Memnon

"Die well, assassin."

- Memnon to Mathayus.

Memnon, also known as Emperor Memnon, is the main antagonist in the 2002 film The Scorpion King.

He was portrayed by Steven Brand.

History
Memnon is an evil Egyptian warlord who dominates much of the known world around 3067 BC. A tyrannical conqueror, Memnon is known as “the greatest swordsman the world had ever seen”, possessing remarkable fighting skills. Memnon is fixated with an ancient prophecy that concerns the House of Scorpio, in which the gods would choose favour upon a warrior and render that warrior invincible. Memnon becomes attracted to a sorceress known as Cassandra, who possesses the ability to see into the future. Cassandra was, as a young girl, kidnapped by Memnon and compelled to predict the future for the warlord.

Memnon is almost assassinated by the Akkadian warrior Mathayus, who is hellbent on killing the warlord to avenge the death of his brothers, and goes on to kidnap Cassandra and take her away from Memnon’s palace within the city of Gomorrah. A furious Memnon is informed that Cassandra had defected from his side to join the resistance against him, as Memnon’s intent is to make the sorceress his queen and consummate their marriage (which would halt her powers if her virginity is no longer intact). His plans are halted when he learns that the pure Cassandra’s powers were diminishing as she is falling in love with Mathayus.

Memnon has Cassandra taken hostage when the resistors arrive at his palace for the final battle to stop Memnon’s ultimate rise to power. Mathayus infiltrates Memnon's throne room to rescue Cassandra and engages in a swordfight with Memnon, with the warlord revealing his skills to the Akkadian. Memnon knocks over some torches which set the floor and curtains on fire, and Mathayus is also forced to dodge and protect himself from poisonous snakes scattered across the room.

As Memnon's guards burst in, Mathayus is momentarily distracted and Memnon takes this opportunity to escape with Cassandra as a hostage.

After defeating the guards, Mathayus chases after Memnon and confronts him on the roof of the palace's upper courtyard. They battle once again, with Memnon gaining the upper hand and boasting that the gods favoring him as a warrior. One of his guards then appears behind Mathayus and fires an arrow into his back, though the wound is not fatal. Cassandra quickly kills the guard with a knife and Mathayus painfully rips the arrow from his back, then picks up a bow lying on a table and aims at Memnon. Mathayus is the warrior prophesied to take on the mantle of Scorpion King, and despite his efforts to block the attack, Memnon is hit in the chest by the arrow and knocked off the edge of the courtyard where he stood. At the same time, the resistors ignite a trail of gunpowder the foundation stones below the statue of Memnon in front of the palace and Memnon falls to his fiery death into the resulting explosion.

Trivia

 * Memnon was named after the Ethopian king of the same name.
 * Memnon appeared as the main antagonist of the novelization of The Scorpion King.
 * Memnon's goal to the greatest swordsman is similar to Roronoa Zoro from One Piece.