King of the Dead

The King of the Dead, originally "King of the Mountains", was the king of the Dead Men of Dunharrow in Dwimorberg, and before that had been a living man. His spirit resided along with those of his kin in the Paths of the Dead.
==Biography==
In the later years of the Second Age, he and his men also served and worshiped Sauron, until he and his people swore allegiance to the realm of Gondor upon the Stone of Erech. Isildur was the King of Gondor at that time. The King of the Dead made an oath to fight on Isildur's side when needed, but when that moment of need arrived in the War of the Last Alliance he did not come. Isildur cursed the King of the Dead and his people. As a result, the King of the Dead and his people could not rest until their oath was fulfilled. 
In the late Third Age, the king and his people joined with Aragorn and the Grey Company during the War of the Ring, after Aragorn passed through Dwimorberg and summoned them at the Stone of Erech.The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Five, Ch. II: "The Passing of the Grey Company" The Dead Men of Dunharrow then followed Aragorn to Pelargir, where they defeated the Corsairs of Umbar. Aragorn, as Heir of Isildur, subsequently declared the oath of the Dead Men as fulfilled. Upon hearing this, the king broke his spear and threw it aside then bowed to Aragorn, turned away, and with the rest of his people "vanished like a mist that is driven back by a sudden wind," never to be seen again.The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Five, Ch. IX: "The Last Debate"
==In adaptations==
===The Lord of the Rings film trilogy===
In The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, several details are changed from the book. This king first appears to Aragorn as a quick vision when he is looking at the Dimholt road. He later manifests to Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli when they are taking the Paths of the Dead. He spars briefly with Aragorn, resisting Aragorn's authority at first but later agreeing to fight. The king and his army attack the Corsairs, preventing them from entering Gondor, after which they accompany Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli to Minas Tirith. To complete the oath he helped defend Minas Tirith when it was under attack by an army of Orcs and Trolls and their leader the Witch-king of Angmar. After the battle the curse was broken by Aragorn, putting the Oathbreakers at rest.
===Voice dubbing actors===
Foreign Language 	Voice dubbing artist
Spanish (Latin America) 	Gonzalo Curiel
Spanish (Spain) 	Gonzalo Dúran
Portuguese (Brazil) (Television/DVD)	Wellington Lima
German 	Jürgen Jung
Czech 	Bedřich Šetena
Italian (Italy) 	Nino Prester
French (France) 	François Siener
===Video games===
In the console versions of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King video game (for instance, the PlayStation 2 version), he is the first boss on Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli's path. Other than wielding a large sword, he uses sorcery to create blasts of wind called "Wind of the Mountain", and chants spells to summon his undead army including undead archers and swordsmen. If one listens closely, it appears and sounds as if he is reciting part of the first line of the inscription on the One Ring, specifically "Ash nazg durbatulûk". He was voiced by Jairon Monroe.
In the Game Boy Advance version of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, he is again a boss fought in the Paths of the Dead and battles Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli under similar circumstances as the console version. Differences from the console version are that his Wind of the Mountain power is limited though his undead soldiers are stronger, and he is confronted by all three of the companions at once whereas only the player character faces him in the console version. Later he appears at Pellenor Fields emerging from the ships after the player has slain the orc commander at the port and orders his army to charge.
In the console versions of The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, he appears briefly during the final skirmishes of the game at Pelennor Fields wherein Aragorn has temporarily joined the player's party and is able to direct the army of the dead to charge into all enemies in the party's way. This is one of the strongest attacks in the game, though only made available to the player for a short amount of time.
The King of the Dead appears as a non-playable character in The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest. In the Wii and PS3 versions, he appears in the penultimate story level and is fought as an optional boss in the Shire overworld, after that level is completed. This optional boss fight is the culmination of a particular Side Quest where Frodo Gamgee goes into Mushroom Woods to re-enact Aragorn's journey into the Path of the Dead to recruit the Armies of the Dead, fighting him and his men along the way to convince them to join him to save Minas Tirith.
In The Lord of the Rings Online, the King of the Dead is named Rioc. Although his men were unwilling to fight Sauron because they had worshiped him, his excuse for not honoring the oath given to Isildur was because his daughter Bravantel had an out-of-wedlock child with one of his Númenórean warriors. He leads his people after joining Aragorn's host and is freed after the liberation of Pelargir.
In The Third Age: Total War (Medieval II Total War modification) submod DCI: Last Alliance, the King of the Dead is named Zarazir. His faction, the Men of the Mountains, can either join in an alliance with Islidur's or Sauron's factions, or can go their own route and conquer both the Númenóreans and Mordor.
