Characters / Arthur, King of Time and Space

Main Characters

Arthur

King Arthur

King Arthur himself, high king of all Britain and founder of the Knights of the Round Table. A bit dim, but his heart is in the right place.In the space arc, he's the captain of the Starship Excalibur and King of British space. In the modern arc, he's an ordinary teenager who discovers he's the heir to controlling shares of Excalicorp. Throughout other arcs he plays the part of Hawkeye Pierce, a sheriff in the old west, Luke Skywalker, Frodo Baggins, Malcolm Reynolds, Arthur Dent, and many more.

---

• Adaptational Heroism: He is not guilty of the Nice Job Breaking It, Herod incident in this telling. Instead he suggests the gambit jokingly and a helpful but dimwitted knight overhears and takes it seriously (a nod to the story of Thomas Becket's death).
• The Cape: In the superhero arc, where he's the (almost excessively) kind and optimistic Kingman.
• Expy: In any timeline, his cluelessness but general good nature make him very similar to Charlie Brown. ^note  The author has made it no secret that Schultz is one of his inspirations He even wears yellow shirts and his dog resembles Snoopy. In the contemporary arc, he is outright compared to Charlie Brown at least twice (once when Merlin sketches a chibi of him, and once when Guenevere arranges for the whole gang to have Peanuts cosplay for Comic Con).
• The Good King: he does his best. Unless he's trying to be a good President instead.
• Manchild: Comes off as rather naive at first but proves that his idealistic view of the world makes him a very good ruler.
• Mellow Fellow
  They say we mellow out as we age.
  Dear lord. Arthur will become a puddle of goo.

Merlin

Merlin/Mr. Ambrosius

Omniscient wizard. No one listens.In the space arc he's a time traveler from the planet Avalon who's hitching a ride with the Excalibur. In the modern arc he's Arthur's substitute teacher, employer, mentor in the field of cartooning, and briefly legal guardian.In various other arcs he plays the role of Lt. Col. Henry Blake, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Gandalf, Dr. Simon Tam, Ford Prefect, and others.

---

• Anti Anti Christ: Baseline!Merlin is the son of the devil but was fortunately baptized so that he grew up good.
• Catchphrase: "You can't beat the classics." It spreads to the other characters, to the point it's practically a series motto.
• The Commissioner Gordon: In the superhero arc.
• Cool Old Guy
• Doctor Whomage: Space!Merlin
• Frontier Doctor: In the western arc.
• Historical Domain Crossover: In the space arc he's good friends with historical figures like Uncle Sam, Hercules, and Oedipus. You can find their counterparts in the modern day arc if you're looking.
• Killed Off for Real: Dies of old age in both the modern and western arcs.
• The Omniscient: A side effect of his baptism. In the space!arc his knowledge comes instead from being a time traveler, while modern!Merlin just has an encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture. All versions use these skills to educate Arthur about morality by teaching him the classics.
• Omniscient Morality License

Guinevere

Guinevere

Arthur's queen. In the space arc, she's also the medical officer on the Excalibur. In the modern arc she becomes Arthur's girlfriend after they meet online; they later marry and have Mordred. Much later she becomes Arthur's first lady. In various other arcs she plays an Expy of Hot Lips Houlihan, a schoolmarm in the old west, and Buffy Summers.

---

• A Day in the Limelight: There was a brief "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" based arc in which she was the central character, with Arthur and Lancelot as secondaries.
• All Girls Like Ponies: In the modern arc her family owned horses and she worked in an equestrian store for awhile.
• Lady Casanova: Catches the eye of the two greatest men of her age, in every age.
• Law of Inverse Fertility: She gets pregnant accidentally twice in the modern arc, but is infertile in the base arc, where she actually wants to give Arthur an heir.
• Ms. Fanservice: Subverted. Her family in the modern arc is into naturism, so she is nude a lot when at home, but she's very strict about it not being for titillation purposes.

