel Schaeffer]] with more convicted rapists under his command) and excels there because nearly every one of his fellow recruits are peasants who have never had a formal days training while Jon has had the serious training afforded to all lords. After he takes over by becoming the Watch Commander secures and alliance with the Wildlings, ancient barbarian enemies of the Night's Watch, because when the end of the world is coming you tend to think outside the box. Currently revived by R'hllor after being stabbed to death by the senior members of the Watch. Isn't actually Eddard's son, but rather the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. The new KING IN DA NORF according to his supporters after he killed Ramsey Snow and took back Winterfell.
* Hodor: Hodor. Hodor, Hodor, Hodor. <s>An enormous and possibly retarded stable boy, and Bran's faithful steed.</s> Hodor. Ok, in all actual seriousness, this guy is probably one of the most tragic figures in this series (and that's saying something). [[Grimdark|The guy basically received horrible visions of his own death fighting a horde of zombies, buying time for his friends to escape by literally holding the door shut as he was hacked apart. This causes him to suffer a psychiatric break, and could only repeat a garbled phrase of his friend's last request "hold the door" for all of his adult life; the logic here is that "hold the door" devolves into "hol' th' door" and eventually "Hodor".
* Osha: A Wildling woman who surrendered to the Starks and becomes their servant in exchange for not getting killed. Now dead in the show thanks to Ramsay's dickery.</div></div>

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'''House Targaryen'''

''"Fire and Blood"''
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">The one time dragon kings and rulers of Westeros, who got that way thanks to the Aegon I, who had ginat dragons when everyone else had horses. He's essentially [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Conqueror William the Conqueror] who spent a little too much time on [[/d/]] (more on that in a minute), and placed in a low fantasy world.

[[Rules Lawyer|Thanks to a loophole]], the Tagaryens were immune to the moral objections relating to incest. Common sense (and common decency) took back seat to a time-honored policy of [[/d/|catastrophic inbreeding]], which made a number of problems. Aegon I married his older and younger sisters and had several kids with each, which would be the start of another Tagaryen tradition: the occasional succession crisis. The inbreeding would also lead to a line of almost alternatingly great and lunatic kings, culminating in Aerys "The Mad King" Targaryen and a palace coup. Eventually the lineage was banished to Essos (that means "Eastern Continent" for the possible half a person who didn't get the obvious distinction between Westeros and Essos) after a brutal civil war, the remnants trying to gather armies to retake the Iron Throne which they see as rightfully theirs. Basically a family of inbreeding girly-men with a massive sense of superiority and as arrogant as they come, forgetting that most of what they accomplished was due to the fact that only they had dragons. Still; they occasionally did have genuinely good people like Aegon V (aka Egg), Jaeherys I the Conciliator, his wife Good Queen Alysanne and complete badasses like Brynden Bloodraven and Baelor Breakspear. Pseudo-Romans/[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Normandy House of Normandy].
* Aerys II, ''The Mad King'': [[Kharn|A pretty fun guy to be around]]. Had a psychotic fascination for fire, which extended to being a psychotic fascination for burning traitors, a category of people that eventually grew to include anybody he disliked for any reason, anyone who disagreed with him, and a few people who were unlucky enough to be caught in the crossfire. [[Goge Vandire|Teamkilled by his bodyguard Jamie for planning to burn the city down with everyone inside it, and even refused to accept his death until he actually died]].
* Daenerys Targaryen, ''Stormborn'': She was sold by her brother to a barbarian leader [[Genghis motherfucking Khan|Khal (warlord) Drogo]] in exchange for the promise that he'd use his Khalassar (warband/tribe) to conquer Westeros. She found her self esteem as his wife, then her husband killed her idiot brother Viserys and promised to conquer the world for Daenerys, making her a full-fledged badass barbarian warqueen. Unfortunately, her husband died when [[Derp|Daenarys trusted one of the slaves whose town Drogo had pillaged and burnt to heal an infected wound of his]] and his horde fell apart. Then she hatched three dragons (completely by accident when she tried to commit suicide) bringing them back from extinction, and now everyone wants to marry her because she is now one of the most powerful people around due to said dragons. [[Gets shit done]] except the entire fifth book, in which she mopes around about wanting to marry an annoying, flamboyant mercenary instead of saving herself for political marrige. She later marries a Meereenese noble who guarantees he can get her some peace (more likely [[Just As Planned|just as he planned]]). She also does nothing while insurgents kill her men, a horde of plagued refugees spread disease to her city, and standing idly by while an enemy army besieges her walls, all for realistically political reasons because the world is a horrible place. Learns how to train her dragon. Is currently in Westeros invading the place with an army of elite hoplites, a massive horde of Dothraki, and two dragons because the third one is dead.
* The dragons: The three dragons that Daenerys hatched. They're wyverns that breathe fire, [[Awesome|have blood hot enough to melt steel]], and [[List of /tg/ Cuisine|cook their meat before eating it]]. The coolest things in the story.
** Drogon; named for her late husband, Khal Drogo. Black and Red, the biggest and most aggressive dragon. Starts eating people and then escapes, leading to the other two getting imprisoned. Interrupts a gladiator tournament, killing a lot of people before being whipped by Daenerys into flying her to a Khalassar that broke off from her husband's after his death.
** Rhaegal; named for the first of her dead brothers, Rhaegar. Green and gold, the cunning one. Kills Quentyn Martell (see below). After breaking out of jail with Viserion they go "all your bases are belong to us" on Meereen, killing people and taking over the pyramid of a loyal family as his lair.
** Viserion; named for her other brother Viserys. White and gold, the friendliest (as dragons go, he still eats people) and the loudest. Dug cave for himself in his jail then moved into another pyramid after their great escape. Gets killed by the [[Vampire Counts|Night's King in the show via a magic spear and is reanimated to be his zombie dragon steed]].
* Viserys Targaryen, ''The Beggar King'': Daenerys' physically abusive older brother. Best known for being a bully with incestuous lust for her and an arrogant and incompetent fuck with a massive sense of entitlement. He eventually got himself killed for being an all-around jerk and whiny idiot, which culminated in him threatening his sister and unborn nephew with a sword while drunk in a sacred Dothraki place where weapons and bloodshed are forbidden on pain of death. Daenerys' husband [[awesome|poured a crown of molten gold over his head]].
* Aegon Targaryen, ''Aegon VI'': Daenerys' nephew, the son of her brother Rhaegar. Been hiding in Essos for the entire length of the series, but recently raised an army of Westerosi exiles and threw them all a massive Welcome Home party with rape and pillage. Wants to marry his aunt because she has dragons, and might not actually be a member of House Targaryen if you believe some fans. He can actually count past 6, can multiply numbers, can read different language and has a minor understanding of geometry thus cementing him as one of the most educated people in this overwrought series. Can also do his own laundry.</div></div>

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'''House Lannister'''

