The King

The King is an Elvis impersonator who leads a gang called the "Kings," operating out of the School of Impersonation located in southern Freeside in 2281.
==Background==
Born in the mid-2240s, The King grew up as a member of a small tribe in what would become Freeside, before the three largest and powerful tribes (later known as the Three Families) were united and brought to power by Mr. House.The Courier: "What can you tell me about Freeside?"The King: "To understand Freeside, you have to look back a few years. Originally, we were all just tribes making a living in this area. That all changed when Mr. House came around. He made an offer to the three biggest tribes that were willing to listen to him. Today, everyone calls those tribes the Three Families, and they live in luxury and run their own casinos in the Strip. The rest of us were left to fight over the crumbs, living in the shadow of those more fortunate. Things got pretty nasty for a while. But we wanted more. A place of our own. A place where no one could tell us what to do. And we didn't want to go elsewhere to find it. So we took control of this place, and made it our own. And that's really all Freeside is, the best of a bad situation."(The King's dialogue) Pushed out of The Strip, The King and his tribe attempted to make the most out of what they have been given. The King and his tribe took control of Freeside and created a relatively orderly town out of the multitude of warring gangs and tribes. The King himself admits Freeside is not much in comparison but is simply "the best of a bad situation". They later took up residence in an old Elvis impersonation school. They believed it to be a place of worship due to the posters and holotapes all of one man, whose real name could not be found, but was only known as "The King."The Courier: "This building is... interesting. What do you know about it?"The King: "Near as I can tell, it was some sort of religious institution. Oh, I know it says "school" out front, but everything in here seems to be related to the worship of some guy from back in the day. People used to come here to learn about him, to dress like him, move like him. To {stressed} be him. If that's not worship, I don't know what is."(The King's dialogue) In the upper levels of the school, they found outfits that the original King would wear and vast amounts of hair gel. The King took to school and the outfit quickly, styling himself as the King who was the big boss man of the Kings.The Courier: "Is that what you guys do, pretend to be this guy?"The King: "Somethin' like that, yeah. There were some working tapes here when we first got here, so we know what he sounded like. Sadly, they stopped working a few years back, so I sold them to a junk merchant who was passing through, otherwise I'd play some for you. All the outfits you see my guy wearing around were originally found in here, too. Along with more hair gel than you can shake a stick at.(The King's dialogue)
Unlike other gangs in the Mojave Wasteland, the Kings are built on respect and do not look for their next fight or skirmish. Instead, the Kings are staunch anarchists that believe in complete personal freedom and that "every man is a king in [their] own right."The Courier: "Tell me about the Kings."The King: "We're different than other gangs, and not just because we dress better. We're not just a group of thugs looking for our next fight. The Kings are about an idea, you see? Where every man is free to follow his own path, do his own thing. Where every man is a king in his own right."(The King's dialogue) If that freedom means rampant violence in the streets, so be it. The King, and by extension the Kings, see that he has no right to trample on the freedoms of others to uphold peace.The Courier: "The violence needs to stop."The Kings: "And whose job is it to stop it? Yours? Mine? Who are we to tell people what to do? No man has that right."(The King's dialogue) But the King has not taken into account his eventual death and has no contingency to keep the tenuous freedom Freeside enjoys.The Courier: "And when you're dead? What will happen to their freedom then?"The King: "[SUCCEEDED] Honestly, I hadn't thought it through that far. I'd guess someone would come and take over this place. And you can be damn sure they won't run it like the King, baby. They might run everyone out, or enslave them, or worse. I guess I have no choice. Tell your NCR masters that I accept their terms. I'll see that violence against their people is dealt with. Now take these fools and get out of here before they start a riot."(The King's dialogue)
===Relationships===
The King's righthand man is Pacer, a childhood friend who sometimes tends to undermine his peaceful intentions. The Kings largely lets him do as he pleases unabated; tolerating his unscrupulous and violent tendencies towards strangers and squatters.The Courier: "What can you tell me about Pacer?"The Kings: "Pace? He and I grew up together around here. We've been through a lot together, and there's no man I'd rather have at my side in a pinch. Don't judge him too harshly for trying to get some caps out of you. He probably took you for a squatter, looking for a place to settle down. There've been a lot of people moving into the area lately, and it's got some people riled. Can't blame 'em myself. There's only so much to go around."(The King's dialogue) Besides his close friends, The Kings also keeps two groupies closer. When not loving them tender every night in his heart-shaped bed, The King goes on date nights with both of them to the Strip to visit the casinos.King groupie: "The King promised to take us out tonight. I simply adore going to the Tops!""I want to go to the Strip! We never get to go to Gomorrah anymore!"(VFSKingGroupie01.txt and VFSKingGroupie02.txt)
The King also owns a cyberdog named Rex that he bought from a prospector a few years ago. Rex has always been nothing but a cyberhound, but The King has become concerned for Rex as his brain is beginning to degrade, and hopes that traveling with the Courier will allow him to get the help he needs and give him a little more bite and a little less bark.The Courier: "Where did you get the robot dog?"The King: "I got Rex here from a salvager a few years ago. He was a little dinged up when I got him, but one of the Followers fixed him right up."The Courier: "Is there something wrong with him?"The King: "He's been acting peculiar for some time now. I took him to the Followers and had him checked out, and they said his brain is bad or something."The Courier: "He doesn't seem very happy."The King: "He goes through spells like this from time to time. The Followers said his brain is going bad or something."The Courier: "Can they do anything?"The King: "No, they said they don't have the tools to help him."The Courier: "Is he going to be okay?"The Kings: "For now, but they said eventually he's going to get worse. I don't know what to do."The Courier: "Can I help somehow?"The Kings: "I don't know. Maybe. If you found a way to help my poor Rex here, I'd be much obliged. Your best bet would be to talk to Julie Farkas over at the Old Mormon Fort north of here. Maybe you'll have better luck than I did."(The King's dialogue)
==Interactions with the player character==
===Interactions overview===
===Quests===
* G.I. Blues: The King asks the Courier to do various tasks to help his organization and Freeside, like dealing with Orris and problems with the NCR.
