NPC creation assistance

[Windstorm]

I have been writing a setting for close to a year now, and am finally coming around to actually statblocking the various important personages in charge of the various orders/guilds/nations/organizations/churches. most of these have been pretty straightforward, however this particular NPC has me torn between several different routes and looking for inspiration, so I submit this to you in hopes you might be able to give me advice on what to use to make it work.

Background, spoilered incase my players run across the thread
Name is Tondal Argeris, 1st member of the celestial council of illumination, and about the closest thing to pure Lawful Good that exists on the material plane at the moment. He is Heironeous' favored champion at this time, but is not "lawful stupid"
so the dilemma is what to use to represent such a powerful martial character, while at the same time keeping the feeling/flavor of being a deity's favored champion.

Score set is Elite array, Human, Half-celestial template with buyoff allowed, 20th level. I'd like to stick to 20th level NPC wealth total, however given his prominence in the setting its not a hard and fast thing. allowed sources are all official WoTC 3.5 material excepting campaign setting books.

what are your recommendations? favored soul? paladin/something? crusader I had thought of but it just doesn't feel quite right. I have no idea if he will or will not ever fight a player, as the party is unknown at this time.

[Falcon X]

When it comes to Crusader, it's mostly an improved paladin with versatility.
If you care about him being awesome, go Crusader. If you just want flavor, go Paladin.

Well, of course there is Shining Blade of Heironeous from Complete Divine. It's kind've a step down from a cleric, but it would make a cleric that feels like a Paladin.
How about Healer 8 (With Sanctified Spells from BoED)/Marshal or Crusader 2/Shining Blade 10.
Power-wise, it would be only about as useful as a 20th level Paladin. But it's a lot more flavorful. And if it's an NPC, then who cares if it's well built.
It would be looking at a BAB 15, 7th Level Healer and Sanctified spells, Unicorn Companion, Brilliant Blade 6/day, a bunch of cleansing and healing boosts, and the supplement from Crusader or Marshal.
If you don't care about Healing, you can do 8 levels of Ranger with Cityscape's Alternative Class Features instead of Healer.

Other ideas are:
Devoted Tracker Feat= Paladin/Ranger synergy
Ascetic Knight Feat=Paladin/Monk synergy
Knight of the Chalice prestige= A fiend-slayer paladin
Pious Templar= A slightly better paladin

[dantiesilva]

I have always had a place for the shadow bane inquisitor. I know there is also some really decent classes in complete champion that may work as well though.