| 1 | %% |
| 2 | %% |
| 3 | %% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them. |
| 4 | %% |
| 5 | %% |
| 6 | This character sheet is for [[Film/{{Excalibur}} the film]]. For [[ComicBook/ExcaliburMarvelComics the comics]], see '''[[Characters/ExcaliburMarvelComics here]]'''. |
| 7 | |
| 8 | ![[Administrivia/SpoilersOff All spoilers are unmarked]]. Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned! |
| 9 | ---- |
| 10 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 11 | |
| 12 | !!Court of Camelot |
| 13 | [[folder:Arthur]] |
| 14 | !! Arthur Pendragon[=/=]King Arthur |
| 15 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/arthur_exalibur.jpg]] |
| 16 | !!!Played By: Nigel Terry |
| 17 | !!!Dubbed By: Creator/PierreArditi (European French) |
| 18 | |
| 19 | The son of Uther Pendragon and Igrayne, Arthur was taken by Merlin to be raised by the knight Sir Ector. Years later when he's a young man, he ends up pulling the sword Excalibur from the stone which reveals him as the rightful king. With his true heritage revealed to him, Arthur goes on to form the knights of the Round Table and rule the realm from his castle Camelot, though things take a dark turn as he's betrayed by those closest to him. |
| 20 | ---- |
| 21 | * AccidentallyBrokeTheMacGuffin: During his duel with Lancelot, Arthur becomes so overtaken by pride and need to win that he calls upon Excalibur's strength to best the superior knight. The misuse of the sword shatters the blade but the regret and character growth he shows after doing so summon the Lady of the Lake to return and fix the bade. |
| 22 | * ActionDad: At the end, when nursed back to health and specifically to, ride out and do battle with his own AntagonisticOffspring, Arthur shows he can still fight well into his advanced age at that point. |
| 23 | * AllLovingHero: Learns to be one when he accepts his role as King and one with the land. He even offers his fatherly warmth to the heartless Mordred, despite [[ChildByRape how he was produced]], and forgives Lancelot and Guinevere for their affair behind his back sincerely. |
| 24 | * ArchEnemy: Morgana, whose father was killed by his father and who intends to destroy Arthur's kingdom due to that. |
| 25 | * ArchnemesisDad: Inverts this with [[AntagonisticOffspring Mordred]], who views the kindhearted Arthur who refuses to immediately yield the crown, as his enemy. |
| 26 | * BecauseDestinySaysSo: He ''defines'' this trope, even admitting to Guinevere he isn't capable of loving her as his wife before anyone else because his duty as king determines he be one with the land and look after Camelot. |
| 27 | -->'''Arthur''': I was not born to live a man's life, but to be the stuff of future memory. |
| 28 | * BedTrick: |
| 29 | ** Arthur himself was initially born by King Uther taking on the likeness of the Duke of Cornwall to seduce and sleep with his wife. |
| 30 | ** Later on, Arthur himself is charmed by Morgana's spell which gives her Guinevere's likeness so she can bear his child to bring ruin to Camelot. |
| 31 | * BigGood: Serves as this as the rightful King and unifier of the land against his sister Morgana's BigBad. |
| 32 | * BloodKnight: When the power of Excalibur gets to his head temporarily he nearly kills Lancelot out of a single minded drive to win their fight. It's only by overcoming this and accepting his role as a bringer of peace that the broken sword can be mended. |
| 33 | * BreakTheHaughty: When he fights Lancelot, his pride gets the better of him and he tries to use Excalibur's power to win the battle unfairly, nearly killing the noble knight and making Arthur realize what he has to learn about keeping his emotions in check. |
| 34 | * BrotherSisterIncest: With his half-sister Morgana who pretended to be Guinevere through magic, seducing him and giving birth to the unholy Mordred. |
| 35 | * CainAndAbel: He's Morgana's younger half-brother, born by Uther's BedTrick on her mother and while Arthur is TheGoodKing who swears to do right by the realm, his sister hates him and Camelot for what happened to her family and means to tear it all down. |
| 36 | * ChildByRape: Through the magical enchantments of Merlin, Uther commits rape by deception against Igrayne, producing Arthur. |
| 37 | * TheChosenOne: Destined by fate to be the one true King, whether he likes it or not. |
| 38 | * ClassicalAntiHero: Starts off as one. While being raised in secret. He's a quiet, timid-seeming lad allegedly being groomed to become his brother Kay's squire. Even after freeing Excalibur, Arthur is quite bashful and endearingly polite about the epic feat he's just accomplished. |
| 39 | * CompositeCharacter: |
| 40 | ** With the Fisher King, where the emotional toll of his wife having an affair with his best friend and his sister raping him causes the land itself to slowly perish. It's only when Perceval returns with the Holy Grail that he regains his strength, healing the land as he does. |
| 41 | ** As part of the affair between Guinevere and Lancelot, he gets the motif of the cuckolded king/knight etc. who places his naked sword between the naked bodies of the sleeping lovers to show he's discovered them, but leaves them alone otherwise. This happens to King Mark of the Literature/TristanAndIseult tales, and others. Thus Arthur abandons Excalibur for years. |
| 42 | * TheConqueror: A much more benevolent take than Uther or Mordred, Arthur sends his forces out to unite the land, happy to be bettering the lives of the common folk as his forces depose belligerent rulers and bring the realm together. |
| 43 | * CoolSword: Rightful wielder of the sword of Kings, Excalibur, which can cut through any armor. |
| 44 | * DeepSleep: Arthur falls into one after Merlin casts a spell on him, giving him time to rest after he frets over the pressures of becoming king, awakening ready for the task. |
| 45 | * DualWielding: Briefly with a mace and Excalibur against Lancelot, not that it helps him but it does emphasize his fanatical desire to win their duel, throwing aside his humility and grace to single-mindedly try to win their fight. |
| 46 | * DyingWish: More like command, to Perceval to cast Excalibur back to the water, knowing it will be returned by the Lady of the Lake to a future worthy King to rule the land. |
| 47 | * EarnYourHappyEnding: After forgiving Guinevere and Lancelot, saving Camelot from great evil and having Perceval return Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake, the mortally wounded Arthur is able to pass on from his duty as King, his body and soul peacefully taken to Heaven. |
| 48 | * FisherKing: His well-being determines the state of the land. |
| 49 | -->'''Merlin''': You will be the land and the land will be you. If you fail, the land will perish; as you thrive, the land will blossom. |
| 50 | * {{Foil}}: To his father, Uther Pendragon, in almost every way. |
| 51 | ** Both Arthur and Uther were great leaders, though while Arthur was a kind and compassionate king who was acknowledged by his courage and commanded loyalty through respect, Uther was a ruthless king who believed that MightMakesRight and commanded loyalty through physical strength. Arthur viewed kingship as a responsibility to serve others while Uther saw it as a privilege to lord over others. |
| 52 | ** Both Arthur and Uther wielded Excalibur. Arthur viewed the sword as a symbol of leadership to serve all those who followed him while Uther saw it as a means to simply show his status as king. Upon his death, Arthur allowed Excalibur to be returned to the Lady of the Lake so a new king could take his place one day. On the other hand, before Uther died, he selfishly refused to let anyone else wield Excalibur and drove it into the stone so no one else could use it. |
| 53 | ** Both of them had some form of relationship with Merlin. Arthur viewed him as a genuine friend and mentor and sought his wisdom to better himself as a leader. Uther saw Merlin only as a servant to obey him and sought his magic for his own selfishness and ambitions. |
| 54 | ** As Merlin pointed out, Uther was rash and lacked the ability to look into the hearts of men, including his own. Arthur himself learns to look into the hearts of men and empathize with them. |
| 55 | ** Upon their deaths, both had lasting effects on the kingdom. With Uther's death, he had left the land divided and with no one able to claim Excalibur except for his own son. With Arthur's passing, he had saved the land from his evil sister and son and had allowed Excalibur to return to the Lady of the Lake so it could be passed onto a new king one day. |
| 56 | ** Arthur genuinely loved his wife, Guinevere, and married her under genuine circumstances. Though he was heartbroken by her betrayal when she slept with Lancelot, he eventually reconciled with her and acknowledged his own faults that drove her to seek comfort with Lancelot. Uther lusted for Igrayne, despite her already being married to his newly sworn vassal, the Duke of Cornwall. He betrayed the Duke and stole Igrayne for himself, which led to Merlin denouncing him as 'not being the one'. |
| 57 | * FrontlineGeneral: While lacking in his father's BloodKnight tendencies, Arthur is more than willing to lead his troops directly, first saving Leondegrance's castle from attacks and later taking his forces to do battle with Mordred at the climax. |
| 58 | * TheGoodKing: Arthur's rule is a prosperous one, to the point he's even got to ask Merlin what more he can do for the lands. Even after being bedridden for decades thanks to a supernatural wound, he still rides forth to face Mordred and save Camelot as soon as he recovers. |
| 59 | * HappilyAdopted: Arthur enjoyed his time being raised by Ector and the latter's natural born son Kay. He maintains a good relationship with his adoptive family after becoming king, with Ector serving him and Kay joining the Knights of the Round Table. |
| 60 | * HeartbrokenBadass: When he learns of Guinevere betraying him with Lancelot. Lancelot and Guinevere are not exactly proud of themselves for doing this. |
| 61 | * TheHero: While the film is intended to follow decades of events as influenced by Merlin and Excalibur, Arthur still fits the characteristics as the most noble of central characters whose fate is tied to the land itself. |
| 62 | * TheHeroDies: Fatally wounded by Mordred, Arthur passes away after killing his monstrous son and ordering Perceval to cast Excalibur back to the Lady of the Lake for another hero. His body is ferried off to heaven afterwards. |
| 63 | * HeroicBastard: The bastard son of Uther Pendragon and Igrayne and TheChosenOne. |
| 64 | * TheHighKing: After drawing Excalibur and showing his chivalry to the doubters in battle, Arthur becomes the undisputed ruler of Camelot, all the nation bowing to him. |
