Characters / Galavant

Galavant

Gary Galavant

Portrayed by: Joshua Sasse

The noble and heroic leading man, who lost his spark after his girlfriend decided that getting kidnapped by the king wasn't so bad. He is kicked back into high gear after Isabella tells him Madelina regrets her choice (she doesn't).

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• Affectionate Nickname: People close to him call him "Gal".
• Alliterative Name: The end of season 2 reveals his name is Gary Galavant.
• Attention Deficit... Oh, Shiny!: It's a Running Gag for him to stop paying attention to what people (namely Isabella) are saying mid-way through.
• Back from the Dead: The healer Neo makes a potion allowing Galvant to defeat Death and bring Galavant back to life.
• Broken Ace: Losing (what he thought was) his true love really took its toll on him.
• Carpet of Virility: The Queen of the Enchanted Forest comments favourably on his "lush pectoral lawn" during "Off With His Shirt".
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass:
  • Gal may not be the sharpest tool in the shed and quite lazy, but when the push comes to shove, he's still a legendary knight. Such as after escaping from being tied up and disarming the Pirate King without the king even realizing he'd done it.
    Galavant: People keep forgetting that I'm not just the guy who gets the raisins.
  • He sees Isabella from all the way across a crowded room and fights his way through dozens of armed guards to get to her... and knocks a tiny piece of crab off her plate, which she is allergic to.
• Cultured Badass: In the pilot he mentions that, in addition to becoming a knight, he dedicated himself to studying the arts, cultures, and languages.
• Decoy Protagonist: Although much of season two is spent on Galavant trying to get back to Isabella, it is Richard that has most of the Character Development, is revealed to be A Chosen One, and kills the Big Bad.
• Deadpan Snarker: Quite sardonic after becoming a Broken Ace.
• Fallen Hero: Mild case. He didn't turn evil, he just turned lazy and selfish. Isabella is very disappointed to see the warrior that poets praised laying in a drunken daze.
• Fantastically Indifferent: Took the news he’s Richard’s new BFF and bodyguard with ease. Not even the zombie army and Sid’s Accidental Murder phased him, though he did complain about the latter.
• Gasshole: According to Isabella, he is "embarrassingly gassy".
• Heartbroken Badass: He takes his break-up with Madalena really hard. Even after a year has passed, he's still not over it.
• The Hero: He's a parody of the archetype, the noble questing knight that is the central figure of the epic legend. This one gets into comical mishaps and experiences things like bad body ordor and soreness from training montages.
• Hollywood Pudgy: For the first couple episodes, characters remark on how fat he's gotten, such as Isabella pointing out his "muffin top". Yet when he's seen shirtless in the middle of the second episode, he's Mr. Fanservice.
• Humble Goal: From his conversation with Madalena, he didn't want anything grand or epic for his future. He just wanted a cottage by the sea with a garden and children.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: At the end of "About Last Knight", when Sid throws his sword at him and it accidentally gores him in the gut.
• Jerkass Realization: His arc is realizing that he's a selfish egotist and changing that. He has a big one when singing "Jackass in a Can", as he realizes that jackass is him.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Galavant has an ego the size of Valencía, is self-centered from time to time and can be quite an asshole, but deep down he's still a damsel-rescuing hero who sincerely wishes to help the poor and oppressed.
• Last-Name Basis: No one calls him by his first name. It's not until halfway through the final episode that his first name (Gary) is even revealed. Isabella admits she didn't even realize Galavant wasn't his first name.
• Meaningful Name: He galavants around.
• Memetic Badass: In universe, it's mentioned that Galavant's exploits are so amazing people tell stories and sing songs about them. Also, a couple of Richard's guards are so awe-struck upon seeing him that they don't draw their swords before being knocked out and a third faints simply because Galavant told him to.
• Mr. Fanservice:
  • Provides eye-candy for the female viewers with his strongly built physique and extensive shirtless scenes.
  • Isabella agrees.
    Isabella: Daaaamn...
• Older Than They Look: Implied to be in his late 30s by the fact that a first season flashback to "30 Winters Ago" shows him as a boy of about 8 despite looking no older than Princess Isabella or Sid.
• One-Man Army: In the opening he storms Richard's castle by himself.
• Parental Abandonment: He views his dad as an "ice-cold love-less monster". They end up making it up when it turns out he does care.
• The Pig-Pen: Other characters note that he stinks.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: His motivation is taking back Madalena from Richard's claws and avenging himself upon Richard.
• Shipper on Deck: Tries to push Richard and Roberta together, although the love aspect is only a minor part of his motivation. He's mostly just annoyed with Richard and is trying to get the man off his back and focused on something else.
• Supporting Protagonist: Season 2's story continues to revolve around Galavant's motivations, but the plot is actually used to show Richard's growth from villain to hero.
• Thinks Like a Romance Novel: Aside from the In-Universe Lampshade Hanging of tropes, he sincerely believes in a true fairytale romance and thought Madalena was his one until he was forced to see she isn't who he thought she was, loving the idea of their love. Richard's plan in the first season actually played into the tropes since he fell for it based on Madalena missing him alone.

Isabella

Princess Isabella Maria Lucia Elizabetta of Valencia

Portrayed by: Karen David

The princess of Valencia, a small and peaceful country invaded by King Richard. She came to Galavant to recruit him to save her kingdom. In truth, she was actually sent by the king, under threat of death, to lead Galavant into a trap.