Lancelot

Sir Lancelot/Lancelot Dulac

The greatest knight in the world, and quite literally holier than thou. In the modern arc he meets Arthur and Guinevere in an online gaming group; later he has an affair with Guinevere which results in Modern!Galahad's birth, and becomes Arthur's chief of staff after assisting him with his presidential campaign.In various other arcs he plays Frank Burns, Han Solo, Aragorn, Wash, and more.

---

• Born Lucky: He has divine favor and can't lose any contest, even if it depends on luck rather than skill. He is unlucky in love, though.
• The Cowl: White Knight in the superhero arc.
• The Drifter: In the western arc.
• Famous Ancestor: In the baseline arc he's descended from Joseph of Arimathea.
• Heteronormative Crusader: Averted. His very religious upbringing makes him very uncomfortable around gay Tristan (in arcs where he's a she), but he recognizes it as a phobia and does his best not to let it disrupt their relationship. That said, he's also freaked when Hercules and Mordred assume he's gay on separate occasions.
• It's Okay If It's You: Usually wants to remain chaste because he believes if he remains pure he'll someday fulfill his dream of working a miracle, but throws that all away for his relationship with Guinevere.
• Mood-Swinger: In the baseline arc, a result of his untreated bipolar disorder.

Morgan

Morgan

Merlin's former apprentice, Arthur's sister, and an enemy of Arthur's reign. In the space arc, she has a relationship with Arthur in their youths, not realizing they're already related, and becomes the mother of Mordred. In the modern day arc she was Arthur's drama coach before leaving to become a screen actor.

---

• Friendly Enemy: She eventually gets over the enemy part in the base arc and space arc. Spoofed in the modern arc where she DMs for the gang's roleplaying game.
• A Pupil of Mine Until He Turned to Evil: To Merlin in the space and base arcs. In the modern arc she's a former student of his who managed to seduce him back in the day.
• Mad Scientist: A steampunk version in the western arc, parodying The Wild Wild West.
• Wicked Witch: In the base arc.

Nimue

Nimue

Merlin's apprentice and eventually the one who imprisons him (accidentally). In pretty much every arc, she becomes his replacement.

---

• The Apprentice: To Merlin.
• Geek: Goes toe-to-toe with Arthur in this area.
• I Got Bigger: Hits a rather dramatic growth spurt a few weeks after her first appearance. Justified because she was just a kid when we met her.
• May–December Romance: With Merlin, but only in the baseline arc. Their relationship varies in other arcs.
• Taking Up the Mantle: For Merlin.

Others

Tristram

Tristram

The second greatest knight in history. Just like Lancelot, he is having an affair with his lord's wife. In the modern and space arcs, Tristram is a woman and a lesbian.

---

• Rock Trio: Often seen with Dinadan and Palomides. They're part of a band in the modern arc.
• Sympathetic Adulterer: There's much less moral ambiguity to Tristram and Isolde's affair, because unlike Arthur, Mark is a rather unlikeable villain.

Orkneys

Gawain

• The Alcoholic: His drinking eventually leads to a stroke in the modern arc.
• Born in the Wrong Century: Seems kind of dim-witted in the baseline arc, but is a computer science major in the modern arc and a starship engineer in the space arc.
• Face–Heel Turn: Eventually ends up siding with his family against Arthur in the baseline arc, kind of arbitrarily because that's what happens in the sources. The Hero of Three Faces sequel strips suggest Contemporary!Gawain also eventually follows his family into arch-conservatism, seeing his former friends as dangerous lefties.
• Family Honor: Most of Gawain's brothers want him to kill Pellinore, since Pellinore killed their father and it's Gawain's duty as the eldest son to avenge him. Gawain however doesn't want to, mostly since Pellinore only killed Lot because he was leading an outright rebellion against Arthur. Usually Gawain just ends up making excuses to his family about why he can't do it, rather than standing up to them.
• Fatal Flaw:
  • His temper and inability to think things through. He's told quite bluntly that these traits will prevent him from ever achieving the Grail.
  • His inability to go against his family or stand up for what’s right where they’re concerned leads him astray in multiple timelines.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: A good contender for third best knight (along with Lamorak and Palomides), but nowhere near Lancelot or Tristram. This parallels how his role was diminished in literature to favor those two.
• White Sheep: The first Orkney to embrace Arthur's vision for Britain, even if he doesn't always live up to it.

