King
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| Japanese Name |
Ryu Ryu no Mi, Model: Pteranodon |
| Romanized Name |
Kingu |
| Official English Name |
King |
| Debut |
Chapter 920; Episode 910 (silhouette); Chapter 925; Episode 918 |
| Affiliations |
Beasts Pirates |
| Occupations |
All-Star |
| Origin |
Grand Line |
| Residence |
Wano Country |
| Epithet |
"King the Conflagration" (火災のキング, Kasai no Kingu?, English versions: "King the Wildfire") |
| Birth Name |
Arber (アルベル, Aruberu?, English versions: "Alber") |
| Status |
Alive |
| Age |
47 |
| Birthday |
December 1st |
| Height |
613 cm (20'1") |
| Blood Type |
S |
| Bounty |
1,390,000,000 |
| Japanese Voice |
Makoto Tamura |
| English Voice |
Funimation:Gabe Kunda |
| English Name |
Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Model: Pteranodon |
| Meaning |
Dragon, Pteranodon |
| Type |
Ancient Zoan |
Introduction
King the Conflagration is one of the three All-Stars of the Beasts Pirates and Kaidou's right-hand man. Born as Arber, he is a member of the near-extinct lunarian race from the Red Line, noted for their ability to create fire. He was a prisoner on Punk Hazard 34 years ago, where a sample of his Lineage Factor was extracted from him before he was freed and recruited by Kaidou. That same genetic material would be used by Dr. Vegapunk decades later as a key component in the creation of the Seraphim. Due to his actions and role, he is a major antagonist in the Wano Country Arc.King the Conflagration is one of the three All-Stars of the Beasts Pirates and Kaidou's right-hand man. Born as Arber, he is a member of the near-extinct lunarian race from the Red Line, noted for their ability to create fire. He was a prisoner on Punk Hazard 34 years ago, where a sample of his Lineage Factor was extracted from him before he was freed and recruited by Kaidou. That same genetic material would be used by Dr. Vegapunk decades later as a key component in the creation of the Seraphim. Due to his actions and role, he is a major antagonist in the Wano Country Arc.
Appearance
King is a towering man at 613 cm tall, with a well-muscled, broad-shouldered frame and long limbs. Being a lunarian, he has his race's telltale features: large, black-feathered wings on his back that reach down to knee length, a brown complexion, and silver-white hair. Said hair is shaved on the sides but kept long on top, where it is mostly drawn back and bound at King's occiput before flowing freely down past his nape; some sidelocks hang down on the right of King's face, to his collarbone, and include a thin braid. King's face is characterized by his narrow red eyes, prominent dark eyebrows, a straight nose, prominent lips, and a square, stubbly chin. Circling halfway around his left eye, on its outer side, is a black tattoo resembling a laurel wreath or olive branch.
In addition, a plume of fire constantly rises from King's upper back, also owing to his heritage (though it may extinguish), and when King transforms into a pteranodon, these flames further engulf his back and wings while his natural lunarian wings are replaced by his pterosaur ones. When being dealt the finishing blow by Roronoa Zoro amid the conclusion to their fight, King had half his right wing sliced off. In order to hide his lunarian identity, King keeps himself clad in a dark, form-fitting leather uniform that bares no skin. Covering his head and neck area is a full-faced leather mask, which leaves only two holes for his eyes and has a zipper going up the front of the neck, flanked by two blue, gray-studded leather bands. The mask around the eyes is black, with a trio of blue strips below (also beset with studs) forming a triangle to mark off the nose, mouth, and chin section, and to the sides of which is blue leather of flame-like shape.
Topping the eyes are blue-lensed, gray-rimmed goggle pieces, and on either side of the mask, connecting with a studded base, is a large and black, horn-like spike. Five more such spikes, only smaller, are located further on top upon a blue band that runs coronally into another one positioned like a headband, and crossing yet another that goes sagittal, with airholes in-between. Otherwise, King's upper-body wear includes a dark-blue, double-breasted leather jacket that has ten gold buttons and notch lapels with square, red, gold-edged skull patches sewn on. Running straight down each side of the jacket's 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 (the outer spikes the biggest). The tight sleeves of the jacket are cuffless, end in black gloves, and each bears an additional, stud-covered pair of leather bands above thinner strips, plus three very small, white spikes above the wrists.
Below the jacket, King wears a white shirt whose ruffled neckline emerges from under the jacket's lapels. For lower wear, King dons dark-blue pants matching the jacket, with three studded leather bands wrapping around each upper leg and a ring of the same material located on either knee. The pants go inside black, high-heeled boots (once again tied with studded straps), the high shafts of which end folded over, in studded jags. As a young boy, King had already begun keeping his hair longer and swept to the right. At one point he wore a light-colored shirt patterned with alternating dark squares along the borders, plus dark shorts and light boots, and wielded a plain, qiāng-like spear that featured a leaf-shaped blade with a short tassel lashed below.
Years later while held in World Government captivity, a teenaged King had already grown very tall by human standards, reaching up to an adult Kaidou's waist. His hair was at roughly neck length, his wings were proportionally smaller (their lower end reaching only to waist level), and King's fire was already present at his back, as was the tattoo around his eye. King's clothes at the time consisted of a light-colored shirt and dark pants, and he already seemed to be equipped with a flaming sword. Years following his recruitment by Kaidou, King had already begun attiring himself in a version of his current leather uniform, being seen with his mask off while in the company of Kaidou. Twenty years ago, King wore a version of his uniform that, in the anime, is shown to have had a dark-red coloration as opposed to blue. King's spikes atop his mask were shorter, blunter, and he wore his jacket's collar upturned without white ruffles visible. The jacket's front had just one row of buttons, with two golden cross shapes right there that either served as oversized buttons or were simply patches. Also in the anime, King was seen carrying a blue-flamed torch.
