Zelgius

"I trust you know who you face: Zelgius, commander of this army. If you are not worthy of fighting me, then you are only wasting my time."

- Zelgius to Ranulf before their duel at Ribahn River.

Zelgius (ゼルギウス, Zerugiusu?), better known as the Black Knight (漆黒の騎士, Shikkoku no Kishi, Dark Knight in the Japanese versions), was Daein's most powerful general. The Black Knight's identity was unknown in Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, save for the fact that he was once a student of General Gawain. He was also one of the Branded, which he revealed to Prime Minister Sephiran, who provided him with the blessed sword Alondite and the black blessed armor. However, his identity was revealed to be General Zelgius, the greatest general of the Begnion Empire, and the right-hand man to Sephiran.

His power was so extraordinary that King Ashnard, after a comment from General Petrine about the Black Knight's strength, said he would be interested in challenging the Knight to battle some day.

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance
At the beginning of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, he was the most powerful of Daein's Four Riders. He wore a special suit of full-body black armor that has been blessed by the goddess Ashera, making it impenetrable to all weapons save those that have also been divinely blessed, such as Ragnell. He also had access to numerous other arcane items as well, such as the warp powder he used to travel, his sword Alondite, and the sword Ragnell, which he gave to Greil seemingly as an act of mercy, although he merely wanted to test his strength against Greil. After killing Greil, he became Ike's mortal enemy, despite Greil's wishes. The Black Knight spent much of the game aiding Ashnard and his plans, such as providing Ashnard with blessed armor similar to his own.

Ultimately, Ike faces off against the Black Knight in a duel where Ike, canonically, wins. However, the player does not have to defeat the Black Knight, as the castle that the two were battling in collapses at the end of the fifth turn. Regardless of whether or not the player is able to defeat the Black Knight, Ike and Mist were able to flee the castle, though the Black Knight was buried in the resulting ruins.

It was revealed in Radiant Dawn that Bastian sent men to find the Black Knight's body sometime after the castle's collapse, but they were unable to locate any trace of the Black Knight.

Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
As the Black Knight, he returned to protect Micaiah when General Jarod of the Begnion Occupation forces attempted to assassinate her as Begnion began cracking down on the Occupation Army's oppression of the Daein people. Thanks to the Black Knight, Jarod failed, and he continued to protect Micaiah in the war against Begnion Occupation Army, though to Sothe's objection. He disappeared after the fall of the Occupation Army for reasons unexplained, though it could be assumed that it was that Zelgius was being recalled to Begnion because of the growing tensions between the Begnion Empire and the Laguz Alliance.

As Zelgius, he led the Begnion Central Army, the largest military force on the continent, against the invading Laguz Alliance. When Daein ambushed the Alliance at the Ribahn River, initiating their entry into the war, Zelgius reassumed his mantle as the Black Knight to aid Daein, specifically to protect Micaiah. He continued to remain at their side until the Greil Mercenaries began engaging Micaiah's forces. It is revealed in a conversation with Ike before they fight at the river that his armor's blessing was gone.

Zelgius's only goal was to face Gawain at the height of his power; his pursuit of this duel was the only action he undertook of his own accord after becoming Sephiran's follower. However, upon finding that Gawain was not at his true power, he sought out Gawain's remaining student, Ike, and faced in a one-on-one fight at the Tower of Guidance, while Micaiah and the rest faced off against the other Disciples of Order and General Levail of the Begnion Northern Army. Ike defeated him and Zelgius died believing that Ike fought with all of the skill Gawain possessed in his prime. His death was in peace, and waited for Sephiran to join him. After the battle, Ike considered Zelgius his final teacher.

He served Prime Minister Sephiran selflessly and viewed him as his master. All of his actions were guided by Sephiran's will, including his eventual return to Daein as the Black Knight.

If the player use a hacking device, he or she may see Zelgius' in-game stats. He has a bond with Sephiran and is considered a Level 20 Marshall (which is considered closer to the Black Knight class than to other Marshalls) with Eclipse for a mastery skill. Eclipse negates all defense and resistance, and attack with 5 times the strength. Most notably, Ashera would not be able to survive the attack without her Nihil skill.

Other Appearances
In the Wii game Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the Black Knight makes an appearance as a trophy. But, in his description, he was stated as the wielder of the sacred blade Ettard, instead of Alondite. However, this was a change made from the Japanese version to the English, on part of Intelligent System's translation team: the Black Knight's blade in the Japanese version was Ettard while Ike wielded Alondite. Also, his battle music, unchanged since Path of Radiance, was a possible music for the Castle Siege level.

Path of Radiance
|General |Dark |20 |60 |30 |17 |30 |27 |11 |30 |22 |13 |18 |6 |Sword - S Lance - A | Luna Renewal |Alondite

Radiant Dawn
|Black Knight |Dark |20 |70 |38 |18 |40 |30 |20 |35 |25 |13 |25 |6 |Sword - SS Lance - S |Shove Eclipse Imbue Nihil |Alondite Concoction

Etymology
The Greek god 'Zelus' was one of the four children of Pallas and Styx, the others being Nike ("victory"), Cratos ("strength"), and Bia ("violence"). From this name derives the modern word 'zeal.'

The title "Black Knight" most likely originated from the Arthurian mythological poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, whereas he was the Green Knight. In the poem, the Green Knight was beheaded by Gawain, but was not killed: a possible inspiration of the Black Knight's divinely blessed armor though he wielded a great axe. However, Gawain and the Green Knight held no prior relationship in the poem.

Green had multiple meanings in the late 1300s, which is the estimated year of the poem's origin, including that of witchcraft and association to the devil. This can be readily seen in the Black Knight. So, the Black Knight is most likely a modernized version of the Green Knight.

In the Middle Ages, a Black Knight was a knight who was no longer bound to any particular lord, or whose lord wished to hide their agent's associations. They would paint their shields black to prevent rust and cover any symbols of their former lord.