I think Dark Knight Cecil with shields refers to the fact that he could equip shields, though they weren't visible unless you played the DS remake of IV.

But yarr, Gladiator would definitely need to be redesigned if it was made to accommodate for Dark Knight. Just Circle of Scorn would look dumb on it, honestly.

"Fear my vaguely inappropriate habits of blood sacrifice and dark magic! Ooh, shiny rays of light."