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* RelatedInTheAdaptation: In a way. [[spoiler:Morgana is Guinevere's EenemyWithout and Merlin refers to her as Guinevere's sister, so that would make Mordred her nephew.]]
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* RelatedInTheAdaptation: In a way. [[spoiler:Morgana is Guinevere's EenemyWithout EnemyWithout and Merlin refers to her as Guinevere's sister, so that would make Mordred her nephew.]]
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* DarkFantasy: Unlike more traditionally versions of the King Arthur story, which is usually either [[LowFantasy Low]] or Heroic Fantasy, this comic portrays the land of Albion as a horrific place to live where demons and magical beings manipulate the lives of mortals for their own ends.
to:
* DarkFantasy: Unlike more traditionally versions of the King Arthur story, which is usually either [[LowFantasy Low]] or Heroic Fantasy, HeroicFantasy, this comic portrays the land of Albion as a horrific place to live where demons and magical beings manipulate the lives of mortals for their own ends.
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* FatalFlaw: Arthur is a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter and his trust in the demonic Merlin leads to the fall of Camelot and the deaths of himself and pretty much everyone he knows.
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* FatalFlaw: Arthur is a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter and his trust in the demonic Merlin leads to the fall of Camelot and the deaths of himself and pretty much everyone he knows. However his comments to Mordred hint that in the end he had realised that his mentor didn't actually care about him.
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* TragicVillain: Morgana and Mordred. [[spoiler:The former was created by Merlin to cause problems in Camelot and in Arthur's relationship with Guinevere, and she would die if Guinevere was killed as Merlin planned. Then she ends up conceiving a son with the narration hinting that she desperately wanted to be a person of her own right. Mordred meanwhile is manipulated by Merlin into betraying his father and being killed in battle, his last words trying to explain what is going on to his father.]]
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* AllForNothing: The first issue shows Percival returning to Camelot too late with the Holy Grail, with Arthur and everyone else dead. He sits in the Siege Perilous, which according to Merlin only the knight who found the Grail could sit on, but [[spoiler:at the end of the comic is killed. It's heavily implied that nobody could sit on the chair since Merlin encouraged the search for the Grail simply as a way to get Arthur out of Camelot while Mordred took over]].
to:
* AllForNothing: The first issue shows Percival returning to Camelot too late with the Holy Grail, with Arthur and everyone else dead. He sits in the Siege Perilous, which according to Merlin only the knight who found the Grail could sit on, but [[spoiler:at the end of the comic issue is killed.killed by sitting in it. It's heavily implied that nobody could sit on the chair since Merlin encouraged the search for the Grail simply as a way to get Arthur out of Camelot while Mordred took over]].
* DarkerAndEdgier: Apart from the DarkFantasy angle there's a strong [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism cynical]] vibe running throughout, as voiced by Merlin (who ''is'' a demon) and the narration, that even Arthur's best attempts at being [[TheGoodKing the ideal king]] and a fundamentally moral person is held back by [[HumansAreFlawed his human frailties.]]
* DiabolusExMachina: The entire DarkerAndEdgier premise hinges on a demon randomly taking Merlin's place ForTheEvulz.
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* DownerEnding: The comic is a HowWeGotHere story showing what led to the fall of Camelot. [[spoiler:Arthur's inability to realise that Merlin is a demon manipulating everything for his own amusement leads to the deaths of all his Knights in a war against Mordred where the two kill each other, Guinevere is killed by Merlin after she fatally wounds the demon, and Lancelot is left as the SoleSurvivor. Worse, it's implied that the legend of Arthur's return is nothing more than a story, with his corpse instead being given to the Lady of the Lake along with Excalibur.]]
to:
* DownerEnding: The comic is a HowWeGotHere story showing what led to the fall of Camelot. [[spoiler:Arthur's inability to realise that Merlin is a demon manipulating everything for his own amusement leads to the deaths of all his Knights in a war against Mordred where the two kill each other, Guinevere is killed by Merlin after she fatally wounds the demon, Percival apparently found the Grail but it doesn't affect anything, and Lancelot is left as the SoleSurvivor. Worse, it's implied that the legend of Arthur's return is nothing more than a story, with his corpse instead being given to the Lady of the Lake along with Excalibur.]]
