- For the royal position, see King (Title).
King the Conflagration is an All-Star of the Beasts Pirates, Kaido's three closest confidants known as the Disasters.[2] He is part of a yet-to-be-identified race that is otherwise considered extinct.[3]
Due to his actions and role, he is a major antagonist in the Wano Country Arc.
Appearance
King is an extremely large man who towers over normal humans, though still standing a fair bit shorter than Kaido and fellow All-Star Jack, at a height similar to Queen's.[3][4] While less widely built than the other two All-Stars, King is better-proportioned than either, being well-muscled and broad in the shoulders (but not overly top-heavy like Jack) with long limbs. Notably, a plume of fire ever rises from his back, befitting his epithet.[2]
King's natural appearance is a mystery, seeing as he keeps himself clad in a dark uniform that bares no skin. Its bottom layer is a form-fitting, gimp-like bodysuit made of black and dark-blue leather, with lighter-blue, white-studded leather bands tied variously around. Visible of such garment are the head and neck areas, the latter showing a zipper in the middle and two of said bands left and right. The head portion, a full-faced mask, leaves only two holes for King's narrow, reddish eyes (being fully black around the eyes, otherwise dark blue). Below the eyes is leather of flame-like shape flanking a central, triangular strip of light blue to mark off the nose, mouth, and chin section (also beset with studs). Topping the eyes are blue-lensed, gray-rimmed goggle pieces and on each side of the head, connected by a studded base, is a large, black spike akin to a horn. Five more such spikes, only smaller, are located further on top upon a light-blue band that runs coronally into another one positioned like a headband, and crossing yet another that goes sagittally, with airholes around. King's dark-blue pants, possibly part of the suit, each have three studded leather bands wrap around their upper halves plus a ring of the same material on each knee, and go inside black, high-heeled boots (once again with studded straps) whose high shafts end with jaggy, studded fold-overs. On top of the bodysuit is a dark-blue, double-breasted leather jacket, ten-buttoned in gold with notch lapels that have red, square skull patches (edged in gold) sewn on, and wherefrom white ruffles emerge. Running straight down each side of the waist are two columns of yet more studs, and flat, two-part shoulder pads (black and double-trimmed with studs) are present on each side, down the upper arms with three curved spikes atop either (the outer ones the biggest). The tight sleeves of the jacket (each with two additional, stud-covered bands topping thinner strips along with three very small, white spikes above the wrists) are cuffless, ending in black gloves.[2][5]
Finally, King has a pair of large, black-feathered wings sprout from his back. Though it is unconfirmed if they are natural, their disappearance with King's pteranodon transformation may imply that they are.[2][6] In his full pteranodon form, the aforementioned flames further engulf his back.[6]
Gallery
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Personality
King is a stern man who generally keeps a cool head, being rarely seen showing strong emotion. Like Queen, he is often extremely rude toward and critical of crewmates, constantly deriding his fellow All-Stars, especially Jack, for their perceived failures. According to Queen, King is also a "torture-loving pervert" (though what this means exactly has yet to be specified).[2]
Showing initiative and seeming good at making big decisions under pressure, King personally engaged Big Mom and her crew to keep them from entering Wano despite not being ordered to do so by Kaido.[6] Later in Big Mom's presence, King showed himself to not be intimidated by her, despite his surprise at her survival, even bluntly refusing her offer to join her.[3] King even took the initiative to summon the Tobiroppo after hearing Kaido was looking to address a problem with Yamato, and acted conniving by framing the summons as one from Kaido due to knowing the Tobiroppo would not answer to him.[7]
While loyal to his crew, King has no qualms about betraying even long-standing allies who are outside of their direct organization, especially if it is pertinent to Kaido's plans, as he lent his sword to Kaido to decapitate their ally Orochi, whom they had been friendly with for over two decades.[8] Likewise, King also shares Kaido's streak of cruelty and ruthlessness, showing himself to be not above executing a child like Momonosuke, even demanding Sanji to hand over the boy to kill him in accordance with Kaido's New Onigashima Project.[9]
Relationships
Crew
Kaido
As one of Kaido's three closest associates, Kaido has great trust in King and his powers. In turn, King is very loyal to Kaido, always ready to execute missions on his behalf. When Big Mom and her children arrived at Wano Country, King was swift to attack and knock her ship into the sea, seemingly on his own initiative rather than Kaido's orders.[6] Kaido, though seeing King as one of his confidants, did not hesitate to give the lower-ranked Tobiroppo a chance to challenge any All-Star of their choice to take their position, as the crew's hierarchy is determined by an individual's power, something King, on the other hand, did not complain about.[10]
