- "I'll show you!"
- ― Sir Dan, MediEvil
Sir Daniel Wigginbottom Fortesque IV (1254 – 1286), usually called Sir Daniel Fortesque, Sir Daniel or simply Dan, was a knight of Gallowmere who became the King's Champion and the Head of the Royal Battalion. His life was cut short in the Battle of Gallowmere against the evil sorcerer Zarok, where he was killed by the first volley of arrows. Despite this, history came to remember him as the Hero of Gallowmere.
A hundred years later, Sir Dan was mistakenly resurrected by Zarok's magic. Dan used this opportunity to live up to his legend and defeated the sorcerer once and for all, thus gaining access to the afterlife’s Hall of Heroes.
By 1886, Dan's skeletal remains were moved into the British Museum in Kensington, London, where he was once again resurrected, this time by the ruthless Lord Palethorn. Dan was quickly recruited by Professor Hamilton Kift to help in the fight against this new threat. During this mission to restore the peace, Dan fell in love with an Egyptian princess called Kiya.
After Palethorn's defeat, Sir Dan and his newfound love chose to travel back in time using Kift's time machine, but they were tragically separated during their journey. Dan was returned to his own lifetime and quickly employed by Gallowmere's fairies to help preserve the flow of history. Dan ended up swapping bodies with his still living self in order to boost the morale of Gallowmere’s army and to die as he once had, thus securing Gallowmere's victory in the battle against Zarok and condemning himself to an eternity of reliving his undead adventures.
History[]
Background[]
Dan was born in the kingdom of Gallowmere in 1254 as the eldest son of Lord Cedric Fortesque. He was a spoiled and bratty child who grew up to be a lazy, arrogant teenager. Daniel decided to become a knight solely to impress the maidens. He trained with the best weapons masters in the land, showing a degree of natural talent, but was too lazy to ever deliver on his potential. With financial backing courtesy of his father, he rose through the ranks of the king's army.[2]
One day, the king's champion, his horse spooked by a toad, was thrown head-first into a well where he promptly drowned. Against all good sense, the king - listening solely to the words of a new advisor - appointed Daniel to be the new Captain of his army.[2]
In 1286, an undead army began marching towards Castle Peregrin. Unbeknownst to the king, the army was led by his very own Court Magician Zarok. The King was in desperate need of a hero and he knew exactly who he wanted.
Daniel led the King's army against Zarok's undead horde. The battle commenced and within seconds Dan fell to the ground, struck in the eye with the very first arrow fired. His wound was fatal and the army was left to continue the fight without him.
Embarrassed by Dan's poor show, and realizing the people needed to feel safe, King Peregrin declared that Sir Daniel Fortesque had died in mortal combat. A hero's tomb was erected to Dan, the history books inscribed with tales of his valor.
MediEvil[]
Sir Dan is brought back to life by Zarok's magic.
In 1386, Zarok returned to try and take over Gallowmere again. Using a spell within an ancient book of black magic, he made the dead rise from their graves to form a legion of unholy warriors.
Unfortunately for him, he also unwittingly awakened Sir Dan. Daniel was able to retain his free will, which made him the only one who could stop Zarok.
Awakened from his "eternal rest," Daniel embarked on a quest to destroy Zarok once and for all. He traveled through Gallowmere, aided by the heroes of the past and inhabitants of the land, collecting chalices and fighting Zarok's minions until he eventually reached Zarok's Lair. After a great battle, from which Dan emerged victorious, Zarok released a powerful spell that caused the lair to collapse. Zarok was killed in the process, but Dan managed to escape. Daniel then returned to his crypt where he resumed his slumber. The gargoyles, impressed with his heroism, granted his spirit permanent access to the Hall of Heroes.[2]
MediEvil 2[]
The Autumn of Death.
In 1886, 500 years after Dan's first resurrection, a man seeking world domination found Zarok's spellbook and raised the dead just as Zarok did many centuries ago.
Dan was awakened again, this time in an old museum located in Kensington, London. Winston, a helpful ghost, explained the situation to Dan and led him to his summoner, Professor Hamilton Kift. The professor tasked Daniel with finding out who's behind the spell and collecting magical energy to help in fighting the crisis. While looking for clues, Dan managed to free an Egyptian princess by the name of Kiya from her tomb, who he fell in love with.
They managed to identify the villain as Lord Palethorn, an ambitious industrialist. After realizing that Palethorn needs the final pages of the spellbook to obtain full control over his monsters, they decided to find them before Palethorn.