''"Hear Me Roar"''
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">Rich, fabulous, bastards who [[Dwarfs (Warhammer)|always pay their debts]]. Not much of a martial tradition but if you cross them [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7t7cnwlOgY they will fucking cut you]. You can tell they are the bad guys because they have an army of sick fucks, including a zebra-riding mercenary band and 7' 8" Khornate Champion Gregor Clegane. House Lancaster in drag.
* Tywin Lannister, ''The Lion of Lannister'': Head of the house. Magnificent Bastard extraordinaire. Good enough of a general to curbstomp everyone who fights against him, and he was the true power behind the throne until he died on the toilet. However he was a deplorable father. Blind to the incestuous relationship his two oldest children had and hated Tyrion and made his life a living hell fro very poor reasons. He humiliated Tyrion whenever it wouldn't threaten the family's reputation, berated Tyrion for being a whore-monger despite secretly being one himself, [[Grimdark|tried to get him killed multiple times]] and then his capstone of awful parenting; he taught Tyrion not to marry commoners after he married one called Tysha by forcing Tyrion to watch Tysha get gangraped, forcing him to rape her too and then annulling their marriage. The only people Tywin truly loved were his wife and father. Has his own sweet, yet creepy as fuck theme song about him fucking up one house so badly their name is used as a warning against anyone standing against him. He's [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Neville,_16th_Earl_of_Warwick Warwick the Kingmaker]
* Joanna Lannister: Tywin's late wife and first cousin meaning the next three characters are inbred as well ironically. Dies giving birth to Tyrion, which is part of why Tywin hates him, though Cersei hates him for other reasons. Caught wind of Cersei and Jaime's incestuous tendencies, but she died before she could stop it or tell Tywin. It is implied that her ghost visits Jaime in a dream and mourns the current state of her family.
* Cersei Lannister, ''Cunt Queen'': Tywin and Joanna's first child. Twin sister to Jaime Lannister and wife to King Robert Baratheon. She fucks her brother Jamie all the time and had three of his children, whom she passed off as Robert's to grab power. She seeks to rule Westeros as the Queen, and will do anything to keep her power. Crazy as all fuck and prophesied to be killed by the "little brother." This is because of a prophecy a Gypsy made when Cersei was a child that she'd be a beautiful queen, lose everything, her children would die before her, and her little brother would kill her. Though that does explains why she hates Tyrion as hard as all fuck, [[Just As Planned|the exact translation of the term]] that was used is "younger sibling", and not necessarily her sibling, which opens the door to all sorts of characters who hate the fuck out of her. Since Jaime is technically younger by a few seconds, him killing Cersei would be an interesting twist not without buildup. Possibly the Gypsy was messing with her head because of what a bitch Cersei was being to her; something Cersei never grew out of. Cersei is currently alive only because Varys wants her to be [[Just As Planned|as she's a terrible queen who'll destabilize the realm enough for him to bring back the Targereyns]]. She was completely shaved, stripped of power in all but her royal heritage and forced to do a nude walk of penance throughout the city by the High Sparrow (ASOIAF Pope equivalent). Now she's waiting for her hair to grow back and may be thinking of revenge. She gets it in the show by blowing up the Sept (ASOIAF church) with everyone she doesn't like inside it, having her cousin killed near the Wildfire then capturing the nun who was her jailer and [[Grimdark|leaving her to be tortured to death by zombie Gregor Clegane]]. She is in short Thanquol disguised as a beautiful blonde woman.
* Jaime Lannister, ''The Kingslayer'': Younger twin brother (by about three seconds) to Cersei Lannister and commander of the Kingsguard. He loves his sister in every sense of the word and had three children with her. Killed the last king despite his oath, and hated for it, even though everyone agrees that dying was a massive improvement for Aerys. The reason for this betrayal was that Aerys had a huge stockpile of Acme Brand Magic Napalm stockpiled under the city, ready to be set off the moment a siege broke through the town walls; and Jaime's options were to let it happen or kill Aerys before the crazy fuck got ''everybody'' killed. His desire to openly love his sister and win the respect he feels he deserves eventually causes Cersei to reject him. Starts off as an arrogant douche but becomes quite bro-tier (except the whole wants-to-fuck-his-sister thing) after learning a few hard lessons, losing his sword hand, and having some time to rethink his life. Also the only person who treats Tyrion well. Essentially, a more incestuous and douchey Blood Angel.
* Tyrion Lannister, ''Halfman'': a very intelligent dwarf who is awesome, but hated by all of the civilized characters in the books, except his brother Jaime. He seems to do much better with whores, rogues, and barbarians. His silver tongue is one of his greatest strengths (he's witty and good at persuading people) and weaknesses (he's quick with insults and the truth in a city ruled by sociopaths and liars). Tyrion is also one of the only characters with an actual sense of the bigger picture, and an interest toward steering the world toward an outcome that ''doesn't'' involve a [[The End Times|Warhammer End Times]] scenario. Unfortunately, the world's movers, shakers, and those who generally have the power to make a difference are increasingly either a) dead, b) scattered to the winds, or c) hate his dwarf guts. Despite the increasing difficulty and fruitlessness of his task, however, [[Awesome|Tyrion still fights]]. After being framed for killing Joffrey and killing his father, he's currently in exile in the Free Cities, weaseling his way into leading a merc band and trying to sign them up with Daenerys' forces, recognizing her as one of the few chances Westeros has got of fixing its shit (provided she can get her own shit together, which she's having a bit of trouble with). Unlike most characters in this series, who tend to either be walking tropes, rip-offs of other fantasy characters, or historical people with different names, Tyrion is probably based on the great [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Vorkosigan Miles Vorkosigan] (who was himself based on a few people including Sir Winston Churchill). Even if he is usually the smartest one in the room at any given time, though, Tyrion is still not above having some derp moments. Exhibit A, when Tyrion asked his father what happened to his old girlfriend (right before killing him), he took an ''obvious'' "I don't know and I don't care," response as actual, literal directions.
* Kevan Lannister: Tywin's younger brother, considered "the reliable one". A decent man, for saying that he is perfectly happy carrying out Tywin's bidding. Tried to talk sense into Cersei and was later called in to try and fix her mess. He did such a good job of it that Varys decided to personally thank him. With a crossbow. And a group of knife-wielding children.
*Cersei and Robert's (actually Jamie's) children.
** Joffrey Baratheon: "Heir" of the throne, and technical king of Westeros during the War of the Five Kings since he lives in King's Landing and sits on the throne. Turned out to be worse than Aerys. He died and there was much rejoicing. [[Fail|Except by his mother, who instead had sex on his corpse]]. Fourteen years old at time of death.
** Tommen Baratheon: The new king on the Iron Throne. Nine years old. Married to a teenaged shotacon wife who's (unknown to him) the granddaughter of his brother's true killer. Trying to litigate the criminalization of beets. Loves [[Cats|kittens]]. He's pretty well-rounded and non-fucked up, a miracle considering his parents, both putative and biological. Also seems to be trying to take kinging seriously, but his mom is trying to quash that in her subliminal attempt to hold power indefinitely, so whether it holds is another matter entirely. Prophesied to die before Cersei; doubly tragic due to his age and being a much better person than her. Now dead in the show thanks to Cersei's stupidity. He commits suicide after Cersei gets her revenge via killing his wife, god-father, great-uncle, and all his religious friends via blowing up the ASOIAF equivalent of St. Peter's Basilica.
** Mycella Baratheon: Princess, and Cersei and "Robert's" second oldest child. She had her face fucked up because of Arianne Martell's amateur intrigues, which overlapped with poor planning, general stupidity, and another guy's backstabbing. Ten years old. Dead in the show, but alive in the books though missing an ear. Before the maiming, she was quite decent and non-evil. Who knows how she'll turn out now with half of her face cut off. Also prophesied to die before Cersei. Also, the readership all got on George's balls for maiming this girl, mostly because it was a sign that he had run out of ideas and was basically just milking diabolus ex machina ([[Just As Planned|or that's what he wants us to think]]). In the show she had a crush on Oberyn's surviving nephew, but was killed by Elia in revenge for Oberyn's death. </div></div>

