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The Black Adder
King Richard IV
King Richard IV
"CHISWICK! FRESH HORSES!"
Played by: BRIAN BLESSED
"As the Good Lord said, love thy neighbour as thyself! Unless he's Turkish, in which case, KILL THE BASTARD!!!"
The historical Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York (1473- disappeared in 1483) all grown up. Official history says that Richard IV was murdered by his paternal uncle Richard III, but he actually became King of England for thirteen glorious years, most of them spent on chasing Turks.
- Accidental Misnaming: He almost never gets his son's name right, except when Edmund is dying.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: Is a king and once fought his way out of Constantinople, through a ten-thousand man garrison armed with scimitars. With a fruit knife.
- Big Bad: Depends on the episode. Mostly in the Archbishop and the Queen's Spanish Beard. From a cleric's and Edmund's perspective at least.
- Big Eater: Exemplified in 'The Archbishop', where his meal is contrasted with that of Queen Gertrude's. He really did intend to eat fresh horses.
- Bling of War: Usually seen wearing golden armour.
- Blood Knight: SSSLLAAAAAAAYYY!!!!
- Boisterous Bruiser: Comes with the territory of being played by BRIAN BLESSED.
- The Caligula: His motto? "Kill any Turk you see". Also has a tendency to kill Archbishops he finds troublesome.
- Compensating for Something: Thanks to the Queen's incessant reveals, there is some light shed to one of the reasons behind his over-the-top demeanour.
- Everyone Has Standards: He might be a froth-mouthed, bloodthirsty, violent lunatic, but even he's visibly disgusted when a dying nobleman confesses that his many sins include repeated adultery with his own mother.
- He's also implied to not be homophobic, as he greets Edmund politely when he mistakes him for Doncaster.
- Gag Penis: Supposedly not very big, if the Queen is to be trusted.
- General Ripper: Against the Turks, and for some inexplicable reason the Swiss, whom he plans to massacre even when they are fighting on his side.
- Generation Xerox: His historical father, Edward IV, was also a Hot-Blooded Blood Knight.
- Hidden Depths: Normally he is a bellowing, drunken Blood Knight, but in 'The Queen of Spain's Beard' we see him either creating or describing numerous, complicated diplomatic and military plans.
- Historical Domain Character: He is one of the "Princes in the Tower" grown up (in this imagining, not only is Richard III being evil a slander by Henry VII, but Henry also erased the existence of a dynasty). Part of the joke is the contrast between the sweet kid Richard IV used to be, and what he has become as an adult.
- Hot-Blooded: See that quote? That is not just battle lust, he is like that all the time.
- Hypocrite: Despite hating the Turks he evidently has no problem sleeping with Turkish women.
- Implacable Man: Having the Plague simply sends him into a berserker rage, believing everyone to be Turks. Doesn't save him from the poison in the finale.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Perfectly polite and affable if you are not Edmund (or Turkish). He is even implied to treat Doncaster with respect.
- Large Ham: BRIAN BLESSED AT HIS BOMBASTIC BEST!
- No Indoor Voice: You will hear him even if you turn the volume real low...
- Parental Favoritism: He alternates between not having a clue that Edmund is his son and just straight-up giving him a "Reason You Suck" Speech after appointing him as Archbishop of Canterbury.Richard: Don't be mistaken about this appointment, Egbert! I've always despised you.
Edmund: Well, you are my father, of course! I mean, you're biased.
Richard: You, compared to your brother Harry... (laughs and pats Harry's shoulder) are as excrement as compared to cream!
Harry: My Lord, you flatter me!
Edmund: And me, also.
Richard: So now that I've finally found a use for you, don't try to wriggle out of it! - Royals Who Actually Do Something: In his case, "something" tends to mean "slaughtering Turks".
- Tranquil Fury: For all his bellowing and bluster, his most genuinely terrifying and chilling moment is when, after manipulating Edmund into becoming Archbishop of Canterbury, he very calmly informs Edmund that if he crosses him at any point ever, he will "do unto you what God did unto the Sodomites."
- With This Herring: He manages to defeat ten thousand Turks, while armed with only a small knife, typically used for peeling fruit.
Harry, Prince of Wales
Harry, Prince Of Wales
Played by: Robert East
"The verdict of this court is that the accused are found guilty of witchcraft. The maximum penalty that the law allows is that you be burned to death. However, in view of your previous good background, I am disposed to be lenient. Therefore, I sentence you to be burned alive."
The King's favourite son, and his brother Edmund's main rival. While supposedly more intelligent, he still manages to fall for some of The Black Adder's schemes.
- Absurd Phobia: According to his mother he's scared of spoons.
- But Not Too Bi: In "The Queen Of Spain's Beard", he is politically engaged to seven European noblewomen (one of whom, Princess Leia of Hungary, eventually gets engaged to Edmund), and one European nobleman, Jeremy of Estonia. He does seem a bit taken aback by the latter, however, and it's implied that all these engagements were arranged by his father.
- Cain and Abel: The excessively clueless Abel to Edmund's no less clueless, but underhanded Cain.
- Comically Missing the Point: Has a habit of doing this. The most notable being in '"Witchsmeller Pursuivant", when the Witchsmeller is burning alive, he doesn't even notice and thinks the man is talking about the weather being too warm to wear a cloak.
- The Ditz: One of his biggest questions in life is if his hand sins and he cuts it how he can cut his other sinful hand.
- Horrible Judge of Character: At no point does he cotton on to Edmund's various throne-usurping schemes.
- Also completely oblivious to the fact that the ridiculously improbable deaths of successive Archbishops were actually obvious assassinations ordered by his own father.
- Misplaced Kindergarten Teacher: While commanding men on the battlefield:Harry: Now, I'm afraid there's going to have to be a certain amount of... violence, but at least we know it's all for a good cause, hey?
- Nice to the Waiter: Inverted. Harry is polite and cheerful when speaking to just about everyone... except, for no explained reason, one of the palace messengers, who he will berate and shout at with no provocation whatsoever.
- Skewed Priorities: When he thinks the castle is under attack, his first reaction is to worry about the drains. Also being a pious nut job, when asked about Edmund's chances (after his mutilation) he is considering whether his brother is going to heaven, instead of whether he is going to survive.
- Unknown Rival: He doesn't see Edmund's feelings of rivalry, even when he is practically jumping in front of him, all but screaming.
- Upper-Class Twit: Slightly smarter than Edmund, at least in everyday matters, but that is no great feat. (In street smarts, Edmund seems to have gotten the lion's share, always relatively speaking). Having said that, Harry is probably still the sanest member of his family. His main quirk is a seeming obsession with the castle drains.
