Warrior
A
warrior is a person habitually engaged in
warfare. In
tribal societies engaging in
endemic warfare, warriors often form a
caste or class of their own. In
feudalism, the
vassals essentially form a military or warrior class, even if in actual warfare, peasants may be called to fight as well. In some societies, warfare may be so central that the entire people (or, more often, the male population) may be considered warriors, for example the
Māori or
Germanic tribes.
Professional warriors are people who are paid money for engaging in military campaigns and fall into one of two categories:
Soldiers; when fighting on behalf of their own
state, or
mercenaries; when offering their services commercially and unrelated to their own nationality. The classification of somebody who is involved in acts of violence may be a matter of perspective, and there may be disagreement whether a given person is a
hooligan, a
gangster, a
terrorist, a
rebel, a
freedom fighter, a
mercenary or a
soldier.
In
1937 Georges Dumézil famously speculated that
Proto-Indo-European society was composed of a priestly class, a warrior class, and a class of commoners or peasants. In contemporary
Jungian psychology, the warrior is often seen as a key
archetype of
masculinity.
In many societies in which a specialized warrior class exists, specific codes of behavior (
ethical codes) are instituted in order to ensure that the warrior class is not dangerous to the rest of society. Warrior codes often have common features and usually value
loyalty,
courage, and
honor. Examples include the codes
bushido and
chivalry.
King, Warrior, Magican, Lover: Rediscovering the Archetypes of the Mature Masculine by Robert Moore and Douglass Gillette (San Francisco: Harper, 1990).
*
Amazons*
Ashigaru*
Berserker*
Cheema*
Dog soldier*
Eagle warrior*
Ghazw*
Gladiator*
Hersir*
Hoplite*
Hwarang*
Impi*
Jatt*
Jaguar warrior*
Janissary*
Knight*
Kshatriya*
Ansar*
Ninja*
Odin Brotherhood*
Phalangite*
Pirates*
Pronoia*
Rajput*
Ronin*
Sacred Band of Carthage*
Samurai*
Shieldmaiden*
Spahi*
Sohei*
Timariots*
Uhlan*
Valkyries*
Viking*
Xia*
Yamabushi
