Family lineage's made up of actors who have reappeared often as main or supporting characters throughout the show. For the other characters, click here, and for Edmund Blackadder, click here.
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The Baldrick Lineage
In General
A line of men who somehow always ended up as servants to the members of the Blackadder family.
- Born Unlucky: None of them can apparently escape their fate of being servants to a Blackadder.
- The Chew Toy: They get abused and insulted by everyone.
- Identical Grandson: They are all played by Tony Robinson.
- Legacy of Service: The Baldricks have been serving the Blackadders for centuries.
- Running Gag: They always have a cunning plan that turns out to not be that cunning.
- Took a Level in Dumbass: The first Baldrick was far more intelligent than his descendants.
- Undying Loyalty: They have been serving the Blackadder family for five centuries, and occasionally further back as shown with Legionary Baldricus.
2nd Century
Legionary Baldricus
Baldricus
Played by: Tony Robinson
A Roman legionary who was stationed at Hadrian's Wall during the Roman occupation of Britain.
- Flat Character: Only has a few lines of dialogue, leaving it unclear whether he's as stupid as many of his descendants or if he's like the first Baldrick.
15th Century
Baldrick, Son of Robin the Dung-Gatherer
Baldrick, Son of Robin the Dung-Gatherer
"Wouldn't something like "The Black Adder" sound better."
Played by: Tony Robinson
"I have a cunning plan that cannot fail..."
The Black Adder's servant. He is amazingly smart considering that he is a dung gatherer, and helps Edmund to make it through the day... as well as helping him on his royal ambitions.
- Butt-Monkey: The Infanta does not go gentle on him when Edmund sends Baldrick to seduce her. By the end of the session, he has two black eyes.
- Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: Without his help, Edmund and Percy would be already dead.
- Co-Dragons: With Percy. Though he is the smartest of the three and easily muuuuuch better at it than him.
- Ditzy Genius: As smart as this Baldrick is, he has a tendency to get carried away.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: He sorts out most of the plans (Percy did the rest), but it is Edmund who takes the sole credit. And he sets up quite the impressive racket in relic trading when he temporarily joins the church.
- Like Father, Unlike Son: None of this guy's descendants inherited his brainpower. The fact he's the one with more than two thoughts to rub together between him and his lord is a mark of how different season 1 was from the rest.
- Only Sane Man: Both in terms of this series and the Baldrick family as a whole, as the most level-headed and reasonable character.
- Professional Butt-Kisser: He quickly got wise to the fact that this is the way to become Edmund's favourite and improve his social standing.
- The Reliable One: He stands out in the Baldrick family as not only the only one with a mind but also as quite practical-minded. He is more than what Edmund could ask for.
- Smarter Than You Look: Much smarter than a dung shoveler would be expected to be, he has all the common sense of the common folk. His descendants are as dumb as they look, though.
- Yes-Man: He started it at the banquet of the first episode and it paid off.
- Zany Scheme: Hilariously, the first cunning plan a Baldrick comes up with is the only one that actually works. And it is stupidly simple: Get McAngus to stick his head inside a cannon and blow him up with it.
16th Century
Bondsman Baldrick
Bondsman Baldrick
Played By: Tony Robinson
"Not to worry my, lord, the arrow didn't in fact enter my body... But by a thousand to one chance my willy got in the way.''
While the medieval Balders was the brains of the trio, his great-grandson somehow turns to be much stupider than one can possibly imagine.
- Ambiguously Gay: He gives a very long and passionate kiss to Percy when he doesn't recognize him in a dress and flirts with him, and is quick to agree to marry Blackadder in place of his runaway bride. He also doesn't express much reluctance to be used as a prostitute by Blackadder and having sex with a sailor.
- Beware the Silly Ones: Blackadder does sometimes get him to beat people up. And he worked for a while as an executioner.Baldrick: ...It's a hobby.
- Blunt Metaphors Trauma: "... You said 'get the door'."
- Book Dumb: This Baldrick, whilst not being intelligent per se, is surprisingly streetsmart at times.
- Bumbling Sidekick: A well-loved example.
- Comically Missing the Point: When Blackadder says either he (Edmund) makes a thousand pounds in a day or gets murdered, Baldrick says he'll have to get murdered.
- Cuckoosnarker: The dumbest of the dumb but capable of returning his bosses sarcasm every now and then.
- Gag Penis: Shaped like a turnip apparently.
- Genius Ditz: Considerably stupider than his great-grandfather, but retained some level of streetsmarts and cunning that his descendants never saw, and Blackadder did seem to have more faith in him to carry out schemes than he had in Percy.Baldrick: What, have you got a plan, My Lord?
Blackadder: Yes I have, and it's so cunning you could brush your teeth with it! All I need is some feathers, a dress, some oil, an easel, some sleeping draught, lots of paper, a prostitute, and the best portrait painter in England.
Baldrick: I'll get them right away, My Lord! (rushes out)
(sure enough, in the next scene he returns with everything on Blackadder's hastily recited list. Well, except for the prostitute. Fortunately, Percy is able to fill that role.) - Identical Grandson: In looks if not brains.
- Old Retainer:Baldrick: I've been in your service since I was two and a half, my lord.
Blackadder: Well, that must be why I'm so utterly sick of the sight of you. - Took a Level in Dumbass: His ancestor was actually quite intelligent. This Baldrick started the grand tradition of idiocy in the family. Although he's still considerably smarter than the latter Baldricks.
- Zany Scheme: They're really not that cunning. Sometimes his plans do have a twisted logic to them, such as his plan to dress a bull as a cockerel and bet on it in the cock fights, as it would look so strange nobody else would back it.
17th Century
Royalist Baldrick
Baldrick
Played By: Tony Robinson
A servant of Sir Blackadder during the English Civil War. Still stupid, but more intelligent than his 16th century ancestor.
- Been There, Shaped History: It appears that he's the reason Charles II wasn't killed and escaped to France.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: It's implied that underneath all that stupidity, he's a genuinely skilled warrior as he somehow survived being killed by Roundheads and got the young Charles II to safety in France.
- Dumbass Has a Point: Near the end of the episode, he points out to Blackadder that with the money he earned from killing the king, he could take the baby Charles II to France. When Blackadder clearly shows his distaste for the idea, Baldrick adds that he could stay in England, and as a known royalist be eventually killed.
- Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Unless Charles II was killed in 1649 in the Blackadder history, Baldrick somehow escaped the guards trying to kill them and took Charles away to safety without the help of Blackadder, who decided to betray Baldrick. Assuming that it's canon, a short sketch where Charles II met another Blackadder would imply that he survived.
18th Century
S. Baldrick
Lord "Sod-off" Baldrick
Played By: Tony Robinson
"I am as stupid as I look, sir, but if I can help, I will."
An underscrogsman to Mr Blackadder, who often helps him in his schemes to benefit from being the butler to the Prince Regent.
- Bumbling Sidekick: Natch. He screws up Blackadder's plan to keep the Prince on the civil list when he is coerced into voting against him and spends £400,000 that Blackadder intended to keep for himself on a turnip.
- Butt-Monkey: He has to endure Blackadder's constant abuse and being dragged along in interactions with more dangerous people.
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: He has an obsession with turnips.
- The Ditz: So much so that he considers becoming a professional Village Idiot. Unfortunately, he attended the final interview, thus losing the job to the bloke who didn't come.
- The Dragon: A particularly incompetent one to Blackadder.
- Flanderization: In Blackadder II, Baldrick merely found turnips amusing phallic symbols. In this series the acquisition of turnips is his entire raison d'etre.
- Hidden Depths: He knows quite a few things about current events.