Another sign of King's loyalty to his Governor-General was when King bluntly and immediately refused Big Mom's offer to join her crew, in spite of her stated willingness to forgive King's transgressions against her.[3] King also immediately lent his sword to Kaido so he could decapitate Orochi with it as soon as the shogun protested about Kaido taking over the Flower Capital, despite having received no verbal instruction to do so, showing a great degree of trust and knowledge of another between the two.[8]
Queen
King and his fellow All-Star, Queen, have a rivalry with one another, and they also share a mutual sense of disdain toward their fellow All-Star of seemingly lower status, Jack.[2] After escorting Big Mom to Onigashima, Queen furiously blamed King for Big Mom's remaining presence in Wano, since King had been the one to prevent to the Big Mom Pirates from entering the country prior.[3]
Jack
King views his fellow All-Star Jack as incompetent, as shown when he scolded him alongside Queen for the low amount of offerings from the Wano region Jack is in charge of, calling him "Foolish Jack" (ズッコケジャック, Zukkoke Jakku?, Viz: "Jack the Stooge").[2]
Tobiroppo
King has a rather hostile relationship with the Tobiroppo Sasaki and Who's Who, being aware of their ambition to become All-Stars and acknowledging that they would likely ignore any summons order they knew came from him. When they expressed their aforesaid ambition before him and Kaido, King disdainfully told them to know their place, and when Kaido asked him and Jack if they would object to the Tobiroppo being granted a chance to fight one of them for their All-Star post, King said that he had none, showing confidence in his superiority over them.[7]
King views Ulti and Page One as brats, like some of their fellow Tobiroppo.[11]
Enemies
Big Mom Pirates
Since Big Mom is a rival of his Governor-General, King sees her as an enemy. King personally kept her and her children out of Wano by knocking their ship into the ocean as they tried climbing Wano's waterfall.[6] He was later surprised to see that she survived once she was brought to Onigashima by Queen. Big Mom stated she would forgive his transgression on her if he joined her crew, since he is part of a unique, thought-to-be-extinct race that she wanted in Totto Land, but he bluntly refused.[3]
Charlotte Perospero also expressed his intention to get his revenge on King for what he did to his mother and crew.[12]
Abilities and Powers
As an All-Star of the Beasts Pirates, King holds great authority in the crew, second only to Kaido's, and is one of the crew's three strongest warriors, alongside Queen and Jack.[2]
Befitting his epithet of "Conflagration", King can generate fire in his humanoid and pteranodon forms (though whether this is a passive attribute of his or something he can actively control remains to be seen).[2][6]
Physical Abilities
King boasts tremendous physical strength. He easily hurled Shinobu with significant force after grabbing her by the head, repressed a Raid Suit-donning Sanji by grabbing his neck one-handed, and blocked a powerful kick from the latter using his own leg.[9]
King is also quite fast and agile, leaping across a great distance within a single moment.[9]
Devil Fruit
- Further information: Ryu Ryu no Mi, Model: Pteranodon
King's full pteranodon form.
King ate from the Ryu Ryu no Mi, Model: Pteranodon, an Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit that allows him to transform into a pteranodon-human hybrid and full pteranodon at will. When transformed, he is more clad in flame and gains the ability to fly.[6]
His full-beast form is powerful enough to either push back violently or inflict significant damage upon whatever he flies into, people or even massive objects, with his beak potentially yielding immense piercing power.[6][9]
Weapons
King carries a large katana on his right hip, befitting his size. It sports a plain-round, golden tsuba and matching gold kojiri, with tsuka-ito of dark-orange color forming traditional rhombus gaps, showing the lighter-orange same. It is sheathed in a saya of the same orange as the tsuka-ito, and below its mouth are two red cords with hanging, tufted ends.[2]
History
Past
23 years ago, King partook in the Beasts Pirates' battle against the Gecko Pirates led by Gecko Moria, defeating the enemy crew in the Ringo province of Wano Country.[13]
20 years ago, King was involved in the Beasts Pirates' total takeover of Wano through their final battle against Kozuki Oden, then-daimyo of Kuri. When Oden and his retainers, the Nine Red Scabbards, were on their way to Onigashima, a thousand members of the Beasts Pirates, including King and Queen, confronted them in the Udon region. In the ensuing battle that would last five days, King fought against the Scabbards, including Raizo and Ashura Doji. King managed to stab Ashura in the back while the samurai was distracted by Kaido's attack on Oden.[14]
In the end, Oden and his allies were overwhelmed and crushed. Later on, King, Queen, and Jack were present when Kaido set Oden Castle ablaze following Oden's execution, to kill the rest of the Kozuki Family.[1][15]
Wano Country Arc
In the present on Onigashima, King was first seen alongside his fellow All-Stars. Along with Queen, he reprimanded Jack for how low the amount of offerings from Kuri was and then asked him if he knew where to go for their next trade deal now that they could no longer rely on Donquixote Doflamingo. While discussing it, he pointed at Queen and mentioned how Queen was already incompetent, causing the two of them to engage in an argument.[2]
King prevents the Big Mom Pirates from entering Wano.
