Tristan de Bois

Tristan de Bois is the brother of Ygraine Pendragon (née de Bois), Vivienne and Agravaine, the brother-in-law of Uther Pendragon, and the uncle of Arthur Pendragon, Morgana and Morgause.

Early Life
When his sister Ygraine died in childbirth, Tristan blamed Uther for her death and challenged him to a duel to the death. Uther won the duel but, before he died, Tristan swore that he would rise from the death and avenge Ygraine.

Ressurection
Twenty-two years after his death, at Arthur's coming of age ceremony, Tristan was reanimated as a wraith by the sorceress Nimueh. He crashes his horse through the window and challenges the knights to a duel. Sir Owain takes up the challenge and strikes a would-be fatal blow, but ultimately dies; Sir Pellinore takes up the next challenge and also dies, though he too strikes a fatal blow. Arthur then challenges Tristan to a duel, and Tristan accepts.

Gaius and Geoffrey of Monmouth are able to identify Tristan by the crest on his shield. It is an image of a white phoenix. He is the only knight known to have carried such a crest.

Merlin observes that both times the knights fatally wounded Tristan, he lived. Merlin, with the help of The Great Dragon, creates a sword that can kill the dead. Although intended as a sword for Arthur's use only, it is Uther who fights Tristan with Excalibur. As a result the wraith dies and Tristan returns to his death, his revenge unfulfilled.

His fighting style was very aggressive and powerful but also surprisingly quick. He fought with a two-handed longsword with no shield.

Relationship with his sister
Tristan and Ygraine seem to have been very close when they were alive. When his sister died, Tristan was so devastated that he rode to Camelot to kill Uther for believing him the responsible for her death. Ygraine must have always been kind to her brother always welcoming him at her palace. Their relation is very similar to Arthur and Morgana's sibiling relationship. However, despite being close to Ygraine, Tristan didn't seem to care about Arthur even though he was Ygraine's son as he was willing to kill him if they fought.

In the Legend
Tristran is the name of a Knight of the Round Table, son of Blancheflor and Rivalen and nephew of King Mark of Cornwall. It is unclear whether this is the same Tristan as a Knight of the Round Table. Tristan in legend appears to lack a surname and could well appear in seasons to come by Arthur's side. Tristan de Bois is also based on the Black Knight from the legend.