- More pronounced in the original pilot episode, where Harry is depicted as having much the same childish personality as Percy. He is a total idiot in the main series, but a definitely more organised and articulate one than the pilot's version.
- Warrior Poet: Becomes a parody of one, as his battle speech is not likely to satisfy either the poetically-inclined or the plain bloodthirsty ones (unlike his father and uncle), as his tone of voice and his choice of words is more or less like a teacher's to the kindergarteners under his custody with the rather simplistic and half-assed argument about a certain amount of violence that is for a good purpose.
- Warrior Prince: Seen riding into battle at the Battle of Bosworth Field (1485).
Queen Gertrude
Queen Gertrude of Flanders
Played by: Elspet Gray
"Now, would I, Edmund... Do I tell people that your brother Harry is scared of spoons? Or that your father has very small private parts?"
Edmund's mother and Queen of England. While portrayed as prudish, she had an affair with Douglas McAngus, who may have been the natural father of The Black Adder.
- All Women Are Prudes: Seems to regard sex as a bit of an inconvenience, but it's implied it's less about the act itself, since she had an affair with another nobleman, and more to do with Richard IV just not being very good at it.
- Aren't You Going to Ravish Me?: "In a moment...!"
- Behind Every Great Man: The King is a warmonger with one foot in reality at best; Gertrude is not only a reasonable authority figure, but is implied to have magic powers.
- Comically Missing the Point: All the time.
- Hot Witch: Revealed to be one at the end of "Witchsmeller Pursuivant".
- My Girl Is a Slut: The Queen wasn't alone on those cold winter nights...
- Obfuscating Stupidity: In "Witchsmeller Pursuivant", she pretends to be Comically Missing the Point again when Edmund calls after her when she leaves his jail cell, having already given him the means to escape.
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: Has an odd, non-specifically European accent. (Her name implies Flemish.)
King Richard III
King Richard III
Played by: Peter Cook
"Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more. Consign their parts most private to a Rutland tree!"
- Age Lift: Historically, he was thirty-two when he died at Bosworth Field. Here, while his age is never given, he has two adult great-nephews.
- Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Once he realizes no one else can see him and he can't expose Edmund as his killer, his ghost departs to the afterlife, with a few annoyed parting words.
- Bling of War: Wears a very elaborate suit of armor at Bosworth Field, as befits his status.
- Deadpan Snarker: He sums up his experience at the Battle of Bosworth Field thusly:"Somebody cut my head off at one point, but otherwise everything went swimmingly."
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Sort of. Henry VII rewrites history to portray him as being a tyrant who murdered Edward V and the young boy who would become Richard IV, when in fact he loved his relations (except Edmund). Having said that, the series doesn't reveal what did happen to Edward V. Richard might know more than he says...
- Historical Hero Upgrade: In real life it's believed he murdered his two nephews, but here he loved them both deeply and was considered a good king.
- I'm Standing Right Here: Edmund is the only person who can see his ghost. As a result, when Richard III sits between Richard IV and Harry at the post-battle banquet, the two talk across him as if he weren't there (which, as far as they are concerned, he isn't).
- Jerkass to One: Contrary to historical writings, Richard is stated a kind and beloved king to everyone. Except his slimy great-nephew Edmund, who he instantly decides he loathes and decides to use as arrow fodder. It seems Edmund just brings this sort of attitude out of everyone. Fittingly this isolated showing of contempt costs him his life.
- Older Than They Look: From looking at him, you would never guess he has two adult great-nephews.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Leads his men in the Battle of Bosworth Field, and actually wins. Then Edmund gets involved...
- We Have Reserves: Very accepting of the term and the use of arrow fodder during the battle of Bosworth Field. Keep in mind that he says that about his great-nephew, whom he has just met and that is his Establishing Character Moment!
Dougal McAngus
Dougal McAngus, Duke of Argyll
Played by: Alex Norton
"Actually, I'm quite interested in the wigs."
A war hero and friend of the King who gets all of Edmund's Scottish lands. His father may also be the Black Adder's father, through an affair with Queen Gertrude. Dougal and Edmund are suspected to be half-brothers, but they antagonize each other.
- BFS: Uses one against Edmund, breaking his normal-sized sword with a single swing.
- Fiery Redhead: When he is not leading the King's armies against the Turks, he is out hunting or duelling.
- Handsome Lech: To the point that he's even happy to make dirty comments about Queen Gertrude.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: It's implied that he and Edmund are half-brothers via Queen Gertrude's affair with Dougal's father.
- Too Dumb to Live: Baldrick's first "cunning plan" actually works on him. Edmund persuades him to put his head in a cannon before it's fired.
- Verbal Backspace: Has a moment after deriding Edmund.McAngus: Same old story; the Duke of Edinburgh and about as Scottish as the Queen of England's tits! [he remembers Gertrude is sat beside him] Och, nae offence your Majesty.
- Violent Glaswegian: When bringing tributes to the queen, he empties a bag of severed heads onto the table. He apologises, stating that it was his overnight bag.
Infanta Maria of Spain
Infanta Maria of Spain
Played by: Miriam Margolyes
A Spanish princess who Edmund becomes engaged to for political reasons, to her delight, and his horror.
- Abhorrent Admirer: To Edmund.
- Extreme Libido: Very sexually aggressive, to the extent of probing Edmund's mother to find out what he's like in bed.
- Gonk: At least Edmund thinks so. She's fairly rotund and usually wears a goofy goggle-eyed look.
- Love at First Sight: Is all over Edmund from the second she sees him. The feeling is not mutual.
Don Speekenglish
Don Speekenglish
Played by: Jim Broadbent
The Infanta's translator.
- Absurdly Dedicated Worker: Translates for the Infanta everywhere, even while she's having sex with Baldrick.
- Mistaken for Gay: Thanks to translating the Infanta's declarations of love, before Edmund sees the Infanta. Edmund punches him on the nose, while Percy jokes he must be Jeremy of Estonia.
- Punny Name: A professional Spanish-English translator whose name's literally "Speak English."
- What the Hell Is That Accent?: Speaks in a hilariously baffling approximation of a Mediterranean accent.
Princess Leia
Princess Leia of Hungary
Played by: Natasha King
"Hello Edmund. You look funny."
A princess that Edmund is betrothed to after an engagement with the Spanish Infanta backfired to the Prince's joy. Edmund was expecting an adult princess, but Leia is actually an underage girl.
