Each Blackadder is positioned in a different place in British society over each series, with the character mostly falling in social rank through history. He moves from a prince ("The Black Adder") to a lord ("Blackadder II"), a knight (""), a royal attendant ("Blackadder the Third"), 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 only venomous snake native to Great Britain, which sometimes appears in the series as a visual motif.