Red King (Marvel Comics)

The Red King is a fictional character in the Marvel Comics Universe, introduced during the "Planet Hulk" storyline.

Publication history

The Red King first appeared in The Incredible Hulk vol. 3 #92 (April 2006), and was created by Greg Pak and Carlo Pagulayan.

Fictional character biography

Angmo-Asan was the son of the great Father Emperor of Sakaar. His father Angmo was the soldier son of a senator, who became a general and waged the War of Empires that saw the creation of the First Sakaarian Empire. His father formed a treaty with the Shadow People and took control over the Death's Head Guards to save Sakaar from an alien threat in the Spikes War. In contrast, Angmo-Asan was a pampered child who desired glory and power. Even at a young age, his father recognized the threat he posed should he someday take the throne, so the Father Emperor sent his warbound Shadow, Hiroim the Shamed, to assassinate the boy. The only thing that saved Angmo-Asan was Hiroim's unwillingness to kill a child.^[1]

Seeking to be respected and feared as a warrior like his father, he set out with a band of young Imperial soldiers to earn his military credentials. He was not born an Imperial Prime like his father, who was with that rare and physically powerful trait. To compensate, he used his wealth to have a powerful suit of armor designed for himself. He and his men razed a Shadow village during his so-called campaign, and finding a surviving Shadow girl after the destruction. he had her implanted with an obedience disk. She was a fierce warrior with the mythic Old Power at her disposal. With the obedience disk, all of what she was became at Angmo-Asan's disposal. Her name was Caiera. Stories of his exploits, which omitted such details as burning down villages full of people, earned him the title of the Hero Protector among the populace.^[2]

Reign

After the Father Emperor died on a hunting trip, Angmo-Asan took the throne and chose to be called the Red King. As part of the treaty with the Shadow People, Caiera became his Warbound Shadow. No longer did she serve him because of an obedience disk. Now she had to because of her oath.

To keep his empire occupied, he made war with the barbarians of Fillia. He was so protective of his throne that he killed every single person who could potentially challenge him. This came to include his own wife, infant son and daughter. He would not allow anyone with royal blood to live. However, his daughter Omaka survived his attacks, though both her arms were burned away. She would later plague her father as a revolutionary leader, but she could never manage to be a true threat to him.

Planet Hulk

The true threat to his rule came when the Hulk came to Sakaar. As a gladiator in the Great Games, the Hulk challenged him and he answered in his power armor. Despite being seen defeating the Hulk, what the public took the most notice of was that the Hulk managed to scar the Red King. This made the Hulk, now being called the Green Scar, a rival to the Red King's power. The public would not allow him to simply execute the Hulk, so he put the so-called Green Scar through challenges that would surely not be survivable. The Hulk defeated every challenge. Soon the Hulk had not only escaped and become the leading figure of a revolution against the Red King but even won over the loyalty of his warbound Shadow Caiera. The Red King went so far as to free the surviving Spikes from Sakaar's moon and endanger all life on Sakaar just to destroy the Hulk.^[3]

Nothing he did could stop the Hulk, and soon it came down to rematch between them at the Crown City. By this point, the Hulk had grown even stronger than the Red King's power armor. When the Red King saw his own defeat at hand, he triggered a weapon that would fracture the planet's unstable tectonic plates and destroy everything. The Hulk was able to prevent this and struck the Red King so hard he went flying into the midst of the savage Wildebots, where he was believed to have died.^[4]

Post-Hulk Sakaar

In truth, the Red King survived his confrontation with the Hulk. Not only that but he survived the following detonation of the warp core that destroyed Crown City and ravaged Sakaar. Rather than finish him off, the Wildebots had repaired him using his body's connections to his power armor. He became more machine than Imperial man. He took over the city of Okini, using its technology to make it a protected city as the rest of Sakaar was swallowed by hellish environments and barbarian hordes. He kept aware of what was going on outside of Okini, such as Axeman Bone's campaign and the Son of Hulk's journey for the Old Power. When Skaar arrived with his party at Okini, the Red King was prepared. He had the device Skaar needed to attain the Old Power ready and waiting for use. He claimed that his experience being smashed by the Hulk and rebuilt by the Wildebots had changed him. He wanted to be Skaar's ally.

Skaar's arrival brought him face to face with his daughter Omaka again, and she would not believe that he had changed in any meaningful way. She rejected his offers of an alliance and left Skaar's side to join with Axeman Bone, but Skaar accepted. Though the Silver Surfer's arrival ultimately prevented Skaar's possession of the Old Power, the Red King joined him in his campaign to eradicate Axeman Bone's barbarian forces and anyone else he decided deserved to die. However, Caiera used the Old Power to put a stop to this campaign and forced a change to the balance of power and Sakaar. The Red King was forced to swear allegiance to the new Red Queen of Sakaar, his daughter Omaka, Princess of Sakaar.^[5]

In other media

Television

• Red King only appeared in The Super Hero Squad Show episode "Planet Hulk", voiced by S. Scott Bullock. He is seen at Sakaar's Colosseum watching a fight between to combatants where he signals to have them dropped towards a tentacled beast called Big Bertha. Upon the apprehension of Hulk (who landed on Sakaar upon being sent their by Dark Surfer) and Miek, Red King arrives at their cell where he uses his remote to control the nanomachines within Hulk's body to stop him from attacking. Red King then orders his guards to send Miek out into the Colosseum first against Korg. Hulk breaks out of his cell to help Miek where Red King allows Hulk to fight in Miek's place. During the fight, Hulk throws Korg towards Red King's sky platform. Upon Korg being defeated, Red King does a thumbs down to unleash Big Bertha to finish off Hulk, Korg, and Miek. While waiting for the next fight, Red King is disturbed when Big Bertha surfaces and knocks the Red King's sky platform to the ground. Upon breaking getting out of Big Bertha with Miek and Korg, Hulk ends up fighting Red King where he uses his remote control on Hulk again and punches him. Red King states that the nanomachines are eating Hulk's brain and states that Hulk can't fight without his brain. Hulk manages to get the nanomachines out of him and throws Red King towards the announcer's booth.

Film

• The Red King appears as the main antagonist of the animated movie Planet Hulk voiced by Mark Hildreth.^[6] His role is similar to the comics except for the part where he was responsible for the Spikes infecting Caiera's village. The Red King is killed by his Death Head guards after being infected by the Spikes.

References

External links

• Red King (Marvel Comics) at the Comic Book DB