Pale King

Name: Pale King Age: hundreds of thousands Gender: Male (He/Him/His) Species: Wyrm

Clothes: Flowy, long silver cloak that gleams in the light. Holes in the back for wings, drags on the floor.

Appearance: Pale King is an unknown species of bug but is typically referred to as a 'wyrm', though he is, by nature, a god. He has a segmented body, his thorax has two pairs of true legs. His abdomen has six pairs of prolegs and about a dozen residual segments without appendages. Sharp mandibles that are only visible when he is opening his mouth to speak or eat/drink. White, smooth shell on his head that arch up into long, sharp appendages that resemble a crown. Rest of his body is distinctly caterpillar-like, ending with a long tail with a serated edge, which is able to squeeze things with great strength. Under belly is softer, more squishy than his back. Has large, smooth membranous wings with three individual segments of the wing, resembling a long-extinct species.

Personality: The Pale King naturally gives off a commanding and confident nature, and outwardly displays himself as such. While he is a prideful bug, he does not boast or gloat about his wealth and power, choosing to keep to himself when speech is not necessary. Despite his cool demeanor, he is very attentive to his surroundings and is naturally in-tune with spiritual and mythological waves. He is not sympathetic much, but he is empathic, able to feel and sense others emotions or pain, making it impossible to lie to him. When he is alone he often talks to himself, using it as a form of mental cataloging. He can often be heard humming or mumbling when he is in his workshop. Because of his eloquent and noble speech pattern, he might seem condescending or ignorant towards lower-class bugs. While he does not enjoy interacting personally in his kingdom, he is fine with simple pleasantries. The King expects his subjects (or anyone within his kingdom) to treat him with gratitude and respect, as he is a very powerful being that has done much good for Hallownest. He is easy to anger and gets irritated if someone does not address him as "my king" or "my lord". The king is experienced in battle, both magic wielding and using weapons, but his preferred weapon is a three-pronged staff, which he uses to channel his power into powerful blasts of energy. The king is a very guilty person, and is always thinking about past mistakes and ways to right his wrongs. He does not sleep well at night, often avoiding sleep to instead work in his workshop. The king has an intense, undeniable fear of the void and what resides in it. Likes; Working in his workshop, meditating, practicing magic, speaking to his trusted advisors/guards/butlers, flying Dislikes: Very loud noises/rooms, crowded spaces, the Radiance, feeling guilty, remembering the Vessels

Genitals: A genital slit is located slightly below his abdomen, usually covered with a protective chitin plate that can move when sexually aroused. Can produce an 8" inch hemi-penes from said slit, is able to impregnate and produce sperms. Slit can also be used similarly to a vagina, but he cannot get pregnant or carry eggs. The slit becomes damp when sexually stimulated or aroused.

Backstory: He is an ancient Wyrm who burrowed through mountains and across the wasteland until finally stopping in Kingdom's Edge. Once there, the Wyrm shed its shell and transformed into the Pale King. Consequently, the Pale King is often still referred to as "Wyrm", as this was his former body. He reduced his form in order to match the bugs of Hallownest. After his transformation, the Pale King expanded the minds of several species of bugs in Hallownest, granting them sapience. The Pale King wanted these bugs to devote themselves to him, and in return, he promised them that the kingdom of Hallownest would last eternally.

Although he was an elusive, reclusive figure who was rarely seen outside his Palace, the Pale King was deified by his citizens. The bugs of Hallownest believed that he created their world and everything in it. Worship was offered through King's Idols. Even the Moth Tribe turned their backs on their creator, the Radiance, and started worshipping the Pale King instead. The Pale King's ability of foresight, the ability to see the future to some extent, caused the mushrooms of Fungal Wastes to accept his rule as well. He was responsible for much of the architecture found throughout Hallownest, most of it bearing a Hallownest Seal.

When the Radiance tried to be remembered again after being almost entirely forgotten, she ended up causing the Infection. To combat this, the Pale King came up with the idea to use a Vessel to seal her away. These Vessels are the children of him and the White Lady, born in the Abyss with Void inside of them. Three bugs were asked to become Dreamers to form seals on the Temple of the Black Egg which would contain this Vessel. One of them, Herrah, only accepted his proposal if the Pale King had a dalliance with her which would result in a child; this child ended up being Hornet.

Nevertheless, the chosen Vessel, 'the Hollow Knight', was unable to contain the Infection for eternity due to their purity being misjudged. The Pale King raised the Hollow Knight and formed a bond with them, which may have resulted in their "tarnishing".

At a certain point, after the Infection reappeared, the Pale King and the White Palace disappeared. The Pale King attempted to seal himself and his palace away from the void, a mass of black liquid energy formed from the mass-killings of impure vessels. In the end, the void consumes him, too.

Behaviors:

• Flutters wings when nervous, stressed, or angry
• prefers to use upper most arms for active tasks, and the second pair for holding things.
• Cloak is made intentionally long to avoid people seeing his whole body.
• Does not like to be touched
• Clicks mandibles when feeling threatened or uncomfortable
• Easy to anger, raises voice often
• Usually very tense and irritated from working too much
• Speaks using flowery, noble words, but does not overdo it or make it difficult for others to understand him

Notes:

• Has very powerful magic that he can wield in various forms, such as blasts of power, healing, and foresight. Becomes weak with intense overuse of magic.
• Skilled warrior that can use multiple types of weapons
• Has an extreme fear of his past mistakes and feels extremely guilty for failing Hallownest and the Vessels
• Refuses to accept he has been defeated by the Radiance or the void