Gallery
Personality
King is a stern, reticent man who keeps a level head in most situations, rarely showing strong emotions (though this is partly attributable to his face being perpetually masked). Like Queen, King tends to be very denigrative towards crewmates, such as frequently insulting and deriding his fellow All-Stars for perceived failures. In keeping with his status as Kaidou's right-hand man, King has shown himself to be not only calm and stoic but proactive and good at making major decisions under pressure. He personally engaged Big Mom and her crew to keep them from entering Wano, despite not being ordered to do so by Kaidou, and later in Big Mom's presence showed himself not to be intimidated by her in the slightest, despite his surprise at her survival, bluntly refusing her offer to join her. King also took the initiative to summon the Tobiroppo after hearing Kaidou was looking to address a problem with Yamato, acting conniving by framing the summons as one from Kaidou due to knowing that the Tobiroppo would not answer to him.
When Kaidou became occupied with fighting during the rebel invasion of Onigashima, King was mainly the one to handle their crew's troops, calmly issuing orders. Strongly averse to the idea of showing his face and revealing his lunarian identity, King wears a head-enwrapping mask that leaves only his eyes visible; it was stated by a grunt of the Beasts Pirates that no one had ever caught a glimpse of King's face. When his mask took some damage in his fight with Roronoa Zoro, King flew into a silent rage, indiscriminately attacking enemy and crewmate alike (even his fellow All-Star) before taking care to relocate his battle with Zoro to someplace that had no one else around but them. Once King's mask was off completely and some close-by underlings of his recognized him as lunarian, the All-Star mercilessly disposed of them with his flames. Ultimately, however, King takes some pride in the biological strength of his race, boasting to Zoro that humans could not compare to lunarians.
King has a sadistic side to him, having been called a "torture-loving pervert" by Queen (though likely in reference to his leather getup). In general, King appears to share Kaidou's streak of ruthlessness, having shown himself to be not above executing a child when demanding that Sanji hand over the eight-year-old Momonosuke for him to kill, in accordance with Kaidou's New Onigashima Project. He also had no scruples about personally dispatching turncoat subordinates who, in fact, had been brainwashed into betrayal. Likewise, while loyal to his crew, King has no qualms about betraying long-standing allies who stand outside their direct organization, especially if so doing is pertinent to Kaidou's plans, and so lent his sword to Kaidou so he could decapitate their ally Orochi whom they had played friendly with for over two decades. King seems to greatly respect strength in others, with Kaidou's immense power being what originally induced King to join his crew and place his trust in him. In combat, King has expressed his belief that one ought not to limit oneself to a single way of fighting, as there should be no need for adherence to any one school or style in a real battle. Generally, while King does admit to enjoying a good duel, the All-Star's stolid and no-nonsense attitude carries over into his fights: he does not bother with posturing, monologuing, or following fighting etiquette. Instead, he wastes no time in going for the kill should an opportunity emerge, personally goes after noteworthy enemies when physically disabled, immediately strikes at foes when distracted, and may relentlessly mount attack after attack on opponents to leave them little time to defend themselves or counterattack. Even more, King may goad enemies into attacking him to render them vulnerable to his own surprise counteroffense. King is among the scant few people who are aware of Joy Boy's supposed nature and, according to Kaidou, is waiting for the legendary figure to appear, with King having at one point speculated that Kaidou himself might be Joy Boy.
Relationships
Crew
Kaidou
King first met Kaidou 34 years ago when King was still a boy, and both were held captive on Punk Hazard as the World Government's research subjects. Kaidou eventually set the young lunarian free and took him under his wing as a first recruit for the soon-to-be-founded Beasts Pirates. It was when the two escaped Punk Hazard that Kaidou gave King his current name, in recognition of his power, and declared the boy his right hand. King, on the other hand, was charmed by Kaidou's strength and self-confidence in being the only one who can change the world, and he ultimately came to believe firmly in Kaidou being the man who will become Pirate King. More than that, at some point in the past, King came under the belief that Kaidou might be "Joy Boy" and told Kaidou as much.
When Kaidou inquired whether King really thought as much and if the world he was aiming to create was one that King that desired to see, King answered that, legends being just legends, all he cared for was that Kaidou—whom he owed his life to—would remain the strongest, with King declaring that he himself would never lose a single battle until such a time that Kaidou becomes King of Pirates. Another time, Kaidou confided to King that if the Joy Boy whom Kouzuki Oden had been expecting was the same Joy Boy whom King was waiting for, then he knew that Joy Boy had to be the very same man who will one day defeat Kaidou, with King responding that they would never see him appear then. Since his recruitment, King has come to enjoy Kaidou's full trust and, being steadfastly loyal to his boss, is 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, on his own initiative rather than Kaidou's orders. King also immediately lent his sword to Kaidou so he could behead Orochi with it as soon as the shogun protested about Kaidou taking over the Flower Capital, despite having received no verbal instruction to do so from Kaidou, showing the great degree of trust and knowledge of another's intentions that is present between the two. Another show of King's loyalty to his governor-general was when King responded to Big Mom's offer to join her crew with blunt and immediate refusal, in spite of her stated willingness to forgive King's transgressions against her. Kaidou, while 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 choosing to claim their position, as the crew's hierarchy is determined by an individual's power—something King, on the other hand, did not complain about. King's eventual defeat by Zoro made him recall his aforesaid promise to Kaidou as he fell unconscious: that he would never lose in battle until Kaidou has become Pirate King.