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'''House Baratheon'''

''"Ours is the Fury"''
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">Ascended to the iron throne after a successful rebellion. Produces no less than three claimants to the succession, each one vey different from the other. Technically a cadet branch of House Targaryen as their founder Orys was allegedly a Targaryen bastard, who took the original Storm Kings (House Durrandon) deer sigil after killing the last one and fucking his only child Argella and then 200 odd years later, King Egg's daughter married their grandfather, they're pretty much the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Plantagenet House of Plantegenet].
* Robert Baratheon, ''The Usurper'': Fat, old, former badass who led the rebellion, and now the king who married Cersei Lannister. Then he fucked a bunch of other women and had lots of illegitimate kids. He was killed while mixing boar hunting and drinking, but if this death was planned or not is uncertain. On the surface, a king with a thing for easy laughs and partying, right underneath the surface he's irresponsible and leaves the actual ruling of a nation to his staff, deeper under the surface he's pretty much a sad, lonely old bro who would rather not have been king. Comparable to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_IV_of_England Edward IV], in that both were powerfully built military geniuses who overthrew the existing monarchy and later succumbed to an unhealthy lifestyle.
* Stannis '''The Mannis''' Baratheon: Robert's younger brother, all-around badass who swings between [[Lawful Stupid]] and [[gets shit done|getting shit done]]. Belives so strongly in the rule of law that he feels compelled to take the Iron Throne for miself despite wanting nothing to do with it. Is controlled by his advisor, a priestess of the God of light Melisandre.
** Shireen Baratheon: Stannis's kid daughter. Sweet, charming, and intelligent little lady who was left with a deformity on her face from a disease called greyscale. Teaches Davos how to read, and is probably the most innocent person in the series. Being the grim and dark universe A Song of Ice and Fire is, however, this means that she's likely going to end up becoming fuel for a vicious fire god. In the show she does, but in the books she is safe and sound.
* Renly Baratheon, ''That Gay Guy'': Robert and Stannis's youngest brother. Took Loras Tyrell (a.k.a. Knight of Flowers, Pretty Boy, etc.) as his lover. Decided he was better suited to be king, though the bizarre and outdated laws of the land stated Stannis was next in line (though Joffrey and then Tommen were first since they were [[Pretend|officially]] Bobby B's legitimate kids). Was hugely popular since he had Robert's charisma, which led to him getting the most support, but he lacked Stannis's conviction and devotion to the duty of actually doing the work of a king. Killed by Melisandre with some "help" by Stannis ''The Mannis'' for trying to steal his crown. </div></div>

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'''House Tully'''

''"Family, Duty, Honor"''
<div class="mw-collapsible-content"> Lords of the central river lands. Being the obligatory central nation they spend a lot of the series being fought over like a cake in between fat kids. Basically Poland/Netherlands, given they have so many rivers and how hard they've been fucked over.
*Edmure Tully: Basically the SoIaF universe's eternal butt monkey (because he happens to be a decent fucking person). A useless ponce with a dense streak a mile wide and a bad habit of bragging about things he shouldn't be proud of. It took hanging in a stockade for a few months to make him experience some growth. When Jaime was brought in to unfuck the situation and end the siege at Tully's house in Riverrun, Jaime's "negotiation" pressured him into convincing his house into surrendering, but he made sure [[Troll|that Brynden got out first]]. Currently spending his days at the Lannister house as a hostage to make sure that the Tully's don't try to ruin the situation again.
*Brynden Tully ''the Blackfish'': He didn't catch the memo that he was part of the joke faction, and proceeds to spend the entire series fucking Lannister shit up and generally being a boss. Thought to be the black sheep in a family of fish (thus "Blackfish", geddit?). Ended up holed up in Riverrun, and got the fuck out right before the end of the siege ended so that the Lannisters couldn't dick him over as a prisoner (or so he can keep dicking them over before he became a prisoner). Also widely accepted by the fans to be a closeted homosexual. In the HBO show he gets killed when resisting his arrest by Tully forces by order of Edmure. [[Rage|And it happens offscreen.]]</div></div>

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'''House Arryn'''

''"As High as Honor"''
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">Mountain lords turned [[NEET|neurotic shut ins]]. Goes through lords about as quickly as you would expect a castle equipped with a door that opens into empty air. Basically Switzerland/Afghanistan, seeing as how their land is covered by nothing but mountains and constant battles with the local tribes. They were being entertainingly screwed over by Littlefinger until his death.
*Jon Arryn: Only appears posthumously and is the catalyst for the whole plot. The true mastermind behind Robert's Rebellion, was killed by Littlefinger via Lysa when he figured out that Robert's kids are bastards of Cersie and Jaime. His death was blamed on the Lannsters to destabilize Westeros.
*Lysa Arryn: Loli bride turned Lady of the Vale after the Lannisters forcibly retired her husband from life, at least officially. In reality Littlefinger convinced her to poison her husband and blame the Lannisters [[Just As Planned|which pretty much started this whole clusterfuck to begin with]]. A closeted crazy woman who spends the entire series in her castle "the Eyrie" being useless, breastfeeding her own son at age 10, and [[Derp|refusing to help her sister and nephew in the war she and Littlefinger pretty much started]], which may have guaranteed their eventual horrific murders by their enemies until Littlefinger kicks her out the moon door (post-taunting, of course), putting her out of our collective misery. Long live the Lord Protector.
* Robert Arryn: ''Littlefuck'', Lysa's equally mentally unstable son, who still sucks on his mom's tit, and enjoys seeing people "fly" out the moon door to their deaths. Secretly being poisoned by Littlefinger and Sansa, so she can take over the Vale and North.</div></div>

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'''House Greyjoy'''

