Editing Black Knight (Monty Python)

{{Short description|Character from Monty Python and the Holy Grail}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2011}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{more citations needed|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox character
| name              = Black Knight
| series            = Monty Python
| image             = File:Black Knight (Monty Python).png
| caption           = A figurine depicting The Black Knight, as he appears in ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail''
| first_major       = [[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]
| first_date        = 3 April 1975
| portrayer         = [[John Cleese]]
| gender            = Male
| occupation        = Guardian of the Bridge, Knight
| weapon            = Swordplay
}}

The '''Black Knight''' is a fictional character who first appeared as a minor antagonist in the 1975 [[comedy film]] ''[[Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]'' by the [[Monty Python]] comedy troupe. A knight dressed in black who wears a helmet completely concealing his face, he is based on the [[Black Knight (Arthurian legend)|black knight of the Arthurian legend]]. Like most of the characters in ''Holy Grail'', he is played by a member of Monty Python, namely [[John Cleese]], who primarily portrays [[Lancelot]] in the film.

The Black Knight appears in a single scene of ''Holy Grail'', in which he guards a tiny bridge over a small stream and fights [[King Arthur]], who wants to pass it; although a brave and skilled swordfighter, he is defeated by Arthur, who is soon bewildered by the knight's staunch refusal to admit his obvious defeat. He also appears in the musical ''[[Spamalot]]'', in which [[Christopher Sieber]] premiered the role in 2005.

==Overview==
In the film, King Arthur ([[Graham Chapman]]), accompanied by his squire Patsy ([[Terry Gilliam]]), is travelling through a forest when he observes a fight taking place between the [[Black Knight (Arthurian legend)|Black Knight]] ([[John Cleese]]) and a [[Green Knight]] (also played by Gilliam) by a bridge over a small stream. The Black Knight defeats the Green one by throwing his sword straight through the eye slit of the Green Knight's [[great helm]].

Arthur congratulates the Black Knight and offers him a place at his court at the [[Round Table]], but the Black Knight makes no response until Arthur moves to cross the bridge (in reality a small plank of wood). The Black Knight moves slightly to block Arthur and declares "None shall pass". King Arthur objects, and the Black Knight threatens Arthur with death.

Reluctantly, King Arthur fights the Black Knight and, after a short battle, the Knight's left arm is severed, and squirts out copious amounts of blood. The Knight refuses to stand aside, insisting "'Tis but a scratch", and fights on. Next, his right arm is cut off, but the Knight still does not concede. As the Knight is disarmed, Arthur assumes the fight is over and kneels to pray. The Black Knight interrupts Arthur's prayer by kicking him in the side of the head and accusing him of cowardice.  Arthur chops off the Black Knight's right leg. At this point, Arthur has lost all of his respect for the Knight, yet he still will not admit defeat, and attempts to ram his body into Arthur's. Arthur is annoyed and sarcastically asks the Black Knight if he is going to bleed on him to win. With an air of resignation, Arthur finally cuts off the left leg as well. With the Black Knight now reduced to a simple torso with a head, he declares the fight a draw. Arthur then summons Patsy and "rides" away, leaving the Black Knight's limbless torso screaming threats at him with a cracking voice.

==Behind the scenes==
According to the DVD audio commentary by [[John Cleese|Cleese]], [[Michael Palin]], and [[Eric Idle]], the sequence originated in a story told to Cleese when he was attending an English class during his school days. Two Roman wrestlers were engaged in a particularly intense match and had been fighting for so long that the two combatants were doing little more than leaning into one another. It was only when one wrestler finally tapped out and pulled away from his opponent that he and the crowd realised the other man was, in fact, dead and had effectively won the match posthumously. The moral of the tale, according to Cleese's teacher, was "if you never give up, you can't possibly lose" – a statement that, Cleese reflected, always struck him as being "philosophically unsound".<ref>{{cite web |title=John Cleese on the Black Knight and Douglas Adams' High Heels |url=https://www.wired.com/2014/11/geeks-guide-john-cleese/ |website=Wired.com |accessdate=22 August 2020 |date=8 November 2014}}</ref> The story would have been a deformed (or misremembered) description of the death of the Greek wrestler [[Arrhichion|Arrhichion of Phigalia]].{{citation needed|date=September 2020}}

Cleese said that the scene would seem heartless and sadistic except for the fact that the Black Knight shows no pain and just keeps on fighting, or trying to, however badly he is wounded. Also, as the scene progresses and Arthur becomes increasingly annoyed, his dialogue lapses from medieval ("You are indeed brave, Sir Knight, but the fight is mine.") to modern ("Look, you stupid bastard, you've got no arms left!"), and finally to just plain sarcastic ("What are you gonna do, bleed on me?"), while the Black Knight remains just as defiant ("I'm invincible!" he yells with only one leg left, to which Arthur simply replies "You're a loony.").

This scene is one of the best-known of the entire film. A famous line of the scene, "'Tis but a scratch", is similar to a line the character [[Mercutio]] speaks in [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]'s ''[[Romeo and Juliet]]'', wherein he demurs, saying "Ay, ay, a scratch, a scratch", referring to his mortal wound, and the former has since become an expression used to comment on someone who ignores a fatal flaw or problem. The phrase "'Tis but a flesh wound", following a character entering "with coconut shells tied to his feet", notably appeared in an early episode of ''[[The Goon Show]]'' titled "The Giant Bombardon", broadcast in 1954; the [[Monty Python]] group has acknowledged being influenced by the Goons.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thegoonshow.net/scripts_show.asp?title=svge04_the_giant_bombardon|title=The Goon Show Site - Script - the Giant Bombardon (Vintage Goons Series, Episode 4)|access-date=16 October 2009|archive-date=6 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506003458/http://www.thegoonshow.net/scripts_show.asp?title=svge04_the_giant_bombardon|url-status=usurped }}</ref> A humorous reference to a potentially mortal injury being a "flesh wound" also appeared in the 1940 [[screwball comedy]] ''[[His Girl Friday]]'', in response to a maid being reported shot by a sheriff's deputy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/HisGirlFriday-1940|title=Internet Archive: His Girl Friday - 1940}}</ref>

===Performance difficulty===
The Knight was, in fact, played by two actors: John Cleese is in the Knight's armour until he is down to one leg. The Knight is then played by a real one-legged man, a local by the name of Richard Burton,<ref>{{IMDb name|1907034|Richard Burton (IX)}}</ref> a blacksmith who lived near the film shoot (not to be confused with [[Richard Burton]], the Welsh actor of the same name), because, according to the DVD commentary, Cleese could not balance well on one leg. After the Knight's remaining leg is cut off, the quadruple-amputee that remains is again Cleese.

In the musical ''[[Spamalot]]'', the scene with the Black Knight was the most difficult to play on stage, according to Eric Idle. [[Penn & Teller]] created the illusion for the musical.<ref>Interview with Eric Idle in [[HUMO]] 3691, May 2011</ref>

==See also==
* [[Pas d'armes]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhRUe-gz690 The original scene on YouTube, via the official Monty Python channel]

{{Monty Python and the Holy Grail}}

[[Category:Arthurian characters]]
[[Category:Fictional amputees]]
[[Category:Fictional swordfighters in films]]
[[Category:Film characters introduced in 1975]]
[[Category:Fictional knights]]
[[Category:Monty Python and the Holy Grail]]
[[Category:Monty Python characters]]
[[Category:Comedy film characters]]