Character from The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
Leader of the White Council and its greatest politician — immensely powerful, maddeningly obstructive, but ultimately serving an institution he believes is the world's last defense.
Arthur Langtry is the Merlin of the White Council — not the Merlin, but the current holder of the title, and he wields it with the political acumen of someone who has survived centuries of supernatural politics. He is infuriating because he is not wrong: the Council is fragile, its enemies are legion, and sometimes politics is the only weapon that works. He obstructs Harry not out of malice but because Harry is chaos incarnate and the Council cannot afford chaos. His magical power is immense — he raised wards around Edinburgh that held against an army — but he prefers to wield authority rather than fire. He is the establishment, with all the stability and all the blindness that implies.
Tall, dignified, silver-haired, with the bearing of a man accustomed to being the most important person in any room. Wears formal Council robes with the ease of someone who's been in them for centuries. Patrician features, cold blue eyes, and a voice that carries absolute authority. Looks like a king and knows it.
Also known as: The Merlin, Langtry, Arthur Langtry