Percival of Scandia (Earth-616)

Black Knight

Gallery

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Place of Death

Cause of Death

1. Killed many times (resurrected by the Ebony Blade)^[3]
2. Stabbed by Mordred in the back after dropping the Ebony Blade^[3]

Identity

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Occupation

Knight of the Round Table of King Arthur Pendragon, spirit of spring

Education

Unrevealed, but extensive for his original time

Base of Operations

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Death

Origins[]

Sir Percy of Scandia was a member of the court of King Arthur in the 6th Century C.E. Sir Percy's father was an ally of King Arthur when Arthur was a youth.^[4]

Sir Percy's father eventually moved his wife and infant son away from Camelot to Scandia and, following the advice of Merlin, they schooled Sir Percy in combat and the knightly forms. When Sir Percy's parents died, Merlin summoned Sir Percy to Camelot, where Sir Percy, acting willingly as Merlin's agent, publicly played the fop. Privately, however, he used the identity of the Black Knight to defend the realm of King Arthur from any threats.^[2]

Early Adventurers[]

When Sir Percy first began his ruse as a cowardly fop, he came to Camelot claiming that he was driven from his land of Scandia by the Baron of Emsore, and was granted "sanctuary" in King Arthur's castle due to his familial relation. The "cowardly" Sir Percy was instantly disliked by Arthur's ward Lady Rosamund whom he was smitten by, as well as the King's son Mordred and his aunt Morgan Le Fay who were both plotting to usurp the kingdom. The pair attempted to eliminate King Arthur during a hunt, but thanks to Merlin, Sir Percy went into action as the Black Knight and prevented the hired assassins from killing King Arthur. The Black Knight was officially knighted by King Arthur, who promised never to ask of the Knight's true identity, much to the chagrin of Mordred.^[5]

After his first successful quest, the Black Knight was taken by Merlin to the Pool of Blood where Merlin had forged weapons out of an ebony Starstone meteor that came to Earth. Merlin presented him with weapons crafted from the Starstone: An ebony chalice, shield, staff, and sword. Merlin told the Black Knight of the foretold downfall of Camelot and that in choosing the right weapon the Black Knight could prevent the coming prophecy. The Black Knight chose the Ebony Blade as his weapon. Unable to determine if this was the right choice, Merlin destroyed the other weapons and they both departed, unaware that they were being watched by Mordred and Morgan Le Fay, who managed to preserve the staff (later used to create the Ebony Dagger), a situation that would insure Camelot's downfall.^[6]

The Black Knight continued to to thwart Mordred and Morgan's attempts at the throne, and although successful, was never able to amass evidence that could implicate his foes in these attempts allowing them to continue their machinations for some time. Mordred made another attempt on the King not long after this, briefly usurping the throne when he had his men kidnap Arthur in the night and lock him in the dungeons beneath the castle. This was revealed to Sir Percy by Merlin who then gave him the Ebony Blade as a new weapon to use against his foes. The Black Knight then rescued King Arthur and Mordred was forced to surrender control of the throne.^[5]

Not long after this a war party of Norsemen led by Leif the Lucky came to rape and pillage Camelot, kidnapping Lady Rosamund in the process. The Black Knight led King Arthur's knights into battle, rescuing Rosamund, who then became smitten by the mysterious Black Knight as much as she grew to despise his alter-ego Sir Percy. When Mordred attempted to poison King Arthur during a jousting competition, the Black Knight stepped in to challenge Mordred again and defeated him, however as usual Mordred managed to avoid having his schemes of regicide exposed. The Black Knight later uncovered an alliance between Mordred, Morgan Le Fay, and the Norman warrior Sir Robert de Quincy to take over Camelot and rule it jointly. While the Black Knight and King Arthur's knights succeeded in staving off the invading Normans, the Black Knight still could not find evidence implicating Mordred and Morgan in the attack.^[7]