| 65 | * HumbleHero: Particularly at the start when he draws Excalibur, Arthur actually meekly apologizes for doing so and it's only with intense pressure from the crowd he accepts his position as king. |
| 66 | * IJustWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Admits to Guinevere his position means he isn't capable of being the perfect, loving husband she desires and sincerely tells her he forgives her for her infidelity, wishing her a happy life before he departs to do battle with Mordred. |
| 67 | * ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Gruesomely gutted by Mordred's spear, his intestines literally visible at its tip, Arthur nonetheless [[PullYourselfDownTheSpear steels himself to pull himself close enough]] to Mordred to kill him. |
| 68 | * InstantIllness: When unholy Mordred's birth causes a series of plagues across the lands, a bolt of lightning strikes Arthur which renders him immobile, unable to really die or live, until he gets to drink from the Holy Grail. |
| 69 | * ItSucksToBeTheChosenOne: Arthur does not get to enjoy his long life very much, with the burdens upon him as King thanks to his destiny and his duties, though despite his wistfulness for the man he might have been otherwise, he shoulders the responsibilities and lives up to his destiny in the end. |
| 70 | * MessianicArchetype: Serves as this for the land, with Camelot as his seat of power, in contrast to his BastardBastard Mordred, who serves as his EvilCounterpart as a DarkMessiah and AntiChrist figure for the dark forces that seek to conquer Camelot and overwhelm the land. |
| 71 | * MissingMom: Igrayne's fate is never spoken of following Uther's death. Given Morgana's angst it wasn't likely anything pleasant but the film never comments on it and she's never seen with Arthur beyond his birth scene. |
| 72 | * MutualKill: After Mordred pierces Arthur with his spear, Arthur manages to bring himself near enough to his evil son to skewer him with Excalibur, ending his threat. |
| 73 | * TheNeedsOfTheMany: Arthur tells Guinevere he has to be a king to his people before her husband, even as doing so pains him and his wife but the land needs a ruler and his destiny has foretold him to be that ruler, his people and land coming before any individual. |
| 74 | * NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Arthur is generous and kind to his elder half sister Morgana, welcoming her into his kingdom with a place at the Round Table. In turn she betrays, causes strife among his kingdom, rapes him, produces an unholy child, possibly strikes him and the land ill with a magical lightning bolt, and she then raises Mordred to conquer Camelot from him, while corrupting and murdering many of his knights. All on account of the past actions of Uther and Merlin, crimes of theirs against Morgana's family, that had nothing to do with him. |
| 75 | * OnlyTheChosenMayWield: The rightful heir to Uther as king and ruler of the land as the only one who could draw Excalibur from the stone Uther thrust it into. |
| 76 | * OnlyTheWorthyMayPass: Only the blood of Uther Pendragon may draw Excalibur from the stone. |
| 77 | * ParentalAbandonment: Uther had to give him to Merlin as an infant to pay for his part in seducing Igrayne, and Igrayne never saw him again. |
| 78 | * PullYourselfDownTheSpear: After being fatally wounded by Mordred, Arthur grits himself to impale himself further, drawing Mordred close enough to kill him with Excalibur. |
| 79 | * {{Pride}}: He gets so mad when he can't seem to beat Lancelot in their fight that he uses the power of Excalibur to knock Lancelot on his ass - which almost costs him the sword when it shatters and nearly gets Lancelot killed. Fortunately the Lady of the Lake hears him admit he was wrong to do this, fixes the sword and all is well. For a while at least. |
| 80 | * RenaissanceMan: Arthur embodies a ruler seeking a prosperous realm and in pursuit of a glorious Camelot he masters the art of combat, building new castles and philosophizing with Merlin to learn all the aspects of a good realm. |
| 81 | * SiblingYinYang: In addition to the CainAndAbel dynamic, Arthur has this with his half-sister Morgana. Morgana is a non-action plotter who sews the seeds to destroy Camelot; Arthur is a FrontlineGeneral rather than a schemer who wishes to build up the nation more than anything. |
| 82 | * SoapOperaDisease: Of magical origins. The bolt of lightning which strikes him renders Arthur bedridden for years while his knights quest to find the Holy Grail to bring back his health. In addition to leaving him sick, his status as a FisherKing compounds the effects by leaving the land a starving, ruined mess. |
| 83 | * SoreLoser: When Lancelot bests him in both joust and duel, Arthur refuses to concede gracefully, resorting to cheat with Excalibur's power. |
| 84 | * TheStoic: As Arthur becomes older and wiser, his demeanor becomes more quietly relaxed, remaining composed and even calmly offering monsters like Mordred a chance to be loved. |
| 85 | * SupernaturalAid: With Merlin, Excalibur and the Lady of the Lake. |
| 86 | * ToBeLawfulOrGood: The crux of his dilemma when Gunievere is accused of being unfaithful to him. As her husband he wishes to champion her honor, but as king he cannot show favor to her, as he believes even a monarch should not be above the law. |
| 87 | * TragicDream: In his final exchange with Gunievere, he shares with her his wish to put aside his monumental destiny and simply be at her side as her husband in the hereafter, but he knows that even in death, he will remain the stuff of legends. |
| 88 | * UngratefulBastard: Towards [[HyperCompetentSidekick Perceval]], not even thanking and barely even acknowledging the man after all the grueling years he endured recovering the Holy Grail to save Arthur and the land. Within about a minute of his recovery, he's already commanding all the men prepare for battle while Perceval has pretty much collapsed with exhaustion against the throne. Along with later telling Lancelot that he is the greatest knight of the Round Table, despite his betrayal and abandonment of Arthur causing the land to fall in the first place, where Perceval stayed loyal to him at his lowest point and reversed Lancelot's damage to the realm. |
| 89 | * UnstoppableRage: When he first fights Lancelot, which eventually drives him to abuse Excalibur's magic to win their duel. |
| 90 | * WithGreatPowerComesGreatResponsibility: Learns this nearly killing Lancelot after using Excalibur's power to win a duel. The trauma of his deed brings him to the realization the blade is not meant to serve his vanity but the land itself. |
| 91 | [[/folder]] |
| 92 | |
| 93 | [[folder:Merlin]] |
| 94 | !! Merlin |
| 95 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/merlin_excalibur.jpg]] |
| 96 | !!!Played By: Creator/NicolWilliamson |
| 97 | |
| 98 | A mysterious sorcerer who once aided Uther in trying to become king until he realised how cruel of a ruler he was, and then took Arthur to be raised by Sir Ector. Merlin only returns after Arthur had pulled Excalibur from the stone and becomes his closest advisor, while later mentoring Morgana in the ways of magic. |
| 99 | ---- |
| 100 | * AnthropomorphicPersonification: Merlin is linked in some way to the land itself, being single-mindedly driven to find it a righteous king (no matter the cost) and he's even incapacitated by Arthur ramming Excalibur into the ground, symbolizing his lost desire to rule the realm. |
| 101 | * TheArchmage: Merlin is the most powerful magic user in the film, an ancient being tied to the realm itself and he shows his strength when he terrifies Morgana with the powers he can tap into, later tricking her into using the power she stole from him to undo herself. |
| 102 | * TheBeastmaster: Seems to be a power of his. He sends crows to frighten Cornwall's horse into throwing him onto spikes and takes out a siege tower during the battle at Leondegrance's castle by commanding horses to pull a line attached to it. |
| 103 | * BlueAndOrangeMorality: Downplayed but present. Merlin wishes to make a realm with a worthy king but otherwise he interacts with humans quite oddly, not catching onto Morgana's manipulations or understanding concepts like Arthur's humility and honor despite these virtues aligning with the world he's trying to create. |
| 104 | * TheCassandra: Throughout the movie, he will tell you exactly what will happen. However, he keeps it so low key that the audience won't notice without a second viewing while the characters just simply ignore it. |
| 105 | * CatchPhrase: He says "Yes, that's it!" quite a few times after spouting off some nugget of wisdom. |
| 106 | * DarkIsNotEvil: He's a force for good that wears all-black robes. |
| 107 | %%* DeadpanSnarker |
| 108 | * TheDreaded: Ector took in Arthur out of his fear of Merlin, though this wore off over time as Ector loved Arthur as his own son. |
| 109 | * DreamWeaver: After being trapped in ice Arthur summons his spirit back in the final act, he speaks with Arthur and visits Kay in his dream as well, giving a RousingSpeech to prepare the Knights of the Round for their last battle. |
| 110 | * FatalFlaw: Merlin admits he struggles with understanding the human mind and it's not grasping Morgana's true intents and recognizing her hatred of him that lets her trap him. Even after Arthur calls back his spirit he only briefly appears to torment and depower Morgana and it's unclear what else he can do from his prison of ice afterwards. |
| 111 | * FriendToAllLivingThings: In a creepy kind of way -- crows tend to show up when he's near. |
| 112 | %%* HermitGuru |
| 113 | * HeroicRROD: Conjuring the power of the dragon to help Uther leaves Merlin [[CastFromHitPoints incapacitated for nine moons]], making him reluctant to repeat such kinds of feat. |
| 114 | * HeroWithBadPublicity: He's mostly a force for good and tries to inspire others to a higher standard of conduct, but the lords dislike him for his trickster tendencies. |
| 115 | * HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Merlin can't sense any animosity from Morgana, whose father he killed and mother he allowed to be raped, despite knowing she has magical abilities just like him and could be able to see events she wasn't present for, such as his illusion for Uther and murder of the Duke of Cornwall. |
| 116 | * KeeperOfForbiddenKnowledge: Merlin is the only one who truly understands the power of the dragon and the Charm of Making. When Morgana demands to know the true nature of both, she's nearly consumed by the dragon in horror and later undone when Merlin tricks her into uttering the Charm. |
| 117 | * LargeHam: InAWorld where knights [[NoIndoorVoice shout everything]], one man's hamminess stands out even from this crowd. (Possibly the source of his ham is the Dragon.) |
