In the year 3000, King Arthur awoke from his magical sleep to defend Britain in its hour of direst need, when his sworn enemy and half-sister Morgan LeFay attempted to conquer Earth with an army of aliens.
History
Origins
Arthur was born the son of Uther Pendragon, High King of Britain in the 6th Century. As a child he was fostered and raised alongside Kay, who Arthur came to love as his true brother. When he grew up Arthur united the warring kingdoms of Britain and was proclaimed King of Britain and Lord of the Roman Empire, ruling from Camelot. He formed the Knights of the Round Table, and they had many heroic adventures and fought many villains, but the only one Arthur feared was Morgan LeFay. The Knights also quested for the Holy Grail but were unable to find it, although Sir Percival and Sir Galahad both claimed to have seen its image.
Arthur learned of a prophecy that a child born on a certain day would bring about his downfall. In order to prevent this Arthur, along with Kay and Sir Tristan, drowned every child born on that day including Arthur's own bastard son Modred, an action Arthur would later deeply regret. However, Modred survived and grew up to hate his father and swear vengeance on him for what he had done. Arthur thereby inadvertently created the enemy he was trying to destroy.
Arthur's beloved wife and queen Guinevere fell in love with Sir Lancelot, Arthur's best friend and greatest knight. Arthur eventually discovered their affair and was bound by the law to sentence Guinevere to death, although Lancelot rescued Guinevere from execution. Arthur's mentor and wizard Merlin was also imprisoned beneath Stonehenge by his lover, the witch Nyneve, and was no longer able to offer Arthur his sage counsel and magical aid. Camelot severely weakened by the civil war between Arthur and Lancelot, and so Modred took advantage of the chaos and launched his own attack against Arthur. In the final battle at Salisbury Down, Arthur slew Modred in single combat but was himself mortally wounded. He would have surely died if he had not been put into a magical sleep while he could slowly heal. Arthur was placed in a stone sarcophagus underneath Glastonbury Tor, where he slumbered for centuries.
Camelot 3000
In the year 3000, a young man named Tom Prentice took refuge in Glastonbury Tor while fleeing from the alien invaders. The aliens followed him in and he retreated deeper into the tunnels, where he stumbled across Arthur's sarcophagus. Tom opened the sarcophagus and Arthur emerged, healed from his wounds. Arthur killed the three aliens, using Tom's mining tool as a sword, although he did not understand what they were. Tom told Arthur the date and who the aliens were, and also revealed that the stories of Arthur and the Knights' exploits were remembered even in the far future, much to his delight. Arthur offered to make Tom his squire and he agreed. They left the Tor, where Arthur killed two other aliens guarding the entrance and Tom was able to take control of the alien's ship. At Arthur's command he flew them to Stonehenge to free Merlin. Tom had told Arthur that all space on Earth had been consumed, but Stonehenge remained untouched, as every attempt to build on it had resulted in unexplainable accidents or failures, proving that Merlin's magic was still strong.
Arthur called on Merlin to show himself, but he was answered only by weather spirits who mocked him. In a rage, Arthur struck the ground, freeing Merlin from his prison as he intended when he sent the spirits to antagonise his former student turned king. Merlin revealed that he had sent Tom to wake Arthur, so he could in turn free Merlin and they could face the aliens together. He told Arthur that he must unite the nations of Earth against their common foe, and teleported the three of them to Salisbury Down, which was now a nuclear power plant. At Merlin's command, the Lady of the Lake raised Excalibur from within one of the cooling tanks and threw it towards Arthur. However, the sword disappeared before it reached him.
Merlin teleported them to the United Nations Building in New York City, where Excalibur and the stone had appeared in the main chamber. Outside, a crowd of frightened and frustrated citizens were being set upon by "Neo-Men", mindless mutated soldiers created by the corrupt regime. Arthur fought and killed a Neo-Man which was about to grab a mother and her child. This was caught on camera and the people watching around the world felt hope stir for the first time. They went inside, where Arthur saw the sword and drew it from the stone once more, and declared to the people of Earth that he was their king and was there to save them. He swore that he would unite the world them as he had once united England and throw back the invaders. The people rejoiced as they saw a hero prepared to fight for them, unlike their own ineffective leaders and military.
