A Dark Fantasy Horror reimagining of the Arthurian Legend published by AfterShock Comics, written by Cullen Bunn and illustrated by Mirko Colak.
Initially starting after the fall of Camelot and Arthur's death, 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.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Species Change: 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.
- Adaptational Villainy: Downplayed since Merlin is a Decomposite Character, but the Merlin that advises Arthur is an actual demon who is manipulating everyone For the Evulz and is the villain of the story.
- Adaptational Wimp: 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.
- All for Nothing: 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 at the end of the issue is 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.
- The Cameo: Sir Ector and his son Kay appear briefly when Arthur was a baby.
- The Chessmaster: Averted. While Merlin does seem to plan ahead a little, everything he does is For the Evulz and comes up with an Indy Ploy whenever he's faced with a new situation.
- Composite Character: 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 Guinevere's identical half-sister who is evil and manipulates Arthur for a time. Lancelot is combined with Bedivere with how he helps return Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake at the end of the comic.
- Dark Fantasy: Unlike more traditionally versions of the King Arthur story, which is usually either 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.
- Darker and Edgier: Apart from the Dark Fantasy angle there's a strong cynical vibe running throughout, as voiced by Merlin (who is a demon) and the narration, that even Arthur's best attempts at being the ideal king and a fundamentally moral person is held back by his human frailties.
- Decomposite Character: 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.
- Diabolus ex Machina: The entire Darker and Edgier premise hinges on a demon randomly taking Merlin's place For the Evulz.
- Didn't See That Coming: Merlin mentions that he didn't account for everything when making his plans after Guinevere kills him.
- Downer Ending: The comic is a How We Got Here story showing what led to the fall of Camelot. 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 Sole Survivor. 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.
- Enemy Without: Morgana Le Fey in this to Guinevere, being the physical embodiment of her guilt and regret over her affair.
- Excalibur in the Stone: Given this is a Dark Fantasy 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.
- Fatal Flaw: Arthur is a Horrible Judge of Character 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.
- For the Evulz: 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 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.
- The Good King: 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.
- Horrible Judge of Character: 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.
- How We Got Here: The comic starts after the battle between Arthur and Mordred is concluded, and then shows what led to it happening.
- Human-Demon Hybrid: 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 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.
- Indy Ploy: 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.
- Interspecies Romance: 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.
- Kill and Replace: The unnamed demon that escaped Hell killed and stole the identity of the real Merlin.
- King in the Mountain: 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.
- The Nameless: The demon has no true name of its own, but adopts Merlin's.
- Never Trust a Title: 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 and he's killed at the end of the first issue. The rest of the comic is a How We Got Here story with the Grail only being mentioned again once when Merlin suggests that Arthur and the Knights go searching for it.
- Related in the Adaptation: In a way. Morgana is Guinevere's Enemy Without and Merlin refers to her as Guinevere's sister, so that would make Mordred her nephew.
- Sole Survivor: Lancelot is seemingly the last survivng Knight of the Round Table at the end of the comic.
- Tragic Villain: Morgana and Mordred. 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.
- Unrelated in the Adaptation: Morgana Le Fey isn't the half-sister of Arthur in this version.
- Victory Is Boring: 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.