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• Action Girl: She even knows how to dual-wield swords.
• Affectionate Nickname: Galavant called her "Izzy" or "Princess Isababble".
• Ambiguously Brown: Isabella has a vaguely Spanish name (as does her kingdom, Valencia), is played by a Chinese-Indian-Jewish actress, has parents played by white actors, and has a cousin who rules a country that looks slightly like "Arabian Nights" Days. Lampshaded; she at one point refers to her ethnicity as "hard to pin down".
• Brainwashed and Crazy: She's briefly under the control of Chester Wormwood's mind control crown.
• Brutally Honest: She says what is on her mind and doesn't bother hiding what she can do. This is partly why Galavant fell for her. Aside from the blackmail, she was being honest about herself.
• Damsel Errant: A subversion. It at first appears she is this, but it's later revealed Richard sent her on purpose to Galavant.
• Eating the Eye Candy: In spite of being disgusted by his bad habits and horrific body odor, Isabella can't help but ogle a shirtless Galavant.
• In Love with the Mark: Eventually she realizes she is in love with Galavant and tries to get out of delivering Galavant to Richard but the King saw this coming and tells her if she doesn't bring Gal to him he will kill her parents.
• Kissing Cousins:
  • Apparently Isabella's family tree goes 'straight up' with 'no branches' and her parents are keen to keep it that way.
  • It turns out she's unwillingly engaged to her cousin Harry (who's roughly fifteen years younger than her).
• Lady of War: She's cunning and skilled with a blade, while a princess. Her father really wanted to teach a son how to sword-fight, and so she indulged him.
• Master Swordsman: She's quite a skilled swordfighter, and re-teaches Galavant swordfighting.
• The Mole: Not by choice, mind you. She becomes a mole for King Richard since her meeting with Galavant in order to save her parents from death.

• Old Maid: Her own father accuses her of being too old to marry at 25.
• Overly Long Name:
  • Sid stumbles on it when he tries to repeat it.
  • So does Galavant when he proposes to her.
• Photographic Memory: She memorizes the script that King Richard dictates to her after just hearing it once, and later repeats her lines perfectly word for word. Her father proudly says she has a mind like a steel trap.
  King Richard: I'd really feel more comfortable if you were writing this down.
  Isabella: I'll remember.
  Isabella's Father: Steel trap.
• Repetitive Name: A subtle case. Isabella and Elizabetta are the same name in different languages.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: She knows how to fight and be a princess for her people.
• Rousing Speech: She pulls this off when Hortensia faces invasion by Madalena's Valencian army in a speech that is largely an homage to Theoden's speech at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. While she actually manages to rally an army that was on the brink of a total morale collapse, she doesn't convince herself, as she appears to believe that defeat is inevitable and gives a This Is Gonna Suck reaction that no one else sees just after finishing her speech.
• The Smart Guy: She's the smartest member of the main trio.
• Well, Excuse Me, Princess!: According to Galavant, she is smug and bossy and rude. She wasn't in their first meeting,but started getting prodding when she saw how lazy he was.

Sid

Sidney

Portrayed by: Luke Youngblood

Galavant's much put-upon squire, who is mostly tasked with managing his boss's eccentricities.

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• Accidental Murder: When Sid reunites with Galavant, he throws him his lost sword, but accidentally impales Galavant's chest.
• Ambiguously Gay:
  • His telling his parents that he's not a knight and that he's not engaged to Isabella plays like a coming-out story.
  • After some pressing, he admits to knowing the Enchanted Forest was a gay bar when he went in.
• Ambiguously Jewish: He occasionally peppers his speech with Gratuitous Yiddish. It's revealed in the fourth episode that he was raised Jewish in a very Jewish village.
• A Day in the Limelight: The episode "Two Balls" is primarily about him and his village.
• Doorstop Baby: He mentions that he was found by his adopted parents.
• Go, Ye Heroes, Go and Die: He attempts to start a peasant uprising against Madalena and Gareth, but his musical number meant to rally them is about how they'll inevitably be brutally crushed and killed with only the solace of being moral victors. By the time he reaches the palace, the entire peasant army has deserted him and he's alone. At least the peasants didn't turn him in to Madalena, as they had planned to do before he tried rallying them.
• Happily Adopted: As frustrated as his family makes him, he clearly loves them.
• Hero of Another Story: In the Epilogue, he is invited by Gareth to join in another epic quest, to save Madalena from herself, which he excitedly accepts.
• Non-Action Guy: There's a reason why he's the assistant to a famous knight rather than a famous knight himself. In the epilogue however, Gareth is seen inviting him on another great adventure, not as a squire, but as a friend.
• Not So Stoic: He makes a valiant effort to try and be brave but his fear always breaks through.
• Number Two: He is Galavant's squire, and then a series of events leads him to becoming Gareth's personal assistant.
• Odd Friendship: He unexpectedly starts one up with Gareth while he's stuck in Valencia.
• Only Sane Man: Serves this role to Galavant. During Galavant's year of depression after Galavant lost Madalena, Sid's job was to take care of Galavant and not let Galavant do himself serious harm while wallowing in misery. Once Galavant snaps out of it, Sid has to keep Galavant from getting too high and mighty. After being left as a hostage in Valencia at the end of Season 1, he even starts being this for Gareth, at least when it comes to warning Gareth that a relationship with Madelena is nothing but trouble.
• Out of Focus:
  • Lampshades the fact that people and the plot don't pay attention to him because the focus of the story is on Galavant and Isabella.
  • At the start of Season 2, he demands Madalena and Gareth give him a role.
• Rousing Speech: He uses one to convince Valencia's peasants not to turn him in to Madalena for the reward on his head and to rise up against her. Unfortunately, his musical number that follows is so full of Go, Ye Heroes, Go and Die that the army decides to abandon him and not challenge the Queen.
• Servile Snarker: He pops up from time to time usually when Gal is being an ass or stupid, but ultimately he respects Galavant too much to really indulge.
• The Squire: He works for Gal as a squire, someone who assists him with his knightly duties, like putting his armor on.
• Twofer Token Minority: Black, Jewish, and probably gay.

Madalena

Madalena

Portrayed by: Mallory Jansen

Galavant's girlfriend, who is kidnapped by King Richard at the start of the series. Unfortunately for Galavant, she decides that living as a queen will be more fun than living in a drafty cottage in the middle of nowhere, and dumps him.

