History YMMV / RobinHood

** The "Rob from the Rich and give to the Poor" thing, not to mention Robin Hood's LovableRogue and anti-authority leanings, aren't really views one would expect to see in ballads coming from such a conservative time period; but they line up well with modern liberalism.

** Not to mention Guy/Allan. After a bout of torture (in which Guy throws a bucket of water over a [[ShirtlessScene shirtless]] Allan), Allan agrees to [[FaceHeelTurn provide inside information]] on Robin and the outlaws. Guy then proceeds to change his clothing in front of Allan, dress him up in matching black leather, and have an [[HomoeroticDream erotic dream]] about him. Even the Sheriff catches on, referring to Allan as "Gisborne's boy" and remarking, "Kissing in the moonlight?" when he walks in on them together in the dark.

%%* EvilIsSexy: Guy of Gisborne and [[spoiler: Isabella]].

** The Sheriff of Nottingham, Prince John, and Guy and Isabella of Gisborne each have a pretty extensive body count, and during their lifetimes uphold a tyrannical and unjust social regime that raises taxes, outlaws poaching, and leaves the poor to starve. At least one of them left a baby in the forest to die of exposure and lied to the mother about its whereabouts. Yet they were all popular characters due to their [[FreudianExcuse complexity]], [[LargeHam entertainment value]], [[StartOfDarkness tragic backstories]], and/or [[EvilIsSexy obvious attractiveness]].

** The woefully misconceived Kate. Already pegged as an unworthy ReplacementScrappy to Marian before her debut, she was ultimately a perfect storm of terrible CharacterTropes that earned her the seething ire and resentment of the fanbase: a FauxActionGirl, DamselScrappy, SatelliteLoveInterest, TerritorialSmurfette, ClingyJealousGirl, CreatorsPet and TheLoad (often veering into TheMillstone), who was TooDumbToLive and constantly [[ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike Complaining About Rescues She Didn't Like]], [[SpoiledBrat with an abrasive]], [[ItsAllAboutMe self-absorbed personality]] and a firm grip on the DistressBall. Bestowed with MoralLuck that justified her IrrationalHatred for the show’s only other female character, InformedAttractiveness that made her the object of desire to almost the entire male cast, and [[SpotlightStealingSquad shoehorned into various storylines whether or not it made any sense]], she had no real narrative purpose beyond being the TokenGirl, VictimOfTheWeek, and the focus of several pointless [[LoveTriangle Love Triangles]] – including a RomanticPlotTumour with Robin. Plus [[http://farfarawaysite.com/section/robinhood/gallery3/hires/125.jpg a ridiculous hairstyle]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking that nobody could take seriously]].

** [[FridgeLogic Some things about her character just didn't make sense]], [[NewNeighboursAsThePlotDemands like how Robin couldn’t recognize her as one of his own serfs]] despite being on a FirstNameBasis with every other Locksley villager, or how she was seemingly written as a BrattyTeenageDaughter despite being played by an actress nearing thirty, or the insane levels of CharacterShilling that were lavished upon her. Neither did the writers bother to give her any useful skills to contribute to the team dynamic, writing her as the DesignatedVictim in nearly every episode, undergoing endless kidnappings, injuries and hostage situations just to give her something to do. Often the attempts to make her less of a DistressedDamsel backfired just as badly, with ludicrous scenes in which she spontaneously invents CPR to save Robin's life, [[CharacterShilling gets wildly overpraised for completing simple tasks]], or overpowers an armored man on horseback by pushing him with her bare hands. [[WTHCostumingDepartment Even her costume made no sense!]] If nothing else, she exists as the perfect case study of what NOT to do with a female character.

* A French-accented parody of the character provides a BigLippedAlligatorMoment in ''WesternAnimation/Shrek1'' (2001).

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Guy of Gisborne's perceived characterization can range from anything between misunderstood [[TheWoobie woobie]] to sadistic killer.