Queen
King and his fellow All-Star, Queen, have a rivalry with one another and are frequently seen trading barbs, with Queen having called King a "torture-loving pervert" because of his full leather appearance. In the anime, King has shown annoyance over Queen's performative tendencies. 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 the Big Mom Pirates from entering the country prior. When Queen expressed his irritation at Straw Hat Luffy leading the former prisoners of Udon into battle on Onigashima, King sarcastically responded that he would not blame Queen as someone who had been useless from the start. While fighting on the Live Floor, King seemed to care nothing for Queen's safety, as when Queen nearly had his neck sliced as a result of King sending indiscriminate attacks out in all directions, King sarcastically noted that it was a pity that his attack had missed, to Queen's indignation. Despite King's secrecy involving his identity, Queen is well aware of King's background as a lunarian survivor and the nature of his tribe, while acknowledging King's strength and resilience as a monster's and that Zoro would not be able to defeat him.
Jack
King and Queen both look down on their fellow, younger-aged All-Star Jack. King seems to view Jack as incompetent, shown when he scolded him for how few offerings he procured from the Wano province that Jack rules, calling him "Foolish Jack" (ズッコケジャック, Zukkoke Jakku?, English version: "Jack the Stooge"). Jack, in turn, refers to King and Queen respectfully as "elder brothers" and, despite his savage personality, takes their verbal abuse without protest.
Tobiroppo
King seems to have a rather strained relationship with the Tobiroppo, particularly with Sasaki and Who's-Who, being aware of the latter two's ambition to become All-Stars and acknowledging that they would likely ignore any summons order that they knew came from him. When they expressed their aforesaid ambition before him and Kaidou, King disdainfully told them to know their place, and when Kaidou 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. On the other hand, the two youngest Tobiroppo, Ulti and Page One, are viewed as brats by King.
Enemies
Big Mom Pirates
Since Big Mom is a rival of his governor-general, King sees her as an enemy. He personally kept her and her children out of Wano by knocking their ship into the ocean as they tried climbing Wano's waterfall. He was later surprised to see that Big Mom survived once she was brought to Onigashima by Queen. Big Mom stated that she would forgive King's attempt on her life if he joined her crew since he is, as a lunarian, part of a unique and thought-to-be-extinct race that she wanted in Totto Land, but King bluntly refused. Big Mom's first son, Charlotte Perospero, later expressed his intention to get his revenge on King for what he had done to his mother and crew.
Roronoa Zoro
Being on opposing sides during the war on Onigashima, King and Roronoa Zoro came to battle another fiercely following Zoro's recovery from his prior fight against Kaidou and Big Mom. They initially commented on their differing views on combat as they engaged the other, with Zoro describing King as a "killing machine" for his brutal yet pragmatic fighting style blending swordplay and hand-to-hand combat. King earned Zoro's ire when he tried to kill him with his wing instead of a sword, as Zoro saw it as disrespectful, while King truly started to resent Zoro for damaging his mask. Ultimately, although King came to acknowledge Zoro as a capable swordsman worthy of remembrance, he was unwilling to concede until the very end that him being defeated at Zoro's hands was possible, as Zoro was a mere human and thus had, in King's eyes, nothing on him as a lunarian, which Zoro found to be a weak excuse. When Zoro subsequently managed to overcome King's fire dragon with his own finishing attack on the All-Star, King had a flabbergasted expression on his face.
Abilities And Powers
As the Beasts Pirates' head All-Star and Kaidou's right-hand man, King holds authority in the crew that is just below Kaidou's own, exemplified when he took on the role of a commanding officer during his Governor-General's absence, informing the Tobiroppo of the enemy's numbers and directing them towards new objectives throughout the Raid on Onigashima. In combat, King is shown to be extremely formidable, with his 1,390,000,000 bounty illustrating his fearsome reputation. A veteran pirate, he has been part of Kaidou's crew for over three decades, as his first recruit, and was in his youth acknowledged by Kaidou for having extraordinary strength, being named "King" in recognition of it. Like the other two All-Stars, King is also hailed as a "calamity" for his sheer destructiveness, linked to his pyrokinetic abilities. Alongside Jack, King was confident in his ability to defeat any of the Tobiroppo, the six strongest fighters of their crew behind the All-Stars and mighty combatants in their own right, if challenged. During the battle on Onigashima, King effectively engaged Marco, Whitebeard's former right-hand man, in single and later (with Queen) two-on-one combat, keeping Marco occupied until he ran out of stamina, all while King remained none the worse for wear. Later, King proved himself more than a match for Roronoa Zoro—one of the Straw Hat Pirates' top fighters who had proven capable of injuring Kaidou himself. As King went toe-to-toe with and consistently overwhelmed the enemy swordsman in their duel, Zoro came to believe that, unless he figured out King's background, he would not be able to win. However, once Zoro had managed to figure out the secret of King's body and the means by which to hurt him, the swordsman was able to deal a decisive blow to the All-Star and defeat him. Having a strong will, King was completely unaffected by Zoro's Supreme King Haki.