In LEGO The Lord of the Rings: The Video Game, the King of the Dead is a boss that the players have to fight in the Paths of the dead story mission.
== Gallery ==
File:Lego lotr king of the dead.PNG|LEGO King of the Dead
File:The Lord of the Rings Online - King of the Dead.jpg|King Rioc before his curse, in The Lord of the Rings Online
File:King Zarazir (The King of the Dead).JPG|King Zarazir (King of the Dead) in the Second Age, from DCI: Last Alliance''
File:The Lord of the Dead - LOTR The Card Game.JPG| The King of the Dead in The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, The Stone of Erech Standalone Scenario
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Die Koning van die Dood
Albanian 	Mbreti i të Vdekurve
Amharic 	የሙታን ንጉሥ
Arabic 	ملك الأموا
Armenian 	Թագաւորը մեռելներուն
Belarusian Cyrillic	Кароль Мёртвых
Bengali 	মৃত রাজা ?
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Краля на мъртвите
Burmese 	လူသေ၏ဘုရင်
Cambodian 	ស្ដេចនៃការស្លាប់
Catalan 	El Rei dels Morts
Chinese (Hong Kong)	亡靈之王
Croatian 	Kralj mrtvih
Czech 	Král mrtvých
Danish 	Kongen af Døde
Dutch 	De Koning van de Doden
Estonian 	Kuningas surnud
Fijian 	Na tui mai na mate
Finnish 	Kuningas kuollut
French 	Le Roi des Morts
Frisian 	De kening fan 'e Deaden
Galician 	O Rei dos Mortos
German 	König der Toten
Greek 	Ο βασιλιάς των νεκρών
Gujarati 	ડેડ ઓફ કિંગ
Hebrew 	המלך המת
Hindi 	मृत के राजा
Hmong 	Tus huab tais ntawm cov neeg tuag
Hungarian 	A halottak királya
Icelandic 	Konungur af Dauðum
Igbo 	Eze nke ndị nwụrụ Anwụ
Indonesian 	Raja Kematian
Irish Gaelic 	An Rí na Marbh
Italian 	Il Re dei Morti
Japanese 	死者の王
Javanese 	Raja Mati
Kannada 	ಸತ್ತ ರಾಜ
Kazakh Cyrillic 	Өлгендердің патшасы
Korean 	죽은 자의 왕
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	өлгөндөрдүн Кинг
Laotian 	ກະສັດຄົນຕາຍ
Latin 	Rex mortuorum
Latvian 	Karalis mirušo
Lithuanian 	Mirusiųjų karalius
Luxembourgish 	D'Kinnek vun den Doudegen
Macedonian Cyrillic	Кралот на мртвите
Malay 	Raja yang Mati
Malayalam 	ഡെഡ് രാജാവ്
Marathi 	मृत राजा
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Үхсэн хаан
Norwegian 	Kongen av Døde
Nepalese 	मृत राजा
Pashto 	د وژل پاچا
Persian 	پادشاه مرده
Polish 	Król Umarłych
Portuguese 	O Rei dos Mortos
Punjabi 	ਮਰਿਆ ਰਾਜਾ
Romanian 	Regele Morţilor
Scottish Gaelic 	Tha righ de na Marbh
Serbian 	Краљ мртвих (Cyrillic) Kralj od Mrtvih (Latin)
Sinhalese 	මළ රජු
Sindhi 	مردار جو بادشاهه
Slovenian 	Kralj mrtvih
Somalian 	Markaasaa boqorkii dalka Dhimatay
Spanish 	Rey de los Muertos
Swahili 	Mfalme wa Wafu
Swedish 	Kungen av Döda
Tajik Cyrillic 	Подшоҳи мурдагон
Tamil 	டெட் கிங்
Telugu 	కింగ్ ఆఫ్ ది డెడ్
Thai 	ราชาแห่งความตาย
Turkish 	Ölüler Kralı
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	король Мертвих
Urdu 	مردار کے بادشاہ
Uzbek 	Ўлик Қироли (Cyrillic) O'lik Qiroli (Latin)
Vietnamese 	Vị vua của cái Chết
Welsh 	Brenin y Meirw
Xhosa 	UKumkani Abafileyo
Yiddish 	דער מלך פון די דעד
Yoruba 	Ọba Òkú
==References==
de:König der Toten
es:Rey de los Muertos
it:Re dei Morti
pl:Król Umarłych
ru:Король Мёртвых
Category:Kings
Category:The Return of the King (film) characters
Category:Minor characters (The Lord of the Rings)
Category:Servants of Sauron
Category:Undead apparitions