History Main / BlackVikings

** One-off characters in various works include Sir Morien (Moriaen), the half-Moorish son of Sir Aglovale, nephew of Sir Percivale and grandson of King Pellinore. Certainly he has a PunnyName, and he appears in a self-titled anonymous Dutch romance. Another half-Moorish knight is Percivale's half-brother Feirefiz, son of the Moorish queen Belacane and future father of the fabled Christian king in the East, Prester John, in Wolfram von Eschenbach's ''Parzival'', a work most scholars date to the 1310s. But here Percival and Feirefiz's father is named Gahmuret.

A SubTrope of PoliticallyCorrectHistory and ColorblindCasting. Compare with NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent and RaceLift. Related to WesternSamurai, when a non-Japanese character is a samurai right down to the armor and strict adherence to the code of ''bushido''. Compare and Contrast NonSpecificallyForeign, when a character is from a different culture and/or ethnicity in an ambiguous but acknowledged manner.

* ''Film/{{Thor}}'', based on the comic book, has two examples of non-whites among Norse Gods. In the movie, the idea is put forth that the Asgardians aren't really gods but [[HumanAliens extradimensional beings]] that the Scandinavians mistook for deities after seeing them battle Frost Giants on Earth. It's also a matter of the Asgardians in the Marvel universe not actually being exactly the same as real-world Aesir mythology. Finally, it's worth noting that the Norse got everywhere, and some of their major trade and immigration routes were to the Black Sea around modern Ukraine and modern Turkey where they ended up providing the Byzantine Empire's famous [[CadreOfForeignBodyguards Varangian Guard]], and the Mediterranean (where their descendants, the Normans, took over Sicily), so it's not exactly implausible. Amusingly, the Asgardian played by [[Creator/IdrisElba a black actor]] was Heimdall, who is described in Norse mythology as "the whitest of the gods".[[note]]This seems to have been meant literally in the myths, as in Heimdall shined with a pure white light. The concept of a "white race" as it's now understood had yet to be formulated when the Norse myths were compiled into books in the 12th to 13th century AD, let alone around the 1st century BC when the myths first began to circulate orally.[[/note]]

* In ''Literature/MagnusChaseAndTheGodsOfAsgard'', the Norse god Tyr is described having dark skin.

* ''Series/{{Vikings}}'': Although the series general averts this, there are two notable exception:

This may occur because the creators were unaware of the actual ethnic composition of the historical setting, value diversity over historical accuracy, have budget problems, or a myriad of other reasons. If the work is a comedy, this may also be simply RuleOfFunny.

This may occur because the writers were unaware of the actual ethnic composition of the historical setting, value diversity over historical accuracy, have budget problems, or a myriad of other reasons. If the work is a comedy, this may also be simply RuleOfFunny.

This may occur because the writers are unaware of the actual ethnic composition of the historical setting, value diversity over historical accuracy, have budget problems, or a myriad of other reasons. If the work is a comedy, this may also be simply RuleOfFunny.

* Pictured above is ''Film/TheNorseman'', a 1978 film that features the late Deacon Jones as an African thrall (a.k.a. slave). Which, by itself, isn't really that egregious. Vikings would enslave some captives of any race as thralls, and sometimes freed thralls would become Vikings themselves. If there were any historical black Vikings, this is how it ''could've'' happened, albeit there is no existing evidence for them.

* Moors in the Merry Men of ''Film/RobinHood'', something introduced with the character of Nasir in Creator/{{ITV}}'s ''Series/RobinOfSherwood'', and subsequently taken-up in the film ''Film/RobinHoodPrinceOfThieves'' with [[Creator/MorganFreeman Azeem]], and the latest series from Creator/TheBBC (not to mention [[Creator/DaveChappelle Achoo]] in ''[[Film/RobinHoodMenInTights Men in Tights]]''). The BBC version takes this trend a step further, as there is at least one black character working for the Sheriff, and a black thief is taken seriously when she claims to be the leader of an order of nuns; unlike the Arabic characters, the black characters are portrayed as fully accepted members of medieval English society.
* The live action version of ''Film/BeautyAndTheBeast2017'' has a number of black people at the Prince's party. While the black singer is possible, though unlikely, in 18th Century France, black courtiers (the dancers) are pretty unlikely - though not impossible, as was demonstrated by Thomas-Alexandre Dumas (father of Alexandre Dumas), a mixed-race general during the French Revolutionary Wars towards the end of the 18th century.

