Robin Hood (TV series)/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


The characters of the BBC series (2006-2009) Robin Hood:

Outlaws

Robin Hood (Jonas Armstrong)

The Hero of the piece, this Robin is a younger, cheekier, and more easy-going variation of the traditional character. The Earl of Huntington and Lord of Locksley, Robin returns from five years fighting with King Richard in the Holy Land, to find that his lands and estates are now under the control of Guy of Gisborne.

After refusing to conform to the corrupt laws that are now in place, Robin escapes into Sherwood Forest and begins a campaign of guerrilla warfare against the Sheriff, complete with the familiar “rob from the rich to give to the poor” system of wealth distribution.

Much (Sam Troughton)

Much: I know that’s what you think. Much talks too much. And eats too much. Worries too much. It’s easy for you to say because if I don’t do it, then who does?

Robin: You are already more of a man than I will ever be. You are Much. And you are my best friend.

Robin’s faithful manservant who accompanies him to the Holy Land and who is promised an Earldom by Robin on their return to England. Disappointed at the loss of Bonchurch Estate and all the comforts that it entails, but too devoted to Robin to do anything but follow him into Sherwood, Much is simultaneously the most loyal and most reluctant member of the gang.

Little John (Gordon Kennedy)

John: I have never killed - except to defend myself. I robbed, to survive, but now I rob to help others... I am one of Robin Hood’s men.

Isabella: You don't say much, do you.

Outlawed prior to the show’s commencement for reasons that are never specified, Little John is the leader of a team of outlaws before he throws his lot in with Robin. Believed dead by his wife Alice, and having never even met his son John, Little John is the champion of women and children, and the Team Dad of the outlaws.

  • The Artifact: There's one John-centric episode per season (which is invariably a filler), but most of the time he's just sort of there.
  • Badass Longcoat
  • Barrier-Busting Blow
  • Bear Hug: He gives one to Marian in Get Carter after her father dies.
  • The Big Guy
  • Catch Phrase: Several; "We go to Nottingham!", "Him I do not like" (Inverted to "Him I liked" on occasion), "A good day to die" and "We are Robin Hood!" The last one is more the group's catch phrase, but he's the most likely to shout it out as a way of raising morale.
  • Death Seeker: it is revealed that John feels incredible guilt for having abandoned his wife, and his "a good day to die" catchphrase was because to him, any day is a good day to die. He gets over it
  • Friend to All Children
  • Load-Bearing Hero: A couple of times, notably in Treasure of the Nation and Something Worth Fighting For.
  • Simple Staff: His traditional weapon of choice.
  • Team Dad
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: John telling Isabella he believes Robin has eyes for Kate has disastrous consequences.

Allan-a-Dale (Joe Armstrong)

Allan: I've learnt which side my bread's buttered on.

Djaq: I believe you're a good man, Allan-a-Dale.

A opportunistic thief, con-artist, pick-pocket and compulsive liar, this Allan strays far from his traditional role as a minstrel. The only outlaw that has no personal investment in the cause that Robin Hood is fighting (and often pointing out that as a poor person himself, he should have a share of any stolen goods) Allan sticks around just for the fun of it – or perhaps for want of anything better to do.

In early season two he is approached by Guy of Gisborne and coerced into becoming a spy. After a short stint as The Mole, he is found out and openly joins Guy as his right-hand man.

Will Scarlett (Harry Lloyd)

An apprentice carpenter in Locksley, Will’s mother died of starvation in the attempt to keep Will and his little brother alive, and his father lost his hand after taking the punishment for his children when they steal food to eat. The youngest member of the gang at eighteen, Will joins the gang after Robin saves him from hanging and due to his deep hatred of the Sheriff, something that can often cause his low-simmering temper to rise up.

The most sensible, moral and sensitive member of the gang, Will falls in love with Djaq and decides to stay with her in the Holy Land at the conclusion of season two.

Djaq (Anjali Jay)

Djaq: I had a brother. He was killed in your crusades. I became him, his name was Djaq.

Much: Apart from being a girl, Djaq is one of the lads.

Following in the newer tradition of having a Saracen character join Robin Hood’s gang, Djaq is the first female to hold the honour, making her a Twofer Token Minority. Contributing her skills as a physician, scientist, linguist and swordswoman to the team, she came across as less of a Mary Sue than she had any right to, largely due to the genuine affection she had for her fellow outlaws, and her role as Deadpan Snarker.

Royston White (William Beck)

Roy: My name is Royston White. I fight for Robin Hood and King Richard!

An original member of Little John's outlaws, who dies in the fourth episode of the series.

Brother Tuck (David Harewood)

Tuck: We're supposed to be inspiring these man to stand up and fight for themselves, giving them real hope.