- Cheerful Child: Almost too cheerful. She doesn't seem worried about her husband being burnt alive in "Witchsmeller Pursuivant".
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: Leia appears as Edmund's wife in two episodes, but is not part of the season finale and does not die with the rest of the royal family. She is simply never mentioned again. How exactly Prince Edmund had descendants is unclear since his wife was still a teenager when he died, but it's assumed that Lord Blackadder et al. are descended from illegitimate offspring. The different series never subscribed to a strict continuity between series, so it was never really a concern how that worked.
- May–December Romance: Only about 11 when hastily married to Edmund. He does show some actual affection for her, although it's clear that nothing sexual ever took place.
- Morality Pet: Edmund is noticeably nicer towards her than he is towards anyone else. Shortly after their wedding, Edmund decides that she is too young for him to bed. So he spends their wedding night by narrating bedtime stories to Leia, about bears, and elves, and fairies.
Witchsmeller Pursuivant
The Witchsmeller Pursuivant
Played by: Frank Finlay
"BLOODY MILK! It was a mixture of milk and blood!"
- Amoral Attorney: Has no qualms using obviously ludicrous evidence and arguments to get the verdict he wants.
- Asshole Victim: After trying to sentence Edmund and his friends to death for petty reasons, you'd be hard-pressed to feel sorry for him when he ends up being burnt alive.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: It's implied he kills Edmund's horse, Black Satin, between the first and second day of the trial. Even before that, he has a woman in town burned at the stake... along with her cat!
- Berserk Button: The subject of nearly all of Edmund's insults and how adamant he was on burning him afterwards would suggest the Witchsmeller doesn't take fondly to making fun of his nose.
- Burn the Witch!: Tries to have Edmund, Baldrick, and Percy burned at the stake, but he is the one who ends up burned in the end.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Overhears Edmund making some obviously empty threats against him, and so gets Edmund, along with Baldrick and Percy, all sentenced to burn at the stake.
- Establishing Character Moment: When meeting Prince Harry he claims that he "serves two purposes — to protect the good, and to crush evil". He demonstrates this by pulling out two eggs, one with "good" and one with "evil" written on them — and proceeds to crush them both, claiming that "sometimes that which seems good turns out to be evil" when Harry points this out. In actuality, however, this shows that he really doesn't care about whether or not the people he's burning actually are witches.
- Evil Is Petty: He will quite gleefully frame people for witchcraft and see them burned for the most minor of infractions against him. And Edmund insulted him within earshot...
- Fangs Are Evil: He has rather long and pointed fangs, and he's a very petty asshole who tries to have Edmund burned at the stake for insulting him.
- Frame-Up: Accuses Edmund of being a witch simply because Edmund insulted him while in earshot, and presents obviously false evidence and testimony to get him convicted.
- Hate Sink: While extremely hammy and hilarious, the Witchsmeller Pursuivant is still a petty jackass who tries to get three men burned at the stake for the crime of making fun of him. Oh, and he has multiple animals killed, too.
- Insane Troll Logic: You could fill a book with the amount of insane troll logic he uses to accuse Edmund, Baldrick, and Percy of being witches. It would include ducks, carrots, cats, horses and poodles.
- Kangaroo Court: Accuses Edmund of witchcraft, then serves as the prosecutor in Edmund's witch trial. All the while, he's ramping up the crowd in an effort to get him Convicted by Public Opinion, and it's obvious that no matter how obviously false the evidence or testimony is, Edmund will 100% be found guilty.
- Karmic Death: He gets burned to death, as he did to so many (likely innocent) people before him, by what is implied to be the one real witch that he ironically never suspected.
- Kick the Dog: He interrogates Edmund's horse to death in order to obtain a signed "confession" that Edmund is the servant of Satan.
- Large Ham: Has a legitimate claim to being the largest ham in the entire Blackadder series, rivalling even the likes of Richard IV and General Melchett.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Depicted as a sadistic maniac who falsely accuses and burns people for witchcraft in droves, intentionally out of personal spite using pure lunacy. He ends up burned alive by what is heavily implied to be real witchcraft he overlooked.
- Laughably Evil: He's a horrible person, but damn if the witch trial he puts on isn't one of the funniest and most scenery-chewing moments of the first season.
- Make the Dog Testify: One of the "witnesses" the Witchsmeller calls to the stand is Edmund's beloved horse, Black Satin. When nothing comes of it, he has Black Satin killed and obtains a "confession" ostensibly from the horse's own mouth.
- Meaningful Name: "Pursuivant" comes from a French word meaning "follow after", and he'll follow after any leads, whether forged or not, in order to get suspected witches burned at the stake.
- Obviously Evil: Let's see... glowing red eyes, sinister hooded cloak, pointy teeth, big nose, long messy hair, chews the scenery at every possible opportunity... Definitely a good guy.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: In his first appearance, he is cloaked in a crowd of peasants with glowing red eyes the only part of his face visible.
- Shadowed Face, Glowing Eyes: In his first on-screen appearance, all you can see beneath his cloak is a pair of glowing red eyes.
- Sinister Schnoz: Edmund even calls him "Old Big Nose", and comes to regret it when he's singled out as the Witchsmeller's first victim.
- Smarter Than You Look: He is at first established as a standard maniacal witch hunter. As Edmund finds out the hard way however, he isn't that deluded and knows when he's being insulted. Some of his convictions are in fact intentional frame ups, simply because he didn't like the poor bugger.
- Villain Ball: Being a maniacal witch-hunter with quite a kill count, he's already of dubious intent at best. But it's intentionally framing Edmund out of a petty grudge that incurs the wrath of a real witch.
- Voodoo Doll: He's eventually burned alive when a doll made in his likeness falls out of Edmund's coat and into the fire, ending his reign of terror for good.
- The Witch Hunter: Although this job appears to consist of convicting people he doesn't like on farcical evidence. He manages to completely miss the only confirmed witch in the kingdom, to his cost.
Black Seal
The Black Seal
Played by: Various note
"Good evening... and surrender. Your money or your life. Damn!! I'm always doing this. Did I say "Your money or your life? Sorry, slip of the tongue, your money and your life. Sorry."
After Prince Edmund is stripped of his titles, he decides to recruit the most evil men in England to overthrow his father.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Sir Wilfred Death, by virtue of his knighthood, and Guy de Glastonbury, by virtue of his politesse.
- Bastard Bastard: Sean, the Irish Bastard.
- Bestiality Is Depraved: Apparently Jack Large is not above bull-buggering.
- Black Knight: Sir Wilfred Death, if his "sir" is a genuine Knight title.
