Mordred

“Him who, at one blow,

had chest and shadow.

Shattered by Arthur’s hand.”

-Dante’s Inferno.

Arthurian Legend

Sir Mordred is a main character in the mythical/historical Arthurian age. Best known as either Morgause‘s or Morgaine Le Fey and Arthur‘s bastard son or the son of Morgaine and King Lot of Orkney. Mordred is the main antagonist of the hole myth (Lot: Bad, Morgaine: Worse, Mordred: Worst), he has been both hero and villain in epic tales until his death in the Battle of Camlann in hands of Arthur. In popular culture Mordred is synonymous with treachery and evil, being as wicked as Judas and Lucifer himself. In Dante’s Inferno he is in the lowest circle of Hell, set apart for traitors.

Modern tales portrays him as a warrior, a knight, a sorcerer, a victim of fate, a young druid boy, a half- Atlantean, a vampire and even as Lancelot‘s gay lover.

Vertigo

Born in May 1st, Morded was conceived as the Morgaine Le Fey’s revenge against king Arthur, Mordred grew up hating his father, dreaming the day when he will kill Arthur and destroy his beloved kingdom. When he stilled being a child, Morgaine (also called Morgana by the Elder Folk) sent him to destroy Camelot leading her army and enchanting his armor so he couldn’t be harmed by any man made weapon.

The final battle of Camelot started with an attack to the suburbs and then an attack to the castle with soldiers, demons, monsters and dragons (Morgaine Le Fey also participated in the battle). The first battle was won by Morgaine’s army; even Merlin’s demon Etrigan was unavailable to defeat them. The whole castle was destroyed and hundreds of men, women and children died.

The next morning Mordred was waiting his mother’s return in the now destroyed castle and when she returned also appeared his aunt and Merlin’s lover, the nymph Nimue Inwudu (Now called Madame Xanadu). After a little talk between Morgaine and Nimue, Mordred went to find his father’s last men, but this last battle wasn’t what he long wanted.

Arthur’s sword Excalibur wasn’t a man made weapon, it was something else and when Mordred attacked him Arthur cleaved him in two. From the sky, Morgaine saw everything and when she saw her son being killed she became powerless and fell to the grown, after that she was captured by the Camelot’s last survivors escaping a time later.

Centuries later Morgaine became the leader of the Church of the Midnight Dawn, a satanic sect to make them find three relics: the Mordred’s war-helm, the spear head that killed King Arthur and the Philosopher Stone. With this artifacts she would be able to resurrect Mordred so him could lead a new war in the new man’s world but Mordred’s helmet was stole by her sister Madame Xanadu and the detective John Jones (the Martian Manhunter) and she was defeated by her.

Powers, Weapons and Abilities

Mordred is a mystical being by his mother’s side. As a warlock he may not be as powerful as Morgaine Le Fey, but he has magical abilities like shut powerful green energy blasts, animate inanimate objects like gargoyles, toys and chairs, flying and cast a big number of powerful spells.

As a weapon he has his sword with what he is almost as good as his father King Arthur, his enchanted armor that protects him from any man made weapon and his shield.

Currently, Jason Blood keeps Mordred’s sword in his private Arthurian collection of antigues.

Other versions

Camelot 3000/Batman: Dark Knight of the Round Table

Mordred also appeared in Camelot 3000 and Batman: Dark Knight of the Round Table, but these versions weren’t really connected with the original. In Camelot 3000 he had reicarnated as Matthew Jordan, where he and his mother led an alien invasion.

Other Media

Justice League

Mordred was never killed by King Arthur in the DCAU (DC Animated Universe). He appears in the Justice League episodes ‘’A Knight of Shadows Part 1” and ‘’A Knight of Shadows Part 2” Mordred appeared with Morgaine Le Fey looking for Merlin’s Philosopher Stone to become Mordred in King of the a new Camelot. They battledthe Justice League and the demon Etrigan, losing after the Martian Manhunter destroyed the Philosopher’s Stone.

Justice League Unlimited

In the Justice League Unlimited episode ‘’Kid Stuff,” Morgaine was searching for the Amulet of First Magic. Tired of his youth and waiting to become king, Mordred used the Amulet of First Magic to send all the adult community to another dimension. Morgaine transformed the Justice League into children so they were able to return to Earth and defeat Mordred.

Tricking him, they made him transform himself in an older version of himself, sending him to the adult dimension and annulling the spell. After that Mordred’s eternal youth spell was broken, but he remained immortal. This caused him to rapidly age, but unable to die. He was left in his mother’s care, unable to take care of himself at all.

Mordred is voiced by Soren Fulton.

A continuation to this story was presented in the Justice League Unlimited # 33. Here Morgaine used the London Stone to make Mordred young once again. Doing this Stargirl and the Crimson Avenger changed of body and returned into normality destroying the stone itself. After that Morgaine Le Fey and Mordred accidentally changed of body and when Mordred tried to use magic in Le Fey’s body he made them disappear.

Merlin

Mordred was portrayed by British actor Asa Butterfied as the young Mordred, and then later by Alexander Vlahos when he was an adult.