| 118 | * LastOfHisKind: Merlin is the last magic user (other than Morgana) and melancholically admits the time of sorcerers is coming to the end as the era of Christian humans take their place to rule the world. |
| 119 | * LoveRuinsTheRealm: A firm believer in this. |
| 120 | -->"I once stood exposed to the Dragon's Breath so that a man could lie one night with a woman. It took me nine moons to recover. And all for this lunacy called, "love", this mad distemper that strikes down both beggar and king. Never again. Never!" |
| 121 | * NightmareWeaver: Depowers Morgana in her dream after his physical body is trapped in ice and Arthur calls his spirit back, engaging her by tricking her into uttering the Charm of Making and undoing her power. |
| 122 | * NotSoOmniscientAfterAll: Admits to himself that he didn't foresee Arthur getting Uryens to knight him. |
| 123 | * OffscreenTeleportation: [[JustifiedTrope justified]], given his nature, and also subverted in a scene where we see him walking toward the camera, from a distant background, while other characters talk in the foreground, having not noticed him. He reaches them just as one of them asks "And who is Merlin?"; he also does ''onscreen'' teleportations. |
| 124 | * OracularUrchin: Being Merlin, he's not entirely confined to observing events linearly. |
| 125 | * ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: He never ages. This goes back to the myth, where Merlin ages backwards. |
| 126 | * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: He abandons Uther to the Duke's men (he apparently feels bad about this when he sees Uther slam Excalibur into the stone with his dying breath). "Merliiiiin! Where are you? Call your dragon... Weave a mist... to hide us..." |
| 127 | * TheUnfettered: He works for the good of his homeland, but he's ruthless in how he does so and his methods can prove cruel. Has no qualms whatsoever in killing Cornwall the same night he empowers Uther to rape Cornwall's wife, then nine months later doesn't even hesitate in taking the infant Arthur from her, despite her shrieks of anguish, and leaving Uther to die when he proves too corrupt and unworthy a ruler. |
| 128 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: His plot to 'better' the land is utterly unconcerned with the wellbeing of the Cornwalls and his overseeing the Duke's death and Igrayne's rape by BedTrick drives their daughter Morgana to wrath and her scheming nearly destroys the very nation he sought to perfect. |
| 129 | * VisibleInvisibility: Is shown sneaking up on the crowd gathered around Excalibur, after Arthur pulls it from the stone, without any of them noticing him until he speaks. |
| 130 | * WellIntentionedExtremist: Some of Merlin's machinations are outright cruel, like letting Uther rape Igrayne. Still, he's tied to the land and believes such measures are necessary to weave fate and bring about the proper king. |
| 131 | [[/folder]] |
| 132 | |
| 133 | [[folder:Lancelot]] |
| 134 | !! Lancelot |
| 135 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lancelot_excalibur.jpg]] |
| 136 | !!!Played By: Nicolas Clay |
| 137 | |
| 138 | A wandering knight of great skill who is searching for a good ruler to serve, and after a battle with Arthur swears to be his most loyal knight. However his feelings for the lovely Queen Guinevere threatens to destroy everything he cares about. |
| 139 | ---- |
| 140 | * TheAce: He's nearly unbeatable in single combat: he defeats every last one of Arthur's knights, one after the other, and still has the energy to face the King himself. Arthur basically has to bend the laws of reality to win. |
| 141 | * BackForTheFinale: He turns up at Camlann in order to help fight Mordred's forces. |
| 142 | * BrokenAce: After falling for Guinevere and especially after sleeping with her, he feels he's betrayed Arthur too gravely to redeem himself and the most renowned knight of the kingdom leaves the Round Table, venturing amongst peasants as his sanity elapses. It's only at the very end he finds himself and bravely returns to battle Mordred's forces with Arthur. |
| 143 | * TheCavalry: When he shows up at the end. |
| 144 | * DeathByAdaptation: He has the more satisfying fate of dying in battle reunited with Arthur, instead of outliving him and [[TheAtoner atoning for the rest of his life]] as a monk. |
| 145 | * DeathEqualsRedemption: Lancelot leaves after betraying Arthur by sleeping with his wife but returns to battle Mordred's forces in the final act, dying bravely helping his king overcome their foe. |
| 146 | * DefeatMeansFriendship: His whole shtick: the king worthy of his sword will be the one who can defeat him in combat. |
| 147 | * DramaPreservingHandicap: The stab wound in his hip severely hinders him when he duels Gawain. |
| 148 | * FallenHero: ...after what happened when Arthur caught him sleeping with Guinevere. He then ditches his armor and goes off preaching the evils of the King and how he allowed the country to fall. |
| 149 | * KnightErrant: Prior to his defeat by Arthur, he gave up all his lands as a knight and wandered about trying to find someone capable of defeating him, and thus being worthy of his service and fealty. |
| 150 | * KnightInShiningArmor: In his first scene, his armor is buffed almost to a mirror finish. After Arthur formally establishes the Knights of the Round Table, they wear shining armor to match his. |
| 151 | * TheLancer: To Arthur (naturally). |
| 152 | * LoveTriangle: With Arthur and Guinevere. |
| 153 | * MrFanservice: He just can't seem to keep his clothes on when he's alone in the woods at night. |
| 154 | * MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Feels such great shame over his feelings for Guinevere that after his self-inflicted wound nearly kills him, even many of Merlin's spells can't revive him, who recognizes the knight has no will to live. It's only by letting fate have him and Guinevere meet intimately that Merlin is able to restore his health. |
| 155 | * NeverMyFault: After his fall he preaches against Arthur and his knights, claiming they abandoned the people to pestilence and death, conveniently ignoring that this only happened ''because he slept with the king's wife.'' |
| 156 | * NumberTwo: He's Arthur's best and most trusted knight. Even after his betrayal and sleeping with the Queen, the two later reconcile and it's only with Lancelot's return Arthur can finally stop Mordred's forces. |
| 157 | * OneManArmy: The reason he's the best fighter of the Knights of the Round Table, having singlehandedly bested all the others. Later on in the FinalBattle, Lancelot carves his way through Mordred's army and leaving only Mordred himself alive, despite being on his last legs from his unhealed wound. |
| 158 | * TheParagonAlwaysRebels: Throughout the movie, he is praised by his fellow knights as the one who helps bring about their victories. |
| 159 | * RedemptionEqualsDeath: He redeems himself for one last battle. |
| 160 | * WoundThatWillNotHeal: In an imaginary duel with his own armor, he stabs himself. This wound doesn't heal and stays with him until it kills him as the FinalBattle ends. |
| 161 | [[/folder]] |
| 162 | |
| 163 | [[folder:Perceval]] |
| 164 | !! Perceval |
| 165 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/percival_excalibur.jpg]] |
| 166 | !!!Played By: Paul Geoffrey |
| 167 | |
| 168 | A young thief who at first attempts to steal from Lancelot, before begging to become his squire in the hopes of being a knight himself one day. He's knighted by Arthur when he first attempts to fight for the Queen's honour until Lancelot returns, and ends up going on the long quest to find the Holy Grail. |
| 169 | ---- |
| 170 | * BeardOfSorrow: Starts out a fresh faced young squire and knight, but as the grueling quest for the Holy Grail goes on over the years and takes its toll, he grows an impressive one. |
| 171 | * TheDeterminator: Demonstrated early on as a squire when he refuses to ride behind Lancelot to Camelot, and instead runs along behind his horse for a twenty day ride there. He is later put to the test as a knight when he spends about twenty agonizing years questing for the Holy Grail, and eventually succeeding where all his fellow knights failed and died or were corrupted by Morgana into giving up the quest and joining her. |
| 172 | -->'''Perceval:''' "I can't give up hope, Lancelot. It's all I have." |
| 173 | * TheEveryman: He's not a great ruler of a messianic destiny like Arthur or an unstoppable fighter and famous, beloved knight like Lancelot but Perceval is a [[TheDeterminator determined]], loyal subject whose unfailing quest for the Grail brings Arthur and the kingdom back to strength, plants the seeds of redemption into Lancelot's mind after he turns into a FallenHero, and he's the one to complete Arthur's duty to Camelot by returning Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake for a future worthy king to receive from her. |
| 174 | * TheHeart: The most outwardly caring, moral and compassionate of the Knights of the Round Table, standing up for Guinevere when nobody else was, and he even serves as Lancelot's MoralityChain, reminding the FallenHero of his duty to King Arthur and Arthur's need of him, leading to Lancelot arriving at the final battle against Mordred to save the day and [[RedemptionEqualsDeath redeem himself]] for betraying Arthur. |
| 175 | * TheHero: A possible interpretation of Perceval, given his vital quest for the Holy Grail and importance in restoring Camelot and various important characters, including Arthur, with the King instead serving as more of a BigGood later on in the movie. |
| 176 | * HeroicWillpower: Unlike many of his unfortunate brothers, Perceval is able to resist Morgana's attempts to seduce him into abandoning the quest for the Holy Grail. |
| 177 | * HeroWorshipper: Begins as a complete Lancelot fanboy who just wants to join the Knights of the Round to live up to his idol. As the years go by, Perceval grows into Arthur's HyperCompetentSidekick himself, questing for the Grail when even Lancelot has abandoned Camelot in shame. |
| 178 | * HyperCompetentSidekick: For all of Lancelot's superior martial skill and renown, it is his former peasant squire Perceval who remains loyal to Arthur even at his lowest point (caused in part by Lancelot) and restores the king along with the land when he proves worthy of the Holy Grail. |
| 179 | * JumpedAtTheCall: When none of the knights of the Round Table volunteer to champion for Guinevere against Gawain at her trial, and Lancelot seemingly not going to show up, Perceval eagerly volunteers to champion for her and is in turn knighted by Arthur. |
