This isn't even a question. Merlin, of course.
Goofy Merlin and Broody Merlin. I love Merlin.
I realize that probably I should be seen debating between Arthur and Merlin or whatever, but the truth is, it has to be Merlin. While both Arthur and Merlin are complex characters - I'm not denying this - Merlin is just much more interesting to me.
Coming clean here: it's hard for me to know exactly what to write about Merlin because the truth is, everything about him seems so blatantly obvious, and everything I write will probably just seem redundant. I've been thinking for a while now about what exactly it is I should talk about here, why he's my favourite, everything, and it's difficult. But we'll just see how this goes.
So, Merlin was one of those who characters who are hopelessly endearing to me right off the bat, in quite the same way I've talked about how Gwen was. The wide-eyed, delighted kid we met in the pilot was just a treasure to behold, and I adore that the first real introduction we get to him was him saving Gaius's life. His first interaction with Arthur - standing up for the other servant when Arthur was throwing weapons at them, in exactly the same way we see Arthur doing with Merlin later on - was lovely, and something I took at the time to be pure compassion. But now that I've really thought about Merlin's character and the kind of life he must have led even before Camelot, I interpret to be an urge to not allow injustice to those who can't defend themselves.
Which is a little tragic, considering how much he allows himself to be treated like that - I mean, like I said, we see Arthur literally doing exactly the same thing to Merlin that he was doing to that first servant, apparently oblivious to the irony of it, or that impatience for that sort of abuse is the reason he found Merlin interesting to begin with.
The point is this: Merlin hates seeing injustice dealt on others (I think of young!Mordred as my primary example, but I'm quite sure there were others), but puts up with quite a lot himself. He doesn't enjoy it, but he never actively tries to stop it when it's directed at him. Which makes me think that Merlin is probably a walking bag of self-worth issues. And that is a sure-fire, 100% guaranteed way to make me love a character.
I say he has self-worth issues because there are plenty of times when he can not take the abuse, or even take credit for some life-saving thing he's done, but he almost never takes those chances. Which makes me think he's almost punishing himself, or rather, allowing himself to be punished. For instance, Arthur throws things at him quite a lot. Usually for no good reason (is there ever a good reason to throw a goblet at someone's head?). Admittedly, as Dumbledore once pointed out about Neville Longbottom, it's sometimes harder to stick up to your friends than to bullies, and Arthur has been considered as both, but you still can't help but feel that surely there must be something Merlin can say that would remind Arthur the sort of person his manservant actually is? (And I do think that Arthur secretly appreciated Merlin's refusal to put up with his arrogance in the pilot in the same way that he appreciates that Gwen doesn't just tell him what he wants to hear).
Of course, the other thing is that I think that Merlin probably has an instinct to keep his head down, which would be another reason to not stand up to Arthur once they're a consistent part of each other's lives. I mean, it's hard to tell as an audience member given that the show's about him, but Merlin actually isn't terribly well-known, at least, not before Arthur becomes king. (Then Merlin has a relationship with all the primary knights, which brings him a little out of the shadows, to say the least). But think about it - as a magical person, I find it very likely that, especially in the center of magic-hatred (remind me again why Hunith sent him to Camelot, of all places?), his main instinct would be to keep his head down and not draw attention to himself. Which would explain why he insists on playing dumb a good portion of the time. Why he puts up with everything Arthur does to him. And also why Uther never seems to properly recognize him, even though he's by his son's side at least 85% of the time and was hired to be there because he saved Arthur's life. I mean, Uther's also not the greatest example of mental health, but there's something to be said for Merlin's ability to sink into obscurity.
Of course, if he wants to keep his head down, why go starting something with someone who, even if Merlin didn't know was a prince, was clearly a noble? In my mind, it all comes back to the injustice thing, with the justification that Merlin probably didn't anticipate ever having to see that prat again.
But that's just one of the ways (possibly the most important way) that Merlin is a man of contradiction. I think that's one of the main reasons he captivated me far more than Arthur ever did. Merlin is so much more a man of contradictions.
For example, I think that probably one of Merlin's defining traits in the earlier seasons was his warmth. It's what draws Gwen to him, what makes Lancelot comfortable in trusting him, (as with early Morgana and Mordred), what makes him stick out to Freya. It's an important aspect of his character, and one that remains consistent through the series - even in A Lesson in Vengeance, he manages to gain enough of that stablehand's trust to be told that he was put up to it.
Which is why it's so interesting - I mean, also heartbreaking, but interesting nonetheless - to see him be so cold sometimes, particularly toward Mordred in season 5. (And I'm not entirely happy about the approach toward Mordred in the fifth season - a lot of the history between him and the other characters seems to have been erased and/or forgotten, which, then what's the point? But that's a different rant entirely, and the point still stands about Merlin's attitude). And you watch it and go Merlin, this is not the you I know and love, but it isn't out of character either, because at the same time, it's easy to see the dots he's connected to act the way he does.
(Also notable is that by the fifth season, he's gained enough confidence to not do the keep-your-head-down thing all the time, but whenever Mordred is around - a threat not only to Arthur's life, but to Merlin's as well, since he knows who Merlin is - he tends to slip back into it.)
Another of these interesting contradictions is that his goal is supposedly about the freedom of magic-users in the future - a broad goal, of course, and one that requires a big-picture kind of view. Which is why it's so strange, when you think about it, that Merlin is so intensely single-minded.
Which brings me to the idea that's been nagging at me for a while, which is that Merlin goes about a lot of the major problems completely wrong. For instance, he never learns his lesson about self-fulfilling prophecies, even though he had plenty of opportunity. And, well, it just occurs to me that his intense focus on Arthur's safety sometimes causes more problems than it actually solves. For instance, it nearly got him and Arthur killed when Arthur went to reason with Queen Annis in His Father's Son. It caused him to miss his opportunity to maybe begin to convince Arthur about the neutrality of magic in The Disir. It causes him to drag Arthur away from a fight from which the knights escape safely back to Camelot in Arthur's Bane, if I recall correctly.
Which says to me that Merlin has a huge, fatal flaw, and it's hubris. (Which is yet another contradiction, since I still regard him as a string of self-worth issues held together by magic). I say hubris because he tends to go about things like he alone has to decide the fate - or destiny - of everything. Sometimes he has an excuse - in The Disir, he can't very well ask anyone else for help in his moment of sacrifice - but sometimes he doesn't. Gaius spends all of The Crystal Cave trying to warn him about prophecies, and Merlin spends all of it ignoring him. And the issues about nearly being killed at times where it wasn't necessary to be almost-killed, well, it wouldn't have come about if Merlin simply trusted that Arthur knows what he's doing when it comes to things like battle.
I just find Merlin's journey to be so compelling, and as a character, I find him both fascinating and refreshing. I think it's pretty trendy these days to have the main hero be pretty cynical and eye-roll-y, but I fell in love immediately with the young, smiley idealist - to be honest, I relate very much to young, smiley idealists, being one of those myself. I just loved having a character who was heroic, but also warm and funny and humble and principled. (And Merlin's humour is probably one of my favourite things about the show). He was just so very human. And then, to watch Merlin's descent - his fall from grace, if you will, but also, in a way, his rise to power - as much as it broke my heart, it was certainly a captivating journey.
And all this - the contradictions, the journey, the flaws, the complexities - are why Merlin is my favourite male character. And, quite possibly, one of my favourite fictional characters ever.
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