Guinevere

* Brave Saint
* Joker of Hearts ♥

**Guinevere** is the legendary wife of King Arthur and lover of Lancelot from Arthurian legends. When Camelot had fallen after the Battle of Camlann, she was cursed with immortality and eventually became the Joker of Hearts of Gabriel's Deck.

She participated in the Azazel Cup as a [Knight] of Team Faerie Knights of Avalon.

## Overview

**Guinevere**, also written as **Gwenhwyfar**, **Guenevere**, or **Guenever**, is the legendary queen and wife of King Arthur. First recorded in literature by the early 12th century, Guinevere has been portrayed as everything from a villainous and opportunistic traitor to a fatally flawed but noble and virtuous lady. A notably recurring theme in many Arthurian tales is that of her abduction.

In a later medieval Arthurian romance tradition from France, a prominent story arc is Guinevere's tragic love affair with her husband's chief knight and friend, Lancelot, indirectly causing the death of Arthur and many others and the downfall of the kingdom.

Such motif became a major plotline in Sir Thomas Malory's seminal English compilation *Le Morte d'Arthur*. Guinevere has continued to be a popular character in modern adaptations of the legend, usually in relation with Lancelot.

## Appearance

Guinevere is described as an extremely beautiful woman, with a curvaceous figure, long dark-purple hair, and blood-red eyes. She is noted to be so beautiful that Odin declared her to be one of the most attractive women he's ever seen, on par with many Gods of Beauty from mythology.

Like other angels, she possesses four pairs of large and feathered wings, each with a wingspan of 3-meters in length. Her wings are dark-purple in color, with glowing red eyes scattered across them and constantly shifting angelic runes which glow in an ominous light.

She is most often shown in her battle attire, which consists of a full-body outfit that highlights her curvaceous body with protective gear underneath, a short cloak over her shoulders and is connected by metallic shoulder pads, and a black veil over her head.

## Personality

Guinevere's role was to protect the country for the greater good, but to act as the "queen" was to become a mechanical part simply supporting the "king".

From a young age, she was taught to avoid self-reflection, as was the culture at the time, so she was someone who had little sense of herself as a woman. And as such, she could neither be a "woman" or even a "human", but only the idea of a "noble and virtuous queen" standing beside the rightful and ideal king.

Proud and indomitable, she was born a natural monarch and held the ideal of reigning as a queen that bestowed happiness to the people as self-evident. She believed that ruling the masses is the duty of the ruling classes, and as such, rather than granting her own happiness, she had no hesitation in refining herself for the sake of the people under her rule, even if her mind had no intention on becoming a slave for the masses.

Having consigned herself to playing the part, she discarded everything for the grandiose ideal of supporting the ideals the populace had for the king. And while she respected and admired Arthur as a person and is grateful to have him for a husband and a companion, she was a "normal woman" at her core and found it difficult to keep up with his way of life, of constant wars and conflicts, and to accept his incestuous affair with his sister, Morgan.

While for many, to live forever as an immortal existence is a curse in disguise, she viewed her immortality as a way of repentance for her crimes in Camelot's downfall and a second chance to live as herself and not for others. By the time she was approached by Gabriel, she had already fully accepted her immortality and deemed her rebirth as an angel as nothing but "a nice change of pace".

At her core, she is a compassionate person who would never give up on people she considers her friends and family. Despite never interfering with the inner-workings of house Pendragon after her "death", she still secretly watches over them and acts as their hidden protector from the dark. In addition, she's also in charge of managing many charitable organizations across the world.

Due to her centuries-worth of experience, she is mature, wise, and intelligent - A strong-willed woman who is unafraid to berate and challenge people in positions of power for their unseenly and/or idiotic behaviors, though she did confide that she sometimes finds it difficult to express what is truly in her heart without going into a rant. She is fast-thinking and quick to speak up and defend both her friends and those who are unfairly treated, even if said people are antagonistic toward her.

Because of the events that shaped her history, she could be cynical at times, having lost all hope and love for songs and knights. She claims to have a distaste for feudalism and the traditional beliefs of chivalry and knighthood, as she deems them nothing more than "stupid romanticizations" of the past. Despite this, however, she still believes in the goodness in others, even when all hope seems to be lost.

