King (Type-0)

King is a playable character in Final Fantasy Type-0 who also appears in Final Fantasy Agito and Final Fantasy Awakening. He represents the number 13 of Class Zero and wields dual handguns. He is a ranged fighter who needs to momentarily stop his assault to load his guns. King is taciturn and private, often staying in the sidelines during class gatherings.
==Profile==
===Appearance===
King has long blond slicked back hair ending in a mullet and red eyes. He wears the standard uniform of Class Zero, but his jacket is shorter and he never fastens it: a black jacket with gold-padded shoulders, a red cape, and white trousers. His summer uniform has a white short-sleeved shirt with a black print on the side and black trim on the ends of the sleeves, a black tie, red cape, black trousers and gloves and white shoes. His formal uniform has a red jacket with black-padded shoulders and cuffs, white cape and gloves and black trousers with silver decoration at the bottom. Should he ever become a l'Cie, his brand would be located on his back, just like Deuce's.
===Personality===
Although he appears cold, King has a kind heart. He trains every day and possesses a serious demeanor and strong common sense. He is rarely the one to speak first, letting the others to do the talking. According to the Type-0 novel, King wants to become a policeman when he leaves Class Zero.
==Story==
===Final Fantasy Agito===
King is a member of Class Ninth and dons a brown mantle.
He can be found in the Sixth Arms Research Institute during the morning, afternoon and evening.
===Final Fantasy Type-0===
A quiet child, King usually kept to himself. Dr. Arecia Al-Rashia of Akademeia's Sorcery Division detected great potential in him, and in 833 she adopted him and brought him to a development center near Akademeia to train him personally. King joined Class Zero, a group of students from the Akademeia, the magic academy of the nation of Rubrum, that fights the invasion by the Militesi Empire. As part of the resistance operation "Operation Apostle", King and his comrades seek to become the Agito, a messiah prophesied in ancient mythology to appear at the time of Tempus Finis, an apocalyptic calamity.
When Milites attacks Akademeia, Class Zero is deployed to take down the imperials' crystal jammers, saving the dominion. The class is officially enrolled, and as the cadets await to meet their commanding officer, King marvels at their classroom, as even if he had visited Akademeia with Mother he hadn't seen a proper classroom before. Two new cadets join the class, Machina Kunagiri and Rem Tokimiya, and after their first mission together, King is impressed with the duo's abilities.
If the cadets take the Code Crimson mission at Togoreth, they are sent to save the civilians who live at the stronghold, but find no survivors. King explains that because their land is barren and they lack many resources, the empire doesn't usually take prisoners, and thus they found even the children dead. When Machina theorizes the empire didn't deploy an Ultima Bomb on Rubrum because they want to make use of its prosperity, King confirms that Rubrum is rife with resources compared to the imperial lands.
After retrieving the classified documents on phantoma research from Togoreth in a top secret mission, King is about to eliminate a dominion queastor, saying the documents are classified even from him. The queastor pleads his case, saying he's the one who helped write the documents, and King has Mog check for the veracity of his claim. After confirming the man works for Sorcery Division's Phantoma Department, King lets him go.
After Togoreth has been obliterated in a clash between l'Cie, the cadets return to Academia to spend their free time until the next mission. Seven and King meet Mutsuki, who is paranoid they could be picking on her, puzzling the duo with the readiness she accuses them of bullying. After the cadets help liberate Iscah, King is happy to have Rem and Machina in their class, noting everyone seems to look up to the two, and admires they always rely on each other.
When the cadets are sent to sabotage the imperial magitek armor program they get orders to cease fire due to a newly wrought armistice mid-mission. Kurasame Susaya, the cadets' commanding officer, travels to the imperial capital as Chancellor Khalia Chival VI's aide and negotiates for the cadets' safety. Kurasame later explains the situation to them: the empire had proposed peace before the cadets' mission was underway, but they could not contact them in time to halt it. The cadets disagree with the treaty, positing that the empire has no right to ask for peace for being the initial aggressor. They meet Queen Andoria of the Kingdom of Concordia who explains that peace is the Will of the Crystals, and that the cadets' opposition would only lead to Tempus Finis. Yet, the cadets struggle accepting that what they have been fighting for is against the Crystal's will.
The cadets are free to explore the city of Ingram. King and Deuce talk to Aria, an orderly who supports the class, who seems too shy to even open her mouth. As the two encourage her to express herself, Aria reveals she is a talkative girl who had repressed her true nature due to her mother's instruction to not get on people's nerves. King becomes exasperated with her and suggests she continue heeding her mother's advice.
