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Robin Hood and the outlaws
Robin of Loxley
Played by: Michael Praed
The original Robin Hood, a yeoman from the village of Loxley, descended from a line of mystical defenders of freedom
- '80s Hair: He sports a typical '80s-style mullet.
- The Hero Dies: The Sheriff corners and kills him at the end of the second season.
- If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: Robin of Loxley uses this argument, trying to convince Will Scarlet that they should spare the captive Gisburne; Will is not impressed.
- Love at First Sight: Robin of Loxley and Marion. "You're like a May morning."
- Messianic Archetype: Robin of Loxley, who's basically Pagan Jesus, what with being the "Son of Herne" and all.
- Never Found the Body: His corpse mysteriously disappears.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: By the second series, Michael Praed had decided to leave the show to appear on Broadway, and so his Robin was Killed Off for Real in the finale and replaced for a third series.
- Technical Pacifist: Robin of Loxley is very bad at this, happily slaughtering Red Shirts who are only fighting him because they need to feed their families and refusing to kill anyone with a name. Will Scarlet actually calls him on his willingness to slaughter mooks but constant refusal to kill Guy, in "The Lord of the Trees".
Robert of Huntingdon
Played by: Jason Connery
The second Robin Hood, the rebellious son of the rich and powerful Earl of Huntingdon.
- Did Not Get the Girl: After Marion opts to become a nun because she can't bear to be in a relationship with another man who'll probably die young and violently.
- '80s Hair: He sports a typical '80s-style mullet.
- Fake Shemp: In the final episode of the second season, the new "hooded man" who rescues the outlaws after Robin of Loxley's death, and is explicitly shown in the first episode of the third season to have been Robert, was played by one of the stunt performers with his face hidden, as Jason Connery had not been cast.
- The Hero: Replaces Robin as the Hooded Man.
- If You Kill Him, You Will Be Just Like Him!: He prevents Will from killing Adam Bell's minion Moth and refrains from killing Bell himself, for just this reason.
- Refusal of the Call: He rescues the Merry Men after Loxley's death, but is then very reluctant to take up the role fully. It takes Marion's kidnapping to make him adopt it fully.
- The Mole: Attempted in "The Power of Albion", initially with some success. But it falls apart when the "King's Devil" recognises him as Robin Hood and ends all hope of him living a double life.
- Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You: The Robert of Huntingdon title sequence replaces the simple profile shot of Robin of Locksley firing an arrow with a circular pan in which Robert aims the arrow directly at the camera. This may well be a Shout-Out to Jason Connery's father's most famous role...
- Slumming It: A very high-ranking aristocrat who decides to live among and help the common people. The outlaws take quite a long time to be comfortable with him over it, especially Will and John.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Robin of Loxley replaced by Robert of Huntingdon. Justified, since they're playing the two different traditional versions of the same folk hero.
Marion of Leaford
Played by: Judith Trott
The unhappy ward of the Abbot, who is intended to be forced into a nunnery so that her property can go to the church, until Robin of Loxley stumbles into her bedchamber while escaping from Nottingham Castle.
- '80s Hair: Marion's hair is ginormous.
- Action Girl: Downplayed with Marion in this version of the story. She bristles at being told to Stay in the Kitchen, and is a competent archer and fighter, but she isn't a Waif-Fu killing machine and has serious problems whenever she can't avoid hand-to-hand combat with someone bigger and stronger.
- Affectionate Nickname: Tuck calls Marion "Little Flower".
- And Now You Must Marry Me: Happens to her a lot.
- Baron de Belleme wants to forcibly marry Marion, although only so that he can sacrifice her to Satan.
- Owen of Clun, once again, wants to forcibly marry Marion.
- Decoy Damsel: Quite often Marion's contribution to the team.
- Fiery Redhead: Unusually averted. Marion has her moments, but is mostly quite an easy-going gal.
- Her Heart Will Go On: The inevitable fate of Marion once Michael Praed left the show. Averted at the end of the third season, when after falsely believing Robert to be dead she dumps him because she can't face surviving a second husband.
- Lady of War: The most upper-class of the original outlaw crew (although gentry rather than true aristocracy), she usually retains a certain elegance.
- Love at First Sight: Robin of Loxley and Marion. "You're like a May morning."
- Neutral Female: Used positively. Marion wasn't much use in a fist-fight, though good with a longbow, and sometimes helped simply by staying out of the way.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Marion taking the veil at the end of the third series was introduced as a potential way to demote her to an occasional character, as Judith Trott wanted to seek other roles.
- Redhead In Green: As you can see in the picture.
- Rebellious Princess: Marion, although it's toned down from other versions: she's only minor nobility, and by the time the series begins, all of her land has been taken from her by making her a ward of the Church.
- Spell My Name With An S: Though most retellings of Robin Hood use the spelling Marian, this version was definitely spelt (and pronounced) Marion.
