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Character Demographics:

Fandom: Merlin
Name: Uther Pendragon
Age: 54?
Physical Appearance: Possessed of a regal bearing that befits his position, Uther nevertheless conceals, not far within, a brutal, hardened warrior. He has many scars from old battles, but it is easy to forget that he is not just an old man ruling over a castle with an iron fist. He is a refined sheath around an extremely powerful sword. He's not as conditioned as he once was, and shows it around the middle, but a body once accustomed to the life of a warlord in daily battle never loses the memory of that life. Uther has greyish, greenish blue eyes, grey hair that's battle-short and mostly vanishing, and is one of those men who is really far more attractive at 54 than he was when he was in his 30s. Believe that look is known as "distinguished".
Education: When they were very young, before their father was assassinated, Uther and Aurelius were educated by the Archbishop Guethelin. However, after their brother Constans had also been crowned king and then murdered, they fled to Lesser Britain (Brittany), where their hosts took up their education in a manner befitting princes. There, they devoted themselves to the art of war in order that they may build an army with which to return to their home and avenge themselves upon the usurper Vortigern and establish their line once more as kings.
Occupation: King of Camelot (warlord, diplomat, administrator, policy-setter). Chief babysitter.
Significant Other: None. He is alone.
Sexual Preference: Women, preferably, but when one is with one's army in the field, and there are no women about, save the pox-ridden whores shared among the common men, one's comrades-at-arms may suffice.

Character Biography:
History: During Uther's childhood, the British nations were in great upheaval. The stabilising influence of the Romans had long since waned, to be replaced by Saxon barbarism and a struggle for power. Uther's family, Roman and Norman in origin, were among those who vied for power during this time. His father, Constantine, was eventually crowned king of their part of Britain, but was assassinated only some ten years into his reign. After a brief period of uncertainty, Uther's oldest brother, Constans, then a young man, was brought out of the monastery to be crowned king. However, his brief rule was entirely manipulated by his advisor Vortigern, who ultimately plotted for a group of Picts to murder Constans in his sleep. In fact, they cut off his head and brought it to Vortigern. Uther, quite unfortunately, happened to have snuck into Constans' chamber at the time.

Scarred by this experience, Uther would carry the memory with him for the rest of his life. Uther and Aurelius fled to Lesser Britain (now Brittany) with their caretakers, where they were welcomed and raised always with the hope that they would one day return to their kingdom and reclaim the throne for their line. They grew to be fierce, strong warriors, tactically wise and single-mindedly determined. As soon as they had amassed an army, they did return to Britain and avenged themselves upon Vortigern. Aurelius was then crowned king. Together, Aurelius and Uther attempted to bring order to their part of Britain, but were thwarted from every direction by the overwhelmingly chaotic upheaval of the time. Having made an enemy of Pascentius, the King of Ireland, Aurelius was ultimately assassinated as well, this time, poisoned by a Saxon mercenary.

Uther then resolved to put an end to the bloodshed (though his methods involved a great deal more bloodshed, merely of people he didn't know), unite and stabilise his kingdom, and create a system of alliances and treaties with neighbouring kingdoms. He recognized that strength alone would not be enough to ensure his security and the security of his people; rather, diplomacy was also necessary. Those he could not conquer and hold by force, he forged treaties with. After ten arduous and battle-weary years (for many peoples he could not befriend), he was able to weave into place the final lines in his net of power and diplomacy.

One enemy he was never able to win through either tactic was Cornwall. But within that kingdom there was one who would follow Uther, and who later became his most trusted knight. His name was Tristan, and because he was unable to depose King Mark from within, he came to Uther's kingdom instead. By then, Uther had established its boundaries carefully, and within the kingdom, the people prospered. He had commissioned a new castle on the site of and around the existing but decaying castle of his fathers, and it was to this half-built castle that Tristan went, bringing his retinue and his family--his wife, Elaine; his sister, Igraine. These persons he installed at what was to be called Camelot, while he and Uther continued their campaigns abroad. Uther fell in love almost immediately with Igraine, and in the times when he was at court, wooed her. Still, Uther was not a man accustomed to passion, and he felt at odds with himself to love so deeply and demonstratively. It made him uneasy. It was Tristan who convinced him it was right to love Igraine thus, and soon he made her his queen.

