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
Dish and Dishonesty poor health. Moving quickly, Blackadder realises that Buxomley represented the constituency of Dunny-on-the-Wold, a rotten borough consisting of a tiny plot of land with several farm animals – 3 rather mangy cows, a dachshund named Colin (whom the Prince assumes is a human rather than a dog) and a small hen in its late forties. Blackadder schemes to elect Baldrick as the constituency's new MP to ensure that he votes in favour of the Prince. Pitt hears about this and visits the Prince, the latter not recognising him at first. Pitt reveals that he once suffered "alone in a cold