The dungeoneer of Team 6 of Series 4. Hailing from Torquay, his name alone has been the subject of much latter-day discussion among Knightmare fans, due to divided opinions over the exact spelling of both the forename and surname (Hares), and a degree of incredulity at its unusual nature.
According to Elric, who joined the Knightmare Discussion Forum in December 2004, Dickon was lucky to have been on Knightmare at all. He was the replacement for the team's original dungeoneer, the brother of advisor Praveen, who was taken ill before filming. This, claims Elric, explains the size difference between Dickon and his advisors, since Praveen's brother was a similar age to the other team members, whereas Dickon was younger. (Ironic, then, that Dickon should shrink during his quest, thanks to Downers!) Nevertheless, the team still included siblings, as Dickon's brother Dominic was one of the advisors. Hence Brother Mace's comment to Dickon about having a brother who was a Dominican. Mace also identified Dickon as a name mentioned by William Shakespeare.
Dickon was the only dungeoneer to encounter all three Weeping Doors during his quest, and to vanquish Malice. He was also the only dungeoneer to carry a clue object between levels: Hordriss gave him a potion (see picture) to pass on to Brother Mace as "Etruscan brandy", which ultimately turned the monk into a lizard, in a memorable incident that Mace recalled during Series 5. He also met Mellisandre (in the never-before-seen Crazed Heifer), Oakley, Fatilla, goblins, Motley in the pillory ("My mate Dickon, he ain't no chicken!"), an ogre, Gundrada, Ariadne and Merlin, when he achieved the distinction of being Series 4's only winning dungeoneer, retrieving the Crown.
As well as being celebrated as a winner, Dickon is also the subject of a celebrated, smutty anecdote. David Learner, who played Pickle, revealed it during an interview with Debbie Glover in 2002: '[Dickon's team] had to pick up a goblin horn, otherwise they could not go forward. And I remember Dickon getting the horn and me coming out with the memorable line "Dickon's got the horn Master!".' Sadly, the line never made to that episode's final edit.

In January 2004, Illusion reported the following on the Knightmare Discussion Forum: '[Dickon] is now a Biology teacher. I had an e-mail from one of his pupils who by chance was watching Knightmare on Challenge recently and thought he looked familiar. When he approached Mr Hares at the start of term and asked him, he said "Wahey! I am the champ!"'
Later in 2004, forum member Pipmuk brought news that Dickon was working at Pipmuk's school at that time. Reportedly, his response to being asked by Pipmuk's acquaintances whether he appeared on Knightmare was: 'I wasn't just on Knightmare... I won it!! Come on!!' Or similar. Either way, it would seem that Dickon Hares' 54 minutes of fame remain as memorable to him as they do to the Watchers.

[Earlier version: 2007-03-07 16:32:07]

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A character in the introductory story to Mindscape's 1991 Knightmare computer game. Dickon joins three older friends (James, Ralph and Sean) on an expedition to find Treguard's castle, giving up a paid-for place at Scout camp on the Isle of Wight to do so. Somewhat petulant, he becomes nervous when the boys do actually find their way to the Dungeon Master's antechamber via the elf portal of Dungate.

It seems likely that Dickon is inspired by his namesake from the series itself (see other definition). His physical appearance ('watery blue eyes peering with childish innocence from a pallid freckly complexion') is not unlike that of Dickon Hares, who likewise was the youngest of his team; and he asks Treguard about the Crown, the very object for which Dickon Hares successfully quested. These are surely more than coincidences.

[Previous version: 2006-03-12 01:06:34]

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