Origin
The first known Black Knight was Sir Percy of Scandia who lived during the 6th century. He was recruited by Merlin to become the Black Knight. He is the eighth Black Knight, the eight before him got corrupted by the Ebony Blade, but Percy was not. He was one of the Knights of the Round Table and he was constantly trying to find evidence of Mordred‘s treachery. After the fall of Camelot, Mordred and his men created a dagger from the Starstone meteorite. Mordred’s men killed Sir Percy with the dagger. Merlin then cast a spell on Sir Percy’s spirit so it will live on by casting a spell that will revive his ghost.
Creation
Black Knight was created by Stan Lee and artist Joe Maneely and first appeared in The Black Knight #1.
Major Story Arcs
Death
Mordred eventually kills Percy at Castle Scandia during the fall of Camelot. He is stabbed with a blade that is made from the same material as the Ebony Blade that he uses. Merlin casts a spell that keeps Percy’s spirit alive and his ghost will be revived in the event that Mordred returns.
Percy’s spirit does appear several times in order to aid his descendant, Dane Whitman, who is one of many who takes up his mantel. He is later released from the mortal plane by Doctor Strange.
He has appear in the story arcs of “The Menace Of Modred The Evil!”, “Excalibur”, “The Crusader”, and “The Abduction of King Arthur!” in The Black Knight comic series.
Powers and Abilities
The Black Knight had no superhuman powers. He was a great knight and possessed all the skills of combat that a knight should have. He was a master swordsman and horseback rider. He was also a talented poet, singer, and musician. He played the lute. As long has held the Ebony Blade he was invulnerable to physical harm, except for weapons that with the same metal as the blade.
Alternate Versions
Marvel Zombies
In the Earth -555 version Sir Percy he is the son of knight Sir Danel and the pagan Lady Evaine and the fact that the church of Rome was killing non-christian was forever tormenting him. So when he found a book that promised to make his dreams come true he was easily suduced. He unwitingly unleashed an undead army on to his beloved country. It was Swift Cloud, who finally rescued him and show him what the book was truely doing.
In Other Media
Television
- Sir Percy appears in the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends episode “Knights & Demons,” voiced by Vic Perrin. In the episode, Percy is transported to 1980s New York City after Mordred the Evil’s servant demonic servant Darkon is unearthed by an archaeological dig. When the creature attacks New York in search of the Ebony Blade (which is on display at Empire State University‘s museum), Percy arrives and reclaims his old sword. He soon teams up with Spider-Man, Iceman and Firestar in order to battle Mordred, though his sexist attitudes towards women briefly causes tension with Firestar. Once Mordred is defeated and Darkon is destroyed, Percy bids the heroes farewell and returns to his own time.
Video Games
- Sir Percy appears in Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2. In the game’s story mode, he appears on the section of ancient England that was merged into Chronopolis. He seeks assistance from the player in freeing his land from Kang the Conqueror‘s tyranny, and leads the heroes to his castle to fight Enchantress. However, this Black Knight actually turns out to be Nathan Garrett in disguise, who seeks to prove his worth to Kang by leading the heroes into a trap. After defeating Enchantress and Garrett, the heroes encounter the real Sir Percy, who had been imprisoned within the castle. Sir Percy can later be unlocked after completing a side quest where he recruits the player to help capture Enchantress and Garrett, who managed to escape captivity after their last encounter with the heroes.
Merchandise
- In 2018, Hasbro released a Black Knight figure for the Marvel Legends Cull Obsidian Build-a-Figure wave. Though the figure depicted the Dane Whitman iteration of the character, it also came with an alternate Sir Percy head.