Merlin
Merlin, whose birth name was sometimes Ambroisus, was a legendary wizard of great power, many versions of whom also had prophetic talents, foreseeing the destinies of great heroes and helping it along.
Description
Physical appearance
The classic look for Merlin was of an old man with a very long beard and hair, wearing a wizard's robes and a matching pointy hat. (COMIC: Encore) Some departed from this model to various degrees; one, for example, was “a tall, middle-aged man whose long brown beard was speckled with gray”, and wore no pointy cap, though he did wear a long midnight-blue tunic and a pair of spectacles. (PROSE: The Interlude of Jenny Everywhere)
Personality
Merlin was wise, and passionate about the pursuit of knowledge. However, many versions of him tended to have a blind-spot around the possibility that Morgan Le Fey might wish them harm. (PROSE: The Interlude of Jenny Everywhere)
The version of Merlin from Reality Z-25 31-H viewed himself as a slavish instrument of destiny, doing what fate had declared he would, regardless of his own or other people's objections. (COMIC: Encore)
Powers and abilities
Merlin tended to be a very powerful wizard. The version of him from Reality Z-25 31-H had the ability to foresee the future, to physically project himself forwards in time for brief periods, to craft artefacts that made their wearer immortal, and even to transpose souls into other people's bodies permanently. (COMIC: Encore, Defying the Dragon) Some versions of Merlin were apparently “time-travelly”, though not the one from whom Jenny borrowed a chicken. (PROSE: The Interlude of Jenny Everywhere)
Biography
In Reality Z-25 31-H
In Reality Z-25 31-H, the “legendary” Merlin gave the original Blue Knight, Sir Dennis of Inde, the blue magical suit of armour from which the Knight derived their sobriquet, which made the Knight immortal. (COMIC: Defying the Dragon) He also used his magic to briefly project himself forwards in time to the early 21st century, when a now discorporated Blue Knight was freed from under a boulder where he'd been trapped for centuries. Appearing out of nowhere, Merlin used a powerful space to merge the immortal spirit of the original Blue Knight with the body of his last living descendant, Chief Inspector Dennis of Scotland Yard, who happened to be in attendance. Brushing off both Dennises' protests, Merlin explained that he had no choice in the matter anyway, as it was his destiny to do this, just as it was the Dennises' to be the Blue Knight. He then vanished back to his own time. (COMIC: Encore)
Raising chickens
In one universe, a young man named Ambrosius was visited as a boy by a time-travelling Jenny Everywhere, who made several prophetic statements about his future, making him memorise the names of Gwenhwyfar, Morgan and King Uther, before dropping off some chickens — telling him that years later she would need a chicken from him. (PROSE: Close Encounter of the Bird Kind) Growing up to be a wizard, Ambrosius studied magic with the help of Morgan of the Fae, with whom he developed an infatuation; she was the one who bestowed upon him the “mage-name” of Merlin. He also served as a mentor to a boy who, for his part, became King Arthur.
Even though he sometimes doubted the possibility of time-travel, he kept his promise of keeping the royal chicken coops well-stocked, and he was proven right when a dinner at the castle was disrupted by Jenny Everywhere appearing in the middle of the Round Table. He quickly produced a royal hen, Bethan, whom Jenny was able to use for her purposes. When she heard that he'd been pursuing a romantic relationship with Morgan, Jenny tried to warn him that it might go awry, having seen this scenario play out in many universes to Merlin's disadvantage, but he wouldn't believe her aspersions and she quickly gave up. (PROSE: The Interlude of Jenny Everywhere)
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