Awhite knight is a mythological figure and literarystock character. They are portrayed alongside ablack knight as diametric opposites. A white knight usually represents a heroic warrior fighting against evil, with the role in medieval literature being represented by aknight-errant.
The idea of a positive and negative color symbol being diametrically opposed is very common in ancient mythology, of which the white and black knights are one example, with others including thewhite horse andblack horse fromIndo-Aryan mythology.[1] The white color symbolized innocence, illumination, openheartedness, and gladness.[1]
The term "white knight" is used in modern-day parlance to mean any kind of savior,[2] although it is also specifically used in a business context to describe a person or corporation that saves another company from ahostile takeover and acquires its assets.[3]
In various online communities and interactions, "white knight" is also used in slang to refer to men who are trying to curry the favor of women by protecting them, alongside other, similar terms, such as "simp" or "whipped".[4]Those who use the term often align with a mortgage andChad-like disposition in an often completely imagined game ofsexual competition. The usage of the term implies that these men, when doing nice things for women, are motivated only by sexual desires.[5]
Although the term 'white knight' has taken on a colloquial meaning in modern English, the White Knight was a historical noble title in the peerage of Ireland, first bestowed upon the Fitzgibbon family by KingEdward III in 1333 AD.[6] The other two Irish hereditary knighthoods are theKnight of Glin (also called the Black Knight), and theKnight of Kerry (also called the Green Knight).