Juggerknights

A Dark Knight readying for the kill.

"Medusa unleashes her most ferocious, heavily-armed infantry."

- In-game description of, "The Knight is Dark: Juggerknights Attack"

Description

Juggerknights are powerful warriors who revel in the bloody carnage of war and kill all their enemies simply for cruel enjoyment. Despite this, Juggerknights are more or less misunderstood, originally being a proud race like the Speartons, though their brush with the power of Chaos caused them to surrender to the evil empire. Dark Knights are fully-armored, well-trained pawns of Chaos who bask in the glory of the dark arts. They wield powerful axes and heavy shields, as well as impenetrable helmets to decimate the enemy.

Juggerknights and Crawlers serve as the melee force of Chaos--Juggerknights as the heavy duty, powerful warriors, dominating the battlefield and slaughtering all who come in their way.

Stats

Stat	Description	Stat	Description
Picture		Faction	Chaos
Location	Land	Role	Heavy Front-Line Warrior
Health	Very Large Six Bars	Speed	Moderately Fast
Attack Power	High	Attack Rate	Moderately Slow
Gold Cost	450	Mana Cost	50
Training Time	20	Population	3
Training Location	Crypt	Weapons	Ax Shield

Dark Knights attack very slowly, but do just as much damage as the second strike of a Shadowrath's Fixate, and have slightly higher health than Speartons, as well as benefit from Automatic Regeneration and Curing, making them a mix of Speartons, Shadowrath and Merics. This means they are extremely powerful and versatile adversaries.

Role in Chaos

Dark Knights act as Chaos's most powerful ground infantry, butchering the enemy with ease, be it Spearton or Shadowrath. Dark Knights all work in squads, but sometimes alone. An example of the Dark Knights' ferocity is when a small group of around four Archidons and six Swordwrath assaulted Chaos territory. There were only four Dark Knights during the assault. Despite being ridiculously outnumbered, the Dark Knights defended due to their wanting of a battle, stunning the Swordwrath with their Charge ability. Amazingly, the entire Swordwrath force were defeated after only a few seconds of battle, and the Dark Knights killed two of the retreating four Archidons, without casualties.

This incident shows their tenacity in war and the ruthlessness boiling inside them upon the sight of an enemy.

A gazing Dark Knight.

Most Dark Knights are also extremely intellegent and well versed in the arts of batte, allowing them to quickly secure the field and twist it for all it's worth. However, more often than not, their intelligence can only be seen in small duels, since the sight of a large battle and the cries of war are tempting to them. Dark Knights serve as frontline units and Chaos's most powerful ground infantry. They stun the enemy with Charge and proceed to the slaughter. They are a mix of Shadowrath and Speartons--having the Speartons' health and the Shadowraths' attack power. Paired with automatic regeneration and curing, Dark Knights are a very powerful enemy.

Chosen Weapon

A single Juggerknight unit who wields an axe.

The Dark Knights are one of the few races who have mastered the art of two weapons, and are the only race to master the Way of the Ax. More powerful than a spear or sword or be it staff, their fighting style benifets heavily from their chosen weapon. But when Dark Knights lose their ax, instead of running to get it back, they simply take the enemy's weapon and use it against them before yanking them out of the ground. Dark Knights also use heavy triangular shields as their secondary weapon, an object that causes much confusion for the round shield of Speartons. The most prominent aspect of Dark Knights is their armor: they are the one of the only two nations to utilize a full set of protective garments, making them quite a foe for the bows of the Archidons.

Attack Pattern

The Juggerknight either performs a stabbing maneveur with his axe or swings downward in a deadly arc. In the case of the latter, the axe occasionally gets lodged in the ground, forcing the Juggerknight to stop attacking and yank it out. 

Death / Killing Animations

Juggerknight vs Swordwrath 1: The juggerknight slams his axe into a swordwrath's face, picks his victum up using the handle of his axe, twirls him around a bit, and slams him downward.