* ''Film/ForceTenFromNavarone'' does its best to avert this trope and use it too. Carl "Apollo Creed" Weathers unknowingly forces his way into the middle of a plane full of commandos flying to Yugoslavia to fight the Nazis. The frustrated commandos immediately point out how much Weathers will stick out in Yugoslavia, complete with a snide comment about a Zulu invasion. When they land, the leader of the native force they join up with is bemused by his appearance to the point of pretending to wipe the blackness off of Weathers' face.

* [[Myth/ArthurianLegend Arthurian]] medieval literature has featured Saracen and Moorish (i.e. Middle Eastern and African) knights since about the 13th century.

* {{Lampshaded}} and {{Justified|Trope}} in ''Literature/{{Everworld}}'':

** "The Girl in the Fireplace" has a black noblewoman in the Court of Louis XVI. Some fans have [[FanWank attempted to explain]] this by pointing out the existence of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevalier_de_Saint-Georges Chevalier de Saint-Georges]], a real eighteenth-century composer and musician known as "the black Mozart", who did in fact perform at Versailles, and Thomas-Alexandre Dumas (father of Alexandre Dumas) who was Saint-Georges' student and later a general during the French Revolutionary Wars. It's especially jarring considering there is an Orientalist portrait of Madame de Pompadour dressed like a Turkish sultana and being served by a black slave girl -- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:C._van_Loo_Sultane.jpg an exotic possession, for crying out loud.]] Angel Coulby, the actress who played the black noblewoman, also played Gwen on ''Series/{{Merlin|2008}}''.
** The episode "Human Nature", set in England just before World War One, averts this trope, as one of the students starts saying offensive things to Martha, and John Smith seems to find it utterly believable that Martha might not understand the concept of fiction. Smith's love interest understandably is rather incredulous when Martha claims to be a doctor, remarking that a ''woman'' doctor was conceivable but not "one of your colour" as said to Martha's face.

** UsefulNotes/RichardNixon has ''two'' black agents in his security detail in ''The Impossible Astronaut''. (In reality, Nixon really did have at least one.)

** Justified in the Series 10 episode "Thin Ice", set in London in the early 19th century, the Regency Era) when Bill notes that London seems "a bit more black" than the movies suggest. The Doctor replies that "history is a whitewash", while also indicating that Jesus was black, too.

* Music/MichaelJackson's music video "Remember the Time" has a cast made mostly of Black actors as Ancient Egyptians, as explained before although some people may associated Egyptians with Black people due to be both of African origin, however most scholars believe that native Egyptians were a distinct ethnic group (not white tho).

Depending on the time and place, this can actually be [[AluminumChristmasTrees surprisingly realistic]]. Trade cities have always been ethnic mash-ups, and soldiers and sailors have always been extraordinarily diverse lots (see ''Literature/MobyDick'' for one such diverse crew of sailors). Some racial groups traveled farther from home much sooner than most people would assume--Creator/WilliamShakespeare didn't get the idea of a [[Theatre/{{Othello}} Moor in Venice]] from nowhere, nor did Creator/EmilyBronte get the idea of an AmbiguouslyBrown foundling [[Literature/WutheringHeights raised by a pre-Regency English family]] from nowhere. Vikings in particular captured slaves from the non-Norse ethnic groups they raided, who could later be freed, and sometimes (albeit rarely) these freed slaves could become Vikings themselves. Thus a literal Black Viking would be quite unusual but not impossible. But — as there are no records of any black Vikings at all, and such a person would certainly have been noteworthy or at least a matter of curiosity, an educated guess might be, that there actually were none.

It's also not uncommon (especially in US productions) to cast Black actors to portray North African peoples (Berbers, [[AncientEgypt Egyptians]], Moors and the like), but that's a [[CriticalResearchFailure mistake]] since North Africa constitutes a ''very'' distinct region, ethnically and racially, from the rest of Africa[[note]]North Africans are dark-skinned Caucasians, unlike Sub Saharan Africans, those we usually think of when we say "Blacks". Such distinction is made also by North Africans themselves, and in some European language "White Africa" is a synonym of "North Africa" (though the term is rarely used today). There are of course African peoples who are a mixture of the two, such as [[UsefulNotes/{{Mauritania}} Mauritanians]] or Nubians[[/note]].

A SubTrope of PoliticallyCorrectHistory and ColorblindCasting. Compare with NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent and RaceLift. Related to WesternSamurai, when a non-Japanese character is a samurai right down to the armor and strict adherence to the code of ''bushido''.

* In the 1973 film version of ''Music/JesusChristSuperstar'', Judas is black. Some critics saw the casting as racist, but the filmmakers insisted that Carl Anderson was simply the best man for the role (Ben Vereen faced similar criticism for playing the role on Broadway). Jesus, meanwhile, is white, Mary Magdalene is Hawaiian, and the other disciples are all different races (but then again, the film makes no pretense at realism).