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• Action Girl: If her one-on-one fight with Isabella shows anything, she's a competent fighter and flat-out stated to Wormwood that she should've been down there with Gareth fighting.
• Affectionate Nickname: Madalena calls Gareth Gare and babe.
• All or Nothing: What can be said about her personality. She went all-in for Gareth, being Sickening Sweethearts. And a cruel evil tyrant as she happily plans murders and executions. At the same time, her feelings tend to overwhelm her as she feels too much hate towards anyone who even crosses her way, she's very sensitive. Her decision at her wedding with Richard shows this splendidly as she later blurts out why would she want to be fat and pregnant and grow her own food when she can have all the riches a queen can have.
• All Take and No Give: She has it towards both Galavant and Richard. When Galavant makes an Anguished Declaration of Love to her in Season 1, Madalena responds by singing a song about how she only loves the way they look together. With Richard, she marries him for riches and fame, but sleeps around behind his back and frequently belittles him.
• Ambition Is Evil: She desires power more than anything and eventually craves ultimate power through the dark arts.
• Ax-Crazy: She doesn't seem to need a particularly good reason to kill, torture, betray, or imprison anyone. This is the lady who was willing to start a war for no reason with Isabella being there for her to kill as a cherry on top.
• Big Bad: The real one for season one, since she is the cause of conflict after the prolgoue, and forms a Big Bad Duumvirate with Wormwood in Season 2.
• Big Eater: She tends to eat voraciously, and for the reason noted in Freudian Excuse, she can eat anything. Interestingly, in Season 2, she claims to like eating the light vegan meals that Valencia specializes in.
• Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: There are hints that her terrible personality was her real personality all along and that her position as queen only gave her the power she needed to exercise control over others. Galavant eventually picks up on this.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: As Sid states, her relationships with others end badly, betrayl, exile, murder, and then deception.
  • She has no loyalty to anyone except herself, and has betrayed every man she has been with for power, culminating in her actions in the last episode of Season 1, when she actually stabs King Richard's elder brother Kingsley in the back.
  • Even Gareth, who she genuinely loves isn't safe when she decides to sell her soul for magic powers, although she tries to make it up to him.
• Commitment Issues:
  • She shows pretty deep issues about actually committing to a relationship with another person.
  • While Season 2 sees her developing legitimate feelings for her partner Gareth, Madalena still freaks out about having to deal with those feelings, even going so far as to kick him in the face and run out of the room when she thinks that he's going down to one knee to propose marriage to her.
• Devil in Plain Sight: She is obviously not a good person but Galavant doesn't see it and completely believes Isabella's story that Madalena is sorry for leaving him and still wants him back. Richard is unaware about some of Madalena's faults, such as her affair with the jester, and despite her bad treatment of him still thinks that they can have a good relationship.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Played with and subverted. When she goes to Wormwood to sell her soul in order to gain magical powers, she sees Wormwood has a baby in the tent. Madalena assumes the baby is there to test how serious she is about being evil, and initially says that this is where she draws the line and she just can't kill a baby. Before a stunned Wormwood can even get a word in, Madalena changes her mind and says that she can do it after all, albeit with distaste. At that point Wormwood reveals that he's just babysitting for one of the women in the army, and clearly appears creeped out by Madalena.
  • The closest thing she has to a scruple is her reluctance to overtly betray Gareth at the end of the 2nd season. After she does inevitably betray him, she still gives him a chance to patch things up, and is saddened by his refusal.
• Eviler than Thou:
  • It becomes pretty obvious early on that Madalena is far more evil and ruthless than Richard ever could be. She is callous and disloyal, but cannot yet claim the death toll of thousands that Richard can.
  • By the end of the first season, her status is cemented when she gets rid of Richard and becomes the sole ruler of the kingdom by literally stabbing Kingsley in the back.
• Everyone Can See It: Everyone but Gal and Richard are fully aware that Madalena is evil and cruel. Even Gal and Richard have their moments where they notice but would prefer to deny it. Richard even sings to her that "there's something scary there, behind your cold, dead eyes."
• Evil Sorceress: She gains dark magic from Wormwood.
• Expy: She is pretty much a brunette Cersei Lannister by the end of the first season.
• Fatal Flaw: She suffered from Greed (for wealth and fineries), Lust (for power, violence, and sex), and Pride (for her image, status, and smarts); It all boils down to power, any kind of power. She's actually self-aware of this as she admitted to Gareth that's who she is that Gareth and Madalena's newfound love is not enough to fill although it did unexpectedly but not enough the same way her lust and greed for more and more power does. This downward spiral that Gareth knows she needs saving from herself and her quest for more power.