Seven bolts of energy burst from Excalibur and flew away. Arthur correctly guessed that they were part of a spell, but Merlin told him that it had been intercepted and more work was needed. Merlin once again teleported the three of them to United Earth Defense Supreme Headquarters and lead them to Commander Joan Acton, who Arthur immediately recognised as Guinevere. Merlin explained that Guinevere had been reborn as Commander Acton, and the spell should have restored her memories but it had been disrupted. Arthur was able to awaken Guinevere's past life memories with a kiss.
Merlin told them they needed to go and meet with the next to awaken: Sir Lancelot. To Arthur's anguish, Guinevere immediately and eagerly said she would come with them, showing that she still had feelings for Lancelot. Merlin teleported them to an asteroid fortress, which Arthur claimed as "New Camelot", slaying a robotic guard that came out to confront them. Jules Futrelle, the owner of "New Camelot" and richest man on Earth, arrived to face the "intruders" in his home. Futrelle was revealed to be the reincarnation of Lancelot, and his memories were restored at the sight of Arthur. He immediately bent the knee and hailed Arthur as his king. Lancelot also greeted Guinevere with the appropriate respect of a knight for his queen, but Arthur could see that he also still loved Guinevere, deepening his sorrow.
The next day, Merlin said they must find the other knights reborn in the future and bring them to join their quest. He told them to arm themselves quickly and return, but when they left Merlin's quarters Lancelot followed Guinevere and told her that he still loved her. She momentarily tried to resist but quickly embraced and kissed him. Arthur oversaw this and was distraught, but left rather than confront them.
Merlin gave each of them a talisman in the shape of a sword, which would have the power to restore a reincarnated knight's memories, and teleported them to the knights' locations. Arthur appeared in New Chicago, where a man named "Martins" was about to be murdered by loan sharks. At the sight of the amulet, Martins' memories of his previous life as Sir Kay returned. Arthur fought off the ruffians and the two brothers happily reunited. They returned to New Camelot to meet up with the others reincarnated knights: Galahad; Arthur's cousin Sir Gawain; Sir Percival, who was a Neo-Man in his new life; and Sir Tristan, who had been reborn as a woman.
Although the people of Earth clamoured for Arthur to be made their king and lead the fight against the aliens, the existing governments of Earth had no interest in handing over their power. Although they pretended to be allied with the restored Knights of the Round Table, the U.N. Security Director Jordan Matthew sent an invasion force to attack and kill the knights. Merlin warned them of the attack just before it arrived and the knights fought the attackers off valiantly. Arthur himself brought down the lead attack ship by slicing off its wing with Excalibur. The attackers initially appeared to be U.N. soldiers, but they would not respond to Guinevere's orders as Commander Acton and upon their deaths, all of them except their leader; a man named Owen McAllister, reverted to their true forms of aliens, making it appear that the attack had been a deception. In reality Matthew was aligned with the aliens.
At a celebration afterwards, Kay deliberately antagonised Tristan, who hated his female body, by gifting him with a dress. Tristan almost struck Kay until Percival stopped him and Arthur ordered the knights to leave. However, he told Kay to stay and talk with him. He asked Kay why he provoked the others and Kay told him that he had sensed Gawain and Galahad were on the verge of deserting, and so he had annoyed the knights to give them a common enemy and restore their bonds of camaraderie. Kay admitted that he had been acting as court boor throughout Arthur's first reign to ensure friendship among the Knights of the Round Table, drawing them together by making them hate him. Arthur did not approve of this, but thanked Kay for his efforts nonetheless and invited him to drink with him.
