Corwin (The Chronicles of Amber)

Corwin, a Prince of Amber, is the main character in the first five books of Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber. He is the second son of Oberon and Faiella, and the father of Merlin. Within the novels, much of the plot action centers on Corwin and his family as they plot against one another conspiring to become the King of Amber.

In the first book of the series, Nine Princes in Amber, Corwin is identified as the eldest heir to the throne who has a legitimate claim. His older brother Eric, while born to the same mother, is technically a bastard because at that time Oberon and Faiella were unmarried. All other older siblings are either excluded on other technicalities or dead. Corwin's eldest brother, Benedict, has made it clear that he absolutely does not want the throne and prefers to be General of the Armies of Amber, although because of Benedict's supreme prowess in all manner of combat, he would be completely unchallenged if he wanted the throne. The matter of succession is hotly contested within the family, particularly during the prolonged absence of Oberon, and loyalties were constantly shifting amongst the undecided.

Corwin has dark hair and green eyes. His colours are black and silver (alternately gray), and his symbol is a silver rose. Corwin's favoured weapon is his sword Grayswandir, and his use of magic is extremely limited. While a few of his siblings exceed him in certain skills, at arms (Benedict), strength (Gérard), and magic (Brand, Fiona, Bleys), Corwin is well-balanced in most and is the best leader of them all. He also exemplifies stamina throughout the series.

Corwin is a quick and strategic thinker. Like his brothers and sisters, he boasts remarkable endurance and regeneration abilities, even more so than his siblings. While Corwin acts with a strong personal code of honor, he is also extremely practical; he will not engage in a fight of principle unless he believes he has a chance to win, and he is perfectly willing to employ subterfuge to defeat an opponent.

Centuries before the opening of Nine Princes in Amber, while their father Oberon was still ruling in Amber, Corwin fought a duel (or, as Corwin referred to it later, "a simultaneous decision to murder each other") with Eric and nearly died. Eric, fearing their father's wrath, dumped Corwin in Elizabethan England during one of the recurrent plague outbreaks, most likely during one of the outbreaks in 1592 or 1603. Corwin recovered from the plague, but he suffered brain damage causing amnesia. He proceeded to live out several hundred years of Earth's history as a soldier of fortune, physician, and songwriter until the 1970s, when he was in a car accident and confined to a clinic. Waking with no memories at all, Corwin escapes and makes contact with his sister Florimel, and soon after his brother Random, using them to return to Amber and finally regain his past (by re-walking on the copy of the Pattern located in the underwater city Rebma).

...
Wikipedia