| 180 | * KnightErrant: If he holds any lands we don't hear about it and his tenure as a knight has him questing tirelessly for a literal decade or two seeking the Holy Grail, resisting Morgana's temptations and fighting to bring it back to his King and return Arthur to health so they may vanquish the evil plaguing the realm. |
| 181 | * KnightInShiningArmor: Arguably closer to this than Lancelot himself or the rest of the Round Table, remaining loyal through the grueling quest for the Holy Grail and restoring Arthur and the land when he succeeds. Even as his armor is covered in mud and steadily rusts away, losing it during the quest. Along with attempting to champion for Guinevere at her trial when none of the knights would do so, despite being a squire at the time, not having proper armor, and facing a formidable opponent like Gawain. |
| 182 | * LastOfHisKind: The final knight of the Round Table remaining of Camelot at the end of the movie. |
| 183 | * LovableCoward: Heavily downplayed. Perceval sure feels the weight of his fears when he watches as Mordred and his men kill Uryens and feels ashamed for hiding instead of helping him. Though he was unarmed at the time, Mordred had magical invincible armor and backup, and had he tried to intervene he would have been killed too and all hope of finding the Holy Grail lost with him, as the final remaining Knight on the quest. Despite this, Perceval is capable of great feats of courage, such as volunteering to fight Gawain in defense of Guinevere, completing the quest for the Holy Grail, battling Mordred's forces, attempting to fight Mordred himself before being stopped by Arthur, and eventually fighting every fiber of his being to cast Excalibur back to the water. |
| 184 | * MessianicArchetype: In Arthur's weakened state and absence Perceval ends up serving this role during his twenty year quest. His hair and beard, and his unarmoured body, clearly are meant to resemble Jesus when he speaks with God and attains the Grail, and he's the one that restores and redeems Arthur and the land by his achievement born of great self sacrifice and suffering for the sake of the kingdom. He is even tempted during his ordeal by the demonic and seductive [[BigBad Morgana]] similarly to the Temptation of Christ by Satan, who is the one that actually tries to tempt the Percival of the legends in some tellings of the Grail Quest. |
| 185 | * MoralityChain: Serves as one to [[TheAce Lancelot]], who took him on as a squire as a boy before betraying Arthur and becoming a FallenHero, with Perceval taking over as King Arthur's HypercompetentSidekick. It is ultimately Perceval who reminds Lancelot of his duty and inspires him to redeem himself by arriving in time to battle Mordred's forces. |
| 186 | * NervesOfSteel: And then some, best shown when he was ready to take on a fully armored veteran knight Gawain while lacking armor himself and only having been knighted a matter of moments before. Continued with his perseverance throughout the quest for the Holy Grail, never giving up on it despite all the hardships and dangers, and willing and ready to take on [[TheEvilPrince Mordred]] at the end while he was wearing his impenetrable armor until Perceval is stopped by Arthur from doing so. |
| 187 | * NotDistractedByTheSexy: Not even [[TheVamp Morgana]] is able to seduce him into giving up on the quest for the Holy Grail, where a number of his fellow knights before him fell under her sway and control, being reduced to mooks for her and Mordred. |
| 188 | * NoSell: Morgana's attempts to magically hypnotize and seduce him prove no match for Perceval's HeroicWillpower. |
| 189 | * PostVictoryCollapse: Downplayed. After finally retrieving the Holy Grail and restoring Arthur and the land, Perceval sinks down head first against the throne in exhaustion from his many trials. |
| 190 | * SoleSurvivor: The only survivor of the Battle of Camlann and final remaining knight of the Round Table left standing by the end of the film. |
| 191 | * UndyingLoyalty: Remains steadfastly loyal to King Arthur even as the kingdom falls apart, his friends are murdered, the quest for the Holy Grail proves nigh impossible, he starts to succumb to despair, and Morgana attempts to seduce him into abandoning the quest. |
| 192 | * WhatYouAreInTheDark: |
| 193 | ** He could have given up the grueling twenty year quest for the Holy Grail half way through it by giving in to Morgana's temptation, but resists instead, refusing the offer and seeing the quest through eventually. |
| 194 | ** He struggles with this once more at the very end, having trouble returning Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake believing it should stay with man but ultimately listens to Arthur and casts it back. |
| 195 | [[/folder]] |
| 196 | |
| 197 | [[folder:Uryens]] |
| 198 | !! Uryens |
| 199 | !!!Played By: Keith Buckley |
| 200 | |
| 201 | At first outraged that a boy should pull Excalibur from the stone, he eventually comes to accept Arthur as King and becomes one of his first knights. |
| 202 | ---- |
| 203 | * DefeatMeansFriendship: After being defeated by Arthur, he readily proclaims him King, becoming one of his Knights of the Round Table, and remains loyal until his end. |
| 204 | * DefiantToTheEnd: |
| 205 | ** At first he refuses to submit to a mere squire even with Excalibur pointed at him. This changes after Arthur gives him Excalibur to knight him with. |
| 206 | ** Refuses to renounce Arthur as his king in exchange for being spared by Mordred, and is promptly murdered for it. |
| 207 | * HeelFaceTurn: Initially making war on Leondegrance for supporting Arthur as King, Uryens' own chivalry comes out when Arthur puts his life at risk to give Uryens Excalibur and request he legitimately knight him. Uryens is so touched by Arthur's nobility that he finds himself unable to kill his unarmed former nemesis and declares him King. |
| 208 | * ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: Still alive after being knocked off his horse by Mordred, the wicked man takes a spear to cruelly impale Uryens, leaving him to crawl and die in pain as he sets off. |
| 209 | * {{Knighting}}: He knights Arthur, validating him as King. |
| 210 | -->'''Uryens''': In the name of God, St. Michael and St. George, I give you the right to bear arms and the power to mete justice. \ |
| 211 | '''Arthur''': This duty I will solemnly obey, as knight and king. \ |
| 212 | '''Uryens''': Rise, King Arthur. |
| 213 | * NobleDemon: Uryens is an abrasive bigot displeased by the idea of a bastard ruling as King but he's still got a knight's code of honor and ignores his underlings' cries to kill the unarmed Arthur with Excalibur, instead following his vows and knighting and acknowledging the hero as King. |
| 214 | * OldSoldier: By the time of the quest for the Holy Grail, he's been on active duty for a long time. |
| 215 | * PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: His antagonism towards Arthur is based on the fact that Arthur is a bastard. |
| 216 | -->"[Merlin's] trying to foist a fatherless boy upon us. Do you want a bastard as a king?!" |
| 217 | * RebelLeader: Early in the film, he leads a rebellion against Arthur when he challenges Arthur's claim to the throne on the pretense that Arthur is a bastard. |
| 218 | * SacrificialLion: He is killed to show how dangerous Mordred is. |
| 219 | * StarterVillain: He is Arthur's first antagonist during his reign, though an AntiVillain who does ultimately care for Camelot and pulls a HeelFaceTurn to become one of Arthur's trusted knights. |
| 220 | * UndyingLoyalty: Chooses death from Mordred rather than renouncing King Arthur. |
| 221 | * WhatYouAreInTheDark: When Arthur hands Excalibur to him, Uryens is sorely tempted to kill Arthur and take Excalibur for himself. But he is touched by Arthur's courage by putting his life in his hands and knights him. A second example is his refusal to renounce his allegiance to Arthur, as he is being brutally beaten by Mordred. Mordred promises he will be spared if he follows Mordred instead, but Uryens chooses death instead. |
| 222 | * WithUsOrAgainstUs: Asks this question [[LargeHam very loudly]] to Leondegrance. Leondegrance replies "Against you." |
| 223 | [[/folder]] |
| 224 | |
| 225 | [[folder:Leondegrance]] |
| 226 | !! Leondegrance |
| 227 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/leodegrance_excalibur.jpg]] |
| 228 | !!!Played By: Creator/PatrickStewart |
| 229 | |
| 230 | Despite having hoped to free Excalibur from the stone himself, Leondegrance quickly accepted Arthur as his King and eventually became his father in law when he married his daughter Guinevere. |
| 231 | ---- |
| 232 | * ActionDad: Plays PapaWolf defending Guinevere against Uryens' assault on his castle and shows even if he's not able to draw Excalibur like Arthur, he can still throw down despite presumably being older than most of the other knights. |
| 233 | * BaldOfAuthority: Downplayed. The bald Sir Leondegrance gets his shot to [[ExcaliburInTheStone pull Excalibur from the stone]] and become king at the start of the film and fails. Arthur successfully tries afterwards. While everyone debates whether or not to make Arthur king, Leondegrance immediately pledges his allegiance to Arthur. However overwhelmed by the fighting, Arthur falls into a deep sleep. When he awakens, Leondegrance's castle is under siege, but Arthur helps Leondegrance in battle and marries his daughter Guinevere. |
| 234 | * KneelBeforeFrodo: He is the first to declare for Arthur. |
| 235 | -->"I saw what I saw! The boy drew the sword. If a boy has been chosen, a boy shall be King!" |
| 236 | * LargeHam: It's [[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Jean-Luc Picard]] wearing medieval armor. |
| 237 | * PapaWolf: Attacks several knights who go after Guinevere during the battle at his castle. |
| 238 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Disappears after Arthur marries Guinevere. |
| 239 | [[/folder]] |
| 240 | |
| 241 | [[folder:Guinevere]] |
| 242 | !! Guinevere |
| 243 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/guinivere_excalibur.jpg]] |
| 244 | !!!Played By: Cherie Lunghi |
| 245 | |
| 246 | The daughter of Leondegrance and eventual wife of Arthur, her feelings for Lancelot end up destroying everything. |
| 247 | ---- |
| 248 | * LoveAtFirstSight: She's smitten with Arthur the moment she sees him coming to save her and her father for his bravery. Later, however, Guinevere realizes how his duty to the realm must come before all else and starts to feel saddened in her marriage. |
| 249 | * SympatheticAdulterer: Guinevere can sense Arthur takes his duty to the realm before that as her husband and it weighs on her, eventually driving her to sleep with Lancelot. Even Arthur comes around to understanding her feelings and in their last meeting tells her he wishes for a life where he can love her before anyone or anything else. |
