White knight
| “ | Isn't there a white knight upon his fiery steed? | ” |
| Chris, CWC Music Video Holding Out For a Hero | ||
White knight is a term used to describe someone who goes on the internet to defend someone else on the internet more out of self-interest than actual compassion. Regarding Christian Weston Chandler, the term is more loosely applied to any troll perceived as trying to defend or help Chris-chan, for any reason. White knighting of Chris is especially prevalent because of the unprecedented amount of abuse he has taken, which in turn is caused by Chris's total inability to heed the white knights in his life.
A meta-topic within the broader Chris-chan saga has been the merits of attempting to help Chris stop being such an epic lulzcow, and whether he is deserving or even beyond such assistance. The consensus on forums such as the talk page for Chris's Encyclopedia Dramatica article, /cwc/, and #sonichu is that Chris's racism, homophobia, and narcissism makes him beneath contempt; and that he has consistently refused to take advice given to him on good faith. White knights are considered to be wasting everyone's time and these forums have little patience for them.
Motives of white knights
Pity
Chris was generally thought to have been Asking For It throughout his edit war with Encyclopedia Dramatica. This began to change following the 11 September 2008 release of his first nude photos and the 21 October 2008 video in which he reacted to the loss his medallions and Blanca. Many had not expected it to be possible for him to be trolled so hard or for him to be so completely shattered.
It should be noted, however, that Chris managed to fully recover from both of these events and proceed to fail even harder for months. Chris is not so stupid that he cannot learn from his mistakes; he just selectively refuses to learn from those mistakes involving blind optimism that he can obtain sex and fame.
Empathy
The internet is full of autistic people, man-children, and self-absorbed morons, many of which are right here, fascinated with Chris-chan. All of them see something of themselves in him, whether it's his all-consuming need for female companionship or his fervent belief that his homemade comics matter. A lot of white knights have made at least some of the mistakes Chris has made and have since wised up; they think they can reason with Chris by speaking from experience.
This will not work, because Chris (either due to autism or some other psychological factor) is completely incapable of empathy. Chris cannot put himself in your shoes or accept that you have been where he is. If you used to be as shy around women as he is today, the fact that you aren't shy anymore makes your experience inapplicable to his situation in his mind. To Chris, the fact you got over it and he hasn't yet makes the two cases entirely different. He doesn't want to solve his problems by trying what worked for you, he only wants you to pity him for having problems, until he magically dreams up his own solution.
Counter-trolling
Some seek to take Chris's side to spite his trolls. Some do this because trolling a gullible idiot is less satisfying than trolling trolls. Others have decided that Chris-chan has jumped the shark and are trying to make everyone else leave him alone to put a stop to an old meme. Notable counter-trolls include Svenka and Robert Simmons V.
Despite these efforts, the trolling of Chris will likely never cease, because Chris insists upon revealing the most embarrassingly personal details of his life to everyone he meets. If everyone trying to create his next fake sweetheart suddenly got bored and quit, Chris would unwittingly seek out new trolls to take their place. Unless someone is assigned to serve as his custodian after his parents die, his story will probably end when he falls victim to some con artist who swindles him out of his monthly tugboat. There is no endgame in which Chris will be free from trolls.