King

{{#if:King to JacobLast 20.e3|

“	We’ll make an impact. We’ll decide what plateaus and what declines. [...] The sun has set. People hide in their homes, listening to the news, and they wonder if we are myths or magicians. We will reveal the truth to them. That we are monsters. Get yourself cleaned up, or they will think we are the pathetic sort of monster.	”
{{#if:King to Jacob| —King to Jacob{{#if:Last 20.e3|, Last 20.e3}} }} }}

<infobox> <title source="name"><default>King</default></title>

<image source="Image"></image> <image source="image"></image> <group><header>Basic Information</header> <label>Civilian Name</label> <label>Aliases</label> <label>Gender</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Death</label> <label>Age</label><default>Unknown</default> <label>Post-timeskip</label> <label>Ward start</label> <label>Relations</label> <label>Family</label></group> <group><header>Professional Status</header> <label>Occupation</label> <label>Classification</label> <label>Unique Features</label> <label>Alignment</label>

<label>Status</label><format>

Deceased

</format>

<label>Location</label> <label>Teams</label> <label>Previous Team(s)</label> <label>Base of Operations</label></group> <group><header>First Appearance</header> <label>Worm Debut</label> <label>Ward Debut</label></group> </infobox>Gabriel Maxberry,<ref name="SB2">King: Gabriel Maxberry - Private conversation with Wildbow, archived on Spacebattles</ref> known publicly as King, was the original leader of the Slaughterhouse Nine.<ref name="26.1e2">King. The leader, the founder of the group. Were the numbers in an order corresponding to when they had joined, then? Would the second member of the Nine be ten through eighteen? - Excerpt from Sting 26.1</ref>

Personality

King was a bully par excellence, and was smart enough to be able to torment his victims psychologically.<ref name="SB3e5" /> As a cape he was smarter than he first appeared, which he used to his advantage.

King would call his protege by his first name, Jacob, practically purring the word. He considered Jacob a "killer-in-training".<ref name=":1">“Jack,” Jacob said. He kicked King’s body again. “Fuck it. He always called me Jacob, practically purring. His little killer in training. As if I could match up to his Gray Boy. I want to be more than that. Get out from under his shadow.” - Excerpt from Interlude 21.x</ref> Weaver believed that he was one of the few Nine members who would immediately report cheating up the chain, rather than seeing it as fun.<ref>They'd been okay with a little bit of involvement on our part.  Tattletale had speculated they would.  There were only a few who were so regimented they would report it to Jack at the first opportunity.  Winter was among them, but she was largely in the dark, here.  Screamer wouldn't fill her in if it meant spoiling the fun.

In truth, the only ones who wouldn't let us get away with this were Mannequin and King. - Excerpt from Sting 26.2</ref>

Liked being in control,<ref name="SB3e2">Wildbow: Because Damsel's prerequisite for 'victory' (in the life goals sense) is to be on top of the heap, and King's prerequisite for victory is to be in control.

Wildbow: He might forego using his power on her just to keep her cooperative - Conversation with Wildbow on the IRC, Archived on Spaccebattles.</ref> especially over so many dangerous parahumans.

Bonesaw's clones of King, based on records and bedtime stories, weren't embarrassed by nudity. They were not made aware that Jack had been the one to kill them.<ref name="I25" />

He had a habit of raping and murdering young women.<ref name="26.1e1">We circled around eight teenage girls, sitting in a circle,[...]One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, nine.[...]I looked up. Number eight sat on the bulb of a street light, a long dress blowing in the wind, directly above the circle.[...]“Nine Kings,” I said.

“A woman king?” Imp asked.

“She’s the victim,” I said. The killer is her… husband, for lack of a better word.” - Excerpt from Sting 26.1</ref>

Appearance

King was described as a broad-shouldered blond man. He was half a foot taller than Jack Slash, who himself has been described as a reasonably tall man.<ref name="I25">King, tall and blond, unabashed in his nudity.  All nine Kings were broad-shouldered, each half a foot taller than Jack.

Their interaction would be an interesting one.  She'd wondered if she should program King with the knowledge that Jack had been the one to kill him, reconsidered. - Excerpt from Interlude 25</ref>

Abilities and Powers

King has enhanced strength and endurance, but what truly sets him apart is his ability to transfer any physical harm he sustains to other individuals: any person he has touched within a 24-hour period will receive either the full brunt of any damage he takes, or will receive a fraction of that damage proportional to the number of people he has touched.<ref name="26.3e1">Untouchable.  King's power took any physical harm he suffered and transferred it among his pawns.  People he'd touched within the last twenty-four hours.[...]Tyrant here had the enhanced strength each of the two had possessed, the enhanced durability. - Excerpt from Sting 26.3</ref><ref name="SB3e1">Wildbow: King has enhanced strength, enhanced durability, and any damage he takes is either spread out around his pawns or each of his pawns takes the full amount.