The Black Knight later participated in a competition between various knights and was injured battling Sir Guy of Gascombe. Noticing these injuries, Mordred began investigating the citizens of Camelot to determine who shared the same injury as the Black Knight. Purposely bumping into Sir Percy, Mordred was shocked to find him injured and despite his disbelief decided to investigate further. However, Percy managed to maintain his secret when Merlin briefly posed as the Black Knight in order to protect his identity. Later on King Arthur's birthday, the Black Knight thwarted Mordred's attempt of slaying King Arthur on his annual lion hunt by unleashing a pack of lions on the King. Shortly thereafter the Black Knight once again came to the rescue of Lady Rosamund when she was kidnapped by Sir D'Arcy of France who sought to force Rosamund to be his bride.^[8]

The Black Knight later was briefly an outlaw of the kingdom of Camelot when Sir Guy Wanderell posed as the Knight in order to frame the hero. However, the Black Knight cleared his name after he defeated his impostor. The Black Knight then assisted King Arthur and his knights in fighting off the Scottish outlaw Kevin MacCaul who attempted to reclaim his Black Castle after King Arthur exiled him years earlier. As Sir Percy, the Black Knight was kidnapped along with King Arthur and Lady Rosamund by French-Sicilian pirates under the employ of Mordred. Sir Percy managed to dive overboard and returned to Camelot for reinforcements but found that Mordred had taken control of the throne and sent the Knights of the Round Table on false leads to find the King. Disguised as the Black Knight, Sir Percy led the remaining knights to the island where Arthur and the others were being held prisoner and rescued them, once again forcing Mordred to relinquish the throne.^[9]

The Black Knight also defended Camelot from Sir Gilles who tried to invade the castle with an army hidden in a fake dragon. The Knight also came to the aid of one of King Arthur's baronies when it was being sucked dry of all its wealthy by the opulent sheriff Sir Joshua Constain. Shortly thereafter he prevented Mohar Jinn the leader of the Tartars from taking over Camelot and enslaving King Arthur.^[10]

At some point, Thor Odinson led a horde of Vikings in an attempt to destroy Camelot and faced Sir Percy in single combat, arrogantly mocking the knight until he snapped and unleashed the Ebony Blade's full power. Despite the tenants of chivalry mandating he let the Vikings retreat after winning the duel, Sir Percy slaughtered all of them in a berserk rage; Merlin erasing Thor's memories in order to avoid further incurring the Asgardian's wrath against Camelot.^[11]

Interactions with Time Travelers[]

Percival was once handed what appeared to be the sword Excalibur by King Arthur himself. He consulted the Lady of the Lake, hearing a cryptic riddle. Percival found himself in the body of Dane Whitman, the Black Knight of the Modern Era and confronted by the superheroes known as Excalibur.^[12]

Time in the Modern Era[]

At an unknown period in time, Morgan Le Fay sent Percival sent forward in time to the United States in the early 20th century. He was eventually imprisoned Ravencroft Institute, a mental asylum, after he was believed to be insane. He tried to convince Doctor Jonas Ravencroft - the director of Ravencroft - to let him go, but Ravencroft dismissed what he said to be the ravings of a madman; Percival in turn threatening to kill him. The only one who appeared to believe him was one Doctor Claudia Russell, one of Ravencroft's doctors.^[13] Percival eventually found a way to return to his own time; how he did so is unrevealed.

Fall of Camelot and Death[]

Eventually, after Sir Percy had married Lady Rosamund and raised two children, the truth of Sir Lancelot's affair with Guinevere became known, and Camelot was wracked by civil war.^[14] Sir Percy attempted to aid King Arthur against Mordred, but he was ambushed by the forces of Mordred before he could reach Arthur. During the battle, Sir Percy was stabbed from behind by Mordred and died.^[6] Having become aware of the Ebony Blade's true nature, Sir Percy willingly cast it aside as Mordred struck to avoid being resurrected, hoping he could posthumously right the wrongs he had committed.^[3]

Spirit[]

Following his death, the spirit of Percy has appeared before his descendants whenever a worthy successor for the mantle of the Black Knight was needed. His most frequent manifestations on the Earthly plain have occurred during the Modern Era when he rejected his descendant Nathan Garrett and later chose Dane Whitman to be his successor.^[15]