How many kingdoms were there in the Castle theme?

[hikouki]

The recent Lion Knight's Castle (set #10305) appears to feature the Black Falcons trying to invade (?) the Lion Knights' castle. The Forestmen appear to be allied with the Lion Knights, but definitely their own group.

How many kingdoms were there in the Castle theme, and who were allied with whom?

[SirBlake]

If you read the instructions on the new castle, the Black Falcons are a friendly visiting faction and the Forest folk are up to some mischief. 
 

Historically, there are few hard and fast rules to it and some contradictory info. This recent thread is about as comprehensive as you’ll find as far as this stuff goes:

In the end, it’s my opinion that you create your own canon and have fun with it. It’s your world to build, literally and figuratively. 

Edited September 3, 2022 by SirBlake

[Mandalorianknight]

There was a thread about this recently in the sci-fi subforum that was in a similar vein, asking about the color meanings of the classic spacemen. I think ultimately it's up to you.

[Shroffy123]

It's really all up to you. One of the many things about Lego I loved as a kid, and continue to love now. I have three main kingdoms: Lion, Crown, and Dragons. The other factions, Black Falcon, Fright Knights, and  Forsetmen are banners of the three main factions. 

[TeriXeri]

I don't think there's an official list and I also don't think there needs to be an end-all canon as it gets so complicated with regional differences in catalogs/descriptions/set names, Forestmen being named Robin Hood for example , or Lion Knights named Crusaders/Lionheart knights referencing to Richard Lionheart / Lion symbol of England.

 

Also there are similarities , or even overlap between a couple factions:

Black Knights / 1993 Dragon Knights using similar headdress , oval shield emblems or flag symbols , same with the yellow lion head emblem of 1995 vs 2000 Knights with a different background color, even some Black Falcons have overlap with the earlier Black Monarch figure designs , even in the 2012 Joust, the "Black Knight" had falcon shields.

Especially since the old classic sets had multiple sets with boats, it adds to the imagination that maybe there was new land found across a sea and then a kingdom split off (especially Black Falcon into Black Monarch, or Black Knights finding a strange land with Dragons while keeping a similar shield emblem/helm style)

And then even within factions, you could sub-divide knights by shield emblem or torsos, for example some Lion knights having Axes on their torsos, or something simpler as yellow or blue background lion shields could be split into divisions or regions (think something like West / East part of a Kingdom) or ranks.

 

 

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by TeriXeri

[MAB]

In the original sets, just one. There were other Lords and Knights but they don't have kingdoms. When it comes to counting factions, it really is free choice. Same when it comes to allies.

[madoka]

I group all my factions four ways:

1. Lions

2. Dragons

3. Crown

4. Independent

[TalonCard]

Official LEGO Lore is often contradictory, but for those interested I believe the named Kingdoms were:
1. Avalon (1980s Lion Knights, Bricks 'n Pieces magazine)
2. Saxondale (1990s Royal Knights, Bricks 'n Pieces magazine)
3. Taranta (1992-1995 sets, German audio dramas)
4. The Western Kingdom (2007 Castle sets)
5. Dwarven Kingdom (2007 Castle sets)
6. Elflands (2007 Castle sets)
7. Morcia (Knight's Kingdom II)
8. Ankoria (Knight's Kingdom II)
9. Bricksylvania (Heroes Unboxed, Fright Knights)

The Collectable Minifigures bios for the Classic King and Queen shed some light on the early years of Castle; the Classic King recruited a band of knights and built the original Yellow Castle. This would have been around the time of King Arthur and Prince Valiant according to a 1980s advertisement. He later married the Classic Queen, who was from a more modern kingdom, and together they brought their new larger kingdom into the modern era of LEGO Castle. They thought about dividing up their kingdom in two for each of their children. It's just speculation, but this may have been where the split between the Lion Knights and Black Falcons came into play.

The later Castle eras are generations later, according to the Lion Knights Castle instruction manual (between the Early Middle ages to the 1480s depending on the source). By this time the Lion Knights and Black Falcons are enemies, with the Black Knight leading the latter. The Black Knight then created the Black Knights faction, and all three groups seemed to be in conflict at one point or another. The Forestmen targeted all factions as well, and the Wolfpack are an offshoot of them (according to the Standing Small book.) The Dragon Masters are an additional faction loyal to the wizard Majisto that split from the Black Knights, leading to an intra-kingdom conflict. The Dragon Masters also fought against the Royal Knights. Majisto is shown to be a trusted advisor to the Royal Knights faction in some sources; his exposure to mind-bending cosmic powers (mentioned in Heroes Unboxed) may be an explanation for his shifting between good and evil.

At some point, the Black Knights pledged their loyalty to the Royal Knights faction (Castle audio dramas) and even the Black Falcons agreed to peace with the Lion Knights (Lion Knights castle instructions.) The Fright Knights were led by Majisto's cousin Willa the Witch, who cursed a good knight Basil to become her second-in-command. (One source, a sticker book, claims that he was cursed by the Dragon Wizard instead. Other sources (like the Klick Magazine comics) show Basil and Willa to be enemies, which isn't necessarily contradictory, though it's unclear whether this was before or after their time as allies.) 

It could be assumed (but I don't think it's ever been explicitly stated) that the Lion Knights, Royal Knights, and King Leo's lion knights of the first Knight's Kingdom sets are of the same kingdom. Ditto for the lion knights of the 2013 Castle and 2016 Kingdoms lines. King Mathias of Morcia also has a lion herald, but since that throne is won by individual knights in tournaments he is probably only a former knight and not in the line of succession. Similarly one might assume the dragon knights of the 2013 and 2016 sets are affiliated/descendants of the Black Knights or Dragon Masters. (Indeed this was the intention for the Dragon heralded Rogue Knight Drascus of Knight's Kingdom, according to designer Mike Rayhawk.) 

I'm still a little unsure about how well the chronology works, but I have a substantial Castle section in this timeline video if anyone is interested. 

Edited September 7, 2022 by TalonCard

[natesroom]

awesome didn't know the names of the lands