| 250 | * TragicKeepsake: Non-fatal example but she's horrified seeing Arthur thrust Excalibur into the ground between her and Lancelot when they sleep together. Guinevere takes it with her, telling Arthur when they meet again she felt compelled to hold onto it in case he needed it once more. |
| 251 | [[/folder]] |
| 252 | |
| 253 | [[folder:Gawain]] |
| 254 | !! Gawain |
| 255 | [[quoteright:338:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gawain_excalibur.jpg]] |
| 256 | !!!Played By: Creator/LiamNeeson |
| 257 | |
| 258 | A knight of Camelot with a close relationship to Morgana. |
| 259 | ---- |
| 260 | * AgeLift: He's a contemporary of Arthur and Morgana, instead of being the son of their sister. |
| 261 | * KilledOffscreen: Morgana slits his throat in the original script but the film merely has Perceval see his horse marching away from her lair carrying his dead body. |
| 262 | * UnwittingPawn: To Morgana, who romances him to convince Gawain to call Queen Guinevere an adulterer with Lancelot to divide the Round Table. |
| 263 | * UnrelatedInTheAdaptation: He's thankfully not related to Morgana, who is a CompositeCharacter with her sister and Gawain's mother Morgause, in this version or Arthur. |
| 264 | [[/folder]] |
| 265 | |
| 266 | [[folder:Kay]] |
| 267 | !! Kay |
| 268 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kay_excalibur.png]] |
| 269 | !!! Played By: Niall O'Brien |
| 270 | |
| 271 | The son of Sir Ector and foster brother to Arthur. |
| 272 | ---- |
| 273 | * WhatYouAreInTheDark: More pronounced in the film than the original script where he tries to claim he drew Excalibur and only relents when he's unable to pull it from the stone again after being given it by Arthur. In the film proper, he has a moment of struggle with admitting Arthur was the one to pull the blade, but quickly tells Ector the truth without having to be proven a liar. |
| 274 | [[/folder]] |
| 275 | |
| 276 | [[folder:Ector]] |
| 277 | !! Ector |
| 278 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ector_excalibur.jpg]] |
| 279 | !!! Played By: Creator/CliveSwift |
| 280 | |
| 281 | Arthur's adoptive father. |
| 282 | ---- |
| 283 | * BecomingTheMask: At first Ector raised Arthur out of his fear of Merlin, but later because he loved Arthur as his own son. |
| 284 | * CoolOldGuy: Ector is a chill, peaceful old man fully supportive of his stepson becoming king. |
| 285 | * ParentalSubstitute: Takes the role for Arthur after being given the baby by Merlin who stole him away from Uther. |
| 286 | [[/folder]] |
| 287 | |
| 288 | !!Antagonists |
| 289 | [[folder:Morgana]] |
| 290 | !! Morgana |
| 291 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/morgana_le_fay_excalibur.jpg]] |
| 292 | !!!Played By: Creator/HelenMirren, Barbara Byrne (young), Kay [=McLaren=] (aged) |
| 293 | |
| 294 | The daughter of Ingrayne and the Duke, and the half-sister of Arthur. She was born with magical potential that allowed her to see into the future and past illusions, meaning she was aware of her father's death and that Uther was the one who fathered Arthur while disguised as her father. As an adult she becomes Merlin's apprentice, but has dark plans of her own. |
| 295 | ---- |
| 296 | * ArchEnemy: She's this to King Arthur, as she wants to destroy his kingdom to avenge her father. |
| 297 | * BatmanGambit: Morgana excels at reading people and swiftly positions herself to lower Merlin's defenses and exploit the budding interest between Lancelot and Guinevere to drive a wedge between Arthur and his knights, ultimately giving her the chance to [[BedTrick magically seduce]] Arthur and birth Mordred to bring Camelot to ruin. |
| 298 | * BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: She's maddeningly terrified when Merlin shows her the true nature of the dragon (though her scheming to drive Arthur apart from Lancelot indirectly leads to him incapacitating Merlin) and later Merlin tricks her into using the Charm of Making and undoing her power. |
| 299 | * BedTrick: To enact her revenge on Camelot, she uses magic to disguise herself as Guinevere so she can birth an unholy child whose presence will blight Camelot. |
| 300 | * BigBad: Begins plotting to destroy Camelot after her mother is raped by Uther and her father killed by Merlin's magic. Ultimately all of the large-scale conflict comes back to her once she reaches adulthood. Even though she's killed by Mordred right before the final battle, her machinations were still what put the madman and his army in the position they're at. |
| 301 | * BigBadWannabe: Of the final act, where it's cemented just how out of her depth she is trying to control the Dragon and Merlin swiftly depowers her using her own trickery, despite the build up she's had as the film's central antagonist, before she's [[DroppedABridgeOnHim suddenly killed]] by Mordred prior to the final confrontation. |
| 302 | * BornLucky: Had Arthur not chosen to impale Excalibur into the earth at the exact moment she was with Merlin, Merlin would have destroyed her. Instead, she is able to then overwhelm the weakened Merlin, steal the Charm of Making and go on to rape Arthur, produce Mordred and ravage Camelot with her dark plans. |
| 303 | * BrainsAndBrawn: With Mordred. Morgana plots and casts spells to empower him, he commands the corrupted knights and leads the armies. |
| 304 | * BreastPlate: Her armor, which looks like a sheet-iron corset ''with nothing under it''. |
| 305 | * BrotherSisterIncest: Between her and Arthur, resulting in the birth of [[BastardBastard Mordred]]. |
| 306 | * CainAndAbel: The evil sibling out to destroy Merlin's realm that saw her father killed and her mother raped, while her half-brother Arthur is a noble king who wishes for peace and prosperity for all. |
| 307 | * CharmPerson: Morgana, after gaining the Charm of Making, is able to magically persuade quest knights of her brother's into joining her. Her magic almost works on [[HeroicWillpower Perceval]]. |
| 308 | * TheChessmaster: Spends decades plotting her revenge, working her way into Arthur's court and playing Merlin and Arthur's knights to empower herself and fester distrust amongst them. |
| 309 | * CreepyChild: She knows at once that her father is dead. Then she watches, silently, as her mother and not-father have sex. |
| 310 | * DeathByAdaptation: Usually, her death is usually left unmentioned, and is often identified as one of the women who take Arthur away by boat. Here, she's killed by Mordred. |
| 311 | * DeceptiveDisciple: For Merlin, something [[CompositeCharacter she gains from Nimue]]. She's trying to learn as much as she can from him so she can get revenge on him and Arthur for Merlin helping rape her mother. |
| 312 | * DevilInPlainSight: The audience is quickly clued in to her true desires but Morgana acts to the cast as a member of Arthur's court and apprentice to Merlin, her villainous scheme unknown until she drops the mask. |
| 313 | * DroppedABridgeOnHim: She's rather unceremoniously killed off after Merlin strips her of her magic and Mordred strangles her to death in rage or confusion, completely forgetting about her afterwards. The original script has her expire from her dream duel with Merlin and Mordred just happens upon her corpse before also just forgetting her as he goes back to his war. |
| 314 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Morgana is out to destroy Camelot but it's all to avenge her beloved parents. Also, while she uses Mordred as an instrument of vengeance, she does speak tenderly to him, putting her feelings towards him into ambiguously caring territory. |
| 315 | * EvilCounterpart: To the already morally-questionable Merlin, Morgana is his {{Foil}} as a human who learned magic for her own ends, rather than an ancient being who uses magic to direct the realm in the right direction. |
| 316 | * EvilPlan: Morgana seeks to destroy Camelot in revenge for Uther raping her mother and Merlin killing her father. |
| 317 | * EvilSorcerer: Fully, once she steals the Charm of Making from Merlin and entraps him in a block of magical ice. |
| 318 | * FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: Morgana is an extremely attractive woman, who knows how to weaponize her sexuality and plots to destroy Camelot to avenge her parents, causing much of the conflict of the work. |
| 319 | * FatalFlaw [[RevengeBeforeReason Her desire for revenge]] and arrogance. [[TragicVillain Morgana was fueled solely by her father being killed due to Uther's betrayal as well as Merlin helping Uther to bed her mother.]] Her desire for revenge against Merlin is understandable, but she didn't just target him, but all of Camelot. She couldn't take revenge on Uther as he was killed by her late father's knights, so she decided she would take revenge on her half-brother, who had nothing to do with Uther's crimes as well as against Merlin by destroying the kingdom he helped to build. In her arrogance, Morgana dabbled in dark powers she ultimately only had a shallow understanding of, such as the power of the Dragon and the Charm of Making. Merlin would ultimately use her arrogance against her in the finale when he tricks her into displaying her magical prowess, which ultimately robbed her of her youthful beauty and being strangled by Mordred out of rage. |
| 320 | * FauxAffablyEvil: She knows how to present as a friendly, charming woman and even seems to have a good relationship with Queen Guinevere. All of this serves to allow her to [[ManipulativeBitch whisper in the ears]] of Camelot's court and sew discord across the realm. |
| 321 | * FemmeFatale: |
| 322 | ** Merlin seems to resist her charms at least enough to avoid teaching her more magic. He may be intrigued by her but seems to recognize her ambition. Eventually however, she does work her way into being close enough that when he's incapacitated she can trap him and steal the Charm of Making from him. |
| 323 | ** She's got something going on with Gawain as well and sits with him at the Round Table, convincing him to speak out against Guinevere and Lancelot, tearing apart the bonds of Arthur's men. |
| 324 | ** Morgana also disguises herself as Guinevere with magic to pull a BedTrick on Arthur, letting her birth an unholy child whose very presence blights the land. |
| 325 | * FreudianExcuse: The role Merlin and Uther played in raping her mother and murdering her father leads her on to the path of becoming the BigBad of the setting, wanting to usurp Camelot from Arthur and kill Merlin. |
| 326 | * HighPriestess: The original script shows her with her enchanted followers after corrupting Camelot, with them watching in a daze while she ritualistically murders Gawain. |
| 327 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: Twofold, in quick succession, causing her KarmicDeath: |