• Freudian Excuse: The king notes that she eats anything without giving it much thought so she relates to him a story about when her family ran out of food and forced her to kill her favorite pet goat so that they wouldn't starve. She then adds that she married rich so that wouldn't be in a position of extreme poverty ever again.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: The journey from her backstory to the end of Season 1 involves going from being a penniless peasant to a Damsel in Distress to a ruthless Evil Queen who has backstabbed kings and overthrown countries, complete with Gareth, who is one of the most fearsome fighters in the world acting as her partner. And if that isn't enough near the end of Season 2 she gains magical powers and becomes an Evil Sorcerer.
• God Save Us from the Queen!: She is crueler than any of the male rulers presented, and absolutely merciless.
• I Just Want to Be You: As a child, Madalena felt this way about two noblewomen who would pretend that they were going to be nice to her only to make Madalena the butt of their jokes. In Season 2 she believes that she's invited to a party by them and is positively glowing... until she finds out it's actually a roast of her, full of snide reminders that Madalena will never be accepted by the Old Money/high society types.
• Informed Attractiveness: She does not exactly have the "cleavage you could hold a whole parade in" described in the opening number. The line was originally "just a touch of nymphomania" as seen in the sneak peek released online, but bowdlerized at the last minute to something else that rhymed, hence the strangeness of line (which would be a rather surreal way to describe breasts even with a more buxom actress.)
• Informed Flaw: According to Galavant, she has 'troll feet' with awful bunions and refuses to take off her socks when sleeping because of it. Just ignore all the scenes where Madalena wears incredible heels with no socks. The one time her feet are shown completely bare, they do look awful, but more because she apparently just walked all the way home barefoot from another castle.
• In the Back: After deciding that a partnership with Kingsley isn't going to work out, she kills him with a dagger when he turns his back to her.
• It's All About Me: Her Villain Song consists of her singing into multiple mirrors about how much she loves herself.
• Jerkass Has a Point: She's selfish and cruel, but she has a point when she says that living in a castle is miles better than being in abject poverty.
  "I mean, why would I give all this up to get fat and pregnant and grow my own food?"
• Jerk with the Heart of a Jerk: She frequently proves to be a rather nasty individual.
• Karma Houdini: She ends the show on her way to gaining even greater power, though Gareth and Sid going their way in an adventure to rescue her from herself. Please, note Richard and Gareth are Easily Forgiven for their crimes against Valencia and Hortensia
• Kick The Son Of A Bitch: She stabs Kingsley In the Back after he has shown himself to be a lecherous and brutal Big Brother Bully, because she has no further use for him.
• More Deadly Than the Male: She's a lot more cruel and vindictive than Richard, and smarter too.
• Nouveau Riche: Formerly a poor peasant woman, becoming a wealthy monarch has made her extremely bitchy and tyrannical.
• Power Corrupts: While it's implied that she wasn't a saintly ingenue in the backstory either, you didn't see her telling Galavant to invade a kingdom for a single jewel. After a year as queen, the Jester/Narrator states that she is veering "sharply bitchward".
• Really Gets Around: Judging by the line of fine young men in front of her bedroom in the final episode of season 1, she has quite the insatiable appetite. Galavant even expresses surprise that she and Richard had never had sex in the year they were married, saying, "We are talking about the same Madalena, right?"
  Madalena: I like getting randy with whoever's handy!
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: She would start a war for no reason, at the frontlines at said war, and can fight.
• Sleeps with Everyone but You: Her taste in men is basically anyone but Richard.
• The Sociopath: She admits to being this in song. Telling Galavant that she loves him as much she is capable of, which consists of enjoying the sex and how they look together as a couple. However, Character Development sets in as the feeling of actual love is foreign to her and she do experience other emotions when it comes from her childhood past. It’s simply she prefers what is safe such as Ambition Is Evil. She’s still largely selfish but only with Gareth, she is willing to be open.
• Sympathy for the Devil: The way she's suffered and been the butt of the jokes of various high society women causes Gareth to sympathize with her... and give some payback to the women who've been so nasty to Madalena.
• Took a Level in Jerkass: She becomes progressively crueler now after becoming queen. She went from publicly humiliating Galavant by leaving him for the king to convincing said king to kill thousands of people for the sake of getting a famous jewel.
• Unholy Matrimony: In the second season, she and Gareth fall in love.
• Unlimited Wardrobe: She has more outfits than any other three characters combined. Justified given she's a queen who explicitly likes having lots of luxurious things, while most other characters are either peasants, prisoners, or on the run.
• Vicious Cycle: Her lust for more and more power, discarding love and positive aspects of her life to get it. It worked well for her when she dumped Galavant, granting her queen status. She continued to discard Richard and Kingsley in her pursuit to keep the power all to herself. Then Gareth happens and she started to feel so much love that she's willing to do anything to protect him. When she betrayed him, her actions presented afterward that all she cared about is herself and him. However, it's clear Gareth loves her just for being who she is and would save her from this.
• What Is This Feeling?: When she begins having genuine feels for Gareth in Season 2, she's clearly confused by them or what exactly to do about them.
• Would Hurt a Child: Though reluctant, Madelena would have murdered a baby to gain dark powers.