Dan journeyed through London, fighting monsters, collecting chalices and even traveling through time. He eventually corners Palethorn in Cathedral Spires, where the fiend managed to obtain all of the spellbook pages and summoned a demon to kill Dan. Thankfully, Daniel managed to defeat the demon. In his last attempt to defeat Dan, Palethorn activated a time bomb which caused the entire area to explode. Luckily, Dan managed to survive the explosion.
The Time Machine appeared before Dan, Kiya and the Professor. Dan and Kiya hopped onto the Time Machine and used it to travel through space and time. However, the machine malfunctioned, separating them.
MediEvil: Fate's Arrow[]
Fate's Arrow[]
Sir Dan spies on his living counterpart.
Following his separation from Kiya, Dan ended up in 1286, one day before the Battle of Gallowmere. After spying on a meeting between his living self, King Peregrin and Zarok, he met with Canny Tim and a fairy called Griff who enlisted his help in preserving the flow of history. They concocted a plan to stop an upcoming attack on the castle by the Jabberwocky.
The Jabberwocky[]
With help from Griff, Dan stole the armor of his living self. He jumped out a castle window donning the armor and slew the rampaging Jabberwocky in the name of his living counterpart.
The Battle of Gallowmere[]
The night before the battle, Dan was captured by Zarok's henchmen, Boris and Merek. They took him to The Mystic Maidens to kill him, but they were killed by Lupo, Dan's hound from when he was alive. Later, Dan helped Wartilda the Witch brew a Body Swap Potion so he could truly take his living self's place in the upcoming battle. After realizing Dan wouldn't be able to drink it, they turned the potion into an ointment which they rubbed on both the undead and the living Dan. Come morning, Dan found himself in his living body. He and Canny Tim made their way to the castle to prepare for the battle.
Dan gives a speech to the troops.
On the battlefield, Dan revealed Zarok's duplicity to the king. He boosted the morale of the army with a rousing speech before heading into battle and dying in the first volley of arrows as he knew he would, thus completing (and restarting[7]) his journey.
Characteristics[]
Appearance[]
A depiction of living Dan from The Art of MediEvil.
Daniel is a skeleton without a left eye and lower jaw, with his upper jaw having misshapen and crooked teeth. His eye color varies between the games, ranging from gray, to black, to gold/green, to blue in his latest incarnation. He is rarely shown alive, with a helmet always obscuring his face (aside from his eyes), but the history books describe him as having a square jaw, steely gaze and a thick shock of hair, as black as ravens' wings. In MediEvil: Resurrection's stained glass window opening sequence, he is shown with blond/brown hair instead, and with pale skin and crooked teeth not unlike the ones his skull has. He is usually wearing silver/grey armor with gold hints, a red and gold doublet and brown leather gloves. Throughout the games, Daniel sports multiple outfits and armors as seen below.
Template:GamesGallery/h4
Personality[]
Daniel is a very cowardly knight, but despite this, he is a very loyal fighter. He seems to have a sarcastic sense of humor and holds very little patience to some, but he is rather respectful as per the knight's code. Though he is often reluctant to be a hero, he usually finds a bit of courage and ends up saving the day and will willingly help those in need. He is annoyed by Al-Zalam and Zarok, though in the former they end up becoming close friends. Daniel is also shown to be chivalrous, as he is a knight, and caring towards those he loves, especially towards Kiya and is especially saddened by her death, to the point he can't go on to defeat Palethorn and has to travel back in time to rescue her from Jack the Ripper. He also can be rather cocky sometimes and dislikes being told he is a coward and a faker, as shown when the gargoyles, the Heroes (particularly Woden the Mighty) or Al-Zalam berate him. He is quick to spot sarcasm and dislikes being reminded of his failure. According to the comic book, in life, Dan was a lazy, spoiled brat, as well as a cheat and a braggart, and only became a knight to impress the maidens, only rising through ranks through his father's money.
Abilities[]
The Dan-hand ability.
Dan reads Kiya's letter.
Being undead, Daniel has a few unique abilities, some of which are gained over time:
- He can remove his left arm and use it as a weapon, although it is not very effective.
- He gains the ability to remove his head after a bird pulls it off from his neck in 1886. After defeating the Iron Slugger, he can even put it on top of hands that wander around to form a Dan-hand.
- Daniel exhibits great agility during his acceptance into the Hall of Heroes, when he performs four backflips in succession.
- He also has a lot of stamina, as evidenced by him carrying a hammer and various large swords.
- He is skilled at sword fighting and seems to pick up using weapons quickly, and thanks to his skeletal body he can use maneuvers living swordfighters cannot use (such as spinning his torso around).
