The Deathknight's history is relatively unconfirmed for its existence prior to the Soltan Star Empire's Invasion of Earth in 2000, however, obscure documents, reports and ancient lore provide some insight into the being that is the Deathknight.

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Word-of-mouth stories and lore state that the Deathknight was once a knight of the Knights Arcanus over 1000 years ago.  Back then, the magical sect that controlled the Knights Arcanus, a 'conglomerate' of various schools of magic back in those days (and even so today!*), had a representative from their Death magic school as part of one of the knights.  Sadly, after a decade in the Knights Arcanus, it is believed that when the Death magic school was expelled from the conglomerate's order, the knight went back with his original Death school group.  If was rumored that the knight fought with the Death school's grandmaster of magic constantly, requesting his return to the Knights Arcanus.  Instead, it is believed the Death school grandmaster used necromancer magics on the knight, as well as several other dark magic spells, making the ex-Knights Arcanus knight into what was later dubbed "The Deathknight"; a being controlled by the Death school of magic's grandmaster as a bodyguard and enforcer of the grandmaster's will.  Eventually, the grandmaster died, but before he did, it is believed that in order to prevent anyone else from taking control of 'his' creation, he tied its existence to a spiritual, wraith-like state; a state that could only form when called on for no more than an hour at a time. Nonetheless, having the Deathknight under one's control was a massive advantage in any situation.  Its wraith-like state, powerful pole axe weapon and its 'battle rage' ability made it a weapon of unequal caliber.

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Over the centuries, the Deathknight was used and abused by nearly every follow-on Death school grandmaster.  As such, it became a standard for the grandmaster to be the only one who had access to controlling the Deathknight, even if that time was only for an hour.  When it was called upon, whatever tasking the grandmaster gave to the Deathknight, it was forced to obey.  It became a traditional process to turn over the ring that the Deathknight's spirit was imbued into as part of formal ceremonies for incoming new grandmasters.  Usually within the first week of a grandmaster's reign, the Deathknight would be summoned to perform at least one task for the new grandmaster; the task usually resulted in getting rid of old enemies or killing non-magical people who were hounding or threatening their Death school populace or bases of operation.  As such, the Deathknight was seen as the legendary "Grim Reaper" of mythical lore since it always showed up before prominent or powerful people were found dead.  This series of traditions continued on until the 1990s when the last great grandmaster of the Death school, Damien Damalos, broke with tradition and instead asked the Deathknight what IT wanted.  The Deathknight was rumored to have said that it either wanted a true warrior's final death or in lieu thereof, its return to the Knights Arcanus.  The grandmaster was said to have agreed that upon his, the grandmaster's, death that the Deathknight would be released to either perform in its warrior's death or be released to the Knights Arcanus - or both.  all pending on whether the Deathknight would work 'past' its agitated and cursed control and instead become a true champion for the Death school covens; a role that the Deathknight was believed to have always wanted since it was a living knight over 1000 years before.  In a rare display of uncommanded complicity, the Deathknight began to act as a guardian for the predominant Death school located in Mexico City, the location where Damien Damalos operated from.  There, the Deathknight independently saved several of its Mexico City order from marauding anti-Death school religious zealots and even saved Damien's life from an internal coupe.  Ever since their initial conversation in 1991 the grandmaster never asked the Deathknight for anything else - except for one particular last request; the grandmaster's request for the Deathknight to save their Death magic school from the invading Soltan Star Empire during the Soltan Invasion of 2000.

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In January of 2000, the Soltan Star Empire invaded Earth.  As part of its initial 'blitzkrieg'-style attack on Earth, the Soltan targets attacked magical school locations all across Earth; even the unofficial and secretive locations where Death magic schools had remained hidden from the rest of the Conglomerate.  In Mexico City, the largest secretive Death School location, with over 2500 followers, was immediately attacked and nearly decimated within an hour of the start of Earth's invasion.  Damien Damalos, Death school's grandmaster, fought for nearly 1/2 hour before his wounds and fatigue began to take him.  That is when he called upon the Deathknight.  When the Deathknight was awakened, it saw the carnage before it and, unlike any time over the last four centuries, it immediately went into its battle rage.   It plowed through Soltan troops like a Tasmanian Devil; Soltan troop bodies sliced into pieces; body parts flying into the air...Soltan blood everywhere.  Thousands of Soltan troops were sent in to fight the Deathknight; all that were sent...failed.  Sadly, nearly 90% of the world's practitioners of Death school magics died by the hands of the Soltans.  Mexico City was a major battleground by the Soltans.  Tens of thousands of Soltan troops poured down into the city destroying everything and anything in their path.  The only super-powered defenders of the city that day were Damien Damalos and the Deathknight. The grandmaster eventually collapsed from exhaustion during the Mexico City invasion.

 

In an unprecedented display of loyalty, the Deathknight raced to the grandmaster's unconscious body and fought off the Soltan hordes from killing Damien. Although the Deathknight had never been seen fighting for more than an hour ever over the last several centuries, it continued to fight for hours...and days...later.  The Deathknight fought protecting the grandmaster's wounded body, all the while the grandmaster's state of health continued to deteriorate.  That's when an unlikely providence befell the Deathknight - the 20th Formation of the Knights Arcanus arrived to save the day.

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As a result of the Soltan Invasion and its targeted decimation of magic users and their base of operations, the Knights Arcanus reformed for the first time in nearly 100 years...but not as a sanctioned, official order.  The Conglomerate of elders that, to that point, controlled when and if the the Knights Arcanus was to ever reform again, was usurped by a strong-willed Citadel Master at Arms who took it upon himself to reform the knights in lieu of the elders authorization.  Agitated over the unauthorized forming, the elders instead demanded the knights stay and protect their secretive underground conglomerate magical city, thus leaving tens of thousands of other unprotected magic users to the fate of the Soltans.  The Master at Arms and the Knights' new self-appointed leader, now calling himself the Samhain Knight, ignored the conglomerate's orders and instead raced off to other prominent magical school locations to do what could be done to fight the Soltans in the rest of the world. 

