In stories, wasn't it always the Sheriff of Nottingham that was after RH? In this movie, Sir Guy is the pursuer and the Sheriff is a pansy.
I found that weird too. This is otherwise a by-the-numbers telling of Robin Hood, so it was strange deviation.
shareI haven't seen enough RH movies (or read enough) to know if there is such a thing as a rule in that respect, but I believe the sheriff as a pansy is mostly something they came up with in this movie; to a lesser degree, it is also the case in the Walt Disney version of RH: no Guy, but Prince John as the main villain, and the sheriff is just a not-too-bright lawkeeper. There is some basis for this in the original RH tales: several portray the sheriff as not necessarily stupid or cowardly, but ultimately, RH tricks him one way or another and defeats him. So I guess the movie simply decided to push this one step further.
"Occasionally I'm callous and strange."