King Richard

King Richard

Portrayed by: Timothy Omundson

The evil king who kidnapped Madalena due to being enchanted by her beauty. While she did agree to marry him in the end, he quickly finds that he's bitten off more than he can chew, as she's far more competent and evil than he ever will be. He spends much of his time trying to cheer up the citizens of Valencia, who are a bit depressed after he invaded their peaceful kingdom, plundered their lands, and slaughtered their loved ones in droves.

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• Adult Child: King Richard still gets spoon-fed his dinner. "Here comes the horsey!"
• Affably Evil: Not every day you meet a genocidal warlord who's so dorky.
• Animal Motifs: Shares a not-so subtle association with dragons including on his sword, banners, and even acquiring a pet dragon later on.
• Bad Boss: The Chef makes note that Richard's family has butchered the last five generations of cooks in his family for very petty reasons. Even Richard concedes the point with "I'm such a bully!"
• Berserk Button: The eunuch makes the mistake of joking about Madelena's infidelity to Richard. All other jokes about him Richard took in stride, but this one makes the smile drop from his face and declare that the party's over.
• Big Bad: The resident Evil Overlord, in season 2 he is instead a protagonist.
• Breakout Character:
  • King Richard is the most popular character by far and by the end of season 2, is arguably getting more narrative focus than Galavant himself.
  • In the season two finale he is revealed to be the Chosen One, kills the Big Bad, and gets the final line before the credits.
• Buffy Speak: During "If I Were A Jolly Blacksmith."
• But for Me, It Was Tuesday: When he goes to organize something to have a bit of fun in Valencia, he finds it hard due to the consequences of his actions during the war (such as burning all of their crops and reduce their most beloved tree to toothpicks), actions he forgot until they are reminded to him.
• The Caligula: Despite his goofy demeanor, he's still a depraved tyrant.
• Camp Straight: Acts in a flamboyant, over the top manner, but is indeed straight.
• Card-Carrying Villain: Richard is pretty unabashedly evil, as made evident by his Villain Song She'll Be Mine. At least in the first season.
• Character Development: He goes from a childish tyrant to a hero capable of selflessness and bravery over the course of the second season.
• The Cuckoolander Was Right: He spends season 2 claming his bearded dragon, Tad Cooper is really a dragon. It later does grow into a dragon.
• The Dandy: King Richard is pretty effeminate, often starting the musical numbers in his castle and unable to accomplish any of the brutal acts he desires.
• The Ditz: A lot of stuff completely goes over his head. For instance, he isn't aware that his wife is cheating on him despite it being profoundly obvious.
• Deuteragonist: He definitely becomes this in Season 2, and arguably even in Season 1 he provided the second biggest focal point to Galavant's first.
• Easily Forgiven: Despite not ever actually atoning for the things he's done, Galavant considers him a true friend by the end of season 2.
• Even Evil Has Standards:
  • Despite the many evil things he does, he's appalled by the idea of exercising his Marital Rape License towards Madelena.
  Richard: Sure, I'll kidnap a girl and force her to marry me, but after that I am all about Women's Rights.
  • He also refuses to tell his past self/inner child whether he "ever gets to touch Roberta's boobs", citing that he's a child.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: Richard has a crippling issue with the fact he is trying to be a good King to Valencía but he's utterly clueless about how to please a Kingdom, since he's been a ruthless tyrant his entire life.
• Evil Is Petty: Despite his Heel–Face Turn, when leaving what used to be his kingdom in season 2, King Richard sets fire to the rec center out of spite.
• Evil Overlord: A parody of the archetype.
• Expy: Of Prince John from Disney's Robin Hood (1973): an effete, childish, overgrown brat in the body of a ruthless, tyrannical despot, living in the shadow of both a more popular Arch-Enemy and a brother his parents loved more, who relies on his brutish Dragon to handle the dirty work, and who enjoys "raising taxes and tormenting the poor"... although unlike Prince John, he manages to grow out of it. More or less. Timothy Omundson even based his voice and mannerisms on John.
• Freudian Excuse:
  • He wants to be loved and liked by others, especially his wife, since his parents never gave him attention. However, he is incredibly inconsiderate of other people. When his wife calls him unlovable, he is absolutely crushed.
  • It later turns out that he was the Spare to the Throne, and his brother Kingsley had been meant to be king. However, Kingsley turned down the throne and went off to become... well, a ruthless bastard who went around doing as he pleased without any responsibility of his own. He also took the sword of the king, the symbol that would demonstrate Richard's worth as the true king. No wonder Richard has issues.
• Heel–Face Turn: Sometime between season one and two, he pulls one of these. He vows to help Galavant on his quest, even at the risk of his own life, and also promises to be a much better king should he ever get the chance.
• Henpecked Husband: As the first episode progresses, it becomes clear that Madalena is the one that's in charge.
• Hidden Depths: As selfish and oblivious as he is, his sensitive side and desperation for love shine through at least once an episode, and he easily warms up to anyone who shows him the tiniest bit of friendship. By the end of the first season, he gets the most poignant song in the series so far and is no longer the main antagonist.
• Like Brother and Sister: How he feels about his childhood friend Roberta. At first.
• The Load: After his Heel–Face Turn he's nothing but trouble for Galavant.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain:
  • Most of the time he's a Manchild trying desperately to be liked, but when angered he's quick to dole out executions and has a general lack of empathy to the feelings of others. Oh, and he did conquer Valencia, with no apparent difficulty.
  • And it's shown he can be quite a clever thinker: he plans an effective Batman Gambit on Galavant on the spot, foresees Isabella eventual betrayal (and prevents it), and came out on his own with the idea of burning Valencia's field to let its people starve.
• Oblivious to Love: He's too caught up in his own quest (not to mention too emotionally immature) to realize that Roberta has a badly-disguised crush on him that everyone else can see. Not even Galavant doing everything short of making them kiss makes him realize the subtext of the situation.
• Obliviously Evil: He kills hundreds or thousands of people more or less by accident, and is surprised whenever anyone brings it up. Becomes a running gag in the second season when he mentions something over-the-top evil he did in the past and then wonders what the hell he was thinking.
• Odd Friendship:
  • Of the people he could probably call friends there is Gareth (his manly Sociopath captain) Chef (whose father and grandfather were both ordered to be executed by Richard), and Jester (who he became friends after Richard finds out Jester is sleeping with his wife).
    Richard: My God, we have an odd relationship.
  • After a night of drinking Richard and Galavant become friends.
• Parental Neglect: When having a meal with Madalena, he tells her that he never ate his meals with his parents since they were too busy to give him attention.
• Psychopathic Manchild: He's basically a naughty child in an adult's body who's been put in charge of an entire kingdom.
• So Unfunny, It's Funny: Whenever he tries to tell a joke. "Comedy Gold" focuses on this.
  Richard: Have you ever noticed how lepers have pieces falling off them? I mean, what is that all about?
• Took a Level in Badass: From a total wimp that whined about jelly on his face to a badass that is the one to defeat Chester Wormwood.
• Took a Level in Kindness: Gradually becomes nicer as the show goes on.
• The Unfavorite: Was only given the throne because his older brother Kingsley left to go kill and conquer.
• Virgin-Shaming:
  • He never pollinated anyone's garden. It becomes an important plot point in Season 2 (plus part of a minor running gag involving a unicorn following him around).
  • He eventually does the deed (after much crying and alcohol) with Roberta.

Gareth

Gareth

Portrayed by: Vinnie Jones

King Richard's knight, champion, and friend since childhood. He's the second strongest fighter in the realms (after Galavant), and is intensely loyal to his king—even if he wishes he would man up a bit.

