Merlin

Merlin is a powerful wizard and central character in Disney's 1963 hit The Sword in the Stone. Merlin is the wizard master and friend of young 12-year-old orphan Arthur, a.k.a. the Wart. Merlin is also the magical rival of Madam Mim. Merlin also has a pet owl named Archimedes.

Personality
Merlin is a wizard, and is widely considered to be the most powerful in the world. He is a very wise character who believes in the philosophy of "Brain over Brawn". Merlin is shown to have a wide variety of abilities including the ability to see into the future, the ability to enchant various objects and people, and the ability to travel through time, among other powers. Despite his power, he can be absentminded and forgetful.

The Sword in the Stone
Merlin is first seen in his forest cottage, preparing afternoon tea. He predicts that a young boy will soon join him, but he doesn't quite know who. He later meets a pre-teenagaed orphan called Arthur, who is commonly known as the Wart. Merlin speaks to the Wart about the value of an education. Merlin decides to appoint himself as the Wart's tutor, and displays his magical abilities by shrinking all his possessions so that they fit into a small carpet bag.

Merlin accompanies the Wart to the castle of the Wart's foster father Sir Ector. Though Sir Ector initally disapproves, Merlin is able to persuade him though a display of magic. Merlin is provided the "guest room", which is apparently a crumbling, teetering tower.

The next day, Merlin begins the Wart's education, teaching him the principle of brain over brawn by transforming the Wart into a fish. During the adventure Merlin, also in fish form, is trapped in an old helmet, while the Wart is chased by a giant pike. Merlin forgets the magic words to change them both back, but remembers just in time.

Later, Merlin goes to retrieve the Wart for another lesson, but the Wart is being forced to clean as punishment for being late as a result of the previous lesson. Merlin uses his magic to enchant the various kitchen objects into cleaning themselves, and sneaks the Wart out. Merlin transforms himself and the Wart into squirrels, where they live the dangerous life of the creatures. Merlin and the Wart are both pursued as mates by 2 female squirrels. Merlin grows increasingly annoyed and finally transforms into a human out of anger. He then transforms the Wart, much to the sorrow of the young female squirrel who had been chasing the boy.

Back at the castle, Merlin is insulted by Sir Ector, who believes that Merlin's magical enchantment of the kitchen objects is black magic. When the Wart protests, Sir Ector angrily forbids the Wart from making a future trip to a London tournament as Kay's squire. After seeing the Wart's sadness, Merlin apogizes, but suggests that the Wart use the opportunity to further his studies.

Merlin begins by talking of various happenings of the future, but the poor boy is so confused that Archimedes decides to take over the Wart's education. Despite Merlin's annoyance, he is later pleased to see the boy learning to write with Archimedes's help. Merlin takes the opportunity to show the Wart a model airplane. The plane fails to fly though, because the properller becomes caught in Merlin's long beard. The Wart appreciates the demonstration anyway, and confides that he dreams of flying. Merlin decides to turn the Wart into a small bird. The Wart then goes flying with Archimedes.

After being told of the Wart's capture by Madam Mim, Merlin appears. Mim angrily challenges Merlin to a Wizard's Duel, where he turns into a rabbit, a walrus, a caterpillar, a turtle, a goat, a crab and a mouse. Though initially at a disadvantage, Merlin wins by cleverly transforming into a germ.

Later, the Wart happily informs Merlin that he has been reinstated as the squire to Kay. Merlin is angry, as he thought the Wart had put aside war games in favor of learning. When the Wart explains that a postion as a squire is best hope, Merlin angrily turns into a rocket and travels to Bermuda. Later, he returns to where he is pleased to find that the Wart is now King Arthur.

House of Mouse
Merlin appears in Disney's 2001-03 television series House of Mouse.



Disney Parks
Merlin was a common character having his own show at both the Walt Disney World Resort and the Disneyland Resort. He is not heard of at Tokyo Disneyland but, he is still a common character at Disneyland Paris. He was also featured in Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams usually as a replacement for one of the fairies.



Kingdom Hearts
Merlin also appears in the Kingdom Hearts. In the first game of the series, he lives in Traverse Town with the Fairy Godmother. He is sent to aid Sora, Donald Duck, and Goofy by instructing them in magic. He also tasks Sora with finding the lost pages of one of his old books.

Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories
He reappears in Chain of Memories in a similar role, as one of Sora's memories.

Kingdom Hearts II
In Kingdom Hearts II, he now lives in the town of Hollow Bastion, as part of the reconstruction committee. As in the first game, he trains Sora and friends in magic, and asks them to find lost pages to his storybook. During the storyline, he is summoned by Queen Minnie to counter Maleficent. He contructs a door to the Timeless River so that the trio may stop Maleficent's plans.

Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep
Merlin appeared in Birth by Sleep.