- Also, judging by the fact that Blackadder isn't the one preparing the food (and there's no one else down in the kitchen), and the Prince Regent hasn't died from food poisoning, this Baldrick seems to be quite a good cook.
- Identical Grandson: Although he did lose the beard.
- Manchild: He's very childish, believes in fairies, and thinks that dead souls are freckles on the nose of the Giant Pixie.
- The Pigpen: He's so filthy that Blackadder describes his clothing as the "Dung Collection" with matching hairball accessories, before comparing his trousers to Pandora's Box.
- Took a Level in Dumbass once again.
- Trademark Favorite Food: Turnips, to the point of spending £400,000 (supposed to be spent on bribing the Lords) on a giant one, which Edmund promptly smashes on Balders' head.
- Zany Scheme: When awaiting execution by the French, his scheme is to wait until their heads have been cut off before they spring into action.
19th Century
Mr Baldrick
Baldrick
Played By: Tony Robinson
An assistant at a "moustache shop" owned by Ebenezer Blackadder.
- Expy: Of Bob Cratchit from A Christmas Carol, though in a twist he's actually treated really well by his boss. This changes when Ebenezer decides to become evil like his ancestors.
- Smarter Than You Look: Downplayed. He's unable to spell Christmas without getting all of the letters wrong, but he's smart enough to recognise that Ebenezer's Stupid Good behaviour causes them nothing but trouble.
20th Century
Private S. Baldrick
Pvt. S. Baldrick
Played By: Tony Robinson
"Why can't we just stop, sir? Why couldn't we just say "No more killing, let's all go 'ome?" Why would it be stupid just to pack it in, sir? Why?!"
A private in the trenches of the first World War.
- Anti-Hero: Type I: At least his rank is more proportionate to his skill (less mind) than Melchett's and George's.
- Armor-Piercing Question: Despite his unprecedented idiocy, Baldrick also points out the utter insanity of World War One: at any point, the general soldiery on all sides could have simply banded together and refused to fight any more, and had shown such potential earlier in the war (and the Russian soldiers eventually did). He doesn't know why they don't do it, and nobody can tell him why, either.
- Bumbling Sidekick: The stupidest and foulest Baldrick of all, which is no small feat.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He might be an idiot, but he survived three years in the trenches and it's worth noting that he has survived several missions, including one with George that was called "Operation: Certain Death".
- Deadpan Snarker: Only when he's hungover.
- The Ditz: Hey it doesn't matter since the bullet that wrote his name was in his hands.
- Dumbass Has a Point: See Armor-Piercing Question above.
- Identical Grandson: Identical in not having an idea what he's doing.
- Lethal Chef: "How did you manage to extract so much 'custard' from such a small cat?"
- To be fair, Baldrick's poor cooking skills only reach lethal levels because of the lack of provisions on the front.
- Manchild: Who occasionally asks for his mummy leaving her taxonomic classification open.
- Mythology Gag:
- His first initial is S, which is a Call-Back to the Regency Era Baldrick, whose first name was Sod Off.
- He worked at a factory on Turnip St. The Elizabethan and Regency Baldricks had some anecdotes with turnips.
- No Indoor Voice: He tends to yell out a lot of his lines. Which makes his quiet lamenting in the final episode more poignant.
- Nobody's That Dumb: While still an utter buffoon Private Baldrick also understands that the war is futile, unlike George who is gung ho. There are also a few occasions where he understands the situation better and quicker than George such as when Blackadder points out that the map indicates that they are in the middle of a mine field, with him immediately understanding the implications, while George misunderstands it as the owner of the map owning the field.
- Paper Tiger: He has a moment of seeming Hidden Depths where he reveals an understanding and sympathy for Communism, hoping that the British will follow the example of the Russians of overthrowing the bourgeoisie, embodied by Capt. Blackadder and Lt. George. An unimpressed Blackadder immediately commmands him to clean the latrines, which Baldrick dociley complies.
- The Pig-Pen: The Baldrick line has never been particularly fond of cleanliness but Private Baldrick is easily the filthiest of the bunch. Flashheart looks nauseated standing next to him and after patting him on the shoulder freaks out and wipes his hand on Blackadder's uniform.
- Sole Survivor: All of the Turnip Street Workhouse Pals Battalion are dead, save for him.
- Team Chef: A fairly lethal one. Whenever his food tastes like something disgusting (for instance, dog turds in glue), that's because it's exactly that.
- Took a Level in Dumbass: Now to the point of "terminal stupidity".
- Warrior Poet: Well, he tries. His efforts at poetry are disastrous, especially The German Guns (which consists of him repeating the phrase "Boom boom boom!").
- Zany Scheme: Subverted, as we never get to hear what his "cunning plan" to avoid going over the top is. Blackadder admits it couldn't have been any worse than his plan of Obfuscating Insanity.
Prime Minister Baldrick (spoilers for Back & Forth)
PM Baldrick
Played By: Tony Robinson
A servant to Lord Blackadder, as part of a prank he is instructed by his master to build a time machine using manuscript created by Leonardo Da Vinci. And he actually succeeds, giving Blackadder the means to alter history so that he becomes king while making Baldrick the prime minister of England.
- Irony: A member of the Baldrick family is the greatest genius ever for having succeeded in building a time machine, despite being unable to read and using manuscript made by a man who lived in the 15th century.
The Percy-Darling Lineage
In General
A lineage than began with the noble Lord Percy of Northumberland and at first remained close with the Blackadder family, but eventually drifted apart after the 16th century. The Percy family name eventually went out of use and was at some point replaced with Darling.
- Ambiguously Related: The 18th century had three characters played by McInnerny: Lord Topper, one half of the duo that make up the Scarlet Pimpernel, and the Duke of Darling and Duc de Darling, an English and French soldier respectively who fought on opposing side of the Battle of Waterloo. Since Topper died it can be assume that he's not part of the main Percy Lineage, but it's unclear which Darling is the ancestor to Captain Darling.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Due to the popularity of the fourth series, Percy Percy can come across as pretty odd in comparison to the more popular Captain Darling.
- Identical Grandson: They all have the same physical features, however the Percy family has different personality traits to the Darling family.
15th Century
Lord Percy Percy of Northumberland
Lord Percy Percy, Duke Of Northumberland
Played by: Tim McInnerny
"But if you kill him in front of everybody, won't they suspect something?"
The kind-hearted (by comparison) simpleton of the trio. His grip on reality is rather inconsistent.
- Accidental Murder: He poisons the entire wine vat instead of just the Black Seal's goblets, which means he kills the entire royal court and Edmund instead of just the seven most evil men in the kingdom.
- Cloudcuckoolander:Percy: Only this morning in the courtyard I saw a horse with two heads and two bodies!
Edmund: Two horses standing next to each other?
Percy: ... Yes, I suppose it could have been. - The Ditz: Percy is incredibly dim-witted, something that carries over to his descendant. For example, there was that time he was sold a finger bone, supposedly from the hand of Christ. Baldric sells them by boxes of ten.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: If his reaction to Mistress Scott's dead cat is anything to go by.
- Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds: accidentally poisons the entire royal court apart from himself and Baldrick.
- Repetitive Name: Percy is both his first and last name. It reflects the creativity of its owner and was probably started by a true member of the Percy family.
- Straw Loser: Intellect wise at least. While his era's Edmund is much more of a buffoon, he almost reaches his successors' level of snarky wit when putting up with Percy's greater idiocy.
- Sycophantic Servant: He admired Edmund and stayed loyal to the bitter end.
- Teeny Weenie: Blackadder mentions the rumour:Blackadder: And the part of you that can't be mentioned, I am reliably informed by women around the court, wouldn't be worth mentioning even it could be!
