ooc; application for teleios

[royalties]

player info

Name: ct
Age: 20
Contact: aim; bizzonkers | oniisan
Characters Already in Teleios: n/a
Reserve: here

character basics

Character Name: arthur pendragon
Journal: royalties
Age: about 22/23?
Fandom: bbc's merlin
Canon Point: post 4x6

Debt:

Class A: 27 years (mortal wounds to bad guys, going against the King's orders, aiding in the escape of Mordred, meeting with Morgause, executing King Caerleon)
Class B: 11 years (multiple counts of assault with a sword)
Class C: 1 year and 10 months

animal abuse (killing a unicorn)

failure to accept responsibility (series 1 ep 11 i'm looking at you)

mistreatment of manservant (multiple counts… and counting)

romantic feelings for a lower-class citizen

acceptance of father's prejudice towards magic

initial sexual attraction towards half-sister (unknowingly, but still)

having (unknown) help on his quest to find the Golden Trident

etc. (various other minor "criminal" actions)

GRAND TOTAL: 39 years and 10 months

canon character section

History: are you willing to sacrifice your life?

Personality:

As with most human beings, Arthur Pendragon is neither comprised of fully negative traits, nor is he completely made up of positive ones. There is an internal balance between the bits of his character that make him likable and those that make him hard to get along with. The people of Camelot, his friends, and even his father wouldn't be proud of him if he were a detestable person, while people like Guinevere and Merlin wouldn't advise Arthur on how to act better (less pompous and such) if he were a saint. Arthur is Arthur—a combination of some good, some bad, and even some ugly.

Merlin's first impression of Arthur after meeting him was that the (then) prince was a humongous prat, and he was right. Arthur is seen "bullying" a boy (who was helping him train in Archery)—verbally harassing the other teen and subjecting him to public humiliation. No one other than Merlin called him out on what he was doing because, as Prince of Camelot, he had the "right" to treat the servant boy as he pleased. Arthur even pulled the "I'm the prince" card when he told Merlin why he couldn't speak to Arthur so disrespectfully. This behavior of his—what makes him a "prat"—continues to be seen throughout the various seasons of the show. However, the childish nature of this trait decreases with time—he is no longer overtly rude to the degree of being a bully, unless he is interacting with Merlin. Unfortunately, his growth of maturity does not soften his treatment of the other boy (whom he often verbally insults), though the behavior has a hint of admiration to it—as though he wouldn't treat Merlin as such if he didn't consider the boy to be a close friend.

Probably the worst of his negative traits is Arthur's tendency to be easily influenced or persuaded to do something. First and foremost, while his father was alive, Arthur was fiercely loyal to the man. He followed what his father said to the point where he acted upon Uther's laws forbidding magic in Camelot and sentencing sorcerers to death. When instructed to capture a person under suspicion of using magic, Arthur would do so. However, following his influential nature, Arthur is also able to be persuaded to act against his father's wishes—Morgana has been able to make him do so when the question of fairness and justice were present, and Merlin has also been able to get Arthur to question his father or, at least, second guess his own actions just by introducing the element of doubt. After Uther's death, Arthur is easily influenced by his maternal uncle, Agravaine—having needed the man to give him support as an advisor as he settled into his new life as King of Camelot. He allows himself to be manipulated by the man to such a degree that he begins to behave "out of character" in regards to the person he had grown to be. He executes King Caerleon, despite the amount of uncertainty he had on the issue, and he also allows Agravaine to change the way he thinks (temporarily) about his relationship with Guinevere.

Another noticeable and concerning trait of Arthur's is how he deals with his own negative feelings. Anger and grief are seen to be exemplified when he experiences them (at least in regards to people he cares for)—when Morgana is thought to be dying, Arthur goes off and uses a piece of training equipment violently; also, when he believes his father to have lied to him about the details of his mother's death, he attacks the man with intent to kill—having to be stopped by Merlin in order to keep him from ending his own father's life. Less aggressively, Arthur is also prone to bouts of melancholy when faced with a sad or traumatic event. Morgana's betrayal left him listless and generally unresponsive, even to Merlin and his friends among the knights. The death of his father saw the return of this behavior; however, it did not last, for he realized he had a duty to Camelot to pull himself together and be the king they needed.

Finally, the positives about this boy: Arthur is extremely courageous to the point where his actions sometimes seem suicidal. He fights monsters and foes much stronger than he is and often instructs others not to assist him in order to keep them safe (in S2E1 he orders his knights to retreat while he stayed behind to fight Sigan's enchanted gargoyles). Similarly, he will try to go off on dangerous quests and missions by himself, though his plans to do so are usually ruined by Merlin either forcing his company or following him in secret. He is also extremely quick to risk or even offer up his life in order to save those close to him or the people of Camelot (in S4E2, Arthur attempted to sacrifice himself in order to repair the veil that was allowing dangerous spirits to enter the real world).