A Militesi trooper derides Nine and calls him the Vermilion Bird Crystal's lapdog, deeming the empire superior as they have harnessed their Crystal's power for their own use. Nine interprets the soldier's attitude as a challenge and draws out his spear. King steps in and derides the soldier's blind loyalty to the Militesi Marshal Cid Aulstyne, implying Cid had usurped the emperor. A confused Nine follows King as he directs them to leave the seething soldier alone, saying reasoning with lapdogs is impossible.
Queen Andoria is assassinated and the cadets are blamed for it. The class is ambushed at Hotel Armada and the cadets fight through the city to make their escape while unable to contact Central Command, indicating they had been left behind on purpose. They face off against Celestia, Queen Andoria's aide, who, at first, holds them culpable for the regicide. She is convinced otherwise and helps the cadets escape the city to a deserted house in the Old Lorica Region. King brings up the issue of them still being unable to contact Central Command. After an argument over Machina holding the rest of Class Zero culpable for his brother Izana's death, Machina marches off.
The cadets stay put overnight, King remaining optimistic they will find their way back to Mother in Akademeia, saying that sacrifices are par for the course and worrying about others is no use without looking after oneself first. He and Sice guard the exit to the woods until Seven and Nine relieve them of their duty. King asks if Queen is still worrying about Machina, leading to a discussion on him. King ponders how Machina found out about his brother, and Seven mentions she had seen him meet with the commandant back in Ingram, who probably told him. Machina returns in the morning, and the cadets can move on as Deuce exclaims the COMM is working and she has reached the dominion.
Kurasame organizes for the cadets to be rescued by airship. Back in Akademeia he explains there will likely be an investigation, and implies the cadets switched off their COMM to avoid being contacted. The cadets find the accusations ridiculous. As Nine raises his voice in frustration King stops the situation from escalating. King is positive no one truly believes they are the assassins, and only want to shift the blame.
After the cadets return from a mission to reclaim Eibon they assemble in the classroom to hear their next orders from Kurasame, but Machina has gone missing. Kurasame explains to the rest the upcoming battle plan against the joint Militesi-Concordian forces, as the new King of Concordia has allied with Cid Aulstyne of the empire. Class Zero is to be sent with the Vermilion Bird Primus l'Cie Lord Zhuyu to fight off the Concordian dragons with an airship fleet, while Kurasame will accompany the rest of Rubrum's legionaries, as well as Akademeia Agito Cadets and trainees, to the Militesi border for Vermilion Bird Secundus l'Cie Lady Caetuna to summon a Verboten Eidolon.
The cadets help Rubrum secure victory on the eastern front by defeating Shinryu Celestia. The western front is falling back and Class Zero is recalled as reinforcements to destroy the empire's crystal jammer allowing for Lady Caetuna to begin summoning Alexander for which Kurasame and the other cadets give their lives to complete the summoning. Alexander obliterates the Militesi forces, and Caetuna enters crystal stasis. Class Zero visits the numerous new graves in the Akademeia cemetery but cannot comprehend the losses as all memories of Kurasame as well as the others perished have been removed from them by the Vermilion Bird Crystal.
The cadetmaster visits the class and announces that due to its unique nature Class Zero is not assigned a new commanding officer. The cadets wonder who will give them mission orders now. Moglin, the class moogle, announces ze can take over the role of giving briefings. The cadets tease Moglin by ignoring hir and ponder if they can just rely on dominion tribunes and Central Command. Moglin gets depressed, but King and Deuce assure hir they were joking, and would be glad to have Moglin as their new "commander".
When Seven and Cinque ponder how they blow up a building without hurting those around it, Seven takes King to see Mutsuki who asks to see the building's blue prints and adjusts the explosives accordingly. Seven and King thank her, and, seeing their sincerity, Mutsuki promises to help if Class Zero ever needs her.
After the cadets help dominion invade Concordia, Deuce and King discuss their next move now that only the empire stands in the dominion's way of controlling all of Orience. Cater butts in to finish Deuce's sentence, shocking her. King comments the only way she could have known what Deuce was about to say, would be for her to have heard the conversation before. Cater worries over her déjà vu, but since Arecia had confirmed her health, Deuce affirms she must be fine.
As the final showdown against the empire and Cid Aulstyne begins, the class is sent to help conquer the imperial capital. As Class Zero is to be deployed Machina disappears. The others go without him and best Militesi General Qator Bashtar in his new and improved magitek armor. The empire falls and Orience is united under the Vermilion Bird banner, but as the cadets return to Akademeia they find its cadets and legionaries slain by the Rursan Reavers and the dominion commanders gone: Tempus Finis has begun.