Agravain and Gaheris

• Dirty Coward: Their revenge on Lamorak is eventually achieved by one of them distracting him while the other stabs him in the back.
• Extreme Doormat: Which of his brothers does Gaheris agree with? Well, who spoke last? The first time he takes initiative for himself is executing his mother on the spot for her affair with Lamorak, which stuns everyone present.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: All the Orkneys seem to love Morgause, but Gaheris doesn't take it well when he learns about her affairs.
• Professional Butt-Kisser: Agravain is sycophantic towards Arthur.

Lot

• Aristocrats Are Evil: Rejects Arthur's "might for right" philosophy.
• Starter Villain: The first major threat to Arthur's reign.

Morgause

• Age-Gap Romance: With the much-younger Lamorak after Lot's death.
• Brother–Sister Incest: In the baseline arc she's the mother of Mordred with her brother Arthur. Neither of them knew during the conception.
• Corrupt Corporate Executive: In the modern arc, though the strain of balancing ethics with responsibility to shareholders is brought up to justify it.
• Evil Matriarch
• Wicked Witch: Does less witchcraft than Morgan but is arguably wickeder.

Garet

• Attractive Bent-Gender: Female in the space arc, and Gawain, who hasn't seen her since childhood and doesn't see through her kitchen maid cover identity, hits on her, to her horror.
• Dude, Where's My Respect?: At first his quest gets him nothing but abuse from the fair lady he's guarding, to the point that the evil knights he's captured start standing up for him.
• Scullery Maid: Spends years as this because he wants to be knighted specifically by Lancelot, who's unavailable when he first gets to Camelot.
• Token Good Teammate: He's much better at knightly comport than Gawain.

Pellinores

Pellinore

• The Bartender: He's a saloon keeper in the western arc.
• Cloudcuckoolander: His pursuit of the Questing Beast makes him this. He also sometimes comes across as this in the modern arc, most notably when he randomly decides to search for Sewer Gators.
• Cool Old Guy: To Gawain in the baseline arc, in spite of their families feuding. After learning that he's dying, he goes out in a way that helps Gawain save face with his family.
  • Extends to the modern arc, where he's part of Merlin's D&D group.
• Really Gets Around: Sir Tor is revealed as his illegitimate son by a shepherd's wife (baseline arc).
• Suicide by Cop: In the baseline arc, he convinces Gawain to kill him in a duel during a tournament. This gets Gawain off the hook with his family, and gives Pellinore a more honorable death than slowly wasting away.

Percival

• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: Not to Galahad's degree, which he rather cheerfully admits when he can't lift a sword destined to belong to only the world's greatest knight.
• No Social Skills: Because he was raised in seclusion by his mother.

Lamorak

• Too Dumb to Live: Yes, Lamorak, have an affair with the matriarch of the family your own family is in a bloody feud with.

Pellam

• Cloudcuckoolander: Even moreso than his brother Pellinore, who describes him as the nut of the family.
• Cool Teacher: Arthur's drama teacher in the modern arc, and seen encouraging him to get outside his comfort zone.
• Real Men Love Jesus: Very pious.

Elaine

Daughter of Pellam and mother of Galahad. In the modern arc she's just a fictional zany teen genius in Arthur's webcomic.

• Genki Girl: Always smiley and enthusiastic.
• Good Shepherd: Becomes the chaplain of the Excalibur in the space arc. Also fills in for Father Mulcahy in the M*A*S*H arc.
• Karma Houdini: Doesn't really face any consequences for raping Lancelot.
• Mad Scientist: In the Western arc she's one of Morgan's girls.
• Shout-Out: Is closely based on Helen Narbon.
• Stalker with a Test Tube: Wants to mother a child with Lancelot because of his descent from Joseph of Arimathea.

