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Character Name: Arthur Pendragon
Fandom: Merlin
Age: 21
Species: Human
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Arthur is often so busy with his princely duties that thoughts of sex don't occur to him except perhaps during his manly exchanges with the other knights. One would therefore assume because of said manliness that he is more or less straight-- if you ignore the rather questionable relationship he has with his servant.
Physical Appearance:
One | Two | Three
As the sole heir of King Uther, it is not surprising for him to look the part. Arthur is tall, broad-shouldered and muscular since, according to him, he's "been trained to kill since birth". He possesses the dashing goods looks of the well-bred all the way to his chiseled jaw and high cheekbones. His blond hair meanwhile is kept neatly groomed (unless he's been training, battling or hunting, of course) while his eyes are a bright, lighter shade of blue. On the flip side Arthur can show some slightly less-than-dazzling traits; his smile may be worth a look, true, but he is just as prone to sneering, lip upraised, and childish pouts as he is to being your run of the mill handsome prince.
His clothing is naturally made of the best dyes and materials in Camelot. During less formal occasions he'll wear a plain tunic and breeches, with a leather-lined jacket depending on the weather, along with a variety of leather boots. Typically he favours dressing in reds and golds, though he'll also wear shades of blacks and browns, especially if he's out hunting or needs, for whatever reason, to be incognito. During formal occasions meanwhile he'll dress in Camelot's red cape with gold brooches, often adorning a rather plain gold crown. Lastly, Arthur will wear chain mail and armour - with or without a helmet - during practice, tournaments or in battle.
Personality and Traits:
Arthur is perceived as overbearing, conceited and considered a "royal prat" by those who don't know him (and in some cases by those who do). He is unafraid of letting people know of his place as the son of the king, even throwing Merlin in jail when they first met for telling Arthur off upon witnessing him bullying one of his servants. It might become clear however that he's only putting up a hard, arrogant front to hide the kind soul he holds within. He'll refuse to admit to having any form of these weaknesses, emotional or physical, because he can't appear vulnerable in the eyes of his kingdom.
On that note, Arthur believes himself to be a big disappointment to his father. Uther criticizes and controls him in nearly everything he does, and Arthur would obey most of his orders if not for his own growing ideals on morality. He's deigned to defy his tyrannical father more than once when he thought his choices unjust. This does not mean he's nothing like King Uther; Arthur shares the same willful, stubborn streak along with an inability to react rationally when his honour or skills are at stake. Uther has in fact drilled it into Arthur's head that all magic is evil, without exception-- anyone using it is destined for death by fire or beheading. For the most part Arthur seems to agree with this stance, but it's likely he just agrees to placate his father. He has, for example, shown mercy to a young druid boy since he was a mere child who had yet to harm a single fly.
Arthur thus cares deeply for the good of Camelot, sometimes more so than the current king, to the point of risking his life for both Merlin, a common peasant, and for his people. Through the trials life has given him Arthur is learning what it means to be a truly devoted and noble leader, without the same blind, vengeful ruling as King Uther. He's still prone to bouts of immaturity and doubt, definitely, but he's finally starting to understand when to see past his pride to save the day.
Canon Background: (tl;dr basically because I decided to recap almost every episode in detail. 8D;)
Arthur's tale begins in many ways before he was even born. His mother, Igraine, was barren and unable to conceive an heir to the kingdom. But magic was not outlawed in those days, so Uther and Igraine begged their court sorceress and close friend Nimueh to use her powers to give them a son. Eventually she assented. Igraine became pregnant only to die during Arthur's birth, since it is evidently only possible to create life when another is destroyed. King Uther would not have made this choice if it meant the loss of his beloved wife; blaming magic for her death, he banished Nimueh from the kingdom and took to executing anyone of her kind. Currently, only Uther, Nimueh and the court physician Gaius are aware of the consequences of Arthur's birth as Uther has sworn them all to secrecy.
Arthur therefore grew up like any only child belonging to royalty, being trained from youth how to be both a knight and king. Life took a significant turn when at twenty he met Merlin, a boy who'd been taken under the care of Gaius. There was and still is something about Merlin he can't quite put his finger on. The two fought many a time until a witch whose son Uther had had executed sought revenge by trying to kill his son in turn, only to be stopped by Merlin, who, much to Arthur's chagrin, saved Arthur's life. Uther's reward for this was to give Merlin the task of serving under Arthur as his manservant.
