Sir is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, Play (theatre), play, Radio series, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or b ...

and the primary

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

from

Capcom is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. It has created a number of multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being '' Resident Evil'', '' Monster Hunter'', '' Street Fighter'', '' Mega Man'', '' ...

's ''

Ghosts 'n Goblins ''Ghosts 'n Goblins'', known in Japan as , is a run-and-gun platform video game series created by Tokuro Fujiwara and developed by Capcom. The first entry in the series was '' Ghosts 'n Goblins'', released in arcades on July 7, 1985. The se ...

'' video game series. He first appeared in the

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

video game ''

'', and has been well received since then. The character is also featured in several other

video games outside the ''Ghosts 'n Goblins'' series. He is named for King Arthur of

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

's legendary history. As such, the iOS games '' Ghosts 'n Goblins: Gold Knights'' and ''Ghosts 'n Goblins: Gold Knights II'' allow the player to choose between controlling him and another knight named

Lancelot Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...

, or between him and yet another knight named

Percival Percival (, also spelled Perceval, Parzival), alternatively called Peredur (), was one of King Arthur's legendary Knights of the Round Table. First mentioned by the French author Chrétien de Troyes in the tale ''Perceval, the Story of the Gra ...

Appearances

In the ''

'' series, Arthur is introduced as a

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the G ...

clad in

plate armor Plate armour is a historical type of personal body armour made from bronze, iron, or steel plates, culminating in the iconic suit of armour entirely encasing the wearer. Full plate steel armour developed in Europe during the Late Middle Ages, ...

, who sets out on a quest to rescue Princess Prin Prin (Princess

Guinevere Guinevere ( ; cy, Gwenhwyfar ; br, Gwenivar, kw, Gwynnever), also often written in Modern English as Guenevere or Guenever, was, according to Arthurian legend, an early-medieval queen of Great Britain and the wife of King Arthur. First me ...

in the English version) from

Astaroth Astaroth (also Ashtaroth, Astarot and Asteroth), in demonology, was known to be the Great Duke of Hell in the first hierarchy with Beelzebub and Lucifer; he was part of the evil trinity. He is known to be a male figure most likely named afte ...

(also called the Devil or Great

Satan Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an entity in the Abrahamic religions that seduces humans into sin or falsehoo ...

), king of Demon World, battling supernatural monsters along the way using various Medieval weapons, including his iconic throwable

lance A lance is a spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior or cavalry soldier ( lancer). In ancient and medieval warfare, it evolved into the leading weapon in cavalry charges, and was unsuited for throwing or for repeated thrusting, unli ...

. A running gag throughout the series has him lose his armor as he takes hits from enemies, forcing him to continue on wearing only

boxer shorts Boxer shorts (also known as loose boxers or as simply boxers) are a type of undergarment typically worn by men. The term has been used in English since 1944 for all-around-elastic shorts, so named after the shorts worn by boxers, for whom unhind ...

until he finds replacement armor, loses a life, or finishes a level. Outside of his own series, Arthur is a playable character in the shooter ''

Cannon Spike ''Cannon Spike'', originally released in Japan as , is a multi-directional shooter arcade game released in 2000 by Psikyo and later in the same year for the Dreamcast by Capcom. It uses Capcom-designed characters and runs on Sega's Naomi Hardw ...

'', the tactical role-playing games '' Namco × Capcom'' and ''

Project X Zone (pronounced as "Project Cross Zone") is a crossover tactical role-playing game for the Nintendo 3DS developed by Monolith Soft with assistance from Capcom and Red Entertainment and published by Namco Bandai Games. The game is a follow up to t ...

'', and in the fighting game '' Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds'', as well as on its updated version, '' Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3'', and its sequel, '' Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite''. He also appears as an assist character in the fighting game '' Marvel vs. Capcom: Clash of Super Heroes'', and makes a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

in the fighting game '' Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars''. In addition, his costume can be worn in the sports game '' We Love Golf!'' and the action-adventure game ''

Dead Rising 2 ''Dead Rising 2'' is a 2010 action-adventure game developed by Blue Castle Games and published by Capcom. It was released between September and October 2010 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows. It is a sequel to ''Dead Risin ...