Pelleas

• The Apprentice: To space!Nimue after she takes Merlin's place.
• Related in the Adaptation: Gadzikowski took the liberty of making him (non-specifically) part of Pellinore's family, because of the name similarity.
• Slap-Slap-Kiss: His relationship with Nimue, although the slapping- really just snarking- comes entirely from her end.

Morien

• Black Vikings: A black knight in 5th century Britain. Of course, he's from the source material.
• Flawless Token: Maybe because of how late he showed up in the comic, we didn't get a very good look at his personality flaws (unless you count one strip implying that he Cannot Tell a Joke).
• Gender Flip: Is female in her single appearance in the modern arc.
• Long-Lost Relative: Aglovale fathered him while exploring the Moorish lands. His newfound family accepts him immediately.

Arthur's Foster Family

Kay

Arthur's foster brother. In the modern arc he eventually becomes a decorated military officer.

• Adaptational Heroism: Not as big a jerk as he sometimes seems in source material. For example, a scene in the tale of Garet is revised so that instead of striking a serving girl, he simply gooses her. The creator said he simply couldn't bring himself to do it.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: In charge of training knights, and a total jerk.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: His relationship with Bedivere is rather touching, since he's otherwise a total asshole.
• Manly Gay: After a retcon changed Modern! and Space!Bedivere's sex. Implied to be true in the baseline arc as well, even if he can't admit it.
• Real Men Wear Pink: Eventually reveals that he enjoys cooking, to Bedievere's astonishment.

Bedivere

A childhood friend of Arthur and Kay's (and a little more than a "friend" to Kay). Originally female in the modern and space arcs, a retcon changed it so he had been male in both, making him and Kay gay. A still later retcon confirmed that Bedivere was female before transitioning.

• Small Role, Big Impact: The last person to see Arthur before his ascension to Avalon, but Bedivere really doesn't appear that often.

Ector

Arthur's adoptive father and Kay's biological father.

• Parents as People: Trying to do right by his children is his defining characteristic.
• Odd Friendship: Him and Merlin in the Modern arc— a hard-nosed, gruff veteran, and a liberal comic-shop-owning hippie. Ector trusts him enough to make him legal guardian to his kids when he's called to active duty. Apparently, they met doing something they both agreed on despite their vastly different views: getting people to register to vote.

Mordred

Mordred

Arthur's ambitious son. His parentage varies depending on the story arc: his Baseline!mother is Morgause, his Space!mother is Morgan, and his Modern!mother is Guinevere.

• Ambition Is Evil: Played straight in the Classic arc but averted in the Future arc. While still ambitious, Space!Mordred is also a Reasonable Authority Figure, and he and Arthur have a more positive relationship even if they don't always see eye-to-eye.
• Creepy Child: In the modern arc he makes rather graphic violent snowman scenes, a la Calvin, and puts black food coloring in his milk. In the baseline arc he gets under Arthur's skin enough that he's the only person to make him lose patience.
• Evil Wears Black: Subverted; he wears black but is only really evil in the baseline arc.
• Heel–Face Reincarnation: While Baseline!Mordred is the evil schemer portrayed in the classic literature, Modern!Mordred seems to be a more well-adjusted (if slightly creepy) kid, and Space!Mordred is a hard-working crewman and proves himself to be a Reasonable Authority Figure when Arthur appoints him as regent. Part of this seems to be the very different ways they were raised, part of it the general sense that characters get things right more often in the space arc.
• Pair the Spares: In the Future arc, Mordred eventually hooks up with Guinevere's clone, who by that point was significantly younger then the real Guinevere due to spending the last several years in cryogenic suspension until a cure for her Clone Degeneration could be found.
• Rank Up: Space!Mordred starts off as a regular crewman on the Excalibur, is named co-regent alongside Guinevere after it's discovered he's Arthur's son, and eventually becomes king when Arthur steps down.
• Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: Guinevere is skeptical of the name "Mordred" in the Modern arc (despite not commenting on the other characters' non-updated names).