| 328 | ** After spending much of the film seeking the Charm of Making, Merlin tricks her into casting it and undoing her own power that she had stolen from him, withering her and stripping her of her magic. |
| 329 | ** Immediately after the above, her son Mordred furiously enters her tent as her mishap spell has cast a mist over his forces. Enraged and very much raised and brainwashed by her to be a demonic, bloodthirsty warrior to take her revenge, he angrily strangles her to death. |
| 330 | * {{Hypocrite}}: Despite hating Merlin for allowing her mother, Igrayne, to be raped by Uther, [[VillainousIncest Morgana pulls the same trick when she disguises herself as Guinevere to rape her half-brother.]] |
| 331 | * KnowNothingKnowItAll: After getting Merlin to utter the Charm of Making she seals him to steal his power while he's distracted but Morgana doesn't truly understand the magic and even a weakened Merlin appearing to her in her dreams is able to trick her into using up all of her power. |
| 332 | * LadyOfBlackMagic: Morgana is a HotWitch who practices evil sorcery, many of which come from enchantment potions and spells to empower her evil son so he make destroy Camelot. |
| 333 | * LoveInterestTraitor: She romances Gawain to begin whispering in his ear, starting to drive the rift between Arthur and his knights which soon leads to the era of prosperity Arthur has brought to come crumbling down. |
| 334 | * TheManBehindTheMan: Zigzagged, she's introduced first but after Mordred comes onto screen Morgana largely sits back, raising, brainwashing and providing him with backing while he orders the deaths of the quest knights and magically empowers him to enact his conquest of Camelot. She also ends up killed by him when Merlin drains her of magic, enraging her psychotic son. |
| 335 | * ManipulativeBitch: Tricks Merlin into giving up the Charm of Making before imprisoning him. Additionally, Morgana whispers in the ears of Arthur's followers to drive a wedge between them and sew discord across Camelot. |
| 336 | * MasterOfIllusion: Uses her potions to appear as Guinevere to Arthur so she may seduce him and bear her unholy child. |
| 337 | * MisplacedRetribution: Instead of being content with Uther being dead, the lands of Cornwall being hers now, and seemingly killing Merlin, for their roles in the murder of her father, rape of her mother and conquest of her family's lands, she continues to take out her rage upon her half brother King Arthur. This despite his having nothing to do with their past crimes, and being nothing but generous and caring towards her. |
| 338 | * MsFanservice: Some of her outfits are... interesting. |
| 339 | * NoImmortalInertia: When Merlin strips her of her magic, her youth comes out of her in a fog of smoke and the next time we see her, she's been reduced to an older woman, showing her true age over the decades she hid with magic. |
| 340 | * NonActionBigBad: Even after stealing all of Merlin's magic, Morgana is a plotter, not a fighter. She twists Arthur's court against him and later births Mordred to kill and fight on her behalf but she never enters combat herself. |
| 341 | * PrimalScene: Watched her mother and her Dad (It's really Uther in disguise) have sex in front of her. |
| 342 | * PurpleIsPowerful: Morgana covers herself in a purple veil, making her stand out from the other maidens in court and tellingly, she's a powerful magic user, second only to Merlin. |
| 343 | * RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Much like her hated PredecessorVillain Uther, Morgana really dives into villainy when she pulls a BedTrick on her half-brother Arthur, taking a huge mental toil on him in the midst of her plot to ruin Camelot. |
| 344 | * ReallyGetsAround: She's got a flirt going on with Merlin and also charms Gawain into believing her. As TheVamp, this all serves to further her goals. The script also has her married to Uryens at one point and casually charming not just Gawain but his younger brother as well. |
| 345 | * ReligionOfEvil: What she uses the pagan magic as, seen with {{Cult}}ists at her side when she births Mordred and in the original script Morgana has a cluster of enchanted followers watch her as she kills Gawain. |
| 346 | * RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Enraged by what Uther and Merlin did to her parents, Morgana sews chaos to destroy Camelot, culminating in ravaging the lands through a MysticalPlague with Mordred's birth and empowering her vile son so he can conquer the realm. Overlaps with RevengeBeforeReason, in that she also wants revenge on Arthur despite his innocence in the matter and generosity towards her. |
| 347 | * {{Seers}}: Morgana gets visions of things she can't see, such as her father's death despite him being away from her. Later on, Mordred indicates she uses her abilities to aid him in battle, mentioning she can predict weather. |
| 348 | * SiblingYinYang: A [[NonActionBigBad hands off]], evil, scheming destroyer who wants to plunge the land into darkness for revenge, the opposite of her good-hearted brother who gets into the fray himself and hopes to build and better the nation they live in. |
| 349 | * SmugSnake: Morgana's likely the most clever character of the cast but ultimately she is playing with eldritch forces for her revenge she doesn't truly understand, as hinted at by her terror of the dragon's true nature and later when Merlin manages to trick her into using the same Charm of Making to lose her powers. |
| 350 | * SorcerousOverlord: After pulling her BedTrick on Arthur and blighting the land with Mordred's brith, Morgana becomes TheManBehindTheMan to her warlord son, with cultists worshipping her as she pushes her monstrous offspring to claim the country as his own. |
| 351 | * StartOfDarkness: Morgana wouldn't have become the BigBad if not for Uther destroying her family and quickly switches from a young girl who loved her parents to plotting for decades to destroy Camelot. |
| 352 | * TragicVillain: All of Morgana's plotting to destroy Camelot ultimately comes back to when she saw her mother raped and prophetically witnessed her father's death as a child. Over the course of the 60-year story, she's still a broken child out to destroy a world that hurt her so badly. |
| 353 | * TrueSight: Seems to be able to see through Merlin's illusion cast on Uther when he sleeps with her mother Igrayne in her father's guise. She's repulsed by it and it's one of the pivotal moments driving her to villainy. |
| 354 | * UngratefulBastard: Towards King Arthur, her brother, who was seemingly nothing but generous and kind to her, and had a place for her at the Round Table of Camelot. She goes on to betray and rape him, before seeking to conquer his kingdom from him through their unholy child, due to the past actions of Uther and Merlin, none of which was his fault in the slightest. |
| 355 | * VainSorceress: Uses the power of the Dragon to preserve her beauty over the years, until Merlin dupes her into exhausting her power and revealing her true self as a withered crone. |
| 356 | * TheVamp: Manipulates Gawain into accusing Guinevere of treason, nearly getting him killed in the duel between him and Lancelot, and later seduces numerous knights away from their quest for the Holy Grail on Arthur's behalf and into her and Mordred's service as mooks. |
| 357 | * VillainousBreakdown: The plotting, brilliant Morgana is reduced to a sputtering mess when Merlin is revived and the older mage manages to trick her into undoing her spells and she's left weak and helpless for the enraged Mordred to strangle her to death. |
| 358 | * VillainousIncest: She seduces her half-brother Arthur with a magical disguise and uses the cursed child resulting from the birth as a monstrous general to empower so he'll destroy Camelot. |
| 359 | * VillainousMotherSonDuo: With her child Mordred. The two work together after his birth begins corrupting the realm and she uses him as an instrument of vengeance, while he just wishes to conquer and rule all he can. Their goals don't quite perfectly align and once she loses her magic, Mordred just kills her. |
| 360 | * VillainsNeverLie: When she (possibly magically) has Gawain accuse Guinevere of attraction to Lancelot, she's technically not lying. Even if they never slept together (yet) they do hold tender feelings for each other, which Morgana uses to disrupt the harmony of the realm. |
| 361 | * WhatTheHellHero: Calls the very [[TheUnfettered Unfettered]] Merlin out for allowing her mother's rape as part of his scheme to put a worthy king on the throne. |
| 362 | * AWolfInSheepsClothing: She approaches Merlin as a young sorceress seeking guidance and knows how to play to his attraction to her. While he does end up suspecting her motives later on, it serves her to get close enough to him such that she can steal his power when he's incapacitated by Arthur thrusting Excalibur into the earth. |
| 363 | * WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Morgana was a little girl when her father was killed and her mother raped thanks to Uther and Merlin's machinations. Unsurprisingly, she's grown up bitter and hateful of the realm shaped by a wizard who deemed such acts a necessary sacrifice and now seeks to destroy it all. |
| 364 | * XanatosGambit: Her plot to destroy Camelot by stopping the quest knights has her use magic to seduce them to her side and serve her against her brother. Any who resist are hanged by her son's orders commanding their legion of corrupted knights and wiping out those still loyal to the king. |
| 365 | * YoungerThanTheyLook: While [[VainSorceress using magic]] to give off an OlderThanTheyLook vibe, when Merlin tricks her into undoing her magic, the result has her played by an actress in her 80s, when Morgana at the time would be in her 60s. It's possible the spell's effect actually prematurely aged her in the process of losing her powers. |
| 366 | * YouAreWhatYouHate: Ultimately she ends up very much like [[PredecessorVillain Uther]] himself, the bloodthirsty conqueror who betrayed and had her father murdered, raped her mother and stole their lands from them. Morgana in turn betrays her generous brother and rapes him with a magical BedTrick to produce Mordred in her efforts of conquest of Camelot, just as Arthur was created the same way. |
| 367 | [[/folder]] |
| 368 | |
| 369 | [[folder:Mordred]] |
| 370 | !!Mordred |
| 371 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mordred_excalibur.jpg]] |
| 372 | !!!Played By: Robert Addie (adult), Charley Boorman (young) |
| 373 | |
| 374 | Disguising herself as Guinevere, Morgana slept with her half-brother and conceived Mordred. She raised her son to seek revenge on Arthur and claim Camelot for himself. |
| 375 | ---- |
| 376 | * AntagonisticOffspring: To his father, Arthur, eventually burning down his Kingdom and killing him. |
