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| Nathan Forbes | |
|---|---|
| Production Information | |
| Portrayed by | |
| First appearance | |
| Last appearance | |
| Episode count |
45 |
| Biographical Information | |
| Name |
Nathan Forbes |
| Year of death |
1796 |
| Manner of death |
Strangled to death by Barnabas Collins (negated time-line) |
| Profession |
Naval Officer |
| Family members |
Suki Forbes (Wife)
|
| We have 4 images of Dark Shadows Nathan Forbes | |
Lieutenant Nathan Forbes (c.1770 - March 31, 1796) was a dashing naval officer, opportunist, and womaniser in the late 18th century. His schemes led him to an ill-fated marriage into the Collins family.
Biography
Forbes was initially a friend of Barnabas Collins in the late 18th century (366). Although his official duties were assigned to him by the U.S. Navy, he was assigned to Collinsport and most of his orders could be traced to Joshua Collins (434). A playboy and would-be gigolo, he met Victoria Winters when she time travelled to 1795 and failed to seduce her, reasoning that any woman in such immodest clothing would be easy prey (366). He continued to befriend Victoria until Reverend Trask blackmailed him into turning her over to the courts and testifying against her (433). Forbes' false testimony helped find Victoria guilty of witchcraft. Several attempts were made to change Nathan's mind, but the lure of the reward money from the courts was too much for him (437). He ended up turning Victoria in to the police for the money.
Nathan with his first wife, Suki
When Millicent Collins arrived at Collinwood (later the Old House) for her cousin Barnabas's wedding, Nathan fixed on her as the ultimate golden goose (377). He connived to win her heart and marry her (419); however, the arrival of his wife, Suki Forbes, proved to be a problem (419). Nathan and Suki had been married since 1792. His marriage to her was a very unhappy one. He wanted to get a divorce from her, but she did not allow it. Suki pretended to be Nathan's sister (he had already explained his entire family was dead) (420) in order to blackmail Nathan, and the truth came out when she was murdered by Barnabas (423). Millicent discovered who Suki really was when she sorted through her papers and she refused to see Nathan ever again. Nathan enlisted the aid of Rev. Trask, Noah Gifford and members of the Collins family in order to win back Millicent (443)-(444).
Millicent agreed to marry Nathan, but gave all her money to her brother Daniel to "prove" to her cousin Joshua that Nathan did not marry her for her money (447). After discovering that Millicent had renounced her fortune (448), Nathan drove Millicent insane, which was not a difficult task (449), and became Daniel's guardian (453). Once he successfully became Daniel's guardian, he hired Noah Gifford to kidnap and kill Daniel (454). Daniel escaped him and hid in the secret room in the mausoleum with Victoria Winters. Daniel later left the secret room to get help for Victoria but Noah found him and attempted to strangle him. Victoria shot and killed Noah. Peter Bradford found him and Forbes turned Peter over to the police believing he killed Noah. Forbes was responsible for Peter's conviction in court.
In addition to Millicent, Victoria, and Suki, Nathan also carried on with Maude Browning at The Eagle (439). After Barnabas killed Maude he left her body in Rev. Trask's room (440) and Trask agreed to help Nathan win back Millicent if he would remove the body (441). Nathan and Noah threw her body into the bay where they assumed it would be washed out to sea.
The Death of Nathan Forbes
One night at The Eagle, Barnabas told Nathan he would kill him for testifying against Victoria Winters and telling his mother that he was a vampire, which led to her suicide (459), but he gave him until 9pm to fear for his life. Nathan went to Joshua Collins and implored his assistance to help him, but he refused to. Ben Stokes told him how Barnabas could be killed and Forbes saw his chance when he spied a crossbow in Joshua's study (459). Nathan took careful aim and shot Barnabas with the crossbow bolt, but missed his heart. Barnabas then strangled Nathan to death (460). We can assume that Ben Stokes buried Nathan, but we are never told for certain.
When Joshua Collins read the Collins Family History Book he decided to include some of the errors it contained in his private journal. One of those errors was that he never mentioned anything about Nathan, particularly his marriage to Millicent, and wrote that Millicent lived a life of a spinster (623). He had Millicent's marriage to Nathan annulled. Thus Nathan Forbes was forgotten by history and never included in the official family history.
Afterlife
Nathan's ghost was summoned by the Ghost of Rev. Trask in 1968 to testify against Barnabas in a mock "trial". After giving his "testimony", Nathan's ghost walked out of the trial without answering any questions Barnabas asked in cross-examination (511). Nevertheless, Barnabas was found guilty and immured in the same wall Rev. Trask had been imprisoned (512), but was rescued by Willie and Julia (516).
Second death
When Barnabas travelled back to 1796 to save Victoria Winters (661-667), he decided that instead of killing Forbes outright, he would make him sign a confession that he had committed perjury in both the trials of Peter Bradford and Victoria Winters (663). This evidence was enough to free Bradford, but not Vicki (664) and have Forbes imprisoned. Later Countess DuPres had Forbes freed from jail to kill Barnabas while he slept in his coffin (666), but Ben Stokes arrived in time and killed Forbes. Countess DuPres witnessed this killing and was frightened to death, probably having a heart attack. Ben buried them both at the Eagle Hill Cemetery in unmarked graves (667).
Appearances
366, 377, 379, 385, 386, 387, 388, 394, 403, 414, 419, 420, 423, 424, 428, 433, 434, 436, 437, 439, 440, 441, 442, 443, 444, 445, 446, 447, 448, 449, 450, 451, 453, 454, 455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 465, 512, 524, 525, 661, 662, 663, 665, 666
Notes
Nathan Forbes was Joel Crothers' second and final role on the show