''"We Do Not Sow"''
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">[[Awesome|A house founded by Cthulhu-worshipping Norscans]]. While not actual Vikings in any sense of the word, there is little other way to describe them. They live on some islands and almost thier entire culture is based around raiding.
*Balon Greyjoy: Asshole dad, crappy ruler and general shithead who rebelled against Robert Baratheon and failed miserably. All of his sons were killed, except for Theon, who was taken as a hostage to ensure his good behavior. Despite being in a position to join either the Lannisters or the Starks during the War of Five Kings and thereby get whatever he wanted from either (independence and the North, or independence and Casterly Rock, respectively), he does the absolute stupidest thing possible and declares himself independent without support from anyone, attacking the North and the rest of Westeros, thereby virtually guaranteeing that he'll be on the receiving end of another onesided battle. Never got that far, though, since he fell off a bridge during a storm.
*Victarion Greyjoy: Admiral of the Iron Fleet. [[Gets shit done]] while wearing [[Dark Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Lokhir Fellhearts]] armor during boarding actions. Does it for vengeance and the lulz. Worships both R'hllor and the Drowned God. For all his badassery, is far too stupid to realize that his black Red Priest sidekick's constant rambling about his "great destiny" is inevitably going to end in his burning to death on a sacrificial pyre. Said Red Priest impressed Victarion by turning his infected arm into a super-strong volcano arm. Seriously.
*Aeron Greyjoy ''Damphair'': A priestly Alan Moore who drank seawater. Once a fun-loving party animal, he nearly drowned during the Greyjoy Rebellion, and became a dour and devout priest of the Ironborn [[Cthulhu]] religion. Confirmed to have been raped by Euron when they were kids. Planned to overthrow Euron who bribed and manipulated his way into becoming king of the Ironborn. [[Grimdark|Was captured by Euron and tortured to try and make him renounce his faith. Later Euron tied Aeron, naked, to the prow of Euron's ship alongside Euron's tortured, pregnant former lover]]. He tried to console her by saying their suffering will end in underwater Valhalla, [[Awesome|showing Euron failed to make him deny his faith]].
*Theon Greyjoy: Son of the Lord/King of the Iron Islands. Had the personality of a stereotypical high school jock, being an excellent archer and proud of it plus a womanizer. He was given to Ned Stark by his father after Balon failed to successfully rebel against Robert Baratheon. Swore an oath to Robb, but then ditched him out of a desperate need to please his father. Ends up called Reek and acts as the personal slave of Ramsay Bolton after Ramsay puts him through horrific torture to turn him into Reek. Rescued by his sister, but the psychological trauma meant it took awhile before he could stop calling himself Reek and start getting back to normal.
* Asha Greyjoy: Theon's older sister and a commander of some renown, quite a feat with almost every man on the Iron Islands except her father either trying to get in her pants or tell her to stop playing around and go do some actual women's work before she kicked enough ass that they respected her. Rescues Theon after he escapes Ramsay but then loses him to Stannis.
*Euron Greyjoy ''Crow's Eye'': A sick fuck pirate sorcerer. Every member of his crew is a mute, because Euron ripped all their tongues out. He also has his sons from his lovers and victims as crewmembers. Uses an eyepatch to conceal his red right hand, a pitch-black eye. Raped his brother Victarion's wife so he'd have to kill her. Raped his younger brother Aeron. Also showed back up in the Iron Islands the day after Balon died, despite having been raping and pillaging in Essos before that, which is suspicious as fuck. Now the new Iron King. Plans to conquer Westeros, and has some unknown plan to deal with Daenerys. Revealed to be [[What|an anti-religious fellow with a god complex]], [[Grimdark|whose hobbies include torturing priests and assorted clergymen to try and make them give up their faith]]. He also [[Grimdark|cut out the tongue of the latest woman he impregnated and strapped her naked to the front of his ship to die alongside his priest brother]]. </div></div>

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'''House Tyrell'''

''"Growing Strong"''
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">Lords of Highgarden and backstabbers par-excellence and owners of a lot of fertile land. Unlike the current lot of Lannisters they understand the value of good PR, balancing ruthlessness with being somewhat amicable and not being stuck-up on honor. They are [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Tudor House of Tudor] with the serial numbers filed off.
*Mace "The Ace" Tyrell: Lord of Highgarden. Massively fat and overweight, while being stupid, overreaching and constantly mocked by everyone else, he's otherwise known as a friendly man, a good Lord when it comes to management and a good father; unfortunately this isn't enough to save a man in the Game of Thrones. Gets killed with the rest of the noble houses when Cersei blows up the House of the Septon.
*Olenna Tyrell: The brains behind House Tyrell's schemes. Known as the ''Queen of Thorns'' for being an outspoken, prickly and venomous old lady. Schemed with Littlefinger to have Joffrey killed, but she carried it out with compressed powder "gems" that poisoned his wine. Now she keeps her family in line and is hailed as a more progressive version of Tywin. Became fan faourite when she shut up the Sand Snakes.
*Willas Tyrell: Mace Tyrell's eldest son and heir, crippled at a very young age when jousting against Oberyn Martell. Probably one of the most pleasant and sensible characters in the series, which might explain why he's yet to make an appearance. Very fond of breeding animals, especially horses.
*Garlan Tyrell ''The Gallant'': Second-born son. Badass extraordinaire considered one of the best swords in Westeros, and one of the few people kind to Tyrion. Trains for real combat (often against multiple opponents by himself) unlike Loras, who's a tourney fighter. Single-handed wrecks many notable knights fighting for Stannis during the War of The Five Kings. And he is the only person other than Tywin to put Joffrey in his place, at his own wedding. Sadly no POV chapter yet and omitted from the TV series (Loras takes credit for his deeds).
*Loras Tyrell ''The Knight of Flowers'': The Tyrell who appears most in the series. Considered to be an example of the perfect knight, despite his youth. Is secretly Renly's gay lover and conspired to take the throne with him and his sister. Ends up tortured by religious extremist The Sparrow then dies when Cersei blows up the Septon.
*Margaery Tyrell: The would-be Queen of Westeros, she has married, in order, Renly Baratheon (gay), Joffrey Baratheon (evil), and Tommen Baratheon (8 years old) and has been crowned as queen three times. While she is nice she is capable of manipulation and uses sex to control Tommen Baratheon. Was arrested by the resident Chamber Militant The Sparrow and turned to religion in an attempt to save herself; ended up getting killed when Cersei blew up the Septon .
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'''House Bolton'''

''"Our Blades Are Sharp"''
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">The Lawful Evil northern house made of [[Grimdark]], and the Starks' most important vassal. Their sigil is a flayed man and their castle is called [[Dwarf Fortress|The Dreadfort]], which shows how stupid the Starks were for allying with them.
*Roose Bolton, ''The 'Leech Lord'': A sociopathic health nut who's called the Leech Lord because he gets leeched regularly believing they get rid of bad blood. Second-most powerful Lord in the North with ambitions to depose the Starks. The Starks being unable to think like crafty people and blinded by honor this doesn't prove too difficult. He gets his wish when he stabs Robb Stark in the back, at his uncle's wedding no less, and has anyone associated with Robb killed. He then makes over Winterfell in his bloody image, and is currently trolling Stannis. Believes in the abolished practice of "[[Rape|Droit du seigneur]]" (a tradition that allowed a lord to have sex with subordinate women, whether they wanted to or not) and killed a man for trying to hide his wife from Roose. Belived that he and his son could be as evil as they wanted as long as no one found out. Killed by Ramsey in the show, which Ramsey tried to cover with a lie despite the witnesses to his actions.
*Ramsay Snow/Bolton: The bastard son of Roose Bolton and a woman he raped, the posterchild of Stupid Evil. Will fuck up anyone who points out his illegitimate heritage though now he's legally recognized as a Bolton. [[Dark Eldar|Loves to torture and kill people openly for the lulz]], such as Theon Greyjoy, who he crippled, knocked his teeth out and castrated too. He then sent the severed appendage to the forshortened Theon's dad in a cutesy box with a letter mockingly detailing his evilness. Also has a pack of hunting dogs he names after women he hunts, rapes and kills. Married a fake Arya Stark and regularly mistreats her, including forced bestiality. Not a fun guy to be around. Only reason he's gotten away with it for so long (as pointed out by hi father) is becaus enoone is strong enough to stand up to him yet, but when they are he's going to be killed. In the show he killed his father with a knife, fed his stepmother and newborn half-brother to his dogs. In the show the consequenses of his actions catch up with him when Jon Snow sows up with an army capable of threating him, and after a surprise reinforcement from Littlefinger crushes the Bloton army he is forced to flee back to Winterhold. Despite this the gate is smashed down, he is disarmed, beaten rather brutally and detained to await trial. Before the trail Sansa sets his dogs on him, which he had deliberately starved so they would eat people. Apparently they found him quite tasty.</div></div>