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* NeverTrustATitle: Despite the name, the comic doesn't focus on the actual quest for the Holy Grail. The comic starts with Percival seemingly having found the Grail and returning to Camelot after the final battle between Arthur and Mordred, but he's killed at the end of the first issue. The rest of the comic is a HowWeGotHere story with the Grail only being mentioned again once when Merlin suggests that Arthur and the Knights go searching for it.
to:
* NeverTrustATitle: Despite the name, the comic doesn't focus on the actual quest for the Holy Grail. The comic starts with Percival seemingly having found the Grail and returning to Camelot after the final battle between Arthur and Mordred, but this doesn't affect the story further [[spoiler:and he's killed at the end of the first issue.issue]]. The rest of the comic is a HowWeGotHere story with the Grail only being mentioned again once when Merlin suggests that Arthur and the Knights go searching for it.
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* HumanDemonHybrid: The human Merlin claims to the demon that he is the son of the Devil himself, but the demon denies it, saying that he knows the Devil and his ''real'' children well and [[PretenderDiss Merlin's not one of them.]] Merlin recoils before his wrath and it's implied his claiming so is what pissed off the demon enough to kill him.
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* TheNameless: The demon has no true name of its own, but adopts Merlin's.
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* KingInTheMountain: [[spoiler:The story of Arthur being taken to Avalon to be healed and one day returning when Albion needs him is heavily implied to be nothing more than that. The last page of the comic simply shows Arthur's corpse with the Lady of the Lake, with nothing to suggest that he will actually return.]]
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* TheChessmaster: Averted. While Merlin does seem to plan ahead a little, everything he does is ForTheEvulz and comes up with an IndyPloy whenever he's faced with a new situation.
* DidntSeeThatComing: Merlin mentions that he didn't account for everything when making his plans [[spoiler:after Guinevere kills him]].
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* ForTheEvulz: It seems that everything Merlin did in the comic, from helping Arthur become king and build Camelot to causing it's eventual downfall, was all done simply to amuse him. He decides to kill the human Merlin and then tend to the dying Uther simply as something to do, coming up with the plan to make Arthur king on the spot, and plots to bring the downfall of Camelot simply because he was bored of peace.
to:
* ForTheEvulz: It seems that everything Merlin did in the comic, from helping Arthur become king and build Camelot to causing it's eventual downfall, was all done simply to amuse him.himself. He decides to kill the human Merlin and then tend to the dying Uther simply as something to do, coming up with the plan to make Arthur king on the spot, and plots to bring the downfall of Camelot simply because he was bored of peace.
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* InterspeciesRomance: In return for Excalibur, Arthur swore to only love the Lady of the Lake who is some sort of supernatural being.
to:
* IndyPloy: Merlin basically comes up with plans on the spot and does whatever he feels like doing in the moment. His decision to steal the real Merlin's identity and then make Arthur king were all decisions he made in the moment.
* InterspeciesRomance: In return for Excalibur, Arthur swore to only love the Lady of the Lake who is some sort of supernatural being. However he ended up breaking this vow when he fell in love with Guinevere and married her.
* InterspeciesRomance: In return for Excalibur, Arthur swore to only love the Lady of the Lake who is some sort of supernatural being. However he ended up breaking this vow when he fell in love with Guinevere and married her.
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* DownerEnding: The comic is a HowWeGotHere story showing what led to the fall of Camelot. [[spoiler:Arthur's inability to realise that Merlin is a demon manipulating everything for his own amusement leads to the deaths of all his Knights in a war against Mordred where the two kill each other, Guinevere is killed by Merlin after she fatally wounds the demon, and Lancelot is left as the SoleSurvivor. Worse, it's implied that the legend of Arthur's return is nothing more than a story, with his corpse instead being given to the Lady of the Lake along with Excalibur.]]
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* DownerEnding: The comic is a HowWeGotHere story showing what led to the fall of Camelot. [[spoiler:Arthur's inability to realise that Merlin is a demon manipulating everything for his own amusement leads to the deaths of all his Knights in a war against Mordred where the two kill each other, Guinevere is killed by Merlin after she fatally wounds the demon, and Lancelot is left as the SoleSurvivor. Worse, it's implied that the legend of Arthur's return is nothing more than a story, with his corpse instead being given to the Lady of the Lake along with Excalibur.]]