 

After the first two days of the Knights' battles, the unsanctioned knights of the new Knights Arcanus arrived in Mexico City to fight the enormous invasion force that had taken the city.  Although the school of Death Magic was considered banned from the conglomerate for the last 1000 years, Samhain Knight still rode to their rescue regardless of the chagrin of the Conglomerate's elders.  Upon arriving, the Knights Arcanus fought the few couple hundred remaining Soltan soldiers left (for which the Deathknight had been fighting) until the next wave of Soltan reinforcements was to arrive.  The Knights Arcanus dove into the battle alongside the Deathknight as if they'd fought together for years past.  In mere minutes, the remaining Soltan troops were decimated.  Samhain Knight and his fellow knights took Damien Damalos and several surviving Death school mages from Mexico City's invasion and took them to a safe, shielded location called "The Hacienda"; a location that would eventually become the Knights Arcanus base of operations.

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Sadly, the Death school grandmaster, Damien Damalos, died of his injuries hours after his rescue.  Before he died, he awoke long enough to thank Samhain Knight for his bold and valorous actions, asking him to continue the 'true' duty of the Knights Arcanus and protect 'all' magic users...including those of the exiled Death school of magic.  Samhain Knight swore to the grandmaster it would be so.  With his last words, the Grandmaster uttered to the Deathknight that its release would be to the Knights Arcanus...where it would eventually find its warrior's death...free of a grandmaster's control and free to live in its current state, or die its desired warrior's death amidst the Knights Arcanus.  It was said that tears of blood fell from the Deathknight onto the grandmaster's body once Damien Damalos breathed his final breath.

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Since there was no place to properly bury Damien Damalos, Samhain Knight has the Death school grandmaster interred upon the Hacienda's estate.  Although a few ardent supporters and staff of the knights were not happy with this, all of the remaining living Death school practitioners considered Samhain Knight's act as one of the most noble acts in magical history in centuries.  As such, Samhain Knight's actions allowed the remnants of the Death school covens to reform and take their battle to the Soltans. At Damien's burial site, the Deathknight stood watch over Damien's grave, day and night, for over a month...unmoving; unresponsive.  Eventually, Samhain Knight began to converse plainly with the Deathknight, stating that the Knights Arcanus could use its help...IF it acted as a knight...and not like a dishonorable ghoul.  The Deathknight reacted with anger, shrieks and displays of property damage, to which Samhain Knight stood firm and told it that it would 'never' gain a proper warrior's death unless it first started acting like a true knight of the Knights Arcanus.  The Deathknight streaked away into the night in a torrent of howling anger and rage, disappearing into the fog, leaving Samhain Knight alone at the grandmaster's grave.  For the first time since the grandmaster had been buried, the Deathknight would not be there to watch over Damien's grave.

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Days later, the Knights Arcanus were in a extraordinary battle with the Soltans, taking down Magical Siphoning Towers erected by the Soltans to drain Earth of all of its magical energies.  As the knights fought bravely, their numbers began to dwindle.  Finally, Samhain Knight was the only knight left standing; fighting with the fury of a wolverine, he continued fighting even though he had nothing left in him.  As a Soltan Commander was about to deliver Samhain Knight's deathblow, the Deathknight arrived.  It saved Samhain Knight and slaughtered hundreds of Soltan soldiers in its wake. 

 

After the battle, the Deathknigt transported each knight to safety and then went to the Siphoning Tower and destroyed the entire structure in a rage of blind fury. As the tower fell, the Deathknight emerged from the dust and debris, advancing unto Samhain Knight's location.  There, the Deathknight asked Samhain Knight if what was just witnessed 'valiant' enough for he and his knights to accept, to which Samhain Knight simply stated, 'it's a start, my friend'. 

 

From thereon, the Deathknight fought alongside the Knights Arcanus, free of the ring that once controlled it (the ring was buried with the grandmaster), and free of its one-hour only conjurations.  It was also, for the first time in centuries, allowed to think and respond for itself.  Sadly, after centuries of its exposure to the dark magics that created and controlled it, the Deathknight could not remember much of who or what it was before it became a Deathknight.  As such, the Deathknight began to make its own unique 'quirky' if not 'creepy' new personality.

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After the Soltan Star Empire retreated from their invasion of Earth several months after the initial invasion, the Knights Arcanus were forced to account for their 'wartime' actions and insolence to the Conglomerate elders.  The Deathknight's existence with the Knights Arcanus was considered not only deplorable but a heinous act.  As such, when told to banish the Deathknight from the Knights Arcanus, Samhain Knight refused (as well as refusing several other 'demands' of the elders).  As such, the Knights Arcanus formation was considered illegal, and as such, prompted a death penalty to any knight who dared to return to any lands or properties help by the Conglomerate.  Luckily, The Hacienda was NOT conglomerate property.  Sadly, though, the knights were disavowed and disgraced.  Samhain Knight instead vowed to continue his duties in not only protecting the magic users of the world, but also the non-magical users of the world in a hope that one day, the secretive society of the Conglomerate would finally start fully integrating with humanity once and for all, taking in and allowing the great diversity that humanity now readily accepted.

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Today, Deathknight continues its self-made choice of remaining and fighting beside his fellow knights in the Knights Arcanus.  It still, at times, watches over the grave of Damien Damalos, but over the last several months, it has also been seen watching over Samhain Knight as he sleeps...

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