Panda: Any unusual nuances? Or is it just as straightforward as it seems? "Touch pawn, shunt damage to them until they die, touch more, rinse, repeat"?

Panda: Do self-inflicted wounds count?

Wildbow: Yes.

Panda: Does it take time upon touching a person to initiate the effect, or just on contact?
[...]
Wildbow: It's on contact. The subject knows something has been done. - Conversation with Wildbow on the IRC, Archived on Spaccebattles.</ref> This power made him immune to the effects of Gray Boy's ability, which allowed King to control him.<ref name="SB1">King had a flimsy hold, Jack had a stronger hold. The former Gray Boy was closer to a Labyrinth in full-on powers mode than anything else. Using powers indiscriminately, staying within an area. King was effectively immune to him, and used this to introduce himself and start leading him around. - Wildbow on Spacebattles</ref> However, it was unable to protect him from Foil's charged shots,<ref>Sting 26.3</ref> whose effects he could not displace. It is unknown if he can transfer things like over-exertion and other physical ailments into his "thralls".

Attacks that destroy the Corona pollentia are able to kill him.<ref name="SB3e4">Panda: So Jack and Harbinger just stopped giving fucks and stabbed him over and over until all of his pawns died, huh?

Panda: Only way I could see him being taken out like that.

Wildbow: Jack's power up King's nose, to strike the same 'sweet spot' that snipers aim for.

Panda: Oh. Oh wow.

Wildbow: Using Harbinger's power to aim. Followed by stabby aftermath to guarantee it was over..

Panda: That's gruesome and impressive. - Conversation with Wildbow on the IRC, Archived on Spaccebattles.</ref>

History

Background

Gabriel Maxberry was from a well to do family and a star athlete in college occupying the top of the social pyramid. Reaching the top only exacerbated his issues however.<ref name="SB3e5">Panda: Figure I would get my major curiosities satisfied first.

Wildbow: Because in terms of shaping him, it's made him a hedonist. He's used to being unstoppable, he's used to being absolutely, completely in control, and being in control of some scary motherfuckers (in your case, the other careers).

Wildbow: He's smarter than he lets on (Tyrant, by contrast, was a little limited by the hatchet face in him) and he's always been a very, very good bully. In the wormverse, he was top of the heap. Police chief's son, top dog in high school, top dog in the fraternity, top student, top athlete. He found out very quickly that nothing could really affect him.

Wildbow: So he kept pushing limits and finding that nobody would stop him. Terrorizing pledges, going after girls on campus, tormenting professors he didn't like, etc.

Wildbow: But it's lonely at the top (ergo the master power) and he simply didn't know how to continue rising or proving himself when he was already at the top, already proven, so he took to substance abuse and grueling fitness regiments, which ultimately started to kill him. (The brute aspect) [...] and he triggered (in the Wormverse). It sort of settled something in him, resolved an internal dilemma. He found his place, and his focus became something entirely different. Control, securing his place.

Wildbow: He's the king. The only entity higher than the king is God, in the great heirarchy, and godhood... well, that requires infrastructure.

Wildbow: It's not really something he's *actually* aspiring towards, but that's sort of... maybe the general abstract of his thought pattern. [...] Being worshiped, and worship through fear and awe is the sort of worship he understands.

Wildbow: Having guys like Harbinger and Crimson at his beck and call, knowing that he could, if he desired, make them lick his feet. Knowing that -others- are aware that there's this group of scary-as-fuck killers out there and he's the guy in charge.

Wildbow: King in a coconut shell. (nutshell is too small for all that text) - Conversation with Wildbow on the IRC, Archived on Spaccebattles.</ref>

King was the initial leader of the Slaughterhouse Nine.<ref>The first iteration formed twenty years ago. They were a very different group, led by King (mistakenly called Rex in a previous chapter). Jack was a junior member, as was Gray Boy. - Comment by Wildbow on Imago 21.1</ref> He was the one who gave Harbinger his name.<ref>“We have names.”

“A reputation. Don’t tell me you don’t feel like there is something bigger, something better. You call yourself Harbinger. That’s all about the things to come.”

“His name for me, not mine,” Harbinger said. - Excerpt from Interlude 21.x</ref> King's immunity to Gray Boy allowed King to recruit him.<ref name="SB2" />

According to Weaver's research, he ran the Nine as more of a "brute squad" similar to the Teeth.<ref>Crimson was a mainstay of King's era, when he'd ruled the Nine as more of a brute squad, not dissimilar to the Teeth back in Brockton Bay. - Excerpt from Sting 26.2</ref> That said, the Number Man's memories reveal that King started the Nine's habit of announcing their presence with clues and glimpses.<ref>“We’re announcing ourselves?” Kurt asked.