Galahad

Galahad

• Child by Rape: His mother Elaine basically drugged Lancelot to conceive him. Except in the Modern arc, where Guinevere's his mother.
• Incorruptible Pure Pureness: His defining characteristic.

Others

Balin

• Deconstructed Character Archetype: Exists to highlight how stupid knights in medieval literature could sometimes be. Killing someone for perceived insults to your lord? Killing someone because you overheard he was causing your lord problems? There's no place for someone like Balin at the Round Table.
• Idiot Hero: Tries to be heroic. Tries so hard. But his attempts just cause headaches for Arthur until Balin finally gets himself killed.
  Arthur: Am I a bad person if that's a relief?
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: When Merlin tells Arthur about Mordred's birth and that he will eventually destroy Camelot, Arthur sarcastically says he could just give an order to have all the male babies born that month dumped on a boat and sent off to die, But That Would Be Wrong. Unfortunately, Balin was walking by and overheard part of the conversation...

Blaise

• Direct Line to the Author: He's the guy who writes down all of the knights' adventures as dictated by Merlin.
• The Mentor: He was this to Merlin and arranged for his baptism.

Bors

• Bit Character: Doesn't do terribly much but hang out with Lancelot until the Grail quest arc.
• Good Shepherd: Becomes a priest in the modern arc.

Dinadan

• Plucky Comic Relief: His role in Tristram's group.

Eglante

• Glamorous Single Mother: Very much averted in the modern arc, where much of her character stems from struggling to bring up a child herself while working low-paying jobs.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: Guinevere's closest female friend.

False Guinevere/Fasha

Guinevere's identical, illegitimate half-sister. (Regular twin sister in the modern arc, clone in the space arc)

• Adaptational Heroism: The worst thing her modern arc incarnation does is briefly flirt with Arthur through Guenevere's gaming account before they're really dating. She certainly shows no inclination to actually steal Arthur from her sister, instead helping to look after Mordred and Galahad when Guenevere's at law school.
• Cast from Lifespan: Her spells on Arthur in both the baseline and space arcs made her deathly ill.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Gets taken off the ice in the space arc just in time to resolve the love triangle between Mordred, Arthur, and Guinevere.
• Death Equals Redemption: Sincerely regrets her actions on her deathbed.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Is put in suspended animation in the space arc and later cured. Is eventually revealed to have survived in a wheelchair in the modern arc.
• Identity Impersonator: Steals her sister's identity. Arthur goes along with it for the chance to have a Guinevere who doesn't love Lancelot, which he comes to regret.
• Wicked Witch: Uses magical drugs to keep Arthur servile.

Galehaut

• Big Guy, Little Guy: Was this with Lancelot.
• Death by Despair: After Lancelot rejects his love. Lancelot feels badly about it.
• Gentle Giant: a rather well-spoken fellow, and so tall his head is always hidden by the upper boundary of the panel.
• Incompatible Orientation: Has the misfortune to be in love with the mildly homophobic Lancelot.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: He's an actor nicknamed "The Hot Prince" in the modern arc.

Griflet

• Accidental Misnaming: Not "Girflet"! (A reference to inconsistencies in the source material)
• Demoted to Extra: After his quest.
  Merlin: He does nothing else of significance, ever.
• Just a Kid: Arthur points this out before he sets out on his quest. Griflet responds that he's basically the same age as Arthur, who is at this point a King.
• Limited Wardrobe: Actually averted for once, as he's depicted in different clothes several times, contrasting other characters.

Hercules

The Greek hero, one of Space!Merlin's friends from history to whom he introduces Arthur.

