The Crimson King, known to some as Los' or Ram Abbalah, is a fictional character created by
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...
and the main
antagonist
An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.''Dark Tower'' series, as well as the novels ''
Insomnia
Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder where people have difficulty sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep for as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low ene ...
'' (1994) and '' Black House'' (2001). Described as " Gan's crazy side", the Crimson King is the ultimate ruler of the Red (also called the Random and the Outer Dark), and the
archetypal
The concept of an archetype ( ) appears in areas relating to behavior, History of psychology#Emergence of German experimental psychology, historical psychology, philosophy and literary analysis.
An archetype can be any of the following:
# a stat ...
embodiment of evil in Stephen King's fictional multiverse. His goal is to topple the Dark Tower which serves as the linchpin of time and space, destroying the multitude of universes which revolve around it so that he can rule in the primordial chaos which follows.
Appearances
Literature
The Crimson King is introduced in the Stephen King novel ''
Insomnia
Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder where people have difficulty sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep for as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low ene ...
'', where he is depicted as a powerful and mysterious entity that forces others to do his bidding. He seeks to kill a child named Patrick Danville who is prophesied to aid in bringing the King down; he is defeated during a confrontation with that novel's protagonist, Ralph Roberts.
He makes his next appearance at the end of '' Black House'', where he is revealed to be responsible for the events of that novel and is seen to have been weakened by the actions of protagonist Jack Sawyer and his allies.
In the ''Dark Tower'' novels, the King is revealed to be behind the destruction of the beams that hold up the Dark Tower, which holds reality and all of the universes together. He is also master of the series' main villain, Walter O'Dim/Padick. He is shown to have gone insane and his intentions are not quite clear beyond that he wishes to destroy the Tower and possibly rule the darkness that would follow. He rules from the lands of Discordia and, as his insanity worsens, he kills nearly everyone in his employ and even himself. He thus becomes
undead
The undead are beings in mythology, legend, or fiction that are deceased but behave as if they were alive. A common example of an undead being is a cadaver, corpse reanimated by supernatural forces, by the application of either the deceased's o ...
and possibly immune to protagonist Roland Deschain's guns. He reaches the tower before Roland, but is trapped on a balcony on one of its lower levels. When Roland finally meets the King at the climax of the final ''Dark Tower'' novel, he appears as an old man with a white beard and blood-red eyes who throws "sneetches" from his imprisonment in the Tower. As previously predicted, Roland and Patrick Danville bring about the Crimson King's downfall. Patrick captures the King's image with his supernatural artistic abilities, using a mixture of Roland's blood and a rose's petals to finish the drawing; then he erases the King from existence, forever banishing him to some other world, or to the todash space between the worlds. Only his red eyes remain, trapped eternally on the balcony of the Tower.
Comics
Writer Robin Furth wrote a new backstory for the Crimson King in the ''Dark Tower'' comics. Here, the Crimson King was the bastard offspring of Arthur Eld, a legendary gunslinger, and the Crimson Queen, a demonic creature of the Prim – the chaotic primordial void from which the Dark Tower, and all universes, arose. With the aid of the wizard Maerlyn, the Crimson Queen took on human form and deceived Arthur Eld to achieve this union. Roland Deschain is himself a distant descendant of Eld; this makes the Crimson King Roland's half-uncle, albeit through many generations. This is the key through which Roland can defeat the King, as stated in a prophecy laid out during the course of the series. In the one-shot comic '' The Dark Tower: The Sorcerer'', Randall Flagg and the Pink Grapefruit (one of the 13 Bends o' the Rainbow) refer to the Crimson King as their cousin.
Films
The 2017 ''The Dark Tower'' film only references the Crimson King; a spray-paint "All Hail the Crimson King" features on various surfaces near The Dixie Pig, along with his sigil, an open red eye.
Characteristics
The Crimson King has taken many forms throughout the series. In '' The Dark Tower VI'', Susannah Dean explains that, in her world, people see the Crimson King as a horned, red-skinned monster called
Satan
Satan, also known as the Devil, is a devilish entity in Abrahamic religions who seduces humans into sin (or falsehood). In Judaism, Satan is seen as an agent subservient to God, typically regarded as a metaphor for the '' yetzer hara'', or ' ...
. As evidenced in ''Insomnia'', the Crimson King is a shapeshifter; like the titular creature in '' It'', he takes the form most terrifying to whoever confronts him. When he is injured by Ralph Roberts, he reverts first to a handsome, blonde man, and then to a creature Ralph is unable to see properly, suggesting that his true form is incomprehensible to human beings. When he finally appears near the end of the ''Dark Tower'' series, the Crimson King has the appearance of an old man with white hair and one fang, but in the comics he appears both as a monstrous entity with spiderlike characteristics, much like his son
Mordred
Mordred or Modred ( or ; Welsh: ''Medraut'' or ''Medrawt'') is a major figure in the legend of King Arthur. The earliest known mention of a possibly historical Medraut is in the Welsh chronicle ''Annales Cambriae'', wherein he and Arthur are a ...
, as well as a bald man with a large tusk or horn on his head. Throughout all of his appearances his one defining characteristic is his blood red eyes, which fascinate anyone who looks into them. Patrick Danville also mentions that the King fades in and out of view due to his transcendent magical powers.
The Crimson King prefers to work from behind the scenes. His sigil, a glaring red eye, is seen throughout each of the books in which he has appeared. He employs other people to do his bidding, as well as numerous supernatural beings, including Atropos, Mr. Munshun, Dandelo, Randall Flagg, John Farson, and various vampires, low men, and taheen.
In other King works
The Crimson King is also mentioned in the
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author. Dubbed the "King of Horror", he is widely known for his horror novels and has also explored other genres, among them Thriller (genre), suspense, crime fiction, crime, scienc ...
novella ''Low Men in Yellow Coats'', found within the 1999 collection '' Hearts in Atlantis''.
He is also hinted at in '' The Stand'' by Mother Abagail. As she describes main antagonist Randall Flagg, she mentions that, "He ain't Satan, but he and Satan know of each other and have kept their councils together of old."