Other abilities that are arguably unrelated to Dan's undead state include:
- Dan seems to be able to read Egyptian hieroglyphs as he is able to read a letter Kiya leaves behind for him. It is possible that she taught him to read them at some point during The Autumn of Death.
- Dan gains the Daring Dash ability in 1286 by defeating the Guardians of the Graveyard.
- He seems to be fairly intelligent as shown when he gets a seagull to fill in as his parrot by luring it with a fish, when he attempted to replace a piece of the Anubis Stone with a pumpkin, and when he used Morten to get inside the Asylum.
Behind the scenes[]
Development[]
MediEvil[]
Concept art by Jason Wilson.
Sir Daniel Fortesque was originally designed by Jason Wilson, the lead artist of MediEvil. In initial concept designs, Dan appears as a large bulky undead knight with a small skull. As the design evolved, Wilson decided that Dan should have no lower jaw bone and his body became smaller in size and his skull more abstract.[8] For the design of Dan's teeth, Wilson was inspired by one of the freaks from the horror film Basket Case 2.[9] Dan was then brought to life in the game by the animations of Mitch Phillips as well as prerendered sequences by Jason Riley.[8]
In the Japanese version of MediEvil, a helmet became part of Dan's design. This was added due to the insistence of the studio's Japanese partners who believed that Dan's skeletal appearance would make Japanese players see him as a bad spirit rather than a hero.[10]
While developing Dan's character, Chris Sorrell was looking for a way to make him more unique. This eventually came in the form of Dan's backstory when script doctor Martin Pond suggested that "Sir Dan could have been a pompous failure in life whose reincarnation was his one shot at redemption."[11]
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale[]
Sir Dan's combat designer for the game was Devin Morrow. Character artist Mike Edwards was responsible for modelling and texturing Dan's Dragon Armour costume while Kenny Huynh textured Dan's default Knight Armour model.
Portrayal[]
Sir Dan's primary voice actor is Jason Wilson, who voiced Dan in the original MediEvil, MediEvil: Resurrection[5] and the PS4 remake. He is voiced by Marc Silk in MediEvil 2[6] and by Stéphane Cornicard in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. For his rendition of Sir Dan's voice, Jason Wilson delivered Dan's lines through gritted teeth with a bucket over his head.[12]
In other media[]
Everybody's Golf 2[]
| Sir Dan | |
|---|---|
NO DATA. |
Sir Dan appears as one of the three unlockable "guest characters" in the European and American versions of Everybody's Golf 2. In order to unlock him, the player must beat him in versus mode.
Dan is also heavily featured in the game's Press Kit.
PROFILE[]
NO DATA.
STATS[]
- Power: A
- Control: C
- Impact: D
- Spin: D
PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale[]
| Sir Daniel Fortesque | |
|---|---|
Knight Armour Golden Armour Dragon Armour A KNIGHT IN SEARCH OF HIS LEGEND | |
| Character played by | Stéphane Cornicard |
Sir Daniel appears as a playable character in PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale.
CHARACTER BIO[]
- "A Knight In Search of His Legend"
A coward whose celebration as a hero was unearned, Sir Dan has been given a chance to redeem himself, proving in combat he is worthy of his knighthood. He fights on behalf of his beloved homeland, Gallowmere, his oath to protect her intact despite her citizens’ somewhat waning interest in gallantry.
MOVE LIST[]
|
ARCADE MODE[]
VICTORY MUSIC[]
HERO OF GALLOWMERE[]
THE KING'S CHAMPION[]
RELATED TROPHY[]
| Hero of Gallowmere | File:Trophy bronze.pngHero of Gallowmere Complete Arcade Mode with Sir Daniel |
Guacamelee! 2[]
Dan's portrait in Guacamelee! 2.
A portrait of Sir Dan can be found in Guacamelee! 2, inside one of the houses in the Land of the Dead portion of Pueblucho.
Quotes[]
MediEvil[]
- Imanzi: "Dan, Dan, Dan. Tell me, what's a warrior queen got to do to meet someone like you?"
- Sir Dan: "Huh.. what..me?"
- Imanzi: "Don't be shy, baby - I've seen you giving me the eye. You may be weak and feeble like all men, but I like you, Daniel."
- Sir Dan: "Oh no..."
- Imanzi: "Oh, I love a man who doesn't talk back! I think if you return I may take you for my husband."
- Sir Dan: "Gulp!"
- Dirk: "Aalreet Dan man, how ya doing?"
- Sir Dan: "Not too good!"
- Dirk: "Now then, have ya got yourself a magic sword?"
- Sir Dan: "No I do not!"
