Mr. King

**Mr. King** is an anthropomorphic male hippopotamus and the promoter/organizer of the Rimba Grand Prix, having once been a racer himself.

## Official Description

"Seemingly in possession of unlimited riches, Mr. King is the wealthy and refined benefactor of the Rimba Grand Prix. His charisma, generosity and booming voice have made him popular among the public eye and he is well known for his welcoming nature towards newcomers to the game.

With his acute business skills and media-savvy swagger, Mr. King has no problem delivering an exciting RGP event every year."

## History

### Racer turned figurehead

Before the RGP was organized, King was a racer who competed against Riq, always losing out to the skillful tiger. Despite this, their relationship seems to have been friendly, with the two often joking about their competitiveness. However, King was willing to take part in making racing a lucrative, if unethical, business, and thus accepted an offer to become head of the RGP. He also convinced Miles to sabotage Riq's car in hopes of keeping him racing, though in reality he was acting on orders from the Ringmasters.

Recognizing that Miles wouldn't go as far as they wanted, he informed Smythe, who determined to see Riq eliminated over King's weak objections. In the thirteen years following Riq's apparent death at Pinewood Reservoir, King became built up as the head of the RGP and its most powerful official. He established a team to help insure the outcome of races, with recent years seeing Axle as his chosen and groomed champion. Despite his wealth and power, King wasn't above keeping leverage on his employers, with their true identities being recorded on his black box at RGP Headquarters.

### RGP XIII

In "The New Guy", King announced the RGP XIII, and later conferred with his aide Ms. Torres regarding ratings, downplaying Torres' disparagement of rookies Cuckoo and Ooaa. King's attention was caught by her selection of Tag as the final racer, and he noted that Tag seemed "familiar". In "Welcome To The Big Time", King joined Becks and Beaks in their newsroom, and explained the rules of the race at Desert Rose speed track. Later, he honored Tag's second-place finish, only to receive a glare from his old acquaintance Miles.

In "Playing With Fire", King appeared briefly in the Ark lounge with Torres and his guards, but departed before Tag could talk to him about his Jump Jump Power Drink ad. Later, the veteran racers came to King's office to express outrage about an attack on Tag, with Miles coming to express his own distaste. After dismissing the racers, King assured Miles that they were looking into matters, though he made a comment about Miles' racers having suffered misfortune before. Following an event at Highland Air Race Track, King was seen hanging up his phone and watching footage of both Tag and Riq, having evidently recognized the similarities between their driving styles.

## Personality

In his younger days, King seems to have been fairly amiable, showing no hostility or ill will towards fellow racer Riq. However, he clearly lacked Riq's moral code, willingly entering into shady dealings with the Ringmasters despite recognizing the illegality of what they proposed. He went so far as to convince Miles to sabotage Riq, and only offered weak objections when Smythe announced his intent to see Riq dead. King further seems to have put any guilt about his knowledge of Riq's ill fortune behind him, showing no remorse.

King puts a lot of effort into passing himself as a suave, charming, and amiable old racer turned race promoter. He often tries to make jokes, though his pun-based sense of humor leaves something to be desired. King also does his best to appear outwardly concerned about RGP competitors and their safety. He even tries to get Torres, his serious right-hand rabbit, to be more optimistic.

Beneath the surface and in private, however, King is a dangerously manipulative individual intent on getting his way, regardless of who gets hurt in the process. His coldness goes so far as accusing Miles of causing Riq's apparent death, when King is fully aware of the actual party responsible. Though he flatters those racers whom he seeks to have working for him, he is not above threatening to end their careers or worse if they fail to carry out the tasks he assigns to them. He also has little regard for their personal preferences, ordering Axle and Tamira to take part in interviews.

King's domineering streak extends towards those racers who don't answer to him, as he is willing to sabotage them through any means to achieve his victory. He is also perfectly willing to exploit tragedy for the sake of ratings, demonstrated by his running ads about Riq before the RGP XIII race at Pinewood and about Sonny after he ended up in a coma due to King's own orders. Far from being ashamed, he has also demonstrated a willingness to use intimidation to get his way, even threatening a recovering Sonny in an effort to get him to pin blame on Tag for his accident.

Though King possesses great resources, he is not himself very technically skilled, often relying on simple devices or Ms. Torres help for various tasks. Though manipulative, he can be taken by surprise, with Tamira deceiving him and Tag throwing him off balance. When frustrated, King becomes angry and volatile, and his first impulse is to do whatever he can to tear down those who have thwarted him. However, he is not above listening to reason, particularly from Torres, and is in all things subordinate to the will of the Ringmasters.

## Appearance

King is a large humanoid, more massive than Tag and seeming closer to a real world hippopotamus. He has gray skin and blue eyes, and a mouth full of large white teeth. As RGP organizer, King wears a white pinstripe suit over a black shirt, a blue vest, and a red tie with the letter K printed on it. As a racer, King wore an Elvis Presley-type white jumpsuit with various sparkles and sequins, complete with a high collar.

The neckline of this suit sloped down to reveal a black top and a purple ascot clasped with a medallion bearing King's crown logo. Patches matching the ascot were present on his his pants, turned up shirt cuffs, and either shoulder; the latter were connected by gold arches that went down the front of his chest. His belt or waistband was also decorated with a gold buckle, and he wore white shoes with elevated heels. King's helmet was white with black stripes along the top and gold decoration; he also sported a black mustache and goatee.

## Relationships

### Ringmasters

As the real heads of the RGP, the Ringmasters are King's secretive employers, having him serve as their public face. Though his wealth and power can be attributed to them, King is fearful of his bosses and at times resentful of their authority, particularly during RGP XIV. He went so far as to record their actual identities on his black box to give himself leverage against them, though its theft and Meika's actions prevented him from using it. He makes every effort to placate his employers, though he is apparently not above opposing those they place over him.

## Trivia

* According to the trivia section of his Rimba Racer character page:
	+ "King always keeps two mobile phones – one for business, and one for personal calls."
	+ "The display cases in King's office are filled with trophies from his old racing career."
	+ "King has been the sole organiser of Rimba Grand Prix for the past 13 years."
	+ "King is also a philanthropist – he frequently makes appearances at fundraising events."
	+ "King has a taste for well-tailored suits. His entire wardrobe is custom-made for him."
	+ "King makes it a point to keep in frequent contact with his fellow retired racers."
	+ "King's design is based on the common hippopotamus."
	+ "Outside the RGP, King owns several other businesses."
	+ "King keeps himself updated with the going-ons in the Ark through his personal assistant, Torres."
	+ "King is known to throw the most lavish parties in town."

## References

1. ↑ http://www.rimbaracer.com/v2/characters/king.php