List of Merlin characters
This is a list of characters in the BBC fantasy drama television series Merlin.
''Note: All characters, including main and recurring characters, are listed in alphabetical order by their first name.''
A
Aglain
Aglain is a Druid man who resides in the Forest of Acestir. In the second-season episode, "The Nightmare Begins", he, with the assistance of Mordred, rescued Morgana from a group of serkets and later healed the injury she sustained from one of the creatures. While she resided with him and his fellow Druids, Aglain encouraged Morgana not to fear herself and her emerging abilities, telling her that magic was not evil and not something Uther should hate. When Arthur and his knights arrived in pursuit of Morgana, whom they thought had been kidnapped by the Druids, Aglain tried to help Morgana and Mordred flee with his people. However, in the process, he was shot dead by one of Arthur's men.Agravaine de Bois
Agravaine de Bois was the brother of Ygraine and Tristan de Bois and the uncle of Arthur, who appeared in the fourth season. Though he was supposedly in Camelot to act as an advisor to Arthur, Agravaine was really there to help Morgana in her attempts to seize the throne. Holding Uther responsible for the deaths of his siblings, Agravaine placed a charmed necklace on the dying Uther's neck in "The Wicked Day" that would ultimately be responsible for the king's death in that episode.Throughout the fourth season, Agravaine influences Arthur heavily in matters of state, even encouraging the young king to go against his instincts and wishes, such as killing the king of another kingdom who had been raiding inside Camelot's borders and distancing himself from Gwen in the episode, "His Father's Son." However, Morgana often has doubts about Agravaine's abilities throughout Season 4 and is often seen threatening him and he in return attempts to pacify her and assure Morgana of his abilities. Agravaine kept his cover as a seemingly loyal kinsman to Arthur until the penultimate episode, "The Sword and the Stone, Part One," when he cleared the way for Morgana and the warlord, Helios, to invade Camelot, even joining in the fighting during the battle. After Camelot was secured, Agravaine led a group of warriors in pursuit of Arthur and Merlin, who were fleeing to Ealdor. In the fourth-season finale, "The Sword in the Stone, Part Two," Agravaine was chased into a series of caves by Kilgharrah. He hunted Arthur in the tunnels but was baited into chasing Merlin toward a dead end. Here Merlin reveals his magic and throws aside Agravaine and his men. Agravaine survives the initial attack and realizes Merlin must be Emrys, the sorcerer Morgana has dreamt of. He laughs in shock and tries to deceive Merlin with words of praise so he can stab him, but Merlin sees through the ruse and kills Agravaine with a second attack.
Aithusa
Along with Kilgharrah the Great Dragon, Aithusa is the only other living dragon left in existence. She first appears in the episode "Aithusa" when, as an egg, she is rescued by Merlin from Jules Borden in the Tomb of Ashkanar. Due to his powers as a Dragonlord, Merlin is able to hatch her, and her status as a White Dragon is taken as a sign of good fortune by Kilgarragh. However, this changes when she heals Morgana in "The Sword in the Stone: Part 2". In "Arthur's Bane Part 2", she is revealed to have been imprisoned for two years with Morgana by Sarrum of Amata, and the trauma of the imprisonment was such that she is left unable to speak and walk with a noticeable limp. The episode "The Hollow Queen" also reveals that as Aithusa grew while imprisoned by Sarrum, the pit she and Morgana were housed in became too small for the growing dragon, and it caused her to become deformed, twisted, and stunted in her growth. She is revealed to be perhaps the only being Morgana cares for and is very much loyal to her. Morgana cares so much for Aithusa to the point where she willingly lets Sarrum imprison her to prevent harm from coming to Aithusa. She participates in attacking the forces of Camelot on several occasions in Season 5, and only Merlin's powers as Dragonlord prevent her from killing him and his allies. She also aids in forging Mordred's sword to aid him in killing Arthur. At the Battle of Camlann, she participates in the battle itself until Merlin drives her away, though her fate is unknown. Aithusa seems to be based on the white dragon that represented the Saxons in Arthurian legend and is noticeably small compared to Kilgarragh, only being as large as a wyvern at around 6 or 7 feet long. Her small size is, again, likely the result of her growth being stunted by imprisonment in Sarrum's dungeons for a long period of time.Alator
Alator, also known as Alator of the Catha. was an enigmatic, magical warrior and priest who briefly allied with Morgana in the episodes "The Secret Sharer" and "The Kindness of Strangers." In the episode "The Secret Sharer," seeking the true identity of Emrys, Morgana engaged his services in exchange for the healing bracelet Morgause had given her in the second season. Alator and his followers then kidnapped Gaius and proceeded to torture him for information about Emrys. When Gaius inevitably gave in and told Alator Emrys' true identity as well as the prophecies about him, Alator switched sides, rescuing Merlin from Morgana by knocking her out. After that, he tells Merlin that he knows Merlin's plans to make a better world and that he would gladly give his life for it. He did. Captured by Morgana three years later in the episode "The Kindness of Strangers," Alator refused to reveal Emrys' identity. Morgana used magic to break his neck, and the noble priest died. his servant, Finna, also dies protecting the identity of Emrys.Alice
Alice is a sorceress who lived in Camelot before the Great Purge, possessing a great natural power with a specialty for healing spells. In the episode "Love in the Time of Dragons," it was revealed that she and Gaius were more than very close friends before the Great Purge due to their shared interests and were even engaged to be married. However, when the Great Purge began, Gaius was forced to help Alice flee Camelot by striking her name from Uther's lists and remaining behind to avoid drawing attention to his role in her escape.In the episode, Alice returned to Camelot, supposedly hoping to see Gaius again. Although Gaius was happy to be reunited with her, Merlin soon discovered she was under the influence of a manticore, which Alice had summoned in the hope of using its dark magic for good. The manticore, however, had instead gained control of her and wished to use her relationship with Gaius to kill Uther. Despite the manticore's plan to poison the king succeeding, Merlin and Gaius were able to cure Uther by killing the manticore. Gaius subsequently helped Alice escape Camelot the night before her scheduled execution.