Soon the annual sword-fighting tournament arrived, with the prize of one thousand gold pieces to whoever won against the reigning champion-- Arthur. Merlin, however, discovered that one of his opponents, Knight Valiant, was plotting to kill him using a magic shield; one with a snake crest that could come alive when called upon. Though Merlin proved to Arthur that it was indeed true, when they went to Uther with such information their only witness died from a snakebite and Arthur was made to look a coward instead. He sacked Merlin out of anger. During the battle the next day, through the help of Merlin's own magic (though Arthur wasn't aware of it) the snakes came to life on their shield when the knight had not ordered them to. His schemes were revealed to be true, and after an intense battle, and a little assistance from his father's ward, Morgana, Arthur killed Valiant. At that night's victory feast Arthur then apologized to Merlin and reinstated him as his servant.
Eventually a mysterious epidemic befell the kingdom, causing many of Camelot's people to die. It was found out the plague was being caused by sorcery through the city's water source, so the guards along with Arthur were sent out to look for the culprit. Soon Morgana's maidservant, Gwen, ran to the castle, extremely upset, for her father had contracted the disease. A day or two later he was mysteriously healed, a magical poultice found under his pillow. Gwen was arrested for using witchcraft, though it was all Merlin's doing for trying to help. The servant admitted to using magic to keep Gwen from being executed, but Arthur cut in saying Merlin was only in love with the maidservant and was stupidly telling lies to keep her out of trouble. Afterwards, together with Merlin and Morgana, Arthur headed to the underground vaults to investigate. They found a creature called an Afanc - the source of the illness - which Arthur killed using fire alongside the clandestine magic of Merlin. When Gaius presented the remains of the egg the Afanc had hatched from to Uther they found the etchings of Nimueh's sigil upon it. Uther released Gwen from her imprisonment, realizing the true perpetrator would never stop haunting him.
In a plot against Merlin for ruining her previous schemes, Nimueh posed as a serving maid during a celebration of the union between Mercia and Camelot. She warned Merlin that King Bayard was planning to poison Arthur, knowing Merlin would end up having to drink from the chalice in Arthur's stead. He became deathly sick with a magical ailment after drinking from the chalice and Nimueh fled the castle. Following Gaius's instructions, very much against his father's orders, Arthur left on a journey to find a cure in the form of the leaves from a mortaeus flower. Once in the forest where the plant could be found, he met with Nimueh posing as a maiden abused and abandoned by her master. He believed her tale, letting her lead him to the mortaeus flower after killing the cockatrice guarding the cave where they could be found. Once inside the cavern Arthur stood on a cliff over a deep chasm, where the flowers could be seen on the opposite wall. Nimueh used her magic to make the cliff crack and fall, forcing Arthur to jump to the other side where giant spiders began to gather around him. Nimueh departed, leaving Arthur alone to die.
But it seemed he was being looked after by an unseen force. Merlin was using magic in his sleep, miles away, to guide Arthur out of the cave with an orb of light. Arthur grabbed the morteaus flower, climbing up after the light towards the exit with spiders chasing after him. He then departed safely back to Camelot. Once Arthur got back, his father threw him in prison for disobeying him. When Arthur attempted to get Uther to bring the flower to Gaius he merely crushed the flower in his palm, dropping it outside his cell. Arthur reached through the bars to get it back; when Gwen visited him under the guise of bringing him dinner she managed to sneak the flower out with his dish. Merlin was then revived thanks to Arthur's bravery. Gaius revealed to Uther that Nimueh was behind the poisoned goblet and the nearing war between Mercia and Camelot was avoided. Uther released Arthur from prison, telling him that the woman he met was Nimueh. He restated once again how all magic is meant only for harm.
The next dilemma came in the shape of a griffin who feasted on the flesh of humans. Along with it came a man whose dream was to be a knight of Camelot, who went by the name Lancelot (please pardon the rhyme). After reaching his dream with the help of Merlin, it was found out he had forged his letter of nobility. Lancelot was imprisoned, as nobility was a requirement to show one's loyalty to the kingdom and to go against that law was a sign of disloyalty. Meanwhile more people were being taken by the griffin, Arthur fighting against it to no avail. He freed Lancelot during the confusion, telling him never to return to Camelot before he went back to battle the griffin a second time. He lost once more and was knocked unconscious while the other knights suffered worse fates. When he awoke he found that Lancelot had appeared and succeeded in destroying the griffin. Arthur promptly went to his father to request that Lancelot be rewarded by becoming his knight again, but during their heated argument Lancelot burst in saying he could not come between father and son. He departed with the promise to come back when he felt he'd earned being a true knight of Camelot. It was, of course, Merlin who had helped Lancelot with his magic to kill the griffin-- he therefore thought he didn't deserve any of their kindness.
