Maid Marian and Her Merry Men/Characters

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Maid Marian And Her Merry Men was a children's Sit Com made by The BBC, based on Robin Hood and written by Tony Robinson, who also played the Sheriff. Considered by some to be Blackadder's Younger Cousin series.

Ye Goodies

Maid Marian

The heroine and titular character; a passionate revolutionary who wages a constant war against tyranny and injustice -- or at least tries to, in spite of the well-intentioned "help" she gets from her rather incompetent band of Merry Men. She's probably the smartest character on the show, frequently functioning as the Only Sane Woman, though even she can get some strange ideas when it comes to what outlaw heroes are supposed to do.

Robin "Hood" of Kensington

The biggest hero and most ruthless outlaw in all England -- or so people think, thanks to various mishaps and misunderstandings. In reality, Robin is a vain and cowardly fool who worked as a tailor before circumstances forced him into the life of an outlaw. He is (at least in Marian's eyes) the stupidest and most useless of the Merry Men, though he does occasionally make himself useful; for example, it was his idea that the Merry Men all dress in green so as to "co-ordinate with the trees."

Little Ron

An Affectionate Parody of Little John; Little Ron is the smallest but scrappiest of the Merry Men. He's known for his violent outbursts, and basically joined Marian because it seemed a good way to get into more fights.

  • Badass
  • Fearless Fool: Little Ron owns no fear or respect for anything and is usually the first to charge into danger (though he does occasionally get confused and charges in the wrong direction).
  • Hair-Trigger Temper
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse: He's the most effective fighter in the group, and has on several occasion simultaneoulsy taken on two or three people twice his size, and won with no difficulty.

Barrington

The Merry Men's resident Rastafarian who also occasionally functions as the series' All-Knowing Singing Narrator. He's a cool, laid-back sort who seldom worries about anything and is probably the smartest of the Merry Men, bar Marian.

Rabies

The biggest, strongest and slowest Merry Man, Rabies is much like a naive child in an adult man's body. He's usually two steps behind everyone else and seldom has any idea what's going on, though he will occasionally display a bit of Simpleminded Wisdom, even if he mostly doesn't use it in any particularly practical way.

Ye Baddies

King John

The violent and unstable monarch of England, who has No Indoor Voice, no manners and no gratitude. He spends a good deal pf his time tyrannizing his people, his employees and just about anyone else he can think of, and the remainder of the time yelling at them -- with perhaps a the occasional minute devoted to wondering why nobody likes him.

The Sheriff of Nottingham

King John's devious, scheming and much put-upon stooge; he basically acts not only as Sheriff and tax collector but as the King's personal servant and attendant as well. He is without question the most intelligent and competent bad guy in the series, but thanks to a huge unlucky streak and the Merry Men's ability to pull off schemes at the very last minute generally ends up losing.

Gary & Graeme

Two guards at the King's Castle (at times it seems like they're the only two guards employed by the King) who function as the Sheriff's bumbling Sidekicks. They both have cheerful and sunny dispositions and are far more friendly and affable than him.

"Rotten" Rose Scargill

Marian's old schoolmate and former best friend. Their friendship ended when Rose "stole" Marian's boyfriend, beginning a feud that ended with them both getting expelled from school. Rose is almost as cunning and sneaky as the Sheriff is, though even more selfish; she will do almost anything for even the slightest personal gain. She describes herself as Robin's biggest fan.

Guy Of Gisborne

King John's spoiled, bratty and completely brainless nephew who was sent to live with his uncle by his mother, who had decided it was about time he went out into the big wide world and lived a little. He is the only person on the show the King does not dare to mistreat, for two reasons: His mother pays quite handsomely for the expenses, and if she found out that her son wasn't happy, she would do "that nasty thing with a pencil" to King John.

Ye Peasants

Gladys

Possibly the most prominent of the inhabitants of the village of Worksop, Gladys is the resident Wise Woman (though she's the first to admit she's under-qualified) who occasionally dabbles in witchcraft. She's an old friend of Barrington, who calls her his "main man," and has picked up quite a bit of his slang. Or maybe it's the other way around?

Snooker

Along with Gladys, Snooker is the main peasant character in the show, and acts as a sort of leader and spokesman for the villagers, in many ways being the "voice of the common man."

  • Generic Guy: For the village of Worksop, anyway; despite being the villager who gets the most screen time he's remarkably unremarkable.
  • The Fool: Like most of the villagers.
  • Punny Name: His name was revealed in the end of the third episode for the sole purpose of a joke, when the Sheriff (as a mocking reward for a favor he'd done him) gave him some wooden balls, some sticks and a wooden triangle and told him that he could become rich and famous if he made a game out of it and named it after himself.

Little Girl

A young village girl who featured in the first season. She's definitely smarter than your average villager, and is fully aware just how stupid the others are.

  • Deadpan Snarker
  • No Name Given: She's the only character in the show who is never named; the credits only refer to her as "Little Girl." (Then again, given the intelligence level of the villagers, that may very well be her actual name.)
    • Rumor has it that Tony Robinson was originally going to call her "Chlamydia" or "Cystitis," but wasn't allowed by the BBC.

Nettle

A young village girl who featured in the second season, and probably the most intelligent of all the villagers. She's a good friend of Marian.

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