Other cadets reveal the once Code Crimson missions, which Class Zero partook, making the remaining cadets turn against them, blaming them for the ensuing apocalypse. Rem's illness reaches its final stages and she collapses. As Jack tries to cheer everyone up by saying drowning in sadness never helped anyone, King rationalizes that cheering up won't help the situation either. Arecia tells the cadets have lived their lives according to the Will of Crystals recorded in the Akashic Records, but now that the "souls have been released" they can write their own ending, as humans have the power to decide how they live or die, hinting at a vital decision the cadets would soon need to make.
Queen calls everyone to the Altocrystarium room where she tells them about the Judge who resides in the newly appeared sanctuary, Pandæmonium, to make the Final Decision: if there is no Agito, the Rursus will destroy Orience. The cadets plan to infiltrate the sanctuary to speak to the Judge while knowing that without Arecia they will not be revived if they fall in battle, with the knowledge that Cid Aulstyne headed there before them.
Carla Ayatsugi, an entrepreneurial cadet who has joined Class Zero, becomes depressed, pondering if all of her endeavors have been meaningless. Cater and King cheer her up, reminding Carla that being part of Class Zero means never giving up, King commenting there are still things they can do. Knowing their time is running out, he wants to make the most of what they have left.
Celestia brings the class to Pandæmonium where only l'Cie are said to be able to set foot. King asks why she is helping them even if Class Zero had killed her son, but she feels the right thing to do is to defy the Will of the Azure Dragon Crystal even if her hatred for the class lingers. As punishment for her disobedience, she loses her humanity after asking for the cadets to make their choice wisely. As the cadets head to the top of the temple guided by Cid's voice, the Vermilion Bird Crystal asks them to become l'Cie. If they accept, the Rursus kill the cadets, Arecia deems it yet another failed experiment, and the world and, eventually, Class Zero, are reborn in wait for another Tempus Finis.
If they choose to remain mortal, the Vermilion Bird brands Rem, still slumped in Arecia's office back in Akademeia, in their stead, and sends her to intercept a White Tiger l'Cie it had sensed in Pandæmonium, wanting one of the Vermilion Bird to become Agito. As Rem engages the l'Cie she is impaled by his rapier, and it turns out the l'Cie was Machina who had willingly inherited White Tiger Secundus l'Cie Qun'mi Tru'e's Focus to become strong enough to protect Rem. As Rem dies, both enter crystal stasis, the cadets mourning the sight when they happen upon their crystal.
The cadets face off against Cid who has become the Rursan Arbiter, possessed by the fal'Cie Gala. He deems Class Zero unfit to be Agito, and thus sets out to destroy Orience. Machina and Rem's crystal bestows the cadets with power, allowing them to prevail, but like the rest of Class Zero, King meets his end after they vanquish the Judge. At first the cadets despair their fate, but then talk about all the things they would have done had they lived past the war.
The mysterious Tiz and Joker, who had been observing the class's progress, ask for Arecia to listen to the class's wishes from beyond the grave. By listening to their souls Arecia learns the class loves her, but have made their own decision on how they met their end and do not wish to be revived. Arecia releases Machina and Rem from crystal stasis and instead of restarting the spiral, departs from Orience, abandoning the experiment to find Etro's gate with the Agito. The Crystals fade and people are allowed to remember the dead, Machina and Rem holding dear the memories of Class Zero.
In the alternate ending where Arecia removes the Crystals from Orience's history, King lives at the peristylium and plays bass guitar in a band with Trey and Jack. He and Trey skip practice to the annoyance of Jack, telling him that they are already playing the music in their hearts. Jack follows them, and they pass by Deuce, Cinque, and Queen.
==Gameplay==
===Final Fantasy Type-0===
King wields dual handguns in battle. Compared to fellow ranged characters, King's shots lacks the homing capabilities that Ace and Cater have, but he attacks faster and with further range. He needs to reload when depleted of ammo to continue firing, leaving him vulnerable while doing so. His Hi-Cap Magazine skills increase his ammo capacity and minimize the amount of times he has to reload in battle. Compared to the other ranged characters, King is better equipped to handle close-quarters combat, with a powerful kick attack that can also be used while reloading. King also accesses skills, such as Magazine Blast and Point-Blank Shot, that allow him to deal massive damage to any enemies that get too close. His dual handguns allow him to rapidly fire shots, making King useful in taking out multiple enemies at a ranged distance. Although King's overall movement is slower than Ace and Cater, he can lightly cancel moves by dodging, and use a close ranged kick that can be used in succession.