Rivaling the intensity of his courageousness is his desire to do what is right—his desire to be fair. Arthur often finds himself in situations where he is stuck between having to do either what laws or traditions dictate, or what he believes is "right". An example of this (from just before his canon point) can be seen in S4E5 where Arthur, after executing King Caerleon and being declared war upon by Queen Annis (Caerleon's wife), asks to change the battle to that of a one-on-one fight where a warrior is chosen from either side to duel in the name of their kingdom. He does this in order to save the lives of hundreds of people (on both sides), despite war being what was expected in the situation. He also nominates himself to be the warrior to fight for Camelot, believing that it was only fair that his life be on the line since he had taken King Caerleon's. In the end, after Arthur wins the duel, he chooses not to end the life of his opponent and is questioned by Queen Annis about his inaction. He tells her that he did not kill the man because it was not victory that he desired, but peace, to which she responded: "There is something about you, Arthur Pendragon—something which gives me hope for us all."

Despite how he presents himself, Arthur is a very compassionate person. For most things and towards most people, yes, he doesn't display a wide range of emotions, but that is due to his wanting to appear professional in his position as King of Camelot. He feels emotions just as everybody else does, but he doesn't have the luxury to wear his heart on his sleeve. However, there are times where his feelings do come out in the open. In S1E4, Arthur has this conversation with Merlin about his budding romance with Guinevere:

MERLIN
It's so obvious. A blind man could see it. Is it really that hard to admit you like her? Just say it.
ARTHUR
I can't! How can I admit that I think about her all the time. Or that...I care about her more than anyone. How can I admit that...I don't know what I'll do if any harm comes to her?

Merlin often acts as a general soundboard for Arthur, especially in regards to his feelings for Gwen, which he doesn't discuss with anyone else. Merlin is also a recipient of Arthur's (platonic) feelings, and Arthur even displayed them willingly to the other boy when he believed Merlin was dying from a wound to the chest (S4E6). His further actions (in the same episode) to try to find the boy when Merlin goes missing after being separated from him (to the point where others believe he is in denial over his friend's death) also show that he is capable of having, and even displaying, great feelings towards those he cares about.

Teleios will be an incredible culture shock to Arthur. Electricity? Audio transmissions? Anything created post-Medieval times? He's going to be extremely confused, cautious, and even suspicious about. Things that are unknown and generate their own power or move on their own, in his world, are often associated with magic—which, after his father's death due to magic, is definitely not something he's okay with. It will take some time to get used to this new world and his bracelet that sometimes talks to him and won't come off, but at least he will have Merlin.

…and Morgana, though she's another thing that he won't be too okay with (despite her being familiar).

Also, he'll be a bit disgruntled in regards to him having to do time for his "crimes." He killed and fought others in the name of Camelot—not for evil means. Why does he have to pay off debts that he shouldn't even have in the first place? Yes, it sounds like a good system for criminals—but he's no criminal… right? (Hello, doubt.)

Powers/Abilties: Arthur is not a superhuman being, so he doesn't have any powers or special, unique abilities. He is, however, an extremely skilled warrior who is good at developing battle strategies and putting them into play.

Appearance:

samples

Actionspam Sample: one | two ( nsfw as it goes along )

Prose Sample:

Kidnapping plots were a part of the daily lives of those born into royalty. As a prince, Arthur had dealt with them, and now as a king, he didn't expect to be treated any differently. There would always be a kingdom, or a group of bandits, or some crazy individual that believed kidnapping a person would get them what they desired. Usually, it didn't—especially not in regards to Arthur's life. Kidnapping a natural warrior who had a group of almost equally-skilled knights just didn't bode well for any "bad guy" trying to make quick coin.

This situation, however… was different. If it was different, rather—Arthur was still trying to figure out if he was experiencing a very realistic dream, or if he'd been spelled insane by a vengeful sorcerer. Due to this uncertainty, he stays quiet as he sits amongst a group of bewildered and confused-looking strangers—he stays quiet despite the sight of wings attached to a person, the sight making him want to jump to his feet and yell (but what would he yell? His knights were nowhere to be seen—he had no clue where he was—his authority in Camelot, he assumed, would do little for him here).

Are you afraid? He can hear Merlin's voice ask the familiar question in his head. No, he wasn't afraid—concerned, confused—but not afraid. There was anxiety present, physically tightening his chest as he thought about Gwen—as he wondered if she was safe back in Camelot. She would worry about him, and gods, did he hate for her to worry. But Merlin would look after her, he was sure.

Until he calmed down and found out exactly what the hell was going on, he had faith that the other boy would see to it that she was well and stayed that way. He would protect her from any winged kidnappers that showed up in Camelot. Unless, he reminds himself, that what he was seeing wasn't real. After all, sorcerers had untold amounts of power behind their magic—he didn't doubt that one could have snuck into the castle and enchanted him to believe he was experiencing all that was going on around him. For all he knew, he could be lying in bed—drooling on himself—and the winged person he found himself morbidly fascinated with could turn out to be Gaius, unrecognizable to him due to the enchantment.

He didn't know… and he had a discomforting feeling that it would take him a while to figure it out.