Later, Arthur watched from Merlin's chamber as Lancelot and Guinevere met in a secluded garden and embraced. He complained that they were romancing as they had done before, but Merlin pointed out that technically Arthur and Guinevere were not married in this life, and so no adultery had taken place. He advised Arthur to remarry Guinevere, as that may stop her from pursuing a relationship with Lancelot. As such, Arthur announced that he would marry Guinevere only two days later. To everyone's surprise, Lancelot expressed enthusiastic support. Later, when he was speaking alone with Merlin, the wizard informed Arthur that the leader of the aliens was in fact Morgan LeFay.
Lancelot came to Arthur privately and asked for the honour of guarding Guinevere on her approach to the wedding, which Arthur agreed to once Lancelot obliquely promised that he would not continue their affair. Arthur and Guinevere were married on the floor of the United Nations; but at the culmination of the ceremony, just before they kissed, Guinevere was shot by a sniper who was aiming for Arthur. Guinevere was killed almost instantly, but Lancelot begged God to take his life for hers. Lancelot collapsed, seemingly dead, and Guinevere miraculously returned to life. Lancelot himself also quickly recovered.
Meanwhile the assassin was revealed to be Owen McAllister, somehow back from the dead and granted great power. Although Tom was able to kill him a second time, Arthur no longer trusted the governments of Earth, as the knights had returned McCallister's body to the authorities after he was killed in the attack on New Camelot. As such, Arthur lead the knights to free the inmates of the U.N.'s main prison camp in Australia, as the people held there were guilty merely of dissent against the government. Arthur freed the prisoners who had not yet been converted into Neo-Men, and those that had joined the knights as footsoldiers, following Sir Percival.
However, that night Guinevere went to Lancelot's quarters and they made love. Arthur discovered them again but, rather than execute them he banished them from New Camelot. He fell into a deep depression, refusing to command the knights or even rise from his throne for days. Kay tried to draw Arthur out of his funk but he refused; saying that, apart from Kay, everyone he ever loved had hurt him. Merlin came to the throne room to talk with him but Arthur simply asked him to leave. Suddenly Nyneve appeared in the throne room and Merlin was again unable to resist her enchantments. Nyneve teleported away with Merlin and Arthur, reinvigorated with rage, ran to Merlin's quarters where he found Tristan standing over the talisman Merlin had used to keep Nyneve away, now smashed on the floor.
Arthur recalled Lancelot and Guinevere to New Camelot and put Tristan on trial. Tristan admitted that he had planned to destroy the charm, as he had been tempted to betray the Knights of the Round Table by LeFay, but swore it had already been broken when he got there. Arthur made Tristan swear his innocence on Excalibur, claiming that it was sharp enough to cleave truth from lies and would kill anyone who lied while holding it. Tristan seemingly proved his innocence when Excalibur did not kill him and Arthur asked each of the knights to do so in turn. They all did, including Lancelot and Guinevere, but Kay refused, demonstrating his guilt. He admitted that he had broken the charm in the hopes that seeing Merlin in danger would rouse Arthur from his depression, and had believed that Merlin would be able to resist Nyneve. He begged for forgiveness but Arthur sentenced him to death.
The Knights went outside for Kay's execution, when they were suddenly attacked by a fleet of alien ships. The knights managed to rally, but one of the ships flew up on Arthur from behind and fired on him. Kay and Tom both jumped into the path of the beam to save Arthur; Kay took a direct hit and was killed instantly, while Tom only caught a glancing blow and was left alive, but seriously injured and afflicted with radiation poisoning that would kill him in only a few days. Arthur knighted Tom for his actions and gave Kay an honourable burial for sacrificing his life. As Lancelot and Arthur stood vigil over Kay's grave, Arthur wondered aloud who else would fall in their quest; Lancelot suggested using Excalibur's power to determine that but Arthur told him that Excalibur could not divine truth, but Kay didn't know that.