- Card-Carrying Villain: The whole lot of them."May good thrive!"
"OVER OUR DEAD BODIES!" - Carnival of Killers: The Black Seal was their rather inventive name.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Edmund has a hard enough time keeping them in check, but when they realise that The Hawk is the biggest bastard of them all, they turn on Edmund in an instant.
- Depraved Dwarf: Jack Large, or Unspeakably Violent Jack, as he's better known.
- Dirty Old Monk: Do not entrust Friar Bellows with your daughter's chastity.
- Dragon-in-Chief: For Edmund. To be precise they aren't wilier than him, but their toughness, sadism and cruelty faaaar outclass Edmund's so they easily overshadow and overrule him.
- The Dreaded: Excluding Sir Wilfred, the others are terrified of Jack Large. Horses whinny in terror at the mere mention of his name.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Not exactly standards, but the rest of the crew is scared when Sir Wilfred suggest taking Jack as the Sixth member, because his notoriety precedes him. Subverted once they meet him though, they find him an okay fella and get along fine and it turns to Arson, Murder, and Admiration.
- Evil Cripple: Three-Fingered Pete as an archer is not restricted by the number of his fingers or by good sportsmanship.
- Evil Is One Big, Happy Family: They get along well with each other (excluding Edmund) despite (or because of) being a bunch of Card Carrying Villains.
- Evil Is Petty: Sean the Irish bastard seems to be known as a bastard specifically because of this, robbing the blind while they're begging.
- Faux Affably Evil: Guy de Glastonbury is perfectly polite and charming when holding up travellers for their money and their life.
- Gargle Blaster / Immune to Drugs: Sean the Irish Bastard gets up after being poisoned, proclaiming the spiked wine to have "a bit of a sting in its tail" before drinking a second cup and dying.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: Three-Fingered Pete sports a large scar across his cheek and, true to his name, is missing two fingers.
- The Highwayman: Guy de Glastonbury is one of these, though he prefers to kill the people afterward; as he puts it "Your money and your life".
- Hot-Blooded: Jack Large, a singularly vicious brawler manages to be even more hot-blooded than the rest of them.
- Hypocritical Humour: Friar Bellows, a supposed minister, gets so fed up with everyone else's hot-blooded attitudes interrupting Blackadder's attempts to explain what's what that he takes the Lord's name in vain to get them to shut up.
- Ironic Nickname: Edmund tries call Jack Large "Large Jack" (a sort of reverse Little John) but Jack reacted with fury on how it was about his height (or lack thereof.)
- Jerkass: Sean the Irish Bastard didn't get his name because of his parentage, but rather because he's a real bastard (it's why Sir Wilfred chose him). He's introduced stealing from blind beggars.
- Legion of Doom: The six most evil men in the land... and Edmund.
- Mister Big: Jack Large, an in-joke regarding the famously huge "Little John".
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Several of them, most notably Sir Wilfred Death.
- Only Sane Man: Friar Bellows is the only one of them capable of shutting up long enough to listen to Edmund's plan. He also points out that a messenger with the Black Plague would kill them.
- Psycho Knife Nut: Sean goes for sneak-attacks in shadowy narrows therefore he prefers something discreet and swift. Even though drinking makes him everything but.
- Red Baron: Jack Large is also known as "Unspeakably Violent Jack, the Bull-Buggering Beast Killer of No Fixed Abode".
- Running Gag: A sound of a bottle being uncorked follows Sean the Irish Bastard wherever he goes.
- Self-Made Orphan: Most of them murdered their own families, although the Friar killed Sean's.Sean: Good on you, Father!
- Sinister Minister: Friar Bellows has a lust not only for virgins but also for murder (and he still has nothing on the Baby Eating Bishop Of Bath And Wells from II.)
- Token Minority: Sean the Irish Bastard.
- Too Dumb to Live: Sean actually survives the first cup of poison, the only person to do so, gets up and has a second one because he "liked the sting in its tail". That one finishes him off.
- Villainous Friendship: They hate Edmund but all seem to like one another really well. Sean is perfectly happy to hear the Friar killed his much-hated family for him.
- Villain with Good Publicity: If anything, the Friar knows how to to act like a good Samaritan in front of his God-fearing and yet gullible flock. It is easy for him to then backstab them.
The Hawk
Phillip "The Hawk" of Burgundy
Played by: Patrick Allen, John Barrard (disguised)
"I return at last after fifteen years. Waiting, plotting, nurturing my hatred and planning my revenge. Yes, fifteen years of living in France teaches a man to hate. Fifteen years of wearing perfume, fifteen years of eating frogs, fifteen years of saying 'Par-don' and all because of you."
The smartest and meanest man in England, and Edmund's childhood rival who returns after fifteen years at France. His criminal record and superior intelligence leads the "Black Seal" to betray the Black Adder.
- Beard of Evil: In contrast to the clean-shaven Edmund.
- Big Bad: He becomes the undisputed leader of the Black Seal as he is the evilest and most ambitious one, effortlessly replacing Edmund.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: Is very fond of dishing these out.
- Diabolus ex Nihilo: Is never mentioned until about halfway through the last episode of the first series, when Edmund mentions him as being his greatest adversary. Seconds later he appears in person, and immediately takes over as the bad guy.
- Embarrassing Nickname: "The Thrush".
- Eviler than Thou: How he wins the allegiance of the Black Seal. Unusually, it's actually Edmund himself who unwittingly pushes the rest of the Black Seal into switching to him, thanks to his thoughtlessly listing the Hawk's many misdeeds.
- Knight of Cerebus: Most of the previous villains seen in the first series, including the rest of the Black Seal, had been played for laughs. The Hawk, on the other hand, is a mostly straightforward villain who immediately proves an extremely dangerous threat, succeeds in turning the Black Seal to his cause, and inflicts a horrific fate on Edmund, only being stopped from becoming king thanks to Baldrick and Percy.
- Large Ham: Has a dramatic way of speaking. When he tells Edmund his motive for revenge, he punctuates it by swinging his sword around.
- Latex Perfection: He somehow disguises himself as a tiny old Morris dancer, but when he removes his disguise Edmund still doesn't recognise him until he removes his fake bushy eyebrows.
- Near-Villain Victory: His efforts actually do result in the death of the entire Plantagenet family... except only indirectly, thanks to Percy's stupidity, and it ends up being Henry Tudor who seizes the vacant throne.
- Red Baron: "The Hawk" (and in his youth, the notably less impressive "The Thrush").