Morgana then fell suddenly ill with an inflammation of the brain. No cure seemed imminent until a man with scars on his face who called himself Edwin showed up at the castle gates claiming he had a remedy to cure all ills. Arthur turned him away; the man said he'd be at the inn if he changed his mind. Soon Morgana was only hours away from death; desperate to save her, Arthur sent for Edwin, who managed to heal her-- though it was really his magic that both made her sick and caused her to be healthy again. It was in the end a ploy to remove Gaius from his position as physician and kill King Uther for the murder of his sorcerer parents. After Edwin took Gaius's place he gave Uther the same illness as Morgana by inserting a magic beetle into his ear. With the joint efforts of Merlin and Gaius the two managed to kill Edwin and remove the beetle before it could devour Uther's brain from inside. Thinking Gaius his hero when it was in fact Merlin's magic, Uther revoked Gaius's retirement and made him a freeman of Camelot.
Out hunting with Merlin one day, the two came across a man and his daughter being attacked by robbers. He rescued them from harm, taking them to the castle where Uther told them to stay with them a while before continuing on their travels. Arthur was smitten by the daughter, Sophia, whom he went for a walk with in the woods the next day. In truth Sophia and her father Aulfric were Sidhe who'd been banished from Avalon. They planned on killing a mortal prince to get back to their immortal world. Morgana warned Arthur to be careful with Sophia, as she had a prophetic dream in which Sophia let Arthur drown, but Arthur took it for jealousy. He brushed her off only to be brainwashed by the Sidhe soon afterwards; he requested to be wed to her, but Uther refused to allow it saying Arthur was too young. The two Sidhe ended up taking Arthur during the night. The sacrifice nearly succeeded, Arthur allowing himself to be pushed under the lake's surface until Merlin destroyed both of the Sidhe using Sophia's staff. He then rescued Arthur from drowning. Arthur awoke in his bed, all memories of the past few days forgotten. Merlin and Gaius told him that he'd eloped with Sophia and that Merlin had knocked him out with a lump of wood to bring him back to Camelot. Arthur was horrified by the news that Merlin could overpower him and that he'd tried to marry Sophia, so he forced them both never to tell a soul.
Rumors of a young druid being loose in Camelot arose. Uther ordered the child executed, and thus a hunt began that Arthur was forced to lead, rather against his will since he knew the druids were a peaceful race. The search lasted days, until the Lady Morgana was found trying to escape with the boy-- she'd been hiding him in her room all along. He was promptly thrown into prison and Morgana was punished. But after talking with Morgana and Merlin about it, Arthur agreed to help them give the child back to his people. While Morgana supped with the king, Arthur led the boy through the tunnels under the castle while Merlin, late, broke the grate from the exit. Arthur got the boy safely to his people, and when they turned to leave he asked for his name. "My name is Mordred," he replied, speaking for the first time. Arthur wished him luck and bade him farewell.
At his twenty-first birthday Arthur was at last made Crown Prince of Camelot. The celebrations were interrupted, however, by the wraith of his mother's brother, Tristan, seeking revenge for the death of his sister. He dropped his gauntlet in challenge, which was accepted by the knight Sir Owain. But even after giving the wraith a deadly blow it seemed to have no effect on him and the knight was killed. Sir Pellinore took up the next challenge only to meet the same fate as Sir Owain. Angered by the loss of two of his best knights, Arthur rose to fight Tristan the next day. King Uther and Merlin urged Arthur to back out, knowing the wraith would rest if it defeated Uther alone. Arthur refused to back down. He was drugged by Gaius that night at the request of Uther, which forced him to sleep past the scheduled battle. King Uther then defeated Tristan using a magic sword Merlin had intended only for Arthur to use: Excalibur. Arthur confronted Uther after the fight, but Uther explained that he couldn't let the most precious thing to him to die. This surprised Arthur, who had always thought himself a disappointment.
Merlin's mother, Hunith, turned up in Camelot with a bruise over her eye one afternoon. She begged the king for assistance, as their town of Ealdor was having nearly all their crops stolen by a band of raiders led by a man called Kanan. Uther refused to send an army, thinking it would spell war for the nation. Merlin decided to go to Ealdor with his mother to see what he could do to help, Gwen and Morgana following after him. Arthur chose to catch up with them in the night. Once there, Arthur trained the townspeople for battle, much to the annoyance of Merlin's childhood friend William who did not want to lose anyone in a fight they couldn't win. Eventually Merlin told him William distrusted nobility ever since his father was killed under service of the king, and Arthur confessed that he didn't have much faith in the villagers' ability to win the fight. Merlin convinced him that if he didn't have faith in them, they would know, so Arthur kept up his training until the day of the battle, even allowing the women to fight.
When it seemed Ealdor was losing, Arthur witnessed Merlin and William standing together, one of them creating a whirlwind that sent the raiders fleeing. Kanan was the only man left, but Arthur defeated him in a duel. Once he turned his back to ask who had used magic, Kanan attempted to shoot Arthur with a crossbow only to have William push him aside, taking a bow to the heart in the prince's stead. Dying, William lied, telling Arthur it was him who had used magic. Arthur left then to let Merlin be alone during his best friend's last few minutes. During William's funeral Arthur expressed how upset he was that Merlin didn't tell him of something so dangerous as his friend being a warlock. Arthur, Merlin, Gwen and Morgana then left that same day, Ealdor at peace once again.
