The Golden Knight is a fictional character

Fictional character

A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

, a comic book

Comic book

A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...

 knight

Knight

A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....

 published by DC Comics

DC Comics

DC Comics, Inc. is one of the largest and most successful companies operating in the market for American comic books and related media. It is the publishing unit of DC Entertainment a company of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which itself is owned by Time Warner...

. He first appeared in The Demon vol. 3, #20 (February 1992), and was created by Alan Grant and Val Semeiks

Val Semeiks

Valdis "Val" Semeiks is an American comic book artist who has mostly worked for DC Comics and Marvel Comics.-Biography:Val Semeiks was born in the USA on February 5, 1955 to Latvian parents....

. The character is based on the mythical knight Percival

Percival

Percival or Perceval is one of King Arthur's legendary Knights of the Round Table. In Welsh literature his story is allotted to the historical Peredur...

 as defined by Chrétien de Troyes

Chrétien de Troyes

Chrétien de Troyes was a French poet and trouvère who flourished in the late 12th century. Perhaps he named himself Christian of Troyes in contrast to the illustrious Rashi, also of Troyes...

' unfinished fifth romance, Perceval, le Conte du Graal

Perceval, the Story of the Grail

Perceval, the Story of the Grail is the unfinished fifth romance of Chrétien de Troyes. Probably written between 1181 and 1191, it is dedicated to Chrétien's patron Philip, Count of Flanders...

(Perceval, the Story of the Grail).

Fictional character biography

One thousand years ago, Sir Lancelot

Lancelot

Sir Lancelot du Lac is one of the Knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. He is the most trusted of King Arthur's knights and plays a part in many of Arthur's victories...

 succeeded in the quest to find the Holy Grail

Holy Grail

The Holy Grail is a sacred object figuring in literature and certain Christian traditions, most often identified with the dish, plate, or cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper and said to possess miraculous powers...

 and ascended, as does Sir Galahad

Galahad

Sir Galahad |Round Table]] and one of the three achievers of the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend. He is the illegitimate son of Lancelot and Elaine of Corbenic, and is renowned for his gallantry and purity. Emerging quite late in the medieval Arthurian tradition, he is perhaps the knightly...

. After an initial failure Sir Percival

Percival

Percival or Perceval is one of King Arthur's legendary Knights of the Round Table. In Welsh literature his story is allotted to the historical Peredur...

 is able to discover the Grail, Merlin

Merlin (DC Comics)

Merlin, is a fictional character, a comic book magician published by DC Comics. Myrddin debuted in New Comics #3, , and was created by Rafael Astarita...

 then appears before Percival, asks him to guard the mystic prison in Hell

Hell (DC Comics)

Hell is a fictional location, an infernal underworld utilized in titles published by DC Comics. It is the locational antithesis of the Silver City. The DC Comics location known as Hell is based heavily on its depiction in Judeo-Christian mythology...

 that he had created for all the evil creatures in England at King Arthur

King Arthur (DC Comics)

King Arthur ' is a fictional character, a comic book King published by DC Comics. Arthur debuted in New Comics #3, , and was created by Rafael Astarita. The character is based on the mythical ruler King Arthur whose earliest recorded appearances were in the Annales Cambriae, the Historia Brittonum,...

's request. Merlin sent Percival into the Region Beyond, where his purity manifested as the Golden Knight. Etrigan the Demon fights the Golden Knight in order to gain passage into the prison. The Golden Knight eternally guards a gateway which leads from England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

to Hell's Region Beyond (possibly the Infernal Province known as the Labyrinth). Etrigan leaves his brother Lord Scapegoat a resident of the prison, stranded in the Region Beyond, and escapes with a mystical scroll from the Thing-that-cannot-die.