KING
KING
Real Name: Unrevealed
Identity/Class: Human (hidden society)
Occupation: Ruler of a subterranean community (sewer dwellers)
Group Membership: Leader of a society of sewer dwellers (whom he usually refers to as maggots)
Affiliations: Formerly the Devourer, Vanessa Fisk, his monster, Walter Jenkins, Kingpin (Wilson Fisk)
Enemies: Blackwulf, Daredevil, Deathlok the Demolisher, Vanessa Fisk, Peacekeeper, the Underground society (including Ed Arthur, Ralphie Jackson, Martha, others), Ben Urich
Known Relatives: None
Aliases: King of the Sewers
Base of Operations: The sewers below Manhattan
First Appearance: Daredevil I#180 (March, 1982)
Powers/Abilities: King's great size provides him with exceptional (but not superhuman) strength, and he further uses a large, spiked wooden club to enhance his striking power. Though an experienced fighter, he has no particular training or skills. He is savage, equally willing to kill enemies and allies to further his own ends.
King appeared to be an albino, complete with pink (unpigmented) irises, which would presumably render him sensitive to bright light. He also had some really nasty going on with his skin. As many of the other sewer dwellers had it, too, it was likely either just dirt and slime, or some rash they all picked up from their filth-ridden environment, or something contagious.
Height: 7'
Weight: 502 lbs.
Eyes: (Left) pink; (right) missing (formerly pink)
Hair: None
History:
(Daredevil I#180 (fb) - BTS) - Under unrevealed circumstances, King came to lead
a society of sewer dwellers.
(Daredevil I#180 (fb) - BTS) - Discovering a baby alligator in the sewers (allegedly flushed down the toilet by someone in the city), King fed it until it grew to great size, and he called it "the monster."
(Daredevil I#180) - King slew his current queen after she
failed to please him. Looking about his subjects, he chose a more recent arrival
as his new queen because she looked pretty (he had no idea that she was an
amnesiac Vanessa Fisk who was wandering the sewers after narrowly surviving an
explosion). Taking her wedding ring as his own, he told her she was his, body
and soul.
Later, reporter Ben Urich discovered what appeared to be
Vanessa in one of his pictures, and he led Daredevil down into the abandoned
subway track that he had seen her travel into. Sensing other people watching
them, Daredevil headed into the sewers and told Urich to go home, but after
Daredevil leapt down a tunnel, King's minions swarmed over and captured Urich.
As Daredevil continued along, King's minions swarmed over him, too, and he let
them carry him off, figuring they would let them take him to their leader. They
did, and King introduced himself. Daredevil told King he was looking for
Vanessa, and the name struck a cord with the new queen whom Daredevil then
recognized. Upset that Daredevil thought he could come down into his world and
take his woman, he had Daredevil and Urich bound together over the pool in which
his monster dwelled. Kicking one of his subjects into the pool as an appetizer,
which the monster swiftly consumed, King then let the pair drop into the water.
Daredevil managed to untie himself and tie his former bounds around the
monster's mouth to escape it. He and Urich both rose from the pool, and
Daredevil punched King in the face but was swiftly smashed away by King's club.
After trading a few blows, King caught Daredevil around the chest and began to
crush him, but Daredevil swung his head back and smashed King in the mouth,
stunning him long enough for Daredevil to grab the club and nail King in the
face with it, dropping him to the ground, unconscious.
Vanessa took her ring from King and gave it to Daredevil,
calling him the new King, which the sewer dwellers echoed. Daredevil took
Vanessa and Urich and returned to the surface, then forced the Kingpin to make
his agent, the new mayor Randolph Cherryh, to relinquish his position in order
to get Vanessa back.
(Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man I#78 - BTS) - Doctor Octopus was traveling through the sewers where he encountered the Sewer Dwellers, aka Tunnel Dwellers, former subjects of the King of the Sewers. When they see Doctor Octopus, their reaction was "King? King is back?!" Doctor Octopus had no clue what they were talking about and attacked them because he had no interest to become king of such twisted beings.
(Daredevil I#333 (fb) - BTS) - King lost his right eye at some point (perhaps as a result of Daredevil hitting him in the face with his spiked club).
(Daredevil I#333) - A few years later, Daredevil followed
Joshua (formerly Peacekeeper) into the sewers, where he was discovered and
ambushed by King who grabbed him and drug him to a makeshift arena. Daredevil
kicked King in the knee, dropping him, but King grabbed Daredevil's leg, pulled
him underwater, and then stood on him and held him there with his immense mass.
