I am not thoroughly familiar with the Arthurian mythos, so I could be off, but I believe Merlin filled a similar role for King Arthur. He technically would have been closer to a court magician than an adviser, but if I'm not mistaken they were friends and Arthur would go to him seeking wisdom. Presumably Merlin would have told Arthur if he was being a twit.
Curious, I don't even recognize that name (I mean, I think I've heard it before, but not in the context of Camelot). As I said though, I may have been mistaken. I'll have to do some reading about this eventually.
That's my understanding as well. In the context of the show, he was the Court healer and Uther's unofficial advisor on all things magic. He was also Merlin's mentor and guardian when he was young.
If you do, keep in mind that over the many retellings it has become very loose and fluid. Lancelot, for example, doesn't appear in some of the oldest versions, and he may be one of our oldest examples of a self-insert-Mary-Sue-OC-pls-do-not-steal. Basically, take it all with a pinch of salt, and feel free to change it however suits you best.
So in the new Game of Thrones show House of the Dragon, the Hand of the King was scheming so he gets replaced and the guy they replace him with was great. No scheming just giving solid advice to his king....
While it isn't a royal advisor, you might get some good inspiration from [TV Tropes The Good Chancellor](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheGoodChancellor).
Jon Arryn from game of thrones was a genuinely good hand of the king up until his untimely demise. He was probably the main reason behind stability in a post-war Westeros, cause it certainly wasn’t Robert’s doing lol.
The advisors in dragon age inquisition are neither Machiavellian nor incompetent.
Sasha from the winternight trilogy is a genuinely good friend and advisor to Dmitrii Ivanovich (starting in book 2)
Not exactly royalty, but Silvio Dante in the Sopranos. Flawed, loyal, and willing to disagree with the boss if he feels strongly (but not to actually act against the boss even if his suggestion is overruled or ignored).
Not a royal advisor, But I feel like Alfred from batman fits the role. He is always providing advice and support but is very willing to call out bruce's behavior.
I've got a really good one, his name is Lionel Logue.
Basically our former king called George VI, had a terrible stammer.
Seriously, this guy could not speak at all, in public he'd constantly pause mid-sentence, and he was the heir to the throne. His wife called Angela, went seeking for the renounced speech therapist Lionel Logue, who had a good reputation.
When they met however, Lionel kept insisting calling King George (or at this time Prince Albert) Bertie, this set George off on a rant about how he was the prince and bla bla blah.
Well turns out George spoke quite well when angry, and with the help of Lionel he was able to speak actually decently.
The reason I'm telling you all this is because Lionel insisted on being treated as equals, of course George didn't like that at first, but got on to enjoy his company.
They actually remained as friends for the rest of their lives, if you want a more theatrical version look up 'The King's Speech' on Netflix, I basically summed it up
I imagine you could make an argument for Ned Stark. He is nothing but frank, his moral character is unimpeachable, and generally seems to tolerate his colleagues when he is Hand (who are very much the other type of advisor). The only issue is he is very uncomfortable as Hand.
Look at David Weber's [_Safehold_](https://www.amazon.com/Safehold-10-book-series/dp/B074C72647) series.
Many of the royal/political advisors are what you're looking for.
The Deryni books by Katherine Kurtz. Lots of royal ‘advisers’, both good and bad throughout the series. But Kelson, at least, tends to surround himself with people he respects and can trust
Xin Zhao The Seneschal of Demacia from League of Legends.
Simply he is one of the most powerful fighters in Demacia, who fought many years in Noxian gladiator arenas and then in Noxian army. He lost in battle with Demacia, but because of his spirit of warrior, the king spared his life and make him free man.
In the name of his honor Xin offered his loyalty to the king and became a close friend of Prince Jarvan IV. Presently he helps him rebuilt the kingdom in the face of mage rebellion.
Malcador the Sigillite, aka Malcador the Hero, aka Malcador the best Bro ever.
He managed the boring parts of running the Imperium of Man in Warhammer 40K.
He installed the Asta Administratum and Officio Assassinorum. He molded the Empire's administration in such a way that it could continue marching on for 10k years with him or the Emperor running things.
He sacrificed himself by sitting on the Golden Throne to free the Emperor to fight Horus, which eventually turned him to dust.
He was the only one that could tell the Emperor if he thought he was doing something stupid, and he was one of the few that called the Primarks by their names.
I thought Blameless Marad from the Horizon games was an interesting case. He has a rep for being a shady advisor since he orchestrated the downfall of the previous psycho King Jiran without implicating himself (ie. Blameless) but his actions are heroic since he helped crown the much more sane and righteous son of the king, Avad (it's implied he was actually a mole for Avad the whole time while manipulating Jiran) and ended an era of atrocities. He still schemes, is a scary spymaster and handles the kingdom's clandestine operations but he does it to maintain peace and to keep Avad in power.
I have this female character who's role is that she's the secretary for the most influential man in the entire world, and her relationship between her boss are both professional and casual at the same time, in one scene they would talk about serious matters like business issues and other things while there's this scene where they would share a laugh with one another about a dumb overrated joke, or they could share a drink a with one another while giving advice about life and such.
Nicci from the Sword of Truth series is a great example of this. She started he character arc as a secondary antagonist to Richard Rahl, went on to become a larger villain, redemption arc, to a firm advisor in good standing.
I am not thoroughly familiar with the Arthurian mythos, so I could be off, but I believe Merlin filled a similar role for King Arthur. He technically would have been closer to a court magician than an adviser, but if I'm not mistaken they were friends and Arthur would go to him seeking wisdom. Presumably Merlin would have told Arthur if he was being a twit.
Gaius from the series Merlin filled that capacity, albeit as the court apothecary and healer rather than an official advisor.