- Self-Made Orphan: Murdered his entire family. This could be the actual reason for his exile.
Henry Tudor
Henry VII Of England
Played by Peter Benson
The head of the House of Tudor and Richard's rival for the throne of England, Henry Tudor loses the Battle Of Bosworth Field, but manages to escape capture thanks to Edmund's incompetence and greed, and goes into hiding.
- Consummate Liar: Even assuming he is a decent ruler, it does not extend to his recalling of the historical events that he participated in.
- Foregone Conclusion: Double Subverted. The premise of the series is that Henry Tudor actually lost the Battle of Bosworth Field, setting the stage for the events of the first season. However, given that he is introduced as king rewriting history so that he actually won at Bosworth Field, he will ascend the throne at some point after the events of the season finale.
- Historical Domain Character: Like Richard III, Henry Tudor was one of the historical kings of England and the first of the Tudor dynasty (his son became the famous Henry VIII).
- Reasonable Authority Figure: He sounds like this compared to the bloodlust of Richard III and IV but judging by his actions after seizing power, it might not be true. Like a lot of other things...
- Saved by Canon: History has already recorded his reign and the first episode explains how his rule came about, so his survival is never in question.
- Starter Villain: Only serves as an antagonist for the first part of the first episode, and has no influence on later events.
- Written by the Winners: After taking the throne, Henry rewrote the history books, erasing Richard IV's reign entirely and claiming that he had won the Battle of Bosworth field and reigned ever since. He also took the opportunity to demonize Richard III as a psychotic, deformed madman.
Blackadder II
Nursie
Nursie/Bernard
Played By: Patsy Byrne
"Out you popped, out of your Mummy's tummy and everybody shouting : "It's a boy, it's a boy!". And somebody said "But it hasn't got a winkle!". And then I said "A boy without a winkle? God be praised, it is a miracle. A boy without a winkle!" And then Sir Thomas More pointed out that a boy without a winkle is a girl. And everyone was really disappointed."
Queenie's former nurse, and constant companion. She's long since descended into senility.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Even more so than Queenie. She spends most of her time expounding on the bodily details of Queenie's infancy, rather than anything relevant to the rest of the characters.
- Dirty Old Woman: Blackadder describes her as a "sad, insane old woman with an udder fixation."
- Embarrassing First Name: Bernard. Her siblings are named Donald, Eric and Basil. She doesn't seem that bothered by it.
- Expy: Of the traditional portrayal of the Nurse from Romeo and Juliet note .
- Gender-Blender Name: Bernard, yeah. She also had three sisters: Donald, Eric and Basil.
- No Historical Figures Were Harmed: She's a far less sane amalgam of Elizabeth's real nanny, Blanche Parry
, and her real governess Kat Ashley. - Old Retainer: She's been with Elizabeth since birth; perhaps that's why she's the only person the Queen never threatens to execute.
Kate/Bob
Kate/Bob
Played By: Gabrielle Glaister
"Father, I must speak. I can be silent no longer. All day long you muttered to yourself, gibber, dribble, moan and bat your head against the wall, yelling "I want to die". Now you may say I'm leaping to conclusions but you're not completely happy, are you?"
- Bifauxnen: "Bob" is attractive enough that she manages to catch the eye of the staunchly heterosexual Blackadder even before the big reveal.
- Paper-Thin Disguise: The only things she did that even remotely resemble disguising as a man is cut her hair slightly shorter and call herself "Bob". Still fooled Edmund though.
- Shout-Out: To Shakespeare's frequent use of crossdressing women as well as is frequent use of Kate as a name for feisty young women.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: Disguises herself as a man to get a job to support her father, who preferred her to become a prostitute.
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Feels more comfortable dressed as a man and Changes into Lord Flashheart's clothes when he runs away with her.Kate: You see, I found I actually preferred wearing boys clothes.
Captain Rum
Captain Redbeard Rum
Played By: Tom Baker
"Truth to be told, I don't know the way to the Cape of Good Hope anyway!
- Achievements in Ignorance: Somehow managed to navigate to Australia despite not knowing how to get from England to France.
- An Arm and a Leg: Lost both his legs to a sailing accident long before meeting Blackadder.
- The Alcoholic: Not that finding alcoholic seamen was difficult in those days.
- But Not Too Bi: He has a reputation for being found "up the old seadog," but falls for and proposes to Nursie the moment they meet.
- Captain Crash: Does not have the slightest sense of navigational ability; his reputation as a captain revolves mostly around sailing around the Isle of Wight until everyone gets dizzy, then head back to England.
- Hair Memento: When he's eaten by cannibals, Edmund saves his beard as a memento for Nursie.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Rum gives his life so that his fellow sailors would live... and the natives they'd found would have something to go with their potatoes.
- Large Ham: Tom Baker, playing a mad, drunken captain.
- Mad Libs Catchphrase: "You have a woman's [x], m'lord!"
- Miles Gloriosus: He's got a dozen stories of ridiculously far-fetched survival in improbable situations. Whether they've actually happened is... pretty unlikely. Though the one about losing his legs is presumably true, since he hasn't got any.
- No Sense of Direction: He has no idea how to find France. Y'know, that country right next to Britain? With him at the helm, the ship winds up in the middle of nowhere, and it takes several months to get back.
- Seadog Beard: A long, bushy red beard.
- Talk Like a Pirate: Safe to say he does this. His introductory line is a six-second-long "Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr... me laddy."
Lord and Lady Whiteadder
Lord Nathaniel Whiteadder and Lady Whiteadder
Lord Whiteadder played by: Daniel Thorndike
Lady Whiteadder played by: Miriam Margolyes
Lady Whiteadder played by: Miriam Margolyes
Lord Blackadder's Puritan uncle and aunt.
- Against My Religion: It seems like everything is an abomination to them, from lying and drinking alcohol to sitting in chairs and mashing God's blessed turnip.
- Ambiguously Related: Lady Whiteadder shares the same actress as Infanta Maria Escalosa and Queen Victoria, implying that they are somehow related.
- The Fundamentalist: They are extremely religious, with Lord Whiteadder having taken a vow of silence. Both of them wear white clothing and four crosses each. Near the end, it's implied that Lord Whiteadder actually isn't that religious, as he breaks his vow of silence when his wife's not in the room.
- Holier Than Thou: Lady Whiteadder frequently calls Edmund a "wicked child" for whatever he does that she considers a sin.
- Hypocritical Humor: As it turns out, Lord Whiteadder isn't as religious or as unreasonable as his wife, breaking his vow of silence to tell his nephew thanks for the dinner. The episode also ends with both him and Lady Whiteadder as drunk as the rest of the characters.
