Mordred Deschain

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Mordred Deschain is a fictional character from Stephen King's Dark Tower series. He is one of the major villains of the seventh book, and can morph between a human form and a large spider.

[edit] Biography

Mordred Deschain actually began his existence when Roland Deschain engaged in intercourse with a succubus in order to have a vision that would aid in his quest for the Dark Tower. The gunslinger's sperm were carried in a form of stasis inside the succubus, which was in truth an androgynous elemental demon, who would later take the form of an incubus and impregnate Susannah Dean. Later a simple succubus, who would become Mia, possessed Susannah and took over the care of her "chap", Mordred. In the process, Mia's consciousness actually became intertwined with Susannah's (left porous by her preexisting personality disorder), and remained so until they physically met each other just before Mordred's birth.

Mordred was the literal son of Roland, but considered his true father, in a spiritual sense, to be the Crimson King. This was reflected in the dual nature of his birth: after being transferred from the body of Susannah into that of Mia, cell by cell, Mordred came into the world as a rather healthy (if unseemly) baby boy. When taken to Mia's breast to nurse, Mordred revealed his demonic nature by turning into a giant spider, savagely tearing off her breast and draining all of her bodily fluids, turning her into a giant 'dust bunny'.

Mordred spent most of his life alternatively sleeping in his human form and feeding in his spider form. He grew and matured more rapidly when properly fed: after gorging himself on many small animals (and eventually larger ones), he would often have to sleep in his human form. His metabolism was much greater in his spider form, so he had to balance out how far he wanted to travel in his spider form with how plentiful food was in the area.

Mordred's most notable feeding came after his encounter with Randall Flagg, who intended to kill him and bring his foot to the entrance of the Dark Tower. Mordred sensed his intent, and displayed his telepathic abilities by assuming control of Flagg's body and eating him alive after forcing him to pluck out his eyeballs and (unsuccessfully) tongue.

Mordred spent the remainder of his life, the exact length of which is difficult to gauge, hunting and tracking down Roland. His motivation for wanting to kill Roland is mentioned as jealousy (similar to Randall Flagg) of those who have enjoy relationships with friends, and killing Roland is the strongest stated goal that Mordred has. During his pursuit Mordred undergoes malnourishment, food poisoning, extreme cold, and something like dementia: near the end of his travels, Mordred's control over his own powers begin to unravel, and his spider and human forms become less distinguishable from each other.

He meets his end when attempting to kill Roland: except for Oy the billy-bumbler he most likely would have succeeded, and he manages to kill the animal, but Oy's barking and the sound of the fight alerts Roland to Mordred's presence. Before Mordred can attack Roland, the gunslinger puts four rounds into his head, killing him utterly, and leaves his corpse on the ruins of a campfire.

[edit] Criticism

Mordred's character was met with a great deal of controversy among King's fans. Although his character has been foreshadowed since The Waste Lands (or possibly The Gunslinger), he only made a real appearance in the final novel and was set to become the major villain. Whereas the other characters grew and matured over the course of seven books, Mordred was only featured in one Dark Tower book and because of this many fans feel his characterization was awkward and forced.