Unable to get free, Daredevil connected his Billy Clubs into a telescoping rod,
which he then smashed into King's throat. Breaking free from the stunned King,
Daredevil then beat him unconscious with his staff. The sewer dwellers swarmed
over King and Daredevil, intending to carve them up for meat, for Joshua
convinced his fellow Undergrounders Ralphie Jackson & Ed Arthur, to help fight
off the attackers.
One of the sewer dwellers asked Joshua to give Daredevil to
them so they could give him to their secret ally, Fisk.
(Daredevil I#334 (fb) - BTS) - The sewer dwellers were unable to eat King, and he got away, plotting revenge on Daredevil.
(Daredevil I#334) - Two of King's still-loyal followers discussed how they would help him find Daredevil and cook him alive. Grabbing a rat and snapping its neck, King slapped his followers with it and then told them that they needed to find the altar (of the Devourer).
(Daredevil I#335) - King located the temple of the Devourer
and sacrificed his two servants, restoring the Devourer to existence. He told
the Devourer that he was going to feed Daredevil (who had defeated the Devourer
in his last incarnation) to him. This was observed by Deathlok the Demolisher,
who wished to retire in peace.
The Devourer soon attacked Daredevil, who was already
fighting Bushwacker, and the Demolisher showed up to stop the invaders from
destroying his new home.
(Daredevil I#336) - King sent more of his servants to bring
down Daredevil amidst the battle. Joshua told the Underground that King was
going to use the Devourer to wipe them out, and he sent them to flee while
Daredevil and the Demolisher held them off. As King's sewer dwellers attacked
Daredevil, Joshua, wearing his old Peacekeeper and aided by some of the
Underground joined the fight.
King was furious after the Demolisher destroyed the Devourer
with his energy blaster, and he rushed forward, demanding to gain retribution
against him. The Demolisher cowed King with his blaster, and Daredevil departed
to learn the Kingpin's involvement with the sewer people.
(Daredevil I#337) - As Daredevil (aided by the Demolisher, Blackwulf, Peacekeeper, and the Underground) worked to deactivate a number of bombs planted in the sewers by agents of Walter Jenkins, he was stunned when one of them exploded. King then attacked the weakened Daredevil. His body covered with explosives, King wanted to beat Daredevil into submission and then kill them both. King beat Daredevil, telling him to beg, but then Daredevil caught King's neck between his ankles and battered him into submission again. After defusing the explosives on King, Daredevil left him unconscious and returned to the surface.
Comments: Created by Frank Miller & Klaus Janson.
King has a 1/3 page profile in the Marvel Encyclopedia.
That's Vanessa/Queen at his feet in the main image.
Thanks to Ronald Byrd for pointing out Doctor Octopus' encounter with King's former subjects in Spectacular Spider-Man I#78.
Profile by Snood.
CLARIFICATIONS:
No KNOWN connections to:
the
monster
(Daredevil I#180 (fb) - BTS) - Discovering a baby alligator in the sewers (allegedly flushed down the toilet by someone in the city), King fed it until it grew to great size, and he called it "the monster."
(Daredevil I#180) - Upset that Daredevil thought he could come down into his world and take his woman, King had Daredevil and Urich bound together over the pool in which his monster dwelled. Kicking one of his subjects into the pool as an appetizer, which the monster swiftly consumed, King then let the pair drop into the water. As the monster circled them, Daredevil struggled to free himself and Urich. The monster swam between the toe men, breaking and remaining bonds, and then it closed in on Urich, snatching his coat in its jaws as he tried to flee. Daredevil managed to tie his former bounds around the monster's mouth, allowing Urich to tear his coat and swim to safety. After some struggle, Daredevil emerged from the pool.
--Daredevil I#180 (180 (fb) - BTS, 180
images: (without ads)
Daredevil I#180, p12, panel 4
p16, panel 3 (monster)
p18, panel 6 (swatting Daredevil with
club)
Daredevil I#333, p16, panel 1 (pushing Daredevil underwater)
panel 6 (face
w/ eye missing)
Appearances:
Daredevil I#180 (March, 1982) - Frank Miller (writer, artist), Klaus Janson
(finished art & colors), Denys O'Neil (editor)
Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man I#78 (May, 1983) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Al Milgrom (penciler), Jim Mooney (inker), Tom DeFalco (editor)
Daredevil I#333 (October, 1994) - Gregory Wright (writer), Tom Grindberg (penciler),
Ray Kryssing (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Daredevil I#334-335 (November-December, 1994) - Gregory Wright (writer), Tom
Grindberg (penciler), Don Hudson (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
Daredevil I#336-337 (January-February, 1995) - Gregory Wright (writer), Tom
Grindberg (penciler), Don Hudson (inker), Ralph Macchio (editor)
First Posted: 02/17/2008
Last updated: 04/12/2022
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
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