A mysterious monk who arrives from travelling the world (having left the church after he became disillusioned) at the start of season three, and who joins the outlaws after inspiring Robin to recommit to the cause.

Kate (Joanne Froggatt)

A village girl who joins the team. Is what happens when writers decide they need a girl just for the sake of it.

Castle

Lady Marian (Lucy Griffiths)

Marian: Everything's a choice. Everything we do.

Guy: You must be the least easily won woman in England.

Dropping the usual “maid” part of her name in favor of "lady", this version of Marian operated as Robin’s eyes and ears within the castle, but also had an agenda of her own what with her secret identity as the Nightwatchman, a masked and hooded figure who distributed food parcels amongst the poor.

The centre of a love triangle between Robin Hood and Guy of Gisborne, she dies at Gisborne’s hands at the end of season two. Yes, you read that right. She dies.

Guy of Gisborne (Richard Armitage)

Guy: I have committed crimes... heinous crimes. But by taking Lady Marian in holy wedlock, I will wash away those crimes.

Annie: He has a different side -- a side he cannot show.

The Sheriff of Nottingham’s right-hand man and competitor for Marian’s affections. The most incompetent assassin ever to screw up everything he’s ever been ordered to do with little exception, Guy makes up for it with his ability to strut around in black leather.

  • Breakout Character
  • Dies Wide Open: Robin closes them.
  • The Dragon: For the Sheriff.
  • Easily Forgiven: Arguably. Though he's not accepted instantly into the gang, the fact that Robin forgives him at all after he ran through Marian with a giant sword brings this trope into play.
  • Epic Fail: Guy never manages to kill any of the major characters that he's been sent to assassinate. Not King Richard, not Prince John, and not the Sheriff of Nottingham. God only knows how he managed to screw that last one up, as after "killing" him he actually reaches into the Sheriff's mouth to retrieve his gold tooth, and somehow doesn't notice that the man is still alive. Apparently this trained assassin can only kill people if they're a) unarmed and b) standing directly in front of him.
    • He also declares that he's going to kill Isabella. All he ends up doing is providing her with the tools she needs to kill both him and Robin. The means for Isabella's death are provided by Tuck and Robin, which are completely unrelated to anything that Guy does.
  • Erotic Dream: Marian massaging his shoulders. Who then turns into Allan.
  • Estrogen Brigade Bait
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Guy expresses reluctance to kill a group of children. Slightly odd considering he had no qualms about exposing his infant son to the elements in the first season.
  • Evil Gloating
  • Evil Is Sexy
  • Expository Hairstyle Change: How greasy his hair is in season three is usually indicative of his state of mind.
  • Expy: Sure, Guy of Gisbourne has been part of Robin Hood legends for centuries, but here? Give him an eyepatch and he'd be Space Commander Travis.
  • Face Death with Dignity: After a Karmic Stabbing Guy admits to Robin that he's wasted his entire life, and is just grateful for the chance to die with dignity.
  • Fan Service
  • Fatal Flaw: His temper.
  • Fetish Fuel: He gets tied up a lot.
  • Flaw Exploitation: Both Robin and Marian know that she is Guy's weak spot, and use this against him on several occasions, most notably in Lardner's Ring when Robin pretends to hold her hostage in order to facilitate their escape.
  • Freudian Excuse
  • Guyliner
  • Hair-Trigger Temper
  • Handsome Lech
  • Heel Face Turn: At the end of season three.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: A lifetime of violence finally catches up to him in the form of his little sister.
  • Ho Yay: With the Sheriff, and Foe Yay with Robin.
  • I Die Free: His exact words.
  • If I Can't Have You
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: At the Sheriff's hands, part of his Karmic Death.
  • Jerkass Woobie
  • Kill the Ones You Love: Despite repeated claims that he loves Marian and that "his world will turn to ash" without her, he ends up murdering her at the end of the second series. He spends the rest of the show guilt-ridden over her death, and even in his own dying moments he doesn't hold out any hope that he'll ever see her again in the afterlife.
    • He also gives his little sister a vial of poison so that she can kill herself, even after she tells him: "you loved me once."
  • Love Makes You Crazy
  • Love Redeems: Subverted big time. Guy and Marian's relationship seems to be following the predictable pattern of a good woman who awakens the inner nobility of a Cute but Troubled Bad Boy...only for Guy to stab Marian to death when he finds out she's in love with someone else.
  • Love Triangle: With Robin and Marian.
  • Moral Event Horizon: Murdering Marian.
  • Murder the Hypotenuse: Inverted. Guy puts a huge amount of time and effort into trying to kill the Hypotenuse, and ends up murdering his Love Interest instead. Oh, Guy.
  • Not Good with Rejection: Hoo boy...
  • Not in This For Your Revolution: When he joins the outlaws, or at least initially, as all he wants to do is get his revenge on Isabella for betraying him; by the end it's implied he's come round to Robin's reasons.
  • Plot Induced Stupidity: Guy's levels of competence fluctuated wildly, from brutally efficient, to so inept you wonder how he ties his shoelaces in the morning. Two prime examples are his encounters with Djaq in The Booby and the Beast and Kate in Cause and Effect. In the former case, Guy is observant enough to recognise the blonde with the silly-looking braid across her forehead that he had confronted earlier in the day, but in the latter case Guy has a Hey, Wait! moment with Djaq as she's disguised as a serving girl. Guy fails to recognise her, even though she's the only Saracen woman in the entire country.
  • Redemption Equals Death
  • Running Gag: The sheer amount of times that Guy is stabbed in the back, both figuratively and literally, is almost this. Essentially, it's every single character he ever interacts with: Prince John, the Sheriff, Isabella, Marian, Lambert, Tuck, Allan, Archer... Ironically, the only major character that doesn't betray him is Robin.
  • Selective Obliviousness: Guy is very careful to ignore the mounting evidence that Marian is working with Robin Hood. By the final episodes of season two, he's in complete denial.
  • Self-Made Orphan: Or so he thinks...
  • Smug Snake
  • Stalker with a Crush