* AngstWhatAngst: After [[spoiler: Marian's murder,]] Robin goes on a vengeance-fuelled rampage. Then... he gets over it. He's back to his cheerful old self by the next episode, in which he meets his new LoveInterest.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: There was always some of this in play regarding Robin (and the show's ProtagonistCentredMorality that justified pretty much everything he did) but it took on new dimensions in [[SeasonalRot Series 3]]. Plenty of people were left furious that he moved on so quickly from [[KilledOffForReal Marian]] and initiated not one but ''two'' romantic relationships with other women. Was he horribly shallow, or just grieving in his own flawed way? Others pointed out that as soon as either Isabella or Kate asked for a serious commitment from him, he immediately ran cold (refusing to run away with Isabella, and not responding when Kate asks him to say he needs her). He notably can't bring himself to [[LastKiss kiss Kate goodbye]] after he's been poisoned, and on seeing Marian's spirit coming to fetch him, the first thing he says is "I knew I'd find you again," in a tone of profound relief, suggesting that he was only ever marking off time before he could be with her again, and never felt particularly invested in his interim {{Love Interest}}s. The way he then calls her "my wife" in a tone of complete adoration seems to confirm this.
** Much came in for some of this as well, with some finding him interminably annoying and whiny, and others appreciating [[WordOfSaintPaul Sam Troughton's explanation]] that he was playing the character as "an innocent who has lost his innocence" -- in other words, a {{Manchild}} who is also a ShellShockedVeteran. It also helped that the whininess was toned down after Series 1.

* DieForOurShip: Whether Marian was better off with Guy or with Robin is a debate that still rages in forums to this day, despite the fact that [[spoiler:all three characters are now dead. And that Guy murdered Marian]].

* EnsembleDarkhorse: Guest star Carter, a crusader looking for vengeance... then redemption ([[spoiler:which unfortunately came in the form of RedemptionEqualsDeath]]).

* EvilIsSexy: Guy of Gisborne and [[spoiler: Isabella]].

* MisaimedFandom: A large portion (though not all) of the Guy/Marian shippers. Despite capitalizing on the actors' chemistry with some ShipTease between Guy and Marian, the writers were very careful to ensure that Robin and Marian had a respectful and reciprocal relationship, whilst Guy's and Marian's was riddled with [[ArsonMurderAndJayWalking violence, threats, blackmail, intimidation, betrayals and hurt feelings]]. However, there is still a portion of the fandom that argue that Marian should have ended up with Guy, an opinion that can be divided into two distinct arguments: those that believe Guy was an accurate portrayal of a socially-awkward 12th century knight, who was therefore justified in everything he did regarding Marian (a view that [[JustIgnoreIt requires steadfast denial]] of the show's AnachronismStew), and those that paint him as a DracoInLeatherPants, who acted the way he did thanks to his FreudianExcuse, [[RonTheDeathEater with Marian regarded as an ungrateful bitch for not appreciating him.]]

* {{Narm}}: Oh. So. Much. Actually, much of the Narm in the first two series (both of which were rather tongue-in-cheek) would probably be considered NarmCharm; but after the intense MoodWhiplash of the Series 2 finale in which [[spoiler:Marian is brutally impaled on a sword]], the fact that many subsequent episodes ''still'' include ridiculous scenarios results in a veritable onslaught of {{Narm}}tastic scenes.

* OneSceneWonder: Or rather, one episode wonder; [[MeaningfulName Legrande]].

* ReplacementScrappy: In the leadup to Series 3, it was announced that a "feisty village girl" called Kate would be joining the outlaws, and fandom's hackles immediately went up. It soon became apparent that she was replacing not only Marian (as Robin's LoveInterest), but also Will Scarlett (as a representative of the common folk) and Djaq (as the TokenGirl of the gang, though with none of her predecessor's combat training or medical skills). And because Much immediately falls for her, she was technically ''also'' a replacement for Eve, a season one GirlOfTheWeek that shared a sweet romance with Much after her HighHeelFaceTurn, and whom he promised to find once the fighting was over.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Ironically, many of the regular actors from the widely-derided Series 3 are the ones that went on to greater success in other projects: David Harewood is now better known as Martian Manhunter on ''Series/Supergirl2015'', Lara Pulver played Irene Adler in ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'', Joanne Froggatt is Anna on ''Series/DowntonAbbey'' and Clive Standen is better recognized now as Rollo on ''Series/{{Vikings}}''. Toby Stephens was already fairly well-established as an actor, though his best known genre roles have since become Captain Flint in ''Series/BlackSails'' and John Robinson in ''Series/LostInSpace2018'', and Richard Armitage went on to greater fame as Thorin Oakenshield in ''Film/TheHobbit.''