- Taking the Veil: Marion at the beginning of series one and again at the end of series three.
Little John
Played by: Clive Mantle
A gigantic shepherd, magically brainwashed by Baron de Belleme to act as his bodyguard, and released by Robin.
- The Big Guy: Huge, and also has the psychological characteristics of being a loyal and usually unquestioning follower.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: When he was first introduced as the slave of Baron de Belleme.
- Flat Character: As the writers acknowledge on the DVD, he got probably the least character development of any of the regulars.
- The Heart: He's probably the kindest and most idealistic of the crew.
- Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Little John and his girlfriend Meg of Wickham.
- 10-Minute Retirement: He briefly decides to leave the outlaws to marry Meg in "Rutterkin", but quickly changes his mind.
Will Scarlet
Played by: Ray Winstone
A bitter and short-tempered ex-soldier, who has hated the rest of society since his wife was raped and murdered by a gang of marauding soldiers.
- Anti-Hero: It's strange to see any member of the Merry Men as a borderline sociopath.
- "Which is your favorite ear? Is it your LEFT...or is it your RIGHT?!" with accompanying indications via dagger. This to a church abbot.
- The Complainer Is Always Wrong: Subverted. He's as likely to be correct as wrong when he disagrees with Robin, especially with regards to King Richard.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: He has an extremely short fuse.
- Hypochondria: Will comes down with a bad case after accidentally stumbling into a lepers' campsite and becoming convinced he's infected.
- The Lancer: A textbook example, frequently clashing with Robin and regularly taking charge when Robin isn't present.
- The Lost Lenore: Will Scarlet became an outlaw and the charming man that he is after his wife was raped and murdered in front of him by a gang of marauding Normans.
- Meaningful Rename: Will Scarlet, who changed his surname from Scathlock.
- Sociopathic Hero:Will: Killing's our business and we're good at it. 'Specially me.
- Trauma Button: Will appears to be at the very least on the verge of a full-blown attack of PTSD when the outlaws come across the village that suffered Rape, Pillage, and Burn at the hands of Bertrand of Nivelles and his gang.
- Undying Loyalty: Stated outright in the episode The King's FoolScarlet: I trust very few people, and I'm looking at all of them. I would die for any one of you but there's no way I'm going to Nottingham.
Friar Tuck
Played by: Phil Rose
A corpulent monk, initially the Sheriff's chaplain, who is increasingly disgusted by his master's evil behaviour and sympathetic towards Marion.
- Big Fun: He is often a focus of comic relief.
- The Smart Guy: He's actually quite well educated, especially when it comes to recognising evil magic.
Nasir
Played by: Mark Ryan
Nasir is a mysterious Saracen swordsman, brought to England by Baron de Belleme.
- Ascended Extra: The series did not plan on introducing a Saracen member of Robin's team. They introduced a Saracen slave who was scripted to die fighting Robin in defence of his master. The actor was such a great guy, however, that they rewrote the scene so that he disarmed Robin, held a blade to his throat, then grinned and let him go and became a mostly non-speaking extra. As the series progressed his story was fleshed out, and he owned a couple of episodes by the end. Almost all versions of the story in film and TV since have featured a Middle Eastern Merry Man, including Azeem in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and Djaq in the late-2000s BBC Robin Hood.
- Big Brother Instinct: Nasir toward Marion. It's really very sweet.
- Brownface: Mark Ryan is white British, although no actual make-up was used.
- Dual Wielding: He wields two scimitars as a trade mark style.
- Overly Long Name: His full name is Malik Kemal Inal Ibrahim Shams ad-Dualla Wattab ibn Mahmud.
- The Quiet One: Nasir, who doesn't say a single word until the last episode of the first series. Of course, he was an ultra-sneaky assassin.
- Resignations Not Accepted: Two Hashshashin come to try to persuade Nazir to return to the Middle East with them, and try to kill him when he refuses.
- Sixth Ranger: Joins the team after his former master is killed by them.
- The Voiceless: In the first season; his lines gradually accumulate.
- The Unpronounceable: Nasir's full name. He can say it just fine, but it leaves the other outlaws dumbfounded.
Much the Miller's Son
Played by: Peter Llewellyn-Williams
Robin of Loxley's foster-brother, who becomes an outlaw with him after they are arrested for poaching together.
- Bumbling Sidekick: He is pretty foolish and incompetent during the first two seasons.
- The Fool: He starts off as very naive and trusting, and never wholly loses it.
- The Load: He's firmly in this role in seasons 1 and 2, and seems to be part of the outlaw band only because Robin feels responsible for him as an old friend.
- Took a Level in Badass: In the third season he becomes much less bumbling and more dangerous. He still fills the role of hostage in one episode, but it takes twelve of the Sheriff's soldiers to capture him, four of whom he incapacitates before the others corner him.