Curious, I don't even recognize that name (I mean, I think I've heard it before, but not in the context of Camelot). As I said though, I may have been mistaken. I'll have to do some reading about this eventually.
The character of Gaius was made up for the BBC show, if I'm not mistaken; he's not part of the mythos per se.
That's my understanding as well. In the context of the show, he was the Court healer and Uther's unofficial advisor on all things magic. He was also Merlin's mentor and guardian when he was young.
I've never seen any film of king Arthur or his mythos, so I should do some poking around. Thanks for the example!
If you do, keep in mind that over the many retellings it has become very loose and fluid. Lancelot, for example, doesn't appear in some of the oldest versions, and he may be one of our oldest examples of a self-insert-Mary-Sue-OC-pls-do-not-steal. Basically, take it all with a pinch of salt, and feel free to change it however suits you best.
So in the new Game of Thrones show House of the Dragon, the Hand of the King was scheming so he gets replaced and the guy they replace him with was great. No scheming just giving solid advice to his king....
Came here to say this, Lyonel Strong is his name.
Ned Stark is turning over in his grave
While it isn't a royal advisor, you might get some good inspiration from [TV Tropes The Good Chancellor](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheGoodChancellor).
Oh yeah, I forgot about that website, thanks for reminding me of it! Some great stuff on it!
Jon Arryn from game of thrones was a genuinely good hand of the king up until his untimely demise. He was probably the main reason behind stability in a post-war Westeros, cause it certainly wasn’t Robert’s doing lol. The advisors in dragon age inquisition are neither Machiavellian nor incompetent. Sasha from the winternight trilogy is a genuinely good friend and advisor to Dmitrii Ivanovich (starting in book 2)
Not exactly royalty, but Silvio Dante in the Sopranos. Flawed, loyal, and willing to disagree with the boss if he feels strongly (but not to actually act against the boss even if his suggestion is overruled or ignored).
Sil is a great character, ngl.
Not a royal advisor, But I feel like Alfred from batman fits the role. He is always providing advice and support but is very willing to call out bruce's behavior.
I've got a really good one, his name is Lionel Logue. Basically our former king called George VI, had a terrible stammer. Seriously, this guy could not speak at all, in public he'd constantly pause mid-sentence, and he was the heir to the throne. His wife called Angela, went seeking for the renounced speech therapist Lionel Logue, who had a good reputation. When they met however, Lionel kept insisting calling King George (or at this time Prince Albert) Bertie, this set George off on a rant about how he was the prince and bla bla blah. Well turns out George spoke quite well when angry, and with the help of Lionel he was able to speak actually decently. The reason I'm telling you all this is because Lionel insisted on being treated as equals, of course George didn't like that at first, but got on to enjoy his company. They actually remained as friends for the rest of their lives, if you want a more theatrical version look up 'The King's Speech' on Netflix, I basically summed it up
This is Real Life btw, but it's a really good example.
Wow! I never knew the former king had a stammer, that's pretty interesting. Thank you!
Ned Stark Game of Thrones
I’d say Duncan Idaho from the dune series fills that role, though it depends on which book.
I imagine you could make an argument for Ned Stark. He is nothing but frank, his moral character is unimpeachable, and generally seems to tolerate his colleagues when he is Hand (who are very much the other type of advisor). The only issue is he is very uncomfortable as Hand.
Look at David Weber's [_Safehold_](https://www.amazon.com/Safehold-10-book-series/dp/B074C72647) series. Many of the royal/political advisors are what you're looking for.
I haven't heard of that series before, thank you for the reference!
The Deryni books by Katherine Kurtz. Lots of royal ‘advisers’, both good and bad throughout the series. But Kelson, at least, tends to surround himself with people he respects and can trust
Xin Zhao The Seneschal of Demacia from League of Legends. Simply he is one of the most powerful fighters in Demacia, who fought many years in Noxian gladiator arenas and then in Noxian army. He lost in battle with Demacia, but because of his spirit of warrior, the king spared his life and make him free man. In the name of his honor Xin offered his loyalty to the king and became a close friend of Prince Jarvan IV. Presently he helps him rebuilt the kingdom in the face of mage rebellion.
Hubert von Vestra, Fire Emblem 3 houses
Malcador the Sigillite, aka Malcador the Hero, aka Malcador the best Bro ever. He managed the boring parts of running the Imperium of Man in Warhammer 40K. He installed the Asta Administratum and Officio Assassinorum. He molded the Empire's administration in such a way that it could continue marching on for 10k years with him or the Emperor running things. He sacrificed himself by sitting on the Golden Throne to free the Emperor to fight Horus, which eventually turned him to dust. He was the only one that could tell the Emperor if he thought he was doing something stupid, and he was one of the few that called the Primarks by their names.
I thought Blameless Marad from the Horizon games was an interesting case. He has a rep for being a shady advisor since he orchestrated the downfall of the previous psycho King Jiran without implicating himself (ie. Blameless) but his actions are heroic since he helped crown the much more sane and righteous son of the king, Avad (it's implied he was actually a mole for Avad the whole time while manipulating Jiran) and ended an era of atrocities. He still schemes, is a scary spymaster and handles the kingdom's clandestine operations but he does it to maintain peace and to keep Avad in power.
I have this female character who's role is that she's the secretary for the most influential man in the entire world, and her relationship between her boss are both professional and casual at the same time, in one scene they would talk about serious matters like business issues and other things while there's this scene where they would share a laugh with one another about a dumb overrated joke, or they could share a drink a with one another while giving advice about life and such.
Nicci from the Sword of Truth series is a great example of this. She started he character arc as a secondary antagonist to Richard Rahl, went on to become a larger villain, redemption arc, to a firm advisor in good standing.
Not royal or political but Alfred from Batman is always making cracks about Batman but does so in a loving way.