- True Companions: Even though he spent most of the series antagonising Baldrick for the role of the best sycophant, it seems that during the final episode he realised off-screen that he was the closest that he had to a friend, since they were working together after their dismissal, defeated the Black Seal together, mourned their Lord's demise together and awkwardly kept quiet and played dumb(er) about the accidental poisoning of the Royal Family together.
- Upper-Class Twit: He is the Duke Of Northumberland and quite stupid.
- Yes-Man: He tries, though the best he can do is repeat and mimic Baldrick.
16th Century
Lord Percy Percy, Heir of Northumberland
Lord Percy Percy, Heir to the Duchy of Northumberland
Played By: Tim McInnerny
"Oh, Edmund, could it be true? That I hold here, in my mortal hand, a lump of purest green?"'
Percy has turned much dumber too, to the point he thinks he's a real Casanova and that Edmund respects him.
- Butt-Monkey: Often gets the worst end of Blackadder's schemes. The worst is undoubtedly when he has to sleep with the Bishop of Bath and Wells.
- Expy: Of Sir Andrew Aguecheek.
- Identical Grandson: To the original Percy.
- Upper-Class Twit: Although he's not ill-natured.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: But only in one direction. Percy thinks that he and Edmund are best friends and would give his last coin to him, and cheerfully laughs off Edmund's constant, withering (and totally earnest) insults as nothing more than a sign of Edmund's "wit".
18th Century
Topper and Smedley
Lord Topper and Lord Smedley
Played By: Tim McInnerny (Topper); Nigel Planer (Smedley)
Two irritating friends of the Prince Regent, who secretly both act as the Scarlet Pimpernel and rescue French aristocrats. Lord Topper is a descendant of the Percy family, though his exact relation to the Darling family is unknown
- Ambiguous Situation: Topper is clearly related to the Percy family, but whether he's part of the Darling family is a mystery.
- Crazy-Prepared: The two were apparently leaving nothing to chance in their gambit to catch Blackadder out as a fraud, with Topper adopting a very convincing disguise as the Count de Frou-Frou, and evidently getting Smedley to act as back-up in case anything went wrong at the French embassy. The only thing they failed to plan for was Blackadder weaponizing the suicide pills that Topper brought along.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Despite initially appearing to be a pair of Upper Class Twits, Topper is in fact the Scarlet Pimpernel, and Smedley is his sidekick. And... then they turn out to be moronic enough to fail to anticipate any poison from the hand of established enemies.
- Decomposite Character: The Scarlet Pimpernel, who is usually depicted as a singular character, is revealed to be the alias under which the two pull off their rescues of French aristocrats.
- Dramatic Unmask: They each get one, with Smedley throwing off his disguise as Madame Guillotine in order to rescue Blackadder and Baldrick, and then Topper removing his disguise as the Count de Frou-Frou to blow the whistle on Blackadder's scheme.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Topper's bringing along suicide pills ends up getting both him and Smedley killed, albeit Blackadder didn't realize who the latter was when he poisoned him.
- Too Dumb to Live: Lampshaded by Blackadder after he accidentally fatally poisons Smedley by giving him wine laced with suicide pills, and then Smedley proves unable to realize that he's experiencing the effects of the pills right as he's describing them. Fortunately, Topper also turns out to share this tiny character flaw when Blackadder needs to dispose of him.
19th Century
Duke of Darling & Duke de Darling
Duke of Darling & Duke de Darling
Played By: Tim McInnerny
A British and French soldier fighting on opposite sides of the Battle of Waterloo.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's clear that one of them is the ancestor to the rest of the Darling family, but which one is never established.
- Identical Stranger: They are clearly related in some way, likely as cousins, but are currently fighting a battle against each other.
20th Century
Kevin Darling
Capt. Kevin Darling, MC
Played By: Tim McInnerny
"Just doing my job, Blackadder. Obeying orders...and, of course, having enormous fun into the bargain."
- Ain't Too Proud to Beg: At the end where Melchett sends him to combat, Darling pleads as much as he can to be spared. Alas, it doesn't work.
- Anti-Hero: Type V. He is inclined to enjoy having the one person who is in awareness of the darling nature of the name killed.
- Beleaguered Assistant: When Melchett isn't berating him, he's shooting him in the foot.
- Defrosting Ice King: In the last episode to the point of melting into a puddle.
- Desk Jockey: Enjoys being Melchett's personal staff officer, mainly because it minimises his risk of being killed in action. He claims he has a wonderful evening when two lorry loads of paperclips arrive. He's also trying to get transferred to an even easier assignment with the Women's Auxiliary Balloon Corps.
- Dirty Coward: Subverted. Darling is definitely more of a coward than Captain Blackadder, but a lot less sympathetic. Like Blackadder, Darling will do anything to avoid combat, but he hates Blackadder so much that he would take pleasure at the thought of Blackadder being killed in combat. However, at the very end, he ends up facing death with dignity.
- Everyone Has Standards: Nasty, smug and slimy though he is, the final episode shows Darling at command. He sitting while waiting for the casualty reports for the Big Push to come in, clearly not enjoying it one bit.
- Heroic BSoD: When Melchett sends him to combat.
- Hidden Depths: The final episode reveals his true motives for his actions and general behaviour. While characters like him are generally associated with being motivated by gaining wealth or power, we come to realise that Darling is not especially motivated by any of these things. The driving force behind his behaviour throughout the whole series was a relatively simple desire to see out the war and return to his old job in Croydon, marry his girlfriend and play a bit of cricket. He becomes a great deal more sympathetic after this reveal and you can't help but feel sad that he had to resort to being an obnoxious creep in order to keep his relatively humble dream alive.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: A tragic and humanising example, he wanted to ride out the war by working behind a desk and sucking up Melchett. Unlike his boss, Darling knew the reality of war and knew that it isn't as glamorous as Melchett thinks it is. Instead, in the final episode, Darling is sent to the front lines because his boss was convinced that he didn't want to miss out on the Big Push. A sentiment Darling desperately tries to escape from because he knows it's certain death.
- Hypercompetent Sidekick: Compared to Melchett.
- Jerkass: But not an unprofessional one.
- My Girl Back Home: Has a girlfriend called Doris waiting for him back in England. When he arrives in the trench during the final episode he lists the things he'd planned to do when he got back to England, the last of which is "Marry Doris".
- Only Sane Man: One of the only characters in the show who isn't completely Sarcasm-Blind and Super Gullible when dealing with Blackadder, not that that knowledge ever really gets him anywhere. Also he and Blackadder are the only two characters that never bought into all the War Is Glorious propaganda.
- Precision F-Strike: When he finds out he's being sent to the frontline.Darling: Made a note in my diary on the way here. Simply says, 'bugger'.
- The Rival: To Blackadder.
- Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: He and Blackadder have a lot in common, but they never miss an opportunity to insult each other and get each other killed. Until it's too late to bother.
- Smug Snake: When he bears bad news to Blackadder, he doesn't hate breaking them to him.
- Twitchy Eye: It took McInnerny a while to shake it after the show was completed.
- Unfortunate Names: Word of God is that the character only began to take shape after they changed his surname from Cartwright. He went from being a formless character to a person steeped in a lifetime's worth of bitterness from being called "Darling" all the time."What is the matter with you today, Darling?!""Darling, you're hysterical."
- Would Rather Suffer: When he arrives for the Big Push, he tells everyone that he's there by choice because he didn't want to serve Melchett anymore. Considering his bravery in the face of certain doom and the fact that he really doesn't want to be there, he's telling a white lie and half-truth. He's accepted that he's going to die and the only peace he can glean from this is that he no longer has to lick Melchett's boots.
