Merlin

**Merlin** is a wizard that employees ogres from Doug's world to be his assistants, transporting them to his world through a portal.

## History

In 2012, Merlin and a scientist named Mary worked together to stabilize a portal between Merlin's world and Mary's world. The portal had protections in place that kept evil beings from traveling through it, but a small ogre named Doug was able to enter the portal to Mary's lab, as Merlin had explained that he was "mostly good".

The portal altered anyone who crossed it to match the universe they entered. Merlin purposefully left Doug's hands with fingers, while he gave himself the "mitten hands" of Mary's universe. He had hoped that the residents of that universe would inquire about Doug's fingers, but they never did.

However, in 2013, when a group of circus performers with paranormal abilities traveled through the portal to Mary's world, they asked Jenni how she did anything without fingers. Jenni stated that they'd get used to it, but she didn't know what they meant. She asked Merlin, and Merlin was relieved that someone had finally approached him. Merlin changed everyone's hands to have fingers, and when he was approached by a group of people asking about their new appendages, he expressed frustration that no one had paid attention to Doug's hands.

In 2014, Doug was able to go back through the portal when it was timed to teleport to his universe, so that he could see his parents again. When he asked Merlin how he was able to go through the portal without having to time it, Merlin explained that his staff allowed him to control the destination of the portal.  Merlin gave Doug a belt that could do the same.

Doug was at first unsuccessful with the belt.  His first try led to a truck of bacon being teleported into his stomach, which left him sick and unable to move. Luckily, an errant spell by the fairy, Tinkerbell, caused him to return to normal. A subsequent attempt led him to be teleported to Easter Island. There, he met a groundskeeper named Marvin, who thought that he was an alien. With Marvin's help, he was able to get through the portal to head back home.

Doug failed to realize that he had left Merlin's belt behind on Easter Island. After several attempts, Marvin was able to control the portal, which allowed him to travel to Merlin's world. Marvin returned the belt to Doug, and Merlin warned Doug to keep better track of the belt, as it could be disastrous if it fell into the wrong hands.

## Behind the scenes

* Merlin first appeared in the twenty-third Jenni webcomic strip. He also appears in the *Doug the Ogre* webcomic and the adventure game based on that comic, *Doug's Moai Adventure*.
* Merlin the wizard was created by Geoffrey of Monmouth in *Prophetiae Merlini*, which was circulated between 1130 and 1135.  He was called Merlin Ambrosius. The first half of his name comes from a Welsh legend of a madman named Myrddin Wyllt, which was said to take place during the Battle of Arfderydd in 573. The second half of his name comes from fictionalized legends of the fifth century ruler Aurelius Ambrosius.
* Merlin is best known as the wizard who spearheaded the events that caused the fictional King Arthur to ascend to the throne.  Geoffrey of Monmouth combined the prexisting Welsh legend of King Arthur, which dates back to at last the sixth century, with his stories of Merlin the wizard in *Historia Regum Britanniae* in 1136.