The Sheriff of Nottingham (Keith Allen)

Vaizey: Underneath this harsh surface, there's more harsh surface.

The gleefully sadistic Sheriff, who despite having ambitions to take over England, often seems to act the way he does just for the fun of it.

Isabella of Gisborne (Lara Pulver)

Isabella: Now I know the only person I can trust is myself. I'm on my own.

Appearing in the third season as Guy’s never before seen or mentioned little sister, Isabella entered the show on the run from her sadistic husband. An enigmatic presence throughout her eight episodes, she is the centre of the political machinations that drove the final season. Initially introduced as a Replacement Love Interest for Robin and as The Mole within the castle, Isabella Subverted expectations by striking out on her own, flirting with Prince John, performing a Face Heel Turn and winning herself the position of Sheriff of Nottingham.

Prince John (Toby Stephens)

King Richard's little brother, with his eye on the throne in his absence.


Others

Sir Edward of Knighton (Michael Elwyn)

Edward: Do not make the mistake I and others have made and make your dissent public.

Marian's father and the former Sheriff of Nottingham.

  • I Will Only Slow You Down
  • Overprotective Dad
  • Recurring Character: Though not in the opening credits, he's in almost every episode up until his death.
  • Senseless Sacrifice: Edward dies in order to deliver the Pact of Nottingham into Robin's hands, a McGuffin that the outlaws unfortunately forget to take to the Holy Land when they set off in pursuit of Marian. It would have provided King Richard with definitive proof that Prince John was plotting treason against him, and although Robin convinces him eventually, it's only after Richard sets off a chain of events that results in Marian's death. The Pact is never mentioned in season three, but by that stage, it was worthless anyway.

Archer (Clive Standen)

Malcolm: Remember the birthmark, shaped like an arrowhead. It is why your mother named him... Archer.

Guy and Robin's half-brother. Would have (presumably) become the new Robin but for the show's cancellation.

  • Dawson Casting: By the time-line provided by the show, Archer is only supposed to be twenty years old. Clive Standen was pushing thirty. Likewise, Archer was a full ten years younger than Robin, though Clive Standen was actually older than Jonas Armstrong.
  • God Mode Sue: He enters the show and is instantly toted as the star; throwing ninja stars, bedding another man's wife, stealing Guy's horse, running rings around Robin, getting instantly forgiven for trying to send his half-brothers to their deaths, and seemingly taking the position of leader over the outlaws when Robin dies.
  • Likes Older Women
  • Loveable Rogue: That was the idea, anyway.
  • Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Archer is dressed like a pirate, armed like a ninja, and has the rat-tails of a Padawan Jedi.
  • Suspiciously Similar Substitute: There was actually some effort to avert this, as whilst Archer is clearly set up to be the new Robin, he has different views and ideals (even calling Robin out on condemning his peasant army to death).

Carter (Joseph Kennedy)

Carter: He's not crying, he's laughing on the wrong side of his face.

A Crusader who returned to England from the Holy Land seeking revenge against Robin for his brother's death. Hired as an assassin by the Sheriff, he successfully infiltrates the outlaw camp, but performs a Face Heel Turn after Robin tells him the truth about how his brother died. Appearing in only two episodes, this guest star became surprisingly popular among the fanbase.

Luke Scarlett (Jonathan Readwin/Christian Cooke)

Will Scarlett's little brother.

  • The Other Darrin: Was played by Jonathan Readwin in Will You Tolerate This?, and by Christian Cooke in The Angel of Death.
    • Lampshaded in his second appearance when he tells his brother that he's "not so little" anymore.
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