Morten the Earthworm

Morten the Earthworm
Biographical information
Gender	Male
Behind the scenes information
Appears in	MediEvil (1998) MediEvil (2019)

Morten (fl. 1386) was a friendly worm that lived inside Sir Dan's skull. He was thus forced to join Dan on his quest to defeat Zarok.

History

Nothing is known about Morten before he came to inhabit the skull of Sir Dan. It is said that he was "happy when Dan died," suggesting that he was alive before Dan's death in 1286. In 1386, Dan was resurrected (and if Morten was dead, then so was he). Morten did not interact with the returned Dan much, only making his presence known when Dan was being chased by the Jabberwocky. After Zarok's defeat, it is likely that he remained inside Dan's skull.

Characteristics

Appearance

Morten was a purple earthworm who is about the length of Dan's finger. Like all earthworms his body was segmented. He had purple eyes and a little smile.

Personality

According to the Book of Gallowmere, Morten was happy when Dan had died, as it gave him a new home. He was mostly unbothered by Dan coming back to life and was willing to help him, but mostly so Dan could go back to his eternal rest.

Gameplay

Related trophy

• Morten Would Be Proud

Behind the scenes

Development

MediEvil

PLEASE NOTE: This section refers to content that is not present in the final versions of MediEvil due to being cut, removed or repurposed.

The idea of a friendly worm living in Dan came from MediEvil's producer Chris Sorrell. According to an overview of the game from the Sony ECTS 1997 PlayStation Press Pack, Morten was going to be playable in two game sections. He was going to be introduced in the 7AV FMV played just before his first level, where Dan would have pushed him through a keyhole into the Asylum in order to obtain a door key. However, Morten was going to be mentioned as early as The Graveyard by one of the Information Gargoyles:

" Hey Book worm, yes: the one living in your empty eye socket, remember to keep up on your reading!" ― Information Gargoyle

Jason Wilson, who worked as both art and game designer on MediEvil, said the following about Morten's first playable level: "Morten would have had to navigate a range of obstacles and there would have been a few funny moments such as inching your way across the bare feet of prisoners (tickling them in the process) who would have been hanging upside down in racks." The unused track simply known as 7 or IG4 was also written for this level. However, this version of Inside The Asylum never materialised and was instead replaced by Smash TV style attack rooms as seen in the final release.

Much less information is known about the second Morten level. One hint towards its nature comes from MediEvil's resource file, MEDRES.MWD, where among textures for The Entrance Hall level appear facial textures for both Morten as well as an ant.

MediEvil: Resurrection

While Morten does not appear in MediEvil: Resurrection, the character Al-Zalam fulfils a similar role to him in the game; he lives inside Sir Dan's skull and serves as his sidekick.

Etymology

The name "Morten" is an Old Danish, Old Swedish and modern variant form of Martin. Martin is derived from the Roman name Martinus, which was derived from Martis, the genitive case of the name of the Roman god Mars. Mars is possibly related to maris, the genitive case of Latin mas, meaning 'male'.

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