King of Despair

The **King of Despair** (絶望王, *Zetsubō-ō*), is one of the Thirteen Kings and the main antagonist in the anime. Since the first Great Collapse, he shares a body with Black.

## Appearance

The King of Despair wears a long overcoat and has messy, pushed back hair. His eyes are blood red.

## Personality

The King of Despair is laid back, cunning, and has little respect for others.

## Plot

He first appears at the end of Episode 1 spying on Leonardo Watch at a crushed Dianne's Diner. Several days later, in Episode 4, he approaches Leo again on the subway, talking with him about the population within Hellsalem's Lot while also warning him about the Blood Breed. He seems to be acquainted with The King of Depravity.

At the end of Episode 7, The King of Despair is seen donning a blue overcoat as he walks into Femt's hall, shouting at the other ghouls that it's now his turn. He mentions that it's his turn to bring about the Great Collapse, as he's found "it".

The King of Despair was present during the first Great Collapse, appearing as a mysterious being cloaked in flame. William and Mary are seen in front of him and William refuses to let him take over his sister. Instead he offers his body to save and protect his sister from being possessed, thus accepting The King of Despair.

After having White lure Leonardo to the church, she places a device over his eyes in hopes that she will get her brother back. The King of Despair is seen dragging Leonardo down into the other world after being knocked out by the device on his eyes. He uses the device on Leonardo's eyes to destroy a seal, setting off explosions in Hellsalem's Lot in the process.

At the end of the episode, inside the same church, he is seen sitting next to an unconscious White. He then proceeds to point a gun at her chest and shoots. However it is not shown that Mary took the bullet to the chest and died.

In Episode 12, The King of Despair is seen waking up after killing White. He is visited by Femt, and King of Despair is told that Leo should be on his way, to which he replies bitterly "You let him go." Femt then goes to speak about the King of Despair's past, stating he's gone by many names in the past while forced to simply watch as history repeated itself over and over. As Hellsalem's Lot begins tearing itself up, The King of Despair is seen sitting at the alter of the church humming as he waits for someone. Klaus Von Reinherz appears before him and asks what will happen to Black after this is all done. He says he hasn't given up on Black, and when Klaus holds him up by his neck, King of Despair is seen telling Klaus mockingly to save him from himself.

When Leo appears midst of their fight, The King of Despair denies the claims that they all had over him, telling both Leo and Klaus that William had willingly accepted him but is interrupted by Leo, who says even if that's true he can still see Black. Through Leo's broken vision, he can see Black standing behind King of Despair crying while saying he doesn't want to die, but wants to live. When Leo forces his eyesight upon King of Despair, he pushes Leo away angrily while telling Black to go back to sleep. As a ghostly version of White walks up to him, Black's body soon gives out and he passes out. When Black wakes up, White is laying her head on his chest and he asks her what she's doing, to which she replies she was simply checking if he was still alive or not. White offers herself to be used as a sacrifice in order to complete the seal, and Black begins crying saying he cannot live without her as a life without her is no life at all.

When she convinces him of what they must do, he agrees with tears in his eyes. White effectively banishes King of Despair from Black, but also becomes a part of the seal that protects the city. Black is shown watching Leo cry from a distance, talking to White as if she were still there. He calls Leo their hero, commenting on how he looked brave even while crying.

In the credit scene, there was a man walking through the street, whistling the same melody as The King of Despair once did when he inhabited Black's body, hinting that the members of Libra haven't seen the last of him.

## Power & Abilities

King of Despair is shown to be much more powerful than Black, and more in control of his power. His power makes him able to kill without even a single touch, as well as able to move masses of rubble ten times his body size.

He was able to go toe-to-toe with Klaus Von Reinherz, the leader of Libra, and eventually defeat him in combat with relative ease, further showcasing The King of Despair's control with Black's psychic powers.

## Trivia

* He shares the same seiyū as Black and White.
* He is an anime-only character.
* According to Femt he has been given many names by humanity such as "The Fallen", "Blue", "The Devil", "The King Of Despair" and "Watchman". However, his true name remains unknown.