Allies of the Superwomen of EVA #26: The Shining Knight
"While Tokyo-3 proved to be the epicenter of humanity's conflict with the otherworldly creatures codenamed 'Angels', as well as the growing presence of superpowered individuals, its sibling city Tokyo-2 was not without its own examples of this particular phenomenon. Such an example centered around a college sophomore named Utena Tenjou; for as long as she could remember, Utena had been fascinated by-bordering on obsessed with-all manner of heroic fiction, especially when it came to the medieval period of Europe and her native Japan. Where her classmates as far back as preschool would dress up as princesses for Halloween, she'd dress as a knight, and didn't care if she was made fun of for it. This lifelong hobby of hers led to her choosing literature as her major in college, and her near-encyclopedic knowledge of ages-old tales of knights and samurai unexpectedly proved to be one of the many things her girlfriend, half-Indian international student Anthy Himemiya, found charming about her. When a visiting English scholar by the name of Jason Blood arrived on campus in conjunction with a traveling exhibit of Arthurian artifacts, Utena immediately signed up to act as his teaching assistant for the seminars he led. Accompanying Blood was his colleague overseeing the exhibit at a nearby museum, one Justin Arthur, who gave Utena and Anthy early access to the exhibit after hearing from Blood of her burgeoning expertise. On perusing the exhibit, Utena especially felt as if she'd gone to Heaven on seeing the items on display, including the armor worn by Sir Brian Kent, known as the fabled Silent Knight; and a sword purported to be the iconic blade of King Arthur Pendragon known as Excalibur.
It was while Utena was giving her best summary of the saga of King Arthur and Camelot to Anthy that the exhibit found itself suddenly under attack by what appeared to be trolls and skeletal soldiers, all appearing from a strange portal and making their way towards Excalibur, taking out whatever or whoever stood in their way. Realizing they had no choice but to reveal themselves to the two girls, Jason and Justin stepped in to battle the horde. Justin, on unsheathing the peculiar pocket knife he possessed, in a sudden flash of light donned a golden set of armor, the pocket knife becoming a great sword; Utena immediately recognized him as one of the figures mentioned in the exhibit as the legendary Shining Knight, a member of the Round Table of Camelot who would later find himself fighting alongside the Allied Forces in World War II. Jason, on the other hand, underwent a more startling transformation as he spoke aloud the incantation:
'Gone, gone o form of man,
Arise, the Demon-Etrigan!'
In a swirl of hellish flame, where once stood Jason Blood, now stood the monstrous warrior he shared an existence with: Etrigan the Demon, a powerful demon from Hell conscripted by wizard Merlin to fight for Camelot by bonding him to Jason Blood. Both the centuries-old knight and the demon fought fiercely against the horde, while Utena and Anthy went to find a place to hide, ending up back in the main room of the exhibit. It was there that they chanced upon Excalibur being removed from its case by the mastermind of the attack: the infamous sorceress Morgaine le Fey. Not wanting to let the sword fall into le Fey's hands, Utena, on impulse, grabbed the sword displayed next to the outfit worn by Sir Justin's original squire, a Celtic-born tomboy of a girl by the name of Ystina, and used the skills she learned as a member of her high school fencing team in an attempt to keep le Fey away from Excalibur.
The sorceress, amused by the girl's 'attempt at bravery', summoned one of her more powerful henchmen to toy with Utena for a while before ultimately killing her, but Utena was determined to out-duel the warrior, much to Morgaine's chagrin. A moment later, Sir Justin and Etrigan came onto the scene, having dispatched the horde outside the exhibit room, with the demon immediately going for Morgaine, with the two having been longtime enemies. While Etrigan battled the sorceress, Sir Justin helped Utena against the warrior Morgaine had summoned. When the warrior managed to land a near-fatal wound on Sir Justin's right leg, Anthy managed to distract the warrior enough for Utena to grab Justin's sword and strike a mortal blow against the warrior, causing them to dissipate; at the same time, Etrigan had managed to drive off Morgaine and prevent her from leaving with Excalibur, though the vengeful sorceress vowed to return.