* RomanticPlotTumour: Despite the [[StrangledByTheRedString abrupt nature]] of the Robin/Isabella hook-up, it at least served a purpose in providing Isabella with [[WomanScorned motivation]] to eventually turn on Robin and become the BigBad of Series 3. But as for Robin and Kate...? Kate spends the greater part of Series 3 aggressively pursuing Robin, becoming a ClingyJealousGirl whenever Isabella is around, and eventually interrupting missions in order to make her interest known. [[ShipperOnDeck Little John urges Robin to hook up with her]], [[RomanticRunnerUp Much gives his blessing despite liking Kate himself]], and most of the penultimate episode is once again spent on the Isabella/Robin/Kate LoveTriangle, with Isabella trying to trick Kate into believing Robin is still romantically attached to her. The writers seemed ''desperate'' for the audience to root for Robin and Kate, taking every available opportunity to [[CharacterShilling shill her]] as the perfect match for him - and yet three episodes after their RelationshipUpgrade, Robin is fatally poisoned, can barely even ''look'' at Kate when she angles for a LastKiss, and promptly goes on to get a DiedHappilyEverAfter scene with Marian. It's impossible to grasp just what the ''point'' of Robin/Kate was, especially given the vast amount of narrative space that was spent on trying to make it feel relevant.

* TheScrappy: The woefully misconceived Kate. Already pegged as an unworthy ReplacementScrappy to Marian before her debut, she was ultimately a perfect storm of terrible CharacterTropes that earned her the seething ire and resentment of the fanbase: a FauxActionGirl, DamselScrappy, SatelliteLoveInterest, TerritorialSmurfette, ClingyJealousGirl, CreatorsPet and TheLoad (often veering into TheMillstone), who was TooDumbToLive and constantly [[ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike Complaining About Rescues She Didn't Like]], [[SpoiledBrat with an abrasive]], [[ItsAllAboutMe self-absorbed personality]] and a firm grip on the DistressBall. Bestowed with MoralLuck that justified her IrrationalHatred for the show’s only other female character, InformedAttractiveness that made her the object of desire to almost the entire male cast, and [[SpotlightStealingSquad shoehorned into various storylines whether or not it made any sense]], she had no real narrative purpose beyond being the TokenGirl, VictimOfTheWeek, and the focus of several pointless [[LoveTriangle Love Triangles]] – including a RomanticPlotTumour with Robin. Plus [[http://farfarawaysite.com/section/robinhood/gallery3/hires/125.jpg a ridiculous hairstyle]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking that nobody could take seriously]].

* AmericansHateTingle: Downplayed, but because of the very easy socialist implications of "Rob from the rich and give to the poor", Robin Hood has received backlash during [=McCarthy=]-era America. At one point, a Republican member of the Indiana Textbook Commission outright tried to have works about Robin Hood banned for promoting communism.
** Something similar happened in 17th Century England, where many of Robin's ballads were dismissed as being pointless fantasy with no literary value. Crosses into CriticalDissonance, as the ballads still remained popular and the character endured.
* AudienceColoringAdaptation: Naturally, adaptations of Robin Hood have a PopCultureOsmosis effect where most people are only aware of the tale via whichever adaptation(s) they're familiar with, rather than any of the original ballads. This actually lead to a self-referential effect, where subsequent adaptations have taken to adopting ideas first invented ''by'' earlier adaptations, and subsequently made relatively modern ideas (most prominently, the inclusion of a Moor or Saracen Muslim Merry Man) become cemented as part of the canon.

* WTHCastingAgency:
** Creator/CharlieBrooker felt that the 24-year-old Jonas Armstrong was too young-looking to have fought in the Crusade.
--->This Robin is so young-looking, I kept excepting him to whip out his camera phone during the battle scenes to take pictures for his [=MySpace=] page.
** This was largely avoided with Creator/DavidHarewood as Brother Tuck, considering that other black actors had already appeared on the show as minor guest stars without much comment. However, there was considerable confusion at the casting of Joanne Froggatt as Kate, who was a thirty-year-old woman playing the part of a character that was seemingly written for a much younger actress. Though the actual age of Kate is never stated, there are various indications that she was meant to be a teenager (the casting of a mother who didn't look much older than she did, the way Robin refers to her as "young lady" when they first meet, the rather childish behavior she exhibits throughout), leading to the fandom theory that the character ''was'' originally conceived as a TagalongKid, only for the show to cast Joanne Froggatt (she being an already-established actress and perhaps considered something of a drawcard) and not bother to modify the scripts to suit her more mature age. This only added to the unpopularity of the character, who (on [[ReplacementGoldfish top]] [[TheLoad of]] [[FauxActionGirl everything]] [[ClingyJealousGirl else!]]) now came across as an odd WomanChild that the outlaws really had no reason to keep around.

