The 2010 movie Robin Hood is not something I’m willing to talk about at length, but it did have one thing going for it: in this movie, Friar Tuck is a beekeeper. As a way to add some meaning to his life (he describes himself as not being “churchy”), Tuck keeps bees and makes mead from their honey. He says of his bees, “I keep them and they keep me,” and describes them as his family. And naturally when there is a big climactic fight, he throws a couple of skeps into a building to have his bees attack the enemy. All perfectly good stuff for the things I want in a fictional Beekeeper.

Time to rate him.

There’s nothing in this one movie that merits him ranking above 3/5, but Tuck has something that your average 3/5 doesn’t: he is a figure of legend. There are hundreds of interpretations of Tuck, and we must consider the whole canon. In spite of his fatness and frequent drunkenness, he is often shown as a fighter the equal of Robin himself. I’ve seen him as an expert swordsman, I’ve seen him fight with a staff. And even when he is portrayed as a comical blunderer, he is still willing to fight for what is right. His monastic position would make him much more educated than most of his fellows of the era, and hatred of corruption in the Church seems like an excellent outlet for Beekeeper Rage. Throughout the legends there is definitely enough there to rank him a 4/5.

The important thing is that we, the loyal fans of the Beekeepers, try to make sure that the idea of Tuck as a Beekeeper remains part of the legend. He’s a public domain figure. We can do it. Please don’t let this movie be the only depiction of Beekeeper Tuck we ever have.