Edmund Blackadder to a lord ("Blackadder II"), a knight (""), a royal attendant ("Blackadder III"), a shopkeeper ("Blackadder's Christmas Carol"), to an army captain ("Blackadder Goes Forth"). Throughout each series, Blackadder is a self-serving, cynical opportunist concerned solely with increasing his own influence, status and wealth. His character is symbolized by the adder, the United Kingdom's only native venomous snake, which sometimes appears in the series as a visual motif. With the exception of the first Blackadder incarnation, Prince Edmund, each Blackadder is generally cynical, charismatic and intelligent. While he is haunted by bad luck, he is usually very capable of manipulating
Sense and Senility has little respect for actors in the first place, often ridiculing them for their over-the-top, flamboyant acting style, and saying, "You mean they actually rehearse? I thought they just got drunk, stuck on silly hats and trusted their luck." Blackadder torments the actors by having them repeatedly perform the painful Macbeth ritual (which comically consists of them playing pattycake and chanting "Hot potato, orchestra stalls, Puck will make amends!" before squeezing each other's nose). He says "Macbeth" six times in a row, making the actors repeat their ritual. Soon, he takes an extra dislike to the pair when they laugh