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The King In Yellow is a Great Old One residing in the Dreamlands. When a ritual to summon Shub-Niggurath failed, a piece of the King took the opportunity to try and slip through the gateway, at which point it became bound to a book. This fragment of the King would later become bound to Arthur Lester and take the name John. The King, and by extension his cult, are endeavoring to recover John and make the King whole again.
Personality[]
According to John's memories as the King,[1] he is not hostile to humanity, merely indifferent, and regarding human as ants. He is associated with madness and has the ability to possess the insane and drive those with weak-willed minds mad.[2] He is said to offer despair, madness and pain, and to whisper to the people he influences.[3]
Description[]
He is consistently described as wearing yellow, both by Amanda and Kayne.[4] [5] He is described by Kayne as being twice the height of a man.[5] John also describes The King as donning a yellow cloak, of a fabric that billows and moves somewhat like tendrils.[5] No other features are known, but he is associated with the pallid mask that his cultists wear.[2] He is also associated with the Yellow Sign, a symbol first encountered by Arthur in Amanda's notes.[6] The song "You Call It Madness, But I Call It Love" also seems to be associated with him.[7]
The King In Yellow is followed by a group of heralds, described by John as tall, thin, faceless figures that stretch and move like ballerinas, bearing yellow wisps of cloth. Through unknown means, they are capable of emitting high-pitched laughter, and lacerating human skin.[5]
History[]
The King has been alive for eons.[1] He resides in the Dreamlands, where he is King of Carcosa.[5]
Ten years before the tale begins, he stepped through a portal created in a ritual meant to summon Shub-Niggurath. This was an opportunistic move on his part—he simply saw an occasion and he took it. However Amanda Cummings and Anna Stanzyck managed to close the portal before he could step fully in the human world, severing the King's conscience in half. Part of him stayed trapped in the Dreamlands, while the other part of him, fragmented, was trapped into the Dark World and bound to the book that was later sent to Arthur.[1] [4]
The King interacts with Arthur directly in the Sleeping City, a place of connection between the Earth and the Dreamlands. Here, he tries to reclaim John, but he comes to the conclusion that John is too entangled with Arthur and can't be retrieved unless he comes willingly. To accomplish this, he transports Arthur and John to the Dreamlands.[3]
In the Dreamlands, the King exploits the tension between Arthur and John by influencing them under the guise of Frank. He manages to capture them and imprisons them in the prison pits, where he tortures and starves Arthur for three months.[8] [9] After they escape, they meet him again on the Plateau above the Ten Thousand Steps. After the King breaks Arthur's legs and promises to torture him for eternity, John agrees to go back to him as long as Arthur is left alive and unharmed and returned to Earth.[5]
For information regarding the King post Part 20, see here.
Known Abilities[]
- He has the ability of driving people mad until they do his bidding.[10]
- Currently, in his splintered state, he does not have the ability to travel between planes of existence.[3]
- He has the ability to prevent Arthur from hearing John's voice.[5] [8]
Trivia[]
- While often seen as part of the Cthulhu Mythos, the King in Yellow actually originates from the novel by Robert Chambers, which was referenced by Lovecraft in The Whisperer in Darkness.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Part Thirteen
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Part Ten
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Part Twelve
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Part Eight
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Part Twenty
- ↑ Part Seven
- ↑ Part Five
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Part Eighteen
- ↑ Part Nineteen
- ↑ Part Nine