- Informed Attribute: Edmund says they're rich (which is his motivation for trying to make a good impression on them), but due to their opposition to "extravagance," they don't make any display of wealth at all other than their white clothing. They don't even own chairs.
- Large Ham: Lady Whiteadder spends much of her appearance loudly and pompously denouncing things that offend her religious sensibilities.
- No Full Name Given: Lady Whiteadder isn't given a first name.
- Politically Incorrect Villain: Primarily 'villainous' in the sense that they're the antagonising force of the episode they appear in (they're coming to visit, and Blackadder's sole goal is making sure that he remains in their good graces, and thus their wills), though their crazed fanaticism doesn't do them any favours.Lady Whiteadder: Cold is God's way of telling us to burn more Catholics!
- Uncertain Doom: Given that Sir Blackadder in The Cavalier Years is referred to as the sole descendant of the Blackadder dynasty, that implies the Whiteadder family died out or fell into obscurity.
The Bishop of Bath and Wells
The Baby-Eating Bishop of Bath and Wells
Played By: Ronald Lacey
"I will have my money or... YOUR BOTTOM WILL WISH IT HAD NEVER BEEN BORN!"
- Arson, Murder, and Admiration:Bishop: You fiend! Never have I encountered such corrupt and foul-minded perversity! Have you ever considered a career in the Church?Edmund: No, I could never get used to the underwear.
- Ass Shove: The ultimate fate of anyone who doesn't pay their loans. "It's POKER TIME!"
- Big Bad: In the episode "Money" where he appeared he gave the Queenie a run for her money as an individual threat with authority, or more accurately he gave Edmund a run for his money that almost ended with Edmund despairing and even giving a dejected goodbye to the Queenie and Melchett.
- Child Eater: No children, Blackadder? In that case, he'll skip breakfast and get down to business.
- Dirty Old Monk: A self-proclaimed colossal pervert who regularly plays "Nuns and Novices" with prostitutes.
- The Dreaded: Has enough of a reputation that name-dropping him is apparently a good way to get rid of unwanted visitors. Unless he is the unwanted visitor.
- Eats Babies: After drowning them during christenings.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": He is only ever referred to as the Baby-Eating Bishop of Bath and Wells.
- Extreme Omnisexual: Summed up here:"You see, I am a colossal pervert. No form of sexual depravity is too low for me. Animal, vegetable or mineral, I'll do anything to anything."
- Fat Bastard: Unsurprisingly given his dietary habits. But don't call him "Fatso" if you know what's good for you. If you do, more than likely "It's POKER TIME!"
- Incoming Ham: "I AM THE BABY EATING BISHOP OF BATH AND WELLS!"
- Large Ham: Possibly the hammiest character in all of Series 2, matched only by Prince Ludwig and Lady Whiteadder.
- Loan Shark: Assistant manager of the Bank of the Black Monks of St. Herod ("Banking with a smile and a stab"). Their motto: "Repayment or revenge." He admits to Blackadder that he hates it when people pay up, as he rather enjoys what he gets to do to those who don't.
- Never Heard That One Before: It seems he and the Church have long since lost patience with those who try to get out of repayment by claiming they've lost their wallets. Blackadder is taken to see the gravestone of the last bugger who did this, and how it details his horrible bottom-agony related fate.
- Sinister Minister: He visits prostitutes, eats children, and kills people who don't pay their debts by shoving red-hot pokers up their backsides. And this is all Played for Laughs.
- Villain with Good Publicity: In spite of the aforementioned baby-eating, he's apparently of good standing with the Queen and his parishioners. "As far as my flock is concerned, my one vice is a tipple before evensong." Blackadder gets the upper hand by endangering his reputation.
Blackadder The Third
Mrs. Miggins
Mrs. Miggins
Played By: Helen Atkinson-Wood
- All Love Is Unrequited: At one point she confesses hoping that Blackadder would settle down with her and they would await the slither of tiny Adders. Blackadder responds that he'd rather start a family with Baldrick than with her.
- Ascended Extra: Mrs. Miggins' Pie Shop was mentioned once in Blackadder II, presumably owned by her ancestor. Here the pie shop is not only a recurring location, but she is a supporting character.
- Different in Every Episode: Her costuming and coffeeshop usually reflect whatever subject the plot is centered on — in "Duel and Duality" she wears tartan, in "Nob and Nobility" the shop is infested with exiled Frenchmen and she's changed the menu to reflect it, and "Sense and Senility" has her in heavy stage makeup.
- The Ditz: Freely cops to the fact she has "a brain the size of a sultana".
- Lethal Chef: Blackadder calls her coffee "hot brown water with grit in it" and her "French" menu uses horse's willies as sausages. Her "Scarlet Pimpernel Sauce" is made of frogs.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: After a whole season being abused by Blackadder, she throws in with his cousin MacAdder and goes off to Scotland with him (MacAdder does seem pretty convinced she'll die up there, though).
Pitt the Younger
Prime Minister William Pitt, the Younger
Played By: Simon Osborne
"Sirs, as I said to Chancellor Metternich at the Congress of Strasbourg: Pooh to you with knobs on!"
- Age Lift: The real Pitt the Younger was an adult when he took office, but it's way funnier to portray him as so much "younger" that he's an actual teenager.
- Arch-Enemy: Immediately sets himself up as this to Prince George, by attempting to remove him from the civil list and impoverish him. Though his attempt fails thanks to the House of Lords, and Pitt's never seen on-screen again after the first episode, he and George apparently remain sworn enemies.
- Create Your Own Villain: At least some of Pitt's hatred for George is his exorbitant spending, which is being fed by Blackadder stealing his socks.
- Freudian Excuse: He seeks to destroy the Prince mainly because the Prince's entitled stupidity is the sort of thing he had to deal with in school, where the rich kids used poor kids as living toast racks.
- Insufferable Genius: For a certain value of "genius" of course, considering he's evidently an extremely skilled politician, but still has a pretty limited education seeing how he became Prime Minister in his mid-late teens. Either way, he more than nails down the "insufferable" part of the trope, constantly bombarding Blackadder and the Prince with juvenile insults whenever they speak, and only comes off as the lesser of two evils due to George being even more obnoxious and completely clueless.
- Not So Above It All: While he rightfully points out the shocking amount that Prince George spends on frivolous items, Pitt encourages his younger brother to bribe and intimidate people in the Dunny-on-the-Wold by-election.