On another of Arthur's hunts Arthur came across a unicorn, killing it. Triumphant despite Merlin's grief, Arthur presented the rare horn to his father. A day later the crops died for an inexplicable reason, causing the kingdom to fall into chaos. To make matters worse all drinking water turned into sand. To keep looters at bay a curfew was made, and Arthur and Merlin spotted someone outside who shouldn't have been. They followed after him. The man introduced himself as Anhora, keeper of the unicorns; Arthur accused the man of wrecking the plague on Camelot, but Anhora explained that it was Arthur's doing for killing the unicorn and unleashing a curse onto his kingdom.
Initially he refused to believe Anhora's warning, but after Merlin told him he saw Anhora the day he killed the unicorn he began to feel differently. The next night Arthur and Merlin waited in the grain storage, hoping to catch the curse in action but instead they came upon a farmer stealing grain for his starving family. Arthur let him off even though all looters were to be executed, giving him a bag of grain. The farmer thanked him, saying that his kindness would bring its own reward. The next day the water returned to Camelot. In the hopes of finding Anhora, Arthur went to the forest where he'd slain the unicorn only to meet the farmer from the previous day, who was actually a thief. He provoked Arthur by calling him unworthy, and defending his pride Arthur tried to kill him. The man disappeared, turning instead to Anhora who told him that the kingdom would suffer because he was willing to kill a man out of pride.
Merlin, desperate to save the kingdom from starvation, went to Anhora to request another test. He told him to go to the Labyrinth of Gedref; Arthur headed there on his own, only to find Merlin captured at the end of the maze. He'd followed him there to look out for him only to be taken and used for the test. The test was this: there were two goblets, one with a harmless liquid, the other with a deadly poison. They could each only drink from a single goblet. Merlin was willing to sacrifice himself for his king, but Arthur, knowing he had to drink the poison, wouldn't allow it. Once Merlin figured out that they could pour all the liquid into one goblet Arthur distracted him and did just that, collapsing immediately after downing it all. As it turned out, it was not poison, but a sleeping draught. The curse was lifted from Camelot, for once the slayer of a unicorn proved he was pure of heart, the unicorn would live again.
Eventually many misfortunes befell Camelot. For one, Gwen's father was executed for unknowingly assisting an alchemist who was plotting against the king. Secondly, a Questing Beast appeared as an omen of great upheaval-- it bit Arthur, causing him to fall incurably ill. Merlin, however, went to the Isle of the Blessed to give his life to Nimueh in exchange for Arthur's. Instead, since Merlin had Gaius's rabbit's foot in his possession, his mother was the one who nearly died had Merlin not gone back to fight against and kill Nimueh. In the end, harmony was more or less brought back to Camelot-- for the time being. And as usual, Arthur was left in the dark regarding any of the magic that took place to keep him alive.
Strengths/Abilities:
Arthur has no qualms boasting about his knightly expertise. He is the Leader of the Knights of Camelot and their current champion; as such, he is an expert in swordplay, mace and flail work, and with spears, with the skills to no doubt lead a cavalry in an army if the need arose. He's also very agile, especially against enemies who are bigger and slower than him, and proficient at hunting game-- meaning he's fairly good at handling a crossbow, too.
Other strengths not included in the field of physical prowess are his bravery and loyalty when protecting those he's close to; he's willing to go to great lengths to save them, uncaring even when it comes to his own well-being. Arthur's slowly becoming the fair, just king he's destined to be, already capable of boosting morale through mere speeches given to his comrades on the brink of battle. He also shares a sort of mental bond with Merlin, though nothing beyond being able to sense occasionally when he's in danger.
Weaknesses/Faults:
Though he's improving at seeing others more as equals by now, Arthur can still let his standing as the future king overlook the needs of those he might deem less important than himself. Such arrogance can give him enemies even though typically he means well. Because of said high-and-mighty attitude he may also take up challenges he only thinks himself capable of handling, such as sword fights against beasts that can be killed by magic alone, or against an enemy who cannot die.
Arthur is also conflicted between whether he should be who his father wants him to be or who he's meant to be; the good king who will unite the lands of Albion. Sometimes he will default to being his father's son if he knows being anyone else is risky, which isn't a desirable thing considering the oppressive footsteps he'd be following in.
He's pretty lacking in supernatural abilities, which may be considered a weakness as well.
Items Brought With Them (anything aside from the clothes on their back):
Nothing but the sword and scabbard at his belt, which he had before arriving.