Physical Abilities
Like his fellow All-Stars, King has a penchant for melee combat. His fighting style is a wild one, eschewing proper form and technique in favor of a savage yet practical mixture of swordplay, hand-to-hand combat, his Zoan transformation, and a lunarian's natural ability to emit fire. He has been seen disarming opponents with his swordbreaker-like katana to leave them vulnerable to follow-up attacks, while generally pairing punches and kicks with strokes of his sword. As a swordsman in particular, King has proven himself skilled enough to keep up with Zoro's powerful and versatile three-bladed fighting style, matching him blow for blow and overpowering him at certain points via brute force. King boasts massive physical strength.
His feats include: easily hurling Shinobu with significant force after grabbing her by the head; repressing a Raid Suit-donning Sanji by grabbing his neck one-handed and blocking a powerful kick from the latter using his own leg (on top of, in the anime, blocking Sanji's Ryusei Osoba Kick easily with an open palm); slicing one of Marco's phoenix wings right off with a downward swipe of his sword (plus, in the anime, overpowering Marco with a single-handed grab of his head); overpowering Zoro's three-sword guard with a single sword swing despite Zoro's own superhuman brawn, violently blowing Zoro back in the process, and kicking the enemy swordsman away with great force. Being of lunarian descent, King is immensely resilient, with Queen calling him a monster that could survive in any natural environment. In his youth while held captive on Punk Hazard, King was able to survive all the "endurance experiments" conducted on him, such as being continuously burned alive, and could shrug off gunfire without a scratch. In the present, King has shown himself to be nigh-on invulnerable during fights, even without invoking his Zoan powers, and can take extremely potent attacks without being fazed or shedding a drop of blood. He has withstood powerful blows from the phoenix-bodied Marco, a direct hit from Zoro's Rengoku Oni Giri (an attack that defeated Killer), and Zoro's One Sword Style Iai: Shi Shishi Sonson (one of Zoro's strongest attacks that seemingly cut King from his head down the middle), all without King suffering any discernible damage. Even an enormous, fiery explosion coming off King's body left him completely unhurt, whereas Zoro admitted that he would have died to that same explosion had it not been for his Haki (though said explosion was possibly the result of King unleashing his own flames from within his body). However, once the fire on King's back goes out, his defensive power drops significantly; regardless, even in his less resilient state, King managed to endure a few of Zoro's Supreme King Haki-infused sword attacks before being defeated, ultimately surviving a fall from Onigashima while the island was up high in the sky. Otherwise, King is quite fast and agile despite his large frame, able to instantly cover a large distance in a single leap, and kept up with the significantly smaller Zoro in close quarters despite the latter's own respectable speed. His speed is far greater when the flame on his back is out, allowing him to move faster than the untrained eye can follow at the cost of his bodily defense diminishing. King is additionally able to fly using his feathery lunarian wings, without needing his Zoan powers.
Fire Manipulation
As a lunarian, King has the innate ability to "ignite" any part of his body, allowing him to create and control fire in both his base and Zoan forms; it is this ability that garnered King his epithet "the Conflagration". Whether excessive use of his flames causes King any kind of drawback is unknown, but at least those flames on his back are directly linked to his tremendous resilience as a lunarian: when they go out, King's bodily defense weakens considerably in exchange for a boost to his movement speed. Using the fire he conjures, King can boost his melee attacks, like throwing a flaming punch, kicking with a flaming leg to burn his foe, or coating his sword in fire. He can also launch a gatling of flame bullets from a distance and simply set the surrounding battlefield ablaze. Moreover, by seemingly letting his fire build up within his body, King may—when struck by an enemy whom he may goad into attacking the right spot—release them at once to trigger an enormous, lethal explosion (unless the same feat was instead facilitated by some kind of explosive device hidden beneath his suit). King, thanks to his resilience, can endure said blast without issue while his foe will be helplessly exposed; when Zoro was caught in the explosion, he only survived by putting up a Haki defense. At their strongest, King's flames take on the consistency of magma, with King's strongest-seen fire techniques involving him channeling fire into his sword to generate massive, super-hot flame dragons that burn up whatever lies in their path.
Attacks
Andon (炎皇（アンドン）, Andon?, literally meaning "Flame Emperor"): King conjures a fireball over his open palm, then forms a fist to execute a powerful flame-clad punch. The attack was first seen when King tried to strike (a then-disabled) Zoro, but Marco came in to block the punch. The attack's name comes from andon (行灯?), a type of traditional Japanese lantern consisting of an oil lamp housed in a paper-covered, wooden stand; like King's other attacks, this one's name ends with -don. The VIZ manga and Funimation adaptations calls the technique Imperial Flame. Karyudon (火（か）龍（りゅう）皇（ドン）, Karyūdon?, literally meaning "Fire Dragon Emperor"): A powerful attack where King ignites his sword's blade and, from its tip, produces a large, whirling, serpentine dragon made of fire, dense enough that Zoro called it similar to magma. Consequently, King sends this dragon flying against a single or multiple enemies in order to incinerate them. He was first seen performing this technique to burn some underlings to death for having seen his face. Soon after, the attack was used a second time against, but was dodged by, Zoro. The name of the technique may be a pun on "curry udon" (カレーうどん, karē udon?); like King's other attacks, this one's name ends with -don. The VIZ manga and Funimation adaptations call the technique Imperial Flaming Wings, which may be a pun on chicken wings.