* In ''Film/MulanRiseOfAWarrior'', the king of the Rouran Khaganate has a white court musician (played by Russian-Latvian singer Music/{{Vitas}}). It's not too ''implausible'' given that Northern Asia and Eastern Europe are side by side and Chinese historical accounts referenced giants with red hair and green or blue eyes. Furthermore, parts of Western China (modern UsefulNotes/{{Xinjiang}}) were inhhabited by Tocharians, a Nordic-looking and Indo-European speaking people.

* In ''Film/MulanRiseOfAWarrior'', the king of the Rouran Khaganate has a white court musician (played by Russian-Latvian singer Music/{{Vitas}}). It's not too ''implausible'' given that Northern Asia and Eastern Europe are side by side and Chinese historical accounts referenced giants with red hair and green or blue eyes.

* At least once, the African-American soldier Gabe Jones, of ComicBook/NickFury's ComicBook/HowlingCommandos, impersonated a German soldier. He appeared to have no greater or lesser difficulty pulling this off than any of the white Howlers, which is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persecution_of_black_people_in_Nazi_Germany#In_the_armed_forces actually]] a case of RealityIsUnrealistic. Gabe's presence in the Howling Commandos is itself an example, though, as the US Army was segregated during World War II. The same can be said of Jackie Johnson in ''ComicBook/SgtRock'''s Easy Company.

* ''{{Series/Camelot}}'': Vivian, Morgan's servant, is black. However, Vivian tells Morgan her ancestors were brought over as slaves from Africa by the Romans, which is actually possible, as some British archaeological findings show that people of African descent (both free and slave) [[TruthInTelevision really did come from Roman Africa to Roman Britain]]. This could also explain Sir Ulfius, Arthur's black knight. So it's remotely plausible, although the writers probably didn't know that. There was even a literal black knight in earlier versions from the 1300s, Sir Morien.
* ''Series/Merlin2008'': Guinevere, her father, brother and Sir Pellinore are all black. However, they also have dragons and fey. It's also not so much of a stretch as people think, as there is evidence of some black people in medieval England. Of course, none were knights or queens that we know of. The Arthurian legend has a precedent for black knights though, such as Sir Morien.
* ''Series/TroyFallOfACity'': Many of the Trojan and Greek characters are portrayed by black actors, which wasn't true in reality of these ethnicities. Of course, it's fictional to begin with. In fairness, Greeks and Trojans likely also looked different from the actors portraying them, who are mostly of British or Irish stock. Also other stories of the Trojan War really did have black characters: Ethiopian Memnon, a king on Troy's side who comes to fight the Greeks along with his army.

* [[Myth/ArthurianLegend Arthurian]] literature has featured Saracen and Moorish (i.e. Middle Eastern and African) knights since about the 13th century.
** The most important example due to appearing in multiple derivative works is Sir Palamedes (or Palomides), a Saracen frenemy of Sir Tristan who joins him at the Round Table after competing for the lady Isolde's hand. Palamedes's father Esclabor is sometimes said to be King of Babylon, and his brothers Safir (or Safere) and Segwarides also join the Round Table.

* ''Film/AKidInKingArthursCourt'' had black people fully integrated into a [[TheThemeParkVersion Theme Park Version]] of Myth/KingArthur's court with no explanation given whatsoever (though considering the King Arthur of popular culture is a myth, this can be excused). This crosses over into RealityIsUnrealistic as black people in Medieval Europe weren't unheard of, and one of the Knights of the Round, Sir Morian, was a Moor.

** One-off characters in various works include Sir Morien (Moriaen), the half-Moorish son of Sir Aglovale, nephew of Sir Percivale and grandson of King Pellinore. Certainly he has a PunnyName. Another half-Moorish knight is Percivale's half-brother Feirefiz, son of the Moorish queen Belacane and future father of the fabled Christian king in the East, Prester John, in Wolfram von Eschenbach's ''Parzival'', a work most scholars date to the 1310s. But here Percival and Feirefiz's father is named Gahmuret.

** The most important example due to appearing in multiple derivative works is Sir Palamedes (or Palomides), a Saracen frenemy of Sir Tristan who joins him at the Round Table after competing for the lady Isolde's hand. Palamedes's father Esclabor is sometimes said to be King of Babylon and his brothers his brothers Safir (or Safere) and Segwarides also join the Round Table.

