Robin Hood: Difference between revisions

* '''Little John''', [[The Big Guy]], the [[Boisterous Bruiser]] and Robin's [[Number Two|right-hand man]]. Often he is portrayed as something of a [[Genius Bruiser]], and generally more cautious then Robin himself. Generally befriends Robin in a very [[Defeat Means Friendship|Shonen fashion]].

* '''Will Scarlet''', Robin's [[The Lancer|Lancer]], who sometimes [[Face Heel Turn]]s. Interestingly enough, Will shows what happens when the [[One Steve Limit]] is not obeyed: Originally, there were two characters named Will with similar-sounding last names (Scathelock, Scarlock, Scarlet, Stukeley, Stuteley...) -- one was Robin's foppish younger cousin, and the other an experienced soldier about Robin's own age. The two conceptions merged, and modern portrayals generally vacillate wildly between the two extremes. The character(s) can sometimes be saddled with the problem of being [[Always Second Best|Robin, only less so]]: a good archer, but not as good as Robin; a good leader of the men, but not as good as Robin, etc.. Still sometimes remembered as the Merry Man who gets saved from the noose by a comrade disguised as the hangman. Depending on the work, Will Scarlet tends to shine when it comes to swordplay, to the point of [[Dual-Wielding]].

* '''The Sheriff of Nottingham''', Robin's traditional [[Big Bad]] (though sometimes [[The Dragon]]), a corrupt official and [[Feudal Overlord]].

* '''Guy of Gisbourne''' (or Gisborne, Gisburne, ''etc''.), a bounty hunter, often [[The Dragon]] to the Sheriff and something of Robin's [[Evil Counterpart]] as well. His portrayal varies from an outlaw in animal skins to a sneering knight.

* '''Maid Marian''' (or Marion), [[The Chick|Robin's girlfriend]]. Marian was a latecomer to Robin Hood folklore; she probably originated as the originally unnamed May Queen or Queen of the Shepherds, a popular figure of the May festivities. (Her ''name'' was likely derived from totally unrelated pastoral plays similar to Adam de la Halle's ''Jeu de Robin et Marion'', in which a virtuous girl is seduced by the charms of [[The City]] before returning home to her boyfriend, a shepherd who happened to be named Robin.) When Robin Hood plays became a fad, someone did a [[Crossover]], and it eventually stuck. Maid Marian is sometimes treated as a [[Damsel in Distress]], other times as [[The Archer]].

 

* '''Richard at the Lee''', a landed noble who is deeply indebted to the corrupt clergy. Robin helps with his debts, and so Richard later hides Robin from the Sheriff. Some later versions of the story make him Marian's father.

 

 

Whether or not any of these characters actually ever existed is debatable. (Well, except for King Richard and Prince—later King—John, who most certainly did. And there were, of course, many Sheriffs of Nottingham.) There is a grave where the remains of Robin Hood are allegedly buried on the [[wikipedia:Kirklees Hall|Kirklees Park Estate]]; the Prioress of Kirklees supposedly overbled Robin to his demise... And then there's another grave at the cairn of [[wikipedia:Crosby Ravensworth|Crosby Ravensworth Fell]].

* In 1957 Dan Taylor starred as Robin in the undistinguished ''Men of Sherwood Forest''.

* In 1958 ''Son of Robin Hood'' appeared; oddly enough, the "son" in this film is a [[Gender Flip|daughter]], Deering (June Laverick). Jamie of Chester (David Hedison, later known as Captain Lee Crane in ''[[Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea]]'') has to pose as Robin's son, since, of course, the [[Medieval Morons]] all believe that girls should [[Stay in the Kitchen]].

* [[Recycled in Space|Space cartoon version]] from 1966-1969: ''[[Rocket Robin Hood]],'' by Krantz Films Inc. It was a [[Space Opera]] set in the year 3000. In one episode, the Robin of the future actually [[Time Travel|time travels]] ''and meets the real Robin''.

