King Arthur

''"King Arthur" redirects here. For the character from Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, see King Arfur; for the Sonic the Comic character, see Arthur.''
 * This article is about the character. For the game, see Sonic and the Black Knight.

King Arthur (アーサー王), also known as the Black Knight (黒の騎士), is a character from the world of Camelot who appears in Sonic and the Black Knight. Created by Merlin to be the benevolent ruler over his kingdom in the world of Camelot, King Arthur was a beloved monarch to his people, until he was corrupted into an evil tyrant by the Scabbard of Excalibur. He is the primary antagonist in the game, with the true antagonist being Merlina.

History
Years before the events of Sonic and the Black Knight, King Arthur was created by the wizard Merlin as a magical illusion, for the purpose of bringing peace and a just rule to the kingdom as its monarch. Apparently using King Uther Pendragon, and Lady Igraine, an enemy country's queen, as surrogate parents, Merlin used his trickery to have this couple conceive Arthur, and succeeded.

While as a young man, Arthur came across the Sacred Sword Caliburn, which had been placed in a stone by Merlin, and which could only be pulled out by, as Merlin had claimed, the true King of the land. Arthur, however, managed to pull out Caliburn, and thus he became the ruler of the kingdom. Over time, Arthur proved himself to be wise and just king, and he managed to gather a powerful group of noble knights under his service, which was named the Knights of the Round Table. For a time, King Arthur led his kingdom into an era of peace and prosperity, and he was praised by all its inhabitants.

During his noble days in his youth, Arthur broke his sword under unknown circumstances. Guided by Merlin, however, Arthur was led to Excalibur, which rested in a lake in the Deep Woods. Nimue, Lady of the Lake, bestowed Excalibur, along with the Scabbard of Excalibur, to Arthur, as he had proven himself worthy to wield them through his unequaled virtue and chivalry.

The magical enchantment of the Scabbard of Excalibur made Arthur immortal, but the power of immortality bewitched and corrupted King Arthur, turning him from a noble ruler into a power-hungry tyrant, becoming the Black Knight. At some point Arthur somehow lost Excalibur, but gained a new sword, called Deathcalibur. Using his dark magic, Arthur began summoning the Knights of the Underworld to do his bidding, and Arthur began plunging his kingdom into turbulence and chaos. He nevertheless proved to still have strong relations with the Knights of the Round Table despite his change, and they still chose to serve him as well.

At the beginning of Sonic and the Black Knight, Arthur was chasing after the granddaughter of his creator and Royal Wizard, Merlina the Wizard, for unknown reasons. Using Deathcalibur, Arthur summoned the Knights of the Underworld to trap her, but as Arthur approached her, Merlina used her own magic to summon Sonic the Hedgehog to their world. After Sonic dispatched Arthur's minions, Arthur prepared to battle the hedgehog, but Merlina teleported them both away before the battle could begin. Not distraught by his enemies escape, Arthur met up with Sir Lancelot, Sir Gawain and Sir Percival and ordered them to seek out Sonic and Merlina and slay them on sight, while he chased after them himself.

Arthur faced Sonic twice during the game. The first time was shortly after Sonic obtained Caliburn, but as Sonic lacked both resources and skills, and as the Scabbard of Excalibur had made Arthur immortal, Arthur decided to leave after deeming Sonic "a fool of a knight, not even worth slaying". Much later, the two of them met a second time at Castle Avalon, when Sonic sought out Arthur to stop him once and for all. Arthur dryly remarked that Sonic had only somewhat improved his impersonation of a knight, but this time he was determined to kill Sonic in a duel.

After a more heated duel, Arthur was knocked off his horse, but told Sonic that he could not win because of his immortality. However, as Arthur called upon the scabbard's power, Sonic used the Sacred Swords he gained from the Knights of the Round Table to nullify the scabbard's power. Arthur stood up in disbelief of what was happening, and was defeated when Sonic attacked him and felled him for good.

After being bested by Sonic, Arthur faded away, leaving nothing but the scabbard. When Sonic brought the scabbard to Merlina, she revealed that King Arthur was never there, just an illusion created by Merlin, and it was merely part of her plan to acquire the Scabbard of Excalibur for her own ends.

When Merlina transforms into the Dark Queen, she forge her shadow into a duplicate of King Arthur and used it as her main form of attack. Merlina and the shadow Arthur were defeating Sonic until he used Excalibur to fight and defeat them.

After the battle with the Dark Queen Caliburn revealed that since he is the legendary sacred sword Caliburn, his duty is to decide who was fit for the crown, thus making Sonic the one worthy to be King Arthur.

