The Unicorn/Lady Amalthea
The Unicorn is perfectly content to stay in her forest, surronded by rabbits and bears and
foxes and deer - until two men come into her forest to hunt, and one of them says that the
unicorn that lives in that forest is the only unicorn left in the world. After that, she is
not content to simply stay there and do nothing. She meets an eccentric butterfly who tells
her that if she has the courage, she can find the rest of her people. He speaks of the Red
Bull, but does not answer any more of her questions after that. She leaves her forest, and
on her journey she meets several people that have an impact on her story and several that
don't - Mommy Fortuna, Rukh, Schmendrick, Molly Grue, King Haggard and Prince Lir.
Schmendrick the Magician turns the unicorn into a human to save her from the Red Bull. They
travel to King Haggard's castle, where the Red Bull lives. They introduce the unicorn as the
Lady Amalthea. It is there that Amalthea becomes the only unicorn to ever know love and
regret.
Schmendrick the Magician
Unfortunely for Amalthea, Schmendrick is a second-rate magician most of the time. He can
only do real magic every so often, and when he does it tires him. He conjures Robin Hood,
Maid Marian, and their friends for Molly Grue's camp of bandits; he turns the unicorn into
a human girl; and turns a human girl back in a unicorn. The rest of his magic is just jest -
making something appear differently then it is. He is one of the only people that see a
unicorn where there's a unicorn, instead of a white mare. He plays the fool for King Haggard
in order to give Amalthea time to find the other unicorns.
Molly Grue
Molly Grue is a gruff country girl. At King Haggard's castle, she does pretty much
everything - cooking, cleaning, mending - and she's the one that finds out where the
entrance down to the Red Bull's lair is because the cat talks to her after meeting the Lady
Amalthea. She is angry at the unicorn at first for coming to her when she's old and ugly,
instead of when she was young and beautiful. When the unicorn leaves, and it is time for
Schmendrick and Molly to say good-bye to Lir, Schmendrick asks Molly to come with him and
she says yes.
King Haggard
King Haggard is Prince Lir's adopted father, and the one that is in charge of the Red Bull -
if any one person could be in charge of the Bull. He is the reason there are no unicorns
in the world, for he asked the Red Bull to gather them all up and bar them in the sea for
him. It is for this reason alone that the unicorn and her companions come to his castle. He
realizes after awhile that Amalthea is not all that she seems. Haggard forbids anything that
does not make him happy, and this includes even singing. The unicorns, his unicorns, coming
in on the ocean tide are the only thing that make him happy.
Prince Lir
Prince Lir is the mortal man that teaches the unicorn what no other unicorn knows - regret,
love, and acceptance. It is because of him that Amalthea goes through with her quest, even
though she loves Lir and doesn't want to be turned back into a unicorn. At first, the Prince
courts her the only way he knows how - dragon slaying, bringing her back trophies from those
things he kills, becoming a hero in order to make her love him. Molly finally tells him
that maybe all his good deeds aren't enough to sway the lady, and so he courts her
differently. He follows Amalthea into the clock, and it is only after that that he finds out
his love is a unicorn.