• The Cameo: You can spot modern arc equivalent a few times, hanging out with Merlin.
• Expy: Of Superman.
• Space "X": He's Space Hercules, born into the distant future on the Planet Greece.

Homer

Another of Space!Merlin's historical friends from Planet Greece.

• Shout-Out: Is drawn to resemble Homer Simpson.
• Slash Fic: While he thinks the TV show Siege of Troy has gone downhill, he's still working on the definitive Achilles/Patroclus fic.

Ivaine

• Bit Character: Usually only appears as a side character in other quests.
• Gender Bender: Female in the Space!Arc, like a few characters.
• Parental Issues: Morgan is his/her mother. When she joins the crew in the space arc, Ivaine clearly resents being ignored for her entire childhood.
• Those Two Guys: Consistently friends with Gawain throughout various timelines.

Kay the Stranger

• Cloudcuckoolander: Look at the nickname!
• Confusion Fu: We can see him in a practice duel in one strip; his fighting style seems to involve a lot of frenetic jumping around and manic grinning.
• One-Steve Limit: No relation to the other Kay. Arthur gives him the nickname to avoid confusion.
• Pungeon Master: Speaks in medieval-literature-style puns, the kind that really only make sense if you see them written down. Consequently, people have trouble understanding him.
• Punny Name: In the legends Kay was given his epithet because he was a stranger to Camelot. In the strip, he gets it because he's stranger than Kay the seneschal.
• Talkative Loon: Yep.

Lucius

Emperor of Rome in the base and space arcs. Conservative president and Arthur's opponent in the election in modern.

• Expy: Mostly for George W. Bush.
• Greater-Scope Villain: In every timeline presents one of Arthur's greatest challenges.
• Our Presidents Are Different: President Jerkass mostly, a bit of strawman.
• Resurgent Empire: The Roman Empire had already lost nearly all of Western Europe by the time of Arthur's ascension, but Lucius considers Britain to still be a province, and brings the legions to contest it.

Maleagant

• Adaptational Sexuality: Known for abducting Guinevere in legend. Here that's a ruse so he can have Lancelot all to himself.
• Stalker with a Crush: For Lancelot.

Mark, Duke of Cornwall

• Aristocrats Are Evil: He's very unpleasant.
• Big Bad: Central antagonist of Tristram and Isolde's subplot.
• Dirty Old Man: Has his eyes on Isolde, who is much younger than him. This isn't too out of place in the baseline arc, but everywhere else it's a bit creepy.
• Evil Wears Black: Definitely the bad guy, and has black as his color scheme.

Oedipus

The Greek hero, identifiable by his "blind guy" sunglasses and walking cane. One of Space!Merlin's friends from history, to whom he introduces Arthur.

• Berserk Button: Don't sing "I Want a Girl (Just Like the Girl That Married Dear Old Dad)" in front of him.
• The Cameo: You can spot his modern equivalent a few times, hanging out with Merlin.
• Expy: Confirmed to be one for Indiana Jones in Gadzikowski's other webcomics.
• Handicapped Badass: Blind and most likely has his iconic injured feet (hence cane).

Palomides

• All Love Is Unrequited: Deeply in love with Isolde, who is committed to Tristram. Lancelot feels his pain.
• Black Vikings: A somewhat anachronistic Saracen knight in 5th century Britain, but as Gadzikowski has pointed out, anachronisms can't be helped in a King Arthur adaptation.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: A fantastic knight, but he just can't outdo Tristram at anything.

Sagramore

• Sleepyhead: Gadzikowski took a few lines in the source literature and interpreted them as meaning that Sagramore is narcoleptic. He even falls asleep in the middle of a melee.
• The Spymaster: Related to the Byzantine Emperor, and provides Arthur with valuable foreign intelligence.

Uncle Sam

One of Space!Merlin's friends from history. He appears to be an Avalonian time traveler like Merlin, with Lady Liberty as his apprentice.

• Dean Bitterman: He's the somewhat grouchy principal of Arthur's school in the modern arc.