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'''House Martell'''

''"Unbowed Unbent Unbroken"''
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">Desert dwelling survivalists who pride themselves on having never been conquered by the Tagaryen dynasty (though they later married in). Moorish Spaniards, kinda.
*Doran Martell: Lord of Sunspear and of royal descent. Still mad at the the Lannisters about that whole "murdered-my-sister-and-infant-niece thing". Playing the longest of long games with Varys while trying to keep the rest of his psychotic family members in check. Wheelchair bound due to his gout.
*Arianne Martell: One of GRRM's characters who seems to exists soley to fuck everything up at the worst conceivable moment. Still hot as Dornish girls come.
*Oberyn Martell ''The Viper of Dorne'': Doran Martell's brother, a bisexual swinger, former mercenary, and a drunkard. His girlfriend is a spectacularly beautiful named Ellaria Sand and he has many children, mostly daughters, collectively called "The Sand Snakes". Crippled the Tyrell heir in a fight, causing a rift between the two houses (despite this, is actually best mates with the aforementioned heir due to Willas Tyrell being straight up the nicest and most balanced man in the series). Known for poisoning his weapons, as well as his battle-cry. Died from a mutual kill with Gregor Clegane crushing his skull in rather graphically, avenging his sister Elia who Gregor had raped and murdered. Though it's probably a win for Oberyn, since he got Clegane with a horribly painful and slow-acting venom which stretched his death over days or even weeks, during which time he was ruthlessly experimented upon by a mad scientist.
*Quentyn Martell: Didn't realize what series he was in, poor bastard. A member of house Martell, sent to marry Daenerys to secure an alliance between the families, since the original marriage plan won't work with Viserys dead. Leaves Westeros and goes all the way to the city of Meereen to marry her, but he's too late, as she marries the Meereenese noble Hizdahr, and not her type. Tries to tame two of her dragons to impress her; he gets horribly burnt and later dies in agony when his attempt goes horribly wrong. </div></div>

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'''Night's Watch'''
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">The Night's Watch are an apolitical force in charge of manning The Wall, a giant ice wall that separates the relative tranquility of the south from the Lovecraftian fucked-up-itude of the true north. They are chronically undermanned and undersupplied since nobody believes their stories of a barbarian army or the impending zombie apocalypse. Basically everybody else thinks they're in a game of [[Diplomacy]] and the Night's Watch are the only ones who realize they're actually in [[Warhammer Fantasy Battle]], though it's been so long since the last snow elf invasion that even they had forgotten about the undead hordes and focused too much on barbarians.
*Jeor Mormont, ''The Old Bear'': Lord Commander of the Nights Watch at the start of the series. Sees Jon Snow as something of a second son (since his own son Jorah was exiled for enslaving and refused to take the black for his crimes). Leads a ranging north of the Wall to investigate reports that the Others have returned. Ends up killed during a mutiny of survivors after the Others wiped out most of his force.
*Alliser Thorne: Prick of a knight who was favorite to be the next Watch Commander, but was passed over by Jon Snow. Unable to accept Jon Snow letting the Wildlings live on the other side of the wall in an alliance against the zombie hordes he staged a coup against Jon. It failed because Jon was brought back to life. He is now dead, having been executed for his treason by Jon Snow.
*Aemon Targaryen: Maester of the Citadel at Castle Black. Despite being the third born son of King Maekar I Targaryen, he declined the right to sit on the Iron Throne. One of the few people in the series to die of old age, at 102.
*Samwell Tarly, ''The Slayer'': Fat bookworm who was forced to take the black after his father Randyl threatened to murder him for being unmanly. Jon Snow's best friend among the Night's Watch, and knows everything because he "read it in a book". Despite being a self professed coward, Sam became the first person in thousands of years to slay an Other with an obsidian dagger. George Martin himself said Sam's based on Samwise Gamgee from Lord of the Rings.
*Eddison Tollett, ''Dolorous Edd'': Probably the most badass member of the Night's Watch. Responds to situations by making sarcastic jokes about them, and known for being a grim motherfucker in a setting of grim motherfuckers. [[Awesome|The new Lord Commander]] while Jon was dead, but gave the title back to Jon when he was brought back to life. </div></div>

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'''Wildings'''

<div class="mw-collapsible-content">Groups of nomadic hunter gatherer tribes who live north of the Wall. Mostly First Men by blood, they have been heading toward the Wall for the past decade with the reputed reemergence of the Others. Nomadic, aggressive, and very much believing in "might makes right", they do not get along with anyone south of The Wall since they view them as "Kneeling weaklings".
*Mance Rayder, ''The King Beyond The Wall'': A Wilding orphan who was taken in by the Night's Watch, he became their best Ranger before he deserted to join his people. He united the Wildings and lead them south to escape the Others. Also a trained bard, but that was not enough to save him from death.
*Tormund Giantsbane: Claims to have a ten inch penis, and invites his enemies to use their mouths if they want to clean it. Cool as fuck old guy who [[Furry|fucks mother-bears]] in his free time. Tough as nails, who preaches the merits of using one's cock for everything.
*Ygritte: Wilding woman who Jon Snow ends up falling for. This being ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', she ends up dying because her world view is not compatible with Jon's.
*Craster: A sick bastard, formerly a member of the Night's Watch. [[Grimdark|Has lots of daughters who he marries and fucks them regularly, giving him more children. Girls grow up to become more wives, boys get sacrificed to the Others]]. This keeps them at bay and that sanctuary is why the Night Watch barely tolerate him. Fortunately, he's been killed off the story. </div></div>

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'''House Frey'''

''"We Stand Together"''

<div class="mw-collapsible-content"> House of weasels who are always grumpy and have a thing for over reacting to perceived slights. Wouldn't be that important except for the fact that they own the only bridge over a strategically important river, and regularly extort anyone attempting to cross it.

