Swashbuckler

A swashbuckler is an heroic archetype in European adventure literature that is typified by the use of a sword and chivalric ideals. The archetype also became common as a film genre.

A 'swashbuckler' is a protagonist who is heroic and idealistic: he rescues damsels in distress, defends the downtrodden, and in general saves the day. Swashbucklers are not unrepentant brigands or pirates, although some may rise from such disreputable stations in redemption. His opponent is typically characterized as the dastardly villain. There is a long list of swashbucklers who combine outstanding courage, swordfighting skill, resourcefulness, and a distinctive sense of honor and justice, as for example Cyrano de Bergerac, The Three Musketeers, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Robin Hood, and Zorro.

"Swashbuckler" is a compound of "swash" (archaic: to swagger with a drawn sword) and "buckler" (a small-shield gripped in the fist) dating from the 16th century. While men at arms and sellswords of the era usually wore armor of necessity, their counterparts in later romantic literature and film (see below) often did not, and the term evolved to denote a daring, devil-may-care demeanor rather than brandishment of accoutrements of war, and modern "swashbuckling" heroes might not carry swords at all.

Swashbuckling adventures and romances are generally set in Europe from the late Renaissance up through the Age of Reason and the Napoleonic Wars, extending into the colonial era with pirate tales in the Caribbean. The larger-than-life heroics portrayed in some film franchise adventures (most notably the Indiana Jones movies) set in the modern era have been described as swashbuckling.

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