* AluminumChristmasTrees:
** Contemporary works have now commonly adopted an InTheHood look for Robin Hood, both to play off his name and because RuleOfCool -- a hooded cowl just looks a lot cooler than a dopey little hat, and oftentimes even pair with the idea that he gained the last name "Hood" primarily because of his penchant for wearing one. Though this is often dismissed as anachronistic, hoods were a common item, and the last name "Hood" ''did'' in fact originate as a surname given to people who wore them. In other words, this isn't just an attempt to avoid a ComicBookMoviesDontUseCodenames style "explanation" for his moniker, but is actually a very plausible origin for him being called that.
** In a show with this many {{anachronism|Stew}}s, the average viewer might be forgiven for rolling their eyes when Prince John appoints Isabella as the Sheriff of Nottingham. However, Prince John (after he was crowned King) ''was'' actually responsible for appointing a woman in the position of Sheriff in Lincolnshire.

* HoYay: Robin and Little John, and really their entire band. Though the term "Merry Man" used to just mean "a willing associate of an outlaw or criminal", nowadays it carries quite a bit of innuendo, but even in the original ballads, there's a lot of implication about how Robin apparently asked every man he came across to run away with him and join his crew.

** Many of the actors featured in this show have gone on to work together in other projects, though in rather amusing circumstances. For instance, Anjali Jay and David Harewood never interacted with each other in ''Robin Hood'', one having left the show before the other arrived. Coincidentally, they both ended up on ''Series/Supergirl2015'': Harewood as cast regular Martian Manhunter, and Anjali Jay as recurring villain Selena -- only to never interact ''there'' either. Likewise, both Lucy Griffiths (Marian) and Lara Pulver (Isabella) became semi-regulars on ''Series/TrueBlood'', having never interacted on ''Robin Hood''. Again, one had left the show before the other arrived, but they never ended up interacting on ''True Blood'' either.

* AdaptationDisplacement: Naturally, adaptations of Robin Hood have a PopCultureOsmosis effect where most people are only aware of the tale via whichever adaptation(s) they're familiar with, rather than any of the original ballads. This actually lead to a self-referential effect, where subsequent adaptations have taken to adopting ideas first invented ''by'' earlier adaptations, and subsequently made relatively modern ideas (most prominently, the inclusion of a Moor or Saracen Muslim Merry Man) become cemented as part of the canon.
** Two-fold affect with Maid Marian. Firstly, her inclusion and role in Robin Hood's ballads are ''far'' more well-known than her original role as the May Queen/Lady May, personification of the May Day festivities, stories ''completely'' unrelated to Robin Hood's ballads. Secondly, her depiction ''in'' the Robin Hood ballads after she joined them, where she was a fiery ActionGirl who could fight Robin to a stand-still, was subsequently displaced by the 19th Century literary version of her, who was more of a passive DesignatedLoveInterest. Even contemporary works which have tried to restore her Action Girl qualities oftentimes still stick her as a DamselInDistress and FauxActionGirl.
** Even the ballads themselves ''might'' be a case of this, since it's clear from the way the oldest surviving ones are presented that they are not the ''first'' references, and the folklore of the character is apparently much older. As some mythologists believe that Robin's association with the May Games and May Day holiday derive from an association with older pagan folklore, there's even the possibility that "Robin Hood", the Outlaw bandit of the ballads, is a {{Demythification}} adaptation of Beltane's "Green Man" or "Robin Goodfellow", a pagan nature spirit, with Maid Marian herself descending from "The Maiden", the contemporary of said spirit in this folklore.

* SpiritualAdaptation: The source of many. For as many "official" adaptations there are of Robin Hood, there are just as many works that are more-or-less adapting the premise of Robin Hood's folklore but to different settings.

* A French-accented parody of the character provides a BigLippedAlligatorMoment in ''WesternAnimation/{{Shrek}}'' (2001).