## History

### Early Years

Guinevere was born to a warlord named Leodegrance, who was the Lord of Cameliard and the chieftain of many Welsh tribes, and his first wife, who was a Christian princess. When she was young, a plague took her mother away and, in order to protect her, she was sent away to be fostered by her mother's cousin Cador, the Duke of Cornwall.

Several years later, her father remarried to a pagan woman, one who was seen in a much better light by her father's men than her own mother, for she was both an outsider and a Christian who didn't believe in their faith. After the birth of her half-sister Guinevak, her stepmother plotted to kill her so her daughter may be Leodegrande's only heir, though after her plans were thwarted, her stepmother was caught and crucified right at the entrance of Cameliard for her crimes.

### Marriage with Arthur

After Arthur became king, in order to rekindle the loyalty between the royal Pendragon family and their vassal lords, as well as to unite his kingdom with the land of the Welsh tribes under Leodegrance's commands, he married Guinevere in a ceremony that was seven days and seven nights long. Despite him being a Christian king, their marriage was greatly celebrated and blessed, as years ago, the Gallizenae - Nine virginal druidesses of the Île de Sein - had made a prophecy about how she would marry "the high king, one chosen by the great gods who will unite Albion and open a golden age of prosperity".

#### Queen of Camelot

According to Merlin, while she was at first overwhelmed by the duties and responsibilities that a queen would have, Guinevere took her role as queen as fish to water and easily won over the love of the people. During Arthur's constant traveling to quell civil wars and conflicts within Great Britain, she had become the true leader that Camelot needed in such time, and on more than one occasion, she even led the remaining knights to defend the castle from invaders and held treaties in Arthur's name.

While she did have romantic feelings for Arthur originally, they quietly died out upon the discovery of his incestuous affair with his sister Morgan when she caught them *in flagrante* one night. While initially, she was shocked, humiliated, and angered - Much like any normal person - she eventually came to accept it, albeit begrudgingly, in exchange for her being allowed to have lovers of her own provided no child will be born from her own affairs, in addition to all of his future bastards be sent to live and raise away from the royal household, which Arthur agreed.

#### Princes and Princess

Throughout the course of their marriage, to uphold their image as husband and wife - Even if their relationship was more platonic than his and Morgan's ever was - Guinevere and Arthur were forced to try and had many children together, though many of them were stillborn as it was typical for that era when medicine and healthcare were still primitive.

Their first son was Llacheu who was a brave and noble warrior, known as one of the "Three Well-Endowed Men of the Island of Britain" according to his maternal grandfather's man. Their second son was Gwydre, who was killed by the monstrous Twrch Trwyth alongside two of his father's foster uncles. Later on, they had a pair of twin sons, Amr and Duran, both of which died in the Battle of Camlann fighting against their bastard half-brother Mordred.

While they tried many times for a daughter, it wasn't until several years before her affair with Lancelot was revealed did their wish bear fruit, resulting in their only daughter, Archfedd Pendragon. While the later events caused some to doubt her true parentage, she resembled Arthur in both appearance and actions, resulting in some calling her "King Arthur with teats". Fortunately, due to her being raised by her grandmother in Emain Ablach, she was spared from the war and through her children and Llacheu's issues, the Pendragon bloodline continued.

#### Abduction

In an attempt to avenge her mother, Guinevak used Transformation Magic to disguise herself as Guinevere and hatched a plot with King Maleagant of Somerset to kidnap the true Guinevere and hold her prisoner at his stronghold at Glastonbury while Arthur wasn't in Camelot, having gone on a mission to quell a rebellion by the remaining pagan lords who did not accept the new Christian king.

She was held there for nearly an entire year until she was rescued by some of Arthur's best knights, Lancelot, Mordred, and Gawain, who defeated Maleagant and his men. However, humiliated by her kidnap, she didn't let the knights escort her back to Camelot just yet, but instead chose to go and punish all those who were involved in her kidnapping. During which, she killed the chief druid Valerin, her father's trusted adviser Gotegrim, and her former suitor Gasozein de Dragoz, in addition to conquering their lands and kingdoms in the name of King Arthur.