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The comic covers the story of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table while the demonic Merlin works behind the scenes to manipulate events and achieve his own goals. Escaping Hell, a unnamed demon steals the identity of the wizard Merlin and made it his
to:
* AdaptationalSpeciesChange: Downplayed. The real Merlin that appeared in the first issue was human, but in the Legend he was sometimes the son of the Devil while in other versions just a wizard. However the Merlin throughout the rest of the comic is an outright demon.
* DownerEnding: The comic is a HowWeGotHere story showing what led to the fall of Camelot. [[spoiler:Arthur's inability to realise that Merlin is a demon manipulating everything for his own amusement leads to the deaths of all his Knights in a war against Mordred where the two kill each other, Guinevere is killed by Merlin after she fatally wounds the demon, and Lancelot is left as the SoleSurvivor. Worse, it's implied that the legend of Arthur's return is nothing more than a story, with his corpse instead being given to the Lady of the Lake along with Excalibur.]]
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* CompositeCharacter: Arthur's seemingly romantic relationship with the Lady of the Lake makes him similar to some versions of Merlin who started a relationship with the Lady. Meanwhile Morgana Le Fey seems to have been combined with [[spoiler:Guinevere's [[UncannyFamilyResemblance identical]] half-sister who is evil and manipulates Arthur for a time]]. Lacelot is combined with Bedivere with how he helps return Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake at the end of the comic.
to:
* CompositeCharacter: Arthur's seemingly romantic relationship with the Lady of the Lake makes him similar to some versions of Merlin who started a relationship with the Lady. Meanwhile Morgana Le Fey seems to have been combined with [[spoiler:Guinevere's [[UncannyFamilyResemblance identical]] half-sister who is evil and manipulates Arthur for a time]]. Lacelot Lancelot is combined with Bedivere with how he helps return Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake at the end of the comic.
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* ForTheEvulz: It seems that everything Merlin did in the comic, from helping Arthur become king and build Camelot to causing it's eventual downfall, was all done simply to amuse him.
to:
* FatalFlaw: Arthur is a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter and his trust in the demonic Merlin leads to the fall of Camelot and the deaths of himself and pretty much everyone he knows.
* ForTheEvulz: It seems that everything Merlin did in the comic, from helping Arthur become king and build Camelot to causing it's eventual downfall, was all done simply to amuse him. He decides to kill the human Merlin and then tend to the dying Uther simply as something to do, coming up with the plan to make Arthur king on the spot, and plots to bring the downfall of Camelot simply because he was bored of peace.
* TheGoodKing: Arthur wants to be this and often succeeds, but he is unknowingly being mentored by a demon who encourages him to be ruthless and violent. Despite Merlin claiming that people serve him out of love, it's shown by their expressions that to the common people Arthur is like any other king and they serve him because they have to.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Arthur never realises that Merlin is manipulating him, and he trusts Merlin's advice to let Mordred rule while he's on the quest for the Grail.
* HowWeGotHere: The comic starts after the battle between Arthur and Mordred is concluded, and then shows what led to it happening.
* ForTheEvulz: It seems that everything Merlin did in the comic, from helping Arthur become king and build Camelot to causing it's eventual downfall, was all done simply to amuse him. He decides to kill the human Merlin and then tend to the dying Uther simply as something to do, coming up with the plan to make Arthur king on the spot, and plots to bring the downfall of Camelot simply because he was bored of peace.
* TheGoodKing: Arthur wants to be this and often succeeds, but he is unknowingly being mentored by a demon who encourages him to be ruthless and violent. Despite Merlin claiming that people serve him out of love, it's shown by their expressions that to the common people Arthur is like any other king and they serve him because they have to.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Arthur never realises that Merlin is manipulating him, and he trusts Merlin's advice to let Mordred rule while he's on the quest for the Grail.
* HowWeGotHere: The comic starts after the battle between Arthur and Mordred is concluded, and then shows what led to it happening.
