Magic Knights

The Magic Knights (魔法騎士) are members of the Clover Kingdom's nine squads of mages who serve as protectors of the country. They are led by the Wizard King.

Overview
The Clover Kingdom's Magic Knights are an organization where selected mages enter and become part of the Kingdom's military as a Magic Knight. The organization has a noble duty, protecting the Kingdom from various threats, such as invasions from foreign countries, to local crimes within the Kingdom itself. These duties are treated as missions which can be accomplished by any Magic Knights, where they could nominate themselves for the duty, or be nominated by a higher ranked Magic Knight.

Due to the Magic Knights' duties, which are focused on combat-based missions, members of the Magic Knights must possess a high amount of magic power and be well-versed in combat. Thus, membership and leadership of the Magic Knights are dominated by the nobility of the Clover Kingdom, because they often produce mages with high magical powers and talents. However, this fact does not hinder commoners of lesser status to enter the organization, as the Magic Knights arrange an annual Magic Knights Entrance Exam, in which everyone could participate for a chance to be inducted into one of the Magic Knights' squads. Royals are exempt from the exam since they typically join their families' respective squads; they can, however, choose from the other squads and have their relatives vouch for them.

Although the Magic Knights are seen as heroes by almost all of Clover's inhabitant, many become Magic Knights seeking only personal achievement and glories, as noted by Julius Novachrono. Nobles become Magic Knights just to feed their own ego, and many commoners seek to become Magic Knights just to get money and live an easy life and are not motivated by a genuine desire to protect people. Due to this, many Magic Knights abuse their status and authority for their own benefit, sometimes being even more dangerous to Clover's citizens than the criminals themselves. A good example of this can be seen with Zara Ideale, who, although he was a great man who prioritized the protection of civilians above his own glory, was betrayed and killed by his own squadmates, simply for being a peasant and for acting like a true Magic Knight. His son, Zora Ideale, has also witnessed several times how corrupt the Magic Knights really are, many of them not giving a damn about the safety of the people, especially the commoners. However, there are still many Magic Knights who are truly honorable and noble, who seek above all else to protect their country and its people.

Merits
The Wizard King awards gold stars to individual Magic Knights and teams of Knights who have demonstrated exceptional performance in the field. Black stars are awarded for failed missions or poor performances, such as damaging towns they were meant to defend, and count against the squad's total. The number of stars awarded for a mission depends on the difficulty or significance of the accomplishment. These stars, regardless of which squad member earned them, serve as a means to measure the strength of the squad as a whole. Additionally, at the end of the year period, which is determined as the beginning of April until the end of March of the following year, the Star Awards Festival is held to celebrate their achievements and determine the best squad based on which squad has the most stars.

Furthermore, being a Magic Knight is considered as an occupation by the Kingdom. Thus, every Magic Knight receives a salary on a regular basis, which is usually distributed by captains of their respective squads.

Ranks
Members of the Magic Knights are differentiated through ranks, which represent their status within the organizations. A promotion to a higher rank is possible for every Magic Knight based on their performance, which is represented by the number of stars they had collected. Knights who are aiming to get a promotion need to collect a certain number of stars before the annual War Merits Conferment Ceremony to be considered for a promotion.

The Magic Knights' ranks are as follows:


 * 1) Wizard King (魔法帝)
 * 2) Grand Magic Knight (大魔法騎士)
 * 3) Senior Magic Knight (上級魔法騎士)
 * 4) Intermediate Magic Knight (中級魔法騎士)
 * 5) Junior Magic Knight (下級魔法騎士)

The leader of the Magic Knights, the Wizard King, is the highest rank in the organization. Below the Wizard King status, members of the Magic Knights are divided into four other ranks, each of which (with the notable exception of Grand Magic Knight) is further divided into five classes, with the 1st class as the highest and the 5th class as the lowest.

Squads
Members of the Magic Knights are divided into nine different squads, each of which is led by a Magic Knight that has been bestowed authority as the captain (団長) of the squad. These captains have broad authority within their respective squads and over the recruitment of new members. Each squad possesses their own insignia in correspondence to the squad's name, as well as signature robes that easily differentiate members of one squad from another. Upon taking over, a new captain is allowed to change part of the squad's name and insignia.

Additionally, all squads compete with one another in order to see which squads are the best. The ranks are determined by the cumulative amount of stars that the members of a squad have collected as a whole.

The nine squads of the Magic Knights are as follows:

Royal Castle Knights
The Royal Castle Knights (王城騎士隊) are a special group of Magic Knights tasked with protecting the front gates of Clover Castle. It is composed of Knights from the Crimson Lion and Silver Eagle squads.

Royal Knights
The Royal Knights are an elite squad of Magic Knights specially chosen by Augustus Kira Clover XIII. Their singular mission is to attack and defeat the Eye of the Midnight Sun.

Notable Events

 * Magic Knights Entrance Exam (魔法騎士団入団試験): As noted above, the entrance exam is an event that the Magic Knights Squads organize to select potential recruits for the organization. The exam is open to all mages across the Clover Kingdom, regardless of their social statuses. During this event, all nine captains are in attendance to observe the participants, as they would personally select the new recruits whom they wish to induct to their ranks.


 * War Merits Conferment Ceremony (戦功叙勲式): As mentioned above, the ceremony is an annual event where Knights with high achievements are promoted to a higher rank and decorated with a medal. In order to participate in this ceremony, every Knight must collect a specific number of stars of excellence before the ceremonial date.


 * Star Awards Festival (星果祭): As noted above, the festival is an annual event where Knights and citizens alike celebrate the accomplishments that the Magic Knights have achieved during the one-year period from March to April of the following year. At the end, an announcement ceremony is held to determine the squad with the highest number accumulated stars, which will be awarded as the best squad of the year.

Members
Golden Dawn=

Black Bull=

Silver Eagle=

Blue Rose=

Crimson Lion=

Green Mantis=

Coral Peacock=

Purple Orca=

Aqua Deer=

White Serpent=

Base of Operations
The main headquarters of the Magic Knights lies within the Clover Kingdom's Royal Capital. Each squad has their own base, which are spread out in various locations.

Trivia

 * If a captain feels that they are no longer right for the position, then they have the right to step down and choose their successor.
 * The Black Bulls and Golden Dawn are the youngest squads as they were created at the same time, just a few years before the start of the series, this could mean that before, there were only seven squads or less in the Magic Knights.
 * The 27th Wizard King, Conrad Leto was captain of the White Serpent squad. It is unknown what happened to this squad since then.

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