Devil Fruit
King ate the Ryu Ryu no Mi, Model: Pteranodon, an Ancient Zoan-type Devil Fruit that allows him to transform into a full pteranodon and a lunarian-pteranodon hybrid at will. When transformed, he is more clad in flames than usual and gains the ability to fly at extreme speeds. As with dinosaur-based Zoans, King's pterosaur form greatly bolsters his physical abilities, including his naturally impressive durability, and he can use his strong wings as a shield to defend from powerful attacks without sustaining injury. King's full Beast Form is strong enough to either violently push back or inflict significant damage upon whatever he flies into, be it people or massive objects, like an entire ship. King's long, sturdy, and pointy beak comes with immense piercing power, meaning that King can use it like a spear, penetrating stone buildings with ease. Furthermore, in his Beast Form, he has the abnormal ability to make his beak sink back into his face, which he achieves by pulling back on his head crest. When he releases his grasp, his head and beak are catapulted forward with enough destructive power to bust through large amounts of bedrock; Zoro describes this move as being impossible to block and like a "laser". Additionally, both his Human-Beast and Beast Forms, King can wield his pteranodon wing-arms like blades. His wings have proven able to equal Meito being wielded by a master swordsman in a clash, and King can use them to unleash powerful projected slashes; these slashing winds can be launched in rapid succession and cleanly slice apart buildings.
Haki
Armament Haki
King is a very skilled user of Armament Haki. He could use Hardening on his own sword to be able to clash evenly against Zoro's three Haki-infused, high-grade Meito.
Observation Haki
King possesses the ability to use Observation Haki.
Weapons
King carries a large katana on his right hip, befitting his size. It sports a plain-round, golden tsuba, a matching gold kashira and kojiri, and tsuka-ito of dark-orange color forming traditional rhombus gaps to expose the lighter-orange hilt underlay. It is sheathed in a saya of the same orange as the ito, which has two red cords with hanging, tufted ends below its mouth, plus additional red bands around the lower parts of the saya. King's katana has a swordbreaker design: its blade, along the edge, can become segmentally notched to form comb-like teeth, allowing King to catch and pull away swords that clash against it, thereby disarming enemies to leave them vulnerable to follow-up attacks. King can also combine his pyrokinetic powers with use of the sword, channeling fire into it in order to produce massive, flame-composed dragons from the blade's tip. The sword's blade was broken in two as a result of Zoro's final attack on King that ended their fight. Even King's suit seems to be designed to facilitate hand-to-hand combat, such as having spikes that extend out of his gloves and boots when he punches or kicks someone.
History
Past
Arber was born on the Grand Line 47 years ago, into the lunarian tribe that originates from the top of the Red Line before Mary Geoise was built, and which in the present day is widely believed to be extinct. Over 34 years ago, he was captured by the World Government and held at Punk Hazard's Third Research Institute to be experimented on and have his lunarian abilities tested, as well as to extract the Lineage Factor of his lunarian blood. Eventually, Kaidou, who was also a research subject at the time, broke out of captivity and, upon finding Arber, proposed that the boy come along with him because Kaidou was planning to escape and form his own pirate crew. Arber asked if Kaidou was someone who could change the world, to which Kaidou responded that only he could. After the two had broken out of the research facility, Kaidou asked for Arber's name and suggested he call himself "King" instead, declaring that from that day forth King would be his right hand.
Sometime around 33 years ago, the Beasts Pirates were founded. Around 28 years ago, King was present when Kaidou was being visited by Higurashi of the Kurozumi Family, who made a certain proposition to Kaidou that would eventually lead to the Beasts Pirates' alliance with Kurozumi Orochi in Wano Country. Another time, King and Kaidou were seen drinking together and conversing about King's belief that Kaidou might be the legendary "Joy Boy". Kaidou asked whether King really thought as much, but King responded that legends were inconsequential so long as Kaidou simply remained as the strongest, subsequently vowing never to lose a fight himself until he saw Kaidou become the Pirate King. Eventually, King followed Kaidou in coming to Wano where their crew's base of operations would be set up.
One day, Kaidou told King of how he had heard Yamato mention Joy Boy and how, if the Joy Boy whom Oden was expecting was the same figure that King was waiting for, then he knew who Joy Boy was: the man who would defeat Kaidou in the future. King merely replied that, if it were so, they would never see Joy Boy appear. Twenty-three years ago, King partook in his crew's battle against the Gecko Pirates led by Gecko Moria, which resulted in Moria's crew suffering a crushing defeat in the Ringo province of Wano Country. Twenty years ago, King was involved in the Beasts Pirates' total takeover of Wano through their final battle against Kouzuki 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 lasted 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 Kaidou's attack on Oden. In the end, Oden and his allies were overwhelmed and crushed. Following Oden's execution, King, Queen, and Jack were present when Kaidou set Oden Castle ablaze in order to kill the rest of the Kouzuki Family. 4 years ago, King left Onigashima along with Kaidou and other main crew members on an expedition.
Summit War Saga
Impel Down Arc
Two years ago, before the looming Summit War of Marineford, Kaidou tried to make an attack on Whitebeard. King accompanied him for this undertaking, but they were intercepted by the Red Hair Pirates; details on this confrontation are unknown.