“We’ll give them clues. Glimpses. Already there are more appearing,” King said. “If we aren’t careful, we’ll be overshadowed.” - Last 20.e3</ref><ref>“Same number-” Weld raised an eyebrow, “Why… Oh. Shit. I think I follow.”
[...]
“Three crime scenes with three bodies each. So it’d be nine bodies?” Clockblocker asked, “Each killed in some different way? I don’t see what killer that would fit with.”

“Not one killer,” Kid Win answered, “Nine bodies, each for different killers.”

“The Slaughterhouse Nine,” Clockblocker leaned back in his seat, groaning, “Fuck, that’d be all we needed.” - Sentinel 9.4</ref><ref>Regent asked the question for me, “The Slaughterhouse Nine?”

“At least some of their members have been seen in town, preying on the locals, disrupting recovery efforts. The recent chaos makes the city a playground for them,” Coil spoke. “One of my teams is bound to run up against them soon.” - Parasite 10.6</ref> When King initiated an attack on a town, he had the Nine kill twenty, subject a person to hell on earth via Gray Boy, and informed the rest of the town that every remaining townsperson must cut off a finger and place it at their doorsteps to be spared.<ref>“Tonight,” King said, and he was talking to Screamer. “Twenty die. One will experience hell on Earth, with a fate so horrific and remarkable that the entire world will speak of it. If they wish to be spared, they must lop off a finger and place it at their doorsteps. One for every person in the home.”
[...]
“Hell on earth. Are you prepared, Nicholas?”

“Yes, sir,” Nicholas said. The boy was standing in the doorway. Monochrome, tidy, wearing a school uniform.
[...]
Screamer’s voice began reciting the instructions King had provided, whispering the promise that twenty would die. Kurt tuned it out. - Last 20.e3</ref>

He was killed at the hands of Jacob and Kurt in 1987.<ref name=":1" /><ref name="SB3e4" />

Post-Timeskip

King was one of the many former Slaughterhouse Nine members cloned by Bonesaw, and served in the Slaughterhouse Nine-Thousand under King's former pupil Jacob. Another instance of him was combined with Hatchet Face to create Tyrant.<ref name="26.3e1" />

A clone of King led a squad of nine other clones, seven of Cherish's and two of Crawler. Only for his team to be killed by Dragon acting through her suits with himself being captured by a combination of electromagnetics and Containment Foam.<ref>It only left King. The Azazels continued acting in concert, tearing the bus apart to get to the villain, peeling the roof back with a force that threw his gun arm skyward, preventing him from opening fire on the busload of hostages. Containment foam sealed him down. - Excerpt from Interlude 26.x</ref> something that had not been around when he was active.

Golem encountered an apparent clone of King who was actually Jack Slash, disguised by Nyx's power.<ref name="26b">A Hatchet Face, Breed, Cherish and King made their way towards the entrance of the alley. Golem created hands to block their path.
[...]
They tensed, but the King looked over his shoulder at the Cherish, and when he looked up again, he was smiling.
[...]
The illusions collectively shattered as he squashed the head of the ‘Cherish’ against the wall. Nyx.

Which revealed the other three.

Jack. No surprise. Hidden inside King. - Excerpt from Interlude 26b</ref>

It is presumed that all instances of King were killed.<ref>I found members of Bonesaw’s Slaughterhouse Nine. Clones who’d fled, or who’d been left behind, lurking in dark corners, or simply hiding. A Mannequin, two Damsels that were keeping each other company, a Night Hag-Nyx hybrid, and a Crawler-Breed hybrid. - Excerpt from Speck 30.4</ref>

Trivia

• As the first leader of the Slaughterhouse Nine Gabriel is likely the reason the team's name references Kurt Vonnegut's work.

References

<references/>

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Slaughterhouse Nine
Leaders	King {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Jack Slash {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }}
Members	Bonesaw {{#switch: former	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Breed {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Burnscar {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Cherish {{#switch: former	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Chuckles {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Crawler {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Crimson {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Damsel of Distress {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Gray Boy {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Harbinger {{#switch: former	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Hatchet Face {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Hookwolf {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Mannequin {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Miasma {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Murder Rat {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Nice Guy {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Night Hag {{#switch: unknown	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Nyx {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Psychosoma {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Screamer {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Shatterbird {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • The Siberian {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Skinslip {{#switch: unknown	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Winter {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }}
Bonesaw's Hybrids	Hack Job {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Laughjob {{#switch: unknown	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Murder Rat {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Nighty Night {{#switch: unknown	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Pagoda {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Snowmann {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Spawner {{#switch: former	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Tyrant {{#switch: deceased	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }}
Clones	Damsel of Distress II {{#switch: former	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Damsel of Distress III {{#switch: former	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Harbinger Clones {{#switch: former	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} (Harbinger I {{#switch: former	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Harbinger II {{#switch: former	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Harbinger III {{#switch: former	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Harbinger IV {{#switch: former	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }} • Harbinger V {{#switch: former	deceased=†	noncanon=≠	former=‡	unknown=*	#DEFAULT= }})