BLACK KNIGHT (SIR WILLIAM)

Real Name: William (surname unrevealed) 

Identity/Class: Human magic weapon user;
    British citizen;
    Revolutionary War-era

Occupation: Soldier 

Group Membership: Possibly British Army 

Affiliations: None

Enemies: Continental Army  

Known Relatives: Sir Percy of Scandia (Black Knight, ancestor, deceased), Lady Rosamund (ancestor, deceased), Edward (son of Percy and Rosamund, ancestor, presumed deceased), Geoffrey (son of Percy and Rosamund, presumed deceased), Sir Raston (common ancestry, predecessor, apparently deceased), Sir Eobar of Garrington (Black Knight, common ancestry, predecessor, deceased), Sir Henry (Black Knight, common ancestry, predecessor, presumed deceased), Nathan Garrett (Black Knight, common ancestry, successor, deceased), Dane Whitman (Black Knight, common ancestry, successor), Last Knight (possible common ancestry, successor) (see comments)

Aliases: Sir Nigel (see comments)

Base of Operations: Thirteen Colonies, North America (see comments) 

First Appearance: New Excalibur#10 (August 2006)

Powers/Abilities: Sir William wielded the Ebony Blade, a magical sword that could cut through virtually any substance, as well as disrupt most forms of energy, including magical. He also used a musket.

Height: Unrevealed
Weight: Unrevealed
Eyes: Unrevealed
Hair: Unrevealed

History:
(New Excalibur#10 (fb) - BTS) -  Sir William was the Black Knight of the Revolutionary War period, fighting for the British against the rebel colonists.

(New Excalibur#10) - In the modern day, the current Black Knight, Dane Whitman, decided to turn his ancestral home, Garret Castle, into a Black Knight museum. Among the displays were portraits of several past Black Knights, including Sir William.   

Comments: Created by Frank Tieri, Michael Ryan and Rick Ketchum.

    Seen only in a single panel, there would be little to say about Sir William...except that I have an early draft script for the issue he appears in which reveals a tiny bit more about him. It identifies him as being the Black Knight of the Revolutionary War, fighting for the British against the Colonials. The script called for his coat to be red, which would have made this allegiance clearer, but I guess between that draft and publication the decision was made not to have someone called the "Black" Knight wearing predominately red. The script also called him Sir Nigel, which is why the United Kingdom entry in the Marvel Atlas mentions a 18th century Black Knight of that name. The normal way of reconciling name discrepancies would be to merge them into a combined name, but Sir William Nigel or Sir Nigel William doesn't work for well for an 18th century knight; I guess we can either write off the name in the Atlas as errata, or perhaps there was another 18th century Black Knight, William's predecessor or successor, called Nigel.

    Since he fought in the American Revolutionary War, he must have been based for at least part of his career in the Thirteen Colonies. He may have fought the Revolutionary War Captain America or Ulysses Bloodstone, both of whom were fighting for the colonies during that conflict, or he might have interacted with the Hellfire Club, who were already active by this era.

   I've listed most of the other Black Knights who came before and after as common ancestry rather than ancestors and descendants. The reason for this is simple - we know Nathan Garret is not Dane Whitman's ancestor. The Black Knight mantle and Ebony Blade are passed down within the family descending from Sir Percy of Scandia, but not necessarily from parent to child, so without explicit statements confirming that a given Black Knight is descended from another, we can't say for sure they are. None of the Black Knights we have been introduced to were confirmed to have children apart from Sir Percy, and holding the title /wielding the blade is dangerous, so for all we know every Black Knight since Arthurian times has been the end of their own particular line, and passed the role on to a sibling's descendants. However, since "common ancestry" doesn't provide any clues as to whether each individual might be an ancestor or descendant, I've also noted whether they preceded or succeeded Sir William as the Black Knight.

Profile by Loki.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Sir William, the Black Knight has no known connections to:


images: (without ads)
New Excalibur#10, p6, pan3 (main image)


Appearances:
New Excalibur#10 (August 2006) - Frank Tieri (writer), Michael Ryan (pencils), Rick Ketchum (inks), Mike Marts (editor)


First Posted: 02/17/2019
Last updated: 02/17/2019

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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