| 377 | * TheAntichrist: Gives off the vibes as an unholy child whose incestuous origins drive the land to pestalince and famine. He also means to ride to war to take Camelot for his own [[AmbitionIsEvil ambition]], the foil to his father who seeks to rule for the good of the land. |
| 378 | * BastardBastard: The opposite of his own father, Mordred was even born by a similar BedTrick as Arthur but rather than strive to become a good King, he simply thinks Camelot should be his to rule even if he's a bloodthirsty, ambitious brat who outright enjoys the peoples' suffering. |
| 379 | * BlackKnight: The original script has him meet Arthur in a magnificent set of pitch-black armor rather than the mystical golden one he wears in the film proper. |
| 380 | * BlingOfWar: One of the fanciest armors in the movie. |
| 381 | * BrainsAndBrawn: His mother Morgana does the plotting and uses her knowledge of magic to empower him, while Mordred commands their forces and uses her magical enhancements to cut down their enemies, the physical half of the duo. |
| 382 | * ChildByRape: Much like how his father Arthur was produced, Mordred is created by Morgana through magical rape by deception. |
| 383 | * TheConqueror: Much like [[GenerationXerox his grandfather]], Mordred despises the idea of negotiations and takes to razing the lands until Arthur surrenders. The one time Arthur tries speaking with him as a father Mordred rejects any kinship, merely incensed at not immediately being handed Camelot. |
| 384 | * CreepyChild: As a boy he tempts Grail knights to their seduction at Morgana's hand, or to their deaths. He's also only technically 10 years of age when Morgana provides him weapons, evil knights to lead and impenetrable magical armor, and brainwashes him through childhood and into a young adult who happily goes about a bloody campaign through Camelot on her behalf. |
| 385 | * DiesDifferentlyInAdaptation: His and Arthur's blows to each other are switched around, as in Malory it's Arthur who impales him with a spear and he drags himself down the shaft to hit Arthur with his sword. This allows Arthur to strike his final blow with Excalibur. |
| 386 | * TheDragon: Morgana births him to enact her revenge on Camelot. He takes the role to lure the quest knights to her, demands the executions of those who refuse them and later leads their armies. |
| 387 | * DragonAscendant: The original screenplay has him happen upon his mother's corpse rather than kill her himself ([[LackOfEmpathy not that he's overly bothered by it]]) and takes to leading their forces solo to conquer Camelot. |
| 388 | * DragonWithAnAgenda: Mordred is only interested in taking the crown, unconcerned with his mother's grievances. When Morgana loses her magic at the end Mordred angrily strangles her to death, her use to him gone. |
| 389 | * EvilCounterpart: To Arthur. Both are bastards born out of rape who never knew their fathers while growing up. But while Arthur was raised by a man who cared for him as his own, and was shaped into a decent person with morals, Mordred was raised and twisted by his wrathful and power hungry mother, who used him as a weapon against his father and the kingdom. |
| 390 | * TheEvilPrince: Mordred is King Arthur's son and the technical heir of Camelot. Of course, he's a power hungry monster and even when his father offers him his love he coldly rebukes him, demanding the crown immediately and going to war with his parent for it. |
| 391 | * EvilSoundsDeep: As an adult, he has a boyish face and a surprisingly deep and harsh voice. |
| 392 | * FaceOfAnAngelMindOfADemon: Mordred's an angelic-looking child who grows up into an ethereally beautiful young man. Like his mother his looks do not reflect the wicked nature of his heart. |
| 393 | * FinalBoss: Arthur's final opponent during his life, [[SelfMadeOrphan killing Morgana]] out of rage when she loses her magic and taking his campaign solo. |
| 394 | * GenerationXerox: All of the evil that skipped Arthur from Uther was inherited by Mordred. Like his grandfather he's a cruel despot fixated on taking Camelot by force, despising diplomacy and incapable of seeing himself as having a duty to the land, rather just wanting the power that comes with being King. |
| 395 | * GigglingVillain: During his CreepyChild stint, Mordred enjoys luring knights to corruption or cruelly hanging them to die being pecked at by crows in his mother's enchanted forest. He leads the men in laughing all the way and is all the more unsettling from the constant chuckling. |
| 396 | * GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: Subverted, like a mockery of Camelot's Christian religion, Mordred is an unholy child of magic and incest who blights the land but appears as a fair-skinned, beautiful, golden-haired youth with matching armor. |
| 397 | * HairTriggerTemper: Mordred does not react well to hearing no, determining it's time for full on campaign when Arthur just tries to offer being raised as prince and when he happens upon his mother having aged and lost her magic, furiously murders her. |
| 398 | * TheHeavy: Of the final act. Morgana backs him but Mordred commands their armies and orders the execution of their enemies. At the very end, he also kills her to become Arthur's final opponent. |
| 399 | * HeroKiller: Kills Uryens and Arthur onscreen, along with several other knights searching for the Holy Grail offscreen. |
| 400 | * InbredAndEvil: Born of incestuous rape and an utter monster. He even seems delighted in his unholy being literally blighting Camelot, giggling at the very sight of the dozens of knights he hanged for trying to defy his mother's seductions to save the land. |
| 401 | * ItsAllAboutMe: Mordred is at his happiest keeping his father's Camelot a ruined mess while he laughs at the knights he killed for trying to save the land and believes the realm is his right to rule, demanding it of Arthur when they meet and set on conquering and crushing any resistance until the nation is under his rule. |
| 402 | * LightIsNotGood: He wears brilliant golden armor, but is a murderous warlord. |
| 403 | * MoreDespicableMinion: Morgana might be a revenge-seeking rapist but Mordred is far more active in enforcing the cruelty for their plot, such as hanging the knights who don't bend the knee, overseeing the mass war across Camelot and wrathfully killing his mom when her use to him expires. |
| 404 | * MutualKill: With Arthur, who lets Mordred stab him with his spear so he may bring himself close enough to his evil son and finish him with Excalibur. |
| 405 | --> '''Mordred''': ''Come Father, let us embrace at last.'' |
| 406 | * MyGodWhatHaveIDone: |
| 407 | ** In the original script, the child Mordred quivers over slitting Perceval's throat and as a result the knight manages to escape. The sentimentality doesn't last though and by the time he's reached adult form Mordred is more than happy to slaughter his way through Camelot to conquer it. |
| 408 | ** The edited version of the film shoots him killing his mother as a possible one, since instead of strangling her to death after smacking her as in the uncensored cut, Mordred simply backs away, possibly horrified by what's happened to his mom. |
| 409 | * MysticalPlague: His unholy birth devastates the land, with people starving and pleading as his vile existence curses the realm. |
| 410 | * NoManOfWomanBorn: No weapon forged by man can harm him while in his suit of enchanted golden armor. He is killed by Excalibur - which, unknown to him and Morgana both, Arthur regains after abandoning it for years, and only because Guinevere secretly kept it safe. |
| 411 | * OffWithHisHead: Rather than getting skewered by Excalibur, Mordred of the original script is decapitated by the one blade his magic enchantments can't stop. |
| 412 | * ThePowerOfLove: Averted. Arthur offers it to him, but Mordred tells him off and plans to conquer his kingdom. |
| 413 | * PragmaticVillainy: Offers to spare Uryens if he'll join his forces against Arthur. Though as soon as Mordred realizes Uryens' loyalty can't be swayed his swiftly and brutally kills the man without a second thought. |
| 414 | * PsychopathicManchild: Due to how he was risen by his mother, Mordred quickly becomes a bloodthirsty commander as a young adult, hellbent on taking Camelot by force. He flies into rage when Arthur tries to be fatherly and accept him as prince to be loved and groomed properly to rule, carrying his mother's irrational grievances against Arthur through her brainwashing. |
| 415 | * PublicDomainArtifact; In the original script, when he first meets Arthur he shows off his spear as the same one that pierced Christ on the cross. Arthur merely asks if that's what his mother told him, making Mordred frown and doubt, though he shrugs it off. |
| 416 | * RoyalBrat: Though illegitimate, he gives off the vibes of a spoiled prince who thinks Camelot and the realm should be his immediately thanks to Morgana raising him to believe it, and he reacts to his father offering up his love but not the land, and his mother losing her magic to aid his campaign, with a murderous temper tantrum. |
| 417 | * {{Sadist}}: Mordred delights in suffering and giggles at the tree he keeps to hang any knights who defy him and Morgana, enjoying watching them be pecked apart by crows. |
| 418 | * SelfMadeOrphan: Did this to both of his birth parents: strangling his mother to death and fatally impaling his father with a spear. |
| 419 | * TheSociopath: His mother at least wants revenge on Camelot, Arthur, Merlin etc. for her parents, Mordred is a psychopath only interested in power who giggles about the dozens of knights he hanged for defying him and later outright rejects any love or legitimate relationship with his father to demand the rule of the land itself, willing to destroy anyone who gets in his way, even his mother. |
| 420 | * VillainousMotherSonDuo: Mordred works with his mother Morgana in his quest to rule Camelot, while she's just happy to use him to sew destruction across the land that wronged her. He's not capable of much feeling of love and she's promptly throttled to death by him once she loses her ability to cast magic. |
| 421 | * TheWarlord: Thanks to his mother's sorcery, Mordred's got an army of mind-controlled knights and magic blessings to fight with. He quickly puts his power to use razing every part of Arthur's realm that doesn't bow to him and conquering all he can see. |
| 422 | * YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Throttles Morgana to death when Merlin takes her magic away, leaving her useless to her power-hungry son. |
| 423 | [[/folder]] |
| 424 | |
| 425 | !!Intro |
| 426 | [[folder:Uther]] |
| 427 | !! Uther Pendragon |
| 428 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/uther_excalibur.jpg]] |