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• Amazon Chaser: He knows full well what Madalena can do in her Ax-Crazy and respects and loves her for this. He respects strength.
• Affectionate Nickname: He gave Madalena the nicknames Queenie and Maddie. Others included my/boss lady and love.
• Bald of Evil: A proudly awful person who regularly shaves his head.
• Blood Knight: He celebrates his birthdays with barfights and invades a kingdom for entertainment.
• Chubby Chaser: Hilariously, his stated type is "either really fat or really skinny". Subverted in that simply chubby isn't enough for him.
• Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: He's been looking after King Richard since they were both kids, so he knows how to handle the king's eccentricies.
• Conflicting Loyalty: Happens a lot because while he likes Richard and swore to protect him he doesn't really respect him, and while he might not like Madalena he does respect her strength.
• The Comically Serious: The show gets a lot of mileage out of his foreboding, menacing ways contrasting with the silliness of the setting.
• Deadpan Snarker: Really indulges when making comments about Madalena.
• The Dragon: He's King Richard bodyguard/head henchman/enforcer, etc.
• Dragon Ascendant: In the final episode of Season 1, Richard flees Valencia to return to his original kingdom while Kingsley rules Valencia. Then Madalena decides to literally stab Kingsley in the back, turns to Gareth and says "You just got a promotion."
• Easily Forgiven: Both ways actually. He was one of the major leaders in conquering Valencia and almost Hortensia, killing many innocent commoners in his bloodthirst. But he was let go and even attended Gal and Izzy’s wedding. He forgave Madalena for almost killing his friends because he loves her and said they can move on from this.
• Even Evil Has Standards: He's done a lot of nasty things throughout his life, as the inevitable result of being the chief enforcer of first Richard, (who overcompensated for his perceived personal shortcomings by being a Card-Carrying Villain) and Madalena, (a completely ruthless ruler) culminating in leading invasions of other countries mostly for kicks. However, dark magic that one must sell their soul to acquire freaks him right out, and he wants nothing to do with it. As he explains later, there is a line between being a horrible person and being a genuinely evil one, and that's a line that Gareth doesn't cross.
• Evil Virtues: He’s not a good guy - this is the guy willing to start a war for no reason - but he always kept his promises and is completely devoted to his friends. After all, this is the guy who fell for Madalena and said she needs saving from herself and her quest for power, willing to forgive her despite the fact she tried to kill his friends again because he loves her.
• Has a Type: Strong minded women who are either really skinny, like unhealthy skinny, or really fat, no in-betweens. Ironically, his Love Interest is Madalena who doesn't meet either of his usual types physically. In her case he first became impressed with her because of her strength and determination, and after falling for her as a person he overlooked the fact she wasn't his preferred body type.
• Hero of Another Story: In the Epilogue, he is seen inviting Sid on another great adventure, with the goal of saving Madalena from herself, which Sid accepts.
• Hidden Depths: By the end of the first season, it's clear that he cares very deeply for Richard, no matter how much he tries to hide it or how much Richard frustrates him.
• Hypercompetent Sidekick: He's a lot smarter and more capable than Richard, and Richard is completely helpless in a fight while Gareth is one of the foremost knights in the world.
• Modest Royalty: As king of Valencia, the biggest change to his wardrope is the crown. As he says in "Let's Agree to Disagree", his tastes are simple,"I like living plainly, chains and leather mainly."
• Morality Pet: He is the one thing Madalena cares about besides power once she falls for him. Played with in that she wishes no harm to come to him when he betrays her to protect Richard, but she still cares about power more than she does him.
• Odd Friendship: In addition to his strange life-long friendship with Richard, the second season sees him become friends with Sid. When given a chance to adventure to save a power-mad witch-in-training from herself, Sid jumps at the chance to help him.
• Pet the Dog: Has numerous moments throughout the series that show he's much more decent than he lets on.
  • His Villainous Rescue where he saves his friend and frees the prisoners.
  • Getting revenge on the high society women who bullied Madelena as a girl.
  • In the second season finale, he asks Sid to go on a quest with him to save Madelena from herself.
• Real Men Eat Meat: He is a tough and serious warrior, and in "Let's agree to disagree" he states that, "I like meat with extra meat" , in response to Madelena's vegan dinners.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: The manly man who is tough and strong and smells of testosterone to Richard's sensitive guy.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: He drops a lot of swear words, though they're always replaced with Bleeps.
• Try to Fit That on a Business Card: In season 2, his official title is "guy who was with the queen when she killed the guy who was kinda the king." By the end of the first episode, they crown him king just to make it easier.
• Undying Loyalty: Despite being a Hypercompetent Sidekick, Gareth is loyal to a fault to King Richard. In his own words, he may be a dog, but he's a loyal dog, and has been since he was ten years old.
• Unholy Matrimony: In the second season, he and Madelena fall in love.
• The Unsmile: When he realizes he loves Madalena, he smiles, but it is such a strange expression that it spooks people.
• Victory Is Boring: Being king has robbed Gareth of many of his favorite pastimes, since nobody in Valencia is eager to get into a Bar Brawl with him, and most of traditional "king stuff" is either boring or too high brow for Gareth.
• Villainous Rescue: In the first season finale he saves practically the entire cast from the dungeons, though only to keep his word to Galavant, who he also saved so that Richard would have a strong bodyguard.
• Why Can't I Hate You?: He gives Richard a pretty long detailed list of reasons Gareth doesn't like him, but by the end it's pretty obvious he does at least care about him.

Chef

Chef

Portrayed by: Darren Evans

King Richard's personal chef, and last in a long line of personal chefs that Richard has killed. He doesn't seem very broken up about it, though, and he can probably be called one of the king's only friends.