* In 1969, the studio followed up with a pilot for a failed television series, ''Wolfshead: The Legend of Robin Hood'' with New Zealander David Warbeck as Robin (released in theatres in 1973). This version hewed very closely to the original ballad versions.

* Disney's 1973 animated version of ''[[Robin Hood (Disney film)|Robin Hood]]'', with its [[Funny Animal]] cast, which <s>may have been</s> ''was'' a <s>contributing</s> ''major'' factor in many [[Furry Fandom|furries' pubescent lives.]]

** ...territory he would revisit in 1993's ''[[Robin Hood: Men in Tights]]'' (''See below'').

* In 1976, Richard Lester directed ''[[Robin And Marian]],'' in which an aged Robin (Sean Connery), who has been campaigning in France, returns to England after [[Richard the Lion Heart|Richard's]] death to find that Maid Marian (Audrey Hepburn) has become Prioress of [[Meaningful Name|Kirklees Abbey]]. Arguably a [[Deconstruction]], since it shows the English nobility (including "Good" [[General Ripper|King Richard]]) as [[Aristocrats Are Evil|pretty rotten]], and how utterly exhausting the sword fights and chase scenes in most Robin Hood movies would actually be.

* In the same year, ''[[The Smurfs]]'' featured "The Adventures of Robin Smurf," in which Vanity Smurf played the conceited outlaw.

* An ITV series, ''[[Robin of Sherwood]]'', ran from 1984 to 1986; best remembered for its theme song, which put the band Clannad on the map, it was also interesting in that the producers pulled a [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]] with a [[Public Domain Character]], replacing the original woodsman Robin (played by Michael Praed) with a young nobleman (played by Jason Connery, son of Sean, who as noted above had starred as the aging Robin in ''Robin And Marian''). This was in fact a very clever move, as there are two radically different versions of Robin in the legends and the recast let them cover ''both'' of them in one series. Judi Trott played Maid Marian for all three series. The show made a considerable impact on the legend despite running for only twenty-six episodes.

* In 1986, the Amiga game ''[[Defender of the Crown]]'' featured Robin as a recruitable ally three times in the course of game-play; this was a selling point of the game.

* In 1988, the ''[[ALF|ALFTales]]'' cartoon presented its version of Robin Hood (mainly parodying the 1938 [[The Adventures of Robin Hood (film)|film]]), with Gordon as Robin with a literal (swing) band of Merry Men; it features a <s>quarterstaff</s> Big Stick bout with a saxophone-wielding Little John, as well as a pumpkin-head-wearing Friar Tuck.

* ''[[Maid Marian and Her Merry Men]]'', a 1989 children's show written by Tony "[[Blackadder|Baldrick]]" Robinson, subverted many of the central tenets of the myth. Maid Marian was the central protagonist, Robin Hood [[The Fool]], Little John a dwarf, ''etc''.

* ''Robin Hood no Daibōken'', an 1990 anime adaptation of the Robin Hood story consisting of 52 episodes, animated by Tatsunoko.

* Also in 1991, a lesser known but highly superior [[Live Action Television|TV movie]] version of the legend, entitled simply ''Robin Hood'', was made with Patrick Bergin as Robin, Uma Thurman as a [[Badass|bad-ass]] Maid Marian, who actually kills a few guys in the final battle (again, [[Kill Bill|Uma Thurman]]), and Jürgen Prochnow as the villain, [[Aristocrats Are Evil|Sir Miles Folcanet]]. Moreover, the Sheriff of Nottingham in this version [[Anti-Villain|isn't evil]]; he's just made some bad decisions.

* In 1991 Millennium Interactive published an [[Action Adventure]] [[Video Game]] ''[[The Adventures of Robin Hood (video game)|The Adventures of Robin Hood]]''.

* ''[[Young Robin Hood]]'', a 1991-1992 Hanna-Barbera cartoon about [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|Robin Hood and his merry men as teenagers]].

* Parke Godwin's 1991 novel ''Sherwood'' and the 1993 ''Robin and the King'' place the story during the Norman Conquest with William the Conqueror as a major character.