* Nothin' But a Hound Dog: After finding out that Rex can be helped with his brain difficulties, The King asks if the Courier will take Rex to Jacobstown to see Dr. Henry.
* Kings' Gambit: Ambassador Crocker wants The King to cease hostilities with the NCR. The King can be bargained with to achieve this.
==Inventory==
==Notes==
* Killing the King's friends Pacer, Roy, Wayne, or Farris results in only one option of dialogue for the Courier, "I was hoping to get some work..." and only one answer from The King: "I had some... But my close friend was whacked/some friends of mine got whacked..." After that, the Courier cannot get any quests but can get Rex as a companion. (To get to The King's quests type in the console: , then enter and finally click Pacer's body with the console still opened and enter and repeat the process for any others in the list it applies to.)
* The King can be found either in the theater or in his room on the 3rd floor.
* Sleeping in The King's bed grants the Well Rested bonus, despite it not being an owned bed.
* Killing The King results in Mr. New Vegas attributing the action to the NCR, and NCR troopers will comment on defeating a gang in Freeside.
* The King is one of the characters that the player character must eat in order to earn the Meat of Champions perk.
* The King, Old Ben and Santiago permanently smile, even in combat.
* The King is noted to be "extremely charismatic" by Ambassador Crocker, who also reveals that the man is in his mid-30's. However, despite Crocker's description, his Charisma is only 5.
* Due to being both the founder of, and one of the two oldest members of the Kings gang, The King and Pacer are the only ones who know how to put on the voice of their idol, the "King", having learned from an old set of holotapes previously stored in the School of Impersonation before they were rendered non-functional and sold off.
*A height modifier of 1.05 makes The King almost 6'4" (1.92m) tall, making him one of the tallest human NPCs in the game along with Pacer. Only Jean-Baptiste Cutting and Lanius are taller. 
==Appearances==
The King appears only .
==Behind the scenes==
* The King's script was designed by Jesse Farrell, who also wrote the character.J.E. Sawyer on Tumblr: "Jesse Farrell wrote the King, Pacer, a bunch of other Freeside and BoS folks (Hardin, McNamara). Jesse handled the setup of Rex, but I believe Jeff Husges did Rex's brain quest."
* The King is based on Elvis Presley, who performed extensively in Las Vegas. His name in and of itself is a reference, as Presley was referred to as "The King of Rock and Roll," or simply, "The King."
* The name of The King's headquarters, King's School of Impersonation, is a reference to the phenomenon of Elvis impersonation. 
* In their headquarters, several subtle references can be found, such as chalkboards instructing those mimicking Elvis to eat peanut butter and banana sandwiches, a favorite of Elvis and known as an "Elvis" sandwich. The chalkboards include other traits of Elvis, including gyrating hips and several phrases commonly attributed to him. 
* At the end of G.I. Blues, when talking to The King, he says "Thank you, thank you very much." in response to helping Pacer with the NCR. This phrase was commonly said by Elvis.
* Several references in the game refer to the names of Elvis songs:
** The King is quoted by Mr. New Vegas as calling NCR refugees "the devil in disguise" and that he doesn't want to see NCR "in the ghetto" and calling for a mass "return to sender" - all of which are songs by Elvis.
** Upon resolving the conflict with the NCR, The King mentions that he would like to see "A little more talkin' and a little less fightin'." This is an Elvis reference to the famous line "A little less conversation, a little more action" from the song "A Little Less Conversation."
** A brief voice clip of The King can be heard on Radio New Vegas if the Courier convinces the King to side with the NCR after the conclusion of G.I. Blues. He says, "I feel so bad, I think it's time we reconsidered, baby." Both "I Feel So Bad" and "Reconsider Baby" are songs by Elvis Presley.
** The King sometimes refers to the NCR as "soldier boys," a reference to the Elvis song, "Soldier Boy."
** Quests involving The King including "G.I. Blues" and "Nothin' But a Hound Dog" are based on Elvis song and movie titles.
** When The King introduces Rex to the Courier, he says that he is "All shook up" about Rex's condition. "All Shook Up" is yet another Elvis song.
* Originally, the developers had planned a romance option with Cass where the Courier would challenge her to a drinking contest, resulting in both of them getting blackout drunk, and then waking up next morning and discover they had inadvertendly gotten married during the night in a ceremony with The King as the officiator. Provided the player had enough good reputation with his gang, The King would sing "Love Me Tender." However obtaining performance rights to an Elvis song proved too costly, and Chris Avellone was against romance in games in general.Jason Bergman on Bethesda Forums
==Bugs==
 If one speaks to The King about joining the Kings before the completion of his quest Nothin' But a Hound Dog, he might decline. Returning later after completing it, the option will not be reopened, (unless The King owes you a favor which is earned in another mission) and it will be thereafter impossible to join the King's gang. It is uncertain if this is a bug or intentional.
==Gallery==
File:The King Front.png|The King Collector's Edition playing card
==References==
Non-game
Category:Fallout: New Vegas human characters
Category:Collector's Edition playing card characters
Category:Freeside characters
Category:Kings characters
de:Der King
es:El Rey
it:Il Re
pl:Król
ru:Король (Fallout: New Vegas)
uk:Король
zh:貓王