** In the same vein, in Sir Thomas Mallory's ''Literature/LeMorteDArthur'', an early war between the newly installed King Arthur and an alliance of rebel British petty kings and lords is defused after Saracens invade the latter's lands. In much earlier tellings such Geoffrey of Monmouth's ''Literature/HistoriaRegumBritanniae'', the invaders are Saxons not Saracens.

* [[Myth/ArthurianLegend Arthurian]] literature has featured Moorish or African knights since Sir Morien in the 13th Century, and since Wolfram von Eschenbach introduced Percivale's half-brother Feirefiz (son of the Moorish queen Belacane, ancestor of Prester John) in ''Parzival'', a work most scholars date to the 1310s. It isn't too far-fetched since archeological evidence has shown that there were people of Berber or African descent living in Roman Britain such as the Ivory Bangle Lady and the Beachy Head Lady.

* Pictured above is ''Film/TheNorseman'', a 1978 film that features the late Deacon Jones as an African thrall (a.k.a. slave). Which, by itself, isn't really that egregious. Vikings would enslave some captives of any race as thralls, and sometimes freed thralls would become Vikings themselves. [[RealityIsUnrealistic If there were any historical black Vikings (the Viking Sagas do have ambiguous references to some Vikings with dark skin), this is how it would've happened]].

* ''Series/KnightSquad'' takes place in the fictional kingdom of Astoria, which is supposed to resemble medieval Europe. Ciara [[note]]who's actually the princess of Astoria[[/note]] and Warwick are black, and Sage is [[AmbiguouslyBrown implied to be Latina]], neither of which were common in medieval Europe. [[note]]The Kingdom of Astoria's exact location was never mentioned, so the series may have not actually taken place in medieval Europe.[[/note]]

* ''Series/KnightSquad'' takes place in the fictional kingdom of Astoria, which resembles medieval Europe. Two of the knights-in-training are black, and one is [[AmbiguouslyBrown implied to be Latina]], neither of which were common in medieval Europe. [[note]]The Kingdom of Astoria's exact location was never mentioned, so the series may have not actually taken place in medieval Europe.[[/note]]

** Averted and lampshaded in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'': TheMole, while discussing her background, mentions that her Japanese-American grandfather was an FBI agent under Hoover. Although he doesn't say anything about it for several scenes, Master Miller immediately knows she's lying, realizing that the notoriously prejudiced J. Edgar Hoover would never have allowed a man of Japanese descent as an agent.
** In ''VideoGame/{{Metal Gear Solid 3|SnakeEater}}'', a Black man named Sigint was recruited by Zero in 1960s America for his skill and not because of his color. Notable in that Sigint was recruited during the final year of Jim Crow Laws, which barred Blacks from using the same facilities as Whites in America. This is addressed by Sigint in an optional conversation, where he expresses his admiration for Zero as a committed anti-racist who'll hire anyone good enough and bend the rules to keep them there. He discusses the racism present during that time and comments that racism will be present even in the twenty-first century. (Sigint's character was likely inspired by the African-American computers who worked on Space Race projects in the 1950s and 60s - but in real history, these computers were usually black ''women'', computing usually being seen as a feminine/secretarial job.)

* ''Film/ThreeHundred'' features quite a few high-ranking black members of the Persian Empire, implying that a significant population of the elites in Persia were black. The Persian Empire under Xerxes I only held a small portion of modern-day Egypt and so did not have any large population of Sub-Saharan Africans, particularly among its elites. Of course, their army is also portrayed as including monsters of various kinds, so it's not really realistic, and this is told by an UnreliableNarrator who may have exaggerated things.

* There is a long-standing Christian tradition that the Three Kings are of multiple ethnicities, although there is no consensus as to which. It is very common in Latin America and Spain to represent one of the Three Wise Men as African. Legend has it that is because they were from each continent (one is generally represented as blonde or redhead, thus Europe, the other as Middle Eastern, thus Asia) (Caspar is from Anatolia, Melchior is from Arabia, and Balthazar is from Yemen). (Or Melchior is Persian, Caspar is Indian, Balthazar is Ethiopian) In the actual New Testament account, they aren't kings (they are wise men, Magi), they come together from the East (generally thought to be Persia), and there aren't necessarily three of them (no specific number is given).

* ''Film/WithAKissIDie'': Juliet, a medieval Italian noblewoman, is Black here. While not impossible, it would have been unlikely for a noble Veronese family like Capulets to be of African descent. This isn't commented on in the film.

* It is very common in Latin America and Spain to represent one of the Three Wise Men as African. Legend has it that is because they were from each continent (one is generally represented as blonde or redhead, thus Europe, the other as Middle Eastern, thus Asia). In reality, Three Wise Men are generally thought to be Persians.