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* UnrelatedInTheAdaptation: Morgana Le Fey isn't the half-sister of Arthur in this version.
to:
* UnrelatedInTheAdaptation: Morgana Le Fey isn't NeverTrustATitle: Despite the half-sister of name, the comic doesn't focus on the actual quest for the Holy Grail. The comic starts with Percival seemingly having found the Grail and returning to Camelot after the final battle between Arthur in this version.and Mordred, but he's killed at the end of the first issue. The rest of the comic is a HowWeGotHere story with the Grail only being mentioned again once when Merlin suggests that Arthur and the Knights go searching for it.
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* SoleSurvivor: [[spoiler:Lancelot is seemingly the last survivng Knight of the Round Table at the end of the comic.]]
* UnrelatedInTheAdaptation: Morgana Le Fey isn't the half-sister of Arthur in this version.
* UnrelatedInTheAdaptation: Morgana Le Fey isn't the half-sister of Arthur in this version.
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[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/unholygrail.jpg]]
%%[[caption-width-right:499:some caption text]]
A DarkFantasy {{Horror}} reimagining of the Myth/ArthurianLegend published by [=AfterShock=] Comics, written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Mirko Colak.
The comic covers the story of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table while the demonic Merlin works behind the scenes to manipulate events and achieve his own goals. Escaping Hell, a unnamed demon steals the identity of the wizard Merlin and made it his
----
!!Tropes:
* AdaptationalVillainy: Downplayed since Merlin is a DecompositeCharacter, but the Merlin that advises Arthur is an actual demon who is manipulating everyone ForTheEvulz and is the villain of the story.
* AdaptationalWimp: While it's implied that he was still a sorcerer, the original human Merlin was easily killed by the demon that stole his identity. He's also not the son of the Devil like he claims to be.
* AllForNothing: The first issue shows Percival returning to Camelot too late with the Holy Grail, with Arthur and everyone else dead. He sits in the Siege Perilous, which according to Merlin only the knight who found the Grail could sit on, but [[spoiler:at the end of the comic is killed. It's heavily implied that nobody could sit on the chair since Merlin encouraged the search for the Grail simply as a way to get Arthur out of Camelot while Mordred took over]].
* TheCameo: Sir Ector and his son Kay appear briefly when Arthur was a baby.
* CompositeCharacter: Arthur's seemingly romantic relationship with the Lady of the Lake makes him similar to some versions of Merlin who started a relationship with the Lady. Meanwhile Morgana Le Fey seems to have been combined with [[spoiler:Guinevere's [[UncannyFamilyResemblance identical]] half-sister who is evil and manipulates Arthur for a time]]. Lacelot is combined with Bedivere with how he helps return Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake at the end of the comic.
* DarkFantasy: Unlike more traditionally versions of the King Arthur story, which is usually either [[LowFantasy Low]] or Heroic Fantasy, this comic portrays the land of Albion as a horrific place to live where demons and magical beings manipulate the lives of mortals for their own ends.
* DecompositeCharacter: There are actually two characters named Merlin: the original human who was advisor to Uther, and the demon that stole his identity and was Arthur's advisor.
* EnemyWithout: Morgana Le Fey in this [[spoiler:to Guinevere, being the physical embodiment of her guilt and regret over her affair.]]
* ExcaliburInTheStone: Given this is a DarkFantasy reimagining, this aspect of the legend is altered to match the tone. In this version, the sword that Arthur pulls is just an ordinary sword that once beloned to Uther while he is given Excalibur later by the Lady of the Lake. The stone however is the corpse of a man that Merlin killed with the sword who refused to accept that Arthur would one day be king, with Merlin using his magic to transform the corpse into a stone. When Arthur removed the sword, he notes that blood still comes from the stone.
* ForTheEvulz: It seems that everything Merlin did in the comic, from helping Arthur become king and build Camelot to causing it's eventual downfall, was all done simply to amuse him.
* InterspeciesRomance: In return for Excalibur, Arthur swore to only love the Lady of the Lake who is some sort of supernatural being.
* KillAndReplace: The unnamed demon that escaped Hell killed and stole the identity of the real Merlin.
* UnrelatedInTheAdaptation: Morgana Le Fey isn't the half-sister of Arthur in this version.