Juggerknight vs Swordwrath 2: The juggerknight takes the swordwrath's sword and impales him with it.

Spearton vs Juggerknight: The spearton charges, slamming the Juggerknight with his shield but gets repelled.

History

A Dark Knight line.

Juggerknights were once a proud race, similar to the Speartons. With their aspects of heavily armed infantry of chaos, they were once a powerful nation, having to equal the Speartons. However since that they only understood battles and not leadership, most scholars of Order think that the leaders of different regions of the country fought one another till Medusa came and conquered them. Also before Medusa, the Juggerknights were fighting among themselves to gain supreme power over their rival states.

Juggerknights (Even if Conquered by Medusa) are still one of the most powerful warriors. They are destined to proved they are the strongest and greatest race to ever have existed. They are similar to the Spearton but taking more of an offensive role. They seem to care about themselves in a fight rather then helping each other (Unlike speartons who care about one another) and perfer to rush into battle then thinking ahead at first. Letting others take blows for them as long as they get the kill or make it back to saftey.

Althought these tactics seem abit selfish and harsh, it seems all JuggerKnights are in an agreement that one must look after themselves in battle or else they will not rise in strenght. 

The Great JuggerKnight War (Refered to as the undead Invasion)

The Great Juggerknight War was when Juggerknight's faced Medusa and her army of undead consiting of Marrowkai and Deads. Medusa's powerful petrify quickly took out the army of Juggerknights, few that remained couldn't fight the numerous undead and battle ended 3 days after it begun.

Medusa's idea was to force the remainning Dark Knights to teach others loyal to Medusa their ways. So a new army of Knights can rise and to be corrupted in thinking they were born to cause distruction under Meduas's name. A few enslaved JuggerKnights escaped into lands takin' by the empire Order. After beinging questioned, the JuggerKnights explained who they were and the war that happened. Also about the great beast named Medusa. None believed in their stories. They were let go.

Later Medusa Reveals herself in the campaign, saying that her empire has been here for along time now and she starts attacking due to enslavement of her beloved giants. The story of her empire quickly spread and others then realized the stories the group of knights told were true. But atlas, no one knows what became of them.

Later, historians named the war "The Great Juggerknight War." (Or the Undead Invasion) They were once a proud race who wanted to grow in power but now became ruthless aggressive blood thirsty knights they are today.

3rd nation conquered by chaos.    

READ: The Conquering Of Chaos

Weakness

The Dark Knights' range from coldly calculating to demonically sadistic, the latter which often results in their downfall. Unlike other races, Dark Knights torture their fallen enemies before the final blow, enjoying the last screams of pain. However, this leaves them open to attacks, often winding up with them dead the instant they look up from their self-indulgence. Be wary, though, for Dark Knights heal from their wounds very fast--a gift to them from Chaos.

Dark Knights are also vulnerable to swarms. Their regeneration would not keep up. However, in duels, they are lethal. If one sees a large group of Dark Knights, the best way to acknowledge the situation would be to create a mix of the nations. Dark Knights are superior to almost all other races. But if those races combined, Dark Knights would be unprepared.

Lifestyle

Dark Knights barely need sleep--a blessing given to them from Chaos. When a newchild is born, they raise him for two years then begin his training from that point on--learning basic communication and the ways of Dark Knights. Dark Knights barely have any economic problems despite their manic nature. Food comes in everyday from hunting and the Marrowkai and Medusa give them much supplies if ever they are running low.

Dark Knights train almost everyday, since to them, training is a leisure activity. They enjoy duels and challenges, as well as the occassional team battle they have. They compete against one another, not for glory, but for the

Dark Knights after killing a Giant.

sheer fun of battle.