- Wangst: In-Universe. Because he's a teenager. So after boasting about how he's going to ruin the Prince and Blackadder, he then quietly asks if the downy hair emerging on his chest is normal, and how to deal with getting so lonely, before finally beginning to recite a poem he wrote about it that begins "Why do nice girls hate me?" At this point, Blackadder calls him a "nauseating adolescent" and tells him to get out.
Dr. Johnson
Dr. Samuel Johnson
Played By: Robbie Coltrane
"I simply observed, sir, that I am felicitous, since during the course of the penultimate solar sojurn, I terminated my uninterrupted categorization of the vocabulary of our post-Norman tongue."
- Ax-Crazy: Spending ten years writing his dictionary — during which both his parents died, his wife cheated on him on an industrial scale, none of which he paid the slighted attention to — has made him more than a little unhinged, and he's quite prepared to kill anyone who lets anything happen to it.
- Berserk Button: As you'd expect, having anything happen to the dictionary he spent ten years writing sets him off to the point of being ready to commit murder. Finding out that he's missed a word as common as "sausage" out of the dictionary also causes him to storm out in anger.
- Cloudcuckoolander: He has some... interesting metaphors. Bearing in mind, he is quite mad.
- Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: Initially seems generally calm when discussing the hypothetical situation of his dictionary becoming lost. Until...Dr. Johnson: If any man did so, I would cut out his entrails, and feed it to the cat!
- Everyone Has Standards: Utterly psychotic he may be, but he's willing to hold off murdering in order to maintain a general good humour.
- No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: Deems making a copy of his dictionary to be "time-consuming and completely unnecessary" considering he doesn't intend to lose it, damage it, or have some moronic servant throw it on the fire. Which proves more than a little problematic when the latter ends up happening anyway.
- Sesquipedalian Loquaciousness: The quote above is how he tells George that he's pleased about having finished his dictionary the previous night.
- Tempting Fate: Proudly proclaims that he's not left a single word out of his dictionary. Even ignoring the Perfectly Cromulent Words that Edmund throws his way, it turns out that he missed "aardvark" and "sausage".
French Ambassador
French Ambassador
Played By: Chris Barrie
"Gentlemen, welcome to the last day of your lives!"
- "Ass" in Ambassador: After capturing Blackadder, Baldrick, and Frou-Frou, he sentences them all to death; the latter for being an aristocrat, and the former two because he just doesn't like the English. On top of that, he comes across as a generally unpleasant person during his screentime, even if his insults aren't terribly effective.
- Bigger Is Better in Bed: Inverted; he bears a grudge against the English for the stereotype of all Frenchmen being great lovers when he is, in his own words, "hung like a baby carrot and a couple of petit pois".
- The Dog Bites Back: After Blackadder, still not knowing exactly who he is, asks to be taken to the ambassador using You No Take Candle speech and pantomimed gestures, he takes great delight in explaining the actual situation using similarly pantomimed gestures before sentencing the three to death.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Whatever torture Madame Guillotine (really Smedley) whispered in his ear as her final sentence of Edmund and Balders, it must have been beyond gruesome to make him, a hardened extremist who turned someone into pate, ready to gag.
- Everybody Calls Him "Barkeep": We never find out what his actual name is, with the dialogue and credits only referring to him as "ambassador" — and even that's a self-proclaimed title after he killed the previous ambassador.
- I'm a Humanitarian: He claims to have made his predecessor into pate and strongly implies that he ate it.
- Klingon Promotion: He kills the previous, pro-aristocracy ambassador and takes over the position himself.
- Lame Comeback: His and Frou-Frou's attempts at insulting each other mostly just consist of comparing each other to animals.
- Near-Villain Victory: One that even he himself isn't aware of; he comes very close to eliminating the revolutionaries' greatest enemy, the Scarlet Pimpernel without ever realising he had him in custody.
- Right for the Wrong Reasons: He sentences Frou-Frou to death for being an aristocrat, not realising that he's actually dealing with an English aristocrat rather than a French one.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: He's last seen running out of the prison cell gagging after Madame Guillotine (really Smedley) gives him a particularly disgusting impression of what she intends to do to Blackadder and Baldrick. It's not clear whether Frou-Frou (really Topper) took the chance to dispose of him, or if he was simply distracted while the trio made their escape.
Keanrick and Mossop
David Keanrick and Enoch Mossop
Played By: Hugh Paddick (Keanrick); Kenneth Connor (Mossop)
"AAAH! Hot potato, orchestra stalls, Puck will make amends!"
- Ambiguously Gay: In addition to them both having stereotypically Camp Gay mannerisms, when Blackadder approaches them and says he has "a proposition" (which they mistakenly take as him coming onto them), their only objection is the fact that they just met Blackadder, rather than his gender.
- Hypocrite: They both mock the speech that Blackadder prepared for the Prince Regent — the Real Life counterpart of which is widely regarded as one of the real Prince George's (later George IV's) greatest speeches — and then do a reading of their hideously awful self-penned play The Bloody Murder of the Foul Prince Romero and his Enormously Bosomed Wife.
- They preach artistic integrity, but they make no attempt to improve Prince George's acting skills, praising his terrible attempts at performance, and so not delivering the service they are being lucratively paid for.
- Jerkass: While Blackadder's repeatedly mentioning "Macbeth" in their presence naturally drives this up, they already behave in a pretty jerkish fashion towards him even when they first meet in Mrs. Miggins' pie shop.
- Large Ham: To be fair, this is pretty much traditional in British stage acting, but even so these two turn it up a notch, both in their plays and when in the private company of Prince George.
- Money, Dear Boy: In-universe; they talk at length about how important their audience is to them, but immediately blow said audience off for the prestige (and presumably pay) of working with the Prince Regent.
- Mugging the Monster: They constantly belittle and patronise Blackadder, disdaining him as a "mere butler"... something which backfires spectacularly on them when he convinces the incredibly gullible Prince George that they're anarchists and assassins.
- Too Dumb to Live: Rehearsing a scene comprised entirely of describing how you want to brutally kill a prince while staying in the home of a prince who's both a complete idiot and currently extremely paranoid that he's going to be assassinated by anarchists wasn't the brightest idea.
MacAdder
MacAdder
Played By: Rowan Atkinson
Mr Blackadder's Scottish cousin.
- Dumb Muscle: He's not very bright, but according to his cousin he's a dangerous fighter.
- Hidden Depths: Despite only being a kipper salesman, he's apparently a skilled swordsman and described by his cousin as being the "most dangerous man ever to wear a skirt in Europe".