The Queenie Lineage
In General
A strange lineage that somehow began with the Virgin Queen, with it's members seemingly always having an romantic attraction with the Edmund Blackadder of their era.
- Ambiguously Related: Exactly how all these women are related is unclear, especially since they all died without having children. This means that either Queenie and Amy both had a secret child, or there is an unseen character that is the ancestress to all the other characters of this line. Amy however does mention an aunt and uncle, meaning that she might be part of the lineage but not an ancestor to any future characters. Mary meanwhile is possibly related to King Edmund. Meaning that if Queenie and Amy are her ancestors, this lineage is part of the Blackadder dynasty.
- Famous Ancestor: This lineage might have began with Queen Elizabeth I.
- Identical Grandson: They all have the same physical features, though their personalities vary.
16th Century
Queen Elizabeth I
Queen Elizabeth "Queenie" I
"Sometimes I think about having you executed, just to see the expression on your face."
Played By: Miranda Richardson
"I may have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach... of a concrete elephant!"
The Virgin Queen was the most wanted woman in England, she however also likes to threaten everybody with the choppy-choppy.
- Adult Child: She acts much like a spoiled little girl, even talking like one.
- Ambiguously Related: She might be an ancestor to King Edmund.
- Ax-Crazy: She enjoys beheading everyone and anyone for the slimmest of reasons. She just has other people do the beheading for her.
- Big Bad: While Blackadder serves her, she tends to provide the primary threat for most characters in the season. The episode "Head" showcases it more than any other, with characters being pushed to their limits through its entire duration, while trying to save what the title says.
- The Caligula: One of her favorite pastimes is to threaten her courtiers with summary execution.
- The Cameo: She appears briefly in Back & Forth, where she meets King Edmund during a time travelling adventure.
- Can't Hold Her Liquor: "I'm going to have one drink, and then I'm going to execute the whole bally lot of you." Cut to next morning, and Queenie is as plastered as everyone else.
- The Ditz: This doesn't make her much less of a threat though, only easier to lie to.
- Evil Has a Bad Sense of Humor: You better think her jokes and pranks are funny or else...One of which is the hilarious idea of pretending to sentence someone to beheading.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: Very fond of choppy-choppy.
- Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Possibly. Since Richardson would reappear in other roles in the series, it appears that Queenie at some point had a child out of wedlock. However there's also the chance that unlike the other characters who seem to come from the same family line, she and the other women simply share a common ancestor who had the same appearance as them.
- Green-Eyed Monster: She's perfectly willing to mutilate any woman who might be prettier than her. Especially if they're interested in Blackadder.
- Hidden Depths: She might be a psychotic Upper-Class Twit who threatens to have anyone, including Blackadder, executed simply for annoying her, but she does genuinely seem to care about Blackadder in a messed up way.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: Played for laughs. The portrayal uses and exaggerates all of Elizabeth's negative qualities and none of the positive ones.
- Mood-Swinger: Goes from childish to flirty to homicidal in an instant.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Sometimes it seems she's not quite as dim as she acts.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: The end of "Beer" shows what happens when Queenie gets really angry. No tantrum-throwing, no shouting, just cold, sinister fury.
- Pimped-Out Dress: Always in the costume seen in her portraits.
- The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: Never seen doing any actual governing. This may be for the best.
- Psychopathic Manchild: A naughty schoolgirl at heart... a naughty schoolgirl with the power of life and death over Britain.
- Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: "Who's queen?" It should be pointed out, the 'rule' in this case is whether elephants are grey... or orange.
- Ship Tease: Occasionally with Blackadder, since despite threatening to have him executed she also seems to flirt with him.
- Upper-Class Twit: A very dangerous version.
- Yandere: She has a massive crush on Blackadder. Doesn't make her any less willing to consider killing him because she'd find it funny.
18th Century
Amy Hardwood
Amy Hardwood, aka the Shadow
Played By: Miranda Richardson, Warren Clarke ("Shadow" voice)
"Sir, a kiss!"
A young woman who Blackadder hopes that the Prince Regent could marry. It turns out she's the deadly highwayman known as the Shadow.
- Ambiguously Related: Whether she's the ancestor of the characters played by Richardson is complicated by her mentioning an other relatives. She has an uncle who was a pig poker and married the Duchess of Argyle, and an aunt who was a milkmaid who married the Pope. If her aunt and uncle are descended from Queen Elizabeth, then either of them could be the true ancestors of Nurse Mary, Lady Elizabeth, and Queen Asphyxia XIX.
- Berserk Button: She has an extreme hatred of squirrels, to the point of shooting a whole bunch of them dead.
- Bond Villain Stupidity: Rather than just killing Blackadder and hiding all of the loot that he stole, she ties him up and leaves him while she conducts more robberies, which ends up giving Baldrick time to unwittingly rescue him. This in turn results in Blackadder getting revenge via a lynch mob and some gallows.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: She talks Blackadder into stealing all of George's possessions, so that they can run away together. She then immediately ties Blackadder up, with the intention of killing him.
- Dramatic Unmask: After the "Shadow" suddenly insists on kissing Blackadder, she drops her hood mid-kiss to reveal her true identity.
- Not So Harmless: In her first few scenes, she appears to be a Spoiled Sweet industrialist's daughter. That impression is soon quashed when she reveals herself to be the notorious highway(wo)man, the Shadow, and nearly kills Blackadder himself.
- Self-Made Orphan: It's not exactly clear when or how her mother died, but she kills her father after Blackadder calls off her planned wedding to George.
- The Smurfette Principle: Aside from Mrs. Miggins, she's the only female character with a speaking role in this season.
- Sweet Polly Oliver: She puts on a very convincing male guise (and even voice) in order to play the role of the Shadow.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: She does this to Blackadder as soon as he's finished stealing George's possessions, but gets it pulled right back on her after Blackadder escapes and discovers there's a £10,000 reward for her capture.
20th Century
Nurse Mary
Mary Fletcher-Brown
Played By: Miranda Richardson
A nurse that Blackadder has a fling with.
- Asshole Victim: Given her disdain for most of her patients and her attempts to frame Darling as a spy For the Lulz, being convicted herself almost seems karmic if still incorrect.
- Hidden Disdain Reveal: Blackadder discovers her true self when she snides about George's idiocy in closed quarters.
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Plays simple cloying nurse in public, alone she's almost as witty as Blackadder.
- Red Herring: Blackadder, through elaborate deduction, had her convicted as a spy. It was in fact an unwitting George sending information to his German relatives.
- Uncertain Doom: Whether Blackadder and Darling vindicate her before she meets her end by firing squad is never revealed.
Lazy Elizabeth
Lady Elizabeth
Played By: Miranda Richardson
A friend of King Edmund who he tries to trick into giving him money, and who bets him that he can't get the wellingtons worn by the Duke of Wellington.
- Ambiguously Related: King Edmund's existence implies that either Captain Blackadder survived the trenches, or conceived a child with Nurse Mary. Since Nurse Mary is part of Queenie lineage, it's possible that Elizabeth is descended from her and she is in fact a cousin of King Edmund.
- Identical Grandson: Blackadder actually seems to notice that Queen Elizabeth looks just like her.
Far Future
Queen Asphyxia XIX
Queen Asphyxia XIX
Played By: Miranda Richardson
In a distant future, Queen Asphyxia XIX is the ruler of the entire universe with her galaxy spanning empire along with her three husbanoids. However she is unaware of how her fate was decided centuries ago by Ebenezer Blackadder in the 19th century.
- Ambiguously Related: She might be related to Mary Fletcher-Brown, who in turn is possibly related to Kind Edmund. If true then she and Grand Admiral Blackadder are very distantly related, though given how far in the future they are any relation is practically nonexistent.
