"Horses shall I have, and chivalry; and my lord and kinsman Arthur will obtain for me all these things." --Culhuch
Watch out, there's a new villain in town! That's right, since this is an AU which begins right after season 3, we miss out on Agravayne as a villain (please try to curb your enthusiasm). Therefore, I give you a new villain, played by Tom Felton.
Background:
Kilhwch (pronounced Killeck) is Arthur's cousin, who comes to stay with him for a while on the pretense of helping the king and queen "settle in." In reality he was thrown out of his kingdom of the South by his father and step-mother when they found out he was going to get married against their wishes. The woman he wanted to marry was Morgana, who is currently gaining power in a castle near his parents kingdom. He met her while traveling, and finds her physically attractive as well as a fun challenge for his brain. He is now hanging out at Camelot, benefiting from his relationship to the king. Arthur knights him as a birthday present, giving him the nickname "Sir Kay."
Skills:
Kilhwch is an extremely brilliant young man, and has dabbled in many subjects, including magical practices. He also has extraordinary people skills, can remember faces and names easily with almost photographic memory. Give him five minutes in a crowd of strangers and he will have become best friends with half of them and know everything about the other half. This is due to his good attitude, and people don't often see him without a smile on his face. On top of this he is handsome and successful with the ladies, who always have crushes on him.
Personality:
Despite possessing many skills and a creative mind he is easily bored and uses his skills and superior intelligence for petty fun. His motives in any situation are ambivalent at best. He has a few morals but generally thinks about short-term selfish goals. He is a womanizer, a kleptomaniac, a gambler, and a habitual liar. He will convince you to loan him an incredible sum and always weasel out of paying it back. Intermittently loyal when it suits him, if you ask him for something he will give it to you but it was probably stolen. He makes introverts nervous and excited at the same time by his intrusive questions (he often preys on the quietest people in a group, exploring their deepest secrets though you never meant to tell him anything). The thing is that he is just so likeable--he'll steal your watch and make you say "sorry" when you get it back. He loves making others uncomfortable, and believes that psychological torture is better than any physical pain.
Relationships:
Morgana: he is a picture-perfect lover. He will bring her flowers and give her everything she asks for, just for the opportunity to engage in banter and mind games. He does love her, as far as he understands the word, and probably understands her motives and intentions better than anyone in the world.
Merlin: According to Kilhwch, Merlin is his very best friend of all. He declares this within moments of their first meeting, because Kilhwch is smart enough to know that Merlin will be his greatest opponent. But that gives something for Kilhwch to ponder, and simply knowing that means that Kilhwch wins many of their first encounters. Kilhwch, for instance, discovers Merlin's magic and discovers that he is the wizard that will defeat Morgana, and that he is a Dragonlord. All of these things he generally keeps to himself but uses to manipulate Merlin for his own fun. Merlin will have to get up early in the morning to outsmart this boy!
Gwen: Gwen is the one person whom Kilhwch avoids. She can see right through him, does not fall for his wiles and generally is the one who can foil him in the end. If asked, he says that he hates her. After all, she is perfect moral right, the antithesis of everything that he is. Even Merlin makes mistakes which Kilhwch can latch onto--but not Gwen. She infuriates him. For her part, she doesn't like him very much, but she certainly feels sorry for him.
Arthur: He sees Arthur as someone who can benefit him, and thus is a good friend of his. He can influence Arthur easily because they are equals, and will engage in all kinds of activities that Arthur does. Because of Arthur he can generally do whatever he wants. Arthur is responsible for Killhwch's knighthood, and offers a new name for him which has quickly caught on--"Sir K."
Leon: Leon, who is very nervous around this younger, more attractive and more confident guy, is the perfect target for Kilhwch's antics. More than once he has played a practical joke on Leon just for fun. He makes it his mission to prove to Leon that you can't go by the book all the time.
Gwaine: he and Gwaine are good friends. Kilhwch sees a kindred spirit in Gwaine in that he is the least inhibited of all the knights. However, Gwaine quickly becomes annoyed with Kilhwch's lack of morals and eventually they start hating each other too despite the fact that they like each other.