But, unbeknownst to them, Igraine was unable to bear a child, and this would prove to be her fatal flaw. For Uther, as king of Camelot and last of his line, the only brother to survive the difficult times of his childhood, must produce an heir. Too, he found he yearned for a child, as he learned when his niece, Morgana was born. If Uther's passion for Igraine, for the way Igraine had quickly become his very heart and soul, caused him to feel that he was disordered within himself, Morgana inspired in Uther a love that felt whole, content, calm. When Morgana could not be comforted in the night, and Uther was sleepless for his dreams of Constans' head, he would take her and walk with her through the now-completed castle. Uther's love for Igraine was a desperate one, as though he would be hollow in her absence. His love for Morgana required only itself.

Yet to protect his kingdom, send Tristan to a castle on the borderland he must, and send Tristan to these far reaches he did. With his best friend and the child gone, Uther felt all the more keenly his need for an heir. A son, or even a daughter, would be all he needed to complete his life's work, but a son or daughter would be crucial to the completion of his life's work. But even when Igraine once conceived, the babe died in her womb. In the end, this need became a desperation, and in secret, sought out a person from his youth, the sorceress Nimueh. He brought her to his court and entreated her to help him and Igraine to conceive. This she did, although she warned Uther that a price must always be paid for such powerful magic. Gaius, Uther's trusted physician, too, advised Uther against turning to magic in a case such as this. Uther would not heed.

Soon, Igraine was with child, all seemed well, and Uther was overjoyed. The northern campaign had been completed, and he had brought Tristan and his family back to Camelot meanwhile, and the entire castle was filled with merriment. But in the spring, Elaine died of a sickness she had contracted while in the north, and Tristan was bereft. Then, as though misfortune must follow misfortune, Igraine died in giving birth to Uther's son. Uther's grief could not be expressed, could hardly be acknowledged even to himself, and his stoicism enraged a Tristan already half-mad with his own grief. Believing that Gaius had advised Uther against risking Igraine's life, rather than against magic itself, and that Uther was to blame for Igraine's death, he demanded satisfaction, and was given it when Uther defeated him in single combat to the death.

In truth, Uther, too, was filled with rage and sorrow at the death of his wife, and believed the fault to be Nimueh's, that she had known how very terrible the price would be, and that it had been her design to use evil, black sorcery to kill Uther's wife and cripple his rule. He launched upon a swift and brutal crusade against those who practiced magic. Perhaps he believed that all magic held within it the potential for evil. Igraine's death had revealed to him the great danger in such power available to only a few, seemingly dispersed at random among the people, high or low born. In retribution, out of anguish, because of the wound in his heart where his love for Igraine had once been, he eradicated magic from his kingdom, burning its practitioners and apparatuses en masse until the enceinte wall of Camelot was black and greasy with smoke. Magic, all too quickly, was gone, and laws established outlawying magic at pain of death. Because it was Uther's wish that even signs of the massacre be suppressed and forgotten quickly, an uncertain calm settled over the kingdom, broken but carefully pieced back together to appear as though it never had.

Uther was left to raise both his son, Arthur, and Morgana, having made a promise to Tristan long ago to serve as her guardian. Each child grew to be difficult in its own way. At times, Uther was overwhelmed with gratitude to have these children, to comfort him in his lonely, difficult position. At others, he could not look at them, especially at Arthur, for the memory of his past and the knowledge of the price exacted. Uther spoiled Morgana, who more and more resembled her father and aunt as she grew, and cultivated Arthur for his eventual ascension to the throne. Under Uther's careful balancing of treaties and campaigns, Camelot throve and those within the kingdom lived prosperous, comfortable lives. Yet after so many years, Uther knows that he is weary, and sad, and cannot sustain the vigilance necessary to preserve Camelot and protect her from those who would desire her riches. He is old, but his son still seems impossibly young, and naïve, and not at all prepared for the enormous and sisyphean task of ruling Camelot, no matter how much Uther guides him and places him in positions of authority.