Friends and Sympathisers
Herne the Hunter
Played by: John Abineri
An enigmatic forest shaman who acts as selector and mentor to those who take on the role of "Robin i'the Hood".
- Cernunnos: The Horned God, also known as Herne the Hunter, is a stag-headed figure who was a patron god of nature, and one of his rituals was the Wild Hunt. Robin sometimes experiences visions and messages from Herne, who seems to approve of the outlaws.
- Fake Shemp: To save the elderly John Abineri from having to be out in the country getting rained on too often, many shots of Herne are actually an extra wearing his stag headdress, with studio-recorded dialogue added later.
- Koan: He can never just give advice or information without turning it into a riddle. Both Robins complain of this.
- The Mentor: He's the Robins' enigmatic master and teacher.
- Sadly Mythtaken: In English folklore he's supposed to be the ghost of a 16th century forester who haunts Windsor Park, unless William Shakespeare just made him up. A 1929 book suggested he might be a remnant of horned gods like Cernunnos, but still localised to Berkshire. His depiction in Robin of Sherwood may well be via one or both of John Masefield's The Box Of Delights or Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising, both of which depict him as a much more universal and powerful English nature-spirit.
- Vagueness Is Coming: Many of Herne's warnings and instructions take this form.
Edward of Wickham
Played by: Jeremy Bulloch
The headman of Wickham village, the most frequently-encountered representative of "the poor" who Robin gives to.
- Butt-Monkey: Practically all of his scenes involve him being insulted, threatened, beaten up, or taken hostage by the Sheriff, Gisburne, or a villain-of-the-week.
- Took a Level in Badass: He's actually quite an effective fighter in the last two episodes, against the Sons of Fenris.
Sir Richard of Leaford
Played by: George Baker
Marion's father, initially believed killed on Crusade.
- Disappeared Dad: Marion thinks he died in Palestine, but he was actually a prisoner of the King's enemies.
- Good Old Ways: He represents the old fashioned, genuinely benevolent gentry.
The Mad Old Prisoner
Played by: Stewart Linden
A long-term prisoner at Nottingham Castle, who always refuses to leave because he doesn't want to abandon his pet rat Arthur.
- Breakout Character: He was originally written into the first episode as a plot convenience to help Robin and the others escape, but was so popular that he made several further appearances.
- Cloudcuckoolander: He's completely nuts.
- No Name Given: Never gives a name. Maybe he can't remember it.
- The Old Convict: He's spent so long in the dungeon at Nottingham Castle that he can't imagine life outside it.
- Rodent Cellmates: He's very friendly with the rats.
Villains
The Sheriff of Nottingham
Played by: Nickolas Grace
Robert de Rainault, the Sheriff of Nottingham, is the depraved and ruthless feudal overlord of Nottingham and the surrounding area.
- Ambiguously Gay: To a degree. He is somewhat camp, vocally despises women, and at least once shares a bath with Gisburne (although they're both in agony from bee stings at the time).
- Aristocrats Are Evil: An absolutely vicious and greedy bastard.
- Chewing the Scenery: Frequently, but especially in "The Children of Israel", during his return from Westminster and his final scene with the Qabala text.
- Crazy People Play Chess: The Sheriff is so infuriated by losing a chess match to his ten-year-old nephew that he almost backhands the boy.
- Enemy Mine: Occasionally forced to ally with the outlaws against such types as Philip Mark and Adam Bell. He almost always tries to betray them at the first opportunity.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: Prone to violent rages at any reverse.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: The Sheriff and Gisburne, mostly because Guy can never leave.
- Large Ham
- Mad Eye: Whenever the Sheriff gets really angry, his left eye bulges out.
- Pimped-Out Cape: The Sheriff has a lot of these; the one he dons for the archery contest is particularly egregious.
- Purple Is Powerful: The Sheriff has a lot of purple clothing.
- Shorter Means Smarter: Notably one of the shortest and sneakiest male characters in the show.
- Tantrum Throwing: The Sheriff's rages sometimes result in wasted food or disarrayed documents; he also once hurls a full wine goblet at Gisburne's head.
- Written-In Absence: Nickolas Grace's scheduling conflicts in the second and third seasons are briefly explained as the Sheriff undertaking "a journey to Westminster" (during which Gisburne, as deputy, becomes acting Sheriff and gets Drunk with Power) and "a pilgrimage to Canterbury" (an interesting choice for the Hollywood Atheist Sheriff), respectively.
Sir Guy of Gisburne
Played by: Robert Addie
The Sheriff's brutal and short-tempered steward.
- Aristocrats Are Evil: Played as the stereotypical sneering evil English public schoolboy.
- Bad Boss: He acts terribly to his own men.
- Bumbling Sidekick: Wildly overconfident in his ability to deal with the lower orders.