''. Players will be able to dress as Arthur and use his weapons in ''

Monster Hunter Generations ''Monster Hunter Generations'' is an action role-playing game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo 3DS. Announced in May 2015, the game was released in Japan as ''Monster Hunter X'' in November 2015 and internationally in July 2016. ...

''. He appears as a Mii Costume in '' Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'', which was introduced alongside costumes of Monster Hunter series characters.

Other media

Arthur appeared in the game-based manga series ''Hisshō Tekunikku Kan Peki-ban'' by Wan Pakku Comics. He also appears in

Archie Comics Archie Comic Publications, Inc., is an American comic book publisher headquartered in Pelham, New York.Mega Man ''Mega Man'', known as in Japan, is a Japanese science fiction video game franchise created by Capcom, starring a series of robot characters each known by the moniker "Mega Man (character), Mega Man". Mega Man (video game), The original game w ...

'' and ''

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformer ...

'' titles, where he is one of many

and Sega heroes recruited by

Zero 0 (zero) is a number representing an empty quantity. In place-value notation such as the Hindu–Arabic numeral system, 0 also serves as a placeholder numerical digit, which works by multiplying digits to the left of 0 by the radix, usu ...

and Bunnie Rabbot to battle

Sigma Sigma (; uppercase Σ, lowercase σ, lowercase in word-final position ς; grc-gre, σίγμα) is the eighteenth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 200. In general mathematics, uppercase Σ is used ...

Reception

The character was well received by gaming media. ''

Retro Gamer ''Retro Gamer'' is a British magazine, published worldwide, covering retro video games. It was the first commercial magazine to be devoted entirely to the subject. Launched in January 2004 as a quarterly publication, ''Retro Gamer'' soon became ...

'' included him in the section "top ten forces of good" in their 2004 list of top 50 retro game heroes.

GameDaily GameDaily (GD) was a video game journalism website based in the United States. It was launched in 1995 by entrepreneur Mark Friedler under the name Gigex and focused on free game demo downloads. The site changed its business model from a flat fe ...

included Arthur in their "Top 25 Gaming Hunks", placing him 21st, and ranked him as the third best Capcom character of all time. IGN staff listed Arthur in their 2009 list of the characters they wished to see appear in a future '' Marvel vs. Capcom'' title, calling him "a true gaming icon that nonetheless hasn't seen much love recent years." In 2012,

GamesRadar ''GamesRadar+'' (formerly ''GamesRadar'') is an entertainment website for video game-related news, previews, and reviews. It is owned by Future plc. In late 2014, Future Publishing-owned sites '' Total Film'', ''SFX'', '' Edge'' and ''Comput ...

ranked him as the 64th "most memorable, influential, and badass" protagonist in games, for his "audacity to charge heedlessly into the creepiest graveyard known to man wearing nothing but his boxer shorts." In 2013, GamesRadar staff included him among the 30 best characters in the three decades of Capcom's history.

UGO Networks UGO Entertainment, Inc. was a website that provided coverage of online media in entertainment, targeting males aged 18–34. The company was based in New York, New York, United States. History The company started in 1997 as Unified Gamers Online ...

listed him showing skivvies as the 22nd best fan service in ''Marvel vs. Capcom 3''. He was also featured in a 2010s list of "gaming's most inappropriate outfits ever" by NowGamer, who commented that his armor "looks fine, but as a defensive measure it couldn't be more shoddy." In addition, ''

Nintendo Power ''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Nint ...

'' included the phrase "Take a key for coming in" among their collection of classic quotes in video games' history.

References

{{Ghosts 'n Goblins Capcom protagonists Ghosts 'n Goblins Fictional knights in video games Male characters in video games Fictional swordfighters in video games Orphan characters in video games Fictional polearm and spearfighters Video game characters introduced in 1985 Video game mascots