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• Angst? What Angst?: He seems remarkably sanguine about the fact that Richard has killed multiple members of his family, and that by all rights he should expect to join them.
• Butt-Monkey: The last three generations of his family have all been executed by King Richard's family, he sleeps in his kitchen (or cooks in his own room, as he posits), and nearly gets hanged by accident.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Only known as the Chef. In My Cousin Izzy he reveals his name: Vincenzo.
• Jive Turkey: Constantly peppers his speech with modern slang, more so when talking to Gwynne.
• Minion with an F in Evil: This guy's too much of a softy to be really evil. Even with sufficient motivation in a lose-lose scenario he can't bring himself to do anything beyond causing people minor discomfort.
• Nice Guy: In My Cousin Izzy, he refuses to poison the royals and instead give them foods that they are mildly allergic.
• Odd Friendship: His friendship with Richard is odd in a lot of ways.
• Team Chef: He does the cooking in Valencia castle for Richard's household there. That's why he's called "Chef".
• Token Good Teammate: A pretty nice fellow, he just happens to work for an Evil Overlord.

The Jester

Portrayed by: Ben Presley

King Richard's Court Jester and Madelena's secret lover. Isn't considered very funny.

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• All-Knowing Singing Narrator: He's usually in charge of singing with main recaps, reprises and wrap-ups for the most part. It does help that many characters point out he's a fantastic singer (even Madelena eventually admits to this). There are several occasions where his songs include information that he explicitly doesn't know later in the same scene.
• Conflicting Loyalty: Eventually stops sleeping with Madelena because of his newfound friendship with the king. Madalena immediately tosses him in the dungeon and practically forgets his existence.
• Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": The ending of the 4th episode reveals his name to be Steve McKenzie. Richard is the one to point this out. Madelena never bothered to learn it.
• Lovable Coward: He makes an excuse to get out of having to do any fighting, but only Isabella is upset at all by this and even she doesn't hold it against him too much. (He's not a trained fighter, afterall) He may not be funny but he is lovable.
• Narrator All Along: Revealed at the end of the first episode to be the Narrator of the series.
• One Head Taller: His actor is 6 foot 5, though this is oddly never once referenced.
• So Unfunny, It's Funny: Most of his jokes are this. It becomes clear the only reason he lasted in his job as long was because he was sleeping with the queen.
  • He ends up being a success in Harry's court because it only requires childish humor and fart noises.
  • It turns out that when he gets scared his jokes "get kind of weird".

Gwynne

Portrayed by: Sophie McSherra

Madelena's Lady-In-Waiting and Chef's Love Interest.

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• Brainy Brunette: Is very knowledgeable about poisons and cynically wise to the ways of the world. Also, she can read.
• Cute and Psycho: Mildly. She was quite eager to kill all the nobles (even ones who'd done nothing bad to her) if it meant she and Chef could have happier lives.
• The Cynic: Is convinced that the world is a terrible place to live for people like her and that she and Chef will never really be happy or healthy because of this.
• Rags to Riches: She and Chef are much wealthier and better treated after moving to Hortensia, but Gwynne finds herself unable to adjust to the changes in lifestyle and feeling uncomfortable with luxuries like beds.

The King and Queen of Valencia

Portrayed by: Stanley Townsend (King) and Genevieve Allenbury (Queen)

Isabella's parents and the rightful rulers of Valencia. They are being held hostage by King Richard to force Isabella to do his bidding.

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• Battle Couple: The King and Queen work well together when in combat, taking on droves of charging opponents as if they were mere annoyances.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: The King is self-admittedly bad at leading men in battle but he's more than capable as a foot soldier.
• Deadpan Snarker: Their default setting is dry and witty comments. They'll snark about anything including the evil tyrant who could have them executed on a whim.
• General Failure: The King thinks that they'd be better served with literally anyone but him leading the army. Citing the failed defense of Valencia, he simply states "I suck at war."
• Kissing Cousins: The Valencian royal family tree goes "straight up", meaning that they were closely related by blood before marrying.
• Parents as People: Kind of played for laughs. The King and Queen are not good parents to Isabella. They happilly play along with Richard's cruel prank in making their daughter think he's beheaded them, and they push for her having an incestuous wedding with her 11-year-old cousin despite her clearly not wanting to, justifying it with "it's what our family does." But they're not intentionally abusive or cruel; much like Richard they're just a little too detached from the reality of things to really realize how abhorrent some of their actions are.
• The Roleplayer: When Richard asks them what they used to do for fun in their castle, before he took it over and imprisoned them in it, the King replies, "We used to sit around the Elder Tree for hours and hours of spontaneous, unscripted theater."
• No Name Given: They're just the "King" and "Queen". The King's name is revealed to be "Todd"
• Those Two Guys: Their primary purpose is to stand to the side during scenes and make snide comments about events as they are happening.

Kingsley

Portrayed by: Rutger Hauer

Richard's older brother, who was originally supposed to be King instead of Richard, but preferred to leave home as a teen with the intent of conquering and killing his way to being a ruler instead. Madalena invites him to come to Valencia and become allies, but she soon finds having someone else around who is just as ruthless, ambitious, and controlling as she is tiresome.

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• Aristocrats Are Evil: He was born into royalty, made himself king by conquest, and is a rather nasty piece of work.
• Hate Sink: He has no redeeming qualities nor is he Played for Laughs, meaning he's specifically designed to be as hated as possible.
• Jerkass: He's a rude, petty, vindictive, and tyrannical bully.
• Knight of Cerebus: Zigzagged. He seems like this when he's first introduced, but despite him trying to force a serious tone on things, he soon falls by the wayside and is swept away by the more comedic heroes and villains. Then his death signals Madalena going from somewhat comically using others for wealth and power to actually becoming an active villainess who seizes those things for herself, making her the show's true Big Bad.
• No-Nonsense Nemesis: Kingsley's personal motto seems to be "Screw all this singing and dancing around stuff, lets have some good old fashioned tyranny".
• Selective Obliviousness: In his backstory, Kingsley refuses to become king because he "refuses to be handed anything" (namely, the royal sword that would make him king) and insisting he would simply take what he wants. Apparently, it didn't occur to him that as crown prince, everything he has was given to him and he never worked for anything.
• Underestimating Badassery: He underestimates Madalena's ambition and thirst for power, and gives her a chance to backstab him. It doesn't end well for him.
• You Have Failed Me: He goes to do this twice, first to Chef/Vincenzo, for tainting the feast, and then to Gareth for failing to kill the prisoners and letting them go. He fails both times.

