Dark Knight

Dark Knight is a special Job that appears in several games in the series. The Dark Knight is characterized by wearing black armor and wielding a sword powered by evil. Their physical stats are usually high, but their other stats depend on the game they appear in.

Notable Dark Knights include Cecil Harvey of Final Fantasy IV (for a portion of the game, until he becomes a Paladin) and Gaff Gafgarion of Final Fantasy Tactics. Aldebert Steiner of Final Fantasy IX has access to Dark Knight abilities, although he is simply classified as a Knight.

Final Fantasy II
Leon becomes a Dark Knight, although there is no associated special ability.

Final Fantasy III
In the DS version, The Magic Knight is now a Dark Knight. In addition to Souleater, weapons used by the Dark Knight prevent certain enemies from multiplying

Final Fantasy IV
Cecil starts as a Dark Knight. His Dark Wave ability hits all enemies at the cost of doing damage to himself as well. His dark swords also heal undead monsters when he attacks.

Final Fantasy Tactics
Gafgarion has Night Sword, which drains HP from enemies, and Dark Sword, which drains MP from enemies.

Final Fantasy X-2
Available as a Dressphere. In addition to darkness and self-damaging skills, they use a number of status-inflicting spells like Bio and Death.

Final Fantasy XI
In Final Fantasy XI, Dark Knight is one of the Advanced Jobs available to players once they reach level 30. The quest for Dark Knight involves traveling to Bastok and then walking to Palborough Mines. Inside the mines, which are controlled by Quadavs, the player must find a boat and take an underground river to see Zied, the most notable and famous Galka Dark Knight and champion of Bastok.

Zied grants the player a great sword which he must slay 100 creature, but after performing this time consuming and tedious quest, the character earns the right to level as a Dark Knight. In Final Fantasy XI, Dark Knights have their best weapon rating in Scythe, though they are also the best users of Great Swords and formidable users of Great Axes and single handed axes.

Dark Knights are granted access to a unique line of Absorb spells. They siphon, or take away an ability from an enemy and add it to the Dark Knight’s. These are used for all of the 7 major stats present in the game; Strength, Vitality, Dexterity, Agility, Mind, Intelligence, and Charisma. They also have access to spells like Drain and Aspir, which are also useable by Black Mages.

Dark Knights excel at heavy physical damage, though by no means are they the best in the game at this, and debilitating magical attacks to hamper and weaken the enemy. Though they can wear heavy armor, they are generally quick to die if attacked, especially when using Last Resort or Soul Eater which sacrifices defense for greater attack abilities.