*Walder Frey: The ancient, terrible, ornery old man in charge of the Twins. Hates everyone for "looking down on him", and will readily betray an important ally for immediate gain, or if he feels he has been slighted in some minor way. His descendants are literally so numerous that no one except GRRM himself have been able to count them all, so we aren't even going to attempt it. Now dead in the show due to getting his throat slit by a vengeful Arya after she serves him two of his sons as meat pies. </div></div>

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'''Commoners, Knights, and Petty Lords'''

<div class="mw-collapsible-content">Basically any character not associated with any of the Great Houses.
* Varys, ''The Spider'': The eunuch spymaster of Westeros. You can't take a shit in the Seven Kingdoms without Varys finding out where, when, and how watery or dry it was. He does this through paid informants and his "litte birds": A spy network of children who sneak through the castle's passage ways and air flues to eavesdrop on everyone. Stabs everyone in the back because he's actually trying to bring the Targaryens back in order to strengthen the realm.
* Petyr Baelish, ''Littlefinger'': The master of coin (the ASOIAF equivalent of a treasurer). A dangerous manipulator who manages to trick and steal his way to positions of lordship and wealth because no one takes him seriously, and stabs all the Lannisters in the back when they become inconvenient. As a child he wanted Catelyn Stark, and was tricked into thinking she wanted him when her sister Lysa fucked him while he was drunk. Challenged Catelyn's betrothed Ed Stark for her hand in marriage and got his ass kicked because he was a small skinny boy and Eddard Stark was a big strapping man, making that his start of darkness. The guy responsible, directly or indirectly, for the War of the Five Kings because he was the mastermind behind poisoning Jon Arryn, the capture and execution of Ned Stark, feeding several half-truths to Catelyn to motivate her to arrest Tyrion, and eventually Joffrey's death by having Dontos and Olenna Tyrell carry out the plan to kill Joffrey and letting Tyrion take the fall; but no one in the story knows this, not even Varys. People think he can pull gold out of thin air, but he's really been buying debt while letting Robert Barratheon's extravagances and Cersei's dipshittery pull the country into a serious debt of its own. So he's destroying Westeros all because he couldn't have Catelyn as his girlfriend, though he changed his focus to her daughter Sansa now, making him a paedophile. Hasn't yet got his comeuppance in the books, but is curently dead in the show after he was outgamitted by Sansa and killed by Aryn. According to GRRM he's based on the title character from the Great Gatsby.
*Gregor Clegane, ''The Mountain'': A 7' 8" 400 pound mass of testosterone, muscles and murderous hate, Gregor is Tywin Lannister's top muscle. Hobbies include rape, arson, murder, and random torture. He played an important part in destroying the Tagaryens by killing a couple of Aerys's kids in rather brutal fashion, then raping and murdering his wife. Spends a few novels doing Tywin's dirty work before a Trial by Champion leads to him dying after being poisoned by Oberyn Martell. Qyburn later resurrected him as... something... called "Ser Robert Strong", and is now even stronger, less prone to psychotic rages, and is completely obedient.
* Sandor Clegane, ''The Hound'': Younger brother to Gregor Clegane, called the hound because of his hound-face helm, his family's heraldry, and being the king's hired muscle without being a knight. He hates knights due to the hypocrisy of being a professional "noble warrior" but mostly since his monstrous brother is a knight, showing it's not so much of a noble promotion. Terrified of fire after Gregor put his head against a brazier for playing with one of Gregor's old toys when they were children, burning half his face, but he's still the second-strongest person in Westeros. A brutal anti-hero with a soft spot for Sansa, but a better person than his brother. After falling sick from Biter's nasty teeth, he ends up being a silent monk burying people in the Silent Isles.
*Grand Maester Pycelle: A shrewd, dangerous man putting on a "harmless old man act" and a high ranking scholar from the science/medical guild the Maesters. The longest serving member of the King's advisory staff, and is actually Tywin Lannister's biggest lackey. He convinced the Mad King to let Tywin in as Baratheon's armies were marching on the capital, where Tywin proceeded to sack the city and claim it for Robert. Gets his head bashed in by Varys.
* Qyburn: Formerly a maester, who was kicked out of the order for unethical experiments on the living. Introduced as a part of a mercenary company serving Roose Bolton, which should be a red flag. He moves up in the world when he's sent to escort Brienne and Jaime back to Kings landing, and ends with Cersei employing him to replace Pycelle as "science advisor" and eventually Varys's Spymaster. Serves Cersei loyally as long as she lets him indulge his sick experiments, serving as a black magic variety of the court mage. He has resurrected Gregor Clegane as... something.
*Barristan Selmy, ''The Bold'': Knight of the Kingsguard. Which Kingsguard? Take your pick. He's served pretty much every king since Aerys and understandably feels pretty bad about it. Another sad old man who pretty much just wants to die before he Queen Danaerys this time. Even in his old age is considered one of the most dangerous man in Westeros.
*Melisandre, ''The Red Witch'': A priestess of R'hllor, the god of fire. Proclaimed Stannis to be the messiah-king and is doing everything in her power to make sure he wins (considerable given that she can scry and set things on fire with her mind). She'd be pretty bro-tier if her god wasn't so vicious. As it stands she's kind of in the gray. Most of the people she set on fire deserved it, and she hasn't ''succeeded'' in killing any babies yet.
*Jorah Mormont: A knight and son of Jeor Mormont, exiled for trying to sell poachers into slavery and eventually joining the exiles of House Targaryen. He is offered a pardon in exchange for spying on the Targaryens, but ultimately decides to stay with them after falling in love with Danaerys. Despite this she still votes him off the Khalassar after learning he was a spy. He still loves her and follows her in secret, though.
*Davos Seaworth, ''The Onion Knight'': A former smuggler and bannerman to House Baratheon. During Roberts Rebellion he ran a blockade with a cargo of contraband onions to a castle Stannis Baratheon was besieged in. In exchange for for the food he had, Stannis knighted Davos, but Stannis's law-worshiping mindset compelled him to remove four digits from his left hand. Despite this, Davos has served Stannis with unquestioning loyalty, because Stannis knighting him gave his children a future. The fact that Stannis's war for the throne has ended up killing several of his sons hasn't dented his loyalty at all.
*Shae: A former camp follower and Tyrion Lannister's squeeze for most of the story. Fled from an abusive family and became a camp follower to earn a living. Seems to fall in love with Tyrion, but it turns out she's a gold digging bitch. When Tyrion doesn't marry Shae she sells him out to Cersei for a better offer, then fucks Tywin when she realizes Cersei won't keep her promise. Tyrion finds her in his father's bed and kills her for betraying him.
*Bronn: A mercenary who acts as Tyrion's enforcer and personal killer until Cersei outbids him and he he settles down with a little wife and title. Routinely kills knights by exploiting how arrogant and stupid they are even after becoming one himself. Only in it for the money, which he'll happily tell you himself. The only character other than Littlefinger to end every book in a better position than he started it.
* Brienne of Tarth, ''The Beauty'': Surprisingly badass lady knight wannabe (since no women can be knighted), legendarily unattractive but still pretty idealistic despite the shit she gets for her looks, also fate frequently gives her the shit end of the stick, because no matter how hard she tries to finish her quests, she ends up failing or stuff happens that make it impossible. Secretly crushes on Renly and unaware he's gay. After he dies, Brienne switches her loyalty to Catelyn and helps her bring Jaime to King's Landing as Tyrion promised Sansa's return in exchange for Jaime. She later developed a crush on Jaime. Things don't go well because Jaime lost his hand and the Red Wedding happened. Next, Jaime sends her out to find and keep Sansa safe to make good on Tyrion's promise, since he isn't the complete dick everyone thinks he is. Brienne ends up getting captured by Cat, now known as Lady Stoneheart and an insane undead, who was going to hang Brienne for working with Jaime.. Brienne was spared at the last moment to capture/manipulate Jaime.
* Lyanna Mormont: A badass ten year old girl who inherits Bear Island after her mother and older sister die horribly in the Riverlands. Her activities include pimp-slapping bitches, leading men twice as old as her, and being completely loyal to the Starks despite all their misfortunes. [[Awesome|"Bear Island knows no king but the King in the North, whose name is STARK."]]
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'''The Free Cities'''

<div class="mw-collapsible-content">Nine city states to the West of Westeros, for the most part the old colonies of the Valaryian Freehold. Mostly they are ruled by Merchant Princes. They look down on the Westerosi for being a bunch of up jumped backwards war mongering morons a few silverware sets and maesters away from absolute barbarism. In turn the Westerosi look down on the Free Cities as being money grubbing effete cowards ruled by cheesemongers who use bribery, tall walls and dirty tricks to get ahead in the world.