Wano Country Saga
Wano Country Arc
In the present on Onigashima, King was first seen alongside his fellow two All-Stars, Queen and Jack. Alongside Queen he reprimanded Jack for how low the number of offerings from Kuri was, then asked him if he knew where to go for their next trade deal now that they could no longer rely on Doflamingo. While having this discussion, King pointed to Queen while noting how the latter was already incompetent, causing the two to continue trading insults. The following day, the Big Mom Pirates attempted to enter Wano by ascending its waterfall on the Queen Mama Chanter. Just as they had reached the top, their ship still midair, King as a pteranodon flew in and attacked, causing the ship to flip over and fall back down, while sending Big Mom into the gushing sea below.
Around two days later, Queen brought a chained-up 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. Prior to the latest Fire Festival commencing, King heard that the Numbers had returned to Wano, of which he informed Queen. During the beginning stages of the festival, King appeared before Kaidou to confirm that it was he who had summoned the Tobiroppo in Kaidou's name, for the purpose of having them find the latter's "son", Yamato. Kaidou 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.
Later, King appeared beside his fellow All-Stars and Kaidou himself on the Live Floor of the Golden Kagura, behind Shogun Orochi, as Kaidou declared his intention to "liven up" the execution of Momonosuke with the announcement of the "New Onigashima Project". As Kaidou gave an explanation of said project, King held out his sword for Kaidou to use to unexpectedly decapitate Orochi. When Kaidou thereupon prepared to execute Momonosuke, the All-Stars and Kaidou were taken by surprise when the Nine Red Scabbards and Izou suddenly appeared from behind them and launched an all-out attack. Izou disarmed King by shooting his sword out of his hand, leaving him helpless to stop Kaidou from being assailed. After the Ninja-Pirate-Mink-Samurai Alliance's raid on Onigashima had fully begun, with Kaidou and the Scabbards having taken their battle to the roof of Onigashima's Skull Dome, Shinobu attempted to sneakily free Momonosuke.
King, noticing her, simply grabbed and hurled the kunoichi 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 with a divebomb attack, intent on splitting Sanji in half with his beak. Afterwards, a still-flying King momentarily guarded the way to the rooftop, a hole made by Kaidou, together with Queen and a group of flying Gifters. Thereafter, King returned to the Performance Stage and contacted the Tobiroppo with a Den Den Mushi, ordering them to cease their search for Yamato and prevent the rebel alliance from reaching the dome's roof.
After Bao Huang had located Momonosuke, King ordered all forces to go kill the boy, as the death of Oden's son would deprive the enemy samurai of their will to fight. A while after, King returned to his task of preventing any and all enemies from reaching up to the roof of the dome, as was noticed by Roronoa Zoro. Once Marco the Phoenix had joined the fray inside the dome and started flying Zoro up toward the roof, a pteranodon-transformed King and Queen blocked their way. Both All-Stars tried stopping Marco, but the latter restrained them at once with his phoenix wings before throwing Zoro to the roof. King then began fighting Marco one-on-one.
After he was informed by Bao Huang of the Scabbards' location in the castle's second-floor treasury and their badly wounded state, King noted how he was occupied, ordering someone else to go kill them. He afterward entered his pteranodon form once again, then attacking Marco with a rain of bullet-like fire projectiles. Subsequently, as Marco in his phoenix form was flying at Queen, seemingly attempting to attack, King back in human form was quick to jump at him, cutting off Marco's left wing with his sword. Marco, however, was not fazed and simply used the remains of said wing to form a large fireball, which he sent straight at King in a blunt-force attack, sending the All-Star crashing violently into a building behind him. Before King had a chance to put up his guard, Marco made a follow-up attack, launching himself into King with a flying knee strike and causing an explosion.
King, however, started getting back up shortly, proceeding to continue fighting Marco. King was later seen looking on solemnly as the enemy alliance's will to fight was reinvigorated by Momonosuke's broadcasted announcement that Straw Hat Luffy, after having been declared defeated by Kaidou and about to die prior, was actually alive and soon to return to the battle. Subsequently on the Live Floor, King and Queen began taking out the many renegade Beasts Pirates who had been converted to the enemy's side due to a certain Devil Fruit ability, with Marco temporarily out of action and Sanji overwhelmed by the combined presence of two All-Stars. King had managed to ascertain the enemy's plan to heal the heavily injured Zoro via some strange treatment and gave out the order to put a stop to it. King was then quick to personally find the bandaged-up Zoro, who was being carried away by samurai, and attempted to strike him with his flaming Andon punch, but Marco managed to fly in at the right time and block the attack.
Marco commented how he had heard long ago about a certain race living on top of the Red Line that had the power to burst into flames, but King did not respond. Instead, he and Queen initiated attacks to take out Marco for good, but before they had a chance to do anything, a recuperated Zoro and Sanji jumped in to assault the All-Stars with their respective techniques, with King being sliced by Zoro's Rengoku Oni Giri. Although thrown to the ground by said attack, King was unhurt and, like Queen, promptly rose back up. As Sanji and Zoro were bickering, King took the chance to draw his sword and swing down at an unguarded Sanji, which was blocked by Zoro. When Queen mentioned how Sanji's flaming leg was an ability inexplicable for a normal human like him, as he could not be a "lunarian", King listened in silence.
He then turned his attention to Zoro, who was already busy attacking him. King had his sword form angular notches along its edge and lodged Zoro's handheld swords in them. Pulling his own sword aside, King snatched Zoro's sword pair away from him, then proceeded to throw a powerful punch at Zoro's face that the latter stopped using his mouth-held sword. When Zoro remarked how King's manner of fighting was like a killing machine's, King responded that, to begin with, he never saw use for traditional forms and styles in a real battle. Zoro concurred, stating how King never claimed to be a proper swordsman anyway, but he too would take any measures necessary to win their fight.