King's biggest weakness is his stats, which are generally poor except in HP and Attack where he is average. Considering that he has the lowest defense in Class Zero, it is important to augment King with accessories that will improve his survivability. King is a poor magic user, with the lowest affinity for Flame Magic and Defense Magic. His MP is best suited for a support skill, such as Avoid, as King is not a useful healer.
===Final Fantasy Awakening===
King retains his moves and his battle style becomes a "western style" to shoot similar to a cowboy standoff. He can hit his opponent multiple times for one attack when he shoots both of his guns. His strongest skill is to raise his attack power to deal heavy damage. He is considered as a weak character as the player progresses, and like both Ace and Qator, he has a disadvantage when directly attacked by his opponent.
==Other appearances==
King has appeared in the following games throughout the Final Fantasy series:
*Final Fantasy Type-0 HD Twitter Battle as a playable character.
*Dissidia Final Fantasy Opera Omnia as a playable character.
*Pictlogica Final Fantasy as a playable character.
*Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade as a Legend and a playable character.
*Final Fantasy Artniks as a series of cards.
*Final Fantasy Record Keeper as a playable character.
*Final Fantasy Brave Exvius as a summonable vision.
*Final Fantasy Trading Card Game as a series of cards.
*Triple Triad as a series of cards.
==Behind the scenes==
The Final Fantasy Type-0 art book mentions that manly characters like Nine and King are popular among the female gamers, contributing to their high rankings in the popularity contest.
The cutscene featuring Carla, Cater, and King in Chapter 8 is titled "The Melancholy of Carla Ayatsugi", referring to the anime series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, which featured their Japanese voice actors, Aya Hirano, Minori Chihara, and Tomokazu Sugita, respectively.
===Voice===
In Final Fantasy Type-0, King is voiced by Tomokazu Sugita in the Japanese version.
He is voiced by Mike Vaughn in the English version.
==Gallery==
;Final Fantasy Type-0
FFType0-KingRender.png|Alternate CG render.
King-type0-psp-model.png|Model of regular uniform.
King-type0-psp-model-summer.png|Model of summer uniform.
King-type0-psp-model-dress.png|Model of dress uniform.
FFTYPE0_KING_NINE.jpg|King speaking with Nine.
King summer costume.png|Gameplay in summer costume.
FFT-0_King_L'Cie.png|King becomes a l'Cie.
FFT-0 King.png|King during the ending.
FFT-0 King2.png|King and other members of Class Zero during the ending.
FFT-0 King Manga.png|King in the manga.
Trey_And_King_Decide_To_Skip_Practice.jpg|King and Trey during alternate ending.
FFT-0_Virtual_World_King's Handguns.png|An avatar with King's handguns from the Square Enix Members Virtual World.
Sice-King-Trey-Battle.jpg|Sice, King, and Trey in battle.
FFType-0 King Sice Trey Battle.jpg|Sice, King, and Trey in battle.
Ff Type0 rem king jack.jpg|Rem, King, and Jack in battle.
;Final Fantasy Agito
FFAgito-KingRender.jpg|Render.
FFAgito King Close-up.png|Close-up.
FFAgito King2.png|In-game render.
FFAgito King SS.png|Screenshot of King.
==Etymology and symbolism==
The "King" is one of the cards in a suit of a traditional set of playing cards (called trumps in Japan).
By the prophecy of the Nameless Tome, King bears the Power of Judgment. The ability to bring correct judgment is considered demanding, requiring patience, wisdom, and moral understanding. Close-range gun fighting is considered one of the more dangerous and demanding methods of combat to master, as within its skirmishes are many wild variables to keep track of. This is reflected in King being one of the lesser ranged projectile-based characters who is also equipped for close-range fighting.
King's attributes as the lowest stat based character of Class Zero and use of weapons not allusive or evocative of Buddhist imagery hearken instead to Buddhist beliefs that it is up to oneself to realize their own enlightenment, and regardless of physical ability or birth given attributes one is able cultivate their own skillfulness and make something of themselves in the world. His use of more realistic weaponry further draws upon the perspective that humans are considered the most able to realize enlightenment, and regardless of what is attuned with Buddhist in the material and defining sense, all ways are possible to realize enlightenment.
==Citations==
de:King
es:King
fr:King
pt-br:King (Type-0)
ru:Кинг (Type-0)
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy Type-0
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy Agito
Category:Gunners
Category:L'Cie
Category:Characters in Final Fantasy Awakening