* Illyrio Mopatis: A rich fat bastard and a Magester of Pentos. Old buddies with Varys and a bigtime schemer.
* The Faceless Men: A cult of assassins who worship The Many Faced God of death based in the free city of Braavos that give up personal idenity.
* Xaro Xhoan Daxos: One of the thirteen leaders of the city of Qarth. A flamboyant, languid rich man who look after Daenerys while she stays in Qarth and gives her many gifts. He wants her dragons as much as anyone else and even tries to marry her despite his homosexual tendencies. He stops wanting the dragons later in the book series after seeing [[RIP AND TEAR|their work in Astapor]], and no longer wants her around as her anti-slavery stance is hampering his wealth, so he offers Daenerys ships to leave the area and declares war on her when she refuses. In the show he's heterosexual, helps steal her dragons, fucks one of her handmaidens and gets locked in a vault for conspiring to have her killed. He's also black in the show when his nationality in the books isn't specified (cue Unfortunate Implications).
* Syrio Forel: The former First Sword of Braavos (aka the ruler's personal bodyguard) and later Arya's mentor in King's Landing. He teaches her the way of Braavosi fencing, called "Water Dancing", and sacrifices himself to save her from Lannister thugs, taking down at least six of them with him with a wooden sword. May have inadvertently set her on the path of becoming a badass assassin by telling her of his belief in the God of Death.

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'''The Dothraki'''

<div class="mw-collapsible-content">[[Mongols|Mongol]] style horse people who live in a country of endless grass plains referred to by others as the Dothraki sea. They only have one city, called Vaes Dothrak, which is less of a city and more of a place they all meet when important things have to be discussed. Have traits borrowed from several cultures, including Mongols and Native Americans. They fear the ocean because of it's size and the fact that horses won't drink from it, calling it the "poison water".

* Khal Drogo: An expy of Genghis Khan. Leads the largest Khalassar among the Dothraki. Despite being a barbarian warlord Drogo is surprisingly intelligent and treats Daenerys well. After an assassin tries to kill her he promises to conquer Westeros for her and their unborn son, and immediately starts raiding towns for slaves and ships. At one town he gets cut in a leadership challenge and Daenerys gets a captive wise woman to heal him. However, the woman hates him because his tribe destroyed her hometown, raped/slaughtered or enslaved her friends and raped her three times so she curses him to become catatonic (along with killing his unborn son), leading a devastated Daenerys to perform an arguable mercy kill by smothering him with a pillow. After, she burns herself, her stillborn child and the wise woman on his funeral pyre, Daenerys survives and it brings her dragons to life. GRRM named Drogo after [[The Lord of the Rings|Frodo's father]].
* Daenerys' handmaidens.
** Doreah: Daemerys' handmaiden and a wedding gift from Illyrio. A woman from Lysene brought by her brother to teach her how to pleasure a man. In the book she dies of fever and starvation crossing a desert, in the TV show she betrays Daenerys for [[Salamanders|Xaro's BBC]] and gets locked in a vault to starve to death.
** Irri: Daenerys' handmaiden who teaches Daenerys how to ride a horse. [[PROMOTIONS|Also pleasures Daenerys twice after catching her masturbating once]], yet this canonical girl-on-girl action was left out of the show. The character was even killed off there when she survived in the books, because her actress' Visa had died.
** Jhiqui: Daenerys' handmaiden who teaches her the Dothraki language and squabbles with Irri over wanting one of Daenerys' bodyguards when he becomes a badass. Also dies in the TV show while staying alive so far in the books.

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'''Slavers Bay'''

<div class="mw-collapsible-content">A civilization of [[Stupid Evil]] slavers. The remains of a previous civilization that was once the big powerful empire thanks to having phalanxes of obedient, pain-resistant soldiers which Valaryia conquered a long while ago because phalanxes don't do too well against flying, fire breathing dragons. They are ruled by wealthy slave mongers who buy slaves, train them up to do specific things and generally be a bunch of stuck up, decadent, puppy-eating (literally) assholes. Basically a civilization so repugnant even most hippies will be cheering when Dany decides to conquer them.

* The Unsullied: Eunuch phalanx fighting slave soldiers trained the spartan way to produce totally obedient infantry that never break ranks. They also don't feel pain due to drinking a special drink daily and each one has to take a new name from the name box each day so they can't develop a sense of identity. At least until Dany "bought" the lot of them, had them sack the city which trained them and freed them.
* Grey Worm: The Unsullied Commander and a no-nonsense badass. When given a chance to take a new name he keeps his slave name because it's the name he had when freed so he considers it lucky.
* Strong Belwas: A fat but skilled eunuch gladiator. Loves liver and onions and referring to himself in the third person. Travelling companion/guide of Ser Barristan. Has an awesome scene where he beats the champion of Meereen then mocks the Meereenese by taking a shit in their direction and wiping his ass on their dead champion's cloak. Also saves Daenerys from eating poisoned sweets. [[FAIL|Left out of the show]].
* Daario Nahris: A Tyroshi mercenary captain who dyes his hair blue. Betrays his fellow commanders for Daenerys because he loves her as a queen. Fortunately for him Daenerys loves him back and they pursue a romance for a time, though she doesn't marry him as she's still otherwise smart enough to know she has to save herself for political marriage. Goes to Yunkai as a hostage in the war on Meereen. Also potentially a shapeshifter, if the show is to be believed.

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'''The Others'''

<div class="mw-collapsible-content">A mysterious race from beyond the Wall, known to [[newfag|HBO fans]] as "the White Walkers". Can be described as ice demons/snow elves with necromancy. Eight thousand years ago, they invaded Westeros during a decades long winter known as "the Long Night". With an army of undead warriors, they proceeded to fuck Westeros up every which way to [[Sunday]] before the locals finally drove them out, established the Night's Watch, and built the Wall to keep them out. Like all fantasy aspects of ASOIF, they are very cliched. In the TV series, it's revealed that they were created from human captives by "The Children", the pseudo-[[Elf]] race that lived in Westeros before humanity arrived, to try and wipe out humans who were driving them extinct. Instead, things went disastrously wrong and now they just want to kill everything for unknown reasons.
* Night's King: A long time ago, when the Night's Watch was just barely getting set up, it's Lord Commander, the thirteenth in line, decided to climb over the Wall and explore some. While in the woods to the north of the Wall, he found a beautiful Other female. He fell in love with her, had sex with her on top of the Wall, which somehow changed him into an albino version of [[Star Wars|Darth Maul]], and set himself up as King of the Wall, making everyone in the Watch his slaves. Naturally, this doesn't sit to well with the Starks and the Wildlings, and so they band together to free the Watch and kick his ass, which they manage to do successfully. Now everyone thinks him as dead or a myth, but HBO accidentally spoiled that he was alive and well, turning infant human boys into new White Walkers. Also, he can apparently raise up entire legions of undead, just by raising his arms and looking completely smug about it; unlike regular Others, who can just raise up maybe a village at most. Given that he's the resident [[BBEG|Dark Lord]] of the series, it makes sense that he can take down a dragon with seemingly little effort (a simple throw of his spear), and resurrect it to be his personal steed. Time will tell if he can be defeated by the heroes, or if he'll actually succeed in exterminating all the humans in Westeros and the rest of the world and bring on an eternal winter.

