Photo by Illia Cherednychenko on Unsplash

There are many archetypes that exist within our collective minds, as written about in great detail by Carl Jung.

One of these archetypes that we see again and again is that of the Black Knight. The best place to look for this character is within novels and on the movie screen.

The Black Knight is an archetype of contradiction and conflict. While the tyrant is pure in their nature, the Black Knight is conflicted.

The Black Knight is principled, disciplined, and devoted to their cause and what they think is good. The only problem is, they are a slave to a lie.

An example of the Black Knight would be Bucky Barnes, The Winter Soldier, a character from Captain America. While Captain represents the ideal White Knight, Bucky is the Black Knight not because he is evil, but because he is being used for evil purposes.

Rigid, efficient, and obedient, who portrays the traits of an ideal soldier, but since he is serving Hydra, an organization that has designs to inflict massive damage on the world, his positive traits do not matter, he is being used for evil.

The Black Knight is dressed in hardened plate armor. He stands tall, and is strong, yet inside, in his being, he is twisted, misled, and unable to tell the truth from the lies.

Want to know a gruesome example of the Black Knight in our world today? You only have to look as far as Muslim Extremists.

While they believe in honor, in serving God (A higher principle,) and in tradition, they commit horrible crimes because in their heart they think that killing infidels is the will of God.

Even a child would be able to see the obvious flaw here. If God created all, why would he want his creations to kill each other in the name of him? But the Black Knight cannot discern this, and is instead, made a slave to the lie.

Both the tyrant and the demon of chaos delight in this natively and use it to their full advantage to achieve their own goals. Rarely ever is it a Black Knight who acts alone in the movies and stories. Bucky was a slave to Hydra, and Darth Vader, in the end, was a slave to the Emperor.

Those who have power over the Black Knight will use his principles and code of ethics against themselves, turning him into a willing servant.

In Monty Python’s The Holy Grail, very early on King Arthur has an encounter with a Black Knight. Skilled, honorable and dangerous, but at his heart, he has fallen into the trap of believing a lie, that he is invincible.

What results is a comic display of his delusion when he loses limb after limb and still wishes to continue to fight King Arthur.

It doesn’t matter if the text is an absurdist comedy or a crime thriller, again and again, the Black Knight will appear.

He may have many of the traits of a good man, but deep down, he has a lie within him, that he believes, and allows to be his guiding principle.

When you let a lie guide your life, you will find that you too, become hard, that your mood darkens, and that what were once qualities that made you good, are being used to tear yourself down, deeper and deeper into despair.

The brilliant marketing executive who thinks life is just a game, leaves a trail of heartbroken women and turns his body into a time-bomb through substance abuse.

The beautiful woman who deep down inside believes she will always look attractive begins to find as she ages that men are no longer as interested and people are no longer as nice, and she sinks into depression, instead of working on her aura and character.

We all personify the Black Knight when we hold onto a lie and act it out as a guiding principle. You will know it is a lie when you see the fruits of your actions and beliefs.

The Black Knight can be changed though, once he has recognized his error and “seen the light.” There is innate goodness in him, and the desire to do good, so when the truth is revealed to him, he always has the chance to take the leap and embrace it.

Darth Vader saw this and it cost him his life, but in the end, he reached salvation. Bucky saw it as well, and it saved his life.

So, when you next watch a movie, be on the lookout for a character who has good traits and means well, but does evil because deep down they believe a lie. You might have more in common with him than you think.