| 429 | !!!Played By: Creator/GabrielByrne |
| 430 | |
| 431 | A conquering warlord who aimed to be the sole king of the land, but his lust for Igrayne results in a war with the Duke. Using Merlin's magic he is able to bed Igrayne and father Arthur, but the deal he made with Merlin comes back to haunt him quickly. |
| 432 | ---- |
| 433 | * ZeroPercentApprovalRating: His blood thirst comes back to bite him heavily, with Igrayne noted to hold him in contempt in the script and Merlin pointing out how alienating his greedy, backstabbing nature has been for the realm. Just nine months into his rule, he's assassinated by men loyal to the fallen Duke of Cornwall. |
| 434 | * AlasPoorVillain: Uther is a terrible man, a power-hungry conqueror and rapist to boot but he did seem ready to turn a new leaf after Arthur's birth. When Merlin takes his son from him, he's ambushed and killed by the Duke's surviving men, dying while desperately calling for Merlin to save him and driving Excalibur into a stone in a final act of spite and defeat as he bleeds out. |
| 435 | * AllForNothing: Cornwall finally acknowledges Uther's rule after years of fighting and a generous offering of land. Then Uther spoils it by declaring he'll take Cornwall's wife for himself. |
| 436 | * BedTrick: As per the original legends, Uther has Merlin disguise him as the Duke of Cornwall with magic so he may sleep with Igrayne. |
| 437 | * BigBadWannabe: Uther has aspirations to become a conqueror but his brutality leads to massive unpopularity and in under a year of being King he's hunted down and killed by loyalists to the dead Duke. |
| 438 | * TheChosenWannabe: Merlin calls him out as this before he takes Arthur, as Uther has taken his pleasure with Igrayne and destroyed the peace that Merlin fought so hard for, with Merlin saying he'll never be able to enjoy a life of peace and family as a result, as no one trusts him and "You're not the one Uther." |
| 439 | * TheConqueror: Uther is a brute of a commander with zero interest in diplomacy and intends to take the land through war. Merlin has to do some serious arm twisting to even get him to consider a peaceful situation and even then Uther's "Take what's yours" mentality quickly leads to him smashing any chance of alliance with Cornwall. |
| 440 | * DecoyProtagonist: Introduced as a conqueror out to unite the land and is on his way to do it with Merlin's assistance. After his greed and lust get in the way though, Merlin realizes he's not up to the task and takes Arthur from him. Uther dies ambushed by Cornwall's men nine months into his rule and just 30 minutes into the movie. |
| 441 | * TheDyingWalk: Is ambushed and mortally wounded by Cornwall's retainers. With the last of his strength, he fights his way out and thrusts Excalibur into the stone before dying. |
| 442 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Seems to genuinely want to be a good father to Arthur. |
| 443 | * ExcaliburInTheStone: He specifically put it there as he tried to escape from some of Cornwall's knights. |
| 444 | * FatalFlaw: [[ItsAllAboutMe Selfishness.]] Uther was a strong warrior and powerful leader, but he was also a very selfish man who prioritized what he wanted over the common good. He wanted Excalibur not to serve the land and its people, but to show off his authority as the new king and rule over the land. When he lusted for Igrayne, he destroyed the truce between him and Cornwall so he could have her for himself, leading him to seek Merlin's help so he could bed her while disguised as the Duke. As Merlin puts it, Uther's selfishness, proven when he betrayed Cornwall and took everything that was his, made him unfit to rule as no one would trust a king who betrays his own vassals. Uther would eventually be assassinated by knights who served Cornwall for betraying their lord. |
| 445 | * HeelFaceDoorSlam: After he's consolidated his rule and taken Igrayne as his wife, he admits he's tired of fighting, and wants to settle down and be a good king, husband and father. Unfortunately, his previous choices come back to bite him. |
| 446 | * HoistByHisOwnPetard: Uther betrays the lord he swore an oath of peace to just to sleep with his wife, promising to give Merlin what is created from that lust in the bargain. He gets what he wants and Arthur is born. However, Merlin takes him away as promised. When Uther rides after Merlin alone to try to take his son back, he is ambushed, as his betrayal of the lord made the people turn against him, leading to his death. |
| 447 | * IHaveNoSon: Uther, when called upon by Merlin to keep his end of the bargain and give up Arthur, does so, telling Merlin to take the "devil child", though its clear this is simply an attempt to hide his pain, as he impotently slams his fist against a pillar, and eventually mounts a horse to try to demand his son back. |
| 448 | * ItsAllAboutMe: Uther's selfishness is a pronounced flaw and it's his demand to be able to sleep with Igrayne--even [[BedTrick using trickery to do so]]--that makes Merlin realize Uther isn't the ideal king he wants. Even after claiming he's ready to reform and be a loving father to Arthur, his final act is one of spite: driving Excalibur into a stone to deny everyone its power if he can't have it when he's mortally wounded. |
| 449 | * LargeHam: He manages an astounding amount of scenery-chewing despite having twenty lines, maximum. |
| 450 | * {{Lust}}: His FatalFlaw. Uther's lust for Igrayne single-handedly ruins the truce between himself and the Duke of Cornwall. Later on, when he departs to seduce Igrayne, Merlin tells him his lust will sustain him so that he will fly. |
| 451 | * MightMakesRight: He's clearly unhappy when Merlin tries to get him to negotiate with Cornwall, stating "Talk is for lovers" and wanting to bring Camelot under his banner by a show of force. |
| 452 | * TheOathBreaker: Uther does this more than once. First when he breaks a hard fought-for peace simply for his own pleasures, starting a war again with Igrayne's husband. Then after giving Merlin Arthur to raise, he chases after him on horseback, demanding his son back. Unfortunately, the former betrayal turned the armies against him and he's ambushed and slain as he rides after Merlin, who does nothing to save him. |
| 453 | * RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil: Along with having her husband killed, it's Uther's bedding of Igrayne under false pretenses that drives Morgana to villainy, devoting her whole life to revenge after Uther's vicious lust and Merlin's apathetic backing. |
| 454 | * PredecessorVillain: To Morgana, having been the one to have her father killed while he uses trickery to rape her mother. Growing up, she becomes the BigBad for revenge on Uther's country. |
| 455 | * SupernaturalAid: From Merlin until he ruined his plans to bring about peace because he wanted to have sex with another Queen. |
| 456 | * VillainProtagonist: DecoyProtagonist anyways, Uther is the central character of the first half hour of the story, where he shows the audience just how unworthy of a King he'd be thanks to his blood thirst and selfishness. |
| 457 | [[/folder]] |
| 458 | |
| 459 | |
| 460 | [[folder:The Duke]] |
| 461 | !! The Duke of Cornwall |
| 462 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/duke_cornwall_excalibur.jpg]] |
| 463 | !!!Played By: Corin Redgrave |
| 464 | |
| 465 | The leader of Cornwall and husband of Igrayne, as well as the father of Morgana. Despite agreeing to accept Uther as king, the warlord's desire for the Duke's wife results in a war between the two that leads to his death. |
| 466 | ---- |
| 467 | * HeroAntagonist: Uther is the protagonist of the intro but the Duke comes across as far more reasonable during their conflict, actually being willing to negotiate and only foregoing their peace when Uther makes his lust for the Duke's wife Igrayne clear. |
| 468 | * ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice: A murder of crows spook Cornwall's horse, causing him to fall off onto a bunch of spears. |
| 469 | * NoNameGiven: He's referred to by his title, based off the character Gorlois from the myths. |
| 470 | * OutGambitted: Fortifying his castle, the Duke withholds Uther's siege but the latter orders a fake retreat to lure the Duke out, letting Merlin kill him with his magic. |
| 471 | * PlotTriggeringDeath: Morgana's magic allows her to see his death from afar, as well as Uther for who he really is when he appears magically disguised to seduce Igrayne. The unjust treatment of her parents makes her into the wrathful BigBad of the story. |
| 472 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Unlike Uther he's willing to call negotiations and is quite sincere and generous in his offers when he's shown Excalibur, while Uther has to be persuaded to talk at all. |
| 473 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: He's dead before the end of the first act but he's Morgana's father and avenging him is what drives her villainy. |
| 474 | [[/folder]] |
| 475 | |
| 476 | [[folder:Igrayne]] |
| 477 | !! Igrayne |
| 478 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/igrayne_excalibur.jpg]] |
| 479 | !!!Played By: Katrine Boorman |
| 480 | |
| 481 | The wife of the Duke and mother of Morgana. Because of her beauty Uther desires her for himself and ends up using magic to disguise himself as the Duke so he could bed her, which results in her pregnancy and the birth of Arthur. |
| 482 | ---- |
| 483 | * AwfulWeddedLife: Following Cornwall's death Igrayne is made to be Uther's new wife as he now owns her domain. The original script even calls for her hating him for most of the nine months they've been together and this feeling grows after learning he disguised himself as Cornwall to sleep with her. |
| 484 | * BedTrick: On the receiving end of Uther's, who has Merlin disguise him as the Duke so Igrayne will sleep with him. |
| 485 | * HeadTurningBeauty: Igrayne is famed for her beauty, with the Duke happy to show her off at the peace feast between himself and Uther. She's so gorgeous Uther's lust takes over and he enrages the Duke, ending the peace and going off to scheme to sleep with her. |
| 486 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: Like her husband she's only in the intro story and disappears afterwards but her suffering a BedTrick by Uther and Merlin drives her daughter Morgana to plot Camelot's destruction. |
| 487 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: There's no mention of Igrayne's fate after Merlin takes baby Arthur from her and Uther dies chasing after him. |
| 488 | [[/folder]] |
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/context.php
FollowingContext Characters / Excalibur
Go To
- Show Spoilers
- Night Vision
- Sticky Header
- Wide Load