To save Tom's life, Arthur determined to find the Holy Grail which could heal him. He would lead half the knights and the Neo-Men to take the fight directly to LeFay on the tenth planet of the Solar System, while Percival, Lancelot and Guinevere would take Tom to quest for the Grail. Arthur apologised to Tom for not coming with him as his duties as king took precedence, but admitted that he loved the boy like a son. Arthur, Galahad, Gawain and Tristan stole the only rocket left on Earth, and Arthur fuelled its empty power cells with Exaclibur. As they launched into orbit, Arthur saw England from above for the only time in his life. They flew to Chiron; the alien's homeworld and LeFay's base. When they arrived they found that the questing party had reached the planet just before them and Arthur was overjoyed to find Tom alive and well. Lancelot told Arthur that Percival was dead, although he assured Arthur that he was at peace.
That night they camped in a structure invisible to the naked eye devised by Gawain, who had knowledge of the advanced science of the year 3000. Gawain informed Arthur of how in the 23rd Century, human civilisation had been destroyed in World War III and been rebuilt from the ground up, and also told him of the power of nuclear weapons.
They were approached by friendly aliens who took them to meet their queen mother. The queen asked to speak to their leader and Arthur stepped forwards, but the mother wanted to speak to Guinevere. The queen mother telepathically told Guinevere that LeFay's forces were some of her children, who had been corrupted by Morgan's magic, and offered her people as soldiers to help them stop her.
Arthur planned to lead a small force into Morgan's castle and rescue Merlin while Lancelot lead the remaining knights, Neo-Men and their alien allies in a frontal assault. However, Lancelot knocked Arthur out and took his place, hoping to retrieve the captured Holy Grail which he had lost shortly after being named its guardian. When Arthur awoke he lead the frontal assault himself alongside Guinevere. They were unable to breach the defences, and so Arthur ordered Galahad to use the ship as a battering ram and break through. The castle's defenders threw themselves from the battlements onto the ship, weighing it down and preventing Galahad from piloting it through the main gate. He triggered a self-destruct which blew open the walls of the castle, sacrificing himself.
In the corridors of the castle they found the treacherous Jordan Matthew, wearing armour made from the Grail itself and just about to kill Lancelot. Matthew revealed that he was the reincarnation of Modred and duelled Arthur, who quickly found that he could not be harmed as the armour healed all wounds instantly. Their fight took them to Morgan's throne room, where they found Merlin being held under an enchantment. Lancelot realised that the holy power of the Grail might react with Merlin's demonic magic and called out to Arthur, who threw Modred at Merlin. This created a great explosion that killed Modred and freed Merlin.
The knights fought off the remaining aliens and monsters in the castle, however, Morgan summoned her entire army to attack them, and the knights and their allies could not fight them off. To destroy their enemies once and for all, Arthur had Merlin teleport the others back to Earth and then, remembering what Gawain had told him of nuclear fission, used Excalibur to split the atoms of a rock and trigger a nuclear explosion; sacrificing himself to kill Morgan and her army.
The surviving knights returned to Earth, where they erected gravestones for Arthur, Galahad and Percival next to Kay's grave. Guinevere discovered that she was pregnant and either Arthur or Lancelot could be the father, but both she and Lancelot agreed that they hoped the child was Arthur's. Meanwhile, on an alien world, Excalibur appeared driven into a stone. An alien fleeing a group of attackers found the sword and drew it from the stone.
Powers and Abilities
Abilities
Paraphernalia
Weapons
- Excalibur: King Arthur wields Excalibur, the mightiest weapon in existence. Its edge is sharp enough to split atoms.
Notes
- This character or object is an adaptation of King Arthur, a character or object in traditional stories. These include, but may not be limited to religious texts, myth, and/or folk lore. More information on the original can be found at Wikipedia.org.
Related
- 14 Appearances of Arthur Pendragon (Camelot 3000)
- 7 Images featuring Arthur Pendragon (Camelot 3000)
- 1 Quotations by or about Arthur Pendragon (Camelot 3000)
- Character Gallery: Arthur Pendragon (Camelot 3000)
Footnotes