The Once and Future King Characters

Most of the story throughout the four books features our main man: King Arthur. He's either directly involved in the action, or is the backdrop against which other significant events happen (for ex...

This French knight is Arthur's right-hand man… and also the illicit lover of his not-so-blushing bride. He's also the Bestest Knight Ever, and can really bring it when it comes to jousting and to...

Guenever is the daughter of King Leodegrance, and brings the Round Table with her as a marriage gift. So, in a way, she's partially responsible for the brotherhood of knights. This is fitting, beca...

This guy is like a cross between Obi Wan Kenobi and the crazy Doc from Back to the Future. He's super-wise, but he's pretty batty because he's confused by his own life's timeline. Merlyn literally...

Also known as The Gawains, the Orkney clan of Dunlothian is related to Arthur through Igraine (Arthur's mom, and Morgause's sister). So, Gawain, Agravaine, Gaheris, Gareth, and Mordred are Arthur's...

Gawain is the oldest of the G-boys. Red-haired, big, brawny, and hot-tempered, you can't get much more stereotypically Scottish than this laddie. In fact, he flaunts his stereotype, and beefs up hi...

Mordred (the baby of the family) is the main villain of the novels. He's Arthur's son and nephew, the ill-fated spawn of an accidental incestuous fling between Arthur and his half-sister. From the...

Agravaine is the second oldest of the Gawains. His defining trait? He's a bully. Straight up. Come on: his name sounds like "aggro" and "vain" smashed together.He's dishonest and scared of pain, bu...

Gareth is the second-youngest brother, but his bro Gawain refers to him (when he's practically a middle-aged man) as "our wee little brother" (C.8.304). Not a lot of respect going on here.As a chil...

The books seem the least interested in Gaheris, who is the oldest G-boy. We pretty much only know that he's "stolid" and quiet (Q.7.16), "dull" (K.41.4), and "a bit of a fool" (C.2.3). He's not blo...

Morgause is the self-absorbed, narcissistic, self-indulgent Queen of Lothian and Orkney. She's married to Lot (until he's offed by Pellinore), and is the mother of the G-boys. She's also a sort of...

Kay is Ector's son, and Arthur's foster brother. The book describes him as "clever, quick, proud and ambitious" (S.4.31), and this is certainly the case when he quickly decides to take credit for d...

And then there's this guy. Galahad. In some of White's source material, he's referred to as Galahad the Hawté Prince. Yeah, he's probably hawt, but here "hawté" means "high" or "haughty." And the...

Pellinore is one of the characters (along with Sir Palomides and Sir Grummore) that give some (often much needed) comic relief in the novels. His constant mission of finding the Questing Beast and...

Elaine (not to be confused with Elaine, Lancelot's mother, or Elaine, Arthur's sister) is King Pelles' daughter. Described as child-like and guileless, she is locked up for five years while being p...

This Scottish "saint" is a sort of Merlyn-lite for the G-boys. He's a kind of heretic, drinks copiously, and ends up breaking his vows of chastity and marries Mother Morlan. St. Toirdealbhach makes...

This is the only one in the fam who takes Lance seriously. He's a genius when it comes to armor and swordsmanship (although Lancelot ends up surpassing him). Uncle Dap is described as "a genuine ma...

Lancelot's cousin is called "a misogynist" (K.15.1) and a "woman-hater" (K.39.12) many times by the narrator. One of the women he seems to hate is Guenever. When she is distraught over being accuse...

This guy is Lancelot's other cousin. He doesn't go in for morals like many of his family members do. In fact, this guy flat out laments that "Morals seem to run in my family" (K.29.5). His experien...

This "cockney knight" kidnaps Guenever because he's in love with her. He's basically a plot device to get Guen and Lance back together after Lancelot gets all holy and refuses to get in on with the...

Another one of the Famous Cornwall Sisters, Morgan is Morgause's sister (and Arthur's aunt). She's a fairy, or maybe just an enchantress; the upshot is she's an enigma—no one really knows what sh...