Anhora, Keeper of the Unicorns
Anhora, Keeper of the Unicorns is the guardian of the unicorns. In the episode "The Labyrinth of Gedref," after Arthur kills a unicorn while hunting, Anhora informs him that he had unleashed a curse upon Camelot that could not be lifted unless Arthur makes amends. Anhora set a variety of 'tests' for the prince, the second of which Arthur failed when he 'killed' a thief for insulting his pride and honour.After seeing Arthur's despondency, Merlin sought out Anhora and asked him to give the prince a second chance. Anhora instructed Arthur to go to the Labyrinth of Gedref. Arthur did so, with Merlin following behind him in secret. Anhora took that opportunity to kidnap Merlin, making the warlock part of Arthur's final test. When Arthur drank from a goblet that he thought was filled with poison, Anhora stated that because Arthur had been willing to sacrifice himself for Merlin, the curse would be lifted. Anhora later stated that when Arthur showed true remorse for killing the unicorn, proving himself pure of heart, the unicorn killed at the start of the episode was given a chance to live again.
Annis
Queen Annis is the widow of King Caerleon. Annis is a fierce, strong, and courageous woman who, while grieving her husband's death, immediately rose in defiance to declare war on Caerleon's killer, Arthur Pendragon. She was seeking vengeance in her grief and had a strong sense of justice since she responded vehemently to what she saw as a crime on Arthur's part.However, Annis has also shown herself to be reasonable, rational, and wise. When Arthur came to her unarmed, she allowed him, despite her grief, to negotiate a single-combat match and leave her camp unharmed, thus sparing many lives on both sides. In addition, Annis is a fair and compassionate queen, sparing Merlin's life despite catching him spying and quickly forgiving Arthur's errors. Queen Annis proved to be an adept judge of character once she saw past her grief. She came to acknowledge Arthur's sense of justice and mercy despite his crime against Caerleon. She seemed to see Arthur in a good light and even glorified him by commenting that he brought hope to all of them.
Annis also saw Morgana for what she was far more astutely than most, proclaiming that she was far more like her father than she would care to admit. Annis is ultimately a very just and fair woman, but also spontaneous and extreme in her actions, forgiving Arthur his misjudgment and homicide unusually quickly, withdrawing her army and restoring the peace contract that Uther originally signed with her father-in-law and refusing to cooperate further with Morgana. In Series 5, she gave Camelot's army safe passage through her lands in their mission to find a missing garrison so they could surprise the Saxons in league with Morgana.
Aredian
Aredian was a freelance sorcerer hunter nicknamed 'The Witchfinder'. In the second-season episode, "The Witchfinder", Uther hired Aredian to search Camelot for sorcerers after a smoke manipulation spell performed by Merlin was witnessed and reported by a citizen. After interrogating several people, Aredian accuses Merlin of sorcery. In a subsequent search of Gaius' workshop, an enchanted bracelet was found and taken as evidence of Merlin's guilt. Trying to protect Merlin, Gaius claimed ownership of the bracelet, which resulted in Gaius being taken into custody and Merlin being released.Aredian then proceeded with an intense interrogation and then blackmailed Gaius into giving a false confession of sorcery, stating that if he did so, he would not accuse Merlin and Morgana before the king. Because of this confession, Uther reluctantly sentenced Gaius to death. The execution was halted, however, when Merlin brought forth proof that Aredian had orchestrated the entire event by drugging the witnesses. After having his chambers searched and evidence discovered, evidence that had, in fact, been planted by Merlin, Aredian panicked and took Morgana hostage in an attempt to get out of Camelot alive. Merlin intervened by heating the dagger in Aredian's hand and in the ensuing scuffle, Aredian fell out of a glass window from a high tower to his death.