Of Kings and Faeries: Profile 1: The Horned King

If The Horned King ever had a name, it is known only to him. For as long as he has strode the land, he has only been known by the titles that the mortals he chose to interact with gave him.

While Arawn still lived, he was The Horned Huntsman, greatest of all Arawn's Uruk-Hai. It was in part due to his skill, ruthlessness, and sheer force of will that Arawn was able to extract a blood pact from warring chieftains that solidified their loyalty for the rest of their days.

When Arawn was sacrificed to power The Black Cauldron, The Horned Huntsman rose to fill the void that had been created. In this way, he became The Horned King, and his story truly began.  It should be noted, however, that the Black Cauldron was thrown to the far reaches of the world before word of his masters defeat reached the Horned Huntsman, and so he had no way of knowing of its existence.  What he thought had happened to his master is a secret that only he knows, though it can be presumed that he believed that Zeus (the sealer of Arawn) had outright killed his former lord.

When the Horned King first took the throne, he became enamored with the black art of Necromancy and proved to be extremely talented in the field. However, he eventually hit his limit, unable to fulfill his goal of becoming a Lich. This was the first time the Friends had contacted him. He accepted their bargain and became a monster beyond compare.

He fulfilled his contract to the Friends within the first decade, destroying several rival warlords and solidifying his status as Arawn's successor. After several victorious campaigns, he began to hear tales about a cauldron that contained untold power. If he could simply get his hands on that cauldron he could become a Friend himself, perhaps even strong enough to rival Cherabog himself! With this goal in mind, The Horned King began his search for The Black Cauldron.

The time between then and the tale for which he is most (in)famous is a time that is wrapped in mystery and superstition, for he disappears from public view during this period. What is known is that during this time he was responsible for training a great many Dark Magic users, including the likes of Jafar, Ursula, and even Maleficent for a time. It is debatable whether or not he was the reason that some of them fell as far as they did. In particular, whether or not he was the catalyst for the creation of the Mistress of All Evil is a matter of fierce debate.

Many centuries later, he would find the cauldron, but he would be sacrificed to it before completing his objective.

Ever since Chernabog returned him to life, The Horned King has maintained a co-leadership of the Inner Circle alongside Maleficent, a fact he resents more than most can fathom.

The changes from Uruk-Hai to Necromancer, from Necromancer to Lich, and from Lich to Cauldron Born have taken a severe toll on The Horned Kings sanity. Though he was never exactly a moral being to begin with, he now couples that amorality with a callous disregard for life, commonly killing people whose deaths were worth nothing simply because they were too weak to be of use.

He controls a great amount of heartless due to his high position within the Inner Circle. His heartless also tend to be more powerful than their contemporaries. However, he prefers to use the undead as servants due to his continuous infatuation with necromancy.

The Horned King is a being that thrives on the pain and suffering of the sentient. Man, beast, dead, or alive, if it can feel pain then he would gladly torture it till the end of time simply to hear its screams.

Though quick to anger and even quicker to punish, it is surprisingly difficult to get him to truly hate a person. This is because he believes that everything else is beneath him. To The Horned King, to loathe someone in their entirety requires you to mark them as your equal; otherwise it would simply be anger or contempt. As The Horned King thinks of himself as the pinnacle of power (trumped only by Chernabog), the list of people he hates is extremely small. That list consists of three people: Maleficent, Taran, and (shockingly) Gurgi.

As a lich, he has a certain fondness for the deceased, often treating the undead under his thrall with a familiarity not seen anywhere else. This is likely because, as his thralls, they are essentially extensions of himself. He is extremely prideful, and will react poorly should his undead servants fall.

If there is one thing besides pure Malevolence that The Horned King excels at, it is Evil Magic. Though he prefers necromancy, The Horned King is a Master of any Magic that may be morally unsound. This, combined with his not inconsiderable life span, has allowed him to teach a great many who would later become great masters in their own right.

The Horned King is an Uruk-Hai, and thus is naturally stronger than a human.  However, even among his brethren, The Horned King was exceptional.  Indeed, it would be no understatement to call him the pinnacle of what his race could be, for that is exactly how Arawn designed him.  Though he can no longer grow physically stronger through mundane means due to his undead status, he is so evil and is such a master of the arcane arts causes the Dark Power that courses through his body naturally augments his strength.

The Horned Kings greatest weaknesses are his pride (which causes him to severely underestimate most of his opponents) and his rather volatile disposition in combat. Because he can be angered so easily while fighting, it is simplicity itself to break his concentration. This makes him far less effective, but take care. While he will miss far more if you anger him, if even one of his spells hit you it can be disastrous.  It should be noted, however, that he is much calmer if not in battle or about to enter battle.  This is because Uruk-Hai feel a sudden spike of adrenalin and blood lust when entering any physical conflict.

The thing that makes The Horned King one of the most deadly of The High Councils foes, however, is a direct result of how Chernabog chose to resurrect him. The Horned Kings body was torn apart and "eaten" by The Black Cauldron, an artifact of incredible evil. Chernabog decided to return The Horned King to the living world through a reversal of this process. This turned The Horned King into a partial Cauldron Born, and as such, he is effectively immortal. Should The Horn King ever be killed, his soul would return to The Black Cauldron and he would be reborn. However, this had two serious drawbacks. The first is that The Black Cauldron became The Horned Kings only link to the mortal realm, so if it was ever destroyed The Horned King would burn into nothingness. The second drawback, and the far more serious one to The Horned King, is that as a Cauldron Born, he is unable to actually use The Black Cauldron. This destroyed the one ambition that The Horned King had ever had since becoming king. The Horned King has taken the pain of losing one of his life's goals and turned it against his enemies.

It should be noted that because he views himself as being far above all the pitiful little mortals that run around causing trouble, it is very rare for him to actually attack someone himself, preferring to send soldiers or patsies to do it for him. However, if a person does enough to anger him or are on his Hate List, then he will hunt them until the end of time if he has too.

In a one on one, straight-forward confrontation, The Horned King would demolish most denizens of the mortal realms.  However, the Horned King is neither omniscient nor the best team player.  It is more than possible to defeat him through cleverness, teamwork, or a combination of both.  Also, while he is physically far stronger than a normal man, he can still be overpowered at close range.  For instance, if Hercules ever fought the Horned King at close range, then Herc would have won before the battle started.

The Horned King is perhaps the most deadly single person the forces of good must face.  His power, knowledge, complete contempt for all life, and single-minded dedication to the goal of Total Victory for Evil make The Horned King a fearsome enemy.  

Walk not through the Dread Lands of Annuvin, for only Death shall find you.