As their duel continued, King was seen launching a kick at Zoro in the air. A little later, King along with everyone else on the Live Floor reacted in confusion at the sudden sight of a dragon different from Kaidou—the grown-up Momonosuke—busting headfirst into the Skull Dome. At some point, Zoro managed to break off a piece on the top-left side of King's mask. Irritated at his mask being damaged, King in his Human-Beast Form began indiscriminately attacking everyone around him on the Live Floor. Manifesting his pteranodon wings to use as makeshift blades, he sent out slashing winds in a chaotic flurry that struck enemies and allies alike, while hitting Zoro with such force that he was blown a fair distance away, into the Right-Brain Tower's central hallway where Franky was.
When Queen told off his fellow All-Star for grazing him too, King merely stated that he wished he had sliced Queen's neck, before following Zoro into said hallway. With his Tankyudon technique, King promptly flew at the swordsman to yet again strike with one of his wings. Albeit his mask took further damage from Zoro's consequent Ul-Tora Gari counterattack, King overpowered Zoro in their clash and sent him flying further back, causing him to smash through the Skull Dome's outer wall to the outside. With a third divebomb attack, King nearly blew Zoro off Onigashima, but Zoro managed to push himself back onto the island's outskirts where King was standing. When Zoro remarked that King should at least show him respect by using his sword to deal a finishing blow, King (now with more of his face made visible) noted that he would ask the same of Zoro.
The two men then continued crossing blades. King re-entered his pteranodon form and assaulted Zoro with flame bullets launched from his wings and a head-on beak attack, which Zoro blocked with his swords; as they fought, Zoro had a brief Den Den Mushi call with Sanji. Then, as the battle proceeded, King flew high into the sky and pulled on his pteranodon crest in order to shoot out his head like a powerful slingshot, striking at Zoro and leaving him barely able to dodge. As King proclaimed that this was the way that pteranodons used to hunt their prey in ancient times, Zoro launched his Sanbyakurokuju Pound Ho at the still-flying All-Star, which the latter evaded before raining down yet more fiery bullets. Zoro responded by using his Kokujo: O Tatsumaki, but King shielded himself with his wings.
When Zoro observed how dinosaurs were essentially like dragons with their tough hides, King agreed but noted that there was more to him. He then shifted back to his humanoid form to go into melee, indulging Zoro with a clash of swords. As Zoro thought about how King did not shed any blood after taking his attacks, how his wings seemed to be real, flames were still on his back, and he thus wondered what race King might be, the All-Star overpowered him with a stroke of his sword, sending the Straw Hat crashing violently into a boulder behind him. Just then, Zoro's sword Enma began excessively draining Zoro's Haki to his dismay. King took the chance to move in on Zoro, but without actually attacking.
Confused, Zoro stabbed King's stomach area with his blade, which King merely acknowledged as a direct hit before unexpectedly blowing up, causing a massive explosion. Zoro managed to narrowly avoid harm by putting up a Haki defense and, as the dust settled, noticed King was unharmed by his own blast. Sparing no time, Zoro used One Sword Style Iai: Shi Shishi Sonson to directly strike King yet failed to inflict any damage on the All-Star. King then initiated his Tempuraudon attack a second time. Due to Enma acting up, King's head managed to graze Zoro, while blowing apart large parts of the rocks lining Onigashima's coast.
As Zoro tried keeping hold of his falling swords, King kicked the enemy swordsman to the ground before using his Barizodon attack to keep up the pressure. Flying straight at Zoro, King then used his wing to push the swordsman through the ground and into the lower floors of Kaidou's castle. After briefly laying on the ground reminiscing about his past, Zoro grabbed Enma, convinced that he now knew how to handle the blade, and released his Supreme King Haki to knock out onlooking Beasts Pirates. In response, King calmly asked if Zoro really wanted to be a "king", which Zoro affirmed. Zoro's following attack successfully cut and drew blood from King, tearing up his mask.
Zoro discerned that, with the flames on King's back having gone out, King had become faster yet his defense weaker, hence King being vulnerable. King then shed the remains of his mask and so exposed his face to his underlings nearby, who immediately recognized his features as a lunarian's. As punishment, King used his Karyudon technique to burn said underlings to death, and when Zoro suggested that King tell him about his race, King stated that such knowledge was not needed by a dead man before following Zoro back outside the castle, using his wings to immediately barrage him with attacks. Zoro then stated that King and his crew's time reigning at the top should come to an end already, to which King retorted that Kaidou is the man who will become Pirate King. Zoro subsequently hit King with his Rengoku Oni Giri but immediately noticed how the attack had, yet again, dealt no damage due to King's fire having returned to his back.
At that moment, King launched a fire dragon at Zoro, who dodged, and the two men locked blades. Like once before, King attempted to use his swordbreaker to yank Zoro's swords from his grip, but Zoro blew King away with his Haki. Subsequently noticing King speed up again, Zoro reacted swiftly by using his Yakkodori technique to cut the now-vulnerable King in an instant, right as the latter was kicking at his face. When Zoro pointed out how King had begun blocking his attacks and no longer seemed so unassailable, King proclaimed that a human could never stand up to his kind and, if anything at all, King would merely remember Zoro as a decent swordsman. Zoro denied this, saying that he would personally ensure that King remembered him if King managed to survive him.