* And to round out 1992, [[Steve Jackson Games]] published ''[[GURPS]] Robin Hood'' by [[User:Looney Toons|Robert]] and Peggy Schroeck, a roleplaying sourcebook which rendered a well-researched compilation of the folk tales into gaming terms, then riffed on the concept of Robin Hood through another half dozen genres ranging from [[The Wild West]] to [[Cyberpunk]].

* In 1993 [[Mel Brooks]] directly spoofed the 1991 Costner film in ''[[Robin Hood: Men in Tights]]'', which featured Cary Elwes as a Robin who ''actually spoke with an English accent.''

* The German video games company Spellbound Games produced ''[[Robin Hood the Legend of Sherwood]]'' in 2002, a stealth-based real-time strategy video game in which the player controls a number of characters (Robin himself, Will Stutely, Will Scarlet, Little John, Maid Marian, and Friar Tuck) and faces a number of enemies (Guy of Gisbourne, [[wikipedia:William Longchamp|Guillame de Longchamps]] (!), and Sir Scathlock of Derby), ultimately to fight the Sheriff of Nottingham and defeat Prince John's bid to usurp the throne.

* ''Maid Marian'' by Elsa Watson came out in 2005. This novel is narrated by the eponymous maid, who starts out as a noblewoman rescued from an unpleasant marriage by Robin and then goes through numerous adventures, only some of which involve Robin Hood.

** Tuck is a [[Magical Negro|black warrior priest]] who is never referred to as a "Friar" and seldom talks about God or the Bible.

** Much is played by Sam Troughton, grandson of [[Doctor Who|Patrick]].

** The show is also noteworthy for the inclusion of three original female characters: Djaq, in the [[Gender Flip|gender flipped]] role of the Saracen; Isabella, Guy of Gisborne's [[Long Lost Sibling|sister]]; and Kate, described by press releases as "a feisty village girl." The first two characters were significantly more popular among audiences than [[Creator's Pet|the last]].

** The third season sets up {{spoiler|Robin Hood as a [[Legacy Character]] so that Robin himself can die in the third season finale. Several other characters from the legend die in the same episode.}} The show's cancellation was announced soon afterward.

* In 2009, ''[[The Backyardigans]]'' had a Robin Hood-themed episode called "Robin Hood the Clean", with resident [[Hot-Blooded]] [[Everything's Better with Penguins|penguin]] Pablo as Robin Hood. The episode, mind you, was about was about all the cleaning supplies getting locked in a dungeon and Pablo/Robin Hood trying to retrieve them.

* Also in 2009 came the Sci Fi Channel's television movie ''[[Beyond Sherwood Forest]]'' in which Robin Hood fights mythological creatures in Sherwood. It's about as good as you'd expect.

** The plot also has Robin masquerading as slain knight Robert Locksley and attempting to unite the English people to defeat a treacherous plot by the king of France and to get Prince John to sign a precursor to the Magna Carta. It's only at the end that he and his companions actually retreat to the greenwood and become outlaws.

* 2011, ''[[Edguy]]'' releases a song about him on its ''Age of the Joker'' album. The catch? It's actually a [[Villain Song]] of sorts, as it portrays him as [[The Dreaded]]. And it's [[Epic Rocking|appropriately epic]] yet [[Stealth Parody|strangely humorous]]. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ti1CTjM7Sbs Listen to it by yourself!]

* ''[[Leverage]]'' is a 2008 American TV series set in the modern day whose cast is intentionally modelled after Robin Hood and his Merry Men (albeit in the form of a [[Five-Token Band]].) Rather than just one antagonist, it has [[Monster of the Week|various evil corporations.]]

* The various times Francois Villon is presented in film/television turn the poet into a Robin Hood figure, especially in ''The Beloved Rogue'', with a silent with John Barrymore, and in "The Sword of Villon," an episode of ''Directors' Showcase'' with Errol Flynn as the Frenchman, virtually copying his Robin Hood costume.

 

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[[Category:Oral Tradition]]

[[Category:Robin Hood]]