Editing Arthurian Mythos (section)

==Other Key Characters==
* Merlin - Arthur's closest ally and indirectly responsible for Arthur's birth, is frequently depicted as a mysterious wizard whom the normal laws of reality don't apply to; in some versions, he's said to actually experience time backwards. In others, he's the son of a mortal woman and an incubus that raped her, but he was baptized shortly after he was born and thus was protected from Hell while retaining supernatural powers like prophecy and shapeshifting. Merlin is believed to the the combination of two different characters; a Welsh prophet named "Myrddin Wyllt" (whose name basically sounds like "shit" in French, so they renamed him), and a Britannic warlord named "Ambrosius Aurelianus", who was brother to Uther Pendragon. Merlin helps Arthur become king and build Camelot, but is eventually magically imprisoned by his lover (either the Lady of the Lake or Morgan le Fey). His disappearance coincides with Camelot's decline, as without his wise council, Mordred is able to set himself up for his eventual coup.
* Uther Pendragon - Father of Arthur; most stories that involve him mainly include his affair with Igraine, but his backstory also sets up a lot for the background of the setting; After Uther's father, King Constantine, died, the throne was usurped by his advisor Vortigern. Vortigern is infamous not only for his betrayal and overall tyranny, but also for inviting the Saxons to help him fight off the Picts - and the Saxons never left. Uther has to fight both to retake the throne and drive the Saxons out; while able to retake the throne, his betrayal of Gorlois of Cornwall begets his downfall, and he's never able to fully drive the Saxons out.
* Guinevere - daughter of King Leodegrance of Cameliard, and wife of Arthur. The most common depiction of her is that she married Arthur with sincere intentions (though its clear from the start that hers is a political marriage), but was swept away by her feelings for Lancelot; originally in a chaste "courtly love," but later as an actual affair when courtly love fell out of favor. Even earlier than that, however, one early depiction shows her as a willing consort of Mordred and taking part in his uprising against Arthur. Other times Guinevere and Arthur are portrayed as mutually unfaithful, or that Arthur goes to the extreme of sentencing her to be burned at the stake (only for Arthur to later release her, where she disappears into a convent). Regardless, Guinevere almost never has a completely happy ending - in part due to Arthur dying before they can return to being husband and wife - but many stories try to at least give her a fair shake and a chance at redemption after the affair.
* Lady of the Lake - best known as the mysterious magical being who gives Arthur Excaliber, and retrieves it from Bedivere after Arthur's defeat. She also raised an orphaned Lancelot, and is one of the Holy Women who takes Arthur to Avalon. She is sometimes given the name Nimue or Vivian. She sometimes takes the place of Merlin's student and lover and imprisoned him; there's sometimes a contrast between these two roles however; in that the Lady of the Lake who gives Excaliber and raises Lancelot is already a supernatural being, whereas Merlin's lover is his student and has to learn magic from him. As a result, tellings that include both the Lady giving Excaliber and Merlin's lover imprisoning him keep the two roles as separate characters.
* Morgan Le Fay - Arthur's half-sister by Igraine. She's a powerful enchantress, some stories make her an outright villain, some make her more ambiguous (which is common for many magical creatures in ancient lore), others have her recant her ways and retire to a convent. Sometimes she's an apprentice of Merlin, and is later the one to imprison him. As mentioned earlier, her being Arthur's half sister and siring Mordred through her brother is a later invention when she was combined with the character Morgausse, as a way to increase her antagonistic role and make her treachery more personal. Morgan also has a hatred for Guinevere and is involved in plots against her specifically. She rules over the Vale of No Return, a magical forest where she exiles her knight lovers who disappoint her.
* The Green Knight - featured prominently in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as the titular antagonist. The Green Knight has its origins in medieval legends as a pagan-inspired nature spirit of sorts; in the story, the Green Knight  challenges the Knights of the Round Table to strike him with a blow, if they promise to receive the same blow one year later. After Gawain decapitates the Green Knight, the knight picks his head back up an reattaches it, reminding Gawain to fulfill his vow. Gawain travels to the home of Bertilak de Hautedesert, who tests Gawain's knighthood through loyalty, chastity (basically throwing his wife at Gawain) and courage (offering a magic sash that would protect him from harm, aka the beheading he's supposed to get). By the time Gawain must face the Green Knight, the Knight only nicks Gawain in the back of the neck and reveals himself to be Bertilak, saying that Morgan le Fay had him show up in Camelot primarily to scare Guinevere, he had no real intention to harm Gawain. Gawain returns home embarrassed but is welcomed back by the other knights.
* The Fisher King - Ruler of a lost kingdom and the owner of the Holy Grail. The Fisher King's realm is dying, and is implied to be a direct result of him receiving a wound to his groin (interpreted as his infertility leaving the realm without an heir, or else some sexual sin has cast a shadow over his legitimacy as king). The Fisher King tests whoever comes to his Kingdom before he reveals the Grail; the winner of the Grail will either inherit his kingdom or go to heaven (depending on the story).