* RelatedInTheAdaptation: In a way. [[spoiler:Morgana is Guinevere's EenemyWithout and Merlin refers to her as Guinevere's sister, so that would make Mordred her nephew.]]
* VictoryIsBoring: Merlin helped create Camelot by encouraging Arthur to lead a bloody conquest across Albion and anyone who stood against him, but became bored with the peace that brought. As a result he began to cause trouble by manipulating others and causing the destruction of Camelot.
----
%%[[caption-width-right:499:some caption text]]
A DarkFantasy {{Horror}} reimagining of the Myth/ArthurianLegend published by [=AfterShock=] Comics, written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Mirko Colak.
The comic covers the story of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table while the demonic Merlin works behind the scenes to manipulate events and achieve his own goals. Escaping Hell, a unnamed demon steals the identity of the wizard Merlin and made it his
----
!!Tropes:
* AdaptationalVillainy: Downplayed since Merlin is a DecompositeCharacter, but the Merlin that advises Arthur is an actual demon who is manipulating everyone ForTheEvulz and is the villain of the story.
* AdaptationalWimp: While it's implied that he was still a sorcerer, the original human Merlin was easily killed by the demon that stole his identity. He's also not the son of the Devil like he claims to be.
* AllForNothing: The first issue shows Percival returning to Camelot too late with the Holy Grail, with Arthur and everyone else dead. He sits in the Siege Perilous, which according to Merlin only the knight who found the Grail could sit on, but [[spoiler:at the end of the comic is killed. It's heavily implied that nobody could sit on the chair since Merlin encouraged the search for the Grail simply as a way to get Arthur out of Camelot while Mordred took over]].
* TheCameo: Sir Ector and his son Kay appear briefly when Arthur was a baby.
* CompositeCharacter: Arthur's seemingly romantic relationship with the Lady of the Lake makes him similar to some versions of Merlin who started a relationship with the Lady. Meanwhile Morgana Le Fey seems to have been combined with [[spoiler:Guinevere's [[UncannyFamilyResemblance identical]] half-sister who is evil and manipulates Arthur for a time]]. Lacelot is combined with Bedivere with how he helps return Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake at the end of the comic.
* DarkFantasy: Unlike more traditionally versions of the King Arthur story, which is usually either [[LowFantasy Low]] or Heroic Fantasy, this comic portrays the land of Albion as a horrific place to live where demons and magical beings manipulate the lives of mortals for their own ends.
* DecompositeCharacter: There are actually two characters named Merlin: the original human who was advisor to Uther, and the demon that stole his identity and was Arthur's advisor.
* EnemyWithout: Morgana Le Fey in this [[spoiler:to Guinevere, being the physical embodiment of her guilt and regret over her affair.]]
* ExcaliburInTheStone: Given this is a DarkFantasy reimagining, this aspect of the legend is altered to match the tone. In this version, the sword that Arthur pulls is just an ordinary sword that once beloned to Uther while he is given Excalibur later by the Lady of the Lake. The stone however is the corpse of a man that Merlin killed with the sword who refused to accept that Arthur would one day be king, with Merlin using his magic to transform the corpse into a stone. When Arthur removed the sword, he notes that blood still comes from the stone.
* ForTheEvulz: It seems that everything Merlin did in the comic, from helping Arthur become king and build Camelot to causing it's eventual downfall, was all done simply to amuse him.
* InterspeciesRomance: In return for Excalibur, Arthur swore to only love the Lady of the Lake who is some sort of supernatural being.
* KillAndReplace: The unnamed demon that escaped Hell killed and stole the identity of the real Merlin.
* UnrelatedInTheAdaptation: Morgana Le Fey isn't the half-sister of Arthur in this version.
* RelatedInTheAdaptation: In a way. [[spoiler:Morgana is Guinevere's EenemyWithout and Merlin refers to her as Guinevere's sister, so that would make Mordred her nephew.]]
* VictoryIsBoring: Merlin helped create Camelot by encouraging Arthur to lead a bloody conquest across Albion and anyone who stood against him, but became bored with the peace that brought. As a result he began to cause trouble by manipulating others and causing the destruction of Camelot.
----
