King the Conflagration is one of the three All-Stars of the Beasts Pirates and Kaidou’s right-hand man. He is a member of the nigh-extinct Lunarian race from the Red Line, noted for their ability to create fire.
Lunarians used to be known as a tribe of “gods” while they dwelled on top of the Red Line. According to Whitebeard, there used to exist a “Kingdom of Gods” on the red continent long before Mary Geoise was ever there.
The World Government seemingly hunts lunarians around the world to this day, rewarding anyone with a handsome sum of 100,000,000 for any tip-off about a Lunarian’s whereabouts.
In Chapter 1035 King takes off his mask and his face is fully seen.
Being a Lunarian, King bears his kind’s telltale features: a pair of large, black-feathered wings on his back (reaching down to knee length), a brown complexion, and silver-white hair. Said hair is shaved on the sides but kept long on top, where it is mostly drawn back and bound at King’s occiput before flowing down free past his nape; some sidelocks hang down on the right of King’s face, to his collarbone, and include a thin braid. King’s face is characterized by his narrow red eyes, prominent dark eyebrows, a straight nose, prominent lips, and a square, stubbly chin. Circling halfway around his left eye on its outer side is a dark-colored tattoo of what resembles a laurel wreath or olive branch.
King seems to have diverse inspirations for both his design and his abilities:
- The character’s concept bears a strong resemblance to the archangel Uriel of Christian tradition. Uriel’s attributes include large, dark wings pointing downwards, fire in the palm of his hands, and a flaming sword, traits he shares with King.
- King’s Devil Fruit and fire-based abilities might be inspired by Rodan, a popular pteranodon kaiju that resides in a volcano, and of whom one specific incarnation is the “Fire Rodan”.
- In terms of his attire and wings, King’s design may be inspired by the figure on the cover art of Angel of Retribution (the 2005 studio album by English heavy metal band Judas Priest), as well as the masked head depicted on the cover art of Hide Your Face (the 1994 debut album by Japanese musician hide, which also has fire in the background).
Chapter 1035 also revealed King’s true identity. King’s real name infact is Alber.
Alber was born on the Grand Line 47 years ago, into the tribe of Lunarians that originates from the top of the Red Line—which in the present day is widely believed to be extinct.
During his childhood, Alber was captured by the World Government and held at Punk Hazard’s Third Research Institute to be experimented on. Eventually, Kaidou, who was also a research subject at the time, escaped captivity and proposed that Alber come with him, as Kaidou was planning to escape and form his own pirate crew.
Alber asked if Kaidou was someone who could change the world, to which Kaidou responded that only he could. As the two broke out of the research facility, Kaidou asked for Alber’s name and suggested he call himself “King” instead, declaring that from that day forth King would be his right hand.
