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Drawing of a Thracian peltast of 400 BC

The warrior goddess Athena - Musée du Louvre

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 large parts of the male population) may be considered warriors, for example in the Iron Age Germanic tribes or the Medieval Rajputs.

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, gangster, terrorist, rebel, freedom fighter, mercenary or a soldier.

Some societies have had a privileged social class or caste with special responsibility for warfare. This class could be hereditary or qualified. See also nobility.

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. The Indian society was based on these lines, composing of the Brahmins (priests), the Kshatriya (warriors), the Vaishya (business class) and the Shudras (servants). In contemporary Jungian psychology, the warrior is often seen as a key archetype of masculinity.

Main article: Warrior code

In many societies in which a specialized warrior class exists, specific codes of conduct (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 honour in the forms of faith, loyalty and courage. Examples include the medieval knights' code of chivalry, the Kshatriya code of Dharma in India and Japanese samurai Bushido. See also noblesse oblige.

A warrior culture is a civilization that heavily emphasizes battle and war and greatly prizes feats of arms. Warrior cultures often incorporate a cult of personality around military leaders.

Examples of societies in history that could be designated as warrior cultures include:

• Afghan or Pashtoon
• Anglo-saxons
• Arumer Black Heap under Pier Gerlofs Donia, Frisia
• Aztecs
• Barbadian
• Caribs
• Celts
• Chekavar from Kerala, India
• Cossack
• Crimean Tatars
• Dani people
• Germanic Peoples
• Haida
• Jurchen
• Kapu (caste) clans like Telaga/Ontari/Naidu
• Kshatriyas from India
• Maori
• Maratha clan system
• Masai
• Mongols under Genghis Khan
• Mukkulathor - Kallar, Maravar, Agamudaiyaar from South India
• Nairs from Kerala, India
• Nihang or Akali
• Perbun
• Rajput
• Scythians
• Sambal people of the Philippines
• Samurai
• Sparta
• Tuareg
• Vikings
• Yanomami
• The Zulu under Shaka

Feudal societies are not always warrior cultures, since though feats of arms are prized there is not necessarily an emphasis on battle and war. In some feudal societies, the soldiery was provided through conscription of the peasant class.

Main article: History of women in the military

Further information: List of women warriors in folklore, literature, and popular culture

Since Eurypyle, Deborah and Vishpala, there have been references to female warriors throughout history, until modern times mostly noted as an exception or a curiosity, and often crossdressing. One example of a group of fighting women is the mythical legend of the Amazons. Today, women are recruited to serve in the military in most countries, while only a few countries permit women to fill active combat roles, including Sweden, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway and Switzerland.

• Shannon E. French, Code of the Warrior - Exploring Warrior Values Past and Present (2003).