sympathetic morgana & mordred (queer coded?)

lucrezianoin:

as discussed with @luvlydoll ! I compiled this list without the non arthurian episodes with arthurian characters, also because the majority of them has liché villains (Morgana usually). Ahh I hope there aren’t too many mistakes, also it felt oddly personal and subjective, so many people will probably have different interpretations of cliché villain or sympathetic.

1949 THE ADVENTURES OF SIR GALAHAD
Sympathetic not villain Morgana. Villain cliché Mordred. Slightly queer coded?

1953 THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE
Not a completely sympathetic Morgana or a sympathetic Mordred for everyone, but in my opinion they are. They are definitely not cliché villains like in other adaptations. They plot against Arthur, but because they think Arthur stole their throne (they are husband and wife, here).

1962 SWORD OF LANCELOT
Evil!Mordred. Not cliché evil, but not sympathetic either. Also quite elegant, even if I wouldn’t call him queer coded.

1967 CAMELOT
Probably queer coded Mordred. A bit cliché evil.

1974 LANCELOT DU LAC
Evil Mordred.

1979 THE LEGEND OF KING ARTHUR
Evil Morgana and Mordred, not in an exaggerated cliche-y way.

1981 EXCALIBUR
Evil Morgana and evil Mordred (not too cliche-y).

1985 MERLIN AND THE SWORD
Cliché Morgana and cliché Mordred. Both evil.

1988 NEW ADVENTURES OF A YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR’S COURT
I have watched this movie without understanding a word as it’s in Russian. But from what I got, Morgana (in particular) and Mordred are very sympathetic. And Morgana go from apparent villain to Arthur’s ally.

1989 A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING’S ARTHUR COURT
Evil cliché Morgana and Mordred.

1991 THE LEGEND OF PRINCE VALIANT
Villain Mordred, but not a cliché. Slightly sympathetic?

1994 GUINEVERE
Morgana is evil and fights against Guinevere, but she isn’t too cliché.

1995 A YOUNG CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR’S COURT
Evil cliché Morgana (but amazingly fun).

1998 A KNIGHT IN CAMELOT
Not technically a sympathetic Morgana, but the main character played by Whoopi Goldberg is named Vivian Morgan (at the end we find out she is named Morgan). As there is no other Morgana, I think she might be safely considered the Morgana in this adaptation. And she is definitely on the good side.

1998 MERLIN
Villain cliché Morgana and Mordred (queer coded?).

1999 EXCALIBUR KID
Honorable mention! Here there’s Morgause in the role of Arthur’s close sister and villain. A bit of a cliché villain, but her reasons are quite clear and she isn’t completely evil.

1999 ARTHUR’S QUEST
Cliché villain Morgana.

2000 MERLIN THE RETURN
Cliché villain Mordred and Morgana.

2001 MISTS OF AVALON
Not villain Morgana, who is also sympathetic. Villain Mordred, slightly sympathetic. But this is a book adaptation of the characters.

2005 STARGATE SG-1 SEASONS 9-10
Sympathetic not villain Morgana.

2005 KAAMELOTT
Sympathetic not villain Morgana.

2008 MERLIN (BBC)
Sympathetic not villain Morgana to totally cliché villain Morgana. Sympathetic not completely villain Mordred.

2008 version of CAMELOT musical
As before, villain cliché Mordred, queer coded.

2009 MERLIN AND THE BOOK OF BEASTS
Cliché evil Mordred.

2020 MERLIN AND ARTHUR THE LION KING
Villain Morgana, but not that cliche-y. Sympathetic non-villain Mordred.

2010 THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE
Villain cliché Morgana.

2010 AVALON HIGH
Evil cliché Mordred

2011 CAMELOT (STARZ)
Villain, but not cliché, Morgana. Slightly sympathetic.

2014 DRAGONS OF CAMELOT
Evil cliché Morgana

2014 THE LIBRARIANS
Not too villain Morgana, too mysterious to know.

Author: arthurianmaiden

I am an evolutionary biologist who has a passion for arthurian legends. View all posts by arthurianmaiden