Prince Caspian (character)
Caspian X, the seafaring king of Narnia.
Prince Caspian, also known as Caspian X, is a fictional character in C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. He appears in three books of the series: Prince Caspian, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair, as well as at the end of The Last Battle. He is remembered as Caspian the Seafarer or Caspian the Navigator.
Quick Facts
- Series
- Narnia
- Race
- Human
- Full name
- Caspian X
- Nickname
- Caspian the Seafarer; Caspian the Navigator
- Family
- Caspian IX (father)
- King Miraz (uncle)
- Queen Prunaprismia (aunt)
- Spouse
- Ramandu's daughter (wife)
- Children
- Rilian (son)
- Nationality
- Telmarine/Narnian
Facts from the source article.
Biographical summary
Caspian is described as noble, handsome, brave, and merry, striving for fairness and justice as a devoted king. He is known as Caspian the Seafarer for his love of the sea. Lewis introduces him as the young nephew and heir to King Miraz of Narnia, 1288 years after the rule of High King Peter and his siblings. Old Narnians have been driven into hiding for 305 years by Caspian's ancestors, the Telmarines, and talking beasts are widely believed mythical.
As a small boy after his parents' death, his nurse tells him stories of Old Narnia, but when he mentions them before his uncle, Miraz rebukes him and dismisses the nurse. Miraz appoints Doctor Cornelius as Caspian's tutor; Cornelius, who has dwarfish blood unknown to Miraz, secretly teaches Caspian the true history of Narnia. Cornelius reveals that Miraz murdered Caspian IX, Caspian's father, to take the throne. When Miraz's wife Prunaprismia gives birth to a son, Cornelius urges the 13-year-old Caspian to flee, giving him Queen Susan's magic horn.
Caspian flees, meets Old Narnians who accept him as king, and later blows the horn, bringing Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy back to Narnia. With Aslan's help, they defeat Miraz in the War of Deliverance, and Aslan names Caspian the rightful heir, making him King Caspian X.
Portrayals
In the 1989 BBC television serial of Prince Caspian, the teenaged Caspian was played by Jean Marc Perret. In the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (also 1989), the slightly older Caspian was played by Samuel West, and in The Silver Chair the aged Caspian was played by Geoffrey Russell, with the rejuvenated Caspian played by Jean Marc Perret. In Walden Media's 2008 film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, the character is portrayed by English actor Ben Barnes.
In this version, the Telmarines are of Spanish descent, so Caspian has a Mediterranean accent, dark hair and dark eyes; he is older than in the book, coming of age and wrestling with a desire for revenge. The film introduces an incipient attraction between Caspian and Queen Susan, who gives him a farewell kiss. Barnes again portrays Caspian in Walden's sequel, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, now with a beard and his natural English accent.
In his early twenties, Caspian voyages to find the seven lost lords of Narnia banished by his uncle, and is tempted by an evil green mist that appears as his greatest fear: his father's disappointment. After defeating the evil, he chooses to stay in Narnia rather than travel to Aslan's Country.
More in Characters & Beings
Elsewhere in Narnia
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