- In Love with Your Carnage: Appears to be why she isn't upset by Blackadder killing her husbandoids and taking over her empire.
- Point of Divergence: If Ebenezer remained good, his descendant would become a slave to an incompetent Admiral Baldrick loses a battle against an enemy army much to Asphyxia's annoyance especially after he failed to give her a gift. If Ebenezer chooses to become bad, then his descendant Grand Admiral Blackadder kills Asphyxia's husbandoids and demands she hands over control of the universe and marries him, which she happily agrees to.
The Melchett Lineage
In General
A lineage which, much like the Queenie lineage, is a bit confusing due to to some members in the 17th and 18th centuries not having the same surname as members from the 16th and 20th centuries.
- Ambiguously Related:
- Somehow all these men are related despite not all of them having the same surname. A likely explanation is that the lineage diverged in the 16th century, with King Charles and the Duke of Wellington representing a separate family tree to the one that General Melchett is part of. A less likely explanation could be that General Melchett is descended from all of them, with the Duke/King lineage rejoining the Melchett lineage before the general's birth. The members are separated by three hundred years of history.
- The Duke of Wellington branch might be related to the George lineage.
- Famous Ancestor: This family lineage includes the King of England, presumably along with his son, and the Duke of Wellington.
- Identical Grandson: They all have the same physical features, though their personalities vary.
2nd Century
General Melchius
Melchius
Played by: Stephen Fry
A Roman general who was stationed at Hadrian's Wall during the Roman occupation of Britain.
- Flat Character: Only has a few lines of dialogue, though he appears to be similar to his 20th century descendant General Melchett.
16th Century
Lord Melchett
Lord Melchett
Played By: Stephen Fry
"As private parts to the gods are we! They play with us for their sport!"
The Queen's much saner Lord Chancellor, and her right-hand man. He has a constant rivalry with Blackadder for influence over her, but the two share a certain respect due to being the only two people around who aren't utter dimwits.
- Bestiality Is Depraved: His "relationship" with Flossie the sheep...
- The Cameo: He appears briefly in Back & Forth, where he meets King Edmund during a time travelling adventure.
- Friendly Enemy: He and Blackadder might be rivals, but still maintain a certain tolerance for each other, seeing as they only have each other to turn to for intelligent company.
- The Good Chancellor: Often seen trying to keep the queen's more psychotic impulses in check.
- Hypocrite: Note that in "Money" he's a lot less amused to be on the receiving end of one of Queenie's "pranks" despite having gleefully participated in the ones she's targeted Blackadder for all day. Of course, since the prank in question involved her threatening to behead him, a certain amount of disgruntlement can be forgiven.
- Only Sane Man: Along with Blackadder, he also tends to steer towards this, obviously humouring Queenie throughout the series. He's still considerably more loopy, however, especially once we learn about a past affair involving a sheep... that wasn't quite
as it seemed. - Sitcom Arch-Nemesis: Was The Rival to Blackadder.
17th Century
King Charles
King Charles I of England, Scotland and Ireland
Played By: Stephen Fry
The King of England during the English Civil War, who is tragically captured by Oliver Cromwell.
- Age Lift: Not him, but his son Charles II is an infant in January 1649 while in real life he was born in 1630.
- Good Is Dumb: He's kind and polite, but completely unaware that Cromwell wants to kill him.
18th Century
Duke of Wellington
Field Marshal Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington
Played By: Stephen Fry
"Britain has the finest trade, the finest armies, the finest navies in the world. And what do we have for royalty? A mad Kraut sausage-sucker, and a son who can't keep his sausage to himself."
- Bad Boss:
- Conditions in his armies are terrible. (Well, those are his conditions and you'll just have to accept them!)
- He's also incredibly abusive to the faux-Blackadder. Of course, it is the inept George who gives himself plenty of reason for punishment.
- Beige Prose: His full account of the Peninsular War is simply "We won. Signed Wellington.".
- Berserk Button: Aside from a general Hair-Trigger Temper, don't call him a "lord" (he's a duke). He'll kick you in the arse for that. And don't make fun of his name. People who do end up dead, as do people who sleep with his nieces.
- BFG: He fights duels with cannons.
- Blood Knight: As Blackadder lies dying (he thinks) and wistfullty yearns for a peaceful world, the Duke asks if he doesn't think that the Duke also wishes for an end to the dirty job of soldiering. Blackadder's response is a firm "no".
- Boyfriend-Blocking Dad: Uncle, actually. Even though it was his nieces who approached George and took him home to Apsley House, Wellington's vowed to kill anyone who meddles with his family. (Of course, unmarried sex was a much bigger deal back then.)
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Despite his incompetence, bloodlust and general psychopathy, he's still a highly accomplished military man.
- The Cameo: He reappears in Back & Forth.
- General Failure: His first idea for crushing Napoleon is to send Nelson to Alaska in case Napoleon tries to come around the North Pole. It's Blackadder who suggests harrying him amidships at Trafalgar. That said, considering what we later see in Back & Forth, it seems that he actually is a capable leader once he's had a push in the right direction.
- General Ripper: His regimental crest is two crossed dead Frenchmen, emblazoned on a mound of dead Frenchmen.
- Historical Villain Upgrade: While the real Wellington was not exactly friendly to servants or the lower classes, he was not known for savagely beating them for the slightest indiscretion. In fact, Napoleon Bonaparte was known for being violent with servants, while Wellington held it against him!
- Honour Before Reason: Even when finding that the "Prince" is smarter than rumour has it, Wellington still finds it necessary to kill him. On the other hand, he only cares about the honour, not about the actual death — he's perfectly fine with the Prince after the duel, once honour is satisfied, even though the Prince didn't die thanks to his Pocket Protector.
- Hot-Blooded: So hot that it is safer to keep a distance from him actually.
- Karma Houdini: He doesn't get any comeuppance for mistreating and killing the real Prince Regent
- Large Ham: His general strategy: Shout, shout, and shout again!
- No Indoor Voice: Because THERE'S ONLY ONE WAY TO WIN A CAMPAIGN — SHOUT, SHOUT, AND SHOUT AGAIN!
- No Sense of Humor: When it comes to his name and the connection with the famous boot, that is, as his letter to the Prince calling him out makes clear:"Sir, prince or pauper, when a man soils a Wellington he puts his foot in it. (This is not a joke, I do not find my name remotely funny and anyone who does ends up dead.)"
20th Century
Gen. Melchett
Gen. Sir Anthony Cecil Hogmanay Melchett, VC, KCB, DSO
Played By: Stephen Fry
"You know, over these last few years, I've come to think of you as a sort of son. Not a favourite son of course, Lord no, more a sort of illegitimate back-stair sort of sprog, y'know, the sort of spotty squid that nobody really likes."
- Affably Evil: Melchett is a jolly chap. Sadly, he's too hooked up in his fantasy world to realize that he's pointlessly sending countless soldiers to their deaths. Like Blackadder, he's a veteran of Britain's colonial wars, which tended to be against poorly armed natives. Melchett has zero understanding of modern warfare.
- Armchair Military: His fanatical belief in the glory of war is very much different from the gritty reality faced by soldiers like Blackadder. He is quite happy to base his inept strategies on these twisted beliefs.
- Bad Boss: When Darling said that he needed a convincing injury so that he could spy on a field hospital, Melchett shot his foot on the spot. This is easily the least of his crimes.
- Bait the Dog: As noted, he initially seems a lot more amusing and likable than he actually is.
- Beware the Silly Ones: He may be loopy, but he genuinely believes in war and will execute any soldier who attempts cowardice or desertion.
- Cloudcuckoolander: Deconstructed. While his love of war seems humorous, he reveals himself to be a delusional moron with zero concern for his troops.
- Comedic Sociopathy: Melchett's played as though he's having the time of his life, and thinks everyone else is, too, with Darling and Blackadder as straight men to his antics. Subverted in the final episode when he sends Darling to his death with barely a thought.
- Expy: Of Field Marshal Douglas Haig, with Lord Kitchener's
mustache.- Expy Coexistence: ...However, Haig himself is referred to several times as Melchett's immediate superior, and makes an appearance in the final episode.
- General Failure: A parody of WW1 Generals, meaning that his particular brand of strategic incompetence wasn't very removed from real life...
- Hot-Blooded: A far cry from his soft-spoken ancestor.
- Hypocrite: Melchett makes a big deal out of Blackadder shooting his pigeon 'Speckled Jim' and then eating it. However, when George was a child, Melchett insensitively killed George's pet rabbit 'Floppsy' all for the sake of rabbit pie.
- Considering the comical nature of General Melchett's character, this may count as Hypocritical Humor.
- Identical Grandson: Obviously of the Melchett of the second season (only in looks), but also an Expy of the Duke of Wellington in the third season, who was also played by Stephen Fry. Wellington was likewise presented as a Hot-Blooded and crazy military man, but unlike General Melchett he was actually a competent (albeit psychotic) commander and a Frontline General.
- Jerkass: Melchett isn't just incompetent, he's totally insensitive to the well-being of others and might even be a sociopath.
- Karma Houdini: Despite senselessly, obliviously ordering countless men to their deaths on the Western Front, including his own very-much-reluctant right hand man, Melchett is the only major character to survive the entire fourth series.
- Large Ham: BAAAAA!!
- Love at First Sight: With "Georgina". He proposes after a few days of knowing her.
- The Neidermeyer: He is distraught by the death of his pigeon "Speckled Jim", yet blissfully uncaring about the fifty thousand men a week dying in the trenches. His bizarre tactics that help expedite the latter include "doing precisely what we've done eighteen times before" (because it's "the last thing they'll expect us to do this time") and "climbing out of [the] trenches and walking very slowly towards the enemy". Sadly, both are to some extent Truth in Television.
- Not-So-Harmless Villain: He may be a spacey little toff, but he's willing to execute soldiers who try and malinger their way out of fighting.
- Oblivious to Their Own Description: Tells Blackadder his commanding officer would have to be mad to deny Edmund leave after a harrowing ordeal. Blackadder, sensing where this is going, points out Melchett is his commanding officer. And Melchett does deny him leave.
- Obliviously Evil: Gets army after army slaughtered by sticking to the same failed tactics, firmly believing that sooner or later they'll win that way, and that any soldiers who aren't sent over the top would be disappointed to miss out on the "fun."
- Pet the Dog:
- His love for his pet pigeon. However, any sympathy he'd get for that is subverted by his callousness toward running over George's rabbit when George was a child, and of course his apathy toward his troops' lives.
- In the last episode, he casually offers George a ticket out of the trenches (and the imminent suicide attack he is about to order).
- Stupid Boss: Like the Queenie a long time ago, it is debatable if this makes him more or less dangerous.
- The Unintelligible: Melchett often speaks in made-up euphemismsMelchett: Well, bugger me with a fishfork! Old Darling, a Jerry morsetapper?
- Token Evil Teammate: The only one from the English side that we see being a threat for people on the same side of the line.
- Took a Level in Jerkass: One of his hobbies.
- The Upper Crass: Seems to be of a high-class background (like most officers of the time). He's also a boisterous, slaphappy, oblivious dolt.
- Verbal Tic: His "baahing", often interpreted as a Call-Back to his ancestor's "affection" for sheep, but according to Stephen Fry who played him, he had in mind that Melchett had haemorrhoids.
- War Is Glorious: Believes in this trope fanatically, which seems to be why he gets on rather well (Pigeon incident aside) with Blackadder due to him being a frontline soldier, and why he never even imagines he could want out of the insane nightmare. Unfortunately, this is also why he is so utterly callous and blind to the carnage and suffering of the trenches, and why he "rewards" Darling's loyal service by sending him to die on the front lines.
The George Lineage
In General
A lineage that, except for the villainous Prince Ludwig of the 16th century, is made up of men named George who are friends with the Blackadder lineage.
- Ambiguously Related: The Prince Regent's only known sexual experience was with the nieces of the Duke of Wellington. Assuming they were the Duke's nieces through blood instead of marriage, then all of the Prince's descendants are part of the Melchett lineage.
- Famous Ancestor: This family lineage includes the Prince Regent and was started by a man who pretended to be the Queen of England for decades.
- Identical Grandson: All of them are portrayed by Hugh Laurie.
- Nice Mean And In Between: The three most noticeable members of the lineage are Prince Ludwig who is the mean, Prince George who is the in-between and Lt. George who is the nice.
2nd Century
Consul Georgius
Georgius
Played by: Hugh Laurie
A Roman general who was stationed at Hadrian's Wall during the Roman occupation of Britain.
- Flat Character: Only has a few lines of dialogue. However he appears to be identical in personality to Lt. George from the 20th century.
16th Century
Simon Partridge
Simon Partridge
Played By: Hugh Laurie
Also known as Farters Parters and Mr. Ostrich, Simon Partridge is a notorious drunk invited to Lord Blackadder's drinking party.
- Ambiguous Situation: Is Partridge actually a fake identity used by Prince Ludwig, who appeared a few episodes after him and has used multiple identities to spy on his enemies such as Blackadder, or are the two related? If the latter, that might imply that Partridge is the ancestor to the other characters played by Laurie.
- Identical Stranger: Looks just like Prince Ludwig, implying that Partridge is an identity used by him or they share the same ancestor.
Prince Ludwig
Prince Ludwig the Indestructible
"We have met many times, although you knew me by another name. Do you recall a mysterious black marketeer and smuggler called Otto with whom you used to dine and plot and play the biscuit game at the Old Pizzle in Dover? Yes! I was the waitress."
Played By: Hugh Laurie
A menacing master of disguise who kidnaps Lord Blackadder and Melchett.
- Ambiguous Situation: Was Simon Partridge, who appeared a few episodes before him in a more minor role, one of his many identities or a relative of his? If it's the latter, that might imply that Ludwig isn't the ancestor to all the other characters played by Laurie.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Succeeds in killing the entire court of Elizabeth I and, apparently, successfully impersonating her for the rest of "her" reign.
- Berserk Button: Don't make fun of his complexion.
- Card-Carrying Villain: He identifies himself in letters as "The Evil Prince Ludwig".
- Disney Death: Seemingly killed by Blackadder, but obviously not successfully — there's a reason he's called the "Indestructible".
- Embarrassing Nickname: Shorty-Greasy-Spot-Spot.
- Evil Gloating: Prone to it, much to Blackadder's annoyance."Typical master criminal, loves the sound of his own voice.""Gloating is a sign of insecurity, Ludwig. Stop it."
- The Evil Prince: Bond villains should get their due.
- Freudian Excuse: He wants to take over the world because... he was bullied at school."When I am King of England, no one will ever dare call me 'Shorty-Greasy-Spot-Spot' again!"
- Funetik Aksent: He writes his ransom note in one.
- Good Hair, Evil Hair: Spots a classic villain hairdo, slicked-back hair.
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: He has long diagonal scars all over his face.
- Kaiserreich: He's the stereotypical German megalomaniac.
- Karma Houdini: Gets away with at least two counts of rape by deception, kidnapping Edmund and Melchett for ransom, killing the entire main cast and overthrowing the throne of England.
- Large Ham: Which will cause some deja vu (because of the actor) in the following season.
- Master of Disguise: Edmund actually uses this against him. Not that it makes a difference.