When the Big Mom Pirates attempted to enter Wano by climbing its waterfall on the Queen Mama Chanter, just as they were about to reach the top, King as a pteranodon flew in and attacked, causing the ship to flip over and fall back down, and sending Big Mom into the sea below.[6]
Around two days later, Queen brought Big Mom from Udon to Onigashima and scolded King for not having been thorough in eliminating her. Big Mom told King that she would forgive him for what he had done to her if he joined her crew, as she recognized him as one of the few races that were not part of Totto Land, but King refused her offer.[3]
Prior to the latest Fire Festival beginning, King heard that the Numbers had returned to Wano, of which he informed Queen.[16] Later, during the beginning stages of the festival, King appeared before Kaido to confirm that it was he who had summoned the Tobiroppo in Kaido's name, for the purpose of having them find the latter's son, Yamato. Kaido then offered to let the Tobiroppo challenge the All-Stars for their positions should they succeed, to which both King and Jack had no objection.[7]
King assists Kaido in betraying Orochi.
Later, King appeared beside his fellow All-Stars as well as Kaido himself on the Live Stage of the Golden Kagura, behind shogun Orochi, as Kaido declared his intention to "liven up" the execution of Momonosuke with the announcement of the "New Onigashima Project".[4] As Kaido gave the explanation of said project, King held out his sword for Kaido to use to unexpectedly decapitate Orochi.[8] As Kaido thereupon prepared to execute Momonosuke, the All-Stars and Kaido were taken by surprise when the Nine Red Scabbards and Izo suddenly appeared from behind them and launched an all-out attack. Izo disarmed King by shooting his sword out of his hand, leaving him helpless to stop Kaido from being assailed.[17]
Sanji clashes with King while saving Momonosuke.
Later, after Kaido and the Scabbards had taken their battle to the roof of the Skull Dome, Shinobu attempted to sneakily free Momonosuke. King, noticing her, simply grabbed and hurled her away. However, Sanji (invisible thanks to his Raid Suit) was successful in rescuing the boy right after. King then clashed with Sanji in midair, and once Sanji had thrown Momonosuke to safety, King (now in his pteranodon form) sent himself and Sanji crashing into a nearby tower, intent on splitting Sanji in half with his beak.[9] Afterwards, a still-flying King guarded the way to the roof along with Queen and a group of flying Gifters.[18] King then returned to the Performance Stage and contacted the Tobiroppo per Den Den Mushi, ordering them to cease their search for Yamato and prevent the rebels from reaching the roof of the Skull Dome.[19]
Major Battles
- Beasts Pirates vs. Gecko Pirates
- Beasts Pirates vs. Kozuki Oden, the Nine Red Scabbards, and Shinobu
- King vs. Raizo
- King vs. Ashura Doji
- King vs. Sanji
Trivia
- Like his fellow All-Stars Queen and Jack, King is named after the playing card rank, fitting with the card-based naming scheme of the Beasts Pirates.
- King, with his Devil Fruit and fire abilities, might be inspired by Rodan, a popular pteranodon kaiju that resides in a volcano, and of whom one specific incarnation is the "Fire Rodan".
- King's first anime appearance is in the opening OVER THE TOP. Originally in it, his wings were shown as white, but this was soon corrected to black.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 One Piece Manga — Vol. 91 Chapter 920 (p. 8), King makes his shadowed debut in Kin'emon's flashback.
- ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 92 Chapter 925 (p. 16-17) and Episode 918, King makes his present-day debut.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 One Piece Manga — Vol. 94 Chapter 951 (p. 14-15). Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; name "c951" defined multiple times with different content - ↑ 4.0 4.1 One Piece Manga — Vol. 97 Chapter 984 (p. 14-15), King appears next to Kaido, Queen, and Jack.
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Vol. 97 Chapter 979 (p. 12).
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 One Piece Manga and Anime — Vol. 92 Chapter 930 (p. 10-11) and Episode 924.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 One Piece Manga — Vol. 97 Chapter 979 (p. 11-15).
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 One Piece Manga — Vol. 98 Chapter 985 (p. 16-17).
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 One Piece Manga — Vol. 98 Chapter 988.
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Vol. 97 Chapter 979 (p. 12-15), Kaido offers the Tobiroppo a chance to challenge any All-Star for their position, which neither Jack nor King opposed.
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Vol. 98 Chapter 990 (p. 8).
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Vol. 97 Chapter 983 (p. 2).
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Vol. 96 Chapter 969 (p. 12).
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Vol. 96 Chapter 970 (p. 11-15).
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Vol. 96 Chapter 973 (p. 5).
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Vol. 95 Chapter 954 (p. 12).
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Vol. 98 Chapter 986 (p. 14-17).
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Vol. 98 Chapter 989.
- ↑ One Piece Manga — Vol. 98 Chapter 990.
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