History Literature / TheOnceAndFutureKing

* AssholeVictim: Agravaine. TheBully who stabbed Lamorak InTheBack and plotted to expose Lancelot and Gwenever's affair out of petty spite, he gets killed by Lancelot in the ensuing brawl. His own brother Gawain, usually overzealous about family honor, does not blame Lancelot. Gawain instead points out to an indignant Mordred that Agravaine's death was his own fault for not heeding Gawain's warning.

* BiggerBad: Morgause is only seen in the second book and dies in the background of the third, but it's her actions that fuel the tragedy of Camelot more than anything else.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Implied at one point; after Lancelot has returned from the Grail quest and Guenever is in the bath ruminating on how (despite his current conviction that he will be chaste) he is quite certain to resume their affair, the chapter ends with the narrator specifically noting that she's reached for a bath brush with an ivory handle.

* BawdySong: One is mentioned in passing about a king and a fair maiden; in the first verse, which is given in the text, the king sees the maiden's [[OldTimeyAnkleTaboo ankle]] as she steps over a puddle, and in subsequent verses, which are left to the reader's imagination, he gets to see more.

* CategoryTraitor: Mordred accuses his half-brothers (except Agravaine, who supports him) of this for not being in favour of his efforts to destroy Arthur and the Table. In his mind (shaped by their mother) Arthur is a Pendragon, the Pendragons have wronged the Orkneys, therefore all Orkneys should do whatever they can to destroy Arthur. The fact that Arthur (and the people he would destroy as collateral damage) are good people is completely to Mordred, but not to the others.

* BadassGrandpa: When Lancelot and Guenever (both in their fifties) are cornered in her room by 15 fully armed, armoured and younger knights, Lancelot is only vaguely annoyed that he forgot to bring his sword. Once he manages to disarm one of them and take his weapons and armour, he goes on to prove that his confidence is totally justified.

* DudeWheresMyRespect: It's expressed more as a "Dude why are you giving respect to that guy?" with Mordred. After his attempt to catch Lancelot in the act with Guenever has led to the deaths of all fifteen of the [[BadassGrandpa (fully armed, armoured, and much younger)]] knights who accompanied him and his own broken arm, Mordred is tearful with fury at how his half-brothers still seem to be siding with Lancelot over him. He is certain that as Orkneys they should all be behind his plan to avenge their clan by destroying Arthur, and accuses them of treachery because they seem to place more emphasis on Lancelot's martial prowess than on his clan loyalty because he himself is not a good fighter. While there is ''some'' truth in that, it is clear that the primary reason they don't side with Mordred is because they recognise his pointless, self-destructive spite for what it is, and find it repulsive that he's so gleeful over destroying people who have been kind to him.

* SupportingProtagonist: King Arthur is clearly the protagonist until the ''[[Main/ADayInTheLimeLight Ill-Made Knight ]]'', where Lancelot takes over as the protagonist. In the final section, we switch between the two perspectives before settling on King Arthur to wrap things up.

* ForTheEvulz: the "motivation" of Morgause and many walk-on villains.

* IdiotBall: While he's in at war with France, King Arthur appoints Sir Mordred as Lord Protector of England ''even though'' he knows full well that Sir Mordred has in it for him and has already caused the exile of Lancelot. This promotion, of course, leaves Mordred in the perfect position to make a run at the throne.

* KavorkaMan: Sir Lancelot. He is known as ''Le Chevalier Mal Fet'', "the Ill-Made Knight", as he is short, ugly and quite possibly ridiculously bow-legged. Yet he is loved by Guenever and Elaine, and admired by many other ladies as well.

* BawdySong: One is mentioned in passing about a king and a fair maiden; in the first verse, which is given in the text, the king sees the maiden's ankle as she steps over a puddle, and in subsequent verses, which are left to the reader's imagination, he gets to see more.

* OldTimeyAnkleTaboo: In the first section of the book, during the castle's Christmas party, a very old man sings a song about "Wold King-Cole", just as he does every year. The first verse is about King Cole accidentally seeing a lady's ankle ("Ee could'ernt elp it, / ee Ad to."), and the song is implied to get progressively more risqué from there.

** Lancelot is outright stated to be "in love with" King Arthur, and is initially deeply jealous of Guinevere because she got to marry him. Lancelot's narrative would likely have been a more straightforwardly bisexual one if not for the influence of ValuesDissonance, both in T. H. White's time and in Lancelot's. (White's notes refer to Lancelot as "homosexual or ambisexual".)

** Lancelot is outright stated to be "in love with" King Arthur, and is initially deeply jealous of Guinevere because she got to marry him. Lancelot's narrative would likely have been a more straightforwardly bisexual one if not for ValuesDissonance, both in T. H. White's time and in Lancelot's. (White's notes refer to Lancelot as "homosexual or ambisexual".)

** Lancelot is outright stated to be "in love with" King Arthur, and is initially deeply jealous of Guinevere because she got to marry him. Would be a straightforward case of bisexuality if not for ValuesDissonance, both in T. H. White's time and in Lancelot's. (White's notes refer to Lancelot as "homosexual or ambisexual".)

** Lancelot is outright stated to be "in love with" King Arthur, and is initially deeply jealous of Guinevere because she got to marry him. Would be a straightforward case of BiTheWay if not for ValuesDissonance, both in T. H. White's time and in Lancelot's. (White's notes refer to Lancelot as "homosexual or ambisexual".)

''The Once and Future King'' is a retelling by Creator/THWhite of the story of Myth/KingArthur. It is considered one of the best retellings of Arthurian legend, heavily inspired by ''Literature/{{LeMorteDArthur Le Morte d'Arthur}}''. It was originally published as separate books from 1938 to 1941 and collected in one volume in 1958. The 1958 version contains:

''The Once and Future King'' is a retelling by Creator/THWhite of the story of Myth/KingArthur. It is considered one of the best retellings of Arthurian legend, heavily inspired by ''Literature/LeMorteDArthur''. It was originally published as separate books from 1938 to 1941 and collected in one volume in 1958. The 1958 version contains:

* AuthorityInNameOnly: ''King'' Pellinore doesn't actually have a kingdom to rule over, instead he acts like any other knight chasing the Questing Beast.

* BiTheWay[=/=]IfItsYouItsOkay: Lancelot was in love with Arthur, though one might argue what "in love" specifically means. His jealousy and hostility towards Guenever actually plays a part in them ending up together.

''The Once and Future King'' is a retelling by [[Creator/THWhite T.H. White]] of the story of Myth/KingArthur. It is considered one of the best retellings of Arthurian legend, heavily inspired by ''Literature/LeMorteDarthur''. It was originally published as separate books from 1938 to 1941 and collected in one volume in 1958. The 1958 version contains:

* ContinuityNod: The narrator flatout brings up ''[[Literature/LeMorteDarthur Le Morte d'Arthur]]'' in reference to several of the book's events but [[Main/AdaptationExpansion also expands on characterization and story]].

* PreAssKickingOneLiner: Lancelot has one in Candle in the Wind, before he goes out to fight the knights who are confronting him about his affair with Guenever:

** Maliagrance tries to be evil for its own sake, but he’s a little too tender-hearted for it deep down and it tends to endear people instead.
** Mordred is superficially all for this, but it’s made fairly clear that he’s a product of Morgause tormenting him to the same purpose.

* WhiteHairBlackHeart: Mordred is "so fair haired that he was almost an albino." He is, at first, merely self-pitying and creepy in the give-the-poor-kid-a-break way, but ultimately turns evil.

* ForTheEvulz: the "motivation" of Mordred, Morgaine, Morgause (all related) and many walk-on villains.

* ''The Sword in the Stone'' was loosely adapted into a [[Disney/TheSwordInTheStone Disney film of the same name]].

* [[Animorphism]]: One of the most famous examples. Merlin turns Arthur into a wide variety of creatures in order to teach him lessons about life.