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'''Gods and Deities'''
<div class="mw-collapsible-content"> The world of ASOIAF has various religions and faiths abound, just like in real life. Similarly, they range between fucking awesome to utterly useless.

*The Seven: At first seem content to sit on their asses while the mortals die, and generally not doing much. Then a new High Septon, nicknamed the High Sparrow, comes in (he'd been a wandering preacher beforehand) and they start [[gets shit done|getting things done]]. Under the High Sparrow, the leaders of the faith sell their fancy clothes and decorations replacing them with simple wool tunics, using the money to buy food and clothes for the poor in King's Landing and reform their Knights-Templar-equivalent to [[Inquisition|protect the faithful and help them root out]] [[Heresy|heresy]] and sin. They also arrest Cersei for all her evil deeds and force her to take a nude walk of penance in front of the entire city. The Catholic Church stand in, which gets both sympathetic and unsympathetic characters associated with it. [[Skub|Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it]], most of the Faith Militant, including the High Sparrow himself, get blown to kingdom come when Cersei has her agents ignite a massive amount of magical napalm underneath the Great Sept, at least according to the show. (Books haven't gotten that far, yet.)
*Old Gods: Native American/Druid/nature spirits that reside in places called godswoods. They can kick some serious ass, but their powers are limited to everything north of the Neck. Communicate through the trees. For some reason, Martin claims they're based off the Norse Gods. Probably has to do with the way the Vikings made sacrifices to their gods, by hanging them in Ash trees, a symbol for the World Tree Yggrasil. The Weirwood trees are sacred to the followers of the Old Gods in a similar way.
*R'hllor: The god of fire and light. So far the only one who is actually shown to get shit done asides from Death. Has a nasty habit for burning heretics, though. Some people think that R'hllor is supposed to be a stand-in for Islam, but GRRM said this faith is roughly based upon Zoroastrianism.
*The Great Other: the god of cold and darkness. Supposedly the leader of the Others, and prophesied to be defeated by "The Azor Ahai". Whether this is before or after he destroys the world is unknown.
*Death: Him of Many Faces, and the only god that seemingly matters in this grimdark universe. According to his cult of assassins, whom Arya joins, every other god is him in a different form and he requires his assassins to utterly forget their past identities in service to him. Has a heyday during the Battle of King's Landing and the Red Wedding.
*Drowned God: Cthulhu combined with Odin. Runs an underwater Valhalla were all Ironborn go whey they either died in a manly way or drowned at sea.
*Azor Ahai/The Prince That Was Promised: In case you haven't figured it out yet, this guy/girl is the prophesied warrior who will fight with the Great Other/Night's King during the Apocalypse. Interestingly enough, the prophecy may not refer to a single person, but three (Jon, Tyrion/Bran, and Daenerys). Supposedly, one of these three will also receive an awesome flaming sword called "Lightbringer".
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==The TV Show==
[[image:KnightsWhoSayFuck.jpg|150px|thumb|left|Yeah, pretty much.]]
After the first three books became hits, many Hollywood producers and directors had came to the sadistic neckbeard, asking him about making a movie adaptation. At first, he was reluctant, at best, due to the fact that a whole lot of his content would've been cut out to be fit into a movie trilogy (see the Lord of the Rings live action films). Then, a couple of dudes, David Benioff and D.B Weiss, decided to contact him, and asked him at a local restaurant about turning ASOIAF into a Television show produced by HBO, the top-rated soft-core porno channel. The story goes that George, before giving them his consent, ask them a very specific question (Who is Jon Snow's mother?). Satisfied with the response they gave, he gave them permission to start work on the show, which would be titled after the first book, ''Game of Thrones''.

The television show casts several well known performers, such as Sean Bean as Eddard, Peter Dinklage as Tyrion, Lena Heady as Cersei, and Charles Dance as Tywin. They have also cast some comparatively less well-known actors and even ones new to cinema, such as Sophie Turner (Sansa), Maisie Williams (Arya), Kit Harrington (Jon), Ian Rheon (Ramsay), Alfie Allen (Theon), and Richard Madden (Robb).

'''TL;DR'''

Producers D&D change characters at a whim, and most scenes are made for the actors to show off their skills at making their signature angry/murder/brooding/etc faces.

Thus, book snobs seem to think that every episode post season 3 is nothing more than Emmy-bait. Regardless, Kit Harrington still [[Fail|doesn't have an Emmy]].

==GRRM and [[Your Dudes]]==
Want to make your own ASoIF setting for a role playing game? Well, readers have enough room to fantasize about their own minor noble House (or kingdom during the Age of the Hundred Kingdoms).

A good example of what you could do is the House from [[/v/|Tell-tale's]] "Game of Thrones" vidyagaem, House Forrester. Its comes complete with petty lord rivals, a cool keep, and a family sword. So the way it works for them is:

House Forrester (lords of a spot in the Wolfswood) '''-> is sworn to ->''' House Glover (overall lords of the entire Wolfswood) '''-> is sworn to ->''' House Stark (rulers of the North).

==Games==
[[image:AGot-2nd-ed-cardfan.png|thumb|250px]]
Like any fantasy author who finds themselves unexpectedly in the warm embrace of commercial success Martin quickly licensed the shit out of his setting, spawning everything from resin miniatures to replica great swords. While most of this is worthless junk to foist on [[Neckbeard|obsessive fanboys]] /tg/ has agreed that a few of the games are made of win. The first two are a collectable [[CCG|card game]] put out in 2002 by [[Fantasy Flight Games]] and a [[risk]]-esque board game that followed shortly after in 2003. One of [[White Wolf]]'s subsidiaries also put out a d20 RPG in 2005 but it quickly tanked because, come on, [[White Wolf]]. Martin since wrested the rights back and developed a new version with Green Ronin games.

==Books==
*''A Game of Thrones''
*''A Clash of Kings''
*''A Storm of Swords'':Split into 2
*''A Feast for Crows'':half the characters
*''A Dance with Dragons'':split into 2 the first is about the other half of the characters
*''The Winds of Winter'':Most recent rumors say George could have it ready in late 2018. But will he ''really''?
*''A Dream of Spring'' :Unreleased and unlikely to ever be.
*''The Dunk and Egg Series'': A story about a landless hendge knight traveling across Westeros with a Targaryen squire, so he can teach him how not to be an asshole to peasants.

==See Also==
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U7NpSubAJQ Weiner, weiner weiner]

[[category: Literature]]