The Dark Knights' have two basis for their leaders: Amount of enemies slaughtered and intellectual value. Those who surpass in both become a leader of the nation. These leaders are often the greatest Dark Knights can offer Chaos. Once before, a leader of the Dark Knights was met in a very large battle, holding a banner of Chaos. When the battle begun, he stuck the banner on the ground and slaughtered almost six Swordwrath, two Speartons, a Shadowrath and three Archidons. And his squadron received very little casualties, save majority of the Crawlers and several Marrowkai in the battle. But only very few Dark Knights fell, under the leadership of that lone leader.

Relations to Other Melee Nations

Swordwrath - To Dark Knights, the Swordwrath are meek enemies who easily cry for mercy never to come. Their death is pleasing to Dark Knights, since the Swordwrath are the most numerous and least powerful of Order, making them the Dark Knights' very own playtoys.

Archidons- Just as fun to slaughter as the Swordwrath, the Dark Knights love chopping the Archidons to bits, for they are even less pain-resistant than the Swordwrath and would be twice as fun to torture had they chosen to wear more armor. It would take many archers to kill a dark knight, though the juggerknights themselves are usually too distracted killing swordwraths to make this seem like an actual skill.

Speartons - Of all other races, the Spearton have the most similarities with Dark Knights, as they both use a similar fighting style and share the same love of the battlefield. However, their motives for actual fighting differ: a Spearton fights mainly for love of his country and the thrill of returning a hero, while Dark Knights fight to watch others die, literally plucking screams from victims the way one plucks a violin. Speartons frown upon this paracrice, considering it inhuman while Dark Knights consider them too tight and stuffy for their own good. Still, Dark Knights secretly admire, and even respect, Speartons, as they are humbled whenever they see a Spearton charge in front of his men, taking the blows for them rather than letting them suffer. Likewise, the Speartons consider the Dark Knights as mighty warriors, underseving of their current plight. Speartons and Juggerknights are almost evenly matched, however it is more often that the Juggerknight would reign supreme.

A Dark Knight finishing off a Swordwrath as stray Archidon shots are fired.

Shadowrath - The  Shadowrath are the only nation to actually sympathize with the Dark Knights, as they faced the same power struggles with Chaos. However, Dark Knights despise the Shadowrath for their decision to join Chaos's most powerful enemy: Order. One Dark Knight has the prowess to slaughter a Shadowrath in a duel--the Shadowrath's main advantage. However, it is possible for a Shadowrath to succeed, so long as he has Level II Shinobi. Although the poison inflicted to the Juggerknight will deal almost nothing, due to their passive healing, the damage from the strike alone will bring the Juggerknight a great disadvantage.

Giants - When a Giant enters the battlefield, both fear and excitement arouse in a Dark Knight. They know of the Giants' power, yet they see it only as a way to truly test their strength. It would take around four Dark Knights to defeat a fully-upgraded Giant.

Albowtross - Dark Knights see Albowtross as something to laugh at, they make jokes and mock the Albowtross, saying it is to stupid to do anything else but copy the Eclipsors. Dark knights also find it very comical when an Albowtross is killed, when its wings fail and it falls to the ground, usually screaming, before crashing and creating a massive puddle of blood. Dark Knights find the whole death sequence quite funny and satisfying. All the same, one Albowtross can kill an infinite amount of Juggernights.

Crawlers - Dark Knights see Crawlers as a weak race who would soon be extinguished, were it not for their chaotic minds, attacking anything they are not familiar with. It would take almost eight Crawlers to kill a Dark Knight if separate, yet a Dark Knight can kill a pack at once with ease.

Bombers - Juggerknights regard bombers with a mixture of scorn and fear, for they are one of the few nations whose people actually enjoy and worship pain instead of fleeing from it. Combined with their suicidical natures and love of absolute destruction, most Dark Knights tolerate the eccentric bombers, knowing any bomber they want to grind into mincemeat will be gone the next day, anyways. Obviously, a Dark Knight would never have a chance to kill a bomber, because the bomber would have gone kamakazi the instant it entered the Juggerknight's attack range. Though it'll take several to actually kill a Juggerknight.