When she returned to Camelot, she exposed Guinevak's ruse and a trial by combat was held by her supporters in an attempt to save their mistress. During the trial, Guinevere's champion Lancelot defeated and killed all three of Guinevak' champions, one of which is Uriens of Gorre, king of the Hen Ogledd, and husband of Morgan, which caused animosity between Camelot and Rheged. After which, Guinevere had Guinevak burned at the stake for her crimes.

When news came of Guinevak's bastard son Guiomar arrived, per the promise she made with Arthur many years ago, he had him sent away to live with his aunt Elaine, whose husband King Budick II of Cornouaille had just recently died, alongside his cousins, Galeschin, Lynette and Lyonesse. Later on, he married the faerie Brangepart and their son, Brangemuer, became the ruler of his own kingdom.

#### Affair with Lancelot

After their time together, a forbidden love blossomed between Lancelot and Guinevere, all under Arthur's permission and blessing. However, due to their status, a married queen and a man sworn loyalty to her king, their love was tragic and doomed from the start. And while they would be secretive at first, as time went on, they became bolder and bolder until rumors of their love were as much as the ones about Arthur and his sisters.

##### The Aftermath

The secret romance between her and Lancelot finally came to an end when Mordred caught them in the act while Arthur was leading an army to Rome to fight off a threat to the kingdom. Using this as evidence, he called forth his own bannermen in rebellion against his father, all the while mockingly proposed to her and said that this was "gift to his [Mordred]'s new bride".

Angered and humiliated, Guinevere slapped him before the court and exposed his true identity, not as the son of Morgause and the late King Loth, but instead the bastard born of Arthur and Morgan's perverted union. Mordred, enraged, ordered her to be killed, though before he could do that, Lancelot arrived with his own men and rescued her, killing multiple fellow Round Table Knights such as Aglovale, Segwarides, and Tor, as well as Gawain's brothers, Gaheris, Gareth, and Agravain, in the conflict. This news arrived at Arthur's camp, it sent Gawain into a rage so great that he pressured Arthur into a direct confrontation with Lancelot.

### Battle of Camlann

Despite being considered one of the main catalysts leading to the Battle of Camlann, she didn't appear much in the entire duration of the war. Instead, she hid herself in Château de Joyeuse Garde - Lancelot's castle in Brittany - in shame, only leaving once to collect the thirteen treasures gifted to Arthur as her dowry within the Tower of London, not wanting them to fall into Mordred's hands. According to rumors, she "danced with the fey and was taught magic by the old gods" during time there.

## Equipment

**Secace** (セクエンズ, *Sekuenzu*): A holy-turned-demonic sword that can only be carried into mortal combat. It used to belong to King Arthur before he gifted it to Lancelot as celebration of his knighthood, and before she was captured, Lancelot gave this to Guinevere so that she could protect herself from the guards. It has the power to leave cursed wounds that cannot be healed naturally or magically.

**Twin Roses' Execution** (高い女王の永遠の天罰トウィン・ロージズ・エクセキューション, *Tou~in Rōjizu Ekusekyūshon*): Guinevere's Artificial Sacred Gear, created through the combined efforts of Heaven and the Grigori. It is a pair of crimson spears that radiate a powerful demonic aura and have the power to severe the opponent's mortality with every slash she makes. According to Vidarr, despite being an Artificial Sacred Gear, it's no way inferior to other legendary spears, even divine ones like his father's spear Gungnir.

## Trivia

* She descended from the *equites* through her mother's lineage.
* Despite popular beliefs, she isn't barren, even though she had had several miscarriages and stillborns much like all women in that era.
* She is worshiped as a Mother Earth Goddess in several neopagan religions.
* In some legends, Lancelot is said to bury her next to Arthur's (real or symbolic) grave.
* Although one of her titles is "Princess of Wales", she has stated that it is inaccurate as her father, while was one of the greatest chiefs in Wales, he wasn't a king of any land and only a vassal under the reign of Uther Pendragon.
* While she believes that her curse of immortality was the result of thousands of slain men cursing her, she admitted that it might also be the work of the druids, as she was known to have killed their chief Valerin, and pondered if she should ~~fight~~ ask the Celtic gods for answers.
* Her most hated reinterpretation of her stories is Marion Zimmer Bradley's "The Mists of Avalon", as she considered it to be a "foul, disgusting piece of rubbish that should only be used as emergency papers when one's shitting in the wild".