Personality in seven words or less: Stoic, obdurate, determined, dutiful, powerful, obsessive, melancholy.
How Others Perceive Your Character: To others, Uther may seem cold and harsh. Although it is clear he loves his people, he is intractable on some issues, and this puts him at odds with many of them. Yet they love him because he brought peace and prosperity to the kingdom; mix this love with the fear they have of his power and severity, and the result is an effective king. He is fair on those issues in which he is disinterested. Taken outside of his context, Uther may be an entirely different creature. Although he recognises his own flaws, he is often unable to correct them. He is reserved and keeps his own counsel. He is strong, honorable, and a formidable opponent. He appears civilised but has something of the savage inside. This may make him unnerving. He broods. He will not adapt easily to an alien place.
Beliefs, Convictions, Morals: Sorcery is evil because that sort of power contains inherent temptations. One must bear one's burden and shoulder one's responsibility uncomplainingly and unstintingly. One must also have conviction and honor in balance. The world is a difficult, brutal place, in which the price of civilised existence and peaceful prosperity is constant vigilance on the part of those who rule. Children and subjects do not understand niceties. They must be ruled with an iron fist, firm, unflinching--don't let them see your fear. Once one sets one's course, one must not veer from it for fear of appearing weak.
Reason(s) for Escaping to Canada: Arthur and his servant had disappeared. Gaius believed it must be sorcery, and had discovered her sign in the castle. Only Nimueh could be behind such a disappearance. Although Uther had been unwilling to entertain that possibility, Morgana convinced him. They set off on horseback to seek out and confront Nimueh. Alas, her trickery proved too great, and in the heat of the engagement, Morgana vanished and Uther was thrown from his steed. He wandered the forest in a haze of pain. Sometime later, it became evident that he was no longer in Camelot.
Their DHAs [Dreams, Hopes, and Aspirations] for Canada: Regroup with Morgana. Find Arthur. And that boy. Figure out how to return to Camelot and defeat Nimueh once and for all.

Twenty-Questions for the Character:

1. What turns them on: Black-haired girls. Security. The slice through the air of a well-balanced weapon in defense of one's home.
2. What turns them off: Sorcery. Deceit. Treason.
3. Would they see a shrink: A what?
4. Worst Childhood experience: Seeing my brother Constans get his head cut off by the Picts when I was nine or so (thus causing my other brother Aurelius and me to flee to Lesser Britain until we were old enough to create our own army against Vortigern).
5. Favorite Film: I have no favorite membrane. 'Tis a strange thing for which to have a favorite. Is this some sort of bawdy joke?
6. Favorite Song: [It would be "Jerusalem", but he far predates that song.] There was a song I learnt as a child in Lesser Britain--the one who sang it called himself a trouvère. But it didn't have a name. I'm also rather fond of the new style of song with more than one note at a time. What do they call it? Organum?
7. Favorite Word: [Again, if they had had that phrase in his time it would be Noblesse oblige.] Duty. Although it isn't so much my favourite as it is the word I think most necessary.
8. Least Favorite Word: Magic.
9. Favorite Curse Word: I would never wish to curse anyone.
10. Best gift ever received: There was a sword...but it vanished. Most of the things I most value I fought for and won for myself. Camelot, peace, an heir. When Morgana was a child, and we distracted one another from our grief, I thought of her as a gift, the gift, as a matter of fact, that saved me.
11. Sound or Noise they hate: Dragon claws against slate.
12. Sound or Noise they love: The everyday noises of a prosperous Camelot. My people, thriving.
13. Do they know the answer to 64 million dollar question: What is a dollar?
14. [Complete the sentence] ... All the world's a stage... and the nobility are its leading characters. The many watch the few.
15. Did Yoko Ono really break up the Fab Four: *frowns*
16. Chuck Norris or Bruce Lee: Are these words of magic?
17. Half full or half empty: The water bucket must constantly be refilled, from some deep reserve within.
18. Coke or Pepsi: They tell me these are libations. Mead.
19. If they were a Jellybean flavor, which one: Bean jelly sounds repulsive. Only Saxons would consume such barbaric fare. I prefer mint.
20. And, finally, if Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates? Welcome, Uther. You have left your kingdom in good hands. Now you may rest.

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