Eclipsors - Juggerknights think the eclipsors as friends because in ancient times the two were known for their friendship

Abilities

Charge

Juggerknights have only one ability: Charge. This lets the Dark Knight scream, raise his shield and run extremely fast towards the enemy. All who were damaged by the Dark Knight during the charge will be stunned for a short period of time.

Research:50 gold 100 mana 40s

TIP: Use this at the beginning of a battle if you have many Crawlers. This way, only few of your Crawlers will be overwhelmed by the time your Dark Knights aid them. It would also be wise to use this on retreating enemies, so you may slaughter them while they run--similar to a true Dark Knight.

Charging JuggerKnights

Homeworld

Juggerknights lived in castles, protecting their armies. Each one would be very much the same as the other. Ever since their covenant with Chaos, their castles have been corrupted. Each castle became a cavern of darkness and unholiness, awaiting for orders from their lords. These castles produce the Dark Knights' weapons and is also where training occurres (though, training mostly adheses outside the castle rather than inside). They hunt for animals and wild beasts as food and training. This becomes a daily habit for them, hunting for food everyday, making Dark Knights extremely powerful.

The Dark Knights' training usually consists of duels and team battles while they use large clubs from tree branches they have cut down, since using actual axes would kill the Dark Knight. With clubs, however, they are able to train properly, as well as heed the same weight of an ax.

Each castle has its own share of prisoners, all from vast nations Chaos has conquered--those  who resist to join the empire. All who defy the Dark Knights or attempt to start a rebellion would be either killed--and be turned into a Dead by the Marrowkai--or put inside a chamber, being tortured until they choose to join Chaos.

Campaign

Dark Knights appear as Medusa's third, "Surprise", following the Bombers. They are described as, "Medusa's most ferocious and heavily-armed infantry." They will prove themselves to be stronger than Speartons, and can defeat Shadowrath in a duel--its highest advantage. They are also involved in three animations, where the Juggerknight will stab a Swordwrath with its own sword, another animation where he lodges his ax onto a Swordwrath's head, lifts it up into the air, then stabs it into the ground, revealing a large, open wound on the Swordwrath's head. Their last animation involves smashing their ax onto a Spearton's shield, causing both to be knocked back. The Spearton will then raise up, jump very high towards the Juggerknight and stab his spear onto his head. Once they are defeated in the level, "The Night is Dark: Juggerknights Attack", they will appear again throughout the campaign, continuously.

Trivia

• 3rd Nation conqeured by Chaos
• Dark Knights are taller than most nations (excluding giants).
• Since a Juggerknights health bar vanishes when they perform their killing animation, you cannot tell how close they are to dying.
• Juggerknights are tied with the Speartons for most kill animations of any race, both for and against them. 
• Units deal no damage when the knights perform finshing moves.
• When attacking, a Dark Knight will constantly get its ax stuck in the ground, implying that whatever it trains with is much, much heavier than the axes they fight with.
• In many pictures, Juggerknights are seen as skeletal warriors who have red lights for faces. In-game, however, they are shown as ordinary men with Juggerknight armor.
• It is said that Juggerknights use Albowtross blood as a substitute for Ketchup (even though they technically can't kill them).
• A Juggerknight appears to possess less health than a Spearton because, unlike Speartons, Juggerknights never actually use their shields for defense.
• Juggerknights and Eclipsors their past selves used to be allies when Medusa attacked them turned Wingidons (Eclipsors) to flying Archers.
• When there are many Juggerknights it is hard to kill them especially when you only have 1 Spearton along with 5 Swordwraths.
• Juggerknights are the Chaos main Armored Units
• Juggerknights form the main attack force of the Chaos Armies.
• The axes Juggerknights use are a lighter and smaller version of a far more powerful weapon used by their  ancestors, The Halberds of the Great Knights who nearly destroyed Chaos.