- Made of Iron: He's not called Prince Ludwig the Indestructible for nothing.
- No Doubt the Years Have Changed Me: Parodied, since various characters' past "interactions" with him, generally involved Ludwig disguised in a different gender and species.
- Smug Snake: To his chained captives of course. He ends up justifying it however.
- Spotting the Thread: Blackadder recognizes him because his costume is too good. (He's impersonating Nursie as a cow and makes the fatal mistake of wearing a costume that looks like a cow, rather than some sort of ungulate with three udders.)
- Vocal Dissonance: In the tag to the "Chains" episode."Now this is a disguise I'm really going to enjoy...if I can just get the voice right."
18th Century
Prince Regent George
George Augustus Frederick, The Prince Regent
"Only the other day, Prime Minister Pitt called me an 'idle scrounger,' and it wasn't until ages later that I thought how clever it would've been to have said, 'Oh, bugger off, you old fart!' I need to improve my mind, Blackadder. I want people to say, 'That George, why, he's as clever as a stick in a bucket of pig swill.'"
Played By: Hugh Laurie
The future King George IV of The House of Hanover, the current Prince Regent is a overconfident fool who is oblivious to how people actually seem him and is easily manipulated by his cunning butler.
- Angst? What Angst?: Invoked. After Amy Hardwood is hanged, he wails in dismay for about thirty seconds before he asks about breakfast.
- Cannot Tell Fiction from Reality: He believes that plays are real. There was a time that he yelled out "Look behind you, Mr. Caesar!". Then he ordered the police to arrest one actor for murdering another character.
- Casanova Wannabe: Played with; for someone who repeatedly complains about never getting any action with women, he does very little to actually try and secure it, and only even considers marriage when it becomes obvious that he needs to marry into money. When he is trying to woo Amy Hardwood, however, his attempts prove incredibly vulgar and off-putting, forcing Blackadder to step in and do the wooing on his behalf.
- Comeback Tomorrow: Subverted, given what he thinks is a clever comeback. (See the quote.)
- The Ditz: The guy is outsmarted by Baldrick and can barely make it through a day without Blackadder's help.
- Hated by All: Thanks to his stupidity and general lack of charm, no-one likes him. Even Baldrick talks smack about him behind his back. He's cheerfully oblivious to this, even when parliament openly gives him stipends so he can drink himself to death.
- Historical Beauty Update: Actually, paintings of young George aren't so bad◊ (keeping in mind that it's painted to a romantic ideal rather than a true representation of the idiosyncratic facial qualities of the person in question) but he certainly didn't look like Hugh Laurie.
- Historical Downgrade: The real George IV had many flaws, but stupidity was not one of them.
- Informed Flaw: Much is made of his supposed fatness, and while the historical Prince George was indeed quite the pig, the same can't be said for Hugh Laurie.
- Irony: His ancestor Prince Ludwig killed Elizabeth I, Lord Blackadder and Lord Melchett before pretending to be the queen for decades. He's killed by the Duke of Wellington, a possible descendant of Melchett, while Blackadder assumes his identity.
- It's All About Me: He thinks it's terrible that Blackadder is about to be murdered by the original lexicographer and his posse because he'll have to find a new butler. And when he does try to help, he spends most of the night thinking up a joke about belching rather than anything useful.
- Kind Hearted Simpleton: For all his faults, Prince George is very jovial and good natured. He isn't mean spirited, just oblivious and self-centred.
- Large Ham: HURRAH! To be expected of a pig-head after all. And the actor of Prince Ludwig.
- Manchild: One who is unable to even dress himself (at one point, it took him a week to put on his pants by himself and he STILL couldn't figure it out). He also has an incredibly juvenile sense of humor and uses the first dictionary to look up rude words.
- No Hero to His Valet: To no one, actually. Literally everyone, except his loony father, can tell what a complete moron the prince is.
- Not a Morning Person: When woken up and told it is three in the afternoon, he says, "Thank God, I thought I'd overslept."
- Pretty Boy: It's a young Hugh Laurie with make-up, Gorgeous Period Dress, big eyes and sharp cheekbones. Of course this only counts when the loudmouthed idiot isn't saying or doing anything.
- Prince Charming/Prince Charmless: Debatable. While he is a crass, dense, loudmouthed buffoon with "all the intellect of a jugged walrus and all the social graces of a potty", he has been known to have seduced a pair of bombshells once, something that cost him his life.
- Royal Brat: Even though he's a grown man, he often throws hissyfits and is totally self-absorbed.
- Sheltered Aristocrat: Literally incapable of putting on his own trousers without Blackadder's help.
- Sophisticated as Hell: Downplayed. He's obviously childish, stupid and clueless, but for someone who can't even change his own trousers (he spent an entire week trying to get them on), he's actually got quite an extensive vocabulary and can be very eloquent in his speech (when he's not talking about "sausage time" with girls or indulging in his own childish antics. He also picked up on French pretty quickly.
- Too Dumb to Live: He nearly dies when he assumes that a bomb thrown at him by an anarchist is All Part of the Show, and has to be talked out of swanking around Revolutionary France in full princely regalia. And then he provokes the Duke of Wellington into killing him for saying that he's the real prince after Blackadder survives the duel. Wellington doesn't believe him, but he's so outraged at the "insult" to the "prince" that he shoots George on the spot.
- Upper-Class Twit: And has more than a few similarities to Bertie Wooster (who was also played by Hugh Laurie), though George vastly exaggerates the "twit" part. He even provides the page image.
20th Century
Lt. George
Lt. The Hon. George Colthurst St. Barleigh, MC
"Permission for lip to wobble, sir?"
Played By: Hugh Laurie
A lieutenant in the trenches, working with Private Baldrick and Captain Blackadder.
- Boisterous Weakling: His (apparent) fearlessness is as complete as his survival skills are non-existent.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: He might be an idiot, but he survived three years in the trenches and it's worth noting that he has survived several missions, including one with Baldrick that was called "Operation: Certain Death".
- Despair Event Horizon: It's very possible he crossed this prior to the series, as the final episode shows he knows he's the last one alive from his social circle-slash-battalion. The way he says that he's scared to actually go over the top while still sporting the same cheery smile, might indicate his Stepford Smiler tendency. Which is a common symptom of going over the DEH.
- Ensign Newbie: As an Upper-Class Twit, he was given a commission automatically upon enlisting. As such, he has little experience in spite of having served alongside Blackadder and Baldrick for the last three years.
- Expy: He's Bertie Wooster at war.
- Genius Ditz: He near-enough describes himself as one in "Captain Cook", saying that painting was the only thing he was ever really good at, and he's not lying. When you can get Blackadder of all people to compliment your talent, you're doing something right (even if Blackadder tries using George's skills to his own ends).
- Hidden Depths: He's not as much of a Patriotic Fervor-filled twit as he initially seems — he's a gifted artist and ultimately admits to fear of dying in battle. Also despite said fear of dying in battle (and his near certainty that he will die in the oncoming charge) he imminently refuses to leave the trenches when Melchett offers to take him back to General Headquarters to "watch the results come in", showing just how seriously he takes the whole "King and Country" thing.
- Idiot Ball: Sees nothing wrong with detailing information on secret operations in letters to his uncle in Munich, never once considering the possibility the Germans could intercept the messages.
- Kindhearted Simpleton: Compared to his more spoiled, arrogant form in the third series, this George spends the majority of the series idealistic, selfless and undyingly loyal to Edmund, albeit just as brainless.
- Sole Survivor: In the last episode, he mentions that he joined the Army along with his friends from Cambridge, the "Trinity Tiddlers", and by then, he's the only one left alive of the group. (Which was Truth in Television. The pals battalions were a real thing, and the Great War was the last time friends joining en masse was allowed, as it led to all the youth of whole villages, towns and communities being decimated.)