- Dirk: "What? Daniel, man, y'cannat go into battle against an army of undead without a magic sword... Here take mine, you'll never have to sharpen another blade or my name's not Dirk Steadfast. It's not enough just to have a magic shield, you know, no matter what that soft, thickie Sturnguard says."
- Sir Dan: "Great!"
MediEvil 2[]
- Professor: "Ah, well done, Winston, I see you managed to find him after all. Fortesque, pleased to meet you, I should imagine that you are a little nonplussed, as to what exactly is going on, eh??"
- Sir Dan: "Uh... Uh..."
- Professor: "Well, allow me to introduce myself. Professor Hamilton-Kift, Magician, Inventor, and Master of the Occult at your service. If you're wondering what you're doing once again walking the earth, it appears that someone has got their hands on the legendary Zarok spell book."
- Sir Dan: "Zarok... Ugh... No..."
- Professor: "Well, we won that round, quite literally, didn't we? But we're not out of the woods just yet. In fact, at this very moment, I'm picking up two areas of extreme psychic disturbance. One in Whitechapel, the other... It's like nothing I've ever seen... It's a pity you can't be in two places at once Dan."
- Kiya: "Professor, let me go."
- Sir Dan: "No, no, it's too dangerous."
Gallery[]
Template:GamesGallery
Trivia[]
Miscellaneous[]
- Dan is the only undead hero in the Hall of Heroes.
- What happened to Dan's lower jaw-bone is unknown, but some scholars believe it was stolen by a witch.[2]
- Despite being unable to drink, Dan can still somehow eat Roast Chicken.
MediEvil: Resurrection[]
- According to Dan's journal entries, Dan's family suffers from seasickness/aquaphobia, he gets sinusitis very easily (though this might be a joke), he used to skip school, his grandmother made pumpkin pie (and took hip baths), and his favorite food is pumpkins.
- Dan has a fear of snakes, which Zarok takes advantage of by turning into a large serpent.
See also[]
- Featured article candidate Sir Daniel Fortesque mod for Don't Starve.
Notes[]
^[a] The years given in MediEvil: Fate's Arrow are 100 years off from the dates given in MediEvil 2. For the sake of consistency with MediEvil 2, 100 years have been added to years from MediEvil: Fate's Arrow on this page.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1
Medievil Times. Created and distributed by Claydon Heeley Jones Mason in May 2000.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 MediEvil: Fate's Arrow. Written by Chris Sorrell. Art by Jason Wilson. Published by Titan Comics in 2019.
- ↑ MediEvil 2, The Museum. Developed by SCE Cambridge Studio. Published by Sony Computer Entertainment on April 21, 2000.
- ↑ MediEvil 2, INTROP1. Developed by SCE Cambridge Studio. Published by Sony Computer Entertainment on April 21, 2000.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Interview with Jason Wilson".
{{cite web}}: ; published; retrieved; site - ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Bob & Barn".
{{cite web}}: ; published; site - ↑ [[[:Template:ProBoardsLink]] "Q&A with Chris Sorrell"].
{{cite web}}:|url=; published; site - ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Dan's Evolution".
{{cite web}}: ; site - ↑ "Jason Wilson".
When searching for a look for Sir Daniel Fortesque I had recently watched the horror film "Basket Case 2." I was impressed with this guy's teeth!
{{cite web}}: ; published; site - ↑ Jason Wilson. "Interview with Jason Wilson".
For Medievil there was a worry in Japan that Dan's skeletal head might be seen as a bad spirit and not a 'hero.'
{{cite web}}: ; published; retrieved; site - ↑ "Retro Gamer - The Making of... MediEvil" (PDF) (PDF file).
{{cite web}}: ; published; site - ↑ [[[:Template:ProBoardsLink]] "Interview with Jason Wilson"].
{{cite web}}:|url=; published; site
External links[]
- Sir Daniel Fortesque at the FBO Wiki.
- Sir Daniel Fortesque at the Heroes Wiki.
- Sir Daniel Fortesque at the PlayStation Wiki.
| MediEvil series | ||
|---|---|---|
| Games | MediEvil (1998) • MediEvil 2 • MediEvil: Resurrection • MediEvil (2019) | |
| Characters | Sir Daniel Fortesque • Zarok • Kiya | |
| Locations | Gallowmere • Hall of Heroes | |
| Related | Everybody's Golf 2 • Ghosthunter • PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale • MediEvil: Fate's Arrow | |
|
This article uses content from the MediEvil wiki.
The original article can be found here and the original contributors here.
The content is licensed under the CC-BY-SA license. |