Prince Harry

Portrayed by: Kemaal Deen Ellis

The prince of Hortensia, and Isabella's cousin and fiancée.

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• Ambiguously Brown: He appears to be from some Fantasy Counterpart Culture to Arabia.
• Terms of Endangerment: He calls Isabella "my Izzy" and "my pretty princess", but he doesn't really seem to care much about her well-being.
• Troubling Unchildlike Behavior: He orders Isabella to be confined to an oversized dollhouse, and only allows her to move about the palace with shackles on her feet. Plus, there's the whole "marrying his older cousin" thing.

Roberta

Portrayed by Clare Foster

One of Richard's childhood friends, who tags along with him and Galavant on their quest to save Isabella.

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• Action Girl: She is introduced signing up for Galavant's rescue mission and then is shown to be quite handy in a fight in the next episode. Future episodes see her doing considerably less fighting (or being involved in the action at all), often either remaining on the sidelines or, as with the dwarves and the giants, figuring out solutions that don't involve fighting. She mostly only gets involved when Richard's life is in danger due to having a crush on him, and she decides to sit out of the final battle because she is certain it will result in his (very messy) death.
• Childhood Friend Romance: She clearly has a thing for Richard, and apparently has since they were still young playmates. He's completely oblivious to her feelings.
• Crazy Cat Lady: Fears that she'll become a lonely old woman with only a hoard of cats at the end of "Do the D'DEW" when she prepares to depart to Spinster Isle.
• Inseries Nickname: Richard calls her "Bobby".
• Only Sane Man: She's the only one to realize the utter insanity/inanity of the Dwarves vs. Giants conflict and swiftly puts an end to it before the rumble can go any further.
• Out of Focus: Despite joining Richard and Galavant in their quest, she does very little in the second half of the season. This is Lampshaded by the fact that she has to force the camera to even keep her in the shot during "Do the D'DEW".
• Redhead In Green: Her most prominent trait is her bright red hair, and her default outfit is a dark green tunic.
• Undying Loyalty: The only person in Richard's former kingdom willing to help him.

Chester Wormwood

Portrayed by Robert Lindsay

An evil wedding planner/dark wizard who shows up in season 2 in a scheme to manipulate Isabella.

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• Affably Evil: He's unashamedly evil, to tghe point of being a Card-Carrying Villain, but he's also quite polite and amiable.
• Ambiguously Gay: Loves fine food, clothing, planning weddings and has the campiest mannerisms in the major cast, but we don't see him coming on to other men.
• Badass Boast: He claims he can only be killed by the true king of all four lands, wielding the destined sword. Subverted when Isabella notes that there's nothing preventing her from having the guards cut off his limbs, and he concedes the point.
• Becoming the Mask: Even in the middle of putting together evil plots, he can't help but put together wedding plans. He even briefly forces himself back to life just to give Isabella a bit more advice about her newly arranged wedding to Galavant.
• Big Bad Duumvirate: Forms one with Madalena in Season 2,, master and apprentice style.
• Complexity Addiction: His assistant is hopelessly confused by how many balls he keeps in the air, and he eventually admits he can't keep them straight anymore either. In the last episodes of Season 2 he ends up accidentally sending the "invasion" invitations to the "wedding" guest list, thus ruining his own surprise attack.
• The Dandy: Between being an elegantly dressed man who is also very passionate about wedding planning, he's possibly even more dandy-ish than King Richard!
• Deal with the Devil: Convinces Madalena to sign away her soul to gain demonic magic.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Played for Laughs, but is still very creeped out by Madalena's willingness to kill a baby to attain dark magic because he only meant for her to sign a contact. He further specifies that she really didn't need to sign in blood, and once she's finished he tells her to step away from the baby.
• Evil Is Petty: When he finally demonstrates the D'DEW, he uses his powers to knock a guy off a ladder, make another guy pie himself in the face, and rip the tent flap up on a third guy who's in the middle of changing.
• Evil Mentor: Becomes a magic teacher for Madalena in the Dark, Dark Evil Ways, and encourages to seek power over love.
• Evil Plan: Technically, it is an evil plot; the wedding is the plan. The one that is evil involves mindcontrolling Isabella so he can rule Hortensia through her.
• Human Sacrifice: Subverted and Played for Laughs. You don't need to kill a baby to attain dark magic. He's just babysitting.
• Insistent Terminology:
  • In an attempt to avoid confusion, he has an "evil plot", a "color scheme", and a "wedding plan". It still gets muddled up.
  • He's a master of the Dark, Dark, Evil Way (or D'DEW, for short). The double dark is important!
    Wormwood: Honestly, why is that so hard for people to remember?
• Manipulative Bastard: First cons his way into Hortensia so he can try to Mind Control Isabella and then when that fails, convinces Gareth and Madalena to go to war with them.
• Mentor Occupational Hazard: Villainous variant for Madalena, since he was teaching her to do the D D E W, and then is killed after passing on his evil ways.
• Mind Control: Has a magical crown that is capable of controlling others.
• Mood-Swinger: He repeatedly swings between furiously declaring vengeance on Isabella and offering her sincere advice for her wedding.
• Pet the Dog: Occasionally babysits for a woman in the army's cooking staff.
• Shipper on Deck: Ships Madalena and Gareth, but that might only be because he wants to plan their wedding.

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