Archie Comics
King Arthur made an appearance in the Archie Comics' Sonic the Hedgehog #197 as part of the comic's adaptation of Sonic and the Black Knight.

Much like in the game, King Arthur was a king in the Medieval Zone, and was served by three Mobian knights and had the ability to summon dark knight-like creatures from the rifts of shadows that he created. One day, the Royal Wizard, Merlina did something to call King Arthur's wrath upon her and the angry king personally chased after her on his flying horse. During the chase he summoned his monster knights to aid him and they surrounded Merlina, but she used her magic to summon Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic defeated all the creatures and moved in on King Arthur, but just before the two of them could fight, Merlina stopped Sonic and they disappeared in a whirlwind of smoke and dust. Having lost his targets, King Arthur rode his horse to a nearby cliff where Sir Gawain, Sir Lancelot and Sir Percival were waiting. King Arthur then ordered them to seek out Sonic and Merlina and to slay them on sight while he gave chase, and flew away to find Sonic and Merlina.

First Battle
The first battle against the Black Knight is apart from other boss battles as it takes place on a short stretch of terrain (unlike the "circular" battlefields of the Knights of the Round Table or the seemingly endless Faraway Avalon in the second Black Knight battle). It can be considered a tutorial for boss battles, though it isn't labelled as one, and it takes three hits to "defeat" him.

Second Battle
In the second battle, when Arthur faces Sonic, he has a wide variety of attacks. These include:


 * A magical attack originating from Deathcalibur, which shoots electricity and only paralyzes Sonic.
 * Arthur shoots balls of dark energy at Sonic. These can be evaded by jumping over them, or shooting them back with your sword. Upon doing so, you will raise your Soul Gauge.
 * His most powerful attack, but the easiest one to avoid, is when the player lags behind him. He turns around and charges his horse at you; this can be accompanied by the previous attack.
 * Occasionally, the Black Knight's arm and Deathcalibur will appear in front of Sonic from a portal. The attack is different depending on whether the player has already dealt damage to the Black Knight or not.

Trivia

 * A black knight is a stock literary character, typically a villain. It is a knight who has no liege-lord or does not want to be identified and so does not bear any heraldic standards. Several black knights appeared in the tales of King Arthur.
 * While he is the titular Black Knight, Arthur's armor is actually gold, though a very dark gold.
 * King Arthur's theme song is "Fight the Knight", a song by Crush 40 for the two boss fights Sonic has with him. In the 1st boss battle against him, the song is instrumental. The song in the 2nd boss battle against him has lyrics.
 * King Arthur is unlockable in battle mode by collecting the five books detailing the story of King Arthur during regular gameplay.
 * The Black Knight is the only multiplayer character in Sonic and the Black Knight that is not a recurring Sonic character or at least a character who is portrayed as one. He is also the only one who is incapable of jumping as well as the slowest (even though all characters don't run in multiplayer mode).
 * Sonic's battle with the Black Knight at Avalon may have referenced Arthur's end in the Arthurian legends where Arthur is taken after being mortally wounded by his son Mordred.
 * Strangely, the Black Knight never faces Sonic in battle face-to-face, always dashing away, even though in the second battle, he hypocritically states "It appears you are only good at one thing: running away."

Quotes

 * "I shall give chase."
 * "Spread out and go after them. Slay them on sight."
 * "Now, let us see the power of your so-called sacred sword!"
 * "Pursue me at your own peril, weakling!"
 * "A fool of a knight, not even worth slaying!"
 * "It seems your impersonation of a knight has improved, somewhat."
 * "Then let us have a another look at that unsightly swordsmanship."
 * "You shall regret the day you ever raised your sword against me!"
 * "It looks like there's only one thing you're good at: running away."
 * "There is no escape!"
 * "I shall blast you into dust!"
 * "You blue pest! Roar Deathcalibur!"
 * "I am immortal! You can not defeat me!"
 * "How can this be?!"
 * "Haaaa!"
 * "Nooo!"
 * "Very well." - When being selected in Battle Mode.
 * "I accept." - When being selected in Battle Mode.
 * "Must I even join this?" - When being selected in Battle Mode.
 * "Those bring their swords to bear against me will regret it." - When being selected in Battle Mode.
 * "I will show you my true power!" - When being selected in Battle Mode.
 * "Time for battle!" - After being accepted as the character being played in Battle Mode.
 * "Your very presence offends the eye." - After Sonic fails a counter attack.
 * "You shall regret, challenging me" - Spoken before battle in Battle Mode.
 * "I shall take you with me to the underworld!" - When after swinging with remote six times for the first time or something and make combos, but wasn't defeated yet.