- No Full Name Given: MacAdder isn't given a first name, though his wife Morag and children Jamie and Angus are named.
- Irony:
- Claims to be the rightful king of England, and technically he's right since he's a descendant of Prince Edmund, while in the same episode he appears in his cousin steals the identity of the Prince, and presumably becomes king years later.
- The fact that he isn't named Blackadder is quite ironic, as in real life Blackadder is a Scottish last name and a clan.
King George III
King George The Third
Played By: Gertan Klauber
"Someone said my son was here. I wish him to marry this rosebush, and I want to make the wedding arrangements."
- 0% Approval Rating: Pretty much every time he's mentioned, everyone talks about how bad a ruler he is, only slightly edged out by his son who doesn't have the defence of insanity to explain his ridiculous behavior.
- Adaptational Nationality: Played With. The real King George III was born in Britain and was actually the first of the House of Hanover to speak English as his native language. Here, his German heritage is played up for comedy's sake.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Inbreeding, encroaching senility and plain old aristocratic lunacy hasn't done him any favors.
- The Ghost: Is mentioned several times over the series, but doesn't appear in person until the last few minutes.
- Historical Domain Character: The actual King of Britain of the era.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Played with; he first appears minutes after his son has been shot by Wellington and tells the disguised Blackadder "this is the first time I've truly felt fatherly towards you". Apparently he's a good enough judge of character to tell what a blundering idiot George is, but not enough to work out how untrustworthy Blackadder is.
Blackadder Goes Forth
Bob Parkhurst
Bob "Bobbie" Parkhurst
Played By: Gabrielle Glaister
"Permission to slip into something more uncomfortable, sir."
General Melchett's driver, she's actually a young girl who desires to help in the war just like her brothers.
- Ambiguously Related: Since Kate left Lord Blackadder for Lord Flashheart, it's possible that Bob and Captain Flashheart are distantly related.
- The Driver: For Melchett. When Flashheart gets stranded in the trenches he demands she be sent to pick him up, almost certainly so he can hit on her on the way back to HQ.
- Identical Grandson: She looks and acts much like her 16th century ancestress, though it's implied her actual name is Roberta since in her second appearance she starts using the unisex name "Bobbie".
- Paper-Thin Disguise: It doesn't fool Blackadder this time around. When she actually dresses as a girl for a stage show, Melchett and Darling think it is a poor attempt at a drag act.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: She dressed up as a man so she could join the army and fight in the war like her brothers. By "Private Plane" she seems to have abandoned the disguise and is seen wearing a women's uniform around HQ.
- The Women's Auxiliary Army Corps was formed in 1917. Perhaps she heard about the creation of the WAAC between "Major Star" and "Private Plane", presented herself to a WAAC officer and admitted her deception, and the WAAC issued her with a uniform and posted her back to General Melchett's HQ.
The Red Baron
Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen
Played By: Adrian Edmondson
"How lucky you English are to find the toilet so amusing. For us, it is a mundane and functional item. For you, the basis of an entire culture."
- Ace Pilot: More than one ace is cheating though so...
- Casting Gag: He often worked with Rik Mayall, and generally was a tormentor to Mayall's characters. In this show, Mayall (playing Flashheart) kills him mid sentence and calls him a poof.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: His planned Fate Worse than Death for Blackadder is to have him teaching at a German girl's school for the rest of his life, completely unaware that that would actually be paradise for Blackadder.
- Europeans Are Kinky: Baldrick's concerns about Germans doing anyone are proven correct when Richthofen tells him he'll be out 'round the back of the supply bunker if Baldrick's interested...
- Expy: He's obviously supposed to be the equivalent of Ludwig from the second season, but Identical Grandson isn't in play because Laurie is playing a different, also German descended role in this series.
- Historical Badass Upgrade: Inverted; the real Manfred von Richthofen was a WW 1 cavalry officer who trained as a pilot once it became clear that cavalry was obsolete, and who then insisted on being a fighter pilot because he didn't want to fly transports, and who then became the highest-scoring ace of the war, with 80 confirmed victories. He once flew his plane through a thunderstorm just to see what it was like, and commented afterwards that he was lucky to get away with it and wouldn't do it again unless ordered to. When he was killed, he wasn't even properly shot down: he was fatally wounded in the chest and went on to land his plane with only light damage, before dying in his seat, before being given a funeral with fully military honours by his enemies. Who wept at the funeral. The fictional Richthofen, while still an Ace Pilot, is an idiot Bond villain type who gets shot. Much funnier, though.
- Kaiserreich: He is very German.
- Red Baron: The Original.
- Smug Snake: One wonders if he is related to Prince Ludwig.
- Straight Gay: Certainly seems to have a thing for Lord Flashheart. He also stands as being the only person (aside from Flasheart) in all Blackadder to proposition Baldrick.
- Unknown Rival: Obsessed with defeating Lord Flashheart, who really doesn't give a shit.
- Wicked Cultured: But an unenlightened one on what constitutes torture.
- Worthy Opponent: How he sees Lord Flashheart. Flash, alas, just sees a poof who needs shooting.
- Wrong Genre Savvy: He believes he and Flashheart are locked in a great game of one-upmanship and are worthy opponents and expects them to have a long and friendly chat before a duel to the death. Flashheart just shoots him.
Field Marshal Haig
Field Marshal Haig
Played By: Geoffrey Palmer
- Armchair Military: It's clearly been a while since he was last out in the field. His sole appearance in the series sees him standing over a battlefield map and carelessly tossing the soldier figures over his shoulder after they "die".
- General Ripper: Unlike Melchett, who is just too stupid to see how idiotic and ineffectual his tactics are, the model army he plays with indicates that Haig knows full well the massive price in blood that his strategies demand for minor territorial gains, and simply doesn't give a damn.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: The show goes for the "lion led by donkeys" portrayal of Haig, depicting him as a man utterly indifferent to the deaths of his soldiers. The real Haig did preside over very costly offensives, but he pushed them in an attempt to relieve his French allies. Most people who worked with Haig described him as an empathetic man who failed to grasp the realities of modern warfare, which was common among generals of his age. And after the war, he did devote the rest of his life to helping veterans of the war.
- I Owe You My Life: Blackadder once saved him from a pygmy who was wielding a deadly mango fruit, and cashes in the favour he's owed years later. Unfortunately for him, Haig just tells him to try the Obfuscating Insanity tactic that he'd already tried and failed with earlier in the episode and then hangs up.
- Karma Houdini: Like Melchett, he not only lives through the war (assuming Blackadder history unfolds like ours), but is highly decorated for his actions during it.
