In the mood for one at the moment.
More detailed statement of the question: what games are there where one of the following statements is true?
* The prespecified lead main character is a knight/paladin/crusader or other heavily-armored character, who is female.
* The lead main character must be of that class has a choice of gender.
* The lead main character must be female but has a choice of class.
* the lead main character's character class and gender are up to the player's choice and includes a combination that can produce a knight/paladin of some sort who is female.
Off the top of my head, I can think of Etrian Odyssey, where I can pick the character's gender based on their portrait (it's otherwise unimportant) and one of the classes is Protector, which functions largely in this role.
There's also Dragon Age: Origins, where I think you can pick the warrior class and create a female character (though last time I played I created a rogue).
You can pick gender for most classes in Nethack, including Knight, and you can also play a Valkyrie (who is always female, unless you find and use an Amulet of Change in the course of a playthrough).
A witch disguises herself as a paladin in the Ragnarok Online anime series, and presumably you can just play that combination in the MMO itself. Heck, a lot of MMOs probably qualify -- Eden Eternal certainly does, based on what i remember.
All of these examples I've thought of so far treat character class and/or gender as a relatively generic choice, though. DAO might be an exception since by my understanding your choice of class determines your storyline, but I'm not sure what effect your choice of gender has.
Final Fantasy VI does offer Terra who can use swords and armor but she fills a role more akin to a red mage (going by traditional FF class names) than a knight/paladin role, though I think you can kinda give her that role by equipping her with a relic that gives users the ability to take damage for others, and then also giving her healing magic. (I forget if she can equip that relic.)
I'm wondering how Valkyrie Profile plays. I haven't played it myself.
Comments
For JRPGs (that I have played and came to mind quickly), Fire Emblem Awakening/Fates and Fantasy Life. Also Celes is probably closer to the mark than Terra and she is arguably the main character for some parts of FF6.
She can also be an archer if you wish, making her the only character with more than one role, and the only archer who's not a wimp.
NIBELUNG VALESTI!
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead
Assassin poems, Poems that shoot
guns. Poems that wrestle cops into alleys
and take their weapons leaving them dead