Falstaff

Falstaff was set to be an antagonist of the Redemption Squad [1]. Aside from that, nothing else is known about him or her.

Real World History

Falstaff is presumably named after Sir John Falstaff, one of the leading characters of Shakespeare's "Henry IV" plays and one of Shakespeare's most popular comical figures. A fat old knight, Falstaff is the leader of the riotous crew whom Prince Hal befriends during his madcap youth. Falstaff is a thief and a heavy drinker, but is also extremely witty, with a gift for improbable exaggeration. (In "Henry IV Part One", after Falstaff and his band rob a group of travelers at Gad's Hill, Prince Hal and one of his associates, Poins, attack the thieves in turn and steal their loot. Falstaff afterwards claims to have fought off his assailants - whose numbers grow dramatically with each line - until Hal tells him what really happened; Falstaff then claims that he had recognized his attacker's true identity and as a loyal Englishman, had no desire to harm the heir apparent.) Falstaff's exploits fill most of the plays until, in the final act of "Henry IV Part Two", Hal, now crowned king as Henry V, rejects the old knight and his crew. In "Henry V", Falstaff dies off-stage, apparently of a broken heart (Mistress Quickly, who describes his death, states her belief that he has gone to "Arthur's bosom", presumably a slip for "Abraham's bosom").

Falstaff also appears in "The Merry Wives of Windsor", though more as a buffoon than the wit of the Henry IV plays; the play could almost be considered the Falstaffian equivalent of the Goliath Chronicles. He spends the play trying to woo the merry wives of the title, hoping to gain their money, only to be outwitted by them and humiliated throughout. (In an episode of "The Spectacular Spider-Man", Aunt May and Anna Watson went to see a performance of the play - which was called on account of an attack from the Sinister Six.)

See also

• Falstaff at Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia