Parzival is the title character of the story and the primary protagonist. Over the course of several years, he rapidly ascends to fame as one of the world’s most respected, celebrated knights.

Despite this rapid rise, Parzival emerges from a strange background. He is the son of a famous knight and a powerful queen, but his mother abandons society after the death of his father in a duel. She does not want Parzival to succumb to the same fate, so she tries to hide him away from the world and shield him from the very idea of knights, chivalry, or anything associated with the code of honor that killed her beloved husband. Parzival spends most of his life not knowing about knights at all.

His mother’s attempts to shield her son have the reverse effect. By chance, Parzival encounters a group of knights near his home. Rather than being confused or scared, he is awestruck. They seem “godlike” to him, making him want to become just like them. Herzeloyde provides her son with the starkest possible rise to fame and fortune, inoculating him with a reverence and an admiration for knights and chivalry that he could never have accrued if he were to grow up in a castle.