Etrigan suggested for Utena, Anthy and Justin to make a hasty exit from the exhibit hall on hearing the approach of campus security, and reconvene at Jason Blood's office; Etrigan returned to the form of Blood in order to give a statement to the guards, who were being assisted by local police. When Jason joined the trio in his office, he and Justin gave Utena and Anthy their full story. Since Second Impact had effectively ended the Ninth Age of Magic and with the Tenth Age approaching, the state of magic was in flux, and certain individuals were seeking to take advantage of this by seeking out and accumulating any magical artifacts they could locate. Jason and Justin, during a meeting of the more noble members of the magical community that took place in the wake of Second Impact, had been tasked with safeguarding those from the days of Camelot, hence their current cover identities (though Jason still operated as a demonologist on the side). Which brought them to the matter at hand-the wound Justin had sustained had effectively cost him the use of his right leg, meaning he would no longer be able to fight. However, the two had seen much potential in Utena, especially given her actions earlier when faced with Morgaine and her minion. It was decided that, should she accept, Utena would be trained by Sir Justin to become the new Shining Knight-the first person born outside Europe to assume the role and responsibilities. Utena, after talking it over with Anthy, accepted their offer, and for the months that followed, was trained in everything from swordfighting to riding Sir Justin's flying horse, Winged Victory. (Wanting to help Utena in any way she could, Anthy, with help from Jason/Etrigan, contacted the spirit of Merlin and learned some defensive and healing magic from the wizard.) Once Utena was sure enough of her skill and ability, Justin and Etrigan presented her with a gift: a set of armor combining elements from Justin's own and Ystina's, along with a sword forged specifically for Utena. Completing the ensemble was a tiara that would conceal Utena's identity to all but Anthy and her mentors.
As the new Shining Knight, Utena would face off with threats both modern and medieval, including saving Sir Justin's former WWII-era partner, Percival Sheldrake (who went by the alias 'Squire'), from the monstrous fiend known as Springheeled Jack; as well as fighting one of the most notorious supervillains from the days of Imperial Japan, the Dragon King, who had previously murdered Sir Justin's lover Dannette Reilly (alias Firebrand, a fellow member of the WWII superhero team the All-Star Squadron). It was while fighting Springheeled Jack that Utena and Anthy became acquainted with Percival's son, Cyril Sheldrake (who had been the Squire to his father's costumed identity of the Knight) and his partner Beryl Hutchinson (the current Squire to Cyril's Knight).
A year following the end of the Angel War and the thwarting of the dueling conspiracies of SEELE and Gendo Ikari, Utena and Anthy would find themselves teaming up with one of the 'superwomen' of Tokyo-3 when their paths crossed with that of Green Arrow (secretly American former NERV Evangelion pilot Maria Vincennes), as she, Utena, and five others were drawn together to form a new iteration of the heroes of a cyclical prophecy (one that Sir Justin had been a part of during WWII), known as the Seven Soldiers of Victory."
*Author's Note(s)*
The theme of this 'wave' of heroic allies, given that the season's winding down, is what I'll be calling 'Summer knights', and for the DC half of the wave, I introduce to you a new successor to one of the more second-string heroes of DC's Golden Age output and founding member of the Seven Soldiers of Victory, the Shining Knight. Shining Knight, whether it be Sir Justin the original or Grant Morrison creation Sir Ystina, has had their fair share of exposure both in and outside the comics, with Justin having had memorable appearances in the Justice League Unlimited animated series and the live-action Stargirl TV series. But of course, the question was, who would it be taking up the chivalrous mantle?
The answer came, on careful thought, in the form of one of the most chivalrous anime characters ever created: the title heroine of the groundbreaking anime Revolutionary Girl Utena. Utena, or at least a version of her, was a perfect match to a long-storied mantle like the Shining Knight's; the fact that Utena also has a well-known queer aspect and following to it also lined up nicely with the Ystina take on Shining Knight, especially during the character's run in DC's 2011 Demon Knights title. Once I became set on this character combo, it was only a matter of enlisting the talented Inspector97 to bring it to visual life (for which they have my sincerest thanks), the piece in question being found on my DeviantArt gallery. Here, I asked them to combine different elements of both Sir Justin and Ystina's armors, along with including the epaulets found on Utena's school uniform to maintain the connection to her source material.
On a more somber note, this piece is also dedicated to the memory of Utena's English dub actress Rachael Lillis, who sadly passed away on August 10th, 2024 from breast cancer at age 46. Seeing the announcement of her passing, I'll admit, broke my heart, having grown up hearing her as the voices of Misty, Jessie, and Jigglypuff on Pokémon, and later having grown to appreciate other fan-favorite roles in her filmography, such as Yuriko Star on The Irresponsible Captain Tylor and Martina in the Slayers franchise. Given how Utena is another of her iconic roles, I'm adding that series to my 'to-watch' list, on the sooner rather than later side of things. Lillis would definitely have been a VA I would've loved meeting, and it's a shame I'll never have that chance. Rest in peace, Ms. Lillis, and thanks for all the fun work that entertained us, and will continue to do so in the years to come.