Sir Robin

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Sir Robin the Not-quite-so-brave-as-Sir-Lancelot (also known as Sir Robin the Chicken-hearted) is a comic fictional character played by Eric Idle in the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and by David Hyde Pierce in the Broadway musical Spamalot. He is a purported Knight of the Round Table whose standard is that of a chicken. He is known for having "nearly fought the dragon of Angnor", for having "nearly stood up to the vicious chicken of Bristol" and for having "personally wet himself at the Battle of Badon Hill". Sir Robin is a knight noted for his extreme cowardice, and for the band of minstrels (their leader is played by Neil Innes, who wrote their songs) who follow him around singing of his bravery and the tortures he will bravely endure, or of how bravely he ran away when faced with real danger. During a famine the minstrels were eaten by the knights, and there was much rejoicing, in which they cried quite half-heartedly, "Yay!" Robin survived dangers such as a three-headed giant (played by Terry Jones, Graham Chapman, and Michael Palin), the Rabbit of Caerbannog ("I soiled my armour I was so scared"), and the Legendary Black Beast of Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh, all simply by running away at the right moment. One notable moment recorded Sir Robin's strategy against one of their foes as, "Perhaps it would help if we run away more." He was not completely useless: he accidentally defeats the Knights who say Ni by saying the word they cannot hear ("it"). When he finally faced danger—the three-question challenge of the Keeper of the Bridge of Death (Terry Gilliam)—he was cast into the Gorge of Eternal Peril for not knowing the name of the capital of Assyria. In the musical Spamalot Sir Robin is introduced as the timid, music-loving Dead-Collector who discusses his dream of being a Knight with a fellow peasant named Lancelot. They decide to join the Round Table together. Later in the second Act, it's Sir Robin who sings the show-stopping "You Won't Succeed On Broadway" and during the Finale reveals that his "Grail" is musical theatre. In the original Broadway cast, Sir Robin was played by David Hyde Pierce.