* TheScrappy: The woefully misconceived Kate. Already pegged as an unworthy ReplacementScrappy to Marian before her debut, she was ultimately a perfect storm of terrible CharacterTropes that earned her the seething ire and resentment of the fanbase: a FauxActionGirl, DamselScrappy, SatelliteLoveInterest, TerritorialSmurfette, ClingyJealousGirl, CreatorsPet and TheLoad (often veering into TheMillstone), who was TooDumbToLive and constantly [[ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike Complaining About Rescues She Didn't Like]], [[SpoiledBrat with an abrasive]], [[ItsAllAboutMe self-absorbed personality]] and a firm grip on the DistressBall. Bestowed with MoralLuck that justified her IrrationalHatred for the show’s only other female character, InformedAttractiveness that made her the object of desire to almost the entire male cast, and [[SpotlightStealingSquad shoehorned into various storylines whether or not it made any sense]], she had no real narrative purpose beyond being the TokenGirl, VictimOfTheWeek, and the focus of several pointless [[LoveTriangle LoveTriangles]] – including a RomanticPlotTumour with Robin. Plus [[http://farfarawaysite.com/section/robinhood/gallery3/hires/125.jpg a ridiculous hairstyle]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking that nobody could take seriously]].
** [[FridgeLogic Some things about her character just didn't make sense]], [[NewNeighboursAsThePlotDemands like how Robin couldn’t recognize her as one of his own serfs]] despite being on a FirstNameBasis with every other Locksley villager, or how she was seemingly written as a BrattyTeenageDaughter despite being played by an actress nearing thirty, or the insane levels of CharacterShilling that were lavished upon her. Neither did the writers bother to give her any useful skills to contribute to the team dynamic, writing her as the DesignatedVictim in nearly every episode, undergoing endless kidnappings, injuries and hostage situations just to give her something to do. Often the attempts to make her less of a DistressedDamsel backfired just as badly, with ludicrous scenes in which she spontaneously invents CPR to save Robin's life, gets overpraised for completing simple tasks, or overpowers an armored man on horseback by pushing him with her bare hands. [[WTHCostumingDepartment Even her costume made no sense!]] If nothing else, she exists as the perfect case study of what NOT to do with a female character.

* TheScrappy: The woefully misconceived Kate. Already pegged as an unworthy ReplacementScrappy to Marian before her debut, she was ultimately a perfect storm of terrible CharacterTropes that earned her the seething ire and resentment of the fanbase: a FauxActionGirl, DamselScrappy, SatelliteLoveInterest, TerritorialSmurfette, ClingyJealousGirl, CreatorsPet and TheLoad (often veering into TheMillstone), who was TooDumbToLive and constantly [[ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike Complaining About Rescues She Didn't Like]], [[ItsAllAboutMe with an abrasive]], [[SpoiledBrat self-absorbed personality]] and a firm grip on the DistressBall. Bestowed with MoralLuck that justified her IrrationalHatred for the show’s only other female character, InformedAttractiveness that made her the object of desire to almost the entire male cast, and [[SpotlightStealingSquad shoehorned into various storylines whether or not it made any sense]], she had no real narrative purpose beyond being the TokenGirl, VictimOfTheWeek, and the focus of several pointless LoveTriangles – including a RomanticPlotTumour with Robin. Plus [[http://farfarawaysite.com/section/robinhood/gallery3/hires/125.jpg a ridiculous hairstyle]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking that nobody could take seriously]].
** [[FridgeLogic Some things about her character just didn't make sense]], [[NewNeighboursAsThePlotDemands like how Robin couldn’t recognize her as one of his serfs]] despite being on a FirstNameBasis with every other Locksley villager, or how she was seemingly written as a BrattyTeenageDaughter despite being played an actress nearing thirty, or the insane levels of CharacterShilling that were lavished upon her. Neither did the writers bother to give her any useful skills to contribute to the team dynamic, writing her as the DesignatedVictim in nearly every episode, undergoing endless kidnappings, injuries and hostage situations just to give her something to do. Often the attempts to make her less of a DistressedDamsel backfired just as badly, with ludicrous scenes in which she spontaneously invents CPR to save Robin's life, or overpowers an armored man on horseback by pushing him with her bare hands. [[WTHCostumingDepartment Even her costume made no sense!]] If nothing else, she exists as the perfect case study of what NOT to do with a female character.

* TheScrappy: The woefully misconceived Kate. Already pegged as an unworthy ReplacementScrappy to Marian before her debut, she was ultimately a perfect storm of terrible CharacterTropes that earned her the seething ire and resentment of the fanbase: a FauxActionGirl, TheMillstone, a ClingyJealousGirl, SatelliteLoveInterest, DamselScrappy, and TerritorialSmurfette, who was TooDumbToLive and constantly [[ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike Complaining About Rescues She Didn't Like]], [[{{Jerkass}} with an abrasive]] and [[ItsAllAboutMe petulant personality]] and a firm grip on the DistressBall, ''and'' she was the focus of several {{Love Triangle}}s and TrappedByMountainLions plots, including a pointless RomanticPlotTumour with Robin. Plus [[http://farfarawaysite.com/section/robinhood/gallery3/hires/125.jpg a ridiculous hairstyle]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking that nobody could take seriously]].
** Some things about her character just didn't make sense at all, [[NewNeighboursAsThePlotDemands like how Robin didn't recognize her despite the fact she was raised in Locksley]], or how she was seemingly written as a BrattyTeenageDaughter despite being played by a thirty-year-old woman, or how she joined the outlaws despite never actually being ''declared'' an outlaw, or the ridiculous levels of CharacterShilling that were lavished upon her. Neither did the writers bother to give her any useful skills to contribute to the team dynamic, and she ended up as the DesignatedVictim nearly every week, undergoing endless kidnappings and hostage situations just to give her something to do. Often their attempts to make her less of a DamselInDistress backfired just as badly, with ludicrous scenes in which she spontaneously invents CPR to save Robin's life, or overpowers an armored man on horseback by pushing him with her bare hands. If nothing else, she exists as the perfect case study of what NOT to do with a female character.

** Some things about her character just didn't make sense at all, [[NewNeighboursAsThePlotDemands like how Robin didn't recognize her despite the fact she was raised in Locksley]], or how she was seemingly written as a BrattyTeenageDaughter despite being played by a thirty-year-old woman, or how she joined the outlaws despite never actually being ''declared'' an outlaw, or the ridiculous levels of CharacterShilling that were lavished upon her. Neither did the writers bother to give her any useful skills to contribute to the team dynamic, and she ended up as the DesignatedVictim nearly every week, undergoing endless kidnappings and hostage situations just to give her something to do. Often their attempts to make her less of a DistressedDamsel backfired just as badly, with ludicrous scenes in which she spontaneously invents CPR to save Robin's life, or overpowers an armored man on horseback by pushing him with her bare hands. If nothing else, she exists as the perfect case study of what NOT to do with a female character.

** Thornton, Isabella's AbusiveSpouse, who is clearly a sadistic monster who gleefully enjoys torturing his wife (and anyone else he can get his hands on). Prince John was at least entertaining to watch, whereas Thornton was nothing but a complete HateSink.

*** Kate's mother Rebecca was also universally disliked on account of her constant complaining, illogical blaming of Robin for the death of her son Matthew, and her part in a time-wasting subplot in which Robin is MistakenForCheating due to her complicity in one of Isabella's machinations. However, the hate wasn't quite as vitriolic in her case, as she only appeared in four episodes and was obviously ''deliberately'' being written as an unlikeable scold.

* CompleteMonster: [[UsefulNotes/KingJohnOfEngland Prince John]], the [[CainAndAbel younger brother]] of King Richard, [[TheEvilPrince took control of the throne]] in his brother's absence and [[TheCaligula plunged England into tyranny]]. When Prince John visits Nottingham, he individually orders Sheriff Vaizey and Guy of Gisbourne to kill the other to prove their loyalty to him. When asked by peasants to bless a wedding, he follows up by burning down the church where the wedding is held, while peasants are still inside. In a bid to make the people love him, Prince John cuts off the people's water supply during a drought, so that he could supply them with barrels of water... for them to purchase. He orders Gisbourne to kill his own sister Isabella for being a traitor, and when Gisbourne [[YouHaveFailedMe fails]], Prince John has him fired and branded an outlaw. In a final scheme to be crowned king, Prince John uses a wax replica to fake Richard's death so he can be coronated. Callous and cruel, while deluding himself into believing he is benevolent, Prince John proves himself to be the vilest character on the show.