- Butt-Monkey: Something unpleasant happens to him practically Once per Episode. From being stung half to death by bees, humiliated and spat on by the princess and taking an arrow through the back. He is fully deserving of almost everything bad that happens to him though.
- Entitled to Have You: What he feels and how he acts about Sarah de Talmont, at first ignoring her attempts to reject him and then still intending to force her to marry him. Possibly also what happened with Jennet of Elsdon, her unexpected (to him) refusal to be with him leading to the accusation that her and her husband practiced witchcraft.
- Evil Sounds Deep: The youthful-looking Gisburne has a surprisingly deep and harsh voice.
- Freudian Excuse: Guy has a doozy of one, as his personality is due to his father hating and severely abusing him due to him being adulterously conceived by another man.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: The Sheriff and Gisburne, mostly because Guy can never leave.
- Icy Blue Eyes: Margaret describes her son's eyes as "cold, remote" after he learns the truth of his parentage.
- Last-Name Basis: The Sheriff and Gisburne until the final episode, when a shift to "Guy" signifies an acknowledgment of equality.
- Long-Lost Relative: Guy is actually Robert of Huntingdon's half-brother, due to an adulterous affair between Guy's mother and Robin's father.
- Pet the Dog: During "Alan-A-Dale" his treatment of Lady Mildred (the thoroughly unwilling bride-to-be of the sheriff) is so polite that it's borderline Out-of-Character Moment. It may be that he feels fellow feeling for, or wants to possibly ally with, somebody else who'll have to put up with de Rainault.
- Promoted to Scapegoat: Gisburne is promoted from steward to deputy at the beginning of season 2 and spends the rest of the series taking blame and insults from the Sheriff.
- Unexplained Recovery: Originally, Guy was supposed to be killed off in the final episode of series 1, where he takes an arrow to the back and is set on fire. Come series 2 he appears again and although the Sheriff comments on his recovery, he still looks remarkably unhurt for a man who suffered crippling injuries.
Abbot Hugo de Rainault
Played by: Philip Jackson
The Sheriff's brother, a clergyman who epitomises the worldliness and corruption of parts of the medieval Catholic Church.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: The religious equivalent.
- Demoted to Extra: By season three he's all but been phased out.
- Purple Is Powerful: Abbot Hugo wears no other colour.
- Sinister Minister: He's less interested in religion than making money and grinding the peasants.
Baron Simon de Belleme
Played by: Anthony Valentine
A sinister nobleman who developed a deep knowledge of dark magic while on Crusade.
- Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: He is resurrected with much fanfare during the second season... and then never appears or gets mentioned again.
- Disc-One Final Boss: He's the first big villain of the show.
- Evil Sorceror: A malevolent Hermetic magician and devil-worshipper.
- Evil Wears Black: Black clothes for a black magician.
- Hijacked by Ganon: In "The Enchantment", the witch Lilith turns out to be one of the former girlfriends of Baron de Belleme, and her true objective is to resurrect him.
King John
Played by: Phil Davis
King John, depicted as villainously as he usually is in Robin Hood retellings.
- Evil Wears Black: He often wears black clothing.
- Hair-Trigger Temper: He's prone to violent rages with minimal provocation. His envoy advises Gisburne to leave the room immediately if this happens, because "it's safer".
- Modest Royalty: Subverted. King John orders the Sheriff's lavish banquet to be given to the poor and ostentatiously turns down the offer of girls — then asks for food and babes to be sent to his private rooms later.
- Sissy Villain: Although he's voraciously and pervertedly heterosexual.
Gulnar
Played by: Richard O'Brien
A deranged Welsh sorceror with a grudge against Robert of Huntingdon and his followers.
- Bald of Evil: Like just about every character ever played by Richard O'Brien.
- Barefoot Loon: He's barefoot for most of the time, and he's definitely crazy.
- Contrasting Sequel Antagonist: He takes on the recurring villainous occult role from Baron de Belleme, but is a totally different personality with a very different style of magic.
- Evil Sorceror: A malevolent worshipper of the old gods who describes himself as "of the Dark Path" and basically wants to kill anyone who crosses his path.
- The Hyena: Especially in "Crom Cruac", where almost all his dialogue starts or ends with mad laughter.
- Large Ham: Again, we're talking Richard O'Brien here.
- Non-Action Big Bad: Relies on his mooks and avoids any kind of physical combat.
- Riddle for the Ages: Did he intentionally encourage his former lord Owen of Clun to run underneath that falling portcullis so that it would impale him?
- Skeletons in the Coat Closet: He keeps a human skull as the head of his staff.
- Tattooed Crook: He has very noticeably Celtic-style tattoos.
- Turned Against Their Masters: Gulnar is strangled to death by his own golem when it gets a bit too homicidal to control.