- Stepford Smiler: It is very possible that his bubbly, cheery demeanor is a way of coping in the hellish war environment. The final episode reveals that he's aware he's the last one left alive from his original circle of friends, and when push comes to shove, he says he's scared, with the same cheery, bubbly smile he usually sports.
- Token Good Teammate: In a cast of schemers and backstabbers, George is remarkably loyal and selfless. Which makes him different, despite the similarities to his royal ancestor.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Prince George in the previous season is a piggish, over-sexed, arrogant and obnoxious buffoon, whereas Lt. George is more of a naive, nice, friendly young man.
- The Unintelligible: Right up there with General Melchett in speaking in hard to grasp (And possibly made-up) nonsense.George: Tally-ho, pip pip and Bernard's your uncle.Blackadder: In English we say 'Good morning'.
- Upper-Class Twit: Not as upper-class as the Prince, but has the personality down, pat.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Seems blissfully unaware of Captain Blackadder's contempt for him.
- Wham Line: In perhaps a first in television history, it actually occurs mid-line when George's bravado gives way to near panic. Any laughs from the audience for the remainder of the episode are nervous ones at best."I'm... scared, sir."
- Wholesome Crossdresser: For a drag act in a talent show. But General Melchett doesn't realize that's what it is and falls head-over-heels.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: He volunteered for the army as soon as the war began, and he wholeheartedly believes in the propaganda rag "King and Country."
The Flashheart Lineage
In General
A lineage made up of arrogant sex obsessed maniacs who at the same time are great heroes in their era.
- Deconstructed Character Archetype: Both Lord and Commander Flashheart deconstruct the heroes of their era. Robin Hood however averts this, as while his motives might be for fame and glory he's still a much better hero than his descendants.
- Nice Mean And In Between: Robin Hood is the nice, Lord Flashhear is the mean, and Commander Flashheart is the in-between.
- Identical Grandson: All are played by Rik Mayall.
12th Century
Robin Hood
Robin Hood
Played By: Rik Mayall
The famous outlaw who stole from the rich and gave to the poor with help from his Merry Men.
- Adaptational Jerkass: He's more arrogant and sex obsessed than in normal depictions.
- Famous Ancestor: He's the earliest seen member of the Flashheart lineage, predating the family name, and is all the most famous outlaw and hero to have ever lived.
- Identical Grandson: They all have the same physical features and personality traits.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Despite his flaws, he seems to genuinely care about what he does.
- Nice Mean And In Between: He might be as arrogant and sex obsessed as all his descendants, but the point is that Robin Hood does steal from the rich to give to the poor. Regardless of his motives, that makes him far better than Lord and Captain Flashheart who are violent maniacs.
16th Century
Lord Flashheart
Lord Flashheart
I've got a plan! And it's as HOT as my PANTS!
Played By: Rik Mayall
An old friend of Lord Blackadder who is famous for being The Ace.
- The Ace: His achievements are impressive.
"The best sword... the best shot... the best sailor... and the best kisser in the kingdom."
- Blasphemous Boast: "Still worshipping God? Last I heard, He started worshipping me!"
- The Casanova: Known as the best kisser in the kingdom.
-
The Cast Showoff: Rik Mayall's recollection of the role was that he asked to get more laughs in the last 3 minutes than anyone got all episode. - Dynamic Entry: Swings down from the ceiling, smashes Percy through a door, and steals Blackadder's fiancée, all in about five minutes.
- Gentleman Adventurer: He puts the man in the gentle.
- Handsome Lech: He puts the hand in the some lech.
- Large Ham: He bursts in and steals the entire episode in a single scene.
- Nice Mean And In Between: The mean, in his brief appearance he brutally keeps attacking Percy and steals the woman his friend Blackadder meant to marry despite being the best man.
- Odd Friendship: He and Blackadder are friends. How and why is never explained, and he steals Edmund's bride at the altar.
- Really Gets Around: Does he ever have breaks?
- Shrouded in Myth: Referred to as the best swordsman, the best shot and the best kisser in the kingdom.
- The Upper Crass: He's an aristocrat in Elizabethan England in season 2, then a World War I squadron leader (and still an aristocrat) in season 4. In both cases, he's a boozing, farting, womanizing bro.
- Verbal Tic: WOOF!
- Wholesome Crossdresser: Changes into Kate's wedding dress when he runs away with her.Lord Flashheart: Weird. I always feel more comfy in a dress.
20th Century
Com. "Lord" Flashheart
Squadron Com. The Lord Flashheart
"Cancel the state funeral, tell the King to stop blubbing, Flash is NOT DEAD! I simply ran out of JUICE — and before all the girls start going "Oh, what's the point of living anymore?" I'm talkin' about PETROL! WOOF WOOF!"
Played By: Rik Mayall
A Flying Ace pilot in World War I.
- The Ace: A celebrated war hero.
- Ace Pilot: In this incarnation, he's a parody of that World War I trope.
- Answers to the Name of God: "Yes, I suppose I am."
- Badass Longcoat: Wears a leather longcoat as was the style for pilots at the time.
- Blood Knight: He's one of the few people to be actually enjoying the war.
- The Casanova: He's very popular among ladies. Men too!
- Even Evil Has Standards: Isn't impressed by Darling's willingness to leave Blackadder for dead.
- Expy: Of Captain Harry Flashman, the protagonist of a series of mock-historical novels, although unlike Flashman he isn't a coward and is capable of genuine heroics (even if he's a Jerkass throughout).
- For the Lulz: He risks his life to save Blackadder and Baldrick, who he doesn't even like. Why? Just for the hell of it (though when he realises who he's rescuing, he admits he might not have come had he known).
- The Fighting Narcissist: If he could, he would stop fighting for a photo.
- Handsome Lech: He's very handsome, but is still a narcissistic jerk. Not that anyone (except Blackadder) minds.
- Hell-Bent for Leather: Young Rik Mayall was a very handsome man, and the brown leather longcoat did absolutely nothing to detract from that.
- Hidden Depths: At one point, it seems like all his behaviour is a facade and he really hates the war... and, then, nope, still a bloodthirsty maniac.
- Incoming Ham: "HEY GIRLS, LOOK AT MY MACHINERY!"
- Large Ham: He makes sure to be in the spotlight every time he opens his mouth.
- Nice Mean And In Between: He's as violent and sexist as his ancestor Lord Flashheart, and he's actually worse since he shows some homophobia, but he's the in-between since he shows some nobility and honour in rescuing Blackadder and helping him get revenge on Captain Darling for trying to leave Blackadder to die. His ancestor felt no guilt in stealing Lord Blackadder's bride, despite the two being friends and Lord Flashheart being the best man.
- Pet the Dog: As much of a vainglorious jackass as he generally is, he does happily help Blackadder get revenge on Captain Darling.
- Politically Incorrect Hero: He yells a homophobic slur at The Red Baron's corpse after shooting him.Flashheart: What a poof! Come on!
- Really Gets Around: He apparently got a lot of lovers.Flashheart: Mind if I use your phone? If word gets out I'm missing, five hundred girls will kill themselves. And I wouldn't want them on my conscience, not when they ought to be on my face!
- Talk to the Fist: "Eat knuckle, Fritz!"
- Took a Level in Kindness: Downplayed, but this Flashheart is slightly nicer than his Elizabethan counterpart — he helps George rescue Blackadder and Baldrick and gleefully helps Blackadder get revenge on Captain Darling, giving him a bloody nose, before parting with him on friendly terms.
- Verbal Tic: WOOF!