Thereupon, King created an even bigger flame dragon to send at Zoro. The latter unhesitatingly jumped at the beast and, using a powerful three-bladed slash, carved it up while sending a concentrated cutting wave toward King, hitting him squarely in his chest, slicing off part of King's right wing, and destroying his sword. As King fell defeated, fading out consciousness, he muttered Kaidou's name and reminisced about how, sometime in the past, he had told Kaidou that he could be Joy Boy and promised that, whether or not he was, King would never lose in battle until Kaidou became Pirate King. King then continued falling off Onigashima, with his defeat being recorded by a Mary flying nearby. Following the alliance's victory over the Beasts Pirates, King came to be located at Udon's former Prisoner Mine along with Queen and many other crew members, where they were kept as prisoners under Babanuki. A week later, Marine Admiral Ryokugyu came to Wano and attacked the prison complex. Both King and Queen were handily defeated, with the admiral ensnaring King in wooden tendrils before using one to impale him near the heart. Ryokugyu then requested a battleship to be sent to Wano, presumably to detain King and his crewmates.
Final Saga
Egghead Arc
Weeks later, King was still injured and bandaged and in an unknown location. As he listened to Vegapunk's worldwide broadcast, King recalled his own experiences as a lunarian when the scientist mentioned rare races that were persecuted.
Major Battles
Beasts Pirates vs. Gecko Pirates Beasts Pirates vs. Kouzuki Oden, the Nine Red Scabbards, and Shinobu King vs. Raizo King vs. Ashura Doji King and Kaidou vs. Red Hair Pirates (unseen) King vs. Sanji King and Queen vs. Marco King and Queen vs. Sanji and Roronoa Zoro King vs. Zoro King, Queen, and other Beasts Pirates vs. Aramaki
Filler Battles
King vs. Denjiro
Anime And Manga Differences
In the anime during the flashback of Oden's and his retainers' battle against the Beasts Pirates 20 years ago, King was seen briefly battling Denjiro. King's fight with Sanji over the Skull Dome's Live Floor is extended in the anime, with the two having a short but fierce melee in the air that sees King block Sanji's Ryusei Osoba Kick with his open palm before transforming into his pteranodon self and pursuing Sanji (in flight with his Raid Suit) through the air across the Skull Dome, until performing the same divebomb attack on his foe as in the manga. Later, King's engagement with Marco is similarly extended. The duel between Zoro and King is likewise extended in the anime, particularly towards its end portion in Episode 1062, with changes made to accompany the extended screentime (including a minor expansion of the flashback showing when a young Arber was recruited by Kaidou). One such change is that, while in the manga King immediately tears off his mask once it is cut by Zoro, in the anime, his face is not fully seen at first, King ripping his mask off only after killing his subordinates nearby to keep them from seeing it. Also, when King uses his final fire dragon attack on Zoro in the anime, instead of creating one massive dragon like in the manga, King initially generates a large number of them (at least twelve), all of which are sliced apart by Zoro, before finally unleashing his ultimate Omori Karyudon as a last resort.
Other Apperances
Video Games
Playable Appearances One Piece Treasure Cruise One Piece Thousand Storm One Piece Bon! Bon! Journey!! One Piece Bounty Rush One Piece: Set Sail One Piece: Burning Will One Piece: Fighting Path
Trivia
King's character may have the following inspirations: In terms of design, he bears a resemblance to the archangel Uriel of Judeo-Christian lore. Uriel's ascribed attributes include large, dark-colored wings pointing downwards, fire in the palm of his hands, and a flaming sword, traits shared by King (especially noteworthy in the context of the lunarians having an association with gods, and with Vegapunk's artificial lunarians being called Seraphim). King's Devil Fruit and pyrokinetic abilities might be inspired by Rodan, a popular pteranodon kaijū from the Godzilla franchise, which resides in a volcano and has the "Fire Rodan" as one of its specific incarnations. Going by his attire and wings, King's design might reference the figure on the cover art of Angel of Retribution (the 2005 studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest) as well as the masked head depicted on the cover art of Hide Your Face (the 1994 debut album by Japanese musician Hideto Matsumoto, which also has fire in the background). King's Vivre Card entry revealed two earlier design concepts for the character: one where he looks mostly like his current self, save for his wings being leathery and bat-like as opposed to feathered, and another where King looks more drastically different, having a very top-heavy build and a pronounced hunchback, a cape rather than wings, prominent horns, and what looks like overalls (while seemingly retaining a flame on his back and a sword).
Road To Laugh Tale Vol. 2 again featured older character concepts for King, particularly one that had King be even more stoic and obedient, and another where he was more boisterous and willing to trash-talk. King's first anime appearance is in the opening OVER THE TOP. Originally in it, his wings were depicted white, but this was soon corrected to black. King's least favorite food is oatmeal. King's hobby is sword collecting. King's animal resemblance is a pterosaur. King is the only member of the All-Stars who can fly.
Sbsbased Trivia
In keeping with his crew's card-based naming scheme, King (like Queen and Jack) is named after a face card from a playing card deck, specifically the highest-ranking one; this likely reflects King's elevated status in the crew, as Kaidou's right-hand man. Despite his mouth-covering mask, King is able to